To go home, me and Yukina took the train back to the Drachma Red dorms.
We headed to my room to hang out for a bit until it was time for her study group to gather in the dorm lounge at 7pm.
"You should join us once in awhile, Yuu."
"I don't really need to revise though..."
"Even if you don't feel like it, it's better to brush up on your knowledge and be safe."
"I guess. Maybe I'll join you guys if I feel like it."
"Aw, couldn't you join just for me?"
"If you ask nicely, maybe."
Walking ahead of me, Yukina clasped her hands together and looked at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Yuu... would you please join my study group this evening? Pretty please, with a cherry and sprinkles on top?"
Tempting me with a coquettish voice, Yukina implored me to join while tilting her head cutely.
"It would mean the world to me."
Woah, this was getting dangerous. I could probably ward off the first line, but this second line made me feel wanted by her in specific.
"Uh... well..."
Before I could give her a proper answer, Kouji's dorm room came into view, distracting me.
"Yuu?"
Noticing my fixed gaze, Yukina looked over in the same direction I was.
"Sorry, let me just take care of something quickly. This will probably take only five minutes."
Yukina raised an eyebrow at me, but followed nonetheless. As usual, I knocked on Kouji's door multiple times in hopes of a response.
"Kouji-san, it's me, Takanori, again."
I continued to knock his door. At this rate, I could probably create a rhythm out of how fast I was doing it. Yukina simply watched, slowly catching on what I was trying to do.
"Are you trying to talk to him about the Minanohara incident?" She asked in a low voice.
"Yeah. This is my third attempt now."
My knuckles were getting sore, so I gave it a break for a bit.
"Kouji-san still hasn't responded?"
"Nope."
"Even when you've been knocking that hard?"
"He's either a deep sleeper or wearing noise cancelling earphones."
It was probably the latter, since Kouji always carried earphones with him at school. If that was the case, there was nothing I could do about it except try more forceful methods next.
I didn't want to resort to such drastic measures so soon though, so I continued to be civil and carried on knocking his door to try and eke out a response from him.
Surely, after so many failed attempts, he'd get fed up by my persistence and tell me to stop sooner or later. If I could do that much, then it meant it wasn't impossible for me to draw him out.
However, if Kouji still refused to answer the door, that meant he was either actively ignoring me, or he simply didn't care enough. Unfortunately, both reasons fit his personality.
After five minutes of continuous knocking, I decided to stop.
"Alright, that's all. Sorry about that."
I meekly apologised to Yukina, but she shook her head.
"It's fine, you should continue."
"Huh?"
I didn't expect her to give me such an outlandish suggestion.
"I think you should continue knocking on his door."
"What good is in doing that? I'll only be wasting time."
"No, it's not. You want to talk to him, don't you? The only way you can do that is by making him come out of his dorm. And the only way to make him come out of his dorm is to knock on his door until he can't bear it anymore."
"I've tried that before, Yukina. The first time, I spent twenty minutes straight knocking before giving up."
"Then try thirty minutes! And if that doesn't work, try doing it for an hour!"
"I don't think even I have the patience for that..."
"Yuu, this isn't about whether you have the patience or not. It's about how much you want to achieve this. I can tell you want to talk to Kouji-san, since you haven't given up on him yet, but you can't stop this early."
"Of course I want to talk to Kouji-san. I get what you're saying, but it doesn't have to be now. It can be later."
"If not now, when?"
"Until I break through to him, I guess."
"That's just procrastination."
I was surprised to see Yukina so blatantly call me out here.
"Yuu, do you remember what cost us the war against D Class last time?"
"My poor time management."
"That's right. And you're repeating that mistake again by being so flippant with Kouji-san."
"As long as I speak to him before Thursday, it's fine."
"No Yuu. It's not fine. You look so calm, it's almost like you don't understand how dire this situation is."
"Perhaps you're just over exaggerating it?"
"What? You just said that you only have the rest of today and tomorrow to somehow talk to him. In the first place, I don't even know what you'll do to force poor Kouji-san to speak to you!"
For some reason, I felt irritated by what Yukina was saying. Except, that last part... that was something closer to pain, I think.
"...Yukina, do you remember the train ride we had together after I declared my surrender?"
"I do. What's that got to do with this?"
"You said that, no matter what methods I'd resort to, you'd still be on my side. What... what happened to that?"
"Yuu... don't be ridiculous, of course I'm on your side. It's because I'm supporting you that I care so much about this... please, just hear me out. Are you really going to let another chance slip by you because you couldn't persevere knocking on somebody's door?"
"No, I won't, but..."
"There are no "buts", Yuu. We're already wasting precious time by dragging out this conversation. If you won't do it, then I will."
"You're welcome to try."
I stood back and watched as Yukina began to knock on his door gently. I already knew that her attempt would amount to nothing. However, I let her do it anyways so she could see it herself just how futile perseverance was when trying to talk to Kouji.
"Kouji-san? Are you there?"
Like how I did it the first time, Yukina began to slowly escalate her knocks accordingly as time went on.
"It's me, Kazuraba. Is everything okay?"
Unlike me however, she continued to talk between the knocks in order to try and reach out to him through her words.
"You haven't been coming to school lately... everyone's been worried about you. Especially Takanori-san."
This is something I could never do. My social skills are practically non-existent. But since it's Yukina, she could do it no problem.
"Kouji-san, please! Please answer!"
Fifteen minutes had passed with no avail.
Yukina was beginning to look exhausted from the one sided experience, but she still looked determined to breakthrough.
Though, after twenty or twenty five minutes, she'll soon realise it's practically impossible. With how things are panning out, I'll just have to resort to breaking in tomorrow morning.
"Kouji-san..."
Yukina practically whimpered his name in desperation to try and draw him out. I had no idea she could make her voice sound that sad. She could pull off a surprisingly wide range of voices.
"Kouji-san, I won't give up on you. Not yet!"
Soon it was approaching the twenty minute mark. Still, there was no response from Kouji. Yukina continued nevertheless.
"Kouji-san... Kouji-san... Kouji-san!"
Twenty five minutes had passed. At this point, Yukina was slamming her fist into the door to try and get him to answer.
I couldn't bare to watch her struggle anymore for a guy like him, so I quietly approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Yukina, it's nearly been half an hour. It's obvious he won't answer."
"Not yet..."
Yukina muttered, hitting his door once more.
"Not yet... I said I wouldn't give up on him, so I won't! Kouji-san!"
She hit his door once more, harder this time.
"Yukina, I've heard you out. It's time for you to hear me out."
The skin on her knuckles were beginning to peel from how hard she was knocking on his door.
"It's time to stop."
Yukina shook her head, her eyes still burning with determination.
"Just let me try a little longer."
Part of me felt bad, since Yukina was trying to do this for my benefit, but I decided to let her continue. It's better to let her taste failure rather than shield her from it.
"...five minutes. That's all I'm giving you."
Yukina nodded and continued to knock on his door, not giving up even once during those five minutes. However, it still wasn't enough to budge the stubborn Kouji.
"It's been thirty minutes now. Face it, Yukina. We won't be reaching out to Kouji-san today."
Yukina's face hardened as she slammed both of her reddened fists on Kouji's door.
"Kouji-san. I know about what happened at Minanohara."
Without hesitation, Yukina mercilessly played the ace up her sleeve in a last ditch attempt at getting him out. If I was going to force my way in physically, she was going to force her way in emotionally.
By bringing up her one sided knowledge of the Minanohara incident, this would throw Kouji into a panic and most likely get him to open up, as he wouldn't know what she'd do with that information.
There was the possibility she'd use it to blackmail or bully him. That was the silent threat conveyed in Yukina's callous words.
"...you're so damn annoying."
A low voice grumbled from the other side as the door opened. Emerging out of his dorm room for the first time in nearly two weeks, Kouji stared at Yukina in all of his grungy and naked glory.
However, Yukina wasn't put off by his nudity. Instead, she just stepped forward to hold his door open, ensuring that he didn't have an easy way to escape.
"So? You still answered regardless."
Since I didn't want Kouji to notice my presence here, I backed off and stood parallel to the open door so he couldn't see me from his angle. Plus, since Yukina had closed in on him, he was probably focused on only her and not his surroundings.
"Guess I did... what do you even want from me?"
Kouji yawned mid-sentence, scratching his messy bed hair. He must've been sleeping, or at least trying to sleep, before getting up to answer the door.
"I want to know more about you as a person, Kouji-san."
"...what?"
A breathless snicker escaped his thin lips.
"Don't pity me now just because you learnt about my past."
"I wouldn't do such a thing. I'd never look down on you for that."
"Lies..."
I could see Yukina take a step back as accusatory anger seeped into Kouji's voice.
"You're only saying that now because you feel bad for me nearly dying all those years ago... I know that's the kind of person you are, Kazuraba-san... always sympathetic and supportive to those less fortunate than you."
When faced with what he believed to be hostility, venom began to drip from Kouji's words.
"No wonder you're so popular... you're such a kindhearted bitch."
Yukina didn't say a word. Instead, she took a step forward, pushed her arms out, and closed the door behind her.
...what just happened? Did she really just force her way into Kouji's room by shoving him in?
"G-get off me!"
I could hear Kouji shouting through the walls. It piqued my interest, so I moved over to his dorm room to eavesdrop on what was being said.
"Maybe you shouldn't have answered the door while you were naked? That's just asking for trouble."
I could hear Yukina berating Kouji. Since the walls in these dorms were thin, I could just about make out their voices.
"I didn't have a choice... I was trying to sleep earlier."
"And me mentioning Minanohara was enough to get you out of bed, huh?"
I could hear tumbling and bumping as they talked to each other. Were they fighting or something?
"Of course... I was surprised you knew. Then again, you're best friends with Sakigamiya. She probably blabbed her mouth off about this to you."
"Unfortunately, that's where you're wrong. I found out about this case by myself."
"Ah...? You never struck me as the type to dig into someone's past."
"Trust me, this isn't something I do on a regular basis. It was like trying to solve a mystery through newspaper clippings, scattered testimonies, and false narratives. I came here to find a definitive answer on what happened at Minanohara."
"You're no better than a stalker... if you wanted to know that badly, you could've just asked Sakigamiya. You didn't have to go through all this effort to ask me."
"Don't kid yourself. You and me both know she would've lied about it. I came to you because you're the victim. Your words hold more weight than theirs."
"You're putting an awful amount of trust into a stranger... it'd be easy for me to lie too."
"You won't, because you have no good reason to."
"I have a very good reason to, and she's standing right in front of me..."
"I'm on your side here, Kouji-san. You gain nothing by hiding the truth from me."
"...if you were on my side, you'd leave me alone like everyone else."
"No. I wouldn't."
"Why not?"
"Because you remind me of myself when I was in elementary school."
A long silence followed between the two of them.
"I was just like you when I was young. After my family died, I fell into a deep depression and didn't see any point in living. Just like you, I lived each day waiting, and even hoping, for death to take me away."
Wait... her family died?
How's that possible? I know her brother is dead, but her mother and father are still alive. She even said what jobs they did when the Takanori Group was talking about it a month ago.
For a moment, I thought she was lying, but after hearing how detached her voice was as she recounted these experiences from her childhood, I couldn't help but think it was genuine.
"Everyday was uneventful. Everyday was boring. Everyday was endless. It felt like time had stopped. During those days, I did nothing. I might as well have been dead."
Whatever it was, it was working. Her strategy of connecting to Kouji on a personal level reminded me of the advice Ayano gave me when I asked him: that one way of getting a shut-in to open up to you was to have a shared experience with them.
"But one day... I met a boy. A boy with eyes just as hollow as mine. He was a lot like me... except, he was trying to live."
I leaned in and pushed my ear against the door to hear more clearly.
"I didn't understand at the time, but the more I played with him, the more I wanted to live."
"That sounds like some sick twisted romance."
"Maybe it was. But it was enough to keep me going throughout those long middle school days."
"Well isn't that nice... for you. I wasn't as fortunate to experience the same thing. Now stop preaching to me about all this friendship crap. I'm not going to buy it."
"That wasn't my intention. I just wanted to let you know you're not alone."
"Not alone, huh...?"
A short silence settled between them.
"...you're an awful liar."
"I'm not lying, though? Like I said, I'm on your side."
"Prove it to me, then."
"And how would you like me to do that?"
"You can't. That's the point. Now leave!"
"Kouji-san..."
"You heard what I said. Leave!"
"I won't. Not until you tell me what happened."
"And why the hell would I do that?"
"Because I can help you."
"Help me... help me with what?"
"Getting over the past."
"Ha... you really are one kindhearted bitch..."
Kouji laughed derisively before growling at her.
"Don't label me like I'm some kind of schizophrenic... I never asked for your help, so don't act like I need it!"
"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror recently? It's clear you've given up on life because of what happened, but you can't continue living like this forever."
"I can, and I will. I'll live the rest of my life in mediocrity, patiently waiting for my turn to die."
"Don't be ridiculous. You came to this school to better yourself, didn't you?"
"That's what I hoped... until he showed up."
"Isn't that a lame excuse to give up easily? You saw Matsushita-san and decided life wasn't worth living anymore."
"...it's not like you'd understand. I tried so hard to get away from it all... I thought that by coming here, I could escape my past... but instead, I became haunted by it! Every day, I have to wake up knowing I'll see him again... not just him, but her as well!"
Just as I thought, Alice seemed to be involved with what happened as well. Otherwise, Kouji wouldn't bring her up alongside Matsushita.
"If you can't handle looking at him, then why haven't you left the school yet?"
"Because I don't have anywhere else to go. I didn't graduate from middle school... so I don't have any qualifications to enter a regular high school. I only got into GEN because they gave me an invite and I somehow passed the stupid entrance exam."
"Doesn't it frustrate you though? Knowing that you only got in because you'd make for good E Class material."
"It doesn't... because if I was rejected, I would've killed myself."
Silence lingered from Kouji's heavy confession.
"With no education or possibility of getting a job... I figured that I'd be better off dead. There was no place in society for a failure like me."
There was a quiet pause before Yukina spoke up.
"I'm proud of you."
"...huh?"
"I'm proud of you for not committing suicide. That's a high hurdle to overcome, you know?"
"Don't praise me for that. I wanted to do it when I found out me and Matsushita were in the same class... but even killing myself is too much effort for me."
"No. It's not that it's too much effort. It just means you want to live. And that's a good thing."
"Don't get so close to me... seeing you act this nice is freaking me out."
"Well you said I was a "kindhearted bitch". Am I not living up to your expectations?"
"You sure are a bitch alright... but I didn't expect you to be so supportive of me."
"Everyone deserves a fair chance. And that includes you, Kouji-san. The school has given you an incredible opportunity to turn things around despite being hospitalised for a year and a half. However, the potential to change can only come from you, if you work for it."
"That's... that's impossible for me now. I've spent three months here wasting my time doing nothing... I can't turn it back."
"It doesn't matter how long it's been. All that matters is if you can improve yourself starting from now. If you continue being a loner, you'll only become more hated by the class. If you continue to half-ass everything, you'll eventually get expelled. If you continue being a shut-in, nobody will come to save you."
I could hear a light thump on the other side of the door.
"You have to face the past, Kouji-san. Otherwise, you can't walk forward. And the easiest way to do that is to talk about it."
Another long silence followed.
"I know it's scary. I know you don't want to. But if you can't get rid of your fear of Matsushita or Sakigamiya, you won't even be able to speak up in class."
"...why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because I care, Kouji-san. You're not alone anymore. I'm here for you now. You can talk to me."
"That's..."
"It's okay to tell me all those feelings you've bottled up inside yourself. Everything will be safe with me."
It was muffled, but I thought I could hear Kouji crying.
"It's okay... you can let everything out now."
It wasn't a painful scream. It was a quiet sob showing how much Kouji suffered in silence.
"This is also a way forward. Accepting your weakness."
It was scary how effectively she took advantage of the situation. I honestly couldn't tell if she was manipulating or saving Kouji.
Whichever it was, I wouldn't question it. After all, there was no way I could pull off something like that. I would've just used brute force to make Kouji confess to what really happened.
It made me realise that, while Kouji was stubborn, he was easy to break down emotionally due to his traumatic subject matter. As such, Yukina slowly wore him down to a state of vulnerability so she'd be able to connect with him emotionally.
Through that, she was able to use the right words to get him to feel safe, and most importantly, get him to warm up to her.
"I'm sorry... let me get some clothes. It must be awkward for you."
I could hear Kouji trudge away to put some clothes on. Five or so minutes later, he returned.
"Do you feel any better now?"
"Yeah... though, it's embarrassing to cry in front of a girl."
"I don't mind. You're no less of a man for doing so."
"Still, it's pathetic..."
"I don't think so. I think it makes you stronger, because you're not afraid to shed tears."
"...the last time I cried, I got bullied for it."
"Bullied...? You were bullied at school, Kouji-san?"
"Yeah. The bullying is what led to the incident."
There was a brief pause where Kouji let out a shaky breath.
"You don't have to go into detail if you don't want to. I can already guess Matsushita was one of the bullies."
"That's right... he was one of the main ones. But it wasn't just him... it was everyone. Everyone in my class ended up bullying me. Everyday, I endured humiliation after humiliation... they'd vandalise my stuff, pull my pants down in class, make me eat food off the floor... and so, so much more..."
Every word that left Kouji's mouth was heavy and strained. It sounded like his body was trying to stop him from saying it, but he was forcing himself to tell Yukina so he could overcome the past.
"Even the few people who I thought were my friends betrayed me... one day, they also joined in with the name calling and teasing... and it was on that day I truly became alone. No one cared about my existence at school... not even the teachers, who ignored Matsushita's blatant abuse because he was an honours student... so many times, I thought of dropping out, but I couldn't... I couldn't do that, or else I'd be weak."
I'm starting to see what kind of man Kouji Tenma is now.
"So I kept my head down and said nothing... I let them bully me, hoping that they'd get bored if I didn't show any reaction. I had to stop caring about everything around me so nothing they did could upset me. However... that made everything worse. They started escalating everything to try and get a rise out of me. They started attacking my body directly... like cutting my hair, dumping toilet water on me, and even hitting me..."
For Kouji, his pride as a man was most important. As such, he saw running away from his problems as weak and cowardly. That's why he stubbornly continued to endure everything without complaining.
"Until one day, it became a fight. A fight between me... and Matsushita."
This must be about the day of the incident.
"And the person that instigated that fight... no, the person who ruined my life... it's..."
I heard something shatter.
"Sakigamiya Alice... she's the one behind everything."
...so this is how Alice is involved in the Minanohara incident, huh?
For a second, I almost couldn't believe it. I knew she was related somehow, but to think it was like this... it seemed absurd.
However, the the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense.
Looking back, Matsushita had always been subservient to Alice in some way. I thought it was because Alice was more outspoken than him, but it's clear to me now that a preexisting power dynamic had existed between them this entire time.
Theoretically, it'd be easy for Alice to ask Matsushita to bully Kouji for her, especially if they were dating at the time. Not only that, but they would be the most popular people in their class, meaning they could get everyone else onboard in joining in.
That would lead to Kouji getting bullied by everyone in his class, including his friends. They probably betrayed him out of fear they'd be next.
After all, the nail that sticks out will get hammered in.
"I don't know why, but Sakigamiya started picking on me. At first, I ignored her since she was just being childish, but soon she began picking on me with more people at her side day by day. Soon, it became a whole group of popular kids that harassed me day in and day out. Even taking the bus home was the worst... they'd sit next to me and not let me get off at my stop. So much of my time was wasted by their antics... especially by Matsushita."
I did find it strange that Alice would go out of her way to pick on Kouji in specific. Usually, bullying occurs between people of the same gender. It's rare to see it being initiated by someone of the opposite gender.
This probably meant there was a deeper reason as to why Alice decided to bully Kouji. Judging by how the situation escalated, it's safe to say that she hated Kouji to the point she wanted to kill him.
But that begs the question: why does she hate him?
"Matsushita was the worst of all of them... he did all the bullying while everyone laughed at my humiliation. One time... he took a dead bee... a really fat dead bee... and well..."
Kouji gagged as he made an audible swallowing noise.
"You... ate it?"
"Yeah... I ate it... off the floor... smeared in mud... and that's not even the worst of it..."
From his dejected voice, I could tell Kouji was reliving the day he was pushed off the balcony.
"If you don't mind me asking... what happened during that fight?"
"I... I tried to fight back. That's what happened. It was the worst mistake of my life..."
"No, no, that's brave of you to do. You tried to stand up for yourself. Not many people can do that."
"No it isn't... it was stupid... I should've just listened to them instead of defying their orders... if I just gave that stupid coin to Matsushita that day, I wouldn't have almost died."
"What?"
"Yeah... you heard me. All of this was over 10 yen. A 10 yen coin."
There was a short pause as Kouji collected himself.
"It was... lunch time. Since it was too cold to go outside, everyone stayed inside, so the class was packed. Apparently, seeing me squirm was more fun than scrolling through their phones... so they started bullying me like usual. This time, they were flicking 10 yen coins at the back of my head to see who could get me to turn around first."
"What an awful game... and this went on the entire lunch time?"
"Yeah... I kept getting pinged again and again and again with those damn coins... I cursed their good aim... it was too accurate, too damn annoying. I was wondering when they'd leave me alone, when... this is so stupid... a coin smacked me in the ear. That was what got me to turn around and see what was happening."
"Let me guess... Matsushita was the one who threw it?"
"Yeah... and when I saw his smug, self-serving face... something within me snapped. Just a little. I picked up the 10 yen from the floor and held onto it tightly. Matsushita and his friends were demanding for it back, but I refused and didn't give it back. That led them to circle my table and begin shoving me to try and force the coin out my hand... but I still refused. I didn't budge... because I wanted some form of revenge. If he cared this much about this measly 10 yen... then I'd never let him get it back. That's what I thought at the time..."
Kouji's voice began to trail off and get shaky.
"But because I didn't... he suddenly became violent. He screamed at me like he had never done before... and hit me in a way that hurt more than ever before. I dropped the 10 yen and gave it back, but Matsushita wasn't having it... all his friends began egging him on, the bitch Sakigamiya included, and soon he was hitting me left and right like I was a punching bag..."
"Do you want a handkerchief?"
"Damn... am I seriously crying again...? I'm pathetic..."
I heard Kouji sniffle as he continued.
"I tried to fight back... I punched him once or twice... but Matsushita had the advantage in numbers. His friends held me down so he could get a clean hit on me. It was hell, getting punched by the person I hated most... and worst of all, everyone was cheering him on like he was some kind of hero... I didn't understand, because all I could see in front of me was a monster... and beyond that monster was its master, staring down at me with eyes I'll never forget..."
Kouji let out a disgusted breath, shivering as he recalled the memories.
"Those eyes filled with euphoria... I was pissed that Sakigamiya was getting off on Matsushita beating me up. And even worse, she was the one who began shouting at him to throw me off the balcony... everyone must've thought it was hilarious, as they joined in too... and eventually, Matsushita picked me off the floor and pinned me against the edge. My memory gets a little fuzzy here since it went by so fast, but... I'll never forget what happened next."
Matsushita pushed Kouji off the balcony.
"As I fell... I thought that was it. I was going to die. I believed I was dead. When I hit the floor, everything turned dark for me. I couldn't feel... anything. All I remember afterwards is waking up in a hospital bed... and that's it. My life since then has been a blur."
"I'm sorry that happened to you, Kouji-san..."
A long silence settled between them.
I guess now is a better time than any.
I opened the door to Kouji's dorm room and stepped inside.
Kouji, with tearstained cheeks, looked up at me with wide eyes.
Yukina also turned around in surprise.
"...Yuu?"
"What the hell are you doing here...?!"
Panic seeped into his voice as Kouji jumped up and narrowed his eyes at me.
"I heard everything."
Kouji's face dropped.
"Yuu... what? Why would you...?"
Even Yukina was shocked to find out I was eavesdropping on their conversation.
"So I could offer a solution."
I extended my hand to the trembling Kouji.
"Let's get revenge."
All of his hostility vanished the moment I said those words.
My mind cast back to the second piece of advice Ayano gave me: one way of getting a shut-in to open up to you was to give them something that they want.
Just as I thought, this is what Kouji truly wanted. It wasn't exactly revenge per se, but rather some form of closure to the traumatic event of his past.
Even if he became more open talking about his past to other people, it was only a temporary solution. It doesn't change the fact that Matsushita and Alice are still in our class.
Ideally, we could solve the situation by expelling those two, but since that's unrealistic to achieve at the moment, we'll have to settle for the next best thing: revenge.
This would give closure as Kouji could finally get back at the people who wronged him all those years ago. Not only that, but at this school, he was the one who held power over them as the victim of the incident.
If word got out that Matsushita nearly killed a student and Alice was the one who initiated the bullying, their reputations would be ruined forever.
They'd become the human equivalent of garbage on the social hierarchy. The whole school would shun them out.
That was the intangible weapon Kouji possessed. And that's what makes Matsushita and Alice fear him.
"...what kind of revenge?"
Kouji quietly asked.
"Whatever you like."
He looked up at me with conviction in his eyes.
"Let me push Matsushita off the school roof."
"Sure. I can arrange that."
Kouji flinched as I nonchalantly agreed to his idea. He was about to shake my hand to agree to it, but stopped himself at the last second.
"Can you...? Can you really?"
"Of course. I'll have everything ready by tomorrow."
Kouji hesitated, not believing my words. I decided to reassure him.
"Don't worry about the small details. I'll handle everything. All you have to do is appear on the school roof when I message you."
"...this sounds too good to be true."
"I know it's hard to believe, but I'm being honest. I can easily set up the exact scenario you described."
"...can you do the same for Sakigamiya? But for a different revenge?"
"Depends on what it is."
"...I want to make her eat a dead bee in front of everyone."
"I can also make that happen, not as immediately as Matsushita's though."
Kouji tightened his fists. I lowered my hand.
"If you're still unconvinced, then I'll just prove it to you tomorrow instead. When I send you that message, it's up to you whether or not you want to believe me. I strongly recommend you go so you don't regret it later, Kouji-san. This is a big chance to get closure."
"...I'll think about it."
"That's good enough for me."
With that, I turned around and left Kouji's dorm room. I took out my phone and messaged Rinbayashi.