Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

I'm currently heading my way to the convenience store after what just happened in the classroom. I hope I didn't come off as boring or uninspiring to my classmates. I wanted the message to reach their ears clearly so they wouldn't leak any information about what we've just discovered about the school and the point system.

"Kiyotaka!" A voice called out to me. I looked behind to see Eichiiro, Miyake, and Yukimura all trying to catch up to me. I was surprised to see Yukimura there, I thought he would wang some peace and quiet or maybe alone time considering how he reacted in the classroom. I waved back at them and stopped in my tracks to wait for them.

"What you did in class was so fucking cool! It felt like I was experiencing a real ace attorney or danganronpa game!" Eichiiro exclaimed.

"Yeah, you should've told us you were a genius Ayanokouji." Miyake followed Eichiiro.

"I don't really like to brag a lot but thanks for the compliments I guess..." I thanked them.

"Yeah, now I kind of feel embarrassed praising myself as an academically gifted student..." Yukimura looked down in embarrassment. I could tell that he was feeling really down maybe because of his placement in class D.

Eichiiro noticed Yukimura's mood and decided to comfort him "You shouldn't feel so bad about being placed in class D Yukimura. Just because you are in class D doesn't mean you actually deserve to be here. I mean that's only the school's judgment. Although I don't know your whole situation, If I were the school I'd at least place you in class B or Class C."

"Plus, if you were placed in another class, you wouldn't have met me and Ayanokouji, that would be sad wouldn't it?" Miyake joined in.

"I... I guess your right..." Yukimura replied.

"Yukimura," I called him. He looked at me with full attention.

"Although I can't promise you we'll reach class A easily, I promise you and everyone in class D that I'll try my very best to bring all of us to class A. But to do that, I'll need you and the class' cooperation. So, if there comes a time when I -, no, all of class D needs your academic abilities, will you be willing to lend a helping hand?" I asked him.

"O-of course I will... If it's you leading us, I believe we actually can reach class A. If you ever need help on anything, please don't hesitate to reach out to me." Yukimura spoke.

"I see, that's good then. I'll be depending on you in the future whenever I need your help." I said to him. I noticed he was looking sort of embarrassed by the conversation we just had. I noticed there was a lack of presence in our group.

"Sotomura and Hirata aren't with you?" I asked Eichiiro.

"Well Hirata got dragged off by a group of gyaru girls and Sotomura said he wanted to hang out with some of his other friends. I didn't want to bother them so I left them to their own accord." Eichiiro responded

"Well, I was gonna go to the convenience store to buy some groceries and essentials. Do any of you want to come with me?" I offered them.

"Sure, I also need to but some stuff," Eichiiro answered. Miyake nodded in agreement.

"Well... I guess I need something to take my mind off things so I'll join you guys." Yukimura replied.

We made our way to the convenience store in silence. As we were walking, I could tell Yukimura wasn't in the best of moods but I think asking him about it or comforting him wouldn't be the right action for now.

We finally arrived at the convenience store as the door slid open for the four of us. I could see that they had a section for every essential thing like ingredients for cooking, snacks, bathroom items, and other stuff. I looked around to see a freezer with cold desserts on it. I'll probably buy that later just because I'm curious about what certain desserts taste like.

"Oh, remember guys, we only have 80,000 private points left so make sure to be wise with your spending," Yukimura advised us.

We all nodded and all headed in different directions of the store. From my field of vision, there were different sections of things such as food, bathroom necessities, but one thing caught my eye and that was a freezer. If I could, I would like to buy ice cream or at least something similar to it. There was also a snacks section filled with potato chips, gummy bears, and other unhealthy stuff. Although I had to maintain a healthy diet, it wouldn't hurt once in a while to eat food like this.

I saw Yukimura in the bathroom necessities section buying shampoo, soap, skincare, and other important toiletries. On the other side, I saw Miyake buying some snacks like potato chips, cheese balls, and some corn chips. Then we have Eichiiro, he was buying ingredients probably to cook.

I approached Miyake and asked him a question.

"Uhh... Miyake, sorry if I'm bothering you, but can you recommend me a potato chip flavor?" I asked him with curiosity.

"Well, I really like the barbecued flavored ones, but the cheese flavored ones aren't bad. There's also a new seaweed flavor I want to try." Miyake answered honestly.

"Oh, thanks. I've never tried something like this so I wanted my first experience eating potato chips to be enjoyable." As I said that, Miyake just looked at me dumbfounded with an expression filled with shock.

"YOU'VE NEVER TRIED POTATO CHIPS BEFORE?!" Miyake shouted which turned everyone's attention to him. He realized what he had just done, he embarrassingly apologized to everyone while bowing. I could see his cheeks were red due to how humiliated he felt.

"Well, to answer your question, no I have not. It's no big deal really. My father put me on a very strict diet of vegetables, fruits, proteins, and other healthy meals you could think of. So you could say I haven't tasted many savory and sweet snacks in my lifetime." I explained.

"Isn't that kind of sad though? I mean no offense of course Ayanokouji but haven't you at least tried a few things like desserts or you know, other things kids liked to eat?" Miyake asked curiously.

"Well, I never really had the privilege of eating desserts, but I did recently try eating a pancake with maple syrup. I also ate different variations of ice cream so don't worry, I'm trying to fit in with the rest of the people of my age. It's not like I hated being put on a diet by my father."

"Well, you do you I guess. Speaking of diets, are you perhaps athletic Ayanokouji? Usually, it would be athletes or bodybuilders who go on diets as you do." Miyake continued to interrogate me. I guess he sensed that this would be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other better.

"I wouldn't say I'm an athlete or bodybuilder, but I do work out from time to time and exercise a lot. Nevertheless, it's not like I'm aiming to have a professional career in anything involving exercise or athletics, I simply just want to stay healthy and maintain a good physique for my body." I responded.

"Hmm... That's pretty cool Ayanokouji. Well, I'm probably bothering you with all my questions, so I'll see you later!" He said as he went to a different section of the store.

I then went over to the ingredients section putting raw vegetables, meat, seasoning, and other foods in my shopping basket. I'm pretty sure I've already bought everything I need. Let's see... Shampoo, soap, skincare, ingredients for cooking, a bit of snacks, yeah that's everything.

"Yo Kiyotaka! Catch!" Eichiiro suddenly threw me something. I caught it perfectly and opened my hands to see what he had thrown me. It was a popsicle with a flavor called "rainbow" on it. I'm guessing it meant several fruit flavorings mixed into one to make a single flavor of popsicle. It looked quite appetizing, but I needed to hurriedly finish my shopping or this popsicle would quickly melt before I can even try it.

As I made my way to the counter, I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Can you watch where your go-" the person then quickly stopped herself from finishing that sentence. The person I bumped into turn out to be none other than my seatmate, Horikita Suzune.

"Ah, sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I bowed to sound sincere and apologetic.

"No, I guess it was my fault too considering I should've been more mindful of my surroundings," Horikita responded. There was an awkward silence between us for a few seconds before I decided to try to start a conversation with her.

"So... What brings you here Horikita?"

"Just like you, I'm here to buy my daily needs and necessities, although, it's quite alarming how much snacks and sweets you bought, I suggest you don't eat too much unhealthy food as it may be detrimental to your health and hygiene," Horikita advised me.

"Yeah, I get it. It's not like I'll be eating these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Anyways, I won't bother you anymore. You probably don't want to waste much time here and quickly finish your shopping. Bye Horikita." I said to her trying to leave before being stopped by her.

"Ayanokouji-Kun," Horikita called for me.

"Hm?"

"If you have time, I would like to discuss with you about our class matters and affairs," Horikita said to me.

"Sure, but not today Horikita. I want to hang out with my friends a bit and check my dorm room. If you want, we can talk about it tomorrow after school."

"After school? Why not lunch?" Horikita asked.

"As class D's official leader, I would like to get to know our classmates better and have some connections to maintain a good relationship with everyone. I hope you understand that our unity and teamwork with our classmates will be very important in our mission to rise up to class A." I stated my reasoning.

"I guess that's reasonable... For now. Well, I'll be seeing you tomorrow Ayanokouji-Kun. I still have some things I need to buy. Although someone like you probably already knows this, but I recommend not spending too many points not just because we might not get as many as 100,000 private points next month, but to ensure we don't end up having bad habits of spending a lot of money without saving any."

"Yeah, I hear you. Thanks for the advice and I'll see you tomorrow Horikita." I waved and we walked past each other.

I then gathered near the counter with Eiichiro, Miyake, and Yukimura. We had just finished buying everything we needed. Miyake arrived last as he bought the most out of all of us with a month's worth of snacks, a couple of soda cans, and a lot of groceries. We were about to start a conversation when we were suddenly interrupted.

"Oi! Can you hurry up, you're really holding up the line you know!" A student shouted at someone.

"Tch, just wait a bit will you, jeez how the fuck did I forget it!" A red-haired tall student said to the people behind him. He was one of our classmates that a lot of people tried to avoid probably thinking he looked scary or assumed he was a delinquent. Eichiiro noticing the situation decided to walk towards him and de-escalate the situation.

"Hi, I've noticed that something was going on here. What seems to be the problem?" Eichiiro asked in a friendly tone.

"Huh?! Oh, I forgot my student card. I forgot it basically works like our money now." The red-haired man replied.

"Ah, I'll pay for your groceries if you want." Eichiiro offered him.

"Really? What's the catch here?" The red-haired man asked suspiciously.

"There's no catch really. I just want this situation to be over with. Plus, I can relate to your situation about being forgetful." Eichiiro responded.

"Ah, that's true. Thanks, dude, I owe you one." The red-haired man thanked Eichiiro.

"There's really no need to thank me. If it wasn't for my friends I probably wouldn't have done it." Eichiiro said as he pointed at us. He probably wanted to give a good impression of us to the red-haired man. Speaking of him, I really need to get his name so I can stop referring to him as the red-haired man.

Eichiiro then took out his id card and paid for the red-haired man's groceries. After presenting the student ID card to the machine, the transaction was quickly completed. It was even faster because there was no small change involved.

"It's really usable as money..." Miyake muttered to himself. The receipt showed the prices of each good and the leftover amount of points. The payment went off without a hitch.

We all then exited the store where Eichiiro and the red-haired man were waiting for us. When they noticed our presence Eichiiro waved at us while the red-haired man stood there feeling a bit awkward with the current situation.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Matsuo Eichiiro. It's nice to meet you." Eichiiro said to the red-haired man while bowing.

"I'm Sudou Ken. It's also nice to meet you." So his name is Sudou Ken. Looking at him closely, he was tall and had a sturdy and muscular physique. He also looked a bit intimidating but I paid no heed to that.

"Oh, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Miyake Akito, it's a pleasure to meet you Sudou." Miyake said with a smile trying to appear friendly.

"I'm Yukimura Teruhiko, I forgot to tell all of you this but I would rather all of you refer to me as Yukimura Keisei because of personal reasons. It's nice to meet you Sudou." Yukimura greeted himself to Sudou.

"I'm Ayano-" before I could introduce myself Sudou interrupted me.

"Ah, you don't need to introduce yourself, I already know who you are. After all, you saved our asses there in class. I have to thank you for that since I'd probably end up spending all my points if it weren't for you." Sudou thanked me.

"Ah, it's no problem really. I was merely also saving myself too."

"Well anyway, here Matsuo." He offered a ramen cup to Eichiiro and he accepted it. It was already filled with boiled water and the noodles had already cooked along with the other ingredients in the cup of ramen.

"I know you don't want to be repaid with money, but this is the least I could do for you," Sudou said with a smile. He and Eichiiro then sat down and were just about to eat their meal before being interrupted by a group of upper-classmen.

"Hey first years, scram would you, this is our spot." An upperclassman boldly stated his displeasure with us.

Sudou's face changed to an angry one while Yukimura and Miyake had confused expressions.

"Hah?! We were here first, find your own spots, and fuck off will you!" Sudou retorted.

"Didn't you hear what my friend said? Or are you fucking deaf you dogshit-looking fucker? He said scram." Another upperclassman countered Sudou.

"Tch, what a cheeky first year."

They all laughed at Sudou which angered him more to the point he threw his ramen cup to the ground and was about to cause a scene. I looked around my surroundings to see a camera above us. Hmm... I see what they're trying to do.

"THE FUCK YOU ALL SAID TO ME?! I'll BEAT YOUR FUCKING ASSES RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!" Sudou shouted with full annoyance.

"Heh, take a load of this guy, trying to start a fight. Well, come right at us you fucking loser." Upperclassmen taunted.

"WHY YOU-" Before Sudou could do anything I put a hand on his chest and stopped him.

"Calm down Sudou, they're trying to make you fall into their trap," I explained.

"HUH?! THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN-" Before he could say anything Eichiiro stepped forward and explained the situation.

"They were going to provoke you into beating them up and then use the cameras above us to blackmail you into giving them all of your points. Remember, this school doesn't take violence lightly and they probably would threaten you with something like suspension or maybe even expulsion." Eichiiro exposed their plan. It seems he also noticed the cameras that were monitoring us.

"Tch, this first-year punk figured us out. Your friend there looks like he belongs in class D but you and that poker-faced boy over there seem to calm in this situation. Are you class A or class B students?" An upperclassman asked. I noticed he had made a huge blunder exposing a bit of the school system.

"What do you mean by that senpai? What does me being in class A or class B have to do with my attitude and observational skills?" Eichiiro asked them provokingly.

"Tch, never mind. My mood's ruined, let's go somewhere else." An upperclassman said irritatedly while leaving all of us here near the bench. I looked back to see Miyake and Yukimura had puzzled expressions, and I saw Horikita staring at us curiously. It seems, she finished shopping for all her essentials.

"I'm really sorry for losing my temper there. I'll have to thank you Ayanokouji and Matsuo. I don't know what I would've done if I got expelled from this school or if I had to give up all my private points to those pigs." Sudou apologized.

"It's fine Sudou. We all make mistakes sometimes. I can tell that you are a good person, just try not to pick fights okay?" Eichiiro advised Sudou.

"Yeah... I don't want to cause trouble for myself and you guys. I'll be working on my temper and I'll hopefully be able to control it someday." Sudou said.

"Ah shit, my instant cup ramen. Great, I have nothing to eat now." Sudou voiced his dissatisfaction.

"Ah, you can have mine if you want." Eichiiro offered his cup of ramen to Sudou.

"Eh? No, no, I possibly couldn't take that from you. You've all already done a lot for me today, I can't possibly take your cup of ramen from you." Sudou denied the offer.

"It's okay really, besides, Kiyotaka is willing to share some of his snacks with me, right Kiyotaka~?" Eichiiro asked me while smirking.

Sigh.

"Well, I guess I don't mind. You can take some potato chips I bought at the store." I said to him.

"Haha! Thanks Kiyotaka, I'll repay you for this later on." He said as he grabbed the seaweed flavored chips from the plastic bag full of snacks and groceries.

I was reminded then that I had been holding my rainbow-flavored popsicle for a while now. I opened it up to see that it melted a bit but I didn't mind, it was still a bit rock solid. I bit into the popsicle and felt my teeth cringe from how cold it was.

Seeing me squirm a bit, Eichiiro couldn't help but laugh loudly which caught the attention of everyone near us.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Kiyotaka, be careful dude. I know you're excited trying popsicles for the first time but don't rush eating them. You'll get a brain freeze." Eichiiro advised me trying to contain his laugh.

Yukimura and Sudou noticed the 'trying popsicles for the first time' part and they bombarded me with questions. Honestly, it was quite troublesome answering all of the questions they had for me. The conversation then switched to simple topics like what made us come to this school, our dream colleges, and our future career prospects. When Sudou mentioned his dream of being a basketball player we all quickly turned our attention to him.

"You play basketball Sudou? That's pretty cool man. Now I can see where you get your height and physique from." Akito complimented him.

"Heh, well you don't get this body from just playing basketball. You also have to work out from time to time and keep a healthy exercise routine to maintain this body." Sudou said as he flexed his biceps at us.

"Yeah, your pretty amazing Sudou. Unlike me, I can barely run a few km without gasping for air or sweating a lot." Yukimura self-deprecatingly spoke.