F-Rank no Boukun Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part1

Translator’s Notes:

F-Rank no Boukun is a work by Eiji Mikage, known for his Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria series. It currently has 2 volumes published. Volume 1 is t.i.tled “Ochita Tensai no Gaisen”, or, “Triumphant Return of the Fallen Prodigy”.

Translation Credits:

Translation – defan752

TLC – N/A

Proofreading – N/A

Academy President's Address

Students, become the rulers who lead the ma.s.ses!

Both its number of students and the area that it occupies make Nanahoshi Academy the largest academy in j.a.pan. Ever since our surrounding area was acknowledged as a special district, we take pride in an environment in which our students can be satisfied.

In the twenty-eight years since the founding of our school, we have, without a doubt, showcased our presence to the entire world. The abundance of elites who have graduated from our school hold important positions in every field, becoming significant, indispensable figures. In a j.a.pan that has been long denounced for its shortage of leaders, the role our school plays in innovation is surely common knowledge.

Our ability to nurture these outstanding talents should be attributed to our method of education, which coaches students into models, into leaders. This method of coaching implements the ideology of compet.i.tion and meritocracy, to bestow upon students complete independence, without excessive training. Pure, fair judgment evaluated based only on strength. Only through this can young men and women achieve self-growth.

It is also a characteristic of our school that students compete in groups and not individually. In society, what can be done as an individual is limited. It is the power of the group that drives society, not the individual. That being the case, only the capacity to lead the ma.s.ses can represent one's abilities. Therefore Nanahoshi Academy places great emphasis on the superiority of the group over the individual, and we supervise and educate students in developing personalities of leadership.

Modern times has been described as an era difficult to survive in, but we have we not heard this type of speech for several decades? Then let us face reality. There will be no end to said era, that which is so "difficult to survive in". Such an era will continue forever. If so, why must we still teach our precious young men and women ideals that are at odds with reality, and then cast them into an intensely compet.i.tive society? The education of our school does not approve of this method. We must foster students to face, accept, and confront reality.

It is no exaggeration to say that every graduate from our school is well-prepared to accept society.

I have no doubt that there will be a ruler among them, one with the capacity to properly lead the ma.s.ses. That is the duty and mission of Nanahoshi Academy: raising students who shine as brightly as the stars in the sky.1

Kazuya Nanahoshi, Academy President

Along the gravel path crunching loudly with each step between the dormitories and the school buildings, the cherry blossoms usually blooming in this area were nowhere to be seen.

Listening to boring pop music flowing out of his wireless earphones, expressly taking the time to curse, "Boring," Kanna walked along a sloping path that had been renovated into what could barely pa.s.s as a trail. Looking to his right, he saw a verdant, lush forest that, rather than a scene from nature, was more like the embodiment of nature itself. In this age of semi-autonomous cars, weasels or even racc.o.o.n dogs would occasionally pop up around here.

The roads of Nanahoshi Academy Special District were not all mountainous paths like this one. But perhaps it would be better to say that this road, connecting the special F-Ranked dormitories and School Buildings #35 and #36, and specially allocated for F-Ranked students' cla.s.ses, was an exception. The apparently considerate Nanahoshi Academy administration was sending a message that only the lowest of the low among the worst of the worst students walked this road, so there was no need to spend too much effort tidying up the area.

"…Hff."

Kanna couldn't help but sigh. It was a recently acquired habit of his.

Vending machines lined the deep greenery. Kanna had lost count of the number of times he'd walked this path, so he knew that it was possible to survey the entirety of Nanahoshi Academy from this position.

Towering above the direct center of Nanahoshi Academy Special District, Nanahoshi Academy prided itself on a vast campus far beyond any other school. Just the tidily arranged school buildings alone numbered seventy-seven, and the gyms numbered seventeen, along with baseball fields, soccer fields, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, track fields, trails exclusively for jogging, and so on. The school was perfectly equipped. Students arrived in endless droves from the public bus stop, and a number of limousines were parked in a lot exclusively for Ranked students in place of taxis.

Kanna looked towards the school buildings afar, stunned.

(What's the point of having such clearly defined differences between school buildings, such that you can tell which Rank they're for simply by judging their exterior appearance?)

By way of example, Erika had been sipping black tea in a garden located within School Building #2, exclusively for Ranked students' cla.s.ses, and unlike the F-Ranked dull gray concrete buildings, School Building #2 was as gorgeous as a Western-styled house. Other high-ranking school buildings also made use of retro wooden styles, modern design styles and so on, each of them different.

But even more conspicuous than the l.u.s.trous scenery and gorgeous school buildings was the structure looming directly over the center of Nanahoshi Academy Special District.

It was a pointlessly tall clock tower, [Clock Star], Nanahoshi Academy's landmark.

Clock Star was a divine domain into which not even S-Ranked students could enter. According to the introduction in the guided tour handbook, apparently the Academy President's office was inside. But in reality Kanna had never seen anyone else enter or exit, other than the contracted workers maintaining the clock itself. Attracting tourists likely wasn't its goal, but the height of the 117-meter-tall clock tower was rumored to exceed that of Britain's ever-famous Big Ben.

Once night fell, since nearly all of the school lighting central to Nanahoshi Academy Special District was extinguished, the Region would become a donut-shaped ray of light ― dark on the inside and bright on the outside. But only Clock Star would continue to project a glow that made one's hair stand on end, as though it were a haughty star poised to remain in the sky even in the midst of a torrential stormy night.

If you slightly shifted your vision southward you would be able to see the ultrtall skysc.r.a.per where the Ranked dormitories were located — South Monopoly Tower, but Kanna ignored it instead and lowered his eyes.

(You can see that kind of thing whenever you want, anyway.)

Kanna's eyes left the streets of Nanahoshi Academy Special District and he began to manipulate his CCC mobile. An Aerial about the size of an eyegla.s.s lens appeared before his left eye. Aerial media in Personal Mode could only be seen by Kanna himself.

Kanna watched the silhouettes of other students quickly moving past. Every time a student pa.s.sed by, his Personal Mode Aerial would display values. As long as other students' CCC mobiles were within a one-meter radius of his own, Kanna could see those values when his own device completed facial recognition on them.

He read the values in his head.

("E, F, E, E, F, E, C" — "E, E, F, F, E, D, D" — "F, D, F, E, C, E, E"… That's the F-Ranked for you. Pretty difficult to find someone I can use.)

Every time a value showed up, Kanna committed it to memory.

Once more pondering the meaning behind the endless stream of English letters that had just been displayed on the Aerial, he smiled sardonically.

(Ah, I'm sick of this. The values that the administration gives each person bring us students of Nanahoshi Academy under their total control.)

The name of those English letters was [Status Data].

Those letters each represented, respectively, their values of Intellect, Knowledge, Fitness, Charisma, Appearance, and Lineage. The range of status levels and the ranking system were the same: divided into seven levels from S to F. Of them, there was only one S at the very top. A accounted for 5% of the school, B was 10%, C was 15%, D was 20%, E was 40%, and F was 10%.

This was identical to the proportions of each group in the ranking system, and the additional distribution of S was also exactly the same.

Typically, just publicizing examination rankings would already incite arguments for and against this or that, but at Nanahoshi Academy even appearances were ranked. Not even a public popularity poll on idols would be so cruel.

But the students wouldn't necessarily be completely controlled if a meticulous ranking were all it was.

Status Data was like a venomous spider making itself at home within one's heart, and it held the power of the students' life-and-death in its grasp - which had to do with the accuracy of the values and their effect on the students' futures.

Status Data was updated in real-time, which granted it accuracy beyond question. Kanna had personally experienced the complete lack of suspicion around these values. This was further proof of the Status Data's accuracy in addition to the examples from before. Graduates of Nanahoshi Academy conspicuously brilliant in each area would have their Status Data and the fluctuations of which fully published on the internet. Closer inspection would reveal that all Status Data earned by any graduate consisted of striking numbers across the board.

Aside from that, there was another example that openly demonstrated the accuracy of Status Data. A lengthy 4-hour mathematics a.s.sessment was held on April 12 only a week after Kanna's matriculation, and an English a.s.sessment the day after. Not only were these two-day consecutive a.s.sessments drawn-out in length, they were also special in the sense that every student's test results had been published before the a.s.sessments even began.

This was bizarre. It was natural to be good at and poor at different sections in mathematics and English, and moreover the student's own condition at the time would also have to be considered; therefore, predicting test scores ought to have been staggeringly difficult. But the students actually earned scores matching the results published before the a.s.sessments. Judging by the pre-published data, ranking and points differed only by an inherent margin of error. During that test, the administration had completely grasped how many points each student would earn, as well as their condition.

Because of this, the students could not help but acknowledge the accuracy of the system that divided them by Status Data.

They could only accept it without question.

No one knew how Status Data was evaluated. Rumor had it that their CCC mobiles measured their brainwave signals, muscle activity and so on, and rated the relevant data to correctly ascertain each person's abilities, but its veracity was dubious.

Even if that were not the case, students of Nanahoshi Academy must occasionally undergo various tests: besides the regularly intervaled scholastic attainment a.s.sessments and IQ a.s.sessments, there were also personality diagnoses, brainwave a.s.sessments, frequent personal consultations, and so on. Furthermore, a student’s every move was monitored by the administration via surveillance devices installed within the school, and their personally worn CCC mobiles. One only had to grasp the intelligence gathered from this surveillance and cross-reference it against acc.u.mulated student data, and perhaps they could derive these types of inconceivably accurate values.

Even more gnarly was the fact that if Status Data possessed incomparable accuracy, then companies and future graduate schools were bound to refer to these values as well. Whether it was company entry or school entrance examinations, all Status Data would become points of reference. Therefore, Status Data possessed tremendous impact on a student's future life.

Faced with Status Data, everyone could only try their very best.

This was the administration's scheme.

The students were controlled by Status Data.

Many students remained only under the restrictions of Rank and Status Data, completely indifferent to anything else, and because of this a great many of them had given up on school life.

But Status Data did not simply enable high scores, and effort did not necessarily translate into good results. Partic.i.p.ating in brain development programs would not raise one's [Intellect] score, and going to the gym was also not likely to change one's [Fitness] score. The vast majority of values were as immovable as [Lineage] was: it had to do with whatever you were born with. The truth was that effort did not necessarily translate into results when it came to Status Data. Innate talent and environment were the most crucial qualities.

There were also many students who despaired at their Status Data, gave up everything, and lost their drive. It was rumored that some students went insane because of them and were quarantined in the hospital building, but they were still not enough to cause a problem, since public results showed the incontestable truth. Students were forced to toil under the ranking and Status Data systems, but in doing so they did indeed raise their own apt.i.tudes and achieved personal growth.

(Even so, the strong ones actually number very few. Most students will become sacrifices for them under this system. The administration will instill into the few strong ones, who are likely to become leaders, the idea that they are to some extent different from the weak ones, fostering confidence and conceit in them. That's the method of the Survival of the Fittest Academy.)

But Kanna was very supportive of this system.

Since he was aiming for the top of this academy, Kanna believed that it was a system that could be used.

(With so many accurate values, all I need to do is master a person's Status Data and I'll naturally be able to understand them.)

For that reason, Kanna had familiarized himself with many Status Data, and had grasped their movements. He could not avoid using others if he wanted to stand at the top, and to successfully use others, he could not neglect this type of investigation.

"[D, E, C, E, D, D, D]."

His Personal Mode Aerial displayed new Status Data again.

At that moment, someone patted Kanna on his shoulder.

([D, E, C, E, D, D, D], huh? There so happens to be two people I am acquainted who match these mediocre values: Yuzuko Araiba and Shinji Hatayama. And the one who would pat me on the shoulder like that would be—)

"Hey, Shinji."

Kanna closed his Aerial as he greeted him.

Despite knowing who it was before even facing him, Kanna still turned around and checked what he looked like before calling his name. It would do him no good if he were seen as a freak who always looked up other students' Status Data.

Of course, as he turned around, he did not forget to don the expression of an amiable honor student.

"Yo, morning, Kanna."

Grinning, Shinji Hatayama raised the hand he had used to pat Kanna's shoulder. Shinji, whose stature was small and appearance not-that-handsome, possessed an Appearance Rank of D. However, he always wore a smile on his face, giving him a friendly, charming impression. On his uniform, he was wearing a badge with a scorpion emblem of the [l.u.s.t]-led [Loden Scorpion] clique.

Incidentally, Shinji's Status Data wasn't poor among the F-Ranked. Status Data like [D, E, C, E, D, D, D] did not seem not high at first glance, but the reality was different. At Nanahoshi Academy, Status Data exceeding D was an above-average achievement.

With an Intellect of D and Knowledge of E, even if his middle school grades weren't first-rate, he still ought to be on the upper end. As for his C score in Fitness, that would just about make him the man of the century in gym cla.s.s.

But despite his decent Status Data, Shinji remained an F-Ranked.

The F-Ranked students numbered a total of 2,855 among the first-years to the third-years, yet there were a total of 28,187 students in the entire school, so they accounted for around 10% of the student population. There wouldn't be anyone amongst the first-years sorted into the Rank in their first semester, so a population of 1,138 F-Ranked first-years was more than usual. But the F-Ranked still brought up the rear despite that.

Even with his Status Data, Shinji had probably been sorted as an F-Ranked probably because—

"Man, I don't wanna go to cla.s.s today, I wanna skip so baaad. …Hey, Kanna, wanna skip and find some cute girls?"
His personality had such a lack of crisis awareness.

In this academy, one must never loosen up and become remiss. One must never stop reflecting on how to suppress their opponent. Yet Shinji hadn't a shred of this awareness.

Kanna called people like Shinji:

Cla.s.sic F-Ranked.

However, Shinji was anything but muddleheaded; he just didn't understand the true nature of the Survival of the Fittest Academy. And a student who never understood the nature of the Survival of the Fittest was a [Normal].

Kanna had no intention of dealing with [Normals].

"Cutting cla.s.s to find cute girls, hmm? …Weeell, sorry, but I'm not interested."

"Ahh, you're so cooold. I'll be lonely on my own, come with!"

"Hmm… No, I think I'll pa.s.s. I want to ascend Ranks as soon as possible and avoid a bad impression towards the school by skipping cla.s.s."

Kanna replied this way because he knew that every student wanted to graduate as soon as possible, even a [Normal]. So they didn't want to leave a bad impression, even if they had to look serious.

"Whoaaa, you're so serious, Kanna! Me aside, with your brain, you can probably still Rank up even if you skip cla.s.s once."

"'Me aside? Please, I don't mean to climb upwards blindly. I'd like to to Rank up together with my friend Shinji if possible."

As naturally as taking a breath, Kanna pulled a fib that would make the other person like him more.

(Friend, huh? As long as I ascend, it'll only be natural to distance myself from a cla.s.sic F-Ranked like you. When the time comes, I won't be able to call you my friend anymore. It's only at present that I a.s.sociate with someone like you.)

"…Man, Kanna, I always knew you were really a good guy!"

Shinji completely swallowed Kanna's offhand lie.

(In all likelihood, in elementary school this guy probably got convinced to run with someone else in a marathon, then got betrayed and left in the dust near the end.)

Sorry, but I have no intention of running with you.

Kanna only intended to free himself of the F-Rank as soon as possible.

Remaining in the F-Rank held no benefit whatsoever. The F-Ranked suffered unequal treatment, and not just in terms of facilities like school buildings. Tuition, for example, involved F-Ranked students having to fork over nearly twice the amount as C-Ranked students. And once you ascended to Rank, not only could you enjoy perfectly equipped facilities, your tuition and lodging fees were completely waived. The reason Ranked students could enjoy such treatment was that they were supported by the exorbitant tuitions of the E and F-Ranked students, but were placed into a normal high school environment anyway.

F-Ranked people were naught but the slaves of those higher Ranked.

And yet that slave spoke:

"Ahh, Nanahoshi Academy is the best."

(This guy knows he's an F-Ranked and he can still say something like that? If that's true, then his lack of ability to grasp the current situation just slipped even further.)

"What makes you think that?"

Kanna inquired with a smile, his expression unchanging, revealing no traces of loathing.

"Hmm, well! …Uh, Kanna, are you familiar with the idol group Sun Sisters? The ones famous for their all-out performances."

"Ah, yeah."

He said he was, but only because Shinji had chattered about them before. Shinji took no notice of Kanna's questionable reaction, nodded with an "Of course you do", and continued.

"Hinata Arisugawa, the most popular member of the seven person idol group Sun Sisters. You don't even like celebs but even you should know what she looks like, right? She stands right in the middle in every music video."

"Of course."

(I have no idea who she is and I don't care. I just won't say that aloud.)

"Did something happen to this Arisugawsan?"

"Huge news! Apparently she's a Nanahoshi Academy student!!"

"What?!"

Kanna put on a shocked reaction, but he had long suspected this beforehand, and he didn't care at all either. It was not unusual for performance artists to attend Nanahoshi Academy. As long as they raised the school's ratings, they would still be able to enter the higher Ranks even if their attendance didn't meet the quota. This was Nanahoshi Academy: openly weighing candidates by their benefit to the school. Performance artists aware of this also found it easy to maintain personal privacy due to the school's boarding policies, so many of them chose to attend Nanahoshi Academy.

"So I told Taihei about this, and he also told me that Tsukuyo Sakagiki, who's got tons of hardcore fans from Sisters within Sisters also goes to Nanahoshi Academy?! I didn't even know this! But come to think of it, it's not just Sun Sisters; aren't fashion model Kurisu Tanadare and gravure idol Yui Moriuchi (who's been in dramas) also students of this school? I've actually seen Kurisu-san, it's just crazy how a celeb's face and body are different proportions than a normal person! I totally get it now when the first thing that someone who sees a celeb says is "Her head's so small!" So people with S and Ranked Appearance look like that!"

(Well, my Appearance is Ranked too.)

"So if there're so many celebs here, there's gotta be a few that Taihei and I don't even know of yet, right? So I was planning to skip cla.s.s today to try and find 'em!"

"Hah hah, so it has to do with the previous topic after all. Is that why you said Nanahoshi Academy is the best?"

At this, Shinji clicked his tongue with a tsk-tsk.

"Naive, Kanna. Even if I'm actually cla.s.smates with Hintan, that wouldn't be enough for me to call Nanahoshi Academy the 'best', would it? I think it's the best because, if I can, maybe I'll really get to go out with her!"

"Don't you think that's a little out of reach?"

"No, no, no! Just think, Kanna. An Rank is enough to get you the girls. So haven't you thought of it before? 'Huh? Then there probably are guys who have actually gotten together with celebs!' So I looked it up on the internet yesterday and it turns out that there are! Rumor is, there's actually a celeb couple out there who met each other in high school at Nanahoshi Academy! …So anyway. If I can get to Rank, then getting Hintan and doing this and that with her won't be a pipe dream anymore!"

(Shinji's not wrong. The Rank's future prospects would qualify you to run together with the celebs. It wouldn't be a dream to go out with one.)

"Ahh… Well, I talk about doing this and that with her, but as a student, dating is enough! That sort of pure relationship suits a refined girl like Hintan… we'd play tennis together — she's good at tennis; we'd race each other at virtual skiing in the Ranked-only rec center; we'd live out the moment where we seal our futures together with the unofficial wedding program they always talk about, with the VR device in the battle building they say graduates use… G.o.d! A virtual wedding with Hintan… Oh man, just thinking about it gets me so excited!"

Shinji was blabbering randomly, but Kanna paid him neither a response that was more than a conversational reply, nor much attention at all.

(Shinji dating Hinata Arisugawa is a delusion anyway. Dream on.)

Watching Shinji's eyes droop pathetically as he fantasized about his sweet springtime together with a celeb, Kanna thought.

(At any rate, you rising to Rank is already a delusion.)

This was not an overly severe a.s.sessment of Shinji. Typically you are only able to ascend a single Rank per semester, and the only circ.u.mstance where ascending two Ranks was possible was upon receipt of a rare honor (such as breaking a record in track and field, getting famous at Koushien Stadium2, topping the list in national mock exams, and so on). But ultimately, those were rewards — extremely rare exceptions, and thus were difficult to hope for. In short, Nanahoshi Academy's semesterly system made it so that even if you continued to rise steadily throughout, by the second semester of your third-year you would only be able to rise from the F-Rank to the Rank.

If you wanted to start at the very bottom and climb to the very top, throughout all three years you must not be the least bit negligent or make any sort of mistake, and you must earn consistently high grades.

(And Shinji wants to rise to the Rank? Hmph, sleep-talk makes me uncomfortable, so he ought to keep quiet if he wants to keep dreaming.)

But Kanna's own goal did not stop at rising to the Rank. He believed that as long as he rose to the Rank and became the single [Seven Ruler], he could continue to climb, perhaps even past the S-Rank.

Kanna had once sought examples of people who had risen from the F-Rank to the S-Rank, and the results were harsher than expected. There had only been two cases like this in history. Moreover, one of them had been Satoru Mikami, the CEO of HHP Company, which manufactured the semiconductors used in CCC mobiles. He was a prodigy with a brilliant business sense coveted worldwide.

Without ability matching his, he might not even be able to pa.s.s the relay station.

Upon learning this truth, it was no surprise that he had this bad habit of sighing.

Kanna was quite aware that rising from the F-Rank to the S-Rank would be a legendary achievement. To attain such legendary results, he needed not only true ability, but also luck.

(Luck… Luck, huh. I know that luck has eluded me ever since that guy set me up during the entrance exam and put me into the F-Rank, but—)

Ending his thoughts there, Kanna looked down at the badge pinned to his collar. Emblazoned with the image of a fox, it represented Kanna's membership in [Greed]-led [Navy Fox].

He had acquired the badge following his conversation with Nanami yesterday.

(—No, perhaps not. After all, I have become Nanami's boyfriend.)

Before this, Kanna did not wear a badge at all. Since he had not selected any clique to belong to, he would occasionally feel lack of sense of belonging.

But now, things were different.

"By the way, you joined [Navy Fox], Kanna?"

Shinji asked, watching him stare at his fox badge.

"Yeah."

"But why? Isn't that clique really small and doesn't really do anything? Since you're so bent on rising up the Ranks, I thought you'd join [Urban Lion] for sure… Or because… You're unnerved just by learning Eriksama's true nature?"

Bothered by Shinji's hounding, Kanna evaded the question.

"It's got nothing to do with that. I think just being an F-Ranked puts me at a disadvantage, so I can't do anything too risky."

"Reeeally?"

As per Kanna's expectations, Shinji backed off. He knew that Shinji wasn't interested in this topic.

Just as their dialogue came to an end, the hastily paved simple path followed suit, and they arrived at the school gate. The view on the road ahead from this F-Ranked-only gate was boring and uniform. There was certainly no garden like the one Erika had been in yesterday.

Still, Shinji said:

"Nanahoshi Academy's the best. Just stepping through the gate makes you feel proud."

Kanna said nothing, watching him closely.

Shinji failed to notice Kanna's gaze, continuing with a grin:

"We've got a ridiculous amount of freedom. No complaints about what we wear, either. Well, there are punishments, but the teachers never scold us. It's so chill."

(……Freedom, huh.)

Nanahoshi Academy did indeed grant its students an exceptional amount of free choice. Because students were conferred independence, the adults, especially the teachers, held an unusually weak presence. Furthermore, the degree of free choice was quite thorough. Nanahoshi Academy revolved around the student, and the adults were merely one component of the school.

From this aspect, the student ought to enjoy freedom at Nanahoshi Academy.

However, the school Kanna attended had never once felt free to him.

(It seems free, but I suspect that we're all prisoners to this school's system.)

Kanna believed that all of Nanahoshi Academy's systems, including the ranking system, Status Data, the seven cliques, the [Seven Rulers], rating battles, Instructs, and everything else without exception, all had the students dancing within the palms of their hands.

(It's just like partic.i.p.ating in a compet.i.tion with already fixed rules. If you back out, you'd be distancing yourself from the school's set path and reduced to a loser. You'd never be able to bounce back again. Is that still freedom? How's that different from slave labor?)

Not to mention their unremovable CCC mobiles, which conjured images of handcuffs imposed on them by the school, a symbol of their stolen freedom.

(But it doesn't matter.)

Kanna thought, watching Shinji's deluded grin.

(Because all I need to do is be better than everyone else. And then, I will stand at the top.)

As he stepped through the gate and surveyed his surroundings, ten or so fellow F-Ranked students entered his view. Faces drowsy with sleep. Faces watching other fellow cla.s.smates and smiling. Faces discontent at their own power going unrecognized. Kanna watched all of their expressions.

Then he thought.

(I'm different from these guys. They don't even know that they're being forced onto a stage of survival of the fittest.)

"You and me, we're alone, aren't we?"

He suddenly recalled someone's voice.

Kanna's mouth distorted.

(Yeah, you're right. You don't have any allies on this stage. I'm totally screwed in this respect. Tricked into the F-Rank, suddenly dropping from heaven to h.e.l.l, in the midst of despair.)

Kanna felt GO-PON, the ghost plushie in the inner pocket of his blazer.

(But I've already escaped the abyss of despair, and now, I have a battle plan.)

Kanna stroked the plushie's stiff texture as he recalled the deal he had made with Nanami in the karaoke room yesterday.

True to its name, "seven" was an important number in Nanahoshi Academy.

The [Seven Rulers], the seven cliques, the seven ranks, the seven types of seven levels of Status Data, the seventy-seven types of rating battles, the seven levels of punitive sanctions, the seventy-seven school builds, and so on; every arrangement by the administration seemed to revolve around the number "seven".

Then what about her?

Status Data [D, C, E, D, C, B, S].

Nanami Nanahoshi.

Two "sevens" had been carefully placed in her name.

"And now, here's a question for you."

Kanna and Nanami were currently in a simple white-themed karaoke room. Nanami had been happily singing alone not long ago and had now stopped, but the microphone remained gripped in her hand for some reason. There was ample s.p.a.ce on the red faux-leather sofa, but Nanami sat right next to Kanna on purpose. Within the two-person, slightly empty room, a floating Aerial played a video of a celeb interviewing a music artist.

After the incident in the PA room, when school let out Kanna was immediately summoned by Nanami through his CCC mobile, which allowed interpersonal communication once they had exchanged contact IDs. Kanna was called to the south gate, which he did not frequently used, and subsequently dragged to a karaoke establishment named "M". Among the eleven karaoke establishments in the Nanahoshi Academy Special District, it was on the expensive side and situated closest to South Monopoly Tower at the Ranked dorms.

"How do we get good results without lifting a finger in effort? Let's see, Kanchan!"

Nanami handed the microphone to Kanna. She looked the same as she did in the PA room at noon, with a head full of twintails, but right now her hair seemed to be tied a bit higher than it was at noon. Did it change height specifically depending on her mood?

Deciding not to think about it for the time being, Kanna answered Nanami's question first.

"Without lifting a finger in effort…"

Considering the reason he had been brought here, there was only one answer.

"By using other people."

"Correct!"

Nanami picked up a nearby tambourine and rattled it.

She had almost glossed over it with her cheerful att.i.tude, but Nanami had ultimately blurted out her selfish thoughts.

"You mean to use me to protect your position as [Greed], right?"

"It's just such a pain to protect it with my own strength or whatever! But I don't want you to misunderstand, because there's something in it for you, Kanchan."

Nanami stressed as she brought her face close. The scent of the same marine perfume from noon traveled over.

"What's in it for me?"

Nanami grinned foolishly as something unthinkable slipped from her mouth.

"I want to hand over the position of [Greed] to you, for real."

It was a position Kanna had been dying for.

This was too much of a G.o.dsend. An impossible condition.

Yet Kanna was not surprised. It was something he could expect. When Nanami had told him that she was going to make him into a Ruler, he began to have some idea of this.

However, he justifiably had some misgivings.

"Would you really do that? You aren't planning to keep the position of [Greed] while leaving the battle strategizing and action taking to me, are you? If so, then that wouldn't be handing [Greed] over to me at all."

"You're right. About that, if I don't explain it further then you wouldn't agree."

Nanami seemed ready for Kanna's reaction.

"The [Seven Rulers] each have different special skills depending on their t.i.tles. Powers only the [Seven Rulers] can use."

"Information that is news to me, for someone who ought to be as familiar with Nanahoshi Academy's rules as I am. Is such a thing true?"

"It's information that the administration keeps secret on purpose. Of course you learn about the special skills after becoming one of the [Seven Rulers], but going out of their way to reveal their existence does the Seven Rulers no good. I think the only one aware of all special skills used by the [Seven Rulers] would be me."

"So? What's [Greed]'s special skill?"

The corners of Nanami's mouth lifted as she said:

"The «Absolute Contract»."

An unsettling phrase.

Kanna crossed his arms, pressing Nanami to continue.

"The «Absolute Contract» makes sure that any agreement is effective, as long as one party makes a negotiation with another party, and it's not illegal and within school rules. If you and I make a contract, even if either of us loses [Greed], the contract will hold up all the way until graduation. For example, if we make the «Absolute Contract» to call each other every day, then we would have to fulfill it from now on."

"What happens if we violate the «Absolute Contract»?"

"You can specify a punishment in the contract details, but if you don't, the violator must be punished with something equivalent to Punitive Sanction A."

Punitive Sanction A. A severe punishment that entailed spending a month in the prison building, sinking even the Ranked to the F-Ranked. It was a punishment that Kanna, with his goal of standing at the top, could never suffer.

"They call it 'Absolute' because it's so strict. Punitive Sanction A is usually for minor offenses like violence, threats, and theft."

"And inappropriate s.e.xual relations. Like if you and I make out pa.s.sionately in school and are caught on camera, that's Punitive Sanction A."

"Why use a completely impossible example?"

"What do you mean?! It's completely possible! A cutie-pie girlfriend like me has great chances of setting your pa.s.sion aflame, Kanchan!"

Kanna interrupted the trivial conversation and returned to the original topic.

"The point is, you want us to make an «Absolute Contract», and give the position of [Greed] to me. Of course, that includes the authority of the [Seven Rulers], and the ability to use «Absolute Contract» myself?"
"Of course."

The authority of the [Seven Rulers]. The power to command the clique that one led. Like how [Loden Scorpion] held large mixer-like a.s.semblies, or how [Striped Bear] established its unique rule of "introducing a point system". Skillful use of this power could even allow skillful manipulation of the clique members.

Even Nanami's [Navy Fox] was a mostly empty clique without much power, but unconditionally gaining her power would be quite profitable anyway.

Was this really only such a single-sided sweet deal, though?

"What's in it for you? What's your goal?"

"I'd completely lose my power of [Greed] among the [Seven Rulers], but to my benefit I would be lending it away. If you can help me protect the seat of [Greed], Kanchan, the school's records would still show me as defending the position. As long as I graduate as one of the [Seven Rulers], my future will be super secured!"

"You can ride on your dad's coattails, so your future would be secured anyway."

"That's not true! My dad's a demon!"

"Will your demon dad approve of you protecting the [Seven Rulers] in this manner?"

"Doesn't matter, my dad only judges by results."

Kanna detected a hint of loneliness in her tone, but to avoid kicking a new hornet's nest he purposefully ignored that and continued:

"If I lose a rating battle, will [Greed] be taken away from me?"

"Yeah. And I won't be [Greed] anymore in the records, of course."

"Then what if you lose a rating battle?"

"I won't lose the t.i.tle, because I'm really just [Greed] on the school records only. But you understand now, don't you? We have so much in common, Kanchan! That's why we gotta stick close together like this!"

Nanami affectionately leaned her forehead against Kanna's shoulder, but he found her reason for pressing so close to him incomprehensible.

"Then in the school's opinion, if I don't get another [Seven Rulers] t.i.tle, I'll just be a.s.sessed as a normal student?"

"Oh, pretty observant. But it's really just a records-based a.s.sessment! In all other aspects, everything about [Greed] will belong to you, Kanchan!"

"No problem, then."

This did not mean Kanna paid no attention to the school's a.s.sessment, and he was planning to get the other [Seven Rulers] seats anyway. Their a.s.sessment would not change whether he had one or two [Seven Rulers] positions, so all he needed was to quickly get the other positions.

"I get the gist of it. But you won't be asking me to return [Greed] to you someday, will you?"

"Naaaah. Although, it goes without saying that if you break the «Absolute Contract», you're gonna get Punitive Sanction A."

"Meaning that the devil is in its content."

"Heh heh, I've already made a draaaft," said Nanami, as she began working her CCC mobile and called up an Aerial. A text file appeared on it.

«Absolute Contract»

Nanami Nanahoshi (hereafter referred to as Party A) will lend all powers of [Greed] to Kanna Fujishiro (hereafter referred to as Party B), but in school records, Party A will retain [Greed]. Party B may not do anything harmful to Party A. To display the submission of Party B to A, Party B must carry a plushie (GO-PON) on his person at all times. In the event of loss or theft, Party B must prepare a replacement plushie and obtain the approval of Party A. In the event of a significant matter that will alter the status quo, Party B must immediately report to Party A. "Significant matters" entail new regulations on cliques, the acquisition of a new [Seven Ruler] t.i.tle, and so on. This contract may be terminated with the agreement of both parties. Upon termination of this contract, [Greed] will be restored to its original owner, Party A. Both parties may not face each other in a rating battle.

"Can I ask something first?" Kanna spoke with a dumbfounded look.

"What?"

"For such a seriously written doc.u.ment, why is the border decorated with a flower pattern?"

Just like he said, inlaid around the austere sentences were decorations of pink flowers.

"Aren't they cute? Doesn't it relieve the tension?"

Kanna very much wanted to respond that it only increases fatigue instead, but he didn't want to waste effort on something like that so he gave up his retort.

He stopped puzzling over it and carefully studied whether there were any issues with the actual text.

Immediately, something caught his eye.

"What does #2 mean?"

"Just means that you gotta fawn on me, the original [Greed]."

"Delete it."

"Hey, I was joking! Just kidding, you know! But look, it'd be terrible if something were to happen to cute, widdle ol' me. Wait. That's not it, is it? You weren't plotting to hurt me from the very beginning, were you?"

"That's not it, I just mean that it's too vague. If I do as you wrote here, any disagreement with your opinions might be viewed as harmful, and that would be breaking the contract."

"Now that you meeention it. How should I write it then?"

"Something like, I can't do anything that would go against school rules, even without a witness."

"Then since we won't get to have inappropriate s.e.xual relations, that means we don't even get to kiss before graduation. Is that okay?"

"Corny jokes get pretty annoying on their second run, you know?"

"I wasn't joking though! Jeez, fine! If that's how you think, Kanchan, then we'll do what you say! Oh, right, and I'm gonna say that you can't use an «Absolute Contract» against me!"

Revision: Party B may not do anything harmful to Party A. "Harmful" entails actions against school rules, and using an «Absolute Contract» against Party A.

"Whatever, we'll leave #2 like that for now. Another question: what is the goal of #3?"

Kanna had no intention of carrying such a odd plushie with him, and did not want a meaningless condition.

Nanami's personality probably meant that she would come up with something irresponsible like "it's more fun that way", Kanna thought, but Nanami's face was serious.

"Actually, I'm doing it because I want a physical representation of our contract. I have to have it."

"Why is that?"

"If you have a visible object like this on you, then you'll never be able to forget our contract, won't you Kanchan? Or the feeling of wanting to aim for the top. That's why I think this part is so important."

"I don't want to walk around with such a strange doll on me. Delete it."

"……"

Eyes narrowed, Nanami stared at Kanna as she took out her yellow cat plushie and stuffed it into his hands.

A static-like electric shock coursed through him.

"—OW! What're you doing?!"

"You have to wear it! As long as you have GO-PON, then you won't forget your feeling of aiming for the top!"

There was no grasping it, but Kanna knew that Nanami wasn't joking around. By the looks of her, she wasn't planning on deleting anything from the contract either.

It was best to drop it, then. Arguing further probably wouldn't amount to anything.

(It's an abnormal requirement. I'll have to endure it for now.)

"Are we good? Do you get that we have to do it to prevent you from forgetting your original plan?"

"Yeah."

"Anything else, then?"

Just to be cautious, Kanna reviewed the text again, then nodded.

"Then let's start!"

Nanami thrust up her left arm.  

"You too, Kanchan!"

Kanna didn't know whether it was really required, but he raised his left fist reluctantly.

"One, two, three!"

"—«Absolute Contract»."

"—«Absolute Contract»!"

Nanami and Kanna's CCC mobiles flashed brightly. Roving green light changed to gold, then produced a strong glow. It didn't seem much like — the light of a blessing. Something sinister seemed to dwell within the radiance.

Whether he liked it or not, that light made Kanna feel certain about something.

—With this, Kanna Fujishiro was now one of the [Seven Rulers]: Greed.

At that moment, Kanna's CCC mobile also vibrated. Understanding that signaled the arrival of a new email, he started it up.

He immediately recognized something.

Upon starting up the CCC, next to Nanahoshi Academy's emblem at the screen's upper left was a "☆" mark.

It was a mark indicating his position as one of the [Seven Rulers].

He immediately checked the content of the email. One of the school's two automated emails was a short message indicating "You have become [Greed]", and the other contained the currently established procedures of [Navy Fox] and a complete list of members.

There were a total of 33 people. For a clique, the not-so-functional [Navy Fox] seemed to have a very small population amongst the whole but meager seven. Moreover, most of the members seemed lacking in compet.i.tive skill and had joined for no particular reason.

Even so, as he gazed at the list of full names, Status Data, links to simplified résumés, and profiles of 33 people, he could not stop a sense of future prospect boiling up within him.

He actually felt it.

(Ah… I've obtained the power of the [Seven Rulers].)

Kanna's left hand formed a pistol barrel, and he pressed his finger to his temple.

Aiming for the top had always been his goal. There was no mistaking that it was something he truly felt. But for an F-Ranked like himself, he could not deny that it was an absurd path, and that his goal was starting to look more and more obscure.

Yet that path had materialized.

He could see the path to the top now.

It was a path filled with ferocious beasts who wolf down their prey, a path splattered in blood.

Without the resolve to make many enemies, to deceive, and to be hated, he was only heading towards failure.

That was why this path was something he could not turn back from. This was a one-way street. Perhaps he would be the one getting devoured, and that was rather the greater likelihood.

Awaiting him ahead was a brutal world with no peace of mind. He had already been forced into it.

Driving that point home in his head, Kanna—

"Heh heh… so I'm the F-Ranked Ruler now."

—laughed unflinchingly, of course.

The light on the CCC mobile ceased to flash; the tiny green light steadied and returned to its original state.

Once he saw this with his own eyes, Kanna removed his finger from his temple and exhaled softly.

"All righty, contract maaaade." Nanami sang, ignoring Kanna's excitement.

Instead, she smiled and linked hands with him.

"From now on we're a couple!"

Soft hair tickled Kanna's face.

"…It's a little late for this, but why do we have to pretend to be a couple?"

"Another question! I am a C-Ranked, Kanchan is an F-Ranked, we have cla.s.ses in different buildings, and have no opportunities to see each other. What, then is the most natural reason for a guy and a girl of similar age to be together?"

Nanami pointed the microphone at Kanna again.

"Because they're a couple?"

"Correct."

"But why do we have to stick together in the first place?"

"Well, that's 'cause things would be bad if you acted on your own, Kanchan. Aren't you planning to defeat Eriksama next? If you were to do something without me knowing and get my [Greed] stolen away, I'd be in trouble. It's a drag, but if we don't work together then we won't be able to defeat her. And also, since we're partners from now on, I can observe you to see if you can handle responsibility."

(So she was planning to surveil me after all. I see that even Nanami understands it well. If she lets her guard down, then she wouldn't just be lending [Greed] to me; I'd find some way to get it into my own hands."

No matter how you look at it, she's being exceptionally careful, Kanna thought while gazing at Nanami.

Yet the supposedly vigilant girl was humming airily while flipping through the song browser.

(…She is well aware, right?)

His brow furrowed as he studied the impenetrable Nanami. Then he roughly threw off her hand from his.

"Ah!"

Nanami stuck out her lip crossly at the separation.

"What kind of reaction is that? I know it's natural if we're pretending to be a couple, but in this karaoke box where literally no one is going to see us, there shouldn't be a need to keep up the act."

"You think we can trick people just by keeping an appearance? How naive! If we skimp on the couple act like this we'll be found out really quickly."

"I'm used to keeping an appearance, so don't stick so close to me."

"Wuuu, wuuu, I don't wanna!"

"…Why?"

"I don't wanna! You need to be more like a boyfriend! This is my first time getting a boyfriend too!"

Isn't this just throwing a tantrum?

"Hold on, I'm just pretending to be your boyfriend, right?"

"Still!"

Nanami clenched her fists at her chest and looked at Kanna with upturned eyes.

"Still, you're a very special person to me, Kanchan! So you gotta do what couples do for each other!"

(Special, huh? Nanami seems pretty gung-ho about form, since she put that plushie in the contract. But this really is a special relationship. Yeah, put simply, it's like a relationship in a manga I've read before. Between a boy who gets ahold of a shinigami's notebook where he writes down the names of people to die, and a shinigami who likes apples… a relationship like that.)

How rude of Kanna.

"Oh, right. You better start showing it with actions."

Nanami began rummaging through her plushie-ridden bag, then pulled out a pink brush and stuffed it into Kanna's hand.

"Brush my hair!"

Kanna wondered whether that was something couples usually did, but listening to Nanami's fussing would also be a bother, so he took the brush and helped brush out her hair. It was slightly permed, but the brush slid easily through the strands. Nanami seemed somehow satisfied as he brushed.

"Heheh, well? Tempted? Are your protective instincts tempted? Any possessive feelings?"

"Uh-huh."

Kanna gave the appropriate response.

"I can style it however you like, Kanchan. Like, how about a ponytail? Don't guys love ponytails?"

"Straighten it and dye it black, then."

"Theeere it is! There's your bias for long black hair!"

Ignoring her excitement, Kanna looked down at GO-PON.

(Relationships, huh…)

He still found it difficult to understand.

But in any case, in accordance with their agreement, he was no longer able to rid himself of this ghost plushie.

References

1. The name "Nanahoshi" (七星) literally means "seven stars".↩
2. Koushien Stadium, where the j.a.pan National High School Baseball Tournament is held.”↩