Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

A large bus emerged from the end of the road and slowly came to a stop in front of the bus stop.

"Pfft—"

The front door opened, which should have been the signal for the new students to board the bus.

But no one moved. Not a single person intended to step through the open door.

"......"

Seeing that no one around her was getting into the car, Kaoru Hanayama slowly started walking.

In his hand was a huge and heavy suitcase that an ordinary high school student would never carry with him.

It was filled with supplies that he personally judged to be "essential for high school life," and its appearance alone silently spoke of its weight of tens of kilograms.

"Squeak—!"

The suspension system emitted a creaking, friction-like sound, and the bus tilted slightly to the right.

That's understandable. Kaoru Hanayama weighs 166 kilograms. Combined with the weight of that huge luggage, it all concentrated on the front right side of the vehicle.

Without swiping a card or throwing coins into the coin box, Kaoru Hanayama simply sat down in the first row of seats.

This is fare evasion.

However, this was definitely not because he had any malicious intent. He simply didn't know he was supposed to pay.

However, the driver sitting in the driver's seat could not possibly know this inside story.

The driver saw the man through the rearview mirror.

For drivers, that silence is the biggest threat.

(...Fleeing...fleeing the fare? No, that's fine no matter what. Just avoid eye contact. Absolutely, absolutely do not make a sound...!)

The driver was drenched in cold sweat from the horrific scars reflected in the rearview mirror, and felt an oppressive aura like that of a wild beast. His hands trembled as he gripped the steering wheel tightly once more.

"What's up with that guy...?"

Shh! You're being too loud!

The freshmen who remained on the platform boarded the train one by one with trepidation, but none of them dared to approach Hanayama Kaoru's vicinity.

Even though more than half the seats on the bus were empty, the students were all huddled together at the back of the bus as if they were fleeing for their lives. Even if they were standing, they tried to keep as much distance from him as possible.

Horikita Suzune, sitting in the back row, frowned slightly. There were still seats available in front, so why were they all crammed into the back?

She looked up and saw Kaoru Hanayama's striking back view.

Horikita Suzune said nothing, nor did she put down the book in her hand.

However, perhaps out of instinctive defense, she quietly leaned her body closer to the window in her seat.

The bus traveled through the heavy, oppressive atmosphere and arrived at the next stop.

"Pfft—"

The car door in front opened, and a petite elderly woman with a cane stepped onto the steps to get on the bus.

At that very moment.

The old woman's cloudy eyes met the scarred face of the person sitting in the front row at close range.

"Oh dear, I think I've taken the wrong bus. I'll wait for the next one."

She muttered to herself in a low voice, then retreated back to the bus stop as if fleeing.

The doors closed, and the bus started moving again.

Just then, a blond boy named Rokusuke Koenji, who was sitting in the priority seats at the back, seemed to be unable to bear the atmosphere any longer and was about to speak.

"Heh, it looks like a rather unsightly foreign object has snuck into this bus."

Just as he was fiddling with his hand mirror and elegantly uttering those words.

Hua Shan, sitting in the front row, made a cracking sound from the bones in his neck, and glanced back at the person behind him, turning his face only a few centimeters away.

The meeting of eyes.

A deafening alarm sounded in Koenji's brain.

Narcissism. Absolute self-confidence. Pride in one's own body. All of this, under the slanted gaze of that scarred man, cracked like thin ice.

"...Hahahaha!"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Koenji's forehead. He then burst into laughter, as if trying to cover it up.

"Oh my, what a refreshing day! Well then, let me enjoy the scenery in peace!"

Having said that, Koenji immediately shut his mouth and fixed his gaze on the scenery outside the window. However, no one noticed that the tips of his fingers, which were holding the mirror, were trembling slightly.

The atmosphere inside the car became heavy again.

"Next stop, Advanced Educational University."

As the announcement began, the carriage doors, which had been filled with a heavy atmosphere, opened.

For the freshmen who were holding their breath at the back, it was like a signal of liberation, and they rushed to the train door as if fleeing a disaster.

Finally, after getting off the bus, Kaoru Hanayama, carrying her suitcase, walked slowly toward the school gate than anyone else.

In front of the spacious main gate of the school, several long tables were set up, where security personnel were verifying the identities of new students and checking their luggage for prohibited items.

In this fully residential school with no contact with the outside world, this is a routine procedure to prevent the bringing in of prohibited items.

The security check was proceeding smoothly.

"Next..."

The security guard in his forties, who was in charge of guiding the group, looked up.

Standing before him was a monster over 190 centimeters tall, whose oversized, custom-made school uniform was stretched to a point of distortion, and whose face was covered with crisscrossing, tragic scars.

The security guard gasped. Instinct was telling him to avoid eye contact, but since it was his job, he couldn't avoid it.

To be honest, due to the special nature of Advanced Nurturing High School, he had seen delinquent students before, but the person in front of him was undoubtedly from another dimension.

Huashan remained silent, took the admission notice from the inside pocket of his uniform, and placed it on the long table.

The security personnel picked up the notice, looked at the giant in front of them, and checked it twice. But no matter how they looked at it, they couldn't tell that the person in front of them was a student.

"Kaoru Hanayama...the confirmation of your admission letter has been completed..."

He said this in a trembling voice, swallowing hard.

"Next, we will be checking your carry-on luggage. Please place that suitcase on the counter."

Huashan simply mumbled a low "Oh," then easily lifted the huge, custom-made suitcase weighing tens of kilograms with one hand and placed it on the long table with a thud.

Click, click.

With Huashan's own hands, the heavy metal locks were unlocked and the suitcase was opened.

What's inside is—

Dozens of unopened bottles of Wild Turkey Bourbon Whiskey.

Neatly arranged Cuban-made premium cigar boxes.

Even worse, some were stuffed with countless cigarettes, as if to fill the gaps.