"Ayanokouji! This is bad!" Miyamoto banged on my door.
"This is seriously bad news, man!" And of course, Hondou's with him.
When I got up from my bed to receive them, their panicked faces instantly greeted me.
"I-It's Class D! They were there!"
"Shit, they really were plotting something!"
"Wait... First of all, calm down. Tell me what happened," I said.
"S-So we tried to follow Kanji and Haruki as planned, but some Class D guys blocked our paths."
"Based on their words, it seems like our own scheme was seen through from the very beginning. They even asked us if we were ordered by someone."
"We played dumb, of course, but Kanji and Haruki are pretty much at their mercy now. They also mentioned a guy named Ryuuen. He must be Class D's leader."
"If what you're saying is true, then we're in deep trouble," I say after pondering their words.
"Shit, we need to hurry."
"It would've been different if either of us can put up a fight, but those Class D guys look like a bunch of meatheads."
"We shoulda roped in someone like Sudou..."
"No use in mulling over what's happened. For now, let's just try to wait for a few more minutes before contacting Ike and Yamauchi," I suggested and the two of them nodded.
Not long after that, we tried to text and call both of them... They didn't respond.
"Why aren't they-? The hell did those guys do to them? Did they confiscate Kanji and Haruki's phone or something?" asked Hondou.
"I have a bad feeling about this. Let's find them," I said.
Hondou and Miyamoto nervously agreed with a gulp.
We left the dorm areas and used an unorthodox path, trying to decrease the chances of having to encounter Class D students. If they really tried to frame Ike and Yamauchi and succeeded, they should be reporting what happened right now.
When we reached the area behind Gymnasium #1, the three of us witnessed an unconscious Ike sitting against a wall.
"Kanji!" The two cried.
I ran up to him immediately and shook his body.
"Ike, Ike! Can you hear me?" I asked.
"What the hell?! They punched him in the face!" Miyamoto glared at the bruise on Ike's right temple.
"Those Class D punks went too far! This is just plain violence!" howled Hondou.
I carried the half-conscious Ike up and had Miyamoto support him.
"Take Ike to the infirmary. Hondou and I will check on Yamauchi," I instructed.
"Alright, I'll leave him to you. Be careful," replied Miyamoto.
"You too."
Hondou and I walked briskly. When we finally reached the rooftop. we saw Yamauchi in a similar state.
"Shit, Haruki!" cried Hondou.
The two of us ran up to him. Like how I did with Ike, I checked up on Yamauchi's condition. His nose was bleeding. It was a direct jab to the front of his face.
"Those bastards..." Hondou clicked his tongue in anger.
We tread to the infirmary while supporting Yamauchi. We met up with Miyamoto and Ike. He was sitting on a bed while clutching his head.
"Ike, are you feeling alright?" I asked.
"Shit... We messed up, Ayanokouji. It was a ploy, after all."
Hondou and I laid Yamauchi down on the bed. Thankfully, due to the time of the day and the path we took, none of us encountered any students. Yamauchi slowly tried to sit up while groaning in pain.
"Ugh..." he moaned.
"Haruki..."
"I-It... was a guy named Ryuuen. He... He was the mastermind behind this. Sexual assault...? Are you kidding me?" Yamauchi had a hard time uttering his words.
"What did he do?" I asked.
"It's as you can see, right? He used Kinoshita and Manabe to bait us. And now this..." Yamauchi clenched his fists in anger.
"Miyamoto, Hondou. Leave the three of us inside for now. Contact Kikyou, Hirata, and Horikita. Tell them that it's an emergency," I said.
The two of them looked at each other and nodded with little hesitation. When they left, silence conquered the room. Ike and Yamauchi looked down resentfully.
"I didn't think that you two would get in trouble."
I broke the tension and tranquility, releasing my words with a pretty provocative tone. It totally sounded like I was blaming them.
"Seriously, Ayanokouji? We just found out that the girls we liked played us for a week before making us receive Class D's violence. Now we're gonna get framed for something we didn't do." said Ike.
"That's right... Is this really the time to drop more unnecessary pressure by blaming us? That's pretty insensitive of you," followed Yamauchi.
They looked at me with displeased expressions. I crossed my arms before sighing. It seems like they needed to hear it, after all.
"Unnecessary? Insensitive? Do you guys not realize whose fault this is?"
Hearing me bite back was unexpected to them. They stiffened up with a glare.
"The fact of the matter is; you two were so hung up on the idea of getting a girlfriend that you didn't even notice the obvious trap Class D laid down for you."
Ike and Yamauchi were shocked by my blunt words.
"W-What the hell?"
"If you suspected them from the start, then you should've warned us!"
"Do you really think your desperate and pathetic selves would listen to any warning that I'd give? Based on your past behavior towards my friendship with Kikyou, I think you'd just lash out at me."
The two got even more upset as I continued offending them.
"Man, you're quite something else, aren't you, Ayanokouji?" glared Yamauchi.
"I didn't expect you to be an arrogant asshole. Do you think you can talk down on us just because you're smart and popular?" asked Ike.
"Am I really talking down on you right now? Am I not just telling you what the facts are?" I looked at them with cold eyes. "Why don't we talk about another topic then? You two were dumb enough to keep misbehaving whenever the teacher isn't looking. You didn't even realize that a bunch of security cameras inside our classroom were monitoring everyone's behavior. Why do you think our points went down by a lot in June? You two were the biggest contributor to that."
The two flinched in shock.
"What the... How do you even know if that's the case?!"
"I asked Chabashira-sensei, of course. She even showed me footage as proof," I replied despondently. "And I've observed you two for the longest time. Apart from being the most unenthusiastic about studying, you two have the most undesirable reputation when it comes to attitude. Do you know how many girls have voiced out their opinions to me about the two of you? Most of them are repulsed by your attitudes. Of course, some of them might be exaggerating, but you get my point, right? A lot of the girls in our class are grossed out by your behaviors."
Cold sweat ran across their foreheads upon being confronted about those things.
"T-That's normal! We're just being high school boys!"
"Even if you don't admit it, you're just the same as us! We're just more open about it!"
"Are you hearing yourselves? Do you realize how disgusting your excuses are?" I gave them a side glance.
Without an answer, Ike and Yamauchi could only grind their teeth.
"Wouldn't you say that this is some sort of retribution? You two haven't done anything for the class. And now, just because there's a small chance for both of you to get a girlfriend, you threw caution to the wind and disregarded any possible consequences," I shrugged.
They continued to look down, unable to reply.
"I'm sure Kikyou and Hirata will help the two of you, given their personality. Horikita won't have a choice since she wants to reach Class A. If you two get suspended, or worse, expelled, then our class points will suffer heavily. Really, this is a calamity."
"Fuck, we get it! We messed up, okay?!" Ike couldn't bear to hear any more criticisms.
"Damn it! Sexual assault? We didn't do anything like that for fuck's sake!" Yamauchi resentfully howled.
"The odds are stacked against the two of you. The Class D students have probably reported the so-called 'incident'. Expect to be called out tomorrow and prepare for the worst."
"You're not gonna lend them a hand?" Ike asked with a glare.
Frankly, I kinda disagree with what Hirata said during my announcement of 'stepping down'. It wasn't really my goal to protect everyone. Why would I waste my time protecting liabilities like you two? We're in Class B, but you're still acting like defects. If you were in my position, do you think it's worth spending so much effort to save a couple of dead weight? Well, that's probably something that Horikita would agree on. And that "protection" goal was just Hirata's personal interpretation of my actions, anyway.
"Who knows? I think Horikita is capable enough to speak for you, but without any decisive evidence, you're bound to lose."
"Damn it... Are we going to get screwed over because of this?" Yamauchi's expression sunk.
"Do both of you at least admit that you're at fault? We wouldn't be in this situation if you guys didn't let your crotches do the thinking."
"Screw you, Ayanokouji, but damn it, you're right. In hindsight, we could've been more careful."
"I... Damn it... Yeah, my bad. I'll admit to whatever... I just don't want that shit-faced Ryuuen guy to get what he wants."
Well, at least they looked remorseful.
I'll treat this as a test. If both of them continue to hold the class back in the future, then I'll have no choice but to eliminate them myself.
"I'll do what I can."
Not long after that, the door busted open and five people barged inside the infirmary.
Miyamoto and Hondou successfully brought Hirata, Horikita, and Kikyou. Of course, they needed to wear their school uniforms to be here.
"We've heard of what happened..." said Horikita.
"Is everything alright?" Hirata asked with a concerned look.
"Sorry, Hirata. My plan was compromised."
"Wait, your plan?" Yamauchi cocked his head.
"K-Kiyotaka-kun, can you explain everything to us? Right from the top..." asked Kikyou.
I nodded in agreement towards Kikyou's words.
I explained how I asked Hondou and Miyamoto's help in trying to prevent the plot that we anticipated Class D would do. We turned out to be right, but Class D also saw through our plan.
"So you really did try to protect us, Ayanokouji..." muttered Ike.
After that, Ike and Yamauchi told us everything that happened to them in detail.
"Class D's Ryuuen, huh?" Horikita had a grave expression.
Kikyou stared at me worriedly.
"This is bad... We have to brace ourselves for tomorrow," said Hirata.
I don't really care if things go public, but it would be pretty annoying if it did. Unlike Ken's case, they thoroughly planned everything this time. I doubt we'd win even if we all work together. They have Ike and Yamauchi's fingerprints, while we have nothing but testimonies.
That's probably what Ryuuen is thinking right now.