Kasugayama High School
Kasugayama High School, Kasu High for short, or 'Cuss High' as it's been derisively nicknamed by its rivals at Sevens, is an underfunded reform school in the Hirasaka Ward of Sumaru City.
'Reform' is perhaps a bit of a misnomer, because it's functionally a dumping ground for students that no other school in Sumaru City wants. The faculty there are apathetic and tired, enforcing very few of the many rules that are supposed to be in play.
You would expect, then, that at a school for delinquents, it'd be like something out of Lord of the Flies, right?
Well, not quite.
The knowledge that the adults won't support or care about them has instead caused the students to take care of themselves. Loose cliques that resemble gangs, but without colors or names that would mark them as such, have formed, each with their own leadership.
And the strongest calls the shots.
The current strongest and the Leader of Kasugayama High right now is Eikichi Mishina, a flamboyant second year whose skin-deep narcissism hides a heart of gold, who calls himself the 'Death Boss.' His strength alone has kept everything together.
The Student Council handles day-to-day student needs and minor disputes, and only calls upon the Death Boss if it's something they can't handle.
But that doesn't mean that things still aren't rough. Each and every day at Kasugayama comes with minor squabbles and power struggles between the various student bosses in the school, each scheming to remake the school's power structure according to their own vision.
It's not quite full-on prison rules, but one still has to be strong, ruthless, and clever to thrive here, as the Death Boss would rather hang around the nearby Sumaru Prison practicing for his band's debut than actually flaunting his authority.
Fights that result in injuries are just a way of life here. The last nurse just quit, leaving the nurse's office staffed only by student aids that more often send people down the road to Tominaga Chiropractic than actually offer them any care.
Also, the school was built over a huge WWII air raid shelter, a creepy place that's said to be full of Demons, but that's just superstition. Right?
More on Culture
Kasugayama recently became a co-ed school after the much smaller Akiyama High School--a reform school for girls in Konan Ward--mysteriously burned down last November (2011) and the prefecture decided they didn't want to fund it being rebuilt.
Girls have thus been introduced to Kasugayama High as of this last school year (2011-2012) in January's third term, and the integration has been rough. While at first the boys were excited by the prospect, they immediately chilled to it when they found out the new transfers were all as troubled, violent, and ruthless as them!
As a result, they're often harassed as not being feminine enough for the delinquent boys on account of refusing their advances, who instead look towards Seven Sisters for girls that are up to their standards for dating.
What's more, girls still only make up about twenty percent of the students at Kasugayama School, forcing them to organize themselves into loose gangs in order to survive. Their own hierarchy is generally just as strict, requiring them to swear themselves to a sukeban boss for their own protection.
Despite its reputation for delinquency, the one thing that Kasugayama High lacks completely is smoking on campus. No one in the school smokes, because the Death Boss so strictly forbids it. It's so strong a taboo that it now has the enforcement of a Rumor on the school grounds.
Primary Schooling?
Kasugayama High School is a reform school and therefore doesn't have an associated elementary or middle school. If you apply for a character who attends, or who previously attended Akiyama High School and was folded into Kasu after the fire, they would only have attended either of those schools starting from the beginning of high school at the earliest.
Classes
There are up to six classes per grade, proceeding from 1-A to 1-F, 2-A to 2-F, and 3-A to 3-F; only classes with known students are listed here. Contact staff to have your character listed in a specific class!
3-A
2-E
Prominent Students
- Eikichi Mishina - The Leader of Kasugayama High, who has dubbed himself the 'Death Boss', and thus the current 'strongest' on campus. While he's not one to flaunt his authority save when he needs to--just his charm, beauty, and budding visual kei band called Gas Chamber--most everyone respects his strength. That doesn't mean he doesn't have multiple rivals plotting to oust him! Rumor has it he got so strong because his dad is a martial artist turned sushi chef.
- Yasuo Inoue - The scheming leader of the Student Council, who tries to twist all rivalries to his benefit. While not strong himself, he's generally considered quite smart, and has made various deals to keep himself insulated from harm.
- Hiroki Sugimoto - One of the more minor bosses around school and the greatest hater of the Death Boss. Has already engaged in several contests to take his position only to end up utterly humiliated. That hasn't stopped him, though, and on any given day you can find him plotting a new attempt to usurp his authority.
- Jun Kashihara - The son of celebrity actress Junko Kurosu, Jun is quite the looker. Even many of the new girl transfer students find themselves envious of his beauty and his knowledge of astrology and flower language. However, those who attempt to bully him for being a soft-spoken pretty boy quickly find he has a core of steel. He's not at Kasu because he was banished there; he's there because he likes it.
OC Guidance
Kasugayama High doesn't have a lot defined about it in canon. There's very few named NPCs and no named teachers. It's mostly a set piece for conflicts to occur. Which means that OCs have a lot of space to carve out a niche here!
If you want to explore a character being left in a school environment to fend for themselves because they're a troubled youth, or from a poor neighborhood, or just didn't make the grade on the Sevens entrance exam? Cuss High is a great place for these concepts.
Having family problems, being a delinquent, even being wronged by society and sent to reform school are all great reasons to go here. This makes it a very appropriate place for Will of Rebellion characters, but not everyone will be. Despite being delinquents, and sometimes because of it, not all Kasu characters are fighting for societal reform; their reasons for doing what they do can't be painted with a broad brush.
Other appropriate concepts are characters who are more open about not quite meeting the standards for Japanese society in gender and sexuality. For example, Eikichi Mishina and Jun Kashihara neither fit the default for masculinity in Japan, and Jun in particular is rather open about his interest in men.
Thus, characters who are either openly queer or are struggling to express themselves in ways that make them act out are both appropriate. This includes girls, as we've opted to make Kasugayama co-ed on Velvet Room MUSH. (In canon, it's a boys-only school. Indeed, it's only co-ed on This Side, too.)
Finally, Kasugayama High, while less openly a hotbed for antagonistic forces like in Innocent Sin, still is quite appropriate for antagonist concepts. Characters who are isolated and devalue others, who fully buy into the Might Makes Right mentality, who vie ruthlessly for position against the others, and/or have grown up to not fall in line with societal values all make for good concepts for this school.
Integration Notes
- Neither the summer uniform for boys and girls, nor the winter uniform for girls, exists in canon. Crossroads Bar, Naganaki Shrine, and Pachinko Silver of the Velvet Room MUSH staff designed images of them using the Charat Dollmaker as a base, which you can find a link to under Useful Links.
Uniforms
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Boys Summer Uniform -
Girls Summer Uniform -
Girls Winter Uniform
