The series opens with the story of Chitose Fujinomiya, a girl who experiences a fall from wealth to poverty and back again, yet remains a snob throughout. After her wealthy father dies, outstanding debts leave Chitose nearly destitute, and she is expelled from the elite Tokai no Gakuen, also known as City Academy. She is left with nothing but the clothes on her back and a single pink goldfish named Gyopi-chan, the only keepsake she has of her father. Wandering aimlessly, she collapses on the grounds of Inaka no Chugakko (Country Jr. High School), a poor but happy institution where the students are rough yet friendly, and farm animals regularly roam the campus and even attend classes. Upon recovering, she enrolls in the school but is repelled by its atmosphere of poverty, to which she is unaccustomed.