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Part 2
After grabbing a bento box from one of the nearby lunch benches, Kiyotaka arrived at his class's tent. They appeared to be getting along, motivated to continue to do well and get some good rewards. Seeing Kei and the rest of the group, Kiyotaka approached them and began to mingle with them.
"Hoho. Your class seems to be doing okay, Suzune. But I expected you guys to be on top. You're losing out to Ryuuen and Honami at the moment, though the results seem quite close between all three of you."
Finishing the last remnants of his bento box, Kiyotaka heard the voice of someone not a part of the class's tent nearby talking to Horikita. Turning towards the uninvited guest, Kiyotaka and the girls around him could see it was none other than Nagumo Miyabi, the student council president.
His face was plastered with a smirking expression, as if he was finding enjoyment from just being at Class B's tent. The rest of the Class B's students watched the spectacle either with fear or interest.
"Nagumo-senpai. I appreciate you coming to visit us here, but if you're going to insult us, then you're no better than Ryuuen-kun. Is there something you have come here to do?" Horikita asked, getting straight to the chase.
"I'm just here to see my opponent for the Commander Battle. Where is he by the way? I'm looking for Ayanokouji."
Hearing his name, Kiyotaka could only sigh. He knew where this was going to go. Nagumo's nature and his presence in their class's tent meant only one thing. Knowing it would be best to not delay the inevitable, Kiyotaka left to join their conversation.
"You wanted to see me, President?"
"Hm? You are here, Ayanokouji. Haha. I hope you know why I'm here," Nagumo said, his amusement still present in his expression and tone.
"I have a general idea."
Nagumo only laughed at his answer. Kiyotaka wasn't sure why it was a laughable answer, but he waited for Nagumo to finish.
"Our match will be coming soon. I hope you keep your promise and make sure you throw an all out fight against me. Horikita-senpai was very specifically interested in you, no one else. I've been seeing a little bit of why that is, but I truly want to see the reason why. The Commander Battles will hopefully show why."
That caught the attention of not just Horikita, but everyone in Class B. The former already knew that her brother put a lot of his attention on Kiyotaka, because she understood first hand how powerful and interesting Kiyotaka was. However, most of Class B did not know about this. So their widened eyes was a given, and this didn't even include the fact that he was set to fight against Nagumo.
"I haven't broken a promise before, so I don't intend to break this one. But I hope that you keep yours if I do win. It would be bad if the Student Council President of this school was caught not keeping a promise made to his kouhai, right?"
Nagumo's smirk twitched a little bit, indicating he felt the meaning behind those words. Whether he was annoyed or angry at the slight provocation, he kept his cool and replied back to Kiyotaka as calmly as possible.
"I am the Student Council President, Ayanokouji. So of course I will keep my promise to you. But don't think that you'll be the one winning. I can't have a kouhai beating me, let alone one who doesn't reach my level despite being quite interesting. Well, I'll be looking forward to my win. See you in the Commander Battle."
With that, Nagumo left Class B's tent heading back to his own. As soon as he left, Kiyotaka's surrounding classmates began looking at him with interest, shock and worry. Having the Student Council President approach someone who they were only just beginning to trust more than their previous leader and challenge them probably wasn't a good thing in their eyes. However, that was different for those that knew about Kiyotaka's abilities.
"You made a bet with Nagumo-senpai, Ayanokouji-kun?" Horikita asked Kiyotaka.
"Something like that."
With his nonsensical answer, Horikita glared at him slightly. Though, this lasted all but 5 seconds before she returned to normal and sighed.
"It's fine if you're not going to tell me the details, but I hope you're able to defeat the Student Council President even with that bet going on. If you do manage to win, it would definitely be very beneficial to us as it will allow us to get better scores and raise positions above 3rd place. Actually... you'll probably win anyway knowing you."
"You don't have to worry. I don't intend to lose to the President. I'll make sure that I'll win."
[But I won't be doing it so that our Class grabs first place overall in this sports festival, nor do I think it's possible it'll help anyway. I have my own reasons for doing this. Plus...] Kiyotaka added in his head while glancing towards Kei, Haruka and the rest of the girls.
"Ayanokouji. You intend to fight against the Student Council President personally and win?!"
"Ayanokouji-kun did help us in the last special exam and he's doing well helping us here, but can he really win against the Student Council President?"
"Ayanokouji-kun is smart, good at maths and a fast runner, but I don't think he can win against the Student Council President. At least I'm not sure."
His classmates began making comments of worry that he wouldn't win against Nagumo. He wasn't exactly fazed by it because he saw them coming. Most of his classmates didn't know about his true abilities.
"Kiyotaka will win. Don't doubt him. I know he'll win."
In between the worried classmates, Kei spoke up to defend Kiyotaka and state her trust and belief in him. However, it wasn't just Kei who believed in him, Haruka and the rest behind her also nodded their heads and smiled. Hirata and Horikita also agreed, and even Sudou showed a thumbs up. With so many people behind him, his classmates couldn't argue with worry anymore.
"Fufufu. Girlfriend-girl is right. Ayanokouji-boy is just like me. A perfect human being. A perfect human being can't lose to an insignificant ant like the Student Council President."
Surprisingly, Kouenji joined in to support Kiyotaka too, even going as far as to call him a "perfect human being" just like he had done so when the two of them were meeting with Chairman Sakayanagi before the sports festival. No one could argue anymore.
"By the way, Ayanokouji-boy. We need to talk privately. Come with me for a bit. Two perfect human beings talking about something important," he continued with his signature outgoing smirk.
However, despite this smirk present on his face, Kiyotaka could easily see the seriousness in his eyes, something which wasn't visible to the rest of their classmates unless they looked carefully at Kouenji's expression.
With a reply of "sure, lead the way", the two perfect human beings left the tent and traversed their way to a more secure location to talk. Finding an area by the lake that appeared to be unused, the two stopped and leaned on the railing.
"I assume you know what I'm going to say, don't you Ayanokouji-boy?"
"I can already guess."
There would only be one reason why the arrogant man who always looked in the mirror and called himself the perfect human being would call Kiyotaka here.
"Both of our fathers are here at this sports festival. I assume you just met with Yatei Ayatouji not too long ago, didn't you? Well I just also happened to peek in on my father meeting with that man. Their conversation was... interesting to say the least."
.
After the Capture the Flag event, Kouenji had dispersed from his group of classmates after celebrating winning against Class A. Just earlier he had witnessed his father and Professor Ayanokouji talking before leaving the stands together in tow. From his point of view, that only meant one thing, so he decided to secretly follow them.
Keeping his distance, Kouenji followed the two adults towards an area in between the main and special buildings of the school. When they turned the corner and went further down between those two areas before stopping, Kouenji stopped and kept his distance behind the wall, limiting his presence in the atmosphere like a professional agent from the Public Security Intelligence Agency (公安調査庁, kōanchōsa-chō).
"It has been a while, Atsuomi Ayanokouji-san. I never expected to see you here of all places."
"I could say the same thing to you, Kouenji Yutaka. Do you think I would never find out in the end? Despite being an investor in such a grieving long term project, you almost destroyed it and all the money you invested just because you couldn't keep someone under control. If I wasn't benevolent enough for your support, do you think I wouldn't try to take down your company too?"
Yutaka's smile disappeared and now a frown replaced his face... at least that's what it looked like to Kouenji who was sneakily peeking from the corner.
Kouenji knew exactly what they were talking about. Many years ago, Professor Ayanokouji took Kiyotaka to New York City in order to show the investors some of the results of the White Room. However, during their journey to the location chosen for the showcase, the two had run into gang members looking to specifically cause trouble for them. The gang members were dealt with immediately by Kiyotaka, but the situation begged the question "who set this up?"
The culprit was found after Kiyotaka's showcase, where both Professor Ayanokouji and Kiyotaka called out a specific man who had been the one to orchestrate it all. Professor Ayanokouji ruined his life, to the point the man almost lost everything. However, what Professor Ayanokouji didn't know was that the man was actually an employee of the Kouenji Conglomerate. Hearing all of this, Yutaka decided to get revenge, even though he also ridiculed the man for his actions.
All of this led to the White Room's shutdown and Kiyotaka's escape. All of it was orchestrated by the Kouenji Conglomerate.
"I hope you understand Ayanokouji-san, but that idiotic person who decided to try and get in your way was still an employee of a business under the Kouenji Conglomerate. You destroying him actually harmed my business and the Conglomerate's business model. Anyone who gets in our way for that pays dearly. Though I hope you realise I didn't do too much to harm the White Room. It could've gotten a lot worse you know."
Professor Ayanokouji stayed silent but the intense glare he sent Yutaka, although not visible to Kouenji, could easily be felt from where he was hiding from. Someone who usually ignored stuff like this, even Kouenji and his father couldn't help but shiver.
"I will overlook that for now as everything has been resolved. But if you don't keep control over your run away employees and businesses, you will at some point see the end of your reigning corporation and the end of your position in the top 50 companies worldwide. Do you understand?" He finally said with an intense icey sharp tone.
Knowing Professor Ayanokouji's position, Yutaka couldn't say anything else other than...
"I will keep that in mind for future reference."
It wasn't the exact answer he was looking for, but Professor Ayanokouji was alright with it for now.
"But that isn't the main reason you wanted to meet with me now is it?"
Kouenji's father wasn't an idiot. Kouenji knew that well. The Kouenji Conglomerate wouldn't have an idiot lead a corporation to the point it's one of only two Japanese companies to be the most valuable in the world. So seeing between the lines of conversations was quite simple for Yutaka.
"I had a look at the school records one time. If I remember correctly, you have a son attending this school just like my very own subject. Kouenji Rokusuke, correct?"
Kouenji stiffened up like a rabbit upon hearing his name being coldly called out by the White Room's creator. It wasn't that he didn't know that Professor Ayanokouji would find out about his existence in the school. In fact, when Kouenji was forming an alliance with Kiyotaka just a little over a month ago, Kouenji told him that it was inevitable that Professor Ayanokouji would find out about Kouenji's attendance at this school.
It wasn't just Kouenji who stiffened. His father, Yutaka also stiffened on the spot upon hearing his son's name come out of Professor Ayanokouji's mouth. He kept silent with a serious expression and a frown, but that only helped to confirm Professor Ayanokouji's suspicions and he gave a satisfied smirk.
"You shouldn't make that face. I'm not going to do anything to him. But if he's close to Kiyotaka and knows about him specifically, I can't guarantee that he won't be hit by my actions of getting my masterpiece back."
"..."
"Even with the power you have, I don't think you can do anything to protect him. So I'm just going to tell you now that for your own sake, I hope he can defend himself. Again, if I wasn't so benevolent, I would have told my guards to spice him up since he just happens to be listening to our conversation right now right behind the wall over there."
"Oh crud" was the first thing running through Kouenji's mind. He was trying his hardest to keep his presence as invisible as the air, but it seemed he didn't do a good job. Being the perfect human, he failed at something that should be simple for him, even Kiyotaka was much better at doing so. If he was actually hired as an agent for Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency or even the USA's FBI or the UK's MI6, he would be an embarrassment.
But that wasn't important and was another dream altogether, one which Kouenji wouldn't even take on anyway. Focusing back on reality, he kept his calm and his usual demeanour returned to his face as he decided to just reveal himself from behind the wall since he was found out.
"...Rokusuke..."
Professor Ayanokouji left Yutaka and moved to stand in front of Kouenji. His intense dagger-like eyes stabbed Kouenji's body. The internal pain he felt from the stabs were noticeable, but Kouenji kept up his act for his own sake. With a nonchalant smirk he could muster under such a gaze, Kouenji spoke up.
"It is nice to finally meet you, Yatei Ayatouji. Or should I call you Professor Atsuomi Ayanokouji-sensei? I apologise for eavesdropping on your meeting with my father, but I just had to listen in, you know."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Only the sound of the autumn October breeze, mild as it usually would as it flowed in between their bodies and bounced off the surrounding buildings, was audible as the three were silent and stared all at each other. After a few short moments, Professor Ayanokouji spoke up again.
"For your own sake, I'll warn you. Don't get involved in my business and I won't target you alongside getting my masterpiece out of this school. Do you understand?"
It would be very easy and very beneficial to Kouenji if he would just say he wouldn't get involved. Even if Kouenji considered himself the perfect human, Kouenji couldn't fight against someone with as much power as Professor Ayanokouji. For his own safety, he would need to just stay back and watch the tales unfold in front of him. That would be for the best.
And yet...
"I understand, Professor Ayanokouji-sensei. But I can't adhere to that. As the two most perfect human beings, I can't stand to watch your masterpiece, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-boy, get expelled from this school. After all, him being here brings benefits to me too."
And yet, Kouenji rejected Professor Ayanokouji's warning.
Kouenji had a deal with Kiyotaka, where he would help Kiyotaka as long as Kiyotaka would help him stay in the school as well. Even though Professor Ayanokouji stated he wouldn't target Kouenji while going after Kiyotaka, Kouenji couldn't trust those words completely. So thinking it better to keep the deal up, Kouenji made the decision to reject the warning.
But there was yet another reason. Even though Kouenji wouldn't outright admit it out loud, Kouenji had something really personal he wanted to deal with. Something only which he believed Kiyotaka could help him solve. But that would come at a later time.
"So that's your final answer?" He asked to which Kouenji nodded. "Then I hope you will be ready for the consequences."
With that, Professor Ayanokouji walked past Kouenji and left the area, likely intending to head back to the main field stands. After feeling the heavy atmosphere caused by Professor Ayanokouji's earlier presence leave, Kouenji sighed and walked over to talk to his father.
"Are you sure that was a good idea, Rokusuke?"
"Hoho. Whether it was a good idea or not, it's the only idea I can roll with. After all, Ayanokouji-boy is more than we all think he is."
.
"That's how it went."
"I see..."
Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes as Kouenji ended the story. He knew the meeting between the Kouenji family and his father would inevitably happen. But he was glad the meeting went alright and he was thankful that Kouenji didn't betray their deal.
"Things are going to get interesting after this sports festival. Do you have a plan for it, Ayanokouji-boy?"
"That man is quite unpredictable. I'm sure none of us could have expected the Acting Director taking over the Chairman's position and then messing with the special exams to roughen up the school and try to get me expelled."
"Fufufu."
"But I can say I have a plan moving forward which should help us prepare better for his movements when he is about to make them. I hope you and the rest on my side will assist me when the time comes," he continued.
Kouenji could only laugh harder. His seriousness went away after hearing the White Room's masterpiece state he was going to be ready for the future. Amusement was present along his face and he replied.
"Of course. We have our agreement after all. As long as it's amusing and in my power, I'll assist you with what you want and you'll do the same with me later on."
Kiyotaka didn't know what Kouenji meant by the last part, but as someone who wanted fairness between the people he worked with, he hoped he could help Kouenji as long as it wasn't problematic. The two of them returned back to Class B's tent and continued to mingle with their classmates before returning back to the sports festival events.
End of Chapter 4...
A/N:
Nagumo getting too confident and Kouenji getting a little afraid of what Atsuomi could do, but is also confident that Kiyotaka could work with him. Kiyotaka is also grateful for it, but now that isn't his focus. Yes. Next chapter will begin the very final event of the sports festival. I'm sure you're all waiting for it. So I'll see you then!
- rainy26541 (G-String)
P.S. I saw your comments in the last chapter regarding the introduction of "her". A lot of you are saying it's likely Sakayanagi Arisu, and I can see why a lot of you believe it. It's kind of early to say this, but I'm going to tell you now that it's NOT Arisu. And someone thought it might be Kiryuuin. NOT her either. You can keep guessing if you want, but you won't get the answer unless you keep waiting and reading. I'm enjoying all your guesses and some of you suffering because you want to know, hahahahaha!