When the alarm clock rang, Suzune Horikita immediately sat up in bed, not wasting a second.
She put on her clothes, washed up, and prepared herself meticulously.
In front of the mirror, she arranged her long black hair. Her cold, beautiful face remained expressionless. It had been a week since she started living in the dormitories of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. She was in Class D, first year.
These past few days, her school life hadn't been enjoyable. This place was far too lax for her taste.
Not only had the school distributed 100,000 private points to all students on the first day, but the teachers seemed completely indifferent to classroom order. Whether it was passing notes or playing on phones during class, no one intervened.
As soon as the bell rang, the teachers left the room without lingering a second longer.
This laxity deeply irritated Suzune, who imposed strict discipline on herself. She had always believed that this school, where her brother studied, should be of impeccable excellence, boasting perfect academic and employment success rates. How could she tolerate such behavior from the students?
But even as she observed her classmates' carelessness, Suzune, solitary and uninterested in social interactions, had no intention of getting involved. It wasn't her concern.
That morning, as she entered the classroom, the atmosphere was as usual. No one seemed focused on studying. Girls chatted about makeup and trends, while boys talked about video games or crude jokes.
Suzune felt a few glances land on her as she entered, but she ignored them. She took her seat and pulled out a book borrowed the day before to read.
Next to her sat a quiet boy, Kiyotaka Ayanokōji. They had crossed paths on the same bus and exchanged a few words. But that conversation had quickly been forgotten by Suzune. She had come to this school for a specific goal, and others didn't interest her.
After class, the black-haired girl went alone to the cafeteria. As she prepared to enjoy her meal, she felt a persistent gaze.
She scanned the surroundings but noticed nothing unusual. Students were either eating or waiting in line.
"Am I imagining things?"
Dismissing her doubts, Suzune chose a quiet corner to sit. But at that moment, she overheard a hushed conversation from two boys sitting just in front of her, to her right.
While eating, they held notebooks, as if jotting something down.
"So, Tsuhama, what's the update?"
"It's noted. Hideo Hoshimura, from Class D. These past few days, he always chooses the 2,000-yen katsu menu for lunch, and after eating, he buys two fruit juices of different flavors."
"Not bad, this guy knows how to enjoy himself."
"Wait, isn't that Yamauchi over there?"
"What?"
"That guy's a real chatterbox. I talked to him a bit, and I got quite a bit of info."
"Ninomiya… you didn't do something stupid, did you?" Tsuhama asked, a note of warning in his voice. "You forgot Hikaru's orders? We're not supposed to do anything that could raise suspicions."
"Relax, Tsuhama," Ninomiya replied nonchalantly. "It's just a guy from Class D. He's not smart enough to notice anything. I talked to him about video games, and he opened up right away."
"Alright, but don't do it again without permission. It could jeopardize Hikaru's plan."
"No worries, no worries."
Ninomiya swallowed a bite of his meal, but his gaze remained fixed on Haruki Yamauchi, a little further away.
Suzune, who had overheard their exchange, furrowed her brows, perplexed. What were these two up to? Were they spying on someone?
She knew Haruki Yamauchi and Hideo Hoshimura, both from Class D.
"Their work is well-organized. They're eating but keeping an eye on their targets," she thought, her expression turning serious. "It seems they're following orders from someone named Hikaru, and they're very attached to his plan."
"Weird guys…"
As she pondered, she suddenly saw Ninomiya's expression change. He addressed Tsuhama loudly: "Hey, Tsuhama, did you see? Yamauchi's got a brand-new handheld console, right?"
"… Yeah," Tsuhama replied, his face tense. "If I remember correctly, that console costs 30,000 yen. He's not holding back, that one."
"What an idiot!"
Ninomiya's relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by cold anger. He turned to Tsuhama: "Tomorrow, we absolutely need to tell Hikaru. As expected, the students in Class D are useless. Spending so many points like that, when school has barely started!"
"You're right. If they deplete their points, Hikaru's plan will fall apart."
The two boys exchanged a knowing glance, then left the cafeteria shortly after.
Suzune, who had heard everything, felt a cold anger rise within her.
From their conversation, she extracted several crucial pieces of information:
Their surveillance aimed to track the use of private points.
Their target was Class D.
Class D students were labeled as "useless."
These revelations piqued her curiosity. She didn't understand why they had said such things. She then recalled the anomalies she had observed in her class over the past few days.
A hypothesis began to form in her mind, but she didn't know where to start investigating. For now, she committed these pieces of information to memory.
Additionally, she didn't know which class these two boys belonged to.
However, if they were monitoring her classmates, it was likely that someone was also watching her. Perhaps the gaze she had felt earlier came from them.
Suzune decided to be extra vigilant. The word "useless" had deeply shocked her. True to her principles, she categorically refused to be associated with such a term. She had to uncover what was happening.