No Saviors (COTE)

Chapter 1: The Beginning of new school life

Are all people created equal?

As much as I would like to say they are, society doesn't allow such a statement to be true. Whether someone is born rich or poor can determine a life, one may be born with no useful skills, I could go on. The fact is, in Japanese society, all people are not equal.

But is that truly just? Is that really how it should be? No. It isn't fair that people should have different opportunities, or that some people's skills are valued less than others in our society.

We as a collective cannot continue to accept this. As society advances, the gap between the talented and untalented has grown and will continue to grow.

I'm not someone who's ignorant enough to suggest all people can or should be completely the same. People have their differences. Maybe equality really is impossible.

But we owe it to ourselves to try. Maybe it's impossible for everyone to achieve the same outcome. But the least we can do is give everyone the same opportunities.

So why am I wondering about this right now?

Here I am. Sitting at my desk, petrified, only a few months into my school year.

Now they're going to be expelled. There's nothing I can do. It's my fault for not helping them enough. The same event that happened in middle school. I swore it wouldn't happen again.

So how have I let it...

The first day of high school is an experience that many people remember forever. The high school one chooses to attend has a large impact on the rest of their life. Some study relentlessly to attend the school of their dreams. Others will go into any high school that takes them.

So, what high school am I attending? 

The high school I'm attending is... let's say untraditional.  It's known as Advanced Nurturing High School. 

Advanced Nurturing High School is a school created by the Japanese government to advance the young generation. It's the most prodigious high school in the country, with a 100% employment and college entry rate, and a campus of over 600,000 square meters.

Frankly, I'm still shocked I was able to get in. There is an entrance exam and an interview, and I wasn't sure if I had performed well enough. I've always been a good student academically, but I'm no kind of genius or prodigy that you would expect to attend this school.

Anyways, for such an exceptional high school, the entrance ceremony was very standard. It was about as normal as you would expect of any other high school. There seemed to be around 100-150 people in the assembly hall. I assumed most were in my year, but my mind naturally wondered who would be in my class. 

After the rather boring entrance ceremony, I proceeded to head to my class - Class 1-D. On the way there, I met a girl who seemed to look lost. 

"Are you looking for your class?" I called out to her. 

"Ah," she responded, startled. "I am, actually. I'm looking for class 1-D."

"I'm headed the same way," I responded. "I have a map here, I'll show you the way." 

"Thank you," she said. "By the way, I'm Karuizawa Kei."

"Hirata Yousuke," I told her. "Nice to meet you." 

"You too," she replied.

She looked almost embarrassed, and it didn't seem like it was just from being lost. I don't mean to brag or anything like that, but I am aware of the effect I have on women. 

When we arrived at the classroom, it seemed like most of the students hadn't yet shown up. There only seemed to be about 10 students in the classroom, and yet there were around 40 desks. The type that had shown up so early unsurprisingly seemed like the studious type. I assumed there would be more of the "honor student" type at such a school, but I guessed the school takes into account factors other than academics. 

In the front of the room, a brown-haired girl was introducing herself to everyone. When Karuizawa and I walked in, she approached us. 

"I'm Kushida Kikyou," she introduced herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you both, and I hope we can be friends!" she smiled.

She was clearly the type to be popular. She was very nice, and her smile seemed so genuine. She had shown up to class early, meaning her punctuality was also to be admired. She seemed like the type to be an honor student as well. I could even see her being on the student council.

"I'm Hirata Yousuke," I replied to her. "It's nice to meet you too." 

Karuizawa quickly responded as well, "Yeah, It's nice to meet you." 

Not long after, a couple of other students also joined in the conversation, and we had some simple small talk while other students arrived. I wondered if they were drawn in to join the conversation by Kushida. After all, she was also clearly very attractive. 

Unsurprisingly, as the other students proceeded to arrive, Kushida introduced herself to them as well. The final student to arrive was a tall student with blond hair and a well-toned build. I wondered if he was a foreigner. 

Strangely, Kushida did not introduce herself to this student. I wondered if this was because of his intimidating presence, or if they had interacted previously. 

After he arrived, our homeroom teacher followed not far behind. As she did so, everyone promptly sat down in their seats. I noticed I sat right next to Karuizawa. 

The homeroom teacher promptly introduced herself. "My name is Chabashira. I'm glad to meet you all. I'll be your homeroom teacher throughout your time at Advanced Nurturing High School." 

She continued. "This high school will be very different than any other school you've ever attended. You will each receive school-provided cell phones and ID cards. Keep them with you at all times."

Many students looked excited at the prospect of a free cell phone. We weren't allowed to bring such items in, so it was a good thing the school would provide them. 

"You will not be allowed to leave campus, with the only exception being school-sponsored activities such as sporting events." 

I had heard about this rule before, as I'm sure the other students had

"You will receive 100,000 'points' in currency this month. One point is equivalent to one yen. "

"On- One hundred thousand!?" I heard a shocked student cry out.

"I know this is a rather large sum of money for a high schooler, especially since you won't need to pay for rent or food. But this money is for your nurturing. These points are for you to spend to buy anything you want at this school. But, you won't be able to exchange them when you graduate, so there's no reason to hold onto them."

It still seemed like a good idea to save some points. To me, at least, it was important to have that money in case of an emergency. However, I don't think most high schoolers will save most of their money. Most won't even think to do such a thing. 

Chabashira-sensei proceeded to pass out our ID cards and cell phones. It really was 100,000 points, displayed right there on the cell phone. I couldn't think of anything in particular I wanted to buy, so I planned to save most of my points.

"That will be all for today," said Chabashira. "Make sure to use the rest of today to get settled in your new school life. I'll see you all tomorrow. "

And that class was the beginning of my time in high school.