Leaving the private pool with Class A was like opening a door to a parallel universe. Imagine opening the door from a stunned silent room and entering pure pandemonium. I wasn't even noticed as students stampeded through the hall and through the adjacent buffet area like zebras cutting through the sahara in utter panic.
I slipped through unnoticed and unbothered, making my way into the fire escape as discreetly as possible. The moment I entered the silent fire escape, the frenzy was drowned out completely as the door slammed behind me with a resounding boom.
Only then had I realized that my phone was erupting with calls and messages. My phone rang loudly, it echoed in the empty fire escape, my screen displaying Eiichiro's name. I rejected the call immediately before putting it on silent. Multiple alerts erupted on my phone, messages from Honami, messages from Eiichiro, messages from Horikita.
I noted them unphased before putting the phone back in my pocket, intent on beginning my search for my next target. As I was about to take my first step down the stairwell, I heard the faint sound of crying from above. The sobs were barely there, if not for the fact that the desolate fire escape was completely devoid of sound, I would have missed it.
Changing course, I ascended. As I continued to make steps up the stairwell, the sobs grew louder and louder. It wasn't until I reached the landing of the third floor that I saw the crumpled and beaten form of one of my friends.
Karuizawa's hair was down from the usual scrunchie adorned ponytail, messily falling down her body. Her face was covered in angry marks from being slapped. Her shirt was torn, buttons missing and her skirt was dirtied from the dusty floor of the concrete of the stairwell. Tears were falling down like waterfalls, her nose snotty and running. In her current state, she didn't even notice me approaching.
It wasn't until I was almost on top of her, squatting down beside her before she looked at me. Her watery eyes widened in surprise when she realized who it was. Not a moment later, she lunged at me and threw her arms around my neck, crying even harder with heaving sobs.
This was my friend, one of my dear friends. Yet right now I could offer no comfort, I had no empathy, no sympathy. In this state, she was simply a resource. I had time to rebuke myself later if need be, I didn't even have the capacity to do it at the moment. I simply stayed rigid and allowed her to cry and draw strength from me until the sobbing ceased and she calmed down.
She didn't let me go, face still buried into my neck as she calmed herself. Karuizawa didn't move from her spot, not wanting me to see her in this state but not wanting to be alone either. As heartless as it sounds, I didn't have the time for this.
"Who did this to you?" I asked.
Karuizawa didn't answer, she continued breathing heavily while hiding her face in the crook of my neck. I peeled her off me before taking hold of her chin and inspecting the marks on her face.
"Who did this to you, Karuizawa?" I asked again.
Again, complete silence. Despite the fact that I had a firm grip on her chin, she averted her eyes in shame refusing to look at me.
"Karuizawa. If you don't tell me who did this to you, I have no idea who I am supposed to be going after. Who did this to you?"
While waiting for an answer, I checked over her curiously. There was no heavy bruising on the face but she was hunched over in pain, more than likely they hit her in spots that could be covered in clothes.
Her ankle was swollen. Perhaps she tripped and twisted her ankle trying to get away from her. In my peripheral vision, I noted a camera that was pointed down from the corner above the door.
"Manabe," Karuizawa said quietly. "Manabe, Yamashita, Yabu and Morofuji from Class C."
"Did it happen here? Where specifically?"
She pointed at the corner of the opposite side of the landing, directly in view of the camera. I took out my phone and took pictures carefully of the area before taking one including the camera. Once my phone was back in my pocket, I turned back to Karuizawa, wiping the tears and snot from her face with my sleeve.
"Can you walk?"
"No," Karuizawa shook her head. "I rolled my ankle trying to get away from them, it hurts."
I took off my tie before unbuttoning my top button. I removed her shoe, then her sock before using the tie to wrap her ankle, not even trying to be careful not to hurt her. As I wrapped it in a figure eight, I noticed the blush on Karuizawa's face as I tied it off to keep pressure on it, the wince cut the blush quickly.
Placing the shoe and sock in her hands, I picked her up before standing without even a grunt.
"I'll take you to the infirmary, I don't have a lot of time."
"No!" Karuizawa said frantically. "Please, no. If you can just help me to my room... I can't let anyone see me like this..."
"Your ankle could be injured worse than what it looks. You'll risk a longer recovery time in the interest of vanity?"
"Yes... Please... Just take me to my room."
It shows the heartlessness of the White Room Conditioning, I would have just left her there if not for the fact that I needed something from her. Her pain and suffering was fortunate for me, I needed details on what happened.
Normally this wouldn't be the case, I normally love my friends. Right now the only goal I had was crushing Ryuen's soul and Karuizawa had the key to making that far easier. Instead, I took the necessary pitstop to get what I needed. Karuizawa balanced the shoe on her lap before wrapping her arms around my neck to keep herself from falling.
I only stayed quiet for a few steps down the stairwell towards the girl's lodgings before I started to question her.
"Did they attack you for no reason? Manabe was glaring at you during the meeting."
"Why? Are you going to tell me I should apologize too?" Karuizawa asked snappily.
"No, do as you wish. I just need to know the details so that I can plan ahead."
It was only then that Karuizawa actually noticed that there was something different about me, something out of the ordinary. While she was present at the confrontation, she wasn't close enough to see the change as it happened. We were friends but she knew nothing about my past.
"Are you okay?"
"You're asking me when you're covered in bruises with an injured ankle?"
"You're different, it's strange. You're not the same Ayanokouji-kun that I know,"
"Everyone has their past, everyone has their secrets. I'm no different."
We reached the door at the fire escape that led to the girl's quarters and Karuizawa opened it for me. I poked my head out to see that no one was there before walking out into the hall. In my state, I wasn't concerned with Karuizawa's well-being, nearly smashing her head against the doorjamb. She quickly moved her head out of the way, not rebuking me, Karuizawa was still wearily taking in my demeanor.
"Which one is your room?"
"Down the hall, room 301."
I walked there in silence, Karuizawa curiously forgetting her injuries and inspecting me. The earlier pain and shame had now disappeared, it was as though I were a puzzle that she couldn't understand.
Manabe had some kind of an issue with Karuizawa, the girls that were with her weren't surprising. Yabu and Yamashita were in our group but I didn't recognize the name Morofuji.
We were fortunate that everyone was too busy with an impromptu meeting, the halls were empty, Karuizawa and I were able to slip into her room uninterrupted. After placing her on her bed in a seated position, I turned to leave. Karuizawa clutched at my sleeve meekly before I could go.
"Wait, Please... don't leave me."
"I have to go. There isn't much time and you're not being forthright with what happened. I don't have time for this at this stage, I will check in on you later."
"Please, no. Please don't leave me Ayanokouji-kun..." Karuizawa cried frantically.
Karuizawa was very obviously vulnerable right now, whatever happened between her and Class C was critical for my goals. She wouldn't just tell me what happened, she was hiding what the cause of the altercation was.
It was quite obvious that she had done something to incur this retribution from them, she was concerned that I would judge her. Perhaps not take her side. I could care less at this point, I simply wanted the information so that I could use it against Ryuen. If I had to be cruel by threatening to leave her by herself in her vulnerable state then I was prepared to do so.
Unless she was willing to tell me, Karuizawa was useless to me.
"What happened?"
Karuizawa hesitated for some time, conflicted. She continued to open and close her mouth but no sound was coming out. Deciding to give her one last push, I made to exit again and she desperately held onto my sleeve.
"If I tell you, will you get them back for me?"
"What do you mean by getting them back?"
"Will you beat them up? Like how they beat me?"
"No,"
"Why? Are you scared?" Karuizawa asked angrily. "You're supposed to be a guy, you didn't even defend Ichinose-san during the meeting! You just sat there and watched while they bullied her! You're supposed to be her boyfriend! You're supposed to be my friend!"
I squatted down, bringing myself down to her level as she sat on the bed glaring at me with betrayed anger. When she looked into my eyes, the anger faded away. At seeing me unphased and unaffected by her, she calmed and waited with baited breath for me to speak, the silence unnerving her. Now she was frightened.
"Do I look like I'm scared, Karuizawa?" I asked her.
She gave a slow shake of her head, her eyes unblinking. Karuizawa was my friend but the only thing that mattered right now was the goal. She was insignificant.
I should have been thinking of Honami, I promised I wouldn't cheat on her and despite the fact that everything was glowing with an ethereal white around me, I intended to keep that promise. I was still alone with an attractive girl in her room. Regardless of the realities, the optics were what they were.
I had her tears on my sleeve, her make up smeared on the collar of my shirt from when she had her face buried in my neck. My clothes more than likely smelt of her perfume. This was risky territory and anyone could come in and misunderstand.
It didn't matter to me, I'll deal with the consequences if they ever arise. Despite the fact that she had gone through something traumatic, Karuizawa's well-being was not a priority for me either.
"Call Hirata to come and take care of you, I have work to do."
"If you leave me like this, I'll hate you forever." Karuizawa started crying again, furiously wiping her angry tears and trying to stop.
"We're supposed to be friends, I always supported you with everything. How can you be so heartless?"
I left, there was nothing to gain from remaining. Karuizawa was none of my concern, she's Hirata's problem. Right now I was on the hunt and I only had one target which was my top priority.
Shiina Hiyori, the one that Ryuen has been hiding from me all this time. The one he seems to be fond of, the one he's trying to protect from me.
The search for her was a tedious one but at the moment it was far easier than normal. The people walking past may as well have been faceless, none of them were in focus as I passed them.
I couldn't care less if they were Class A, B, C or D. They were useless to me, there was only one person that I needed to find. As I cut through the halls and carefully inspected each room, I didn't notice if any of the people I crossed paths with were weary, apprehensive or friendly. Eiichiro could have called out to me and he would have been ignored.
Honami could have flashed me and I wouldn't have bat an eye, I couldn't care less right now.
There was a method to what I was doing, it wasn't for anything superficial like asserting dominance over the year. It was to corner one person; to put pressure on him.
As I continued to search through the ship, I started to grow suspicious that perhaps she was in her quarters. I wasn't about to go knocking door to door but it was a curious possibility that crossed my mind.
I noted Class C in the ballroom, I looked from an inconspicuous window with calculating eyes only to notice that she wasn't there. Almost everyone else was but she was absent. Instead I continued on my crusade until I found her by herself in a quaint little room that looked as though it was used for corporate meetings.
She was engrossed in a book, And then there were none by Agatha Christie. It was quite an interesting read, I would be impressed by the choice under normal circumstances. Despite the fact that my interests have moved towards more modern forms of art, I have read a plethora of historically acclaimed fiction.
It was unfortunate that she was the one that Ryuen held in such high regard, in my time away from that place I'd like to think that I have grown quite proficient at reading people and as far as I can tell, this girl is an absolute angel. The loner type who simply wants a friend but doesn't know how to approach people.
The type who engrosses herself in books because there she has a friend. Even if they are only fictitious characters in her mind.
It's as though she's glowing, almost transparent against the pearly white backdrop in my current state. It doesn't matter if she's an angel or a devil, she's Ryuen's weakness. I would strangle the life out of the purest of unicorns if it meant keeping Arisu safe. Unfortunately Shiina Hiyori would have to be collateral damage. Even if it means I hate myself once I leave this white abyss.
With intent, I moved to approach her and the sudden intrusion made her look up from the book.
"Ayanokouji-kun?"
Shiina smiled in recognition, carefully placing her bookmark to hold her page before closing her book and placing it daintily on the table. I wasn't aware of this girl's existence before I went looking for her and yet she was smiling at me as though I were an old friend.
"You know who I am?"
"Of course I do, Vice President Ayanokouji. Honami-chan doesn't stop talking about you. I was so happy to find out that you accepted her confession."
Of all the things she could have said, that was not one of them that I anticipated. I expected apprehension, perhaps fear. I could even understand weariness, I wasn't expecting a smile. Honami hadn't even occurred to me in this situation but it was as though a lightbulb had gone off in my head. It made sense.
Class C and Class B shared a camp on the island, it would only be logical to assume that Honami had socialized with them. Especially during a time when she was seemingly isolated from my perspective, Mako prioritized looking after Chihiro. Honami was friendly and kind to everyone, it wouldn't be a leap to assume that she would become friendly with some of the Class C students.
"So the two of you are friends?" I asked.
"Yes, we are. My first friend actually. I'm sure you can tell, but I'm a little bit of a loner," Shiina said sadly, indicating the empty room.
"I'm not very good at being social, it's a bit difficult to approach people. It's why I like Honami-chan so much, she's so friendly. She can just talk to anyone without getting nervous or worried, I admire that about her.
"Having said that, you're very different to how she describes you." Shiina observed thoughtfully.
Taking a seat next to her, I looked at the bag that sat partially open on the table. It was filled to the brim with books, titles that I've read and others that I'd find interesting to read. Noticing what I was looking at, Shiina's eyes lit up and her smile shined even brighter.
"You like to read? Honami-chan mentioned that you read a lot of manga and light novels, I wasn't aware that you liked to read anything else."
"I've read some of the books that you have, others I haven't. Under normal circumstances, you could say that I like to read."
Excited by my admission, she hurriedly started pulling books from her bag before fanning them out on the table for my perusal. She truly was a kind and innocent soul. For the barest of moments, color started to bleed into my sight. It started with a slight coloring of yellow from the afternoon sun, then the brown of the table.
Before it could take hold, I banished it quickly and everything returned to the white abyss that it was. Regardless of how I normally would feel, this needs to be done. Ryuen needed to be sent a message, that I was not one to be trifled with. That when dragged into the mud, I too was willing to get dirty.
An eye for an eye and we'll both be blind. If he believes that he can threaten my sister, then even if it killed me to do so, I'd reduce this girl to a shell of herself. We would roam the endless white abyss together if necessary.
Even if it means that Honami leaves me in disgust for what I was about to do.
"Is there anything here that you'd like to borrow? I've been looking for someone who may want to read with me."
"Possibly but before that, would I be able to trouble you for a favor?"
Shiina looked up at me before nodding enthusiastically.
"I was looking for Ryuen but couldn't find him anywhere. Would you be able to send him a message to meet me here?"
She smiled again before nodding and energetically tapping away on her phone. How curious, Ryuen hasn't told her anything. Either that or he doubted my abilities to see that she was the one he was hiding from me. There was also the possibility that he thought I wouldn't stoop to the level that he was willing to go to.
Shiina wasn't afraid or concerned with me in the slightest. Since she wasn't the social type, no doubt my change in behavior wasn't something she coined as unnatural, she had nothing to compare to. As a loner, she probably was naive. It was lucky for me, at the very least once I left this state, I could hopefully be able to live with myself. As long as Ryuen didn't force me into it.
"He'll reply, he always does. It's strange though, he left me on read," Shiina frowned.
"He's probably busy, he'll reply. Now, the books? You have quite the selection here."
"Really? You like them?" Shiina smiled, clapping her hands together. "I love mystery books, I carry them around even though I've read them all. I was hoping I'd be able to share them with someone, maybe have someone to discuss them with."
"We have a lot of these in our library at the manor, I've read almost all of them."
William Irish, Ellery Queen, Lawrence Block and Isaac Asimov. All very well known and accomplished writers. They weren't easy reads, the average student wouldn't even be able to comprehend this kind of literature, let alone understand the themes or follow the story.
This girl was smart, innocent and kind. To think that even a beast like Ryuen could want to protect this girl, it really showed how kind of a soul she was.
"I tried to loan some of these to Honami-chan but she's been reading light novels. She's been trying to take up your hobbies so that you both have a shared interest. She really loves you. This is great! If I tell her that you've read these, maybe she'll read them too. Then the three of us can read together."
"I'm sure she'd enjoy that," I nodded. Only time will tell if that would be possible.
Before she could reply, the door to the room slammed open and a panting Ryuen was standing there followed closely by Yamada and Ishizaki. The two minions stayed silent but their expressions were hard, Ryuen's eyes wandered between Shiina and I. When he saw that she was fine and smiling, his expression changed from panicked to tense.
"Ryuen, thank you for coming. Shiina and I were just discussing books, have you read any of these?" I asked. I turned to Shiina, ignoring the others and ran my fingers over the covers one by one.
"You know Shiina, before I was adopted I did a lot of reading. It was one of the few past times available to me when given the chance. The only thing is, I'd never read any of the old fairy tales or nursery rhymes when I was a child. My sister was the one who read them to me when I was first adopted."
"That's really sad," Shiina said, downtrodden. "I heard from Honami-chan that you were really close to Sakayanagi-san. She must be very precious to you."
"Oh yes, there's no one in the world more important to me. She's everything to me. There's nothing that matters more to me.
"Her favorite one to read to me was Little Red Ridinghood. You'd think that it'd be Jack and Jill but Little Red Ridinghood was the one she'd drill into me. I was very naive back then, she wanted to make sure I knew that I should be weary of strangers. That even if I think I know someone, I should always be on guard. They could be a wolf masquerading as a friend."
Ryuen silently made his way into the room in a non-threatening manner with the other two following him. They made their way to the table we were sitting at, Ryuen sitting on the other side of Shiina with the other two standing behind him.
"Hiyori, I need to talk to Ayanokouji here. Why don't you find somewhere else to read for a while?" Ryuen said as he took a seat.
"Why? She's not hurting anyone, I like her." I asked.
"No, it's fine. I'll just go," Hiyori waved off with a smile before standing and putting her books into her bag.
Before she could finish putting her books away, I stood as well and placed my hand on her head. Ryuen flinched violently while Ishizaki tensed. I patted her on the head soothingly while Shiina looked surprised at the affectionate gesture.
"Before you go, didn't you say I could borrow a book?"
I picked up my choice before she could give an answer.
Agatha Christie - The Body in the Library.
"I haven't read this one, is it good?"
"Oh, it's wonderful! Christie is one of my favorite authors."
"Then I look forward to reading it, I'll have it finished in three days. We can talk about the book while we wait for the results of the special test."
Shiina gave an enthusiastic nod before bowing to each of us in the room and hurriedly leaving us to our conversation. The door closed with a thud and as soon as she was gone Ryuen grabbed me by the front of my shirt as he stood in anger.
"She has nothing to do with this, leave her out of it!" Ryuen spat angrily.
I didn't need to have my sense of sight at the moment, a blind man could have seen what I saw. The fear oozing from Ryuen's pores like a pungent stench. I couldn't smell it but it was thick and I could feel it.
"Phones on the table, all three of you. Right now. Face up, turn the screens on so I can see them," I said coldly.
While the other two looked confused, Ryuen's eyes narrowed. He hesitantly nodded to the other two who did as I asked, both phones showing the home screen. Ryuen pressed his home key before doing the same. As I glanced nonchalantly at the screen, I could see the record icon on the top right near the clock.
"Ryuen, we're here to negotiate in good faith. I'm disappointed that you look at me as a low grade simpleton after you went through so much effort to drag me from the shadows..."
Ryuen stared at me for a moment before picking his phone back up and closing the recording app, putting his phone back on the table with the screen lit showing that the recording app was off.
"The other phone that's in your breast pocket too."
Despite the situation and what happened earlier, Ryuen looked mildly amused and smirked before taking the phone out of his breast pocket and mockingly turning off the record function. He put it on the table with the screen still on before it faded away to idle.
I was outnumbered, in a room with the most intimidating first year and two of his henchmen. Yamada had yet to utter a syllable the entire time I'd ever had interactions with him and I vaguely wondered if he could even speak japanese.
With the table set and everything built to this moment in what was barely two hours, the time to end this examination had come.
"So I was right, you finally appear, you bastard. I knew that there was a reason that weakling never seemed to break."
"He's far stronger than people give him credit for. We should all endeavor to be a little more like him. Loyalty like his is hard to come by these days,"
"What of your loyalty, Ayanokouji? You let him look like a complete fool over and over again while you sat back and watched. How cruel of you," Ryuen taunted me.
"I suppose you're right, it appears I'm more similar to you than I am to him. Both of us appear to be fond of frail white haired girls."
The moment the topic of Shiina Hiyori came back up Ryuen stiffened and his face hardened. He took a step forward, intent on intimidating me but I stood my ground. It took one look into my cold dead eyes to realize that he wasn't about to get anywhere with physical confrontations. Something that Ishizaki seemed to miss as he finally lost his cool and lurched forward, throwing a punch.
I moved out of its path calmly before grabbing his sleeve at his wrist. With a turn I pulled it across my body before putting my other arm at his hip, lifting my leg and throwing off his balance. A perfect execution of a Harai Goshi.
As he fell, I rolled with him. He landed on his back with a resounding thud, my shoulder hitting him squarely in the ribs as we both went to the ground. He gasped painfully at the impact of both my shoulder and the ground before I slithered into position, wrapping his arm up in a Udi Hishigi Juji Gatame.
"Ishizaki, we're trying to have a civil conversation here," I told him calmly as I pulled harder on his arm and he groaned in pain at the tension on his joint.
"If you're going to attack someone who knows how to fight, at least try a sneak attack. Be a little more graceful, this is just embarrassing. No wonder Sudo was able to defeat you so soundly."
Yamada broke from his stupor and moved to jump in but before he could take more than a step I pulled on Ishizaki's arm again and he screamed out in pain. Yamada stopped in his tracks, looking to Ryuen for help.
"If you move again, I will remove his arm from his shoulder," I said robotically.
Ryuen shook his head at Yamada to stop him and I relaxed my grip. Ishizaki groaned as the tension was released slowly before his breath became labored.
"Now. I'm going to let you up and we're going to continue this conversation. Attack me again and I will break something. Am I understood?"
When Ishizaki didn't answer me, I pulled on his arm again and after he yelled out in pain again he frantically nodded his head before I released his arm and got to my feet slowly. Ishizaki did the same, holding his shoulder with pain all over his face. He gingerly opened his shirt and checked for damage, no bruising in the slightest.
Ryuen watched and frowned in disappointment. I chose an arm bar on purpose, no visible injuries for him to make a report on me.
"Alright, you have our attention. You called us out here so what do you want? How did you figure out all the VIP's?"
"Don't be coy, Ryuen. You know that there's a key and you've been trying to figure it out. I was just faster and figured it out before you." I said simply as I took a seat back at the table.
The room was hot, I could see Ryuen and Yamada sweating. Ishizaki was sweating too but from exertion and pain. I couldn't feel it. Shiina Hiyori, almost making me leave this state had long gone, I couldn't even feel remorse for hurting Ishizaki. Couldn't feel guilty that I had left Karuizawa when she was hurting. I just wanted to see the fight leave Ryuen's eyes.
"I called you here because I'm going to give you three names for Class D. They're the wrong names, they're not the VIP's but you're going to submit them.
"You're going to submit them because I told you to. Because no one threatens my sister. If you don't, I'll start wiping out Class C one by one. All because the truth is, Ryuen, it doesn't matter to me how I break you. All that matters to me is that you're broken. Whether it's by you admitting defeat and giving up by submitting the wrong VIP's or if it's by me expelling every last one of your miserable class." I said malevolently.
Ryuen laughed at my threat as though it were ridiculous. This is what he wanted, he wanted a war with me. I knew why he wanted it, his plans were relatively simple to decipher.
He wanted to systematically break each class mentally. Once they were all broken it would be child's play to win every special test. He was already inside Class B's head, from what I could tell of their approach to this exam, they were fragmented and disjointed.
Ryuen could go for Class A next but instead he chose Class D. All because he had tried and failed multiple times to break Eiichiro only for him to dust himself off and continue on. He identified that I was the catalyst for this, found information on me and in his mind if he could beat me then Class D was conquered.
It was a shame that he wouldn't be able to do that. For him at least.
"How exactly do you plan to do that?"
He asked the golden question, now it was time to lay all my cards on the table.
"There are certain questions that people never seem to ask in this school. For example, ask anyone how many points it would cost to overturn an expulsion and everyone can give you an answer. Ask them how many points it would cost them to alter their test scores and I'm sure you can find a number who would know." I started.
"However, no one asks the more abstract questions because, put simply, all people want in this school is to assert dominance over another. It's all a big ego trip, everyone wants to outsmart the other in some clever or conniving way.
"No one ever asks, for example, if you can buy Class Points with Private Points. Why? Because there's no sport in buying a win that way. Changing class with private points is simply a last ditch effort after you've failed. Even BUDDY, which is out for everyone to use however they see fit, is simply another way of asserting dominance. Class A and B students spend points to remind Class C and D that they're mere peasants in the school system." I continued.
"It'd be a prudent investment, if you start early enough you could theoretically compound the interest and create a sizable lead. Particularly if no one else is doing it. No one asks though, because there is no dominance to be lorded over by others if you simply take the modest approach."
It was obvious that the thought of buying Class Points with Private Points was a question that Ryuen had never thought to ask. The moment I started my soliloquy he stayed silent and gave me his undivided attention. It was as though I were channeling my inner sensei and I was educating my naive student.
"There's also the fact that while everyone knows that you can avoid expulsion for the sizable price of twenty million points, no one asks how many points it would cost to expel someone."
While Ishizaki looked confused and Yamada's expression hadn't changed at all, I watched as the realization crossed Ryuen's face and suddenly he realized exactly where I was going with this. After all, he was the one who brought up questions about BUDDY in the first place. He no doubt had some kind of an idea on how many points it would generate.
I could see the calculations running through his head, trying to estimate just how many points BUDDY could have generated and how many it'd generate in the future. He couldn't know for sure, the number was exorbitant though. Even I hadn't anticipated just how popular it had become.
"If an expulsion costs twenty million points, why would anyone want to ask the question? After all, this school functions on sabotage, why pay for someone to get expelled if you can do it for free? Where is the blood? Where is the satisfaction of outsmarting your opponent? Most would never be able to sniff that amount normally, there's no use in asking if you can never afford it.
"However, what if there was someone who was generating more than twenty million points per month passively? What if that person had so many points that they simply didn't care what they spent it on? What if that person were, for example... incredibly lazy? Someone who didn't care about asserting dominance and simply wanted to get rid of a nuisance?" I asked hypothetically.
"If that were the case and someone threatened someone that they love more than anything or anyone in the world, what do you think they would do, Ryuen? Do you think that person would have an issue simply sending a text and picking a random name to expel every month?"
I could see the gears turning in his head. Not interrupting, not refuting. Not even taunting like he always had. He realized now that he bit off far more than he could chew. In the span of barely two hours, I'd already cut out his knees.
The only reason why I had every name submitted for every class was to ensure that he had absolutely no way to cut a deal. No way to figure out who the other VIP's were and mitigate the damages. I also wanted to put him on a timer, which is why I taunted Class A the way that I did. It serves multiple purposes but the primary reason I did it was for this.
Honami knew that I was a genius, she figured it out on her own and I didn't deny it. She's my girlfriend, I planned to tell her everything eventually so I didn't try to lie or deceive her when she figured it out. The moment that nine names were submitted, particularly right after a confrontation with Ryuen, would indicate to her that I was responsible for it.
Class A on the other hand would have their suspicions but they wouldn't know exactly. I gave them that information so that they knew which Class still had VIP's left to submit. They want to hold their status, I knew Katsuragi would try to make a deal.
Which is why I wanted the announcement for everyone to know where Class D was. The reason why I wasn't there was because I wanted to be here with Ryuen when all of this was happening. It wasn't to assert dominance, it was to tighten the stranglehold on Ryuen's throat. The viper of time with the venomous fangs reaching ever closer to his carotid artery.
"Right now, everyone knows that Class D was the ones who submitted every VIP." I continued with indifference.
"I made the announcement so that they'd be able to find Eiichiro easily. You've dealt with him enough, you should know that he has a propensity to panic. I've given him no instructions, right now Katsuragi and Honami are probably begging him to make a deal with them for the names of our VIP's.
"If he makes a deal with them and they submit a single name, I'll start wiping your class out one by one. I'll get rid of your best students with the highest OAA scores first and then work my way down. I'll leave Shiina to last though, I'll spend the next three years reducing her to a blubbering mess and when you're left with the dregs of Class C and you're begging for mercy you'll remember this day and wish that you cut a deal.
"When you see her broken and realize you could have stopped it with three text messages, would you regret it? What was it that you asked me? Do I have to break her mind or her body?"
"Leave her out of this," Ryuen forced out with gritted teeth.
I could see that he was worried, he was going to do what I asked. He may be a hard dictator but right now, at his most vulnerable, I could see that in his own way he cared about them. Ryuen wanted to be the king of the hill but he cared. He just didn't know how to do it while maintaining his true self.
What use was a tyrant with no one left to lead?
Ryuen thought that he was untouchable, he now realized that there was another who was far superior to him. One that was more capable of playing the game then he was.
"You wouldn't do that to her, she's friends with Ichinose. Ichinose wouldn't accept it,"
"Look at me Ryuen. Do you think that concerns me right now?" I asked as I leaned forward and stared directly into his eyes.
As he looked back at my lifeless golden pools, he could see I was telling the truth. I knew it was true. I wouldn't want to but I would. A threat was useless unless you were willing to follow through.
With that I picked up the book that I borrowed from Shiina, The Body in the Library, what a poetic choice of title. Whether that ended up becoming reality was up to Ryuen now.
"Koenji Rokusuke, Hirata Yousuke and Shinohara Satsuki. Submit those names and admit defeat. Either that or I start wiping out your class. Shiina Hiyori's fate rests in your hands Ryuen, I'll be waiting alongside her to return this book when the results are announced." I told him, shaking the borrowed literature above my shoulder as I walked towards the door.
"Pick your poison. I suggest you choose quickly though, time is of the essence. Whatever you decide, don't ever threaten my sister again. If you do, I'll make this look like a mercy killing."