Chapter 4: Phoenix Gakuen

【Phoenix Gakuen(1)】

A prestigious school located in the recently established 【Sekai(2) City】. Developing both the mind and the body of its attendees, students of the school are renowned for displaying great leadership, responsibility and independence, whilst graduates are placed among the elite of the working world.

And in this school of diligent, hard working students-

「Oi, Seitokai(3)! Iincho-chan(4)! Get over here and start already…」

The homeroom of High School Class 2-G was starting after a rough usage of chalk.

Homerooms at 【Phoenix Gakuen】 are run by both a teacher and a student, the latter being the class's representative. They would then discuss a certain topic to the class and ask for everyone's opinion before submitting answers to the student council.

An example of such a topic would be class budgets for culture festivals, or what role the students of the class would take in a play.

However, Nogi-sensei(5), known for not only his amazing chalk throwing skills but for his extreme laziness, absolutely refused to participate in such activities, saying that they were mundane and a waste of time.

Therefore, a certain girl had to take his place.

「Yes!」

The Student Council member--Miyazawa Mana, and the Class Representative--Hitomi Shiori rose from their seats before walking to the front of the classroom.

And as for a certain dark-haired youth--

*Yawn*

Having been forced out of his seat by a few flying chalk sticks, Saito Junichi returned to his desk, now dust free.

And of course, upon taking his seat, his mouth opened wide as a gush of air surged through his windpipe and towards the light of day.

(He's yawning again.)

An exasperated Mana unleashed a mental sigh.

In spite of the bond that she shared with her dear brother, even Mana had to admit that his aloof tendencies were probably one of his biggest faults.

However, it was also one of the characteristics that made him unique.

Though probably not as unique as the stuttering second-year whose stammers caused several of her peers to cringe.

「O-okay…S-shall we s-start home room n-now?」

The soft voice of the class representative wavered, her eyes watering as she trembled underneath the pressure of the countless gazes focused upon her.

Although she was quite an intelligent individual, Hitomi Shiori had a small problem. She was extremely nervous when talking to strangers.

Whether it was an issue of self-confidence or an issue of comfort, only the girl herself could say.

That said, it was because of this social anxiety that the bespectacled girl’s speech would often stutter unconsciously.

(What are you doing, Mana?)

Murmuring under his breath, Junichi’s green eyes focused on the figure of jet-black.

Seeing as they had been friends with Shiori ever since elementary school, both of the siblings were aware of her condition. Being the kind souls that they were, Mana and Junichi would often help the bespectacled girl with her condition, their ultimate goal being to get her to overcome it.

That said, currently, one of the siblings was sleeping on the job, so to speak.

And, ironically enough, it was not the one who was snoring blissfully mere moments ago.

『Stop spacing out and help her!』

This was the message which Junichi tried to relay to Mana as he cast his gaze upon her.

Now, it’s obvious to many that talking to someone via eye contact was a difficult feat, especially if one was not telepathic.

However…

(R-right, I need to start.)

Mana and Junichi's Sibling Bond made such communication possible.

「*cough* We would like to address some issues concerning the school rules.」

(Oh, boy…)

Junichi's thoughts openly displayed his displeasure towards the subject raised by his little sister.

After all, what was about to occur--AKA the rundown of school rules, was something that he had heard one time too many.

And considering that this spiel had already occurred back in April, the boy was confused as to why they were suddenly bringing it up once more.

Nevertheless, it seemed that Junichi wasn’t about to get an explanation any time soon as Mana raised her voice.

「Firstly, as everyone may know, the school's policy is to develop the students' sense of leadership, responsibility, and independence. However, these qualities are not so easily measurable.」

「T-therefore, the school uses a point system to judge how well students conduct themselves. T-these points are earned through positive conduct, such as obtaining good test scores or participating in extracurricular activities」

Shiori explained, slightly regaining her composure as her stammers were significantly reduced.

「The points earned are then tallied and compared with the rest of the school division in an overall ranking.」

Mana supplemented Shiori’s explanation before taking over for her trembling friend.

「As such, those who are highly ranked are shown to have the right qualities that will help them later in life.」

「T-This is also done to exemplify the top-ranked as role models of the school, as well as providing motivation for lower ranked students to follow their example.」

(Well, at least she's doing alright now.)

Reassured by Shiori’s behaviour, Junichi stifled a yawn.

Despite her meek and fragile appearance, Junichi understood that his hazel childhood friend was a reliable individual.

Therefore, he cast aside his worries as he continued to zone out the girls’ long-winded discussion.

「Of course, those with higher ranks are allowed certain privileges, similar to how hierarchies work in society. However, as life is all about competition, it is possible to take points from other students through duels.」

「It is encouraged at this school to challenge people to duels where the participants will stake their points. O-Of course, if the participants themselves agree to a point-free duel, there will be no gains or losses of points.」

Shiori dutifully dictated the rules of the school, following through after Mana who was about to continue pushing their presentation forwards.

「Details for duels are various and unspecified, and the higher ranked student will mostly be in charge of them. There are various limitations to the rule settings, as official duels will require a third party to referee.」

「Finally, duels, both official and unofficial can only take place on campus.」

Shiori accentuated.

「Any student who takes their duels outside of campus will be penalised with the loss of half their points. This is so as to not burden the current members of society with any potential complications caused by our school’s system.」

「Now, your individual points and ranking are displayed on your personalised [Phoenix Drive Application], or the PDA for short.」

Urging the class to open their PDAs, Mana took out her phone before doing the same.

(-tch. This is gonna be a pain.)

Junichi groaned silently, pulling out a dark blue flip phone out of his pocket as he ignored the speech addressed to the entire class.

Upon skilfully opening it with one hand, Junichi was met with the phone’s LED screen. Navigating the phone, the boy then activated a certain application.

The small display instantly changed, depicting an image of a blazing bird overlaid with the letters PDA. The flaming logo flashed crimson before the screen was dyed with a dark-blue background.

The portrait of a dark-haired youth was centred in the bottom of the screen, labelled with the words Saito Junichi.

(………)

In complete silence, the boy’s eyes narrowed, focusing his gaze on the box located below his profile.

School ID 〚Last Ranker〛 Rank 15967/15967 Points 468

Ruffling his dark hair, Junichi swiftly closed his phone before shifting his attention back to the front of the classroom.

「…and as you all know, each class's points are then tallied up and ranked among the school as a Class Average Rank.」

The boy heard Mana's voice drop to a slightly darker tone.

This caused Junichi to have a bad feeling.

「Despite a certain somebody's rank of being the lowest and their lack of points being detrimental to our efforts, we have been able to maintain a Class Average Ranking of 13 within the school.」

Mana's cruelly stressed words made Junichi turn his head to one side.

Naturally, the gazes of his classmates swiftly moved towards the seat furthest away from the blackboard, right next to the window.

…the occupant of this seat being none other than the dark-haired boy whose rank equalled the number of attendees at the school, Saito Junichi.

「Uwaa~ that's harsh.」

A certain lazy instructor commented as he buried his back into his chair.

In reaction to this not-so-subtle criticism, the dark-haired boy only yawned.

Though many were amazed by his reaction, one girl was able to sense Mana’s rising temper, causing her to raise a shrill cry.

「A-anyway, these points are essential for those who are trying to graduate from this school.」

Shiori concluded, causing everyone’s focus to become redirected towards her.

Although their gazes pierced her like a hail of arrows, the girl simply smiled, gritting her teeth as she endured this onslaught of attention.

「Are there any q-questions?」

「Y-Yes, I have one.」

In response to Shiori’s stutter, a similar stammer came from a female student with scruffy orange hair.

「Do these “duels” use violence?」

(What kind of a question is that?)

Junichi thought to himself as he stared at the student who obediently raised her hand.

Although he didn’t really remember this girl who was supposedly his classmate, the dark-haired boy couldn’t help but feel as if the student’s scruffy, orange hair was somewhat familiar.

「Well, some duels may require direct combat. But not all duels need to be won through blind violence.」

「Phew, that's good.」

「Any other questions?」

Mana asked the hushed class after answering the meek voice’s question.

As the saying goes, silence is the best form of affirmation.

And it would seem that most students, prestigious or not, liked to practice this golden rule.

「None? Alright. That's all from us.」

The pair of long-haired girls quickly returned to their seats in the classroom’s centre.

「Alright, now that that's out of the way, it's time to sleep.」

Nogi-sensei nonchalantly spoke, stretching back into his comfy chair.

「Hey, Sensei!」

Obviously bothered by the instructor’s conduct, Mana wailed as she slammed her desk.

「Don't you have any announcements for us?」

「Nope. Besides, someone's started already.」

Nogi-sensei quipped before nodding off.

「Huh?」

「M-Mana-chan.」

In order to clarify the confusion, Shiori tapped Mana’s shoulder before pointing towards the back of the classroom.

*Snore…*

The dark-haired boy had once again entered the world of dreams.

「M-Mana-chan? Y-your face is kind of scary.」

Shiori tried to soothe the raging Mana.

It needn’t be said that her feeble attempts didn’t work.

「BAAKKAA AAANNIIIIKKIII!!!」

And so, Saito Junichi’s homeroom came to a violent end.