Chapter- 20
Hunter vs Hunted
Ryuuen's POV
"Ackk!"
The satisfying sound resonated in my ears. As much as I wanted to meet 'X', I didn't want to spoil Hirata.
But now, the situation demands me to crush Hirata so I can find 'X'.
My lips curled with joy. At last I am going to find someone like me. I was so close to finding 'X' during the sports festival, but even Chabashira herself concealed the identity. It feels like the whole world wants to stop me from meeting 'X'.
Thud
A faint sound came from behind me. What? There wasn't supposed to be anyone but us here. I turned behind swiftly, expecting Komiya, who was guarding the outpost in that direction.
Huh?
"What brings you here on such a fine night, Ayanokouji?" I asked the guy standing in front of me. His eyes reflected the moonlight yet they were devoid of any fear.
I will change that soon.
"Hirata brought me here to be a witness to this event."
For a moment I looked at Albert who was supposed to scan the whole area for witnesses. Under my gaze Albert shrugged slightly. Apparently he was oblivious of any such existence present in the forest.
"I see, but now you've foolishly showed up in front of me. It's news to me that you're that dumb."
"Ayanokouji! Why did you show up?! Didn't you run away?!"
"No, in case you failed, I had planned to end this myself," he replied calmly.
An utterly foolish declaration, yet, I couldn't shake off this lingering cautiousness.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is one of the prime suspects of being 'X'. So, either he is 'X' or someone working directly under 'X'.
Whichever is the case, it's my win, since he walked into the gallows himself.
"End this? This all won't end until I find and crush 'X'." I warned him.
"There's no need to fret, I am the one you're looking for."
"That's the most foolish line one can say in this situation, he's clearly bluffing Ryuuen-shi," Kaneda said, pushing his glasses up slightly. But, I ignored him.
"Today, what happened in the cafeteria was quite unexpected. That bitch Ichinose is getting hard to control eh?"
Ichinose had made a foolish move earlier today. There's no way 'X' would ever approve of such reckless actions.
"You took advantage of her good nature. By revealing Karuizawa's situation to her you exploited her impulsive decision to confront you. On top of that, you displayed swift adaptation to her response by discrediting the leaders under my control."
Huh?
"You outdid yourself Ryuuen, I will give you that." He added praise.
"What? I revealed Karuizawa's situation to Ichinose? Nothing of that sort happened, Karuizawa herself contacted Ichinose for help." I corrected the imbecile.
"....." He stood silent for a while, face inscrutable, eyes staring.
"So there's another traitor in your party. There's someone else who has disclosed information about your side to Ichinose. And that someone has also lied to you about Karuizawa making contact with Ichinose." His words took another abrupt turn, but despite the abruptness, I felt a seed of doubt germinating within me.
— Shiina Hiyori
"Don't listen to him, Ryuuen-shi, he's just trying to plant distrust within us."
"I have no such intentions. There's nothing to gain by planting any more traitors in your lot. The threat of Karuizawa's expulsion was a surprise to Karuizawa, but was well met by Ichinose."
He recited his intentions and observations, and what he said made sense. However, I had another explanation for Ichinose's steadfast response.
"The deal might be a desperate measure taken to avoid the worst, yet, risking your own expulsion isn't something you do on an impulse. It's unlikely Ichinose thought of that counter on the spot."
That's true, my assumption was that 'X' was the one who told Ichinose about the rest of the danger. Now that another angle to the picture is revealed, a clearer picture is forming in my head.
"Tch." I unconsciously clicked my tongue on the realisation as I played today's events in my head. I thought I had seen all there was to it, but it seems there was more depth to it.
Depth that only he had seen, the one standing in front of me — 'X'.
"Uhhh, that hurt." I could see Ishizaki waking up slowly.
Beside him, Akito had gained consciousness as well. He's a tough nut. Rather than interrupting our talk, he quietly heard us.
"Akito." Ayanokouji shifted his attention from me.
"Take away Sudou. Apply some ice or something on him, and don't report the incident anywhere." His voice was commanding.
"Ayanokouji...I can't leave—"
"I guarantee you Hirata's safety. Don't worry about that."
"Now that's a big promise. I can't let them leave, you see."
No way I'm going to trust these guys with 'not calling a witness'.
Even though I exposed him in front of other classmates, Ayanokouji stood in front of me with his indifferent expression.
Hirata has lost: the one standing in front of me is the real 'X'. Now, Hirata has nothing in his hands to keep Karuizawa safe.
"You've made a grave error. In order to engage in violent activity during special exams, you prepared a secluded area to carry out your hunt." He declared as he signalled Akito to leave.
"That's true, but there will be no evidence left behind of whatever happens here." I admitted proudly.
"And that's what will lead to your downfall."
"Huh?"
It took me a second as the realisation dawned upon me. He didn't show up here just to run away, after all.
I've prepared this place to carry out atrocious actions. Is that his advantage...?
"There's no need to stop Akito," I muttered.
—----------------------------------------------------------
(Ayanokouji's POV)
Ryuuen saw the direction my words pointed towards, so he let Akito pass with Sudou.
My entry into this scene was a complete surprise to him. After making so many sacrifices, he didn't expect 'X' to show up in a secluded spot engineered specifically in his favour.
"Heh heh heh, now this is what I've been looking forward to.... That one last turn of tables, to challenge me in my own game?" Ryuuen said, clutching his bangs.
"You're crazy, but walking into a fight like this alone.... That's just stupid." Ryuuen signalled Albert to attack me.
Ishizaki, on other hand, was still a little lost on the developments he saw.
Leaving Hirata behind, Albert rushed towards me. Under the dim moonlight I could barely see the colour of his iris.
I took his attack head on, loosening my body.
Thud
The hit was near my sternum. The blow didn't have the weight behind it in line with my expectations, although, it was enough to throw me back. It seems, Albert held back against me.
"Ayanokouji!" Hirata yelled as I fell on the ground. If he keeps this up, he's going to attract a witness soon.
"Kukuku. All that talk," Ryuuen said, voice dropping in disappointment, "and he got knocked out in one punch by my Albert." He walked with measured quiet steps towards me. Perhaps he planned to torment me in a similar way he used on Hirata.
I got up slowly, filled with disappointment.
Ryuuen stopped in his tracks, perhaps due to seeing me standing unscathed, a shadow of caution passing over his face.
"Huh? Ayanokouji, stay down man, just admit defeat." Ishizaki gave me his heartfelt advice.
As I was looking at him, from the corner of my eye I saw Albert closing in on me again.
"ESHH" Albert exhaled air as he put all the force behind his next punch. But, I dodged it at the last moment.
Regaining his balance, Albert threw the next punch, and then another. Clenched knuckles thundered upon me to no avail; not one landed on me.
Once I had registered the timing of his punches, I launched my counter attack.
ZAAP!!
Flowing through between his punches, my fist rammed on firm, solid muscles. The blow didn't knock him out, and that didn't surprise me, although, against his will, Albert fell on his knees, staggering.
"Albert!!" Kaneda exclaimed.
In my peripheral vision I caught Ishizaki running towards me. Understanding the emergency of the situation, he might have decided to go all out. "You bastard!"
I distanced myself from the still struggling Albert. Grappling was one thing I didn't want to be engaged in during a fight against multiple opponents.
In White Room, I was once taught Silat under a trainer from the Cimande school of Silat.
I had learnt the art of dealing with multiple opponents. In contrast to the 'hard' movements of Muay Thai, the most popular Southeast Asian martial art, Silat's movements, that I learnt, were 'soft'.
Cimande assumed a minimum of three opponents; but, masters would go against as many as twelve at once. I began to learn how to fight with this style from a seated position. Only after mastering it was I taught footwork. The heavy use of elbows demanded a lot of skill to apply this style.
I deflected Ishizaki's strike with my elbow. His speed and power were nothing to write home about. Despite that, Ishizaki kept on with his incessant rampage of hits; wild, all without any form or technique. And I parried all of them using my elbows.
Behind him, Albert's looming figure was getting back on legs. Ryuuen was missing from his spot as well; so, before deflecting Ishizaki's next attack, I scanned the surroundings.
A flicker of shadow closed in from behind me.
"Ayanokouji! Behind you!" Hirata yelled again....
I kicked off the ground, cutting sideways out of a possible pincer movement by Ryuuen and Ishizaki.
"Heh, where did you learn that stuff from? Those instincts are of someone who's grown up fighting, like myself." Ryuuen added more praise, more to himself than to me.
Diligence, hard work, talent — these medals are often rendered useless when it comes to a real brawl. One can train martial arts under those rules for their whole life, yet never get used to brawls.
Only when you're surrounded with opponents harbouring killing intent will you learn the correct timing. The hike of adrenaline instills lessons impossible to be learnt in a legal, simulated arena. That's the instinct Ryuuen is talking about.
Ryuuen and Ishizaki kept their distance from me, and Albert joined them as well. It was a three versus one.
"Raaa!! Ayanokouji!" Ishizaki rushed at me bellowing. The way Ryuuen and Albert followed him made it clear he was just a decoy.
Once again I started deflecting the attacks using my elbows. Elbow strikes have a shorter range compared to punches and kicks; it irritates the enemy to repeatedly fail in their strikes by an inch when facing me.
Their attacks were uncoordinated, clearly showing the lack of experience in fighting as a team.
"What the f*** is this?! Hah!" Ishizaki's voice was filled with irritation. Out of the three opponents I was fighting, he was the one who launched useless attacks with the highest frequency. Consequently, fatigue caught up with him rapidly.
Swiftly, I stepped forward with my left leg; involuntarily, Ishizaki flinched, startled at the jarring shift of tactics.
Zaap!
"Gah!" Ishizaki was jerked out of balance, as I snapped out a cross elbow strike at his neck, knocking him out instantly.
Till now Ryuuen and Albert were striking me without any reservations. However, after witnessing the sudden development, Albert stepped back cautiously.
Ryuuen charged ahead heedless, devoid of even a speck of fear. He must have sensed the gulf between our abilities. Still, the crazed smile, the glint in his eye — they didn't diminish, but only shot up further; the spark blazing.
"This is fun, Ayanokouji." A low resonating laugh spilled out along with his savage strikes.
"You got anything besides elbows, no? Give me more than this. More!" He complained as if I were incompetent, even with not a single attack of his reaching me.
Finally regaining his composure, Albert tagged with Ryuuen. They switched places as Ryuuen backed off to catch his breath.
"I don't have much time left now..."
Before Albert could strike, I unleashed my elbow uppercut at his jaw; the concussion threw him off balance. But before he could fall, I released a barrage of elbow strikes.
They didn't make much sound; they didn't even appear lethal. However, the deceptively benign and 'soft' movements delivered significant damage.
"Urgh." Albert crumpled on his knees. His hulking mass was wavering, and this time, I bashed a hammering blow on his nape to make certain that he was down for the count.
At last I got a moment of rest.
Hirata and Kaneda were stupefied by the unforeseen developments. And now, it was just between me and Ryuuen.
"Kukuku, why don't you show off your skills more often?" Ryuuen tried to buy some time by talking.
"I've my reasons." I marched forward. As much as he wanted to, Ryuuen's pride won't allow him to step back.
"You surely have some nerve with that condescension." He jabbed at my face; it was a fast one, and he surpassed Ishizaki in both speed and power by far.
"Huh?" In a heartbeat, I seized his wrist in a vice grip. Trapped in my firm grasp, Ryuuen's smile vanished, shifting to a frown.
I balled my opposite hand into a fist, and a powerful blow descended on Ryuuen's solar plexus.
"Gah!" he cried. His eyes widened, though, the sharp glint in his eye persisted; the ghost of a smile touched his lips again.
Bam!
.
.
Bam!
.
.
Bam!
Only the sounds of my blows were audible. As much as he wanted to scream in pain, Ryuuen couldn't do that.
I gave him a moment of rest so that he could catch his breath.
'Ryuuen-shi!" Kaneda picked up a rock and rushed at me. However, before he could reach me, Hirata kicked him out of the way.
Even though surprise was blaringly plastered on his face, he didn't dare interrupt, or even permit any interruptions by others. A sliver of praise arose in my mind for that, but only briefly.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Ryuuen jerked the hand clamped down under my grip with increased strength. It slipped a little, but I caught it again. Still, he gained a bit of free space.
Since we were in close quarters, he swiftly launched a kick at my groin. I shifted my weight to another leg and dodged the kick.
"Just cuz you fight good doesn't mean you can look away in a fight, you can be as tough as you want but you need to be tough inside too." Ryuuen tried to talk his way out. "Even if I lose today, I will come at you again," he added.
"You're free to do so."
The persistence Ryuuen displayed was extraordinary: even after receiving a barrage of blows, he was already scheming his next attack having caught his breath.
However, I must extinguish that flame within him. That is the very reason I decided to clash with him in first place. I could've used a third party witness to frame Ryuuen, but he wouldn't have laid low unless I didn't collide with him head on.
Before his eyes could register it, I launched my next punch.
"Euk!!" I struck his ribs with my fist.
On an impulse, for the first time in this fight — Ryuuen stepped back. He pulled his captive arm with all the force, but to no avail. I gave a strong jerk pulling his whole body towards me. His shifting weight was met by an elbow strike at his face.
Ryuuen's attention was forcibly fixated on his captured arm. He tried to free himself of the suffering.
He could no longer stand on his legs. But I didn't allow him the luxury of falling to his knees. Shifting my grip from his forearm to his bicep, I lifted him up and kept striking, hitting, over and over. A small amount of blood trickled down from Ryuuen's lips.
"Gah!" he cried in agony. At last the smile on his face was vanishing; it must be getting painful to even curl his lips to form one.
For a moment, I stopped, granting Ryuuen momentary reprieve. This situation could be described as nothing but a slaughter. For a second, my gaze flickered sideward, and met Hirata's eyes, eyes brimming with raw terror. Fear had rooted him in place like the gnarled root of a tree.
I will have to deal with him later.
Ryuuen tried to muster up the power to strike. However, standing on his feet already took all the power he had.
I swept at his shaking legs, releasing his arm. Faint relief coloured his face as he fell flat on the ground; free, at last, from my vice-like grip.
He erred, and mistakenly assumed this to be the end of his suffering.
"Heh.... not done... are we?" He barely made out those words, when he saw me mounting him. He tried to act like it was nothing, but his voice was gradually losing strength, growing fainter.
I raised my fist again.
"Wai—"
Bam!
"Gah!"
"Guhh—" I shoved my forearm into his open mouth. His eyes widened, but he tried to bite me with his full force.
"Your jaw is open far too widely to produce a bite force," I said, stopping him mid-attempt. "Still, if you keep forcing a bite, then it might break instead." My face slithered close to his.
"If you understand that," I continued, "then blink twice."
He just tried to bite hardly in response.
I pointed my thumb out of my fist while Ryuuen's eyes were fixated on mine. I drove my thumb strongly into his ribs. I made sure not to break into the rib cage however.
Splurt.
Spit drizzled out of his mouth, a bloody mess appearing out of it tumbling. It coated my forearm.
It was all so insignificant. I saw his eyes, and it was there, lurking deep. A very real trickle of dread wormed its way in.
"Mphmmmm"
Ryuuen tried to speak, but—frivolous attempts—he could only lick the skin of my forearm at most.
"Words aren't necessary anymore." Understanding his situation, he breathed in the scarce amount of air I allowed.
Huff
Huff
Huf-
Snap!
I drove my thumb into his ribs once again, making sure I hit a different rib this time. He closed his eyes tightly, frowning, agonising.
I let him recover a little. The lines of his face relaxed a little...
I must not let him pass out right now.
Snap!
"PHMMM!" Muffled sounds escaped his throat. I could feel the saliva dripping out from between his lips, and landing on my forearm.
I probed his lower rib with another thumb. His eyes opened wide at another digit being drove in.
"You see," I whispered, "there are twelve pairs of ribs in you, in each of us... With three of them already tested, there must be around twenty one remaining, right?" I stared deep in his eyes, impassive, head tilted a fraction of degree to a side.
I can't attack the same rib twice or it will break for sure. Thankfully, human body has more ribs to spare.
Snap
I could feel his legs lashing behind my back, writhing. But it was futile. All they could do was strike the ground, and distract his mind, preserve parts of Ryuuen's mind from the digging pain rumbling in his thorax.
Snap
Sweat dripped down his forehead. There was no escaping at this point, Ryuuen. His head rocked, to right, to left; there, I saw it – a tiny, almost unseen, drop of water rolling down his cheek.
I was convinced — the fighting spirit within Ryuuen had been extinguished. I traded my next blow in exchange for Ryuuen's consciousness, thus, putting him out of his suffering.
It's over.
Ever since I decided to take part in inter class battles, a speck of excitement had slithered its way in me; excitement for playing against Ryuuen on his own game. Thus, it was inevitable, we were bound to collide sooner or later. I would have arrived at this moment.
But, now it ends.
As long as he wasn't defeated in his own turf, Ryuuen would always think he had a chance against me. As long as he wasn't cornered and crushed, he would keep hunting me thinking of himself as the hunter. Only when he played the role of a prey would he abandon his reckless course of action.
A brawl in a special exam was never my plan. However, I was offered a chance to crush Ryuuen earlier than I expected. Hirata and Ichinose might've failed in rescuing Karuizawa, but they were successful in deviating the situation to this point.
"Hirata." I turned my face towards him. Even though he was terrified, he kept his composure.
"I understand you harbour hatred against me, but put that aside for now. Right now, Akito needs assistance with Sudou. Go back and help him."
"What will you do with them?" He pointed at the four students lying on the ground.
"You'll know soon, once you're done helping Akito return back here alone. I will wait here to face your wrath."
"Hah. That's not even funny." His head dropped in his hands. "Stop joking . What can I even do to you?" A single eye, filled with fright, creaked open at me.
"Let's not waste time talking. Make sure you don't call any witnesses." I cut the conversation short. I need to talk to Hirata once his mind is clear.
Reluctantly, Hirata left the scene. It has been only a few minutes. Given that Akito is carrying Sudou with him, he wouldn't have reached the outpost in that direction.
"Ugh, where did the rock go..." Kaneda was the first to stand.
"It's no use." On hearing my words he went stiff. Ryuuen's still body lying on the ground caught his attention. "You can relax, the fight is over." I tried to reassure him.
"Wake up others. I will wake up Ryuuen."
I lightly slapped Ryuuen's cheek.
"Tch... you gonna maul me again?" He asked me, trying to smile. Commendable effort, but he was failing.
"No. It's over."
"Heh, I don't think so..." he said. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to take you out. Even if I've to expel myself." What he was pointing towards was for the joint responsibility of this exam.
"I don't recommend that. My performance in this exam will be that of perfection. You'll never be able to take me down with you just because you're the leader and the average of our group falls below. It will only lead to your end." I reprimanded him for his reckless decision.
"Prepared, aren't we?" He huffed. "What'll you do if I expel Karuizawa? If I create fake evidence to expel Ichinose?" An ember still persists in him. It would be applause worthy, but, he tasted fear right here, and continues acting rashly.
"You can do that if you're ready for an all-out-war."
"I don't see a war"—Ryuuen propped himself up—"it will be just me crushing you."
"Ironically, it will be the opposite: I still have evidence against Manabe." A pause. "I've the audio recording of you plotting against Horikita during the sports festival." Another pause. "I've audio recording of Ishizaki clearly mentioning your name in scheming against Sudou." Yet another pause to emphasise what comes next.
"At the end of this path, towards the boy's building, the homeroom teacher of Class D is standing. The Class D students will cross paths with her soon, and, inevitably, you'll return there as well. I can report you for violence to school, and you won't be able to frame me there either."
Hirata's meeting spot with Ryuuen was perfectly engineered according to Ryuuen. It was natural to set up a witness in case I needed to file a case against Ryuuen.
Listening to the numerous ways I held to shield myself, Ryuuen turned silent. His frown deepened further.
"Why won't you crush me then? It's always better to crush the enemies completely than letting them live." Ryuuen's question was justified.
"I want peace. I have no intentions of waging war as long as my identity is safe." I put forth my conditions.
"Heh, no intentions to advance through classes. You just confuse me more and more with your actions."
As much as I expected Ryuuen to lash out, he didn't. Kaneda, Albert, and Ishizaki quietly stood beside him.
"Let's leave my intentions aside. What're you going to do from now onwards?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He scoffed. "My class has suffered a lot because of my methods. Now that they've failed, it's only natural that I take responsibility for all that."
"I had assumed you abandoned morality long ago. It surprises me to see you follow a moral code of your own."
"I'm not like you. I'm a tyrant. I owe my subjects as much as they owe me."
"How do you plan on taking the responsibility then?"
Ryuuen turned towards Kaneda, he planned to answer my question by actions.
"Keep my points, I'm quitting this special exam." Ryuuend declared.
"But Ryuuen-shi, our group average will fall below if you do that!"
"Yeah, so?"
"Don't put it like you don't understand it. You'll be expelled if that happens." Kaneda tried to reason with Ryuuen, but it seems he's already made up his mind.
"Cut the crap, Kaneda, I've got nothing to do in this school now."
"B-But, Ryuuen-san, you can still go on. It's not like Ayanokouji will report the incident or anything." Ishizaki, who was genuinely scared of Ryuuen's expulsion, made futile attempts to stop him.
"Shut up, I am stepping down. Make up some story that you defeated me and step up as the leader. With me gone, Hiyori will help you lead the class in a new light." Ryuuen didn't budge.
"You've confronted 'X' in front of the whole school, " I interrupted. "There's no way to hide this defeat within your own class. No one's going to believe it."
"Tch, did I ask?"
"I am telling you this because the one to take the credit of defeating you is going to be Hirata." I added.
"Meh, do you really think anyone is going to buy that either?"
"No, but even Hirata will be the closest and last lead to 'X'. Everyone will understand that challenging him would mean to incur the wrath of 'X' — the one who took down Ryuuen." Clearly irritated by my scheme, Ryuuen made a disgusted face.
"So you're ready to take on the troubles huh."
"After you proved my existence, it became inevitable."
"You can try making up your own story," I continued. "But history has proven again and again: The words of the victor reigns supreme over the defeated."
"Hmm, whatever. Not that I'm going to stay here anyways."
"Ryuuen-san! Please don't go!" Ishizaki's sorrow was clear. Out of the constrictions society often put on a man, Ishizaki was crying unreservedly.
At this point, Ryuuen just ignored his words. He stood up, ready to walk away.
"I think you'll regret this course of action, Ryuuen. This school has a lot to teach you. You won't grow if you don't stand back up after falling."
"My growth"—he smiled—"has nothing to do with you." It was not a nice smile.
"That's true."
Silently, Ryuuen turned back and started walking away. Other Class D students followed him, all trying to convince Ryuuen against his actions, but their cries fell on deaf ears.
".....I guess, I'll have to wait for Hirata now."
As I took a seat near a tree, a tall student approached the scene from the opposite direction to which Ryuuen left.
Once he was close enough, I recognized him to be Komiya.
"Huh? What're you doing here? Where's Ryuuen-san?" His confusion was understandable.
I pointed in the direction of the boys' building. Komiya, not understanding the situation, ran towards it quietly.
An hour passed after that. Though it might seem Hirata might not return, I was sure he would.
I had said it once before: Hirata and I were racing against each other. A race to unravel the truth behind the other individual. Now that the race has concluded with Hirata being the victor, I must take what's rightfully mine as well.