On the last day of holidays, I met in the lobby with the strangest group of people.
Late last night Kikyou had sent me a message, inviting me to go swimming. Although I had already known that some of my classmates were going swimming, I hadn't expected an invite, since the organiser was none other than my sworn enemy Yamauchi.
I exited the elevator into the busy lobby at 8:30, the agreed upon time, only to find I was the last person to arrive.
"Augh, Ayanokouji what the hell are you doing here?!" As expected, Yamauchi objected to my presence, but I was surprised he didn't know I was coming.
"You didn't tell him?" I asked Kikyou.
"Ah, I invited him along, Yamauchi-kun. I hope that's alright?" As expected of the classroom sweetheart, Yamauchi, backed by Ike, instantly took back any complaints they had made about my presence. I could tell they didn't like it, but they dared not go against Kikyou, their shared crush.
"You're late."
And just as predictable, Horikita showed her distain for my presence in a much more effective manner.
"We agreed to meet at 8:30, and here I am."
"You weren't here at 8:30."
I tilted my head slightly in confusion. "Horikita, the time 8:30 is not clearly specified enough to refer to an exact second. In accordance with that ambiguity, my arrival here at 8:30:53 is still within the acceptable range of 8:30 as our meeting time. While I was later than most would expect, I was not, by definition, late for our meeting."
"Social convention, however, would prevail that arriving early to a meeting is expected behaviour, in order to account for any unforeseen delays, such as the traffic in the elevators. Everyone else arrived before 8:30, so that when the approved time came, we would not be late."
As expected, she didn't back down.
"And yet, social convention does not dictate whether I am late or not. Yes, it is expected to be followed, but it is not a rigorous law that must be adhered to. Therefore, there can be no consequences for violating it. All of this concludes that while I did not arrive when you expected me to, I still arrived at the appropriate time."
"But- "
"Suzune, give it a break. Much as I hate to say it, you won't be able to keep up with this dude."
Sudou came to my defence in order to spare me from what would have been a scathing remark. I could have argued back, but with our stubbornness, we would have remained here all day, and never made it to the pool.
"Fine. Let's get going." A short acceptance from Horikita, and all I was likely to get.
"Yay! Time for a day at the pool," Kikyou exclaimed. Ike and Yamauchi had stars in their eyes as they watched her give a small jump of excitement.
It was an incredibly odd group that made our way down to the pool. Ike and Yamauchi swarmed over Kikyou the entire way, and she replied with just as much entheusiasm. Meanwhile, I was left with Horikita and Sudou, where I inquired to the former why she came.
"I thought it would be a good chance to get along with my class members."
In other words, she took it as an opportunity to network. I was impressed at this decision. It wasn't her idea, having received an invitation from Sudou, but she took the chance for what it was: an opportunity to get the dumbest members in our class on her side.
An entire day wherein she could sway Ike and Yamauchi to support her was a generous offer, and I was pleased to see she was willing to make moves, not just assume that she could stand alone and win.
That was one of the things I liked most about this school. For those invested, there was no moment when you weren't working. Much like a court with intricate politics, every conversation, every outing was a chance to test loyalties, battle with words, to change the ground of upcoming battle. Every moment counted, every conversation had meaning, and there was no chance for a break.
It seemed Horikita had finally recognised this.
"Oh, what's this? Kushida-san, Horikita-san good morning! Oh, and Ayanokouji-kun, hi."
Ichinose had appeared behind us on the path with Amikura and Himeno. Bath towels peaked out of their colourful bags. Her face fell slightly upon seeing me, the conversation we had yesterday fresh in her head.
"Are you heading to the pool too, Ichinose-san?" Ever the diplomat, Horikita gave a very neutral greeting.
"Yes, that's exactly it."
"Ah, why don't you join us, Ichinose-san!" Kikyou took the chance to try and extend her reach into another class even further.
"Oh, I don't know..." Ichinose seemed incredibly reluctant to go in a group with me now. An annoying development, but not unexpected.
"Come on, Ichinose-chan, the more the merrier," shouted Ike.
"Come on Honami-chan, it'll be fun!" With even Amikura pushing, she had no reason to refuse.
"Ah, fine. I'm sure we'll all have a lot of fun," she acquiesced.
"Great!"
And with our group expanded by three, our walk continued on.
"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun, Sudou-kun." Horikita said to me and Sudou "Don't you think this is a little strange?"
"What is?"
"At a time like this, Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun would normally be pushing their luck, right?"
Sudou stiffened when he heard Horikita make that sharp observation. Since he was standing so close, she didn't miss that.
"Did something occur to you, Sudou-kun?" she asked.
"Not really," he muttered. He glanced at me, to which I gave him an almost imperceptible nod, that Horikita luckily missed. Everything would be fine.
That only made Horikita look more guarded. Ike and Yamauchi walked together, shoulder to shoulder, both wearing stiff expressions.
"I can't help but think they have ulterior motives," said Horikita. She focused her attention on the bag that Ike held. "Even though they shouldn't have brought anything with them except towels and swimsuits, that bag looks really heavy."
Ike's bag appeared to weigh more than any of the guys there, myself included.
"Huh, really? Doesn't seem like that to me," replied Sudou nervously.
"It doesn't? Just look at the bag," Horikita pressed.
Horikita's suspicions had merit. The bag swung heavily back and forth when Ike walked, and it strained against his arm.
"It's certainly odd, but can you really comment on it?"
"What are you talking about, Ayanokouji-kun?"
It seemed Horikita hadn't made the final connection. "You can't be seen questioning them. If you have evidence, that's fine, but right now you can't be turning people away from you."
"Yeah, that's right!" Sudou shot me a grateful look. "The whole point of today is to make friends, right? You don't want Ike and Yamauchi to think you're horrible, do you?"
Horikita sighed. It was a difficult situation to be in, and she was forced to let it play out, not matter how suspicious she was of their intentions.
"Don't worry, Suzune. I'll keep an eye on them," Sudou proclaimed.
"I said you could call me that, but don't wear it out," was the snarky reply Horikita gave.
We made our way to the swimming club's special facility, which adjoined the side of the school building. Since it wasn't part of the main building, we were allowed to enter without wearing our uniforms. It looked as though the pool would be a popular spot, especially considering that this was the last day.
Even before we got to the pool's entrance, students crowded the place. Just as you'd expect from a state-of-the-art school, every grade level had a separate locker room. It was easy to get lost there, but we followed the instructions on a signboard and found our way.
"Right, let's meet up here in 20 minutes!" It was helpful to have someone organised like Kikyou around. I would have expected Ichinose to be the one to take the lead, but she seemed off ever since she joined out little group.
I moved to the boys changing room, following after Ike and Yamauchi, who had quickly sprinted in, yelling to each other in excitement, and Sudou who had followed them to keep them quiet.
I could see them in the far back corner of the changing room muttering over something, and I did my best to stay away. It didn't take long for me to change, since I was only wearing a pair of board shorts. Kikyou had made a very stubborn yet illogical argument as to why I shouldn't wear a rash guard.
Once that was done, I made my way out, leaving the boys to their nonsense. I felt my phone vibrate from a message, but I didn't bother checking it. I was going to have a relaxing day at the pool, and I couldn't care less about what people were messaging me.
I had thought 20 minutes would be a long time to change. I assumed the girls would need that, since going into the pool only required a quick shower for cleanliness, and to get into one's togs. Perhaps girls had more things to do to prepare, but to my surprise Ichinose was already out. Granted, she didn't have to heard moron boys, but it was still an impressively fast.
"Ichinose."
"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun, it's you."
Her sunny personality dipped slightly at my presence, and I felt the anger of a hundred glares. There were quite a few students ogling Ichinose, and while she was doing an impressive job of ignoring them, my presence upsetting her had angered them to a noticeable level.
"There's no need to look so upset. It's obvious you've been trying to avoid me this whole time."
Ichinose smiled bitterly at me. "You made it very clear yesterday. We're enemies, right? And you're going to crush me."
I almost frowned at that. "We're enemies in exams, but I don't see why we can't be friends. Just because I'm going to beat you doesn't mean we can't have any relationship."
Ichinose opened her mouth to respond, a slight smile returning to her face, but before she could-
"Oi Ayanokouji! What's this about a relationship with Ichinose?!"
Ike and Yamauchi bounded up to me, with a slightly subdued Sudou following behind. Obviously, they had only overheard the last part of the conversation, and completely gotten the wrong idea.
"It's nothing to concern yourself over. Besides, don't you have other things to worry about today?" I purposefully taunted them to get their attention away from my conversation with Ichinose.
"Wh-what do you know about it?" Ike stuttered.
"About what? Are you planning something then?" I replied innocently. They were certainly acting suspicious.
"Not at all! Where would you get such a dumb idea from? You really are stupid, Ayanokouji!" Yamauchi battled on. "And what the hell are you doing not wearing a shirt? Cover up or you'll take all the girls from us!"
And instead of thanks from Ichinose for taking the brunt of Yamauchi and Ike's anger, she decided to punish me more instead. It was with a criminal glint in her eyes that she opened her mouth. "I don't know, Ayanokouji-kun looks pretty good. It would be a shame to cover that up."
If Ike or Yamauchi had access to knives, I would have had to fight for my life in that very moment.
For that, Ichinose, I will never forgive you.
Neither would Kikyou for that matter, based on the sickly-sweet glare she was giving off at the buxom strawberry-haired girl as she approached us from behind in a very flattering yellow two-piece. Horikita, Amikura and Himeno followed her closely behind.
"Ichinose-san, you were so quick to change!"
"Ah ha ha! I'm pretty confident in my quick-change abilities," Ichinose boasted, as though that was something to be proud of. Her sunny innocence might just be the secret to her popularity.
There was no hesitation in the eyes of Amikura as she pushed through the group, and it was with a devious grin that she began to poke my chest. "Wow, Ayanokouji-kun, you're really fit. You're actually kinda hot."
The rage from the two boys behind me had only grown more intense.
"M-Mako-chan, you shouldn't do things like that!" Ichinose, despite having tried to tease me herself, drew the line at prodding another boy's body.
"Hehehe, don't worry Honami-chan, you can have him all for yourself if you want." Kikyou's glare turned onto Amikura at this. "I've got bigger fish to fry. One might even call them a dragon."
She turned around and scanned the pool, before identifying her target relaxing in the water with his subordinates, not far from the edge we were standing at.
"RYUUEN-CHAN!"
The entire population of the pool turned at the shout, only to see a sprinting Amikura ignoring the lifeguards shouting at her, as she ran around and launched herself off the edge directly at the tyrant leader of Class C.
In the eyes of the dragon, for the first time ever, I saw fear, as the demon descended towards him. He made an attempt to move, but it was too late, and Amikura landed directly on top of him, dragging the two of them underwater.
We stood and watched in silence, along with most of the first years there, as the legend of Ryuuen's fear was broken, when he surfaced only to have Amikura hanging onto him around his neck, giggling the entire time. A disgusted look seared onto Ryuuen's face as he used all his strength to pull her off and toss her away, an action which only seemed to redouble Amikura's laughter. There was no victory against such a foe, who found all of your antics amusing.
Thinking about it, if this was her strategy, it was an impressive one. If she could reveal Ryuuen as weak in front of the grade, reveal a soft spot, then his class would fracture. And if he ever attacked her, I was sure Amikura would find a way to record evidence and get him punished.
Amikura was playing a dangerous game. She could come off as clingy, and annoying, which would lose most of the sympathy she had, and in turn hurt Class B.
Or it was possible that she did have a crush on him and was flirting in her own weird way.
Ichinose, used to such antics simply shook her head, and suggested we move away from them. There was a quieter part of the pool on the other side, and we headed in that direction.
Now that Amikura had left, Himeno also took the opportunity to disappear since she wasn't particularly close with any of us, meaning only Ichinose remained from our additions.
She didn't seem too bothered by it and was doing her best to needle Horikita into a conversation, something the latter obstinately refused to do.
We reached the quiet end of the general-purpose pool, and after lying out our towels, everyone jumped in, with Kikyou taking the center of attention. I was about to follow when a voice called to me from a nearby seat.
"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun. What a pleasant surprise."
I turned to find that Sakayanagi had sequestered herself here in the shade of a nearby tree, enjoying the scenery. She wore a lovely white summer dress which flicked in the wind, and her black beret perched on her head.
"I'm surprised to see you at the pool. I was under the impression you couldn't swim."
An amused smile crossed her face. "Don't pretend to be stupid, Ayanokouji-kun. I know you too can see what I see. Don't you find it beautiful? This wonderous opportunity we've been given?"
I sighed, before taking a seat in the chair beside her. I assumed it had been reserved for Kamuro, but since she wasn't here, I took it for myself.
"You're right. You can learn a lot from just observing."
"It's a wonderous symphony. A chess board where no one knows the rules. And yet, when studied, you can learn more than you ever could in a classroom."
Sakayanagi was here for the sole purpose of spying on other students. From her position, she could look out into the sea of students, and observe. For someone of her calibre that was all it took. The way students interacted, who was playing with whom, who disliked whom, how fit were students. Enormous amounts of information was being absorbed by the child genius, and no one knew any better.
By the end of the day, Sakayanagi would have an understanding of not just our grade, but most of the school. There were hundreds of students here for her to observe, to witness the great performance unfurling. Every action, every interaction meant something. From this, Sakayanagi would know the grade without having to speak to a single person.
Of course, it had limitations. This was only one day, with only a few hours of observation. But the baseline information would be invaluable, and overtime patterns would emerge, and it would be a simple task to predict what our fellow classmates did.
"Would you care for a game of chess, Ayanokouji-kun?"
I was pulled out my thoughts by the quiet question from Sakayanagi. Unlike usual, she seemed almost reserved asking this, as if it was special to her. I suppose it was, as chess seemed to be an important game, and we had not yet had a chance to play.
"I suppose so. Do you have a board?"
"Fufufu, neither of us are as pathetic as needing a crutch, although I would be willing to have a game with my marble set in my dorm room one day."
While it was true that we didn't need one, there was something special about moving the pieces yourself, and seeing it play out before you, not just in your mind.
"Very well. You can play white."
Sakayanagi laughed quietly to herself. "How generous to offer me a handicap. Very well, e4."
"c5." Neither of us turned out attention away from the performance before us, nor did we let it distract us from the game.
"A Sicilian. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Knight f3."
"d6"
"d4"
"Pawn takes pawn."
"Knight takes pawn."
"Knight f6"
"Knight c3"
"a6"
It was my last move that amused Sakayanagi the most. "A Najdorf? I should have expected you to play something so respected."
I sighed. "I've never understood the need to specialise in only a few openings or favour a certain style. I play what I feel like."
"Fufufu, but not everyone is capable of memorising the first 20 lines of every opening there is. Even at the highest level, Grandmasters need to study."
"Should they not just play the best move then?"
Sakayanagi pulled a queen out of her pocket and began to twirl it in her fingers. "Most people cannot calculate like a computer, nor should they. The innovation from a human player is always far beyond what a computer can comprehend. That said, you are capable of doing both, something even I've never seen before."
"You're disappointed," I realised.
A smile. "I had hoped to use this game to understand you better. What sort of a person are you? How do you think? But I should have realised the masterpiece would simply play the perfect move every time." Sakayanagi paused, considering her options. The game had devolved from an attempt to analyse me into a simple chess game. "I, for instance, have maybe three good moves according to modern theory."
"Bishop e2, e3 or g5"
"Which would you play Ayanokouji-kun?"
I thought about it for a bit. "Bishop to e3 is a solid move, and the best out of the three. It's scored well in past matches, and I've always favoured it myself."
"Exactly right," Sakayanagi smirked. "And yet, despite being so solid, I will always play Bishop g5, the most aggressive of the three."
"But after e6, f4, Qb6, Nb3, Be7 black has virtually equalised," I protested. There were only two moves that gave an advantage to white, both negligible.
"And yet, I will continue to play aggressively." Sakayanagi gave me a knowing look. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with Bg5. The loss from aggression is negligible."
She wasn't wrong about the position. Bishop to e3 or g5, there was little difference to someone who knew the theory perfectly. It was when the theory diverged, and novelty moves were played, that Sakayanagi's nature of aggression would come to light. And that was when I would continue to play the best move in the position, because that was what I had trained to do.
"Unfortunately, this conversation has spoiled the game for me," Sakayanagi complained with a sour look. "Perhaps we can play again some other time, leaving the philosophical debates out."
"That does sound more enjoyable."
I looked around and saw Kamuro on her way back with a couple of drinks in hand, an annoyed expression on her face.
"I should go. My friends are missing me." In fact, every now and then Kikyou had turned around and given me a wave. Clearly, she wanted me to get in the pool.
"Hm?" Sakayanagi looked around and noticed what I had seen. "Fufufu I think you better had, or face Masumi-san's wrath."
"Enjoy your day, Sakayanagi."
"Fufufu, I will. It's about to get a lot more interesting."
"Eh?"
I turned around to where she was looking, only to find a blond-haired boy strutting his way towards me, a flock of girls following and cheering for him.
Nagumo Miyabi had finished showing off at volleyball it seemed and had decided I was to be his entertainment for the day.
"Well, if it isn't Ayanokouji!"
Everyone around us went quiet at his proclamation, watching as he made his way slowly towards me.
I wasn't surprised that he had singled me out. Nagumo had a reputation to protect, and I was an unknown danger. This was an easy opportunity for him to get a read on my skills.
"Nagumo."
The viper grinned at me. "You should show more respect to the Vice President of the Student Council."
"I'll show you the respect I think you've earned."
It was a blatant act of disrespect, in front of multiple people. My own group of friends had gotten out of the water and come over to see what was going on.
"Careful there, Ayanokouji. You wouldn't want to make me angry, now, would you?"
I was about to respond with something equally as aggravating when laughter could be heard from behind me.
"Fufufu Nagumo-senpai, you aren't even worthy of his attention." Sakayanagi, fearless as ever pulled herself up and marched up to Nagumo, staring up at his eyes, yet managing to stare him down somewhat. Even so, Nagumo didn't give up.
"Sakayanagi Arisu. I've heard impressive things. It would be a shame for you to fall down this early. After all, someone of your... stature should know the consequences of speaking ill of their betters."
A sharp intake of breath could be heard at the insult. Neither of us were affording Nagumo the respect he deserved, but it was an important power play. At this very moment, boundaries were being drawn, standing was being publicised. Backing down now was tantamount to a complete loss.
Sakayanagi returned a cold glare and a deadly smile. "To think you have to target a handicap to feel superior. And after all the good I had heard about the Vice President, it turns out he's just a petulant child who wants his way."
Nagumo, to his credit, simply laughed off the insult, stepping back with his hands in his pockets, the picture of relaxed. "Fine, fine. How about a challenge then. Ayanokouji, you and I in volleyball."
"And what would be the point of that? I have no interest in a half-hearted game."
"Oh, but where's the fun in that? Half a million-point wager sounds fair, doesn't it? And both of us will try our best."
This was an important charade that we had to play out, and Nagumo had cooperated perfectly. To most people it would seem like I was lazy and Nagumo was desperate, but we both understood the necessity of this act.
If someone lost, it would have been very easy to soften the defeat by claiming we didn't try, that we were studying the other and simply didn't care. By goading each other to put stakes on the line, we no longer had an excuse to play hooky.
"I assume we will play in teams. Volleyball isn't a one-person game, after all."
Nagumo laughed. "Of course. Each of us can choose a representative for our teammate."
There were some hopeful looks from the crowd that had followed Nagumo over, both boys and girls seeking his favour, but his gaze blurred over them, before landing onto one resting figure.
"Kiryuuin. Get over here, you're on my team."
Kiryuuin Fuuka, who had been lazing on a seat nearby, lifted her head up very slightly, before lying back down completely ignoring his request. A giggle could be heard emanating from the first years, and I suspect originating from Kikyou, at the embarrassment.
Nagumo once again wasn't fazed. "Kiriyama then." The second year Kiriyama walked out from the crowd and stood beside Nagumo. "Come on then, Ayanokouji. Don't disappoint me."
I looked around at the various students surrounding us, pretending to decide who I would have join me. This was a high stakes game, and while on my own I was confident I could 2v1, having an incompetent partner would only lead to them being targeted. Finally, I settled on the perfect person.
"Kiryuuin."
At my voice, she lifted her head again, but unlike her actions before, she got up fully and walked over to stand at my side.
I could visibly see Nagumo grinding his teeth at the embarrassment, but there was nothing he could do.
"I'm honoured by your faith in me, Kouhai-kun. Let's take down blondie."
Ever the confident man, Nagumo smiled, before turning and walking back to the volleyball nets in the pool. The crowd parted for us, and Kiryuuin and I followed behind.
There was a large group gathering around the pool, all here to watch our game. I estimated up to a hundred students were watching, and I was sure the story of this game would be spread throughout the school in the next few days. I had no choice but to win.
"Ayanokouji-kun, a moment?"
It was Ichinose, who had come up to me. I turned to her, curious to what she had to say.
"You made some bold claims yesterday. I wonder if you can live up to them," she asked with a smile.
"Do you really thing I'll have to try?" I honestly asked. I was curious about her opinion on Nagumo's capabilities. Unfortunately, Ichinose took my question as a slight.
"You underestimate him. He's the Vice President for a reason." Her loyalty was impressive, although possibly clouded by her own aspirations.
"And you overestimate him. I guess I'll go all out then, if only to prove your faith is misplaced."
"Are you ready, Kouhai-kun?" Kiryuuin called from behind me.
"I'll be watching for your loss, Ayanokouji-kun. I've already bet against you."
I shook my head. Ichinose was truly deluded, caught up in the grandeur of the student council, and the man who got her in. She truly thought he was above everyone in the school, even Manabu. It was time to burst that bubble.
"Good luck Kiyotaka!" I heard a shout from Kikyou, which I ignored, wading my way into the water.
Nagumo grinned at me, before throwing the ball over to our side. "I'll let you serve first."
Kiryuuin cackled. "What a stupid mistake." She passed the ball to me.
I had said I would go all out, hadn't I?
The rules were simple. A best of three sets, and first to fifteen won the set. I could see numerous students debating the result and heard quite a bit of betting going on. 4:1 or even 5:1 odds were mentioned for me. I glanced at Kikyou, and with a nod she knew what to do. This was an easy profit.
The first set was murder.
If you won the point, you were allowed to serve again. Which led to me doing a perfect serve over and over again, directly at Nagumo. No matter where he was on his side of the net, I targeted his face with the ball from a perfect jump, at a speed which he barely managed to deflect away, let alone control.
Twice, he managed to knock it up for Kiriyama to set it, only to have his spike blocked completely by Kiryuuin.
We won the first set 15-0.
The crowd around the edge of the pool was growing restless at this point. There was no competition, and almost everyone had thought it was a sure game for Nagumo or would at least be close. There were many upset students who were worried at losing a lot of points.
Kiryuuin, though, was having a wonderful time, taking every opportunity to insult Nagumo. This situation had been his idea, and yet it was turning into a public humiliation, and Kiryuuin was only exacerbating it.
Not willing to back down, Nagumo took the ball to serve for the second set and launching it in the air slammed it towards the farthest spot from me. I was impressed that his ego allowed him to strategies that way, and didn't simply target me, but now I had to focus on Kiryuuin.
It was difficult for her, but she successfully received the serve, knocking it to me, where I knocked it up, and allowed Kiryuuin to slam it down across the net, where Kiriyama hit it, but uncontrolled, and the ball flew away into the crowd.
That meant that we won the first point.
It also meant that it was Kiryuuin's serve. And she took great pleasure in bullying Kiriyama, her own classmate.
"You really don't like him, do you?" I remarked at one point as Kiryuuin retrieved the ball for another serve.
"Ha! Kiriyama is a sell-out coward. Too afraid to stand up to Nagumo. I have no respect for such a pathetic man." She spoke loudly enough that Kiriyama heard what she said, I suspected intentionally.
And the slaughter continued. Now that Kiryuuin was serving, even though she was targeting the inferior Kiriyama, he was still able to return it occasionally. A few rallies were held, but in the end Nagumo wasn't able to score a single point.
Kiryuuin and I had won a perfect game.
There was silence from around the pool. No one dared to be the first to cheer, not in the face of Nagumo's crushing defeat. They weren't brave enough to get on his bad side.
In the end, the reverberating laughter came from Nagumo himself.
"You really are amazing, Ayanokouji! Hahaha, that was impressive. Don't worry, I'll be taking a personal interest in you from now on."
Nagumo was trying desperately to save face, something I wouldn't allow. "Go ahead. But like I said at the beginning, you aren't worth my time."
A quiet "fufufu" was heard wafting over the heads of everyone. That broke the final restraint, and a loud cheer could be heard, as everyone celebrated the unexpected outcome.
I could see Kikyou and some other girls from our class cheering for me, although it seemed Ike and Yamauchi had left, probably fed up with the attention I was getting. Horikita and Sudou were standing off to the side, both with surprised and impressed expressions on their faces. Clearly even they hadn't expected the result. To be fair though, it was rather unbelievable.
Kiryuuin held up her hand for a high-five, to which I simply stared at until she sighed, and clambered out of the pool and went back to her deck chair, kicking off the poor first-year who had taken her spot.
Already though, the excitement was beginning to die down. Nagumo had left, recognising he had no reason to stay anymore, and people were beginning to get back into the pool and play their own water games. In order to get out of the way, I swam over to the side of the pool, and pulled myself out, ending up next to a shocked and awestruck Ichinose. To see her idol so easy destroyed would be heartbreaking, and coupled with my threat to her, she should be appropriately afraid.
As I passed her, I simply whispered in her ear, "overrated," ignoring the flinch she gave in response.
I walked over to where a beaming Kikyou was waiting, and she passed my phone back, only for multiple notifications of points transfer to come through. Nagumo had paid up, and Kikyou had made almost a million points herself by betting on me to win. People were offering ridiculous odds, enforced by a valid school contract.
"Congratulations, Kiyotaka-kun! I never doubted you for a second!"
"Fufufu, indeed. An impressive showing, Ayanokouji-kun." Sakayanagi had appeared out of nowhere, flanked as always by Kamuro. "This has been most... enlightening." Her eyes flickered to Kikyou, which got her an uncomfortable look in response. "I'll be seeing you around for our chess game. Let's go Masumi-san."
Sakayanagi slowly walked off, and Kamuro followed, without giving me her usual insult. Perhaps she was finally warming up to me.
I transferred Kiryuuin half the points as she probably expected, before allowing myself to be dragged into the pool with Kikyou. The water in here was just as temperate as the sports pool, and I allowed myself to simply float in the water, ignoring the people who kept trying to talk to me.
"Sakayanagi-san is really scary, huh?" Kikyou remarked.
I shrugged, as best as one could in water. "She's probably the biggest threat in our grade. You should be careful around her." It was a pointless warning, as I was sure Kikyou already knew this.
"Yes, but it's a strange feeling. It's like she sees right through you. I don't know, she just terrifies me." She couldn't say it out loud, but I got the message. Kikyou was scared that Sakayanagi knew about her darker side.
"I wouldn't worry about it. Sakayanagi isn't one to act rashly, and I'm sure whatever she can come up with, you can counter."
The only real plan to stop Kikyou was to expose her. That was something that would never happen with evidence, because Kikyou would never slip up again, and if there wasn't evidence, there wasn't a social attack that could ever hurt her.
"I suppose you're right."
The conversation lulled, and I simply enjoyed floating in the water with my best friend. I was sure there would be people jealous of me, but I ignored them. I had won a victory and was now basking in the rewards.
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They day passed rather quickly after the excitement, and it didn't feel all that long before the pool began to shut. At this point, Kikyou had drifted away from me and gone to play with some other friends, leaving me to float in the water. It wasn't quite sensory deprivation, what with all the noisy students around, but it was therapeutic in a way.
I got a message on my phone from Kikyou explaining that she was going for ice-cream with a few friends, and would be over later tonight, meaning I would have to find my way back alone.
But that was fine. I still had one more meeting to attend to.
"Did you manage it?" I asked aloud.
To anyone watching I must have seemed crazy, talking to myself. There was no one in sight anywhere near me, but then again there was no one else around at the pool. Everyone else had either left, or was changing, and only the lifeguards were left, cleaning up after the day. And yet, I could sense the presence of someone hiding in the shadows.
Matsushita came out, an impressed look on her face. "How did you know I was there?"
"You should be proud of your stalking skills. No one else would be able to notice you." She really was talented when it came to not being seen, one of the reasons I had given her this task.
Matsushita walked up beside me, palming off an SD card superstitiously while doing her best to act natural. She really was playing up the secret agent role.
"Do I even want to know how you found out about this?"
"Does it matter? You stopped it." My casual response drew an unimpressed glare from the spy-in-training.
"It's disgusting, and I have no doubt that they'll try again. And next time, you might not be able to find out about it."
I sighed. Matsushita had a point, but my decision on what to do was already made. There were too many benefits to give in to the wiles of a scared teenage girl, no matter how right she was.
"What do you suggest I do then?" Here, I could test her. I could find out what this girl, who was living a lie, really wanted, and what she was willing to do to get it.
"Deal with it."
"A worthless answer."
"Ensure it doesn't happen again," she tried. Still wrong, but an improvement.
"A pathetic answer, and a pathetic attempt to avoid responsibility." I turned to her, staring her right in the eyes. "You are the one who wants this resolved, so what do you think I should do, Matsushita?"
Her hands were pale from the nails digging into them. Frustration was etched across her face as she was forced to answer things she didn't want to.
"Why are you asking me this? You already know what has to be done."
"And yet, I want to hear you say it."
I stepped towards her, and she flinched as I towered over her. Despite her intelligence and good looks, in this moment Matsushita had nothing, and we both knew it. Which was why I was surprised to see her resolve return, confidence and strength returning to her after only a moment's hesitation.
"They need to be expelled."
I stepped back, satisfied with the answer. It was the only solution for such a problem, but it took a lot of bravery to condemn one's classmates. It was that determination that I was looking for.
"What is it that you want in this school, Matsushita?"
"Ice-cream usually goes well with a day at the pool."
"I don't much care for facetiousness. Answer the question."
Matsushita sighed. It seemed she had been looking forward to some wordplay. "You're no fun. Fine, I want to get to Class A."
"And what are you willing to do to get there? Because this won't be the last time, we have to cast off some of our number. Can you look your best friend in the eye and betray them?"
Matsushita stepped away from me and walked towards the pool, unwilling to look at me during this difficult conversation.
"What do you want me to say, Ayanokouji-kun? That I want to get to Class A more than I care about my friends? Because honestly, I don't know."
"Good job." She lifted her head up slightly at my words of praise, but still didn't face me. "That was the only answer I would have accepted." She still didn't look at me. "Turn around," I ordered.
Matsushita took a moment longer, but eventually I could once again see her brilliant blue-violet eyes. There was no better way to understand a person's mind than through their eyes. There was a reason they had been labelled the window to the soul. Within one's eyes you could tell their true intent. It was almost impossible to hide a lie that way.
Within hers, I saw conflict. Desire to achieve her goals, fear for her friends, but most importantly, fear for what she could do. It was only natural to be terrified of your own potential, and Matsushita was on the precipice.
She stood on the edge of a cliff, with the power to reach her goals right in front of her. But to do so would risk everything she cared for. Could she reach out and take it, or would she falter? Those were questions for another day. For now, I had enough of torturing the poor girl.
"I won't ask you to answer today. You've done well, and don't worry I'll deal with the rest of this."
Matsushita began to walk away, before stopping, seemingly regaining her confidence. "What's your goal, Ayanokouji-kun? You're asking me to make sacrifices to get what I want, but I don't even know if you will deliver."
"You think I can't achieve whatever I attempt?"
"I think you're fully capable to manage anything. I don't know if you care enough to reach Class A." So, she noticed my evasion. As expected.
"Don't worry yourself, Matsushita. Work with me and you'll reach your goal."
I hadn't answered her question, and Matsushita was very aware of this, but she let it slide. She now knew how I worked, and after she got through this conundrum, I would know how much I could rely on her.
"Out of curiosity, are you not even the slightest bit concerned with giving me this?" I held up the SD card. Matsushita, knowing exactly what I was holding, should have had some concerns.
Surprisingly though, she just shrugged. "I have a problem with those boys having it. They're just disgusting perverts that think with their... other parts. You, on the other hand..." She gave me a searching look. "I don't understand you. I don't think you're even interested at what's on that SD card."
"Are you so confident in that? The purity and dignity of multiple girls is at stake." Despite my continued warnings, Matsushita showed no sign of changing her beliefs.
"You had every chance with Kushida-san two nights ago. If even that didn't tempt you, I don't see why this would. Besides," and she flashed me a grin here, "you've got much better uses for that than being a horny pervert, I'm sure."
She had me there.
"You can do what you want, but I'm heading back to the dorms now. Think about what I've said Matsushita. It would be... regrettable if you remained useless to our class."
A narrowed stare was thrown back at me, giving nothing away. After a few moments I got a positive response. "I guess I've done some private studying over the holidays. I'm sure my grades will go up with a bit of work."
"Congratulations."
Matsushita didn't reply, instead taking the chance to walk off and leave me by the pool. The conversation had soured near the end, but I didn't think it would be enough to drive her away. It would take a while, and a bit of soul searching, but I was sure Matsushita would become a person I could rely on.
After a while, the lifeguards forced me to leave, and after showering and changing back into my clothes, I began the quiet walk back to school. By now, everyone else was gone, already home for an early night before the first day of school.
As I walked, I felt my phone buzz. Pulling it out, I saw a message from Sudou, a simple emoticon thumbs-up. Clearly, the plan had worked, and the subterfuge been discovered.
He had contacted be a few days ago and told me about the plan. It was clearly weighing heavily on him, since what they were going to do was illegal. And so, remembering the consequences of what happened with Sakura, and not wanting something similar to happen to Horikita, he reached out to me for help.
I was certainly impressed by this. The Sudou from the start of the year would certainly have gone along with the plan, but he had matured significantly since then. Not wanting to lose his standing with Horikita, paired with a deeper understanding of the severity of such an action, had resulted in him asking me to stop Ike and Yamauchi's plan. He couldn't stop them himself, but he had made them promise to not try again, and so there wouldn't be a reoccurrence.
It was a clever idea, but unlike him, I didn't have faith that they wouldn't try again. Those two had tried to look at MY Kikyou in the girls changing room. They were a problem, and despite the guarantees I had given Sudou that nothing would happen, I of course had lied with every word.
Ike and Yamauchi were a problem that had to be dealt with. Sudou simply didn't accept that. But it was time to do what had to be done. If he fell for my lies and believed I would forgive them, then that was his own mistake.
I was so lost in thoughts, that I almost didn't notice when I reached my dorm. I entered, only to find that Kikyou was already inside, lounging on my bed like she owned the place.
"You're late," she accused.
"I'm the host in this situation. I can hardly be accused of being late."
I dropped my wet things in the bathroom, before returning to the kitchen to begin working on dinner. This was the last day of holidays, so something simple was called for. Looking in my fridge there weren't a lot of options.
"How does Chicken Tonkatsu sound?"
That got a smile. "Ah, that'd be great. Chicken's always amazing after a long day."
I began to prepare the meal, while Kikyou continued to babble on about her day. I had been there for most of it, but as expected nothing of interest had happened. I perked up though when she mentioned Sakayanagi.
"Hey, do you think the flat bitch really saw through my act?"
I thought about it but discarded the thought almost instantly. "No, Sakayanagi is much more interested in me. She was most likely trying to figure out our relationship. You as a person, I doubt she cares too much for."
It was a white lie. Sakayanagi would of course show interest in the one person holding Class D together, but Kikyou didn't need to know about that. The rest was probably true. Sakayanagi had no reason to doubt Kikyou's acting. She'd improved markedly since she had first gotten a chance to vent to me, and even before that, her disparities were nigh unnoticeable.
"Ah, that's a relief. You better fuck her up alright? She scares me."
I plated up dinner, and we both sat down at the table. "Don't worry, I'll deal with Sakayanagi eventually." I was curious to see how Sakayanagi dealt with the rest of the grade. We both seemed to have a mutual understanding to leave the other till last.
Dinner was a quiet affair, both of us tired from the day at the pool. With school tomorrow, it was important to get a good night's sleep. Only once the term had started in earnest, could bad habits be allowed to slip back in.
"Thanks for coming to the pool today, Kiyotaka. It's... fun hanging out with you." I felt she had something more to say, but instead Kikyou got up and made to leave. Unfortunately...
"Hey, Kiyotaka, did you lock the door?"
The door wouldn't open.
"No, I didn't. It should just open."
Kikyou jiggled the handle angrily. "Well, it isn't, ok?"
I sighed and got up to check. To my horror, the door really didn't open. It was as if it was locked from the outside, although that shouldn't be possible. The doors in the school used magnetic locks, only disabled by either the key card on the outside, or by opening it from the inside. Something must have malfunctioned.
"I guess we're stuck in here," I casually observed, but it seemed Kikyou was panicking more and more.
"You can't be serious!"
I pulled out my phone and called the concierge, while Kikyou walked around panicking. They answered luckily but informed me that they wouldn't be able to open the door until tomorrow morning.
I informed her of the bad news, and by now she had calmed down somewhat.
"Ok. So, I'm stuck here for the night then."
I gestured to my wardrobe. "You're welcome to borrow a shirt."
"Oh? You think I'm going to get changed here?" Kikyou, unlike most girls, didn't become a quivering mess of embarrassment, and instead stood strong. The only hint that she felt any different was the light blush on her cheeks.
In response I made an obvious move to look her up and down. "You're welcome to sleep in that, but I doubt it would be very comfortable."
"Hmm, you have a point." After considering it for a moment, Kikyou marched over to my wardrobe and pulled out one of my shirts, before walking into my bathroom and shutting the door. "Come in if you want."
I ignored Kikyou's teasing and cleaned up dinner. Halfway through the washing up, I heard the shower running. I was surprised at that, since she should have showered after the pool, but it didn't really bother me. As long as her hair was dry and didn't make anything wet.
I had showered after my meeting with Matsushita, and so I was comfortable getting into my pyjama pants. I had just finished cleaning up the apartment and had sat down on my bed when Kikyou finally came out of the bathroom. The water had finished running a while ago, so I assumed she'd been drying her hair.
She walked out wearing only my shirt and her yellow underwear that I saw flash for just a second from below as she walked towards me. I had never appreciated until this moment just how impressive Kikyou's thighs were. Usually outshined by her breasts, which even now were accentuated by my shirt, they were clearly obvious as her bare legs moved towards me.
"Finished staring?" Kikyou said, with one eyebrow raised at me.
"You don't want to put on any pants?"
"Do you want to put on a shirt?"
"Touche."
At some point we had mutually assumed that we would be sharing my bed. I wasn't going to give up my bed, and I was confident that Kikyou would refuse to sleep on the ground. There was enough room for us both anyway.
I lay down in bed and rolled away and felt the warmth of another person lying against my bad. The aircon was on the right temperature, so I pulled the blanket up and tried to fall asleep.
"Hey, Kiyotaka."
"Hm?"
"Could you... turn around please?"
It was a strange request, but I had no reason to comply. I rolled around, doing my best not to pull the blanket with me, until I was on my side facing Kikyou. Our faces were only a couple of centimeters apart, and even in the darkness I could see the embarrassment on her face.
I waited for her to say something, but when nothing was forthcoming, I closed my eyes to sleep. The moment I did, as if she had been waiting for it, Kikyou rolled over and wrapped her arms around me.
"Eh?"
"Please... just let me."
I considered it. Thought it over. And in the end...
"Fine."
I wrapped my arms around Kikyou in return, and rolled slightly into a more comfortable position, with Kikyou resting on my chest. So much more than before, I could feel her pressing against me. The warmth of another person, not just emotionally, but physically. I held my arms a bit tighter, trying to pull Kikyou closer to me. I could feel a smile on her face against my chest. Just like I had told her on the rooftop months ago.
She was mine.
"I have a present for you tomorrow."
"Hm?" She was barely awake, but enough to understand what I was saying.
"You'll just have to wait and see."
"I'm looking forward to it," she mumbled, before succumbing to sleep.
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I woke up the next morning, only to find that Kikyou had curled up next to me, clutching my arm to her chest.
The sun was streaming lightly in through the window, in the bright orange of the morning. It was pretty early still, but the knocking on the door disrupted me from my thoughts.
I slowly extracted myself from Kikyou and climbed out of bed, pulling on a shirt before answering the door. Surprisingly, it worked, and I opened it to find a contractor standing there. Luckily, the bed was obscured from the door, so the school wouldn't find out that Kikyou had stayed the night. I wasn't sure what the rules were for just sleeping, and the extenuating circumstances would probably work in our favour, but I didn't want to be expelled over this.
The contractor explained to me that the key card mechanism had been damaged, probably by an accident in the hall, and that was why the door couldn't be opened. He'd repaired it, free of cost of course, and now that was done, I waved him off. He was looking quite tired this early in the morning, and I was sure he'd go and find a coffee somewhere.
I tested the door a few more times, and satisfied that it worked, returned to my dorm to wake Kikyou. Today was the first day of school for the semester, and Kikyou had to be up and gone early so she wasn't seen. The rumours from that would destroy her, and there wasn't much she could do to stop it posthumously.
I gave her a light shove and called her name a few times. The bleary-eyed girl slowly blinked awake, before going slightly red upon realising where she was.
"What's going on?"
"You need to get going. It's early, but I'm sure you don't want to get caught."
She blinked at my words for a few seconds while her brain kicked into gear.
"Oh. Right."
Kikyou got up and quickly started to gather her things, before heading to the door. There was an odd feeling in the room, as she fled in the early hours of the morning carrying her clothes. Before she opened the door, Kikyou turned around and threateningly pointed at me.
"No one ever knows about this."
"Don't worry, I value my continued existence."
"Good. And anyway... thanks," she muttered.
"Get going. It's already 6:00"
"Right."
And with that, Kikyou scurried out of the room closing the door behind her. I sighed. Today was going to be a troublesome day. Pulling out my phone, I began to make a call, while opening up my laptop to do some last-minute work.
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Walking into class was a novel experience. We had received 69,000 points each this morning, and I had received my extra points from Ryuuen as per our contract. Based on his deal with Class A, it shouldn't hurt him too much.
Everyone was excited, talking in noisy groups about what they would be buying. Prior to the holidays, we were only getting 20,000. Our income had more than tripled
I walked over to Sotomura, who was sitting alone as usual. "Is this what you were looking for?" I handed him the thing he had asked me for on the cruise ship.
"Ah, Ayanokouji-dono. Yes, this will be the perfect addition to my investigation. I appreciate the continued support of my patron."
"Don't mention it."
I moved away from him and took my seat at the back of the classroom, looking forward to the excitement of the day.
It wasn't long before Chabashira walked in, an angry look on her face. Unluckily for the class, not many people noticed
"Everyone sit down! I have a lot of bad news for you all."
That got it done. Everyone was very quickly in their seats, awaiting impending doom.
"Firstly, if anyone knows about a car being stolen three nights ago, please inform the school. It's a serious issue, and if the perpetrator is caught, they will be expelled."
I was already confident they had nothing, and Kikyou didn't even flinch.
The rest of the class tried to begin a discussion on it, but Chabashira smacked her desk with a ruler.
"Shut up! Next, Ike and Yamauchi. Stand up."
The room was deathly silent, and the two of them stood up, legs trembling. They knew what they had done, but clearly, they hadn't even considered the chance of failure as an option.
"For completely disgusting perversion and breach of privacy, the two of you are expelled from Advanced Nurturing High School. You will wait the rest of the day in the staff room, and then clean out your dorms tonight, before being escorted off campus."
"Wha..."
"Noooo! What are you talking about sensei?!"
Neither of them could believe it. Ike fell to his knees, trembling and shaking, while Yamauchi began to yell.
"You're lying sensei! What the hell are you talking about, I didn't do anything! It was Ike, I wasn't involved at all!"
Yamauchi instantly threw Ike under the bus.
"Because of your expulsion, Class D will lose 50 Class Points for each of you. For the rest of you, our new standing is at 690 Class Points."
And that was another reason why Chabashira was so upset. It wasn't a huge loss, not unrecoverable, but it still hindered us. That, and their depraved activities that both I and Matsushita had testified to early this morning.
Kikyou was looking over at me with stars in her eyes, realising this was the gift I had promised her. Her two worst nightmares in our class were gone.
"Wait what the hell?" "You two idiots what did you do!" "You bastards are hurting the class even more!"
The entire class had turned on Ike and Yamauchi, the former who was a quivering ball of tears on the ground, the latter was yelling and screaming.
"Ha! Get out of my sight you disgusting creatures."
"Shut up Kouenji! You bastard, don't even talk to me!"
Even Kouenji was done with the two boys. He had previously had no regard for them, but now he was actively targeting the two of them. To the rest of the class, that was the sign of a new low social standing.
"Sensei, what did they do. Is there any way to appeal it?" Hirata as ever was the voice of reason. Horikita however, was looking at me, realising it was to do with what she had noticed yesterday.
"They didn't, did they?"
I simply nodded.
"I cannot tell you Hirata, as a matter of privacy."
"Be honest, Chabashira. They tried to film the girls changing room yesterday."
I raised my voice over the class, and everyone went quiet.
"Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun... is this true?" Kikyou did her best to ask them holding in tears.
Before they could answer though, Sudou interrupted.
"Oi, Ayanokouji! You said they wouldn't get in trouble! I asked you for help, and you said you'd stop it without anyone knowing!"
"You! You betrayed us Sudou!" Pure rage filled Yamauchi's eyes as he launched himself at Sudou. Sudou though, didn't even notice, and just brushed the boy to the side where he collapsed in the corner.
"Did you really believe me? Why would I save useless people like them? You're too naïve, Sudou. Ike and Yamauchi are acceptable losses. Although I'm impressed that you did the right thing."
At this, many of the girls in the class began to look at Sudou in a new light. Before this, he was a friend of the perverts, but now he was an accessory to stopping their terrible actions.
"Acceptable losses?"
This time it was Hirata to interrupt the conversation, and the rest of the class went quiet.
"Don't tell me you're going to defend them, Hirata?" Horikita took a chance to pull Hirata down. The class unity was collapsing.
"QUIET!" The argument was broken up by Chabashira. "You can debate this all you want after class. Ike and Yamauchi, get out. NOW!" There was an anger in her eyes like never before. She had disliked us, despised us, but never been so angry. Understandably, this had crossed a line.
The two boys slowly picked themselves up, and all the fight had drained out of them. This was the end for the two of them, and we watched in silence as the pathetic beings dragged themselves out of the room, tears and snot running down their faces.
Now that Ike and Yamauchi were gone from the room, Chabashira began to teach our first lesson of the morning, not allowing any more debate. Superstitiously, I pulled out my phone and sent a message. Conversation would have to wait until lunch.
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Once the bell rang for lunch, the entire classroom devolved into arguments. Luckily no one was defending the boys, but they were arguing for the sake of arguing now.
I did my best to sneak out of the classroom but was noticed at the last second.
"Oi, Ayanokouji where the hell are you going?! Why the fuck didya rat on Ike and Yamauchi?!"
Sudou ambushed me on the way out.
I shrugged. "Ask Matsushita. She helped me stop them." The entire class instinctively turned towards the girl in question who stared at me with angry eyes, but I took the opportunity to make my escape.
I didn't have to wait long outside before Karuizawa joined me.
"So, what did you want?"
"Not here. Follow me."
I walked off, and after a moment, Karuizawa followed horridly.
"Oi, where are we going? At least tell me that."
I sighed. "We're going to the dorms, to pick up something important."
"Like what?" She was asking a lot of questions, although I suppose it was only fair.
"What do you think about the expulsion?" I changed the topic.
"Well... I don't really think anyone should be expelled, but what they did is horrible. I'd honestly be scared if they were still in school with us."
"Exactly. Not only that, but they're a drain on our class. It's better to see them gone. I'm cleaning house."
"But we lost 100 points?"
"They single-handedly lost us more points than that. We can recover those points, but this is a preventative measure. Besides, everyone will work harder now that the threat of expulsion is real."
Karuizawa stopped for a moment. "You... you're insane."
"And yet you can't argue my point."
"Agghhh. You're so annoying. Right, tell me why we're going to your room?"
We walked through the fourth level corridor.
"We're not." I pulled out the key card I had stolen off Ike this morning. "We're going to Ike's room."
I unlocked the door and walked in, with Karuizawa tentatively following me in. It was disgusting. The room smelt of something I couldn't quite identify, and there were food scraps and tissues everywhere.
"Oh my god this is horrible. How do boys live like this?"
"Honestly, I can't believe it myself. But..." I leaned down and reached under the bed, sliding the object out of my sleeve as I did so, "here you go."
I handed Karuizawa the thing I had been hiding since I retrieved it from where Kikyou hid it on the island. Her missing underwear.
"Is this..."
She held in her hands the dirty and stained white underwear that had gone missing. I had purposefully spilt a few things on it, in order to make it seem that Ike had it. This would raise her favour in me for defending her, whilst also justifying my decision to expel him.
"Ike wouldn't stop boasting about it, but there was no easy way get proof. I assume you would rather he didn't leave school with them?"
Karuizawa was bright red, with a fire in her eyes.
"No, thank you, it's just... ahhh. I don't understand you at all."
I turned and made my way out of the room, leaving the key card inside. One last punishment for Ike. Having to get a new card wasn't an easy process, and he would have to do it during expulsion.
"I'm working for the class. People like you and Matsushita are useful, so you don't have to worry. People like Ike and Yamauchi, well... we can do without. Besides, Ike did this to you, and I said I'd protect you. This is my protection."
"That's cruel."
"That's life. The weak get discarded. The strong stand on top. That's the life you led by pretending to be a bully."
Karuizawa leaned against the wall in the hallway.
"I mean like yeah, but I didn't like it. It's not good."
I turned around and began to walk back to school.
"They might have finished arguing by now. Let's go."
"Ah, right!"
Karuizawa jumped up, hiding the dirty underwear in her pocket, and bounced to my side.
The next semester was beginning soon. Nagumo had it out for me, and Ichinose was preparing for battle. Ryuuen was an unknown. I had no idea what he wanted to do. And Sakayanagi wanted to play with us like dolls.
Bring it on.
Authors Notes:
Here we are, the end of Arc 5. This was an insanely long chapter. Originally, it was supposed to be three parts, but i just kept writing, and there was no easy way to stop so I just kept going. Sorry for the late update, it was supposed to come out last night, but I decided to just power through and finish it.
If the last third feels a bit rushed, that's probably because it was. I was finishing this at 3am while laughing too much at shitposts with the boys in discord, so it didn't have my full attention. I'm glad i finished it now though.
This is the longest chapter I've ever written, so I'd like some feedback on that. Do people prefer longer chapters? I'm not a fan of this length, at least not under this time pressure, but with longer gaps between chapters maybe. Idk, personally as a reader I would enjoy shorter but quicker updates, but that's just me.
Ike and Yamauchi are gone. Nagumo got humiliated. Sudou is a chad. Ayanokouji is rich as fuck. Amikura is Amikura. A lot of shit happened.
Moving onto Arc 6 now, which will be the sports festival. There will be a short hiatus for a couple of days now, just to read and reacquaint myself with the story, and fully plan it out, but I'm also moving into a new apartment, so it's a busy time for me still. It's also time for my annual Re:Zero re-watch and then re-read, so that's fucking hundreds of hours I'm going to lose over the next few weeks. God I love it, but the Arc 4 web novel especially is so fucking long.
As always, hope you enjoyed!