Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Solace

Vol. 7: Chapter 9.1 - Confrontation

"C'mon, Kikyou. Our class lost a lot because of Ayanokouji ever since the start of school. Our class should've been above you, but we had to make do with being labeled as the defective class because of him. It's about time we release some of our pent-up frustrations, no?"

Of course... To them, Ryuuen's words weren't totally just for show. We basically stole their position without a heads-up. 

And not only that. Among these Class D boys that Ryuuen brought, two of them were guys that I had rejected before. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to inflict pain on Kiyotaka-kun.

"No, I don't want to! I don't want my friend to be hurt!" 

After riling myself up, I can feel some tears start to form. Good. I needed to act like a suffering damsel to elicit some sympathy from those who still believed in me.

"Alright, fine, fine. Don't cry now." Ryuuen's sinister smile widened. "We'll stop asking for Ayanokouji. But in exchange, you will have to receive our frustrations in his place. You can probably satisfy us in many ways, right?"

"What...? What are you...?"

At that moment, a rush of questions came into my head. Is he joking? Are the others in on it? Can I escape?

"You know exactly what I mean."

I checked each and every one of their reactions. Ibuki-san looked disgusted but didn't say anything.

"R-Ryuuen-san... Are you serious about this?" Ishizaki-kun asked with a troubled face.

Most of them looked surprised, too. But I'll certainly remember those who looked thrilled about it.

"Don't get it wrong, Kikyou. My whims are my whims. If you guys don't have the balls to do anything, then just stay there and watch." Ryuuen nonchalantly approached me.

I stepped back on reflex, feeling the danger. He pulled his hand from his pocket and tossed his phone at me.

"Here. Message Ayanokouji to come here alone. Don't even think about getting sneaky with me. Albert and I will watch your every move." 

The moment I try something funny, I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to restrain me from behind. 

As thought about what I could do, he leaned in next to my ear. 

"Make sure he doesn't bring anyone else here, or everyone in this school will know about your past. I'm sure everyone would like to know the kind of things Kushida Kikyou did during middle school."

I started trembling. I knew it. He knew everything. How do you know? How do you know everything?!

"F-Fine... I get it! Just, please get away from me."

My breathing became ragged and it was getting very hard to keep my act up.

"No can do. I'll read the message as you type it. Albert isn't that good in Japanese, so it'll be bad if you start using difficult kanji."

I... I have no choice but to contact Kiyotaka-kun here.

(14:09) [Kiyotaka-kun, this is Kikyou. Please come to the storage area near Keyaki Mall alone. Don't bring anyone or Ryuuen-kun will spread rumors about me. Please hurry.]

There's no telling if this message will become public or not, so it's better to say "rumors" rather than "secrets".

"You're such a careful girl, but I like that."

Of course, this guy also knew what I was thinking.

Still, I wonder if Kiyotaka-kun is still with Mii-chan. Would he come here, if they were still in the middle of something?