I reached the dormitories where I would be living for the next three years. It was slightly troublesome, but after the first floor receptionist gave me a key card for room 404, I could simply use the elevator.
They also gave me an information manual, but I decided to read it once I reached my dorm room.
Once I arrived on the correct floor, I briefly scanned the door. It made an inconspicuous "beep" sound followed by a blinking green light, which probably meant that I could open it. Seeing that, I reached for the handle.
Twist!
The door spun and revealed a not-very-large expanse. It was about 8 tatami mats big, which translates to roughly 3.5 meters in each direction.
Normally, I would have been satisfied with my room's size. After all, this was, by no means, a small room. My issue was still the monthly allowance.
If the government was willing to grant 100,000 yen to the students every month, I feel that they would have invested that money into living conditions rather than letting us spend it. After all, that would be more optimal for the school's finances.
However, they gave us a stipend, allowing the less intelligent students to waste it on useless entertainment, which was even more suspicious.
"Hmm…"
Regardless, my mindset was probably wrong. Maybe the Japanese government was nicer than I expected.
Who knows?
On another note, I sprawled out on my bed and pulled the information manual out of my pocket. Knowing high schools, this would likely include "when to stop being loud", or "what the water bills are".
After all, with this amount of monthly payments, they would surely make us pay for water, right?
Wrong.
Flipping through its contents, I learned a few very important things regarding this school.
First of all, we did not need to pay for water, they simply said "please don't leave water running."
Second of all, we did not need to pay for gas or electricity. Once again, they only made a request: "please don't waste electricity."
Is there a penalty for wasting it? Come on, don't be so vague! If you truly wanted us not to waste electricity and water, then you'd give us a punishment!
This school was ridiculously suspicious!
Before I passed the entrance exam, things like "suspicion" didn't matter to me. I only wanted to succeed and graduate from a school like this.
But something was wrong here.
Incredibly high overall costs, handing money to irresponsible children, paying for their bills — yet asking them to save water/electricity. Additionally, at the convenience store, there was a large box with a label that said: "Free".
…
Free!?
Nothing is free!
If the item is free, then you're what's being sold!
It made sense to take care of impoverished children, but why was the box nearly empty? He was the first student to arrive at the convenience store, which meant that students had taken from it before this school year started.
During summer vacation — which was only possible if it was a student from the 2nd or 3rd year batch, who should have had ridiculous amounts of money saved!
With this line of thinking, I was sure that something was subtracting from the monthly income…
…but what?
Let's think…
If the school offers to pay for the water and electric bills, then perhaps overusing them will take away from a student's monthly income.
But wouldn't that be too little of a penalty? For someone to embarrass themselves and use the free box, there had to be some condition that took all of their money…
Was the condition "school conflict"? Maybe behavior — yes, behavior!
Overusing water and electricity when someone else was paying could be considered disrespectful and poor behavior. Getting into fights could also be considered poor behavior.
And poor behavior was a fair reason to take from a student's monthly income. I couldn't confirm whether or not this was true, but after a few more days of school, I might have been able to draw a conclusion.
Well, I could have also just asked a teacher, but I felt that this was a bad idea.
After all, in an elite school like this, most of the students must have come to this conclusion, so asking a teacher might have made me look stupid.
"Sigh."
Not caring about my uniform, I chucked the information manual across the room and pulled the covers over my body. It might not have been late, but I was tired.
Especially with Maple-san speaking to me, my social battery was drained, so I'd have to sleep to replenish it. Perhaps I could wake up in the middle of the night and go sightseeing.
Regardless, I curled into the fetal position and — after thirty minutes — fell asleep.
—
—
—
On the second day of school — which was technically the first day of learning — the majority of the day was going over policies and rules.
Many students were blown away by how nice and friendly the teachers were and how little they had to try. The teacher wouldn't care if the students walked out of class. In fact, they wouldn't even care if the students gathered in a circle and played pattycake.
This school was so laid back!
But this nearly confirmed my theory.
They allowed students to misbehave, overuse water and electricity, walk out of class, ignore the teacher, all so they could punish them later!
How sly! Scheming bastards!
Luckily, it seemed that Class B was well behaved. A few students tried leaving, but Maple-san convinced them to stay. This meant that either Class B understood the penalty, or they were simply good students.
It was likely the former.
After a few minutes, the bell rang to signal that it was lunch time. Getting up from their seats, the students paired up and exited the classroom. There were a few loners, but they were quickly taken by Maple-san — likely because she wanted to help integrate everyone into the class.
If Maple-san missed anyone, Captain-kun would take it upon himself to approach.
This was great — this way, nobody would be left out!
…
Unfortunately, I sat silently in my seat, waiting for one of them to approach me. But it never happened.
"Mm."
I expected this.
I've always been easy to bully, and I don't exactly fit in, so it makes sense for them to leave me out. I was just hoping they'd at least see me as a loner — but their evaluation of me was even lower!
Apparently, even loners were better than me!
How was this possible!?
I sighed, staying seated as I glanced out the window. I saw various students standing together, talking with clear excitement as they ate lunch.
Somewhere else, I noticed a group of students exchanging jokes as they consumed their food.
My face dimmed.
Farther away, Maple-san walked down a path, followed by half of Class B. They were all carrying rectangular trays filled with delicious nourishment. The sight made me envious.
This was probably happening because I spoke too much during introductions. This time, I was actually considering asking Maple-san to craft me a gag. Perhaps my classmates would like me more if I stopped talking.
"Hehe…"
Suddenly, her gaze reached the window, locking eyes with me. Stunned, I quickly looked away, not wanting to look like a creep.
Unfortunately, I was too late. With the corner of my eye, I could see her perplexed expression.
She was going to report me!
After a moment of contemplation, the girl stood up, taking a few steps toward the building I was in.
This was a terrible situation!
Taking a deep breath, I slumped over my desk, wondering if I would be expelled.