Chikuma Konishi

Growing up in a beggared family in the worst slum in Japan, every day of Chikuma's life was a paradoxical mixture of fortune and misfortune. The sheer squalor in which Chikuma's family lived would have killed almost anyone else - they were deeply exceptional, yet also deeply unfortunate. Each meal, usually scrounged up from scraps found in the trash, was a blessing; each bout of resulting dysentery a curse. Everything changed for Chikuma when she discovered her hidden talent for coupon collecting. Her ability to seek out new discounts and locate old newspaper clippings seemed almost magical in its efficiency and speed. Though finding coupons could take her upwards of eight hours a day, by the end, Chikuma would always return home with ten full bags of groceries.

By the time Chikuma had singlehandedly lifted her entire family out of poverty, word of her exploits had spread across the country, often from the mouths of scorned supermarket managers who had lost hundreds of thousands to her machinations. Her application to Bitokukawa, a school committed to hardworking lower-class students just as much as wealthy ones, was quickly accepted.