Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

There were no stationery, no reference books. They couldn't even find a change of shirts.

It simply became a mountain of nicotine and alcohol, substances that are generally forbidden for students to consume under Japanese law.

With a very natural motion, Huashan took a pack of cigarettes from his suitcase, tore open the packaging, and pulled one out with his large fingers. He then prepared to put it in his mouth.

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Although the security guard felt his life was in danger, he mustered all his strength to make a sound in order to defend the last line of defense for teachers.

Huashan stopped moving, his menacing gaze sweeping over the security personnel.

"What's wrong?"

A low, rumbling sound, like the earth itself.

"Um, according to school rules... incense, cigarettes, and alcohol... are prohibited from being brought into the school...!"

The security personnel had tears in their eyes and were desperately trying to suppress the trembling of their legs.

"oh."

Huashan looked at the cigarette he was about to put in his mouth, then looked at his face.

"You bastard, are you trying to boss me around?" — In the security guard's mind, the short "oh" was translated into this meaning.

However, Kaoru Hanayama's reaction was contrary to his expectations.

"Since it's the school's rule, there's nothing we can do about it."

He casually tossed the cigarette he was about to put in his mouth back into his suitcase and slammed the lid shut with his huge hand.

"Then I'll keep it here. Thank you for your consideration."

"Why……?"

Huashan made no further demands and walked through the checkpoint alone, literally empty-handed except for the clothes on his body, and strode into the campus of Gaodu Yucheng High School.

The remaining security personnel, looking at the items placed on the table—which, even by the lowest estimate, amounted to several million yen—slumped to the ground as if utterly exhausted.

......

After seeing that her class was Class 1D on the notice board confirming the admission results, Kaoru Hanayama did not choose to go directly to the classroom.

He walked slowly through the campus, built on a vast artificial island, as if surveying his own territory.

Neatly arranged trees, and a huge Beech Tree Shopping Center with even a movie theater and cafes. Indeed, it's more like a city than a school.

However, Huashan's sharp eye accurately captured the unnaturalness hidden behind this magnificent landscape.

(There are more surveillance cameras than in a prison; it seems this school really cares about student safety.)

Above streetlights, under building eaves, at alley entrances—black, hemispherical surveillance cameras are everywhere. Their density is even higher than in the prison where he was once incarcerated.

The countless cameras set up everywhere seem to be silently recording the students' actions.

Huashan smiled slightly at this thorough management system. For him, being monitored was already commonplace.

After taking in the surroundings, he walked down the corridor of the teaching building where the first-grade classrooms were located. When he arrived at the door with the sign for Class D, it was already 8:15 a.m.

"This is utterly boring! I'm not in the mood for any self-introductions! Get out of my way!"

Whoosh!

With a rough sound, the back door of Class D was suddenly pushed open.

Emerging was a robust, red-haired boy named Takeru Sudo. He disliked cultivating friendships and made no attempt to hide his frustration as he prepared to leave the classroom.

"Hey, get out of here—"

Before he could finish speaking, Sudo's voice froze completely.

Outside the open door, a massive wall of flesh stood, as if to completely cut off the light streaming in from the corridor.

Imagine it.

On the African savanna, imagine a young, spirited wild dog that has broken away from its pack, barking wildly as it charges out of the bushes to show off its fangs and claws.

The wild dog, mistaking itself for the ruler of the area, charged out in search of prey. However, its nose bumped into nothing but prey.

Instead, they are the enormous legs of an African elephant, weighing several tons, that block out all the sunlight and stand firmly rooted to the earth.

There, all that existed was pure biological fear and trembling.

The current Ken Sudo is just like that stray dog.

And standing in the corridor was none other than the African elephant.

"ah……?"

Sudo's voice strangely became hoarse.

Takeru Sudo is 183 cm tall. As a first-year high school student, he has an exceptionally strong physique and absolute confidence in the muscles he has developed through sports and his fighting skills.

However, standing before him was Kaoru Hanayama, who was over 190 centimeters tall, weighed 166 kilograms, and possessed a mass beyond reason.

Sudo's gaze was naturally guided from bottom to top.

The end of his gaze. Where he looked up, there was a face crisscrossed with countless scars, and a pair of eyes as calm as the bottom of the deep sea, radiating an extremely terrifying pressure.

For Sudo, who treats violence as a sport or a means of self-assertion, the man before him was like "violence itself walking in clothes."

Every pore on his body contracted, and Sudo instinctively took a half-step back. The anxiety he had felt moments before was completely overwhelmed by pure fear.

Hirata, Kushida, and even Ayanokoji and Horikita, who were watching from a distance, all silently observed the strange creature at the doorway.

Huashan simply looked down at the pale-faced, frozen red-haired boy before him, without a trace of anger.

"Is it over?"

Huashan asked this question abruptly in a deep, yakuza-like voice.

"Class meeting. I mean, is it over?"

"Ah, ah...? It's not over yet! It was me... who just wandered out on my own!"

His voice changed completely, and his previous arrogance vanished entirely.

Hanayama simply said, "I see," and walked past Sudo.

With each step Huashan took, one had the illusion that the classroom floor was swaying slightly.

Everyone present was unable to process the reality that "this man is really a classmate?"

As for Takeru Sudo, who was standing frozen in front of the door, his determination to leave had completely vanished.

Instead, he walked back to his seat with robotic, stiff steps and plopped down. Then, he stared straight ahead without saying a word.

Huashan looked around the back of the classroom, found the seat with his name tag, and sank his large body into the creaking chair.

Click, click, click.

In the oppressive silence, the sound of high heels approaching echoed down the corridor.