With the midterms over, the 1st Years had the rest of May easy. With only about a week left until June, which meant we'd get our monthly allotment of private points, and the summer holiday on the horizon, it seemed like everyone was excited about the upcoming month.

Personally, I was just glad I had managed to get through May without burning through all my remaining private points. I found that my new favourite way to commute to school was by train, since it was fast and efficient. However, each trip by itself cost 1500 points, so I purchased a monthly subscription that let me use the railway with a membership card.

As usual, I went to the railway station, bought my ticket for the ride with my card, and went to the adjacent cafe to buy breakfast, which was usually some baked French good. I would then eat the food while waiting for the train among my fellow Drachma Red students. From my class, I noticed that the popular students like Sakigamiya and Matsushita took the train. Not Yukina, though.

I sometimes dread on how much I spent on that membership card. It costed a hefty 9000 points... but doing the math, this should theoretically be worth it. 9000 points is equivalent to six trips. In a month, I would make at least sixty trips (two per day to go around the island and get back home), so I was actually getting ten times my money's worth. The school is sneaky about these things. They're not flashily advertised, so you have to go around hunting for these deals.

Ever since using the trains though, I've always seen one boy in particular without fail. Sure, there are other students who take the train as regularly as me, but not as religiously as this guy. Not to mention, I saw him before one time, back in April, when I took the train to the Stark White sector of the island. Back then, I had no idea which class he was from, but I learnt he was from D Class, the class above mine.

The school I attend, GEN Academy, has a peculiar system. It runs on meritocracy, and ranks students based on their abilities, putting them into classes relative to their skill. The classes are battling each other to reach A Class, which is the only class that graduates with benefits provided by the school. In order to climb up the ranks, the classes must increase their class points, or Cl, and surpass the other classes in ranking.

I was put into the worst class, E Class, due a failure in my entrance exam. It should've been easy - all I had to do was win a cardfight - but instead, I lost and was sent all the way to the bottom. In our first month, E Class lost all of our class points, making things difficult for us from the start, as A Class had 950 class points.

When the train arrived, I boarded it. In addition to the battle royal-style of fighting between classes, GEN Academy promoted E Class as the class where all failures would be sent to, with the additional threat that any students ended up in this class would be more likely to be expelled than their peers. They were serious about this, as my classmate, Yukimura, was nearly expelled for his violent behaviour.

That's why the trains were also separated by class. While the front carriage was exclusively for A Class student usage, all the carriages in between could be used by any class, except E Class. All E Class students had to board the carriage at the back, resulting in a cramped and uncomfortable experience. Outside of school hours though, the students could go to whichever carriage they wanted.

As usual, the E Class carriage was packed. It wasn't loud - a lot of the students on the train tended to fall asleep - but it was claustrophobic to be sitting in such a cramped space. Right now, I was trapped between two upperclassmen. Granted, they were both girls, but still, it's terrifying.

Unless you had friends besides you, you had nothing to do on the train, except play on your phone, read a book, or gaze outside the window. Honestly though, I prefer it this way. The serenity of the ride and the soothing bumps are what makes me enjoy it, bar the cramped carriage. It's a moment of peace and calm, which is rare to experience when you're attending a cutthroat school like this one.

During this fleeting time, I usually thought about old events, like the letter that was slipped under my dorm room. The offer on that letter was an absurd amount of private points in exchange of becoming an ally to "X". X is my nickname to the man that's been trying to manipulate me behind the scenes. While he himself didn't sign the letter, the fact that it instructed me to go to Kuwahara (X's messenger) was proof enough it was him. There was no way I'd work for a guy like him, so I tore up the letter and threw it away.

This relaxing moment didn't last long, though. The train arrived at the school's railway station, and we all began to disembark. This moment was loud chaos as droves of students left the train all at once in a rush to go to school. I decided to just be patient and wait for all the movement to die down.

"Morning, Takanori-san."

As Matsushita was trying to leave the train, he passed me and smiled. Matsushita was E Class's male class representative, and a total ikemen. He's adored by girls and guys alike, and is kind to everyone he meets.

I'm really confused on how a perfect guy like him ended up in E Class. He had good grades and physical ability. His personality was flawless. His appearance was cool. What was his flaw?

"M-morning, Matsushita-san..."

Due to the pressure I felt being noticed by such a popular person, I stammered by accident. Matsushita smiled still, even though I blundered. What a sweet guy.

Even on this train that stank of sweat and hormones, Matsushita had a pleasant flowery smell. I wish I could be as cool as him.

"Do you want to walk to school together? Alice-chan already went ahead with Ria-san and Tadokoro-san. I don't have anyone to walk with, so..."

Matsushita could even act embarrassed without shame. Instead, he looked cute while doing it. He was definitely blessed to someday become a light novel protagonist. I mean, he even already has a harem of girls following him around and was E Class's leader.

"Uh... well..."

Being offered like that so suddenly caught me off guard.

"It's okay if you don't want to. But... Takanori-san, you're always alone in the class. I'm worried about you."

W-what the hell was this appeal?! I felt like it was absolutely my duty to walk with this Prince Charming!

"O-of course! I'll walk with you! M-Matsushita-san!"

So, somehow, I ended up walking side by side with the most popular boy in our class. It definitely wasn't awkward at all. However, I was curious about one thing. Most people don't notice my existence in the class, but Matsushita did, for some reason.

"Earlier, when you said you were worried about me, what did you mean by that?"

"As the class representative, I feel like it's my duty to make sure everyone in the class is happy, but when I see you in class, Takanori-san, you always look so gloomy and sad. I've heard of the rumours..."

Rumours? There's rumours about an unimportant guy like me?

"...about you being one of the "big 3 loners" in our class."

Oh, that nickname... the girls created a group chat and decided that me, Ikesugi Kaoru and Kouji Tenma were the biggest loners in E Class. Ever since then, it's stuck to us like glue, even though all three of us aren't friends.

"And it just got me thinking... is everything okay, Takanori-san? You don't seem to have many friends and get isolated by everyone else... even your middle school friend, Yukina-san, seems to not spend time with you."

Since when did he get permission to use her first name? Matsushita's too smooth for his own good.

"By any chance... are you getting bullied?"

"Bullied?"

"Yes... it's a particular concern to me, especially since we're in E Class. Some of the girls already confided in me and told me about how they were being bullied by other girls. I wondered if that's what's been happening to you."

I don't think I was being bullied. It's just my own fault that I don't fit in with everyone else.

"No... it's nothing like that."

"Are you sure? You can be honest to me, I'll keep it a secret. We can talk in a more private space if you want. I don't mind, as long as you're okay."

This guy really was too nice for his own good... it was honestly overwhelming to see someone care so much about me. I really did feel like I could trust Matsushita.

But I couldn't let myself get attached to him. In order to rise from the bottom of this system to the top, I need to gain leadership. Right now, Matsushita has leadership over E Class, alongside Sakigamiya.

I need to steal that leadership from them, which means I'll have to betray him and the class at some point.

"No, that's not necessary. I'm fine being alone, so you don't have to concern yourself over me."

"Are you really? Being alone puts a huge target on your back."

I've been alone before. I don't care.

"Honestly, I am. I'm grateful you care though."

"I'm glad you think so. I tried approaching Ikesugi-san the other day but he was really annoyed by my attempts to talk to him..."

Ikesugi was a person with no tact. Whatever he said to you was the cold hard truth, which made him have no friends from day one.

"If you do get bullied by someone, please tell me. I don't want to see any of my friends go to a dark place."

"F-friends?"

I was so shocked, I spoke before I could think.

"We're friends, aren't we, Takanori-san? I know we don't spend much time together, but I would like to become closer. You were the only boy to properly give me a chance back in April. Everyone else averted their eyes when I asked who wanted to eat lunch with me."

"Too bad you got swarmed with girls instead."

"Ha ha... sorry. That must've been disappointing for you. I feel like if we did go eat lunch on that day, we would be really close friends today."

I can't see myself surviving next to a popular guy like him. I'm just too lame in comparison. The other riajuu would do their best to shun me out of their friend group.

"It's fine. I'm just overwhelmed by your kindness."

"I get that a lot... the people from the upper classes insult me with it. "Nice Guy-kun", they'd call me."

That's a lame nickname.

"I'd rather be overly kind than hurt someone else. I'm really against bullying others, so if I found out I was bullying someone by mistake, I feel like my heart would burst and break into pieces."

I don't think you can accidentally bully someone... can you?

"Is there any reason why you're against bullying in particular? You seem to really hate it."

"I do. I hate bullying. You see, Takanori-san... this quite a personal story, as it happened in my middle school."

Could it be, Matsushita was bullied in middle school?

"There was a boy in my class who got severely bullied day by day. One day, he tried to commit suicide in front of the class. Thankfully, he failed, and was sent to hospital."

I couldn't help but be nosy, even though it was a disturbing story.

"Is this boy you, Matsushita-san?"

If he was bullied, then could that be a reason why he was in E Class?

"Me? No, no. I was... I was just a bystander who didn't notice that boy's pain."

It seems Matsushita wasn't the victim, so it'd be pointless to think about that possibility.

He squeezed his fists and clenched his jaw. This really meant a lot to him, huh?

"That's why I made a vow to help those around me ever since that day."

Driven by a sense of injustice done to his classmate... he really is a prince in shining armour.

"Oh, um... could you please keep the story a secret? I don't think it'd be a good thing if people knew..."

"Of course."

I wouldn't have anyone to tell it to anyways.

"Thank you... you're a great listener, Takanori-san."

Matsushita smiled. We entered the school building and walked to our class, which was all the way at the end of the corridor.

However, on our way there, we witnessed something completely bizarre.