The heavy sliding door of Class 1-C creaked open, and the sterile hallway air was instantly replaced by the thick, metallic scent of blood and the sound of ragged breathing.
Ichigo and Orihime froze in the doorway.
The classroom was a disaster zone.
Desks had been shoved aside, creating a makeshift arena in the center of the room.
At the heart of the wreckage stood Ryuen, his knuckles split and dripping, his chest heaving with exertion.
Scattered around him like discarded dolls were several of their new classmates.
Even the towering, muscular student of foreign descent who looked like he could bench-press a car, was slumped against a desk, clutching his stomach and gasping for air.
Tatsuki stood at the back of the room, her silhouette framed by the window. She hadn't participated, but she hadn't left either.
She stood like a shield in front of a small group of trembling girls and a few of the more timid-looking boys, her presence alone keeping the chaos from spreading to the bystanders.
Ichigo's eyes flicked to the corners of the ceiling.
The black domes of the security cameras were draped in dark cloth, effectively blinding the school's surveillance.
He walked forward, his boots crunching on a fallen pencil, and clamped a hand firmly on Ryuen's shoulder.
"So, what happened here?" Ichigo's voice was low, vibrating with a dangerous edge.
"Don't interfere, Ichigo," Tatsuki said, walking toward them. Her expression was neutral, though her eyes were sharp. "These guys didn't waste any time. As soon as the door closed, they decided to 'discuss' who was going to lead the class. Ryuen just ended the discussion. Permanently."
Ichigo looked at the groaning boys on the floor. "Is that so?"
Before the tension could snap, Orihime stepped forward.
With a grace that seemed entirely out of place in a room full of violence, she reached into her bag and pulled out a soft pack of tissues.
She held one out to Ryuen, her eyes soft and devoid of judgment. "Here, Ryuen-kun. You should wipe the blood off yourself first. It'll stain your new blazer."
Ryuen stared at her for a long beat, his predatory gaze flickering. He snatched the tissue with a rough jerk of his hand.
"You're still such a freak, Inoue," he muttered, though he began dabbing at his split lip.
Ryuen then turned to face the entire class, his presence expanding to fill the room. "Listen up! At this moment, I'm your boss! I won't interfere with your personal lives, but from here on out, you follow my orders without question. You never betray me, and you never hide things from me. Understood!?"
The response was a chorus of frantic, terrified nods. Even the boys on the floor began to scramble to their feet, nursing their bruised ribs and looking at Ryuen with the wide-eyed submission of beaten dogs.
Ichigo watched the display and let out a long, weary sigh. "You're still as ruthless as ever, Ryuen."
Ryuen wiped a smear of blood across his cheek and grinned, a jagged, terrifying expression. "Don't joke, Kurosaki. The number of people you sent to the hospital back in the day far exceeds my tally. I'm a saint compared to you."
Ichigo remained silent. He didn't have the energy to argue the ethics of self-defense versus Ryuen's brand of tyranny.
Although he likes helping people and protecting those who cannot protect themselves, he wasn't some lawful good character, and he knew his own hands were far from clean.
Just like his fierce look, he was a delinquent, and the number of fights he has been and the number of people he beaten up could probably overload an entire hospital.
In the world of delinquents, a hierarchy was often established through force; he knew that if Ryuen hadn't done it, someone else would have tried.
And since Ryuen hadn't targeted the girls or the defenseless, Ichigo chose to let it slide, after all, he wasn't one to meddle in personal fights unless absolutely necessary.
Just then, the door slid open again, and the room went dead silent.
A middle-aged man in a sharp, grey suit walked in. He had slicked-back hair and wore thin-rimmed glasses that gave him the look of a cold bureaucrat.
He paused for a fraction of a second, his eyes scanning the bruised faces, the blood on the floor, and the covered cameras, but he didn't look shocked or even particularly bothered.
"Return to your seats, and take off those covers from the cameras." he said calmly.
Tatsuki gestured for Ichigo and Orihime to follow her to the back, where she had claimed three desks in a row.
Ryuen slumped into a seat at the center-back, looking like a king on a throne of cheap wood and metal.
The man walked to the podium and placed a stack of handbooks down. "Greetings. I am Sakagami Kazuma, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next three years."
He began distributing the handbooks, his movements precise.
Ichigo got one himself and began to scan through them while listening to their teacher.
"As stated in the handbooks, this school is a closed environment. For the next three years, your contact with the outside world including your families, will be strictly limited. However, do not let that alarm you. This campus is a miniature city. We have malls, cinemas, restaurants, and dormitories. Everything you could possibly need is provided for within these walls."
Sakagami tapped his own phone against the podium. "Your student IDs have been integrated into your mobile devices. This is your lifeline. In this school, we do not use yen, but the currency we called Personal Points, and your IDs holds all your points and you would need that for every transaction."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"One point is worth exactly one yen. Based on the school's initial evaluation of your potential and the status of Class C, you have each been granted 100,000 points for this month. The points will be deposited into your accounts on the first day of every month."
The room, which had been heavy with the scent of a brawl, was suddenly filled with the sound of frantic whispering.
"A hundred thousand?" one boy gasped, his eyes widening. "That's... that's a hundred thousand yen a month? For free?"
"I can buy that new game console today!" another whispered, his earlier beating seemingly forgotten in the face of such wealth.
Sakagami pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a faint, unreadable glint in his eyes. "In this place, you can buy anything with points. Food, luxury goods, you name it. As long as you have the points, your life here will be one of absolute comfort."
Ichigo looked at the 100,000 figure displayed on his phone screen. It felt wrong. It felt like a trap.
He thought back to the board in the second-year building, Class 2-D having only 100 points... So those numbers doesn't mean Personal Points either.
But still, 100 thousand isn't a small sum.
If each class has 40 student, with a total of 4 Classes in each grade, that would mean the first year alone has 160 students, and if each of them received 100 thousand points then...the government would basically spend 16 million yen a month for first year alone!
Even if it's funded by the government, that's way too much!
He caught Tatsuki's eye. She was looking at the screen with deep skepticism, her jaw set.
Orihime, on the other hand, was tilting her head, wondering if 100,000 points was enough to buy a lifetime supply of chocolate-coated leeks.
She hummed, staring at the teacher, 'This teacher... Is a bit bad.'
Looking at the excited look of her classmates, she couldn't help but sigh. Their teacher never said that they will receive 100 thousand yen every month.
He specifically said 'points will be deposited in our accounts every first day of the day', and 'base on their initial evaluation, we have been granted 100 thousand points "this" month', emphasis on this!
"Everything has a price," Sakagami continued, his voice dropping an octave. "And your points are a reflection of your statuses as the elite of this school. Spend them wisely, or don't. The choice is yours."
Ryuen leaned back in his chair, his feet up on the desk, his eyes fixed on Sakagami. He wasn't looking at the points. He was looking at the teacher in suspicious.
Even though he wasn't academically gifted as Orihime, he possessed unmatched instincts and also noticed that something is wrong.
Giving 100 thousand yen for a bunch of students and told them to spend it as they like....
Even a kid would find it suspicious.