The terrain was rough, the air was freezing, the smell of blood and iron polluted the atmosphere. An enormous, rocky, and deadly mountain on both sides. A valley, normally related to greenery and life, now exuded an aura of despair. A single man walked on the narrow path that led to a single destination, where patiently awaited his inevitable demise.

“I am sleepy. If not for her debauchery and unreasonableness… I could’ve gotten some much-needed rest.”

The agitated voice of a certain boy rang out from the middle of a street. His eyebrows creased, his steps heavy and filled with anger. Muranaka Aki, an ordinary, or rather, an extraordinary individual, if viewed academically, was walking while complaining about a certain woman who ruined his beautiful and much anticipated night.

Aki is a second-year high-school student at Mekangham Academy. He is a rather average-looking boy with short and black hair, black eyes and eyebrows, and a normal and common face. Height being just over one-hundred-seventy centimeters, his slim yet firm body moved through the hot and stinging air of September.

Aki wasn’t particularly good-looking, but neither could he be classified as ugly. He would be a five-out-of-ten from virtually anybody’s perspective. Even in the scorching heat of September, Aki could be seen wearing the full uniform of a blue blazer over a white shirt, and blue trousers. His arms and legs were covered, no skin except for his face, neck, and hands could be seen. It wasn’t as though he was sensitive to cold, quite the opposite, he was very good with cold weather, but some circumstances dictated his choice of such attire during the peak time of summer.

The school which Aki attends, Mekangham Academy, is one of the most renowned college-preparation schools in all of Japan. There are only two ways of getting into the school, the first being a scholarship obtained by answering over ten tests of every single subject you wish to pursue, the alternative being, of course, money. Even if one chooses the option to enter the school with the power of money, he or she must be an exceptionally talented person to clear all the pre-requisites. Only a total of one-hundred-fifty students are given seats in this school each year, and every student who manages to graduate from Mekangham Academy is guaranteed a future of leisure and wealth.

Aki’s family was well-off, and from a certain perspective, they could even be called prestigious and wealthy, but their assets were nowhere enough to get him into Mekangham Academy. It was his hard work, his diligence, his talent, and of course, his suffering and pain that got him in. He didn’t just ‘get in’ either, he managed to land a spot in the most advanced class out of the total six classes in his grade, class A.

As soon as you manage to enter Mekangham Academy, during the initial stages of the first year, a student has to answer three separate exams. Unlike the many exams an individual needs to answer to get in, all the three papers here are set so that a student isn’t judged solely based on their academics, but their intellect, merit, and cognitive thinking as well. The results of these tests decide the class in which a student is going to spend their three years of high school. Class 'A' is the most advanced class and is composed of the best and brightest the Academy has to offer. During each of the test results, the students of class 'A' monopolize the top twenty-five spots, resulting in the battle for the top spots to be fought among the students of this class as well. The students belonging to the other classes just bow down their heads compete for spots twenty-six to fifty.

One would expect that Aki’s life would be full of satisfaction and happiness, but this isn’t the case at all. As they say, even the elite have their problems.

“Yo, Muranaka-kun. So? What is it th-”

“Fuck off.”

These two cold words came out of Aki’s mouth almost reflexively, and the woman at whom these words were directed froze for a second, only to continue her march and stand beside Aki.

“Don’t be disrespectful, Muranaka-kun.”

Aki took a glance at this woman’s face and opened his mouth without even a moment’s hesitation.

“Then, Shishidou-sensei, please, respectfully, politely, considerately, courteously… Fuck off.”

The eyebrow of the woman named Shishidou twitched.

“Wording it politely doesn’t make it any better! And you are not supposed to use foul language while conversing with your teacher!”

Aki’s homeroom teacher, Shishidou Chisa. She is a woman in her early twenties, or so she claims, but each student is aware that she is about to turn twenty-six next year.

“Then a teacher isn’t supposed to do what you did this morning! You are just a degenerate and a drunkard!”

Chisa is a very beautiful woman from anybody’s perspective, regardless of gender. She even has a body that any man would be happy to die for. Objectively looking at her would render any person incapable of understanding her choice of career. She could easily make a fortune in a different industry if she just gave it a try.

Her semi-long black hair is tied into a ponytail behind her head, she is wearing a short-sleeved white blouse, a black skirt that covers her knees, and a pair of netted stockings.

Aki just heaved a sigh and observed as his teacher looked down at the floor with an apologetic expression.

“Hey, I am sorry, okay? I promise... I swear... I won’t do anything like that again. But still, you shouldn’t say such hurtful things to your teacher. I can get you expelled, you know?”

Chisa showed a smug expression and crossed her arms. Her height was just over one-sixty-five centimeters, so she had to tilt her head a little upwards to observe Aki’s reaction.

“Fine then. From here on out, you are banned from ever con-”

“I retract my statement. You are free to refer to me in any manner you so desire.”

They looked at each other and leaked a wry chuckle.

“So… What is it this time?”

Chisa’s voice turned serious, her crossed hands gained strength, and her expression turned serious.

“Apparently… I forced myself on a girl from 2-C, and groped her breasts.”

“Which girl?”

“I don’t know her full name, but from what I heard, it’s Shinohara-san.”

One of Chisa’s hands left her bosom and reached her chin.

“Shinohara-san, huh? It’s pretty believable, she has quite the big bust.”

Aki glanced at his teacher’s gravure idol class figure and wondered if she had a right to say that.

“They’ll be arriving soon. Please do something about it. Just make sure that my parents aren’t involved, anything else is fine.”

Aki sighed again, resigning himself to his damned fate,

The time was about 3.25 P.M, and the students of class 2-A were gathered in their class to witness another extraordinary event. Class 2-A, being the most advanced, had provided many facilities for students to use. The class was huge and air-conditioned, one high-tech tablet was placed on each of the twenty-five desks, and the smart-board and projector were also of quite the famous companies.

Every student who called class 2-A their own was present, but it didn’t seem that way at all. The class was divided into four major groups, and twenty-three students referred to themselves as part of one of those four groups. The two castaways being Muranaka Aki and Khavare Vinayak, who together essentially formed the fifth group in the class.

Two groups were giggling in anticipation and excitement, one group was indifferent to this development, and the members of the fourth group were separated between the students who excessively worried about Aki and the students who couldn’t care less about trash like him.

“Hey. So this is happening again?”

The only other student in the class who was considered a castaway and a loner, and Aki’s best friend, Khavare Vinayak snuck up on Aki from behind and tapped his shoulders while uttering those few words.

“Yeah. It just feels repetitive at this point.”

Vinayak was effectively the only male in the entire school who actively conversed with Aki. Vinayak is an Indian boy who transferred here this April. Normally, it was impossible to transfer into Mekangham Academy as the seats would be filled and the requirements were very high. However, due to a certain student from class A leaving the school due to family circumstances, Vinayak was given entry into this school, and after the results that he produced during the first semester, he certainly deserved it.

Vinayak was a tanned boy with a height exceeding one-eighty centimeters. His Indian descent was obvious on his face and his accent. Vinayak had big eyes and a robust body. It wasn’t as though he was excessively muscular, but neither was he slim like Aki. His brown hair was cut short and faint traces of facial hair could be seen all over the lower section of his face.

“What do you think? Is it the same as last week?”

Vinayak asked while adopting a serious expression.

“I don’t know. They have yet to arrive.”

“It’s Shinohara-san, right?”

“Um-hmm. I didn’t realize she was with them. The last week’s attempt failed miserably, so they must’ve been cautious this time around.”

“I don’t understand how you can take so much bullying and accusations so calmly. It seems like you don’t even acknowledge this level of a hindrance as a threat.”

Vinayak asked Aki with a confused expression, in turn, Aki just had a bitter smile on his face.

“I’ve been living this life for so long that this level of farce doesn’t even feel like bullying. You should know better than most...”

Aki’s voice turned low and cold, his expression was calm, but his eyes were dead.

“... What it means to live like me.”

Aki’s voice sent a chill through Vinayak’s whole body. Vinayak was one of the very few people in the world who was aware of Aki’s true personality. However, even he was unaware of Aki’s past and the reason for his twisted state. Vinayak knew, he had already confronted the existence known as Muranaka Aki in broad daylight and suffered the consequences.

Vinayak was exiled from the normal student body, he was thrown away, similar to his best friend. Vinayak remembered how Aki had warned him several times, no, Aki begged Vinayak to stop conversing with him. However, Vinayak’s foreigner soul just couldn’t help but talk to Aki in front of everybody in the class. This was his biggest mistake. Without realizing it, Vinayak had lost his chance of ever making male friends at this school.

Vinayak was sad, he was at the pits of despair, he blamed Aki for all of it, but he never left his side. As time passed, Vinayak realized how cruel the students of this school were, and he felt glad to be ignored by them.

“I know, and that’s why you are my best friend.”

“You’re contradicting yourself there.”

“I know.”

The intensified atmosphere lightens as the two friends smiled at each other. They believed that this situation was a breeze compared to the others, none of the two paid much heed to what was happening around them and concentrated on each other.

On the other side of the classroom, at a distance from where they could see Aki’s and Vinayak’s faces, but unable to catch their conversation, four friends were sitting close to each other and discussing a very serious topic among themselves.

“Are you serious!? Not again~!”

One of the four girls said this while folding her arms and leaning on the table in front of her.

“I’d say it’s your fault, Aki.”

One of the other girls articulated her thoughts while adopting a teasing yet affectionate tone.

“Hey! Stop calling me that! My name is Akio, not Aki.”

The girl who snapped at one of her best friends was Ayuzawa Akio. Akio is effectively the single most popular girl in the entire school. Amid all the young ladies of big houses and foreign families, Akio’s beauty and personality remain unrivaled throughout the school, which has lead to her immense social acceptance and appreciation. Akio, with Chisa and few others, is known as one of the Madonnas of Mekangham Academy.

Akio has a rather slim body but her boastful assets didn’t fail to emphasize their presence under her school uniform of a red blazer over a white shirt, blue skirt, and tie. Akio had long, jet black hair which reached her lower back, her height barely surpassed 160 centimeters, and with her beautiful and refined face which lacked any type of pimple or acne, her beauty was truly unparalleled among the students.

“You know… When you say that with such an expression, it just doesn’t contain the necessary persuasive power.”

The one who said this was one of Akio’s three best friends, Ohori Umi. Umi was a soft-core sadist, no matter how you looked at it, she found it pleasurable to tease others. In many instances, Umi was seen brutally belittling, insulting, and even hitting people. Normally, people would avoid such a dangerous and toxic person, however, the boys found it most pleasurable to be harmed by one of the few girls who were considered to be in the same league as Chisa and Akio.

Umi was a little on the harsh side but never behaved like that in front of the people she truly respected and held dear, her group of friends for example, but even so, she couldn’t help but tease her best friend who was totally in love with a boy in their class. Umi’s brown hair was long and silky, she kept them in a perfect ponytail which left the nape of her neck exposed. Her features were sharp and alluring, she could be equated to a majestic and beautiful tigress always awaiting prey to devour.

“Well… It’s not like I particularly hate it or anything. L-leaving that aside. What is it this time?”

“He groped Shinohara-san from 2-C during the break after the fifth class. Or that’s what I heard.”

One of the two girls who hadn’t participated in the conversation spoke up while placing the book that she was reading on the table.

“Fifth period, huh? That was the only time when he went out of the classroom… If they plan it right, they could trap him this time.”

Akio said so with an anxious look on her face. Her black eyes displayed worry and concern, her trembling foot indicated her anxiety.

“Why are you so worried, Akio? He’s been a target for over a year. They banned physical violence in this school because of Muranaka-kun. Shouldn’t you be happy that he’s not getting assaulted anymore?”

“That’s not it, Misaki. Of course, I am happy. But still, watching him get tormented like this day after day. False rumors and accusations running amok in the school. People who don’t even know his full name are passing comments about him… It just… hurts.”

“I can’t disagree.”

The girl named Misaki fixed her glasses and replied in an acknowledging tone.

Arashiro Misaki. The only student in the whole second-year who could compete with Aki in academics. She is a petite girl of about 155 centimeters. Her glasses aren’t round and dull, but rather, custom-made and stylish. Her short, blue, and shiny hair was swept back with a single hairband. Her eyes were narrow and sharp, her small and frail face was always filled with an unwavering determination.

“Personally. I like him quite a lot. I was sure that when I entered high-school, even if it was an advanced one such as this, I would be unrivaled in studies, so I felt demotivated and disappointed. However, Miuranaka-kun kept it interesting for me. During the entire first term, I wasn’t able to catch up to him because of my overconfidence, but since then, it’s been a back-and-forth between us for the top spot.”

Misaki spoke with a little delight in her voice.

“Yeah… Even though he goes through so much daily, he still comes through with perfect scores. Misaki, have you ever really talked to him?”

Umi asked while popping a piece of candy into her mouth.

“Yeah, he hangs out in the library quite often, since he can’t be subjected to slander there. I’ve talked to him multiple times, but I distinctly remember the first time when we conversed…”

Misaki took a deep breath and continued her story.

“... It was just after the second semester’s midterms, and the first time I had gotten a higher score than Muranaka-kun. I always believed that he was an otaku since he was constantly bullied and insulted, and he never had a single friend either. When I spotted him in the library, somewhere deep down, I was looking down at him so much that it resulted in me approaching him to show off my superiority and writing off his high scores as mere luck...”

The three girls who were listening felt their eyebrows twitch.

“... When I reached him, instead of light novels and manga, there were many books related to psychology near his table. And I am not talking about the type that is taught in school, they were genuine psychology books that dealt with human emotions at a much deeper level. He was reading about the psychological state of murderers and rapists…”

The atmosphere around the group got heavier. Even Akio, who was stealing glances at Aki was now listening to Misaki’s words with the utmost concentration.

“I asked him about it, and he said that he got interested in psychology and got addicted to it. He said that it was the first time that a girl except for Akio and Nikki had approached him. I said I wanted to talk, and he agreed, I just wanted to test his intellect. Honestly, I was blown away. No matter what topic I brought up, he was aware of it and had enough knowledge about it to talk with conviction. He was rational and easy to understand. His approach to every topic was very unique, he didn’t force his ideas or opinions on me, rather, he calmly and patiently explained to me his thinking and how he arrived at a certain conclusion. He was calm, collected, and composed. And from what he told me, he had never touched a light novel or manga. Ever since then, I sometimes talk to him in the library and learn from him. He teaches me more than the school ever could, and the funny part is that he doesn’t even realize it.”

“You say that Misaki-chan… However, aside from academics, Muranaka-kun hasn’t done anything, has he? He doesn’t participate in many events, he isn’t involved in any sport, and he only has one friend.”

“Umi, when you are subjected to such harsh and unreasonable bullying daily, you just lose the motivation to do anything. What surprises me more is the fact that he is so good at studying despite all the darkness that surrounds him.”

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

The fourth girl in the group, the only one who hadn’t uttered a single word since the conversation was initiated, finally decided to do so.

“Yes! Someone gets me! Thank you, Nikki!”

Manaha Nikki. One of the seven wonders on Mekangham. There were Akio, Umi, and Nikki from class A, Chisa from the staff, and the rest hailing from different classes. They certainly deserved to be referred by the title of ‘beauties’. When four of these beauties were assigned to the same class, it just ended up being an extraordinary criminal coincidence.

Nikki’s brown hair was arranged in a beautiful side ponytail and was resting on her shoulder. Her brown eyes were big and shiny, her skin was white to the point of being transparent, and her glorified and beautiful face could draw the attention of even the models. With a height of about 160 centimeters, her curves were just as impressive as her face. Thin waist with ample assets, she was a perfect representation of all that a man desires in a woman. However, the most important aspect of her being was her personality, the personality of an angel.

“They’re here! The principal, victim and the other involved parties are coming!”

The teacher whom all the students adored and respected announced with a shaky voice. Chisa’s face was tinged with anxiety and worry. She had been accustomed to these kinds of situations. She had seen Aki get bullied more times than she could count. Aki wasn’t just a mere student to Chisa, he was special to her in more ways than one. And as such, when these kinds of extreme cases were filed against him, she found herself at a loss for what to do. Chisa was aware that the school wouldn’t dare expel Aki no matter what he did because of his grades, but she still worried.

Aki was hated by almost all the students on the campus, there were dozens of rumors and false accusations about him making the rounds in the school. Even the teachers were affected by all the rumors and treated him harshly. However, Chisa knew. Chisa was the only one among the staff members who were aware of Aki’s dark past and how it has influenced his personality.

The attention of every student in the class gathered on the door that led to the class. Aki and Vinayak stopped talking and adopted a serious expression as well. The four girls straightened their backs and stuck one of their legs out of their seats so that they could help Aki immediately if need be.

“Seems interesting…”

“Please don’t tell me that it’s Muranaka-kun again...”

“He should just drop out at this point.”

Three boys conversed as they approached the table where Akio and the others were seated. Their voices were sarcastic and displayed their intent to mock Aki. These three boys, along with the four girls who were holding themselves back from retorting to their mean comments, made up one of the four groups in the class.

“Ara, Asahi-kun, Tsun-chan, and Yo-kun. Please, take a seat.”

Misaki, being the only one among the four who was calm and composed enough to converse with them said in an indifferent voice while offering them a chair. One of the boys grabbed the chair that Misaki offered and placed himself on it while facing the front of the class.

“Popcorn?”

Misaki asked in a sarcastic voice.

“No need. This movie will be short.”

Asahi, the boy sitting on the chair smiled as the other two boys brought chairs to sit as well.

Uenohabaru Asahi. His height crossed 175 centimeters. He had thick, long, and red hair which was swept back and tied into a short ponytail. His face was very handsome, and his body was well-built as well. Akio was the most popular student in the school, and Asahi was the most popular boy.

“Thank you, Misaki-san. I am not sure that we should be treating this like a movie… I am a bit concerned about Muranaka-kun.”

The second boy, who was referred to as ‘Tsun-chan’, gently grabbed a chair and positioned himself on it with a straightened back and anxious face. Tanikawa Tsunesaburo, or Tsun-chan, is a very gentle person with a handsome face and good build. His hair was a variant of brown and his jawline was quite sharp. He was slightly taller than his best friend, Asahi, and was known to be a genuine gentleman among the ladies, which made him super popular as well. Tsun-chan was genuinely kind and caring, he could be considered to be a single ray of light among the darkness that surrounds the students of their generation.

“I don’t understand his reason for coming to school. I mean… if I was the guy who got assaulted so much that the school had to ban any kind of physical violence for me to survive, I would rather just go and die.”

Mashima Yoshida, or as his friends like to call him, Yo-kun, is a muscular boy with an unreasonably sharp tongue. He can argue or belittle anybody he desires because he has the physical strength to back his words up. Height surpassing the 185 centimeters mark, his short and black colored hair swayed ever so slightly with the air produced by the Air conditioner. His build was solid, and this fact was pretty obvious as even with his uniform on, his bulging muscles and ripped body was in the open for anybody to see. He wasn’t all that handsome, but he was popular among the boys as the ‘Gym God’.

“Shut up you three, they’re here.”

Akio said so while biting her fingernails and sweating bullets. The class’s door was swung open and what came after was a very nostalgic scene for everyone present, but no one could laugh or smile as it unfolded in front of their very eyes.