Eikou couldn’t stop shaking. He had built so much of his life around this. Regardless of the outcome, he wasn’t sure if he would be ready to move on. He blended into the crowd as he walked back towards the school. The entrance to the underground section of the school was behind a fake wall in the janitor’s closet. A large elevator, painted in red and gold, waited to take the students to the other side. It bore the crests of the two crime families that kept the school running: a devil for Yuzai and a vulture for Hagetaka. Other crests were scattered across the walls, but none were particularly obtrusive or recognizable. They represented the smaller syndicates that also recognized the school as a place of peace. The families not only used their considerable political influence to allow the school to operate, but used their weight in the underworld to guarantee the school was as safe as possible. Nobody was allowed to bring bodyguards or weapons to school, interfere with students as a result of their studies, or wield their family’s influence for an advantage, although the last rule was easily bendable. Even with all of these rules to protect the safety of the students, a considerable amount are still injured or even killed during their time in Soshiki. The assignments are no joke – screw up too bad and you could easily get yourself killed. Step outside of what the assignment requires and you were fair game. The academy was not designed to get students killed, but the curriculum being taught is inherently dangerous, so it is a natural progression. The type of students to enroll in an academy of the criminal underworld probably aren’t coming from the safest background, either.
The elevator let out a soft ding, signaling a finished descent. The doors slid open, revealing a large gray room where folding chairs had been put out for a makeshift auditorium. Gray hallways extended from every side of the room, housing the classrooms. The underground school’s layout resembled its above-ground counterpart: there were less classrooms and the skeleton of the outdoor areas formed large rooms where skills like shooting, combat, and negotiation were practiced, but it was clearly still a school. However, the fluorescent lighting and sleek walls gave the building a harsh, unwelcoming feeling, letting all the students know that this was not what they were used to.
Kentaro was sitting with a large group of people. They were all joking and laughing, so Eikou thought he should keep to himself until the plan went into action. Instead, he settled with just waving to Kentaro, who merely responded with a slight movement of his head, not even breaking the flow of conversation. Eikou found a seat near the back with two open seats next to it and proceeded to busy himself with pretending to be busy with his phone.
Once all of the seats seemed to be filled, a huge man stood up in front of the audience. “Silence!” His deep voice boomed outwards and echoed throughout the halls. He had a shaved black head and was built like a professional bodybuilder. His body, as imposing as it was, was nobody near as threatening as his reputation. Widely considered one of the greatest lieutenants that the Hagetaka family ever had, he served for decades with a near impeccable record. His brutality was legendary. He did not have to repeat himself, and he never would. “Welcome to the underground. I am your headmaster, Headmaster Hairoguma. Some of you may be expecting a long speech.” He looked around over the students’ faces. Hairoguma wanted to get down to business immediately, but he had done this before. Treat them like adults and they will try and act like it. They have to understand this training, this life, through the context of school. They were still just kids. They were all expecting a speech, so he would oblige. “This is not that type of school. You all stand in the most dangerous and prestigious school in the world. You may feel lucky, you may feel cursed. It does not matter. Everyone is the same now. Whether you feel ready or not, nobody is. Look around.” He only paused for a second. “These are your peers, but they may come out of this your enemies. They may not come out at all. Do not get cocky; do not stand by; doubt yourself, but doubt everyone more; above all, do not do it alone.” He stopped as if he were waiting for applause, but as soon as it came he started talking again. “Thank you. Now for important instructions. Before the school year started, you all should have taken a few exams to determine your approximate skill level. If not, you cannot be here. As you all know, you will be forming groups of six which will last the rest of the school year.” Students gave each other some high-fives and back-pats as a show of intent. “Now, I know that you may be excited to group up with your friends. However, note that there are restrictions. If you scored with an average of 80 or above, you must be grouped up with someone with an average of 20 or lower.” Everyone groaned, thinking that this meant they wouldn’t be able to be with their friends. The scores had not been published yet. “This won’t be a problem for most of you, as most people are comfortably average.” Everyone groaned again. “The lists are posted in the hallway to my left.” He had made the ultimate mistake: revealing that he had a piece of paper that students could define themselves by slightly out of view, only one lecture away. Students leaned over trying to get a peek. Is that my name? No, that’s not even the sheet. Where were you even looking? Most students were too focused on their impending doom to listen to Hairoguma’s lecture on school rules, assignments, silence, and whatever else was important to being successful at Soshiki. What if they had a score of under 50? Would that be below average? It was an off day, that was it. I had a really bad headache that day, don’t you believe me?! Dude, you haven’t even seen the score. I know, I’m just saying I know I would’ve done better if it had been any other day. Uh-huh. “Excuse me. If you do not want to learn the rules of the school, you do not have to be here.” Everyone fell silent, watching in bleak anticipation. There was no response, so Hairoguma continued.
The students swarmed as soon as he stopped talking. It was like four shoddily-made word documents was the high schoolers’ holy grail, and everyone who had been searching for it all found it at the same time. Find where you are, maybe your friends, then leave. Expectations shattered and reformed: 70 and above became exceptional, and people became happy with scoring around 50. Everyone based their expectations around the average of others, so 40 became the cutoff for the smart and talented people. There was only averages, no scores on the individual rounds. The students had been tasked with going to the school somewhere in the month leading up to the start of the school year and testing in 5 areas: physical combat, gun skill, negotiation/leveraging, strategy, and manipulation/insight. Eikou hadn’t done very well. He had placed under 20 points. He may have felt a little embarrassed, but he considered the fact he was bad at crime a compliment to his character. The only section he even had even an ounce of competence in was strategy, but even then he hadn’t placed in the top 20. Whatever. It was a net positive, actually. Ushinawa had placed at 83 points, the fifth highest, so she had to pair up with someone under 20 anyways. Everything was perfectly falling into place. Eikou scanned the list for other names he knew. Unsurprisingly, the top student was Yuzai, coming in with a 91, a score that only disappointed herself. Ironically, she hadn’t placed first in any category. Her family had gotten the scores before everyone else had and she had seen her performance. It was good sure, but her brother had performed better a few years earlier. Takara thought that was an unfair comparison, as she had been at a deficit of a few years of training, but it didn’t matter to her parents. Kentaro had scored a 64. It was a perfect score for him. He had been aiming to score high enough to impress everyone but not separate himself, so he was ecstatic. Still, he only said, “It’s not that good. Haha. Really, I’m nothing special.” Kentaro was lucky that the exams weren’t focused on fake laughs or he might’ve scored too high. The daughter of the Hagetaka family, Shinju, had scored an 89. She had only lost to Yuzai, but that was the only person she wanted to beat. It pissed her off to no end. She had beat her in several categories, however, which she had been gloating about for weeks. Eikou didn’t recognize the two other names that resided in the blank space between Ushinawa and Hagetaka, as they didn’t belong to prominent crime families, so he began looking for Kentaro.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
It was a free-for-all. Anyone who didn’t form a group before was lost at sea, looking for acquaintances that were similarly adrift. Eikou simply stood in a corner and texted Kentaro to come to him. Eventually, he bobbed up next to Eikou. “Can we get this over with? My group is waiting for me.”
Eikou nodded. “She’s over there. Looks like she has to split from her group due to the new rules.”
“Alright, follow me.” They strolled up to her, pretending to that their encounter was complete chance. Kentaro bumped into Ushinawa. “Oops.”
“Hey, watch where you’re going, dum-“ Ushinawa stopped dead in the middle of her sentence, her checks flaring bright red and threw her eyes to the floor. “Kaneshiro, I didn’t realize it was you! You know I didn’t mean it, right?”
“Haha. It’s fine, don’t worry.” He put his hand up and smiled a warm smile. Neither of the boys realized it, but there had been a flaw in their simple plan. A variable that threw the whole affair into chaos. Ushinawa was one of the most popular girls around the school. She was muscular, perfectly toned to balance femininity and strength with messy brown hair that fell just above her shoulders. Her face lacked refinement, but it made up for it in friendliness. Her school blazer was tied around her waist, leaving only her white button-up shirt. She kept a few of the top buttons undone, teasing the chest she took pride in. The red ribbon was untied and fashioned into a choker, with a small ribbon on the left side of her neck. Ushinawa was not meek or reserved, she was confident and displayed it loudly. She had only enrolled in Soshiki last year, but she had risen to popularity quickly. People felt better about themselves around her. Naturally, she had received a large amount of confessions, denying them all. Is there someone? People wouldn’t stop asking her. It annoyed her, but it got her thinking. It’s high school, she thought. People are supposed to fall in love, whether it lasts or not. But her standards were high. Only the best. I cannot accept anything lower. It didn’t take her long to find her mark. The golden boy of the school, Kentaro Kaneshiro, was perfect. He was kind, athletic, attractive, funny, popular, smart, and the list goes on. It didn’t take her long to fall in love with the idea of him. So without ever even talking to him, she knew that he was the one.
Eikou hadn’t seen her for many years. He had expected to see a shy, reserved girl who was covered in the dark shroud of a mysterious past. She had been taken against her will. Why did she seem so… happy? If Kentaro hadn’t pointed her out, he wouldn’t have even recognized her. He knew his mission would fail right then and there, but he also knew he needed to press on. The façade of someone is far from their reality. That’s all this was.
“Do you have a group yet?” Kentaro continued on normally. Ushinawa had looked up and blushed afterwards. Kentaro caught on, Eikou did not. Great, he groaned to himself. What have I gotten myself into. Please don’t misread this.
“Me? Um, nope! No! Nobody at all!” She also let out a loud fake laugh, which was nowhere near as convincing as Kentaro’s. Her friends were waving at her behind the boys, who she tried to signal that she was busy by wildly waving one of her hands at her side, where she thought Kentaro wouldn’t see. He did, but he decided not to mention it.
“Would you like to group up with us?” The question was tantamount to a full on confession to Ushinawa. She didn’t think it was possible for her to blush more, but she did. A little squeal of surprised excitement escaped her shut lips. No. No. No. NO. I do not need this. Kentaro could only think about how much trouble this was going to be for him. He was satisfied with his status quo. Just introduce Eikou, then dip. Ushinawa nodded her head furiously.
“Yes, of course!” She realized she was completely uncomposed. “I mean, just because you asked and I didn’t have a group, of course!” Kentaro was smiling, but he wanted nothing more than to let his mouth fall open in annoyed misery. This was really going to screw him over.
“Cool. This is my friend, Eikou Sasaki.” This was the moment Eikou had been dreaming of for years. Tears would well up in her eyes, but she would hold them back. She would want to hug him, knowing that he came for her after all those years. You’re finally here, she would say. Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me. He wouldn’t know how to respond, but he would feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and self-worth. He would stutter out something, anything would do, and she would choke back tears and chuckle. Couldn’t you do any better, she would say. You never were the romantic. Her long brown hair would fall over his shoulders, smelling of the past he couldn’t stop thinking about. It was short now, so that was different. And she was thinking. Why was she thinking? She’s thinking hard. About what? She eventually gave up. She outstretched her hand. It had been only dream, after all.
“Hey! Nice to meet ya, the name’s Tsubame Ushinawa!”