Chapter 1

Once I woke up the next day I took my bath, put on my uniform, and set off with my school bag. It was all so overwhelming for me, I had never set foot in a school since I was six.

I got to my assigned classroom, Class 1-A, the class is already full of excited and nervous students, I claimed a seat at the back right corner of the classroom by the window. Soon after, the teacher walked in.

"Alright, settle down everyone." He said, dropping his bag on his desk. "My name is Denji Takuyama, but you'll all refer to me as Mr Denji." He added, taking off his glasses and wiping the lens. "I'm your homeroom teacher for this year."

Mr Denji didn't seem like he was trying to be friendly, he looked stern and composed. He was also an Asian man, mostly likely Japanese.

"Now I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, there's something you all have to know before we start any lessons, and this message especially goes to those of you who don't want to take your academics seriously just because your parents aren't paying." Mr Denji said with a stern look on his face. "At the end of this term...at least three of you will be expelled." He said, the whole class started murmuring amongst ourselves. That bombshell he dropped alone was already getting people scared, I have to admit, even I was worried by the statement.

At last one student decided to take the initiative and ask the teacher directly.

"Mr Denji, what did you say?!" A guy seated at the front row asked in shocked.

"That's right, in fact after your exams every term three of you will be leaving us." Mr Denji repeated, modifying his initial statement.

"What the hell?!", "What sort of twisted school is this?!", "So every term three people get expelled?!". The other classmates started asking different questions, all shocked by Mr Denji's words. Every term three students have to leave?, that's madness! The worst part of all this is that majority of us are uneducated, that's if there even are any partially educated ones among us at all, so there will surely be challenges and close calls.

"Now there are two ways you can escape a term's expulsion, I repeat, a term's expulsion." Mr Denji went on, it seemed like he was emphasizing the word "term's" so this escape route can only be used to escape one expulsion. "There are two ways, or more accurately, there are two ways to be qualified to escape an expulsion." The whole class went silent so we could listen attentively to our teacher. He continued.

"In order to escape a term's expulsion you will have to earn the title of what we call 'An Exceptional Scholar'. The Exceptional Scholars are kind of like the VIP students of the school, they are people who the school deem as valuable and desired, the important students wanted in the school for the sake of it's reputation...but there are only two ways of becoming an Exceptional Scholar; the most common way is by remaining at the top of your year for three consecutive terms, the fact that I said it's the most common doesn't mean it happens often, in fact only four students in the entire school are Exceptional Scholars, 3 in third year and one in second year." Mr Denji explained. Becoming an Exceptional Scholar will prove much harder than it looks. "Alright everyone, take out your notebooks and pens, we're going to be having our first class, Maths." Mr Denji said, opening a notebook in front of him and taking out some chalk from his desk drawer.

 We had two other classes after Maths; English and History. After that it was time for our lunch break. I headed to the cafeteria, and I was amazed by how big it was, and moreso, how many people were there, all from different classes and years. This was what I had always dreamed of, it was my chance, my golden opportunity to start my friend making quest, the problem was that the lunch break was only half an hour long so I had to make the most of it. I went to the counter to receive my meal, and then walked around the place, looking for where to sit. It seemed like everyone who was seated was already in their own clique of friends, it felt out of place for me to just barge in on that.

Despite the size of the cafeteria I got the feeling I would never find where to sit and eat my lunch until...I saw someone sitting by himself, enjoying his meal alone at the very back corner of the cafeteria. He looked like a calm person, and was also remarkably good looking, I was wondering why someone like that wasn't sitting with anyone, and it didn't seem like he was expecting anyone either. The moment he stopped eating and raised his head to look at me I realised that I probably may have been starring, I kinda flinched a little when he did because I was caught unaware. I began looking in different directions like as if I were still searching for a place to sit, I looked back at him to see if he was still looking, then he exchanged the look with a warm, humble smile. The moment be did, I was getting this warm, friendly aura emanating from him, an aura I immediately became drawn to, like as if i knew I would feel comfortable around him, so I went ahead and sat with him, I sat across him from the table so I could face him directly.

"Hey there, you don't mind, right?" I asked him in confirmation to make sure he was as comfortable with my presence as I was with his.

"I don't." He responded, his voice soft and quiet. He further added. "You're a first year, am I right?".

"Yes I am, how did you know?" I replied while taking a spoonful of my rice which was previously served to me at the counter.

"Lucky guess. You looked pretty lost a few moments back." He said

"Oh, was it that obvious?" I asked with a nervous smile across my face. I was a bit embarrassed, but not bothered by it.

"It's alright, I got a bit lost too when I walked in here." He said, just before taking a bite out of his rice cake. "It's why I chose...this quiet corner." He added, this time with a soft smile.

"So are you a first year as well?" I asked, curious.

"Why yes I am. I'm in Class 1-C, what about you?" He responded.

"I'm in 1-A. So what's your name?"

"I'm Christopher. But you can call me Chris." He said, stretching out his hand for a handshake. "And what's your name". He added.

"I'm Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate." I responded as I went in for the handshake. "So what do you think of this school's system?, it's pretty weird, huh?" I asked him.

"Yeah, very weird in fact, I wonder why the government would do such a thing. Seems like they may be getting a laugh out of it, seeing the poor struggle I mean. Well I guess they are spending a lot of money on all these facilities so they may just be looking for a way to cut corners." Chris said satirically.

"That's actually possibly true. But why get three students expelled?, every term for that matter, it's like survival of the fittest, I just hope I'll be able to scale through, at least for this first year." I said unenthusiastically.

"Well if you're at least an average student I don't think you'll have much to fear right now." Chris said.

"Huh? What do you mean by that, why don't I have to fear right now?" I asked eagerly. I was curious to know what the reason for that was.

"Think about it, I may not have been in school for some years, but I do know this; there are always those students who'd rather not take their academic life seriously, from what I've seen,so far at least, about one-sixth of a class will take their studies with levity. So if you're at least an average student in terms of academics you can most likely survive the first term without doubt, maybe even the second as well, the real competition starts during the third term when most of the incompetent and defective students are filtered out of the picture, and the more that are filtered off, the closer everyone is to the bottom. So when the third term begins there is surely going to be a frenzy of position struggle, and whoever's at he top will become a target for all kinds of things. My advice - Stay away from the bottom and keep moving, but don't get too close to the top just yet, best if you start putting in the effort now too." Chris explained. I was baffled by how I didn't realise all that before, and by how much ideology he had about this school's system. I was more focused on living my dream of being a student than actually navigating the student life.

"Chris. I thank you for this advice, it was much needed, trust me." I said, showing gratitude and appreciation for his words of wisdom.

"No need for all that, it was just some friendly advice." He said, waving it off like it was nothing.

"No really, you have alot of insight on this whole thing, I'm surprised you're only a first year here." I said, a smile playing across my face.

"Well you can too, just put that problem solving brain to some real work." He responded, a smile playing across his face as well.

The bell eventually rang which meant lunch break was over.

"It was really nice meeting you, Chris." I said as I grabbed my backpack and stood up, preparing to head back to class.

"Yes, likewise. It was indeed very nice meeting you, Nate." He replied as he did the same thing as I.

 Anyways, we had three other classes after our lunch break, then the final bell rang... finally. I started packing up my books into my bag, a boy from my class then walked up my desk.

"Hey there." He greeted with a friendly smile. "I'm Damian, I don't think we've met before." He introduced himself, stretching out his hand for a handshake.

"Yeah, we haven't, I'm Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate." I responded, reciprocating the handshake gesture.

"Well then it's nice to meet you, Nate. I wanted to ask if you would be interested in joining a study group, I and some other students in our year are creating it, most of them being in our class, anyway." He said.

"Oh, a study group?"

"Yes, we're looking for more members who seem like they take their academics seriously, and from what we've picked up you qualify."

"Really? Well I'd love to join your study group." I said enthusiastically.

"Alright then, meet us at the school library when you're ready to leave class."

"Sure thing." I responded, beaming with joy. "Wow, a study group. I'm sure I'll meet lots of new people there." I thought to myself. I wanted to start heading for the library immediately but I had to use the bathroom first. The school was big so it was kind of hard to find it. "Damn. Where's the bathroom again?" I was getting confused, confusion turned to anxiety when I realised..."Oh crap, don't tell me." I was lost. "Great. And this just had to happen the same day I was invited to a study group." I lamented. "Oh right, the phone we were given." Realization struck me, and I remembered I could just call someone, I hadn't gotten anyone's contact info yet, but the phone already had the numbers of some staff members saved on it, so did all the other students' phones. But then I thought. "Is this really a valid reason to call a teacher from wherever they may be? Let me just keep looking on my own first." I concluded to myself.

 I kept wondering through the halls even till I got to the highest floor where the third year classes are until...I heard a voice. No it wasn't a voice, I heard voices coming from the hallway that led to the students council room. What I was hearing didn't sound like a friendly chat between classmates. I decided to peep from behind the wall at the junction which connected the hallway they were in to the one I was in. There were 4 guys and 2 girls that were standing round another girl. The guys and 2 girls that stood round her were all wearing long sleeve shirts on their uniform instead of short, meaning they were all third year students, however the girl they were all standing around wasn't, in fact if I were to guess I'd say she looked young enough to be in my year.

"What were you doing snooping around at this time of day?" One of the guys asked the girl.

"I - I was just looking for someone." She answered meekly.

"Who could you have possibly been looking for in the student council room? I mean, we're all here, aren't we?, so who was it?" One of the female third years sternly asked the girl. The girl being questioned was quite for a bit, until she finally spoke.

"I really should get going now. I - I'm meeting some people at the library." The girl tried turning away and quickly leaving, but the upperclassmen weren't having that. One of the guys then grabbed her by the wrist, dragged her back, and slammed her body to the wall.

"Answer the question damnit!". He demanded, his voice slightly deep and husky. I started to wonder if I should do something, but I feared my own safety as well, intervening would have only dragged me into the problem, so I stayed put and kept watching.

"Little girl, answer the question already, what were you doing up here, and by the student council room?" The who spoke initially asked in a calmer tone than the latter. The girl's eyes closed shut in fear.

"Please, I didn't hear anything, I'm only a first year here, I

don't even know anyone in your year so I can't tell anyone anything for that matter. Please just let me go already." She pleaded, her eyes and tone of voice betrayed panic and fear.

"So you're a first year, no wonder. You're an irrational little brat." The other one of the girls spoke.

"It doesn't look like this girl's ready to talk." One of the guys said with slight frustration.

"What a pain." One of the girls said. To my suprise, the next thing that came after that statement was a knee to the first year's gut. Before I knew it they all ganged up on her and started kicking the poor girl in different spots. She fell to the ground, laying on her side, and screaming in agony.

"Please..." They didn't even let her beg anymore, they went on kicking her like a soccer ball till she spoke. At that moment I felt obliged to do something, but what could I possibly even do?, I barely knew how to fight and I wanted to take on six seniors?

"Please!" She cried even louder, but to no avail. I was literally frozen on the spot, my thoughts battled each other like a clash between good and evil, the urge to do the right thing and the fear of getting involved turned my mind to a battlefront. I was still frozen on the spot, my body wanted to move but my mind wouldn't let me, at some point I was convinced the mental battle was a stalemate, and that I should just say put where I was and not do anything, but even at that, it still would mean that fear won over me. "What the hell am I doing here?, I have to do something!" I told myself. The girl's scream only grew louder till the point where I believed she accepted her fate; she eventually stopped screaming. I was scared at the possibility that she died from the beating, but the third years didn't give the slightest fuck, whatever information she had on them, they wanted it out of her, badly.

I couldn't stay there anymore, I couldn't watch, I was ready to face any consequences of my actions whatsoever. I was literally about to spring myself into action...until....a hand grabbed me by my shoulder from behind me. The moment I felt it shivers went down my spine. "Did someone spot me and take a different route to catch me? Is it a friend of the third years beating up that girl? Who the hell could this possibly be?!" I questioned myself in my head, trying to decipher the owner of the hand that just stopped me in my tracks.

 I was frozen in shock, different thoughts kept racing through my head in that split second, I was too scared to turn my neck, but I didn't need to anymore, because the owner of the hand slowly loosened their grip and started walking forward, the owner started to walk pass me, and I couldn't even believe it.