(Horikita Suzune, POV)
All the students were fairly tired from today's events. They left the classroom one by one looking completely drained from their activities.
With no club activities today, students such as Sudo-kun, got to leave at their own leisure while chatting with their friends.
Even Ayanokouji-kun seemed as tired as the other students since he decided to leave rather quickly. He did give me a glance before leaving, though, maybe he was curious as to why I was still staying.
"Not leaving yet?" he asked.
"No, I have some matters to attend to. But I'm grateful for your help today," I responded.
Ayanokouji-kun didn't offer any words in response, he gave me a slight wave as he made his way back to the dorms.
"You know there's no reason to be staying behind," a voice called out to me. "There are no club activities today, and I'm sure you're not in one. Unless it's some secret nerd club, that would be funny."
I looked up from my bag to see a familiar face looming over me.
"I hate when you stand that close to me, Fukumoto-kun."
He took a step back while raising his hands in defeat. "My bad, my bad. But seriously, shouldn't you be going back to the dorms? You have to recover from your injury."
"I appreciate the concern. But I have some matters to attend to that prohibit me from recovering just yet."
"Ah... I see. You need some assistance?" Fukumoto asked.
"No. This is something I must atone for. I've realized where I need to mature and grow," I replied, picking up my bag. "This is my own doing."
"If you say so..."
Finally, everyone had left the room. It was time to give my response to Ryuuen. He had played me like a fiddle this entire festival. It's my own fault our class and myself ended up in this position. I needed to be the one to atone for this.
Even though I felt this crushing weight of defeat. There was also a sense of clarity I found within it. Suffering this devastating loss to Ryuuen made me realize many things. Had I not gone through this, I would've been stuck in a cycle of helplessness never truly improving on myself.
"Sorry, Horikita-san. I got distracted for a minute," Kushida said as she brought her hands up in an apologetic gesture.
"That's fine. We should get this over with."
~~~
"Kukuku. I'm impressed. I had you pegged as the coward-type, Suzune. I'm glad you proved me wrong," Ryuuen said.
"Running away wasn't an option. I don't want to satisfy your outlandish desires anymore," I replied.
"You've really grown now, haven't you."
"Tch. Before we discuss, I ask for one simple thing."
"What is it?"
I turned to look Kushida-san dead in the eyes. "Drop the charade. It must get tiresome being like this all the time."
"Huh? Uh? Charade? I don't quite understand what you mean?" Kushida replied while sheepishly rubbing her forearm.
"I don't particularly care for your act as a good person. But the main reason why we are here now is because of you. You leaked vital information to Class C, you worked with Ryuuen to get me here."
Kushida's radiant smile quickly turned into an icy scowl. "My, my. Did Fukumoto-kun, Ayanokouji-kun, or Hirata-kun put these dastardly thoughts in your head?"
"These feelings are my own. Why would you be the intermediate between Ryuuen and me? Why would you still be here now? It took me some time, but I finally realized why you always gave me this feeling of uneasiness."
"Oh?"
"Kushida Kikyo-san, you and I attended the same junior high," I said.
"You finally remembered. You must've also remembered I was quite the problem child," Kushida replied.
"I don't think you're the same problem child. Everyone in Class D trusts you-."
"Stop! Just stop already! Who wants to relive their past?!"
Ryuuen was smiling the entire time as our confrontation continued.
"Now," Kushida continued. "You must understand what I'm after, right? Why I'm working with Ryuuen-kun."
"Yes. You can't risk the possibility that I know what happened in junior high. So you're seeking out any option to eliminate me."
"We have a winner."
"Isn't that quite a large risk, though?" I asked. "There's a large possibility that I don't know what happened in junior high."
"A possibility is still a possibility. You are a pain to my existence. I think it's only natural to want to get rid of any pain in one's life."
"Even if you do, I could still expose your true self to the school," I fired back.
"I wonder who they'd believe. Horikita, the loner, cold-hearted ice princess. Or Kushida. The sweet angel everyone adores. Besides, I'm willing to pull a certain beloved brother into this mess if it means getting rid of you."
I stiffened at the mention of my brother. A perfect defense against me. I couldn't exploit any opening.
"Doesn't involving Ryuuen in this also make him a target? Since he knows your true self?" I asked.
"If it means expelling you, I'd make a deal with the devil to do so. That being said I could always target him next if I wanted to."
"I think your talk has gone on long enough," Ryuuen interjected. "It took quite some time to get you here."
Kushida and I remained quiet as Ryuuen continued to speak.
"I'll paint the picture for you. Long before the festival, I had Kushida acquire the Class D participation table. I planned out Class C's participation table to have the best match-ups against yours. But, I made sure to thoroughly research Class A too."
"Brilliant, outstanding move," I replied. "But wouldn't have there been a more efficient way to win? You pitted two of your aces against me, and one of them was even put out of commission doing so, seems rather incomprehensible to me."
"What's so incomprehensible about wanting to crush you? That was reason enough for me to do what I did."
"Didn't you rely too much on luck, though? When Kinoshita-san crashed into me, you got lucky on two fronts. One that I got injured. And two, that Kinoshita-san herself got injured too."
"Well, your injury was coincidental, I'll give you that. But could you really think Kinoshita's injury was accidental?"
"What?"
BAM!
Ryuuen slammed his foot into the ground with all his strength. "That's what I did to her. I made sure she wasn't going to be able to participate in any other events."
"You... you injured her?"
"The power of money is a scary thing," Ryuuen replied. "500,000 points was all it took."
"Are you sure you should keep blabbing like this?"
"Huh?"
I pulled out my cell phone from my jacket pocket, displaying a recording app. "If I so happened to record this confession, you could be in real trouble."
Ryuuen froze for a moment staring at the screen.
"Heh heh."
"What's so funny?" I asked
"Ha ha ha ha! That was a smart play. But I said so from the start. This conversation now is of complete fiction, I was merely entertaining your fantasy."
"I could easily edit that part out."
"Then," Ryuuen reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, having recorded our conversation. "It would be fine then to release the real version then."
He pointed his phone toward me, probably creating insurance that was more reliable than audio.
"Do you admit your defeat, Suzune?"
A wicked grin formed on Kushida's face, as we all realized where this would be headed now.
"Abandon your pride and get on your knees!" Ryuuen yelled.
"I-I, I admit..." I slowly began to kneel down.
Ding!
A notification came from Ryuuen's device.
He quickly checked the contents of it. His devilish smile rapidly left his face as the content played.
"Kukuku, saved by the bell. Eh? Suzune."
He put his phone on speaker and played a message for us to hear.
"Run against Suzune and during the obstacle course, collide with her. Do anything you can to make her fall over. Afterward, I'll injure you and get the payment from her."
"Wh-what's the meaning of this, Ryuuen? Why's that your voice?" Kushida was startled by the recording.
Ryuuen swept back his hair and let out another laugh.
"Don't you see, Kikyo! Not only were you used, but there was also a traitor in Class C. How ironic! They didn't just have you and Suzune dancing in the palm of their hand, but me as well. They predicted each and every move! So interesting! Amazing! This person is incredible! I like it!"
"They knew you'd betray the class, Kikyo. They knew you'd leak the participation table. They read everything like a book!"
Kushida stumbled back for a moment, grabbing a desk to keep herself upright. "Who could've done this? Fukumoto-kun? Ayanokouji-kun? I never really understand what's going on in their heads," Kushida said.
"Those could be two candidates. Well, whoever it is, they left no footprints behind. Whether it was Ayanokouji, Suzune, Fukumoto, Hirata - even someone outside Class D. Anyone could've done it, even through puppeteering another person. I'll keep my eye on who it is. This person caused me to fail to get points from Suzune or have her kneel, but I'm happy with the development," Ryuuen said.
I had no doubt in my mind. I don't know how he did it, but making someone turn into a traitor in Class C to record this strategy. It was highly unlike for him to draw attention to himself, but seeing what he did during the relay with my brother was unfathomable too.
It had to be Ayanokouji-kun.
"Well, I guess this is over now," Ryuuen said, getting up to leave.
"What? You're just going to accept this!" Kushida barked back. "What if they send the recording to the school?"
"If they intended to do so, they would've done it already. I couldn't get what I wanted, but I did get a good show."
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(Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, POV)
"Mind if I send an email first? I've got someone waiting," I said.
"I don't mind," Sakayanagi smiled.
"Is it safe to assume that you were the one to call me here?" I asked.
"Indeed I did."
"How come? If it's alright with you, I'd like to wrap this up as quickly as possible. That festival took a toll on me."
"That was quite the spectacle you put on at the end. Seeing you run... awakened something within me. I wanted to share that feeling with you. Fufu, it's almost like a romantic confession, is it not?"
"I really have no clue what you're going on about."
Clack. Clack.
The sound of Sakayanagi's cane echoed throughout the empty hall of the special building as she walked toward me. Stopping right beside me.
"It's been 8 years and 243 days, Ayanokouji-kun."
"You've got to be kidding me... I don't even know who you are," I replied.
"Fufu, that's sad to hear. But I do suppose it is only I who knows you."
"I'm going," I made a few strides away from where Sakayanagi stood by me. She was spouting nonsense anyways, there was no need for me to listen to her.
"White Room," Sakayanagi's words echoed throughout the empty corridor.
Those two simple words. The only words in this entire world that could crack my composure.
"How..."
"Be happy, Ayanokouji-kun. This is a reunion. I never thought in a place like this I would be meeting you again. It's fine that you don't know me, but I know you."
What happy reunion could this be if I hadn't the slightest clue of who she is?
"We have a strange bond, you see... And thanks to seeing you perform at the festival, all the mysteries have been cleared away. Class D's performance on the island, and the cruise ship, all make sense now. No one else could pull off those results, only you could."
"You are mistaken, there are plenty of smart people within Class D that could pull off those kinds of results," I said.
"Fufufu, are you speaking of Horikita Suzune-san? Or Hirata Yosuke-kun? Now I don't doubt their ability, but they could have never done that."
"You're forgetting one perso-."
"Please, relax," she continued. "I have no intention of telling anyone about you, it would ruin it for me."
"Why would that ruin it for you?"
Sakyanagi turned on the spot to face my direction. "It is my duty to bury the false genius."
My eye's met Sakayanagi's for the first time.
"Can you bury me?"
"I know all about you and how incredible you are. I've looked forward to this day for many years. I can finally find some enjoyment in this dull school life. I'll finally be able to realize my dearest wish... to destroy the greatest masterpiece that your father created."
I wished for that from the bottom of my heart.
To lose.
My destruction would mean his own downfall.
I wanted to be defeated.
Clack. Clack.
The sound of Sakayanagi's cane went quieter and quieter as she walked down the hall. But suddenly, the sound stopped altogether.
"I'll also tell you this now. There's someone else in this school just as special as you. I've set my sights on them too. But you should be aware that they may also intend to take down the Masterpiece of the White Room too. You may not feel as satisfied if they beat you. But they fully intend to challenge you some time. "
Another person?
Another person like me?
Someone who could give me a challenge?
The defeat wouldn't mean as much for my father's downfall if it came from someone like me, but I'd still wish for nothing more to be beaten.
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AN's:
wow so technically i have finished with volume 5 now
i still got another chapter linked to this volume
but wow
finally done lol