The long table meant to accommodate up to ten people has only one person sitting on it. Other students that sat nearby occasionally glanced in its direction but no one dared to approach it as if they were avoiding this particular table or rather, the person who sat there.
It was a male student, calmly enjoying his meal. His build is nothing special, nor does it seem like there's anyone guarding him.
Satoru couldn't make out the boy's face from his angle as half of it is covered by the brim of his cap, but Satoru had a feeling he had seen that cap somewhere before.
With no other seats available, he decided to approach the table.
"Excuse me-"
The boy at the table looked up and met Satoru's eyes without putting down his food, revealing a pair of bright amber-colored eyes under his newsboy cap. Satoru had only met this person once but remembered him after his botched speech during the entrance ceremony, Hikaru.
"What do you want?"
The boy asked bluntly.
"Oh- uhm, could I sit at this table?"
Satoru said with a warm smile as to lighten the mood.
Hikru's gaze shifted from the katsudon bowl in his hand towards Satoru.
His intense, soul piercing gaze made Satoru's body involuntarily tense up.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard the boy opposing him spoke up.
"What's stopping you?"
"…" Satoru's facial muscle twitched as he silently contained the urge to punch the guy.
Seeing that there are no other vacant seats, he reluctantly sat on the seat across from the boy.
…
…..
It's quiet. Satoru thought.
Usually when he eats, he would either talk to his friends at middle school, his teammates in the esports team or his parents at home. He isn't quite used to eating this quietly.
Satoru hesitated a while whether he should striking up a conversation with the boy opposite him. Normally, the person who ranked first in the entrance exam would be surrounded by people. Sure, there are a few reserved ones who became overwhelmed by the social interactions, but the current Akai-san doesn't seem that way.
Maybe I'm just over thinking it. Satoru decided to talk anyways.
"Akai-san right?"
"Yes?"
The boy answered in a nonchalant tone.
"I met a teacher with a same surname as you earlier, do you know each other?"
"Tetsuya is grandpa."
"I see."
Akai-san doesn't seem to talk much on the outside but at least he isn't hostile strangers. Then why does nobody else sit here? Satoru decided not to suppress his curiosity and asked.
"This table looks pretty empty, are you reserving it for your friends?"
He adjusted his question slightly as to not come off as rude.
"I don't have any friends."
Satoru was momentarily stunned upon hearing that bombshell. The moment he recovered he immediately apologized.
"I'm sorry I brought that up."
"Brought what?"
Eh? Satoru didn't know how to react.
"I thought not having friends is a bad thing."
"Maybe you're right. Grandpa also wanted me to make friends. But I don't mind either way.
So he isn't the type that deliberately wants to be alone.
"Forgive my rudeness Akai-san, have you tried talking to your classmates?"
"Yes."
"And from that, do you think their impression of you is positive or negative?"
"From what they said it's probably neutral."
"…What did they say..?"
"'Why don't you go mind your own business' and some other varients of that."
"That's not neutral at all!"
This conversation flipped his impression of Hikaru. Even though he looks cold and scary from the outside, he is just someone who has trouble socializing… and also an incredible lack of self consciousness.
"What about your friend?"
Hikaru flipped back with a question of his own.
"Who are you talking about?"
"The big spiky haired guy that is with you this morning."
Hikaru stretched both his arms to make himself look bigger and squinted his eyes until it almost became a straight line.
That's literally Keiichi! Satoru cracked up a little at the scene in front of him.
That innocent way of communicating reminded Satoru of how kindergarteners would describe animals after visiting the zoo. (Sorry Keiichi).
"Is he not a friend?"
"No, he is really my friend. I just haven't had an opportunity to meet him after the entrance ceremony since we are in different classes."
"Mhm…" Hikaru nodded lightly.
Unlike the previous conversations however, this time he kept staring at Satoru. Which caused him to ask.
"Is there something wrong?"
Hikaru briefly continued to stare at Satoru, then his gaze shifted down towards the latter's bowl of ramen that seems nearly untouched.
"I was wondering how you would finish that and run back to class within four minutes and twenty two seconds."
"Pfft-"
With Hikaru's reminder, Satoru started gobbling down his food as if his life depended on it.
…
Several hours later.
"Hoshina san~"
"Mhm."
A soft voice followed by a gentle nudge woke Satoru up.
His vision hadn't adjusted to the light yet since he had just woken up, but he could tell this place is definitely not his house.
"Where am I?" Said Satoru.
"The classroom." A small but slightly annoyed voice replied. "You slept through the entire math class."
Satoru's turned his head towards the voice. He relaxed a little after confirming that it wasn't a teacher, rather, the foreign girl that he got to know this morning, Midori. The blue haired girl from earlier also sitting on the table beside her.
"Good morning again, Hoshina kun!" The cheerful blue haired girl greeted with a teasing smile.
Satoru responded with dry chuckle. "Sorry to bother you two. Did it take long for me to get up?"
"Yes." Midori nodded.
Satoru indeed had a good sleep. He had woken up especially early this morning, plus the long train ride from his house made him especially tired. All of the earlier factors paired with his full stomach and well, math class turned this elite classroom into the perfect environment for an afternoon nap, but that isn't important right now.
After taking a good look at the classroom, he discovered that it is already empty. Apart from these two girls, everyone else had already left.
"Do you two need me for something?"
Satoru asked because he didn't think he knew these two girls enough for them to stay behind this long just to wake him up.
"Akai sensei called all us for a meeting." Midori explained. "The head teacher wants to talk to all scholarship students."
"Originally, sensei told me to bring you along after waking you up. Hasumi san volunteered to help."
So the blue haired girl's name is Hasumi.
"Alright." Without wasting anymore time, Satoru and the girls headed towards the meeting room.
After around five minutes of walking, the trio arrived at the classroom where the meeting will take place. They were greeted with eleven other people who already arrived earlier than them.
Strangely, among those people, Satoru recognizes most of them as his classmates.
Shortly after Sarotoru's group entered the classroom, a woman who seemed to be in her late twenties entered the room.
She wore an expressionless look, but her eyes still carry a hint of sternness. Even without the identification card on her, it would still be easy to tell from her demeanor that she is an experienced teacher.
"Nice to meet you all, the name's Mizushima Reina."
Without beating around the bush, Mizushima sensei immediately started talking.
"I will get straight to the point in order to not waste anybody's time." She says.
"We will be discussing your activities as part of your superhuman scholarship."
"Huh?" Several students blurted out in unison.
"Haven't you read the terms and conditions? The tuition waiver only applies to active students. Students who are inactive for more than a month will have their supernatural ability scholarships revoked. If your parents can't pay the education fees then you just have to leave."
"Sensei, what activities needed to be done to maintain our scholarships?"
One of the students curiously asked to which, sensei gave a long reply.
"Students who ranked among the top 5 in the written exams already have their own tuition waivers even if they weren't specially admitted. The same also applies to the all the athletes who play for the school's baseball team. You don't need to maintain an active status for your scholarship however, everyone has this opportunity, including those without supernatural abilities."
By reading between the lines, one can find an alternate meaning to that message. "You'll have to compete with people who actually went through those hellish entrance exams!"
"Alternatively, if you contribute to the school in a substantial way, you will receive the 'active' status needed for your tuition waiver."
"For example, joining the student council as an official member, working under the disciplinary committee which carries out the student council's orders."
"In order to join the student council you must-"
"Wait sensei."
The blue haired girl interrupted
Her voice is shaky, devoid of any of the cheerfulness she had shown throughout this entire day.
"Is there anything wrong?"
Mizushima sensei said to the blue haired girl to which, the latter asked with a voice full of concern.
"Sensei, is there way to maintain the waiver without involving the student council?"
Upon hearing this, the teacher stared at the blue haired girl coldly and sneered.
"Of course not you lazy brat. Just because you were born some useful supernatural ability doesn't mean you give you the right to leech off the school's resources for free."
The blue haired girl seems like she wanted to say something else, but was quickly shot down by the head teacher's glance.
"Anything else?"
The room fell silent.
"Then if there's none then-"
"Uhm."
Everyone's attention instantly fixated on the person who raised his hand, which was none other than Satoru.
"Speak."
Satoru was also intimidated by Mizushima sensei's stern voice, but it he managed to compose himself just enough to convey his question loud and clear.
"Sensei, do clubs count as an activity?"
Other students in the room looked at Satoru questioningly.
There is no mention of clubs anywhere in the school website, or from any teacher at that.
"What made you think about it?"
"I happened to walked past the baseball team lockers today, when I saw a couple of empty rooms nearby. Even if it looks abandoned, the room's size and design looks just like a club room."
"Besides, there are clubs that can benefit the school too."
Mizushima sensei sighed, her gaze turned reminiscent for a moment before she returned to her serious demeanor.
"Being part of a club used to count as an activity. So long as the club itself serves the school in some way. In fact, clubs used to be very common back in the day."
The face of some students brightened up for a moment until they heard the teacher's next sentences.
"However, back when the school faced students council member shortages, the board decided to place ridiculously harsh conditions on clubs in order to dissuade students from staying in them."
"It worked so well that all of the clubs for shut down one by one, regular students gave up and decided to work for the student council. Only the baseball club remained survived because of their fame outside."
Mizushima sensei sighed bitterly, what she said just now definitely came from her own experience.
She glanced back at the blue haired girl before asking.
"Although managing clubs maybe very demanding, it is a good way to avoid the student council, is this okay for you two?"
"Yes!"
The blue haired girl said with resolve, which god rid if any hesitation on Satoru's mind.
"I'm fine with it too."
Her expression relaxed.
"So that's how it is, I apologize for jumping to conclusions earlier."
The teacher grabbed a thin book from her desk drawer and handed it to Satoru.
"This book contains all the rules regarding creating and managing a club. Make sure to read it thoroughly."
"Understood, sensei."
For the first time in this entire meeting, the corner of Mizushima sensei's mouth curled up, forming a subtle yet warm smile.
"Do not disappoint me."
After confirming that no one else had any questions, she dismissed the students.
On his way out, Satoru decided to briefly examine the rule book only to be shocked by its contents.
Because the book was pretty thin, Satoru thought there would be too much to read. However, when he actually looked at it himself, he discovered that the whole thing is filled with tiny texts cramped so tightly it would even be difficult to read with a magnifying glass.
"Couldn't they pick a better time to care for the environment?" He lampooned.
As he is approaching the class building's exit, Satoru heard a familiar voice call out his name.
"Hoshina san!"