I've never been to an event like a entrance ceremony in France because there was nothing like it, whether in high school or university, but I now understand why anime characters always seem bored, it's because they are.
We were just standing in the gymnasium, listening to the principal speak as he began to ramble on about their glorious school and traditions before offering a few words of thanks for coming to witness their very important ceremony. I swear I was about to learn the art of sleeping standing up with my eyes open.
That aside, I was quite disappointed when he didn't reveal anything relevant about the S-System in his speech, which isn't that surprising though. Just like how he gagged Hoshinomiya, not letting her answer questions related to the system, he must try to limit the information as much as possible, trying to make us believe that the school operates like any normal school, putting aside the fact that it operates under a full boarding school system.
Well, this simply means that we will have to investigate this school thoroughly from top to bottom.
And after half an hour of psychological torture, the ceremony ended without incident by noon, with the students dispersing shortly afterward. From what I could observe, about 80% of the students headed to the dorms while the rest quickly formed into groups, wanting to tour the facilities. Some talked about visiting cafes while the louder ones wanted to go to karaoke.
And our class was no different as they quickly formed small groups as I previously requested before going their separate ways. As for me, I had planned to go explore the school itself, in particular the floors reserved for upperclassmen, feeling that I might discover something useful over there.
I waited until the commotion had died down and all the students left the area, not only so nobody outside from our class see me go back to the school building and to check that nobody got the same idea as I do.
I wasn't idle though as, with my classmates who stayed behind with me, we were busy creating a group chat for the entire class in order to facilitate exchanges between us.
And once there was practically no one left except a handful of my classmates, I decided to go back into the building.
"Wait, Kokonoe-kun."
"Can I do something for you, Ichinose-san?" I asked the pink-haired girl who came after me when I started to walk away from the gymnasium.
"Well, I thought I'd come with yo–"
"Honami-chan!"
Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Akimura as she closed in on Ichinose with three other girls from our class.
If I remember correctly they are… Minamikata Kozue, Kobashi Yume and Shiranami Chihiro. I hope I'm not wrong, it'd be awkward if I mispronounced their names in the future.
"Honami-chan, would you like to come to the shopping mall with us?"
"Eh? But I..."
When I saw Ichinose hesitating, her eyes wandering between the girls and I, I simply nodded at her.
"You should go with them, I'll manage on my own."
"Are you sure?" I nodded once more at her question. While I understood that she wanted to come with me and help, I could also see that she had trouble refusing the girls' offer.
Seeing how she's calling Ichinose by her given name, I'm a bit surprised how fast they became close friends. Ichinose did say that she had no friends who came to this school, so they only met for the first time only a few hours ago, isn't that too fast? Or maybe they just operate on a different logic than I do, like how introverts and extroverts have different values when it comes to friendship.
Well, if that's the case, she'd better spend some time with her new friends instead of helping me. And I prefer to work alone, it's more relaxing for me that way.
"Yeah, so don't worry about me. If I need anything, I can always contact you on the group chat later." I said as I showed her my phone with our class group chat displayed on the screen, to which she nodded with a reluctant expression, as if displeased.
"If you say so."
"Well then, see you tomorrow."
Saying that, I left the girls and went inside the school alone and went upstairs to the 2nd graders.
Since today was the day of the entrance ceremony, only the first-year students were present at the school, so there was no one around, which was quite lucky for me. Even though I don't care about what other people think, it would be awkward if they started asking me questions about the purpose of my coming to this floor.
After walking around the floor looking around, I quickly found a bulletin board on a wall, catching my attention.
What do we have here... A flyer asking for a manager for the soccer club... Pass. A chess tournament... I suck at chess... Oh, what's this... a ranking of the second year classes and their class points? That's a term Hoshinomiya didn't use. It should be something important.
I frowned as I stared at the paper and looked at the information displayed on it.
Class A: 1219
Class B: 442
Class C: 385
Class D: 175
That's a big difference... I don't understand what that means, but I can think of some theories but nothing concrete. I should first check if there is another ranking for third-year students before drawing a conclusion, as more information would be welcome.
That said, I wonder if it'd be alright for me to take the ranking with me, so nobody from our grade sees it... I'll ask Hoshinomiya later, I don't want to get into trouble if taking the ranking away from the billboard wasn't allowed by the administration.
I took a picture of the leaderboard before heading to the third floor and easily found a noticeboard similar to the one I saw on the second floor, as well as a new ranking which I also took a picture of.
Class A: 1131
Class B: 650
Class C: 508
Class D: 347
Now that I've seen both, I can see a sort of pattern emerging. Class A is always at the top with the most points while Class D is at the bottom with the least points among the four classes, and they are always listed alphabetically, meaning there must be some significance behind this.
Since this is a ranking, does that mean there is some kind of competition between classes? If that's the case, that must be why Hoshinomiya insisted that we not involve the other classes, as she was trying to help us get ahead of the others in her own way, since she couldn't speak freely.
"You, what are you doing here?"
Lost in my thoughts, I froze in place when I heard someone speak, causing me to glance in the direction the voice came from to see a young man with glasses and short black hair, holding a stack of documents as he looked at me with narrowed eyes.
Who is he? A freshman like me? No, from his demeanor, he seems to be a senior... Just my luck...
"Hello, Senpai. I'm Kokonoe Sora of Class 1-B. I wanted to explore the school so I could familiarize myself with the place better before the school year really starts. I mean, I'm a bit challenged when it comes to direction, so there's no need to trouble yourself for little old me."
"Is that so? From what I've seen so far, you seem to be able to navigate the school and search for what you were looking for with ease for someone who has trouble finding their way around."
My smile froze when I heard his words, making me stare blankly at the person standing in front of me.
Since when... I didn't notice him at all. It's my fault, I suppose, for being too careless. I should be more aware of my surroundings next time I investigate something.
"Since you gave me your name, I should do the same. I am Horikita Manabu from Class 3-A and I'm the student council president. So, can you tell me what you're doing on this floor? Don't worry, you're not in trouble, I am simply curious about your motives."
And of all people I had to meet, of course it'd be the president... Still, it's a good thing that he's simply curious about me being here. And here I thought I broke some Japanese unwritten rules, like freshmen aren't allowed to wander around the senior floors.
That said, I don't know if I should consider this a lucky encounter or not… Since he's a senior, I guess I could ask him for information about the S-System but since he's also the president, I'm not sure if he's willing to fork them out. He seems like the diligent type, the kind of person who follows the rules no matter what.
No, perhaps just like with Hoshinomiya, I could initiate a deal with him, but first...
"Is it possible to go somewhere discreet first? I would hate for our conversation to be overheard by others." I don't really want any hidden ninjas to hear our little talk, just in case.
"Follow me." He said simply, much to my relief, as he walked away with me deeper into the school building.
I guess, despite his stern look, he may be more helpful than I thought. In any case, I should think on how to deal with him.