Caste Crusher Tsukimura-kun - Chapter 1 Part 1

Most of the students attending Hachioji Municipal High School commuted by train. Since it was a preparatory school with a deviation score of over 70, many students commuted from outside the city, and some even traveled over an hour and a half from their parent’s home in Yamanashi to attend. It was a very popular and top school.

However, there were very few students who commute to the school by bicycle.

At most, there were 20 to 30 students in a school year. Among them, only a very small number of students walk to school.

One of them was me, Tsukimura Hibiki.

It takes me about three minutes to get to school each day.

The school has been around since long before I was born, and it took about the same amount of time to get there as it does to make a cup of ramen noodles.

Hachiko was the champion of the Hachioji area.

There were more than 20 high schools, both private and public, that were simply named “Hachioji.” However, only Hachioji Municipal High School was called by the simple name of “Hachiko,” and that was proof that this school stood out from all the other “Hachioji” high schools.

It was said that a graduate of this high school alone was recognized as a prominent figure in the Hachioji area.

This was not simply a matter of deviation score.

The existence of a strong alumni association, the fact that most of the mayors of Hachioji City are from Hachiko, and the overwhelming percentage of votes in the alumni elections were all part of the chronicle of the Hachioji area that has been handed down from prewar times to the present.

My father and mother were both from Hachiko, and I have heard that they became a couple in high school and eventually reached the goal line.

It was strangely common.

Hachiko has a lot of student couples who end up getting married.

It was a ridiculous tale.

Because I grew up hearing such stories, I spent my childhood overly deifying Hachiko. I was so sure that I would go to the same school as my parents and that I would find a wonderful girl in the future.

I was oblivious. I didn’t realize that the shiny white building just a three-minute walk away, visible from my window, was not a glorious schoolhouse.

I hadn’t even thought of it as a corrupt and evil hall of wonders until very recently.

“It’s cold…I am in summer clothes after all.”

I opened the front door and looked up at the sky.

The sky was as heavy as metal, and the wind was nothing but cold.

I had heard that this year would be the first cold summer in a long time.

In Japan, where the balance of spring, summer, fall, and winter has been upset in recent years, the various systems that were decided decades ago were becoming inadequate.

It would have been nice to have things changed around…But, it has been almost a month since the Heisei era came to an end and the Country came to a new era. To my dismay, nothing has changed.

I wished we could have left this piercing cold behind in the Heisei era.

“8:09…Time to go.”

However, the moment I left my house, my spine naturally straightened.

Men were better off when it comes to cold tolerance. If I complained about this level of cold, I was sure that my girlfriend, whom I would meet in the future, would be smitten with me.

It has been about a minute since I walked from my house. When I had completed one-third of the way from my house to the school, I came in sight of Route 20.

Crossing the pedestrian crossing here, Hachiko was just a stone’s throw away.

And then.

“You’re late.”

It was also where she and I would meet up every day on our way to school.

“How long are you planning on making me wait?”

The girl — Makita Kanade stared at me with a steely gaze, her lips pouting. Her thin fingertips brushed through her bangs. Her light-colored hair, dyed in high tones, fluttered in the wind.

“Sorry, was I late?”

I took out my phone and looked at the time.

The time was 8:10 a.m. I was right on time.

“No, I’m not late.”

“Yes. You’re right on time.”

“…Then, what are you dissatisfied with?”

With a question mark, I stared at her face.

My gaze hardly ever lowered. The reason was that Kanade was a very tall girl. I guess she has a “model body” if you want to call it that.

No — Makita Kanade was really an active fashion model, so I guess it was natural for her to have a model’s body.

Kanade then said.

“You’re right on time, but I wished Hibiki had come earlier. Especially today. I’m cold just waiting in this outfit.”

Kanade appeared to be in a bad mood and held her own arms in an embrace.

My prediction was right on the money.

Kanade is a hardcore cold sleeper. Today was early June, but the temperature was no different from yesterday when she was wearing winter clothes. So of course it was cold. If that was the case, I guess she should have worn something on top…Kanade must have decided to put an extra layer on was “lame”.

And that was based on a kind of professional intuition.

Since entering high school, Kanade has been an exclusive model for “CORAL” a fashion magazine for girls. Kanade was an active high school model and a real celebrity who appeared in online TV programs and late-night dramas.

Kanade decided that the coolest thing to do was to face the cold on the first day by the change of clothes, wearing nothing extra.

But that decision came at a price.

—It was cold.

“I’m Hibiki’s girlfriend, right? Shouldn’t you start taking more notice and care?”

Kanade said in discontent. I shrugged my shoulders.

“I see. I’m sorry about that.”

“Do you really feel sorry?”

“Yeah. I’ve been an uncaring boyfriend.”

“Yes,” Kanade nodded her head in agreement. “That’s no good at all.”

I was told I was no good at all.

However, we also have our own opinions.

“But, you could have sent me a message and I would have taken care of it.”

“I wanted Hibiki to guess that part.”

“…I see?”

Kanade had said something really bothersome. I gave a small cough.

“I remember that last year, you used to wear something on top of your clothes for a while after the uniform change.

“Last year… I’ve grown quite tall, haven’t I? That’s why the vest doesn’t suit me so well now. I don’t want to wear it outside as much as possible.

Kanade answered without changing her expression at all.

Then she raised her head slightly and looked me in the face.

“So, from tomorrow on, you’ll have to be here before me, okay?”

“…”

I see, so this was the main issue.

“…Don’t worry. Ogura-san said it will be a little warmer tomorrow.”

I lied. Kanade shook her head.

“No way. Karube-san said it’s still cold.”

“No, Karube would never say such a thing. He is not in charge of the weather.”

“If that were the case, Ogura-san wouldn’t have said it either.”

“That’s what he said in the opening talk today.”

“I don’t know anything about that…”

Kanade still seemed to be dissatisfied. But for my part, there was a reason I didn’t want to reject too aggressively Kanade’s proposal.

Before when we went to school together, I always arrived at the meeting place first, but she didn’t like it and told me, “I don’t like to make you wait, so you should come after me.”

Since then, I have been trying to adjust my arrival time.

Kanade leaves the house after watching “Mezamashi TV” until the end. On the other hand, I leave the house after listening to the opening talk of “Tokudane!”

This way, we were able to adjust our meeting time to the distance between our houses.

However—

(She’s being misled by the temporary cold. I’m sure when the temperature rises a bit and the cold is no longer an issue, she’ll soon be saying she doesn’t want to keep me waiting again…)

Despite her appearance, Kanade was a kind-hearted girl.

However, Kanade herself was not very aware of the importance she placed on not wanting to cause trouble for others.

Therefore, she sometimes said things like this in a moment of confusion.

I was aware that it was a boyfriend’s worthiness to respond immediately when someone whispered to him with a superior look like this, “Come here before me,” but…I don’t think I should respond to this point.

For Kanade’s sake.

“…Haa. That’s enough. Hibiki’s stingy.”

Kanade, with a troublesome expression on her face, began to quickly cross the pedestrian crossing. Before I knew it, the pedestrian signal had turned green. I immediately followed Kanade.

“Hibiki. Hand.”

Without even looking at me as I chased after her, Kanade threw her left hand out to the side. Then she opened her palm. The thin, white fingertips were giving me orders without words.

—Hold my hand.

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

I held Kanade’s hand as usual. This has been a habit since middle school. It was such a trivial thing, but when I thought about it, it seemed like it has been going on for a long time.

White, cold, slender hands.

Small fingers.

They have always been the same.

“Hibiki’s hands are so warm.”

Kanade said with a slightly satisfied smile on her face.

“Kanade’s hands are as cold as a Yuki-onna’s.”

“Yes,” Kanade glanced up at me, “So make sure you warm my hands up properly, okay?”

“Yeah, got it.”

“Yes.”

Kanade nodded and turned to face forward.

We didn’t have much conversation until we reached the school gate.

But that’s the way it always was. We had already talked a lot about yesterday’s topics on the messaging app after we got home.

We only had two minutes to go to and from school together.

After that, we were fortunate enough to be in the same class, but the time we could be alone was limited.

I didn’t want to change this habit, at least not while we were still in high school.

So I would have to keep Kanade waiting for me tomorrow. As in the past, I would watch the opening talk of “Tokudane!”, then I would leave the house.

Kanade would still be pouting and complaining to me tomorrow.

But it was better that way. The relationship between the two of us would work better if I arrive later.

That hasn’t changed.

And I’m sure it would continue to be so.

In no time at all, Kanade and I arrived at Hachioji Municipal High School.

We indirectly belong to the “walking group,” of which there were less than 20 students out of Hachiko’s nearly 900 students, but the “bicycle group” and “train group” join the school route from this area.

The walking group, so to speak, was almost all “neighbors”.

Even first-years and third-years in different years were familiar with each other from elementary and middle school, and they were used to seeing me and Kanade.

But the rest of the other groups was different.

Apparently, the sight of me and Kanade going to school is quite a spectacle.

“Oh, look…!”

“It’s Hibiki-san and Kanade-san!

“Hibiki-san also looks so cool today…?”

“Eh? He looks taller than usual…”

“Maybe he’s gotten taller.”

“I think so. I wonder how many centimeters he is now?”

“Maybe…185!?”

“No, no! There’s definitely a little more to it!”

I was treated as if I were some kind of idol, which of course I was not.

There must be some boys in their class who are definitely taller than me and belong to the basketball or volleyball team.

If they weren’t on the radar of these girls…That would be a little unhealthy.

Their school life would be more colorful if they were more interested in their more familiar classmates rather than me, who was in a different grade.

“W-Wait! Isn’t Kanade-san’s bag the one she used in this month’s issue of CORAL?”

“No way!? So she was using her own bag!?”

“No, didn’t she just buy it from the person in the magazine?”

“B-But it’s amazing though. I can’t believe that bag was designed to look good in uniforms, even with clothes like the ones in CORAL…!”

“I mean, do people change their school bags when they change their clothes too…?”

“Y-Yeah. I didn’t notice that much…”

The first-year girls nearby were having a great time with their friends, but as expected, they were too close for us to hear them.
　
But the fact that they even noticed Kanade’s bag could be described as moderately enthusiastic.

Kanade has changed her school bag to a different one from the one she had been wearing last week.

It was a common practice for women to change their bags to match their clothes, but it may be a bit too much for them to be conscious of their school bags as well.

Hachiko does not specify the manufacturer of school bags, and students were free to choose either a shoulder bag or a backpack as long as the design was not too flashy.

However, freedom was generally more difficult when it was allowed halfway.

Students’ (well, mostly girls’) choice of school bag was at odds with the eyes of the student advisor, the teacher, and the girls around them.

So what do they do?

—They imitate what the cool students were using.

“Kanade, how much is that bag?”

“Six thousand five hundred yen.”

Kanade answered immediately. I was a little impressed by her unwavering answer.

“As usual, I’m surprised you even remember the price.”

“Because it’s an important commodity.”

Looking down at the black faux-leather shoulder bag dangling from her own shoulder, Kanade let out a sigh.

“The actual price of the product is usually a lot more than the price of the item. Besides, if it’s over 10,000 yen, I would switch to something else. I can’t make everyone buy something too expensive, can I?”

“There are a lot of girls who use the same bag as Kanade’s.”

“Right.”

Kanade laughed a little. “I’m very happy. I’m glad I’m doing my job.”

“It’s great that you take care of everyone.”

“That’s a rare compliment. That’s very nice of you.”

“I’m a good person, right?”

“Yeah.”

I was tempted to pat Kanade on the head, but I decided not to, as the stares from those around me would have been too much.

Needless to say, Kanade reigned at the top of the school caste of girls in Hachiko and was considered one of the “model answers” in this bag selection war.

She was a model with a fine appearance and outstanding style, and above all, her mature appearance, which was unbelievable for a 16-year-old girl, attracted others.

Normally, I would have liked to add ” excel at literal and martial arts,” “brilliant and colorful,” or “intelligent” as a starter kit for the four-letter idioms of praise, but Kanade’s athletic skills were not great and she was too good at academics, so I’m going to exclude her from the list.

But that was not important.

Kanade’s “popularity with the girls” was the strongest.

The contribution of athletics and studies to the girl’s caste was remarkably low. In this world, a girl who was a member of a serious sports club was treated like a gorilla, and a girl who studies diligently was treated like a scrawny student (of course, the fact that Kanade was athletically inept and disliked studying was not character development, but rather her true ability).

The one element that is particularly valued in this field was—

“Ah. Kanade and Hibiki. Good morning, you two!

—The market for fashionable, cute, and trendy things.

“Shizuku, you’re up early today.”

“I know, right? She’s usually on the verge of being late…”

The situation where all the students were looking at me and Kanade from a distance was instantly cut short. The one who showed up was one of our classmates and one of the people we usually hang out with…

Her name was Chiyoda Shizuku.

“Mou, don’t say that. Today is a special day, right?”

Shizuku put her hand over her mouth and kept her voice low.

—Chiyoda Shizuku was exactly the opposite of Kanade, a type of girl in the upper caste.

Kanade was a model, tall and slender.

Since most of her fans as a model were only girls, she tends to act as if she has little interest in anyone other than me, especially the opposite sex.

She was what was called a “high peak” type of girl.

On the other hand, Shizuku was different.

Shizuku was much brighter than Kanade and has excellent communication skills. She was the type of girl who would talk to anyone she feels comfortable with as long as the topic of conversation was compatible.

Her face was somewhere between cute and pretty, and if Shizuku had any interest in the industry, she would be on TV as an idol of today’s generation.

In fact, there was no doubt that if she were to do the exact same thing on the TV screen, even with the “talking in private” gesture she just did, countless idol lovers across the country would instantly fall in love with her.

Shizuku’s every little gesture was strangely over the top. I could sense a strong TV idol element in this area as well. If there were such a girl in school, she would surely be a popular person.

In fact, Shizuku was the most popular girl among the boys, at least among the girls in the second year.

By the way, our own Makita Kanade…There was also the big problem of having a boyfriend—But that was rare to hear as a problem among the boys.

However, I strongly believed.

Even if Kanade had been a soloist, the gap would not have been filled much, and it must have been impossible for her to beat Shizuku in boys’ popularity.

There was an instinctive reason that goes beyond personality and facial beauty.

Yes, Chiyoda Shizuku’s greatest characteristic—

“It’s uniform change, right? If I come to school late today, I’ll look like I forgot to prepare my summer clothes, and I’ll look uncool—ah! Kanade, that bag!”

“…Ah, you know it?”

“No, I don’t know what brand it is, but it’s a new one. Is that the one you used for the photo shoot?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a new one from VICTORIAS.”

“Oh, it’s a brand with a name like Vichy that’s often in CORAL. Heh, it looks great on Kanade!”

“Yeah, thanks. Ah…Shizuku has a different bag than last week too. I didn’t know that. You were preparing a—Eh?”

“Fufufu…You have realized it, right?”

With a smiling face, Shizuku twisted her body and showed Kanade the school bag on her shoulder.

And with that, the barb shook.

—Not just “idol,” but also “gravure idol” with huge breasts that were out of the norm for students that set them apart.

“Yes, I know. This is the new work that LOW LOVE released in January this year…This has different materials. It’s a limited special edition…!”

Kanade answered in a stifled voice. Then Shizuku looked impressed.

“Oh, as expected of Kanade! You can tell that much just by looking at it! By the way…This is a limited edition?”

“Eh…H-How come you don’t know that?” Kanade said in surprise.

“Because I didn’t buy it. It was a gift.”

“…”

Kanade held her head. Then she asked in a defeated voice.

“…By the way, Shizuku, do you know how much this bag is?”

“It’s 9,000 yen, right?” Shizuku answered casually. “The price tag wasn’t attached, but the official website said it was.”

“It’s not…”

“What!?”

“…That’s probably the list price for one made of synthetic leather. Still, there are so few of them now that they should be hard to buy, and the market price is probably around 20,000 yen. Moreover, the one Shizuku has is a limited edition and made of genuine leather, so…the price goes up even more to 50,000 yen.”

“5-50,000 yen!?”

Shizuku’s body trembled, revealing her turmoil while taking another look at her bag.

—And at the same time, Shizuku’s too-big breast shook.

“…”

I, who was standing next to her, was of course surprised at the amount.

But where my gaze went was different from Shizuku’s.

Next to the bag, my gaze fell on the chest of Chiyoda Shizuku, who boasts the largest in Hachiko, and which was further accentuated by the thinness of the fabric due to her summer clothes—

Eventually, they reached a male student who was making his way to the school building while proudly glancing at Shizuku’s chest.

(…Goodness. Can’t you all at least make it less noticeable? Shizuku would mind it…)

We had been passed by several students on their way to school because we had stopped to talk.

In the midst of all this — I witnessed a group of male students pass by Shizuku, and gave her an overly explicit look at her chest.

I could not remain silent when I came across such a scene. I casually adjusted my position and shut out Shizuku from the gazes of those boys.

They looked blatantly disappointed and left.

(I know it’s probably too much to ask them not to look at her…)

The fact was — Chiyoda Shizuku was just like Mara, the god of vexation, to all kinds of boys.

She stirred up the vexations of the men around her with her mere presence.

Unconsciously, innocently.

Without restraint.

But no matter how attractive she may be, what would Shizuku think if the men were to strike her with their adolescent desires directly in their gazes?

—She would think it was gross.

As a man, I don’t blame them for their actions and instincts.

But I do have something to say.

—Consider your own actions for a little bit.

I was so focused on protecting the defenseless Shizuku from the gaze of desire that the topic of the schoolbag disappeared from my mind for a moment…but Shizuku, the person in question, didn’t seem to be concerned about that at all right now.

Shizuku said in a trembled voice.

“W-W-What…This costs 50,000 yen…?”

Shizuku, with a look of surprise on her face, lifted up her schoolbag with both hands and examined it from various angles as if she were looking at an expensive vase.

But it was strange to begin with.

She doesn’t know the price of the bag she brought? Why is that?

“Shizuku. That bag…how did you get it?”

I asked.

“It was a gift,” Shizuku said.

“I see. Who gave it to you?”

The name “Chiyoda” conjured up images of royalty, but even so, it was not like she was rich enough to afford a 50,000 bag on a whim.

Birthday present? No, but Shizuku’s birthday was a little further away.

“This was given to me by my Papa.”

Papa.

I see, a gift from her father.

“Ah. Of course, I didn’t mean it in a sugar daddy’s way.”

I had naturally interpreted it as a gift from her father.

But Shizuku politely added an unnecessary addition.

I replied in exasperation.

“…Don’t worry. I didn’t particularly consider that possibility.”

“Eh? Did you not?”

“Of course. Haa…can we stop with the joke?”

“Well, that being said…”

Shizuku chuckled. “So even though I’m a girl who would never do such a thing, I think I need to properly update and speak up on a daily basis. Fufu.”

—Chiyoda Shizuku was not just a sweet girl.

Shizuku has a bad habit of dropping bombshells and invectives from time to time.

She was not just a beautiful flower, but also a manifestation of a danger reminiscent of a poisonous flower.

Incidentally, this was not the first time I have heard Shizuku says the word “sugar daddy,” but it was because the three of us came across a girl in our class whispering behind our backs a while ago, “Chiyoda looks like she would make a lot of money if she got involved with a sugar daddy,” and she started to use it as a joke.

In other words, this is a kind of “inside joke” that only works for us…But only Shizuku likes to use it, and the fact that it is not very popular with me and Kanade is also a source of concern.

“…Well, your father gave you that?”

Kanade forced me to change the subject. She looked extremely troubled, and her heart was full of wanting to get away from the daddy stuff as soon as possible.

“But I think it’s too expensive…Birthday present maybe?”

“No. That’s in September.”

“Then why such an expensive bag….?”

“I heard that he won the horse race gamble that was held yesterday, and he bought it for me with the money.”

“H-Horse race…?”

Perhaps because of the unexpected words, Kanade froze.

Makes sense now, horse races, huh?

Come to think of it, I think the race was mentioned in the sports news this morning. That meant that some kind of big prize was held yesterday, and Shizuku’s father won the ticket most likely.

Shizuku continued with a proud smile.

“According to our rules, Dad has to return a percentage of the money he wins from horse races to Mom and me.”

“That’s a very strict rule. Shizuku’s father must be getting by on a small allowance…”

“No, it’s only natural since doesn’t contribute to the store’s sales.”

“R-Right…”

Kanade raised a voice that was clearly drawn out. Because of “certain circumstances,” Kanade was very fastidious when it comes to gambling, and both pachinko and horse races were completely off-limits. Even if I became old enough to play pachinko and horse races (I must be 18 and 20, respectively), I was strictly forbidden to do so.

“But my dad is pretty good at pachinko. He’s usually in the black.”

“He’s making a profit?”

“Yes, he’s making money. Well, if he was in the red, Mom and I wouldn’t allow it.”

I don’t think I’d rather have a rule in my household that I don’t touch the store’s money than a dividend return rule.

However, thanks to this story, I felt I had solved the mystery of the schoolbag.

In other words, Shizuku’s father won big enough in yesterday’s race to be able to give his daughter a 50,000 bag as a gift. Considering that he gave probably the same amount to her mother, it was safe to assume that Shizuku’s father was a good enough horse race gambler to be allowed to keep his hands off the store’s sales.

But—

(That means he won a few hundred thousand yen. I honestly think it’s great, but…Kanade wouldn’t think so.)

Considering Kanade’s ugly expression on her face from a while ago, she couldn’t easily agree with Shizuku. Kanade said in a low voice.

“I…Don’t really like the idea of gambling and giving gifts with those earnings.”

“Really? It’s an official thing though?”

“Even if it is, I don’t feel good about it.”

“Eh. But you know? Even Kanade’s senior at the entertainment agency has been in quite a few horse racing commercials, haven’t they? Is that bad too?

“That…m-may be true, but…”

Kanade looked away from the painful point Shizuku made.

Shizuku was a loose cannon in many ways, but in reality, she was a realist who thought quite logically.

Therefore, when Kanade disagreed with Shizuku, the argument was usually broken down in a split second.

This was not a good trend, I thought.

The reason this was happening was that Shizuku doesn’t know why Kanade hated gambling. But on the other hand, if I told her…Shizuku would probably end up apologizing to Kanade for broaching this kind of topic with her.

This was a bit deep topic.

—Let’s change the topic.

“You two. There’s something more important than that. Rather than the means by which Shizuku’s father bought your bag, we should talk about the fact that you brought a bag with such a price tag to school. Am I wrong?”

“The price of the bag…?” Shizuku tilted her head.

“Yes. Do you think the student advisors would overlook a 50,000 yen school bag?”

“Ah—!?”

Shizuku widened her eyes and looked down at the LOW LOVE logo with a stunned look on her face. She then spun the words in a flustered manner.

“But, but I didn’t bring it here knowingly!”

“That doesn’t really work with the student advisors.”

“It’s my fault Dad threw away the price tag!”

“Isn’t that…kind of parental love in a way? If he told you the price, Shizuku wouldn’t have taken it to school. If he gave you a gift, he wants you to use it as much as possible, right?”

“No, I don’t need your concern, Papa!”

Shizuku held her head.

Yes, this situation was not good. If she made it through today, Shizuku could take this bag home. She could vent out her resentment and bitterness over the confusing misunderstanding with her father as much as she liked.

But what if she got scolded by the teacher?

—What if they confiscate the precious gift that her father gave her?

(That would end up badly.)

I still have a vivid image in my mind of Shizuku’s happy smile when she showed off her new bag to us earlier.

We cannot let that radiance be tarnished by darkness. It would be best to take measures.

“Shizuku. Can you put that bag in your locker without hanging it on your desk when you enter the classroom?”

I immediately asked Shizuku.

“Heh…B-But that would be inconvenient, wouldn’t it?”

“It would be, yes—I have an idea.”

I looked straight into Shizuku’s big eyes. Shizuku gulped. Fortunately, she seemed to have understood that I was “serious” and not making a joke.

“Y…Yeah! I’ll…do as you say, Hibiki.”

“We’ll help you. You won’t lose anything.”

I nodded and removed my body from Shizuku’s side.

It got a little messy. Chiyoda Shizuku was a woman who has a lot of openings, despite the fact that she was a combination of male vexation and vicious venom.

In other words, she was extremely popular among boys.

In proportion to that—she also has a tremendous number of enemies among girls.

Yes, enemies.

This was not a battlefield or a different world. It was just a school. The word may be a little disturbing to appear in such a place, but its presence cannot be ignored as it was everywhere here.

Hachiko was the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

Fortunately, there are no demon kings, but there were plenty of enemies.

There was no end to the number of troublemakers who would try to damage Shizuku’s radiance. It was one of my important missions to protect her from such people.