Third person's POV
The night was coming and bright lights illuminated the school corridors while two people were leaving the student council office.
It was a young man with short grey hair, violet eyes and rectangular glasses. Known as President of the Student Council and a Class 3-A student, Horikita Manabu.
Half a meter behind him followed a young girl with purple hair tied in two buns and having peach-brown eyes. She is secretary of the student council and also belongs to Class 3-A, Tachibana Akane.
The Student Council had to finish its activities today with a delay due to an exceptionally large amount of paperwork than usual.
"I'm tired of today's work, and you, President?" The girl asked with a smile to break the silence. Tachibana usually didn't speak much because she is a secretary. However, at least she thinks she can only give the floor when President gives his consent. Nevertheless, the activities of the student council are over, therefore she can speak freely without any strains.
"Indeed, and you know that you can address me simply Horikita, not President when we're out of school business." said Older Horikita.
Tachibana was already used to president's steady voice, so she continued "In my opinion, a president is better suited for you than Horikita, it's as if this role was specially created for you, President!"
"Don't speak nonsense, Tachibana." Purple haired pouted subconsciously.
After a while she realized what she had done and immediately covered her flushed face to hide it. Such behaviour in front of President was unacceptable! She saw that that president didn't notice how she did it as she followed him. A sigh of relief escaped from her mouth.
"Christmas is coming soon, you know President." She was playing with her fingers nervously "A-And I wanted to ask you if.. If you would like to..." Older Horikita gave her a glance, noticing an unusual behavior.
Tachibana, noticing the glance she got, panicked quickly "I-If you would like to come with me to the dormitories. Y-Yes, that's it!" Actually, she wanted to ask if he could spend the christmas with her, but she quickly chickened out.
"Every day after school I come back with you to the dormitories, Tachibana. You are extremely odd today."
"Haha yes, silly me!"
She was disappointed that she lacked courage, but was afraid that her proposal would be rejected immediately. Tachibana is a girl who really out of pure heart admires older Horikita since their first year. She was with him from the very beginning, still remembering the moment when she first met him.
It wasn't love at first sight, but a slow and unique beginning of the feeling that arose in her. For her, president was someone she could always rely on, someone to whom she could tell everything. If she couldn't learn something, after a few mental preparations to talk to him at all, she asked if he would help with her studies, he accepted immediately.
Of course, he did it because for the sake of the class's fate, but nevertheless, it was on his own initiative, which made her even warmer inside.
The final touch to her heart was when he accepted her as a secretary when she was applying. Tachibana has been working hard and schooling new things to do well in her role as secretary of the student council.
Tachibana had a weakness for him, but when anyone started talking to
President too nochalantly, she immediately scolded them.
Before she saw it, they were almost at the school entrance "Could we stop by the lockers please? I have one of my books there."
"Naturally, I will wait."
"Thank you President." However, the truth was that Tachibana didn't have any book in her locker, simply she tried to gain time to put her thoughts in order. She approached the locker, trying to hide her nervousness by masking it with her natural steps.
She gave him a look to see if he was observing her or noticed anything at all.
President stood still and took out his phone without paying attention to anything else which came to her advantage.
She took this opportunity to build up her self-confidence. Telling yourself that you will ask him tomorrow, and the next day repeating the same thing is vain.
Tachibana was biting her lip while her heart was pounding *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* all the time.
"President..." She began, nervous inside and a small pinky blush appeared on her face "I.." She knew that the next days of waiting were foolish. Waiting and waiting until finally had the strength to tell him.
'Now or never.' She thought to herself and gulped 'You can do it, Tachibana. Have faith in yourself.'
If someone would get close enough, they could easily hear it. At the very thought of it, her legs became weaker and the feeling of uncertainty kept coming back.
She saw that President frowned his eyebrows and took a serious face, but tried to ignore it. Only one sentence, and it can get stuck in your throat for so long.
"P-President, c-could you spend your time with me during christm-!" She was interrupted.
"Tachibana, we will talk later. I have something important to do that cannot wait." She was taken aback when older Horikita suddenly started to run with high speed towards the school entrance "Please go alone today!" He exclaimed to her without wasting time.
*Swoooooooosh~*
"..."
Her heartbeat already calmed down.
Tachibana just stood there, with an empty smile on her face and dull eyes.
It happened again. What was so important that he had to leave her like that?
Then she spoke like mad "I finally made it! I SAID IT! Hahahaha!" Apparently, she still doesn't compress what just happened. But at last she said it aloud, and he ran away or ran to settle a matter as he claimed!
Yesterday, her President also disappeared somewhere without even telling and went to help with an issue.
"PRESIDENT SURE IS HAVING A LOT OF FUN LATELY."
How much she regretted that she couldn't tell him that to his face.
She came up to the locker and after a while you could hear strange sounds of hitting metal on the first floor.
Tachibana loaded the punches onto a random locker, strong enough to leave dents.
Poor locker by the way :(
SHE IS NOT ANGRY AT ALL!
She just doesn't know whether she should be mad at herself or her President. Yep, it's just stress discharge!
And so that's how, Tachibana Akane has to go to the dorms alone AGAIN.
Horikita Manabu had to leave her secretary behind to catch up on an incident. After some time he managed to reach the park by sprint.
But little did he expect the view that was presented before him.
He was now standing with crossed arms in the park a few meters from a scene.
Older Horikita corrected his glasses and once again analysed the information he received.
"So you're telling me that the reason why Ryuen from class C is now in this state is because he was so badly beaten by Nagumo while you were calling me here." He said with his steady tone, which aroused both fear and admiration.
Ayanokouji Kiyone, a person whom he wanted to join the student council, remained in a place with blank face.
Ryuen Kakeru, from what he recalled from yesterday's incident on the roof which Ayanokouji asked him to attend as help, now was lying unconcious on the ground.
"Indeed, unfortunately, I wasn't strong enough to help him fight because of my lack of skills. Ryuen had to defend me heroically while I called for help, precisely you president. It was so terrifying until you showed up." She replied, supposedly relieved and looked at him indifferently. Such a strange combination of tone and expression makes it hard to believe.
Older Horikita ignored her poor acting skill and approached lying Ryuen to examine his condition. He knelt on one knee down at him.
"Looking at him, this time he has really serious wounds, Ayanokouji." This is definitely correct. Ryuen suffered a beating on the roof yesterday and got another dose of pain today.
This time he looked at her seriously "It is late and the school nurse is no longer available. It's possible that he will be unconscious for the next few or maybe even several hours. His body cannot withstand this amount of pain anymore and has simply gone into a state of rest and stability. This time it is quite serious, Ayanokouji. An interesting matter is also the unexpected appearance of Nagumo here. What exactly were you trying to achieve here, Ayanokouji?" He asked, or rather stated the fact that something is not right here.
Ayanokouji looked neither startled nor frightened by his intimidating figure "Ryuen and I were going back to the dormitories, until suddenly Vice President Nagumo appeared here. It was a pure coincidence."
"Hmm, really? I disagree. First of all, why did you and Ryuen go back to the dorms together when he was defeated by you yesterday."
"It's simple, me and Ryuen wanted to clarify things between us and conclude a temporary ceasefire. The appearance of President Nagumo was also a complete coincidence."
Normally such an explanation might be enough because there is no proof that what she says is not true, however, Ayanokouji Kiyone converses with Horikita Manabu. Someone who is on a completely different calculation level than others in this school.
His deduction skills are already at a very advanced level, which allows him to compare different possibilities of action.
Nagumo usually finishes his activities in a soccer club at this hour and returns through the park. Most likely Ayanokouji Kiyone somehow knew this and decided to take advantage of this fact.
At least that's what he thought, but he doesn't know most of the details of the meeting between Ayanokouji and Ryuen, so he can't say if his conclusion is correct.
"Ayanokouji, it is possible for you to tell why you have come to this school." Older Horikita saw a girl raise one eyebrow from an unusual question.
After a while she replied "You could say that I wanted to feel new things and get answers to my questions."
'To feel new things. Now that's interesting.' He thought.
"In that case, I will no longer be trying to figure out what happened here, though what are you going to do now?" Horikita Manabu really doesn't care what Ayanokouji did these things for, so he prefers to get to the point.
"I would like to finish a very important conversation with Ryuen, which I intended to have, but because he is now unconscious I would have to drop it. Unfortunately I can't do that, since only today I have the opportunity to do it."
President Horikita got up from a kneeling position back to a standing position.
"I see."
"I'm going to take him to my apartment, but I need your help to lift him. You don't have to worry, I won't do anything inappropriate."
"Surely you know that boys as well as girls are not allowed to stay in each other's apartments. As President of the Student Council, this is undermining my duty. I will keep a close eye on it this time, but remember that the next such action will end badly for you. The very fact that you asked me to help you with his transport at this hour is already wrong enough. Remember, you also owe me a favor."
"And you are awfully demanding today, President. I understand."
"*Sigh* Good, now let's get this over with. You grab his arms and I grab his legs. 1.. 2.. 3!" Both of them picked up Ryuen with no difficulties and started heading towards the dormitories.
They were able to go the right ways and places to avoid attention.
"*Sigh* But really, what we're doing now is probably the most risky thing in my entire experience."
"It seems that today you are very tired, President, judging by your unusual sighs."
"What can I say. We have had a lot of paperwork today as a student council."
"Another reason why I shouldn't join the student council added to the list." Older Horikita looked at her with his eyebrow raised.
"Hmm, you are very sceptical student when we talk about student council. Your reason for not joining is, as you called it something like, a peaceful school life here?"
"What can I say. I heard that they have a lot of paperwork there." Ayanokouji responded bluntly.
President of the student council ignored her remark.
"Today Tachibana was extremely anxious with me, so I wondered what happened. Really, understanding women's way of thinking is often more difficult than writing the annual exam."
Ayanokouji looked confused hearing the President's words.
"Huh, you are unusually relaxed, President. Normally you wouldn't say such things and this thing with girl's thinking could be even considered as an insult, however, I don't have a comment on this subject. The truth is, I'm not good at girly things myself."
"Is that so?"
Horikita Manabu looked into her eyes, but really couldn't see anything there. Either an endless emptiness, or just a reflection of himself.
"You really are an outstanding student, Ayanokouji. Even I can't find out clearly what you think. I wonder where did you learn to use such successful poker face."
"A natural talent, I suppose."
"Hm, as always, the answers won't come from you."
They finally arrived in front of the dormitories. They waited for a few more people to pass so they could go unnoticed.
"I already called some of the student council to stop the passers-by for a while. You are very lucky today, Ayanokouji."
"The student council really has a lot of influence. What about the receptionist?"
"Don't bother about it, I've notified her of the necessary cir cumstances. The school doesn't know about what is really happening." Said older Horikita, correcting his glasses which reflected the glow of the lamps for a moment.
"Wow, the student council indeed has really tremendous authority." Ayanokouji repeated with blank face.
Everything was going smoothly and they managed to enter through the entrance.
"We should take the stairs." Ayanokouji nodded her head in agreement.
They carried Ryuen, and the stairs were already in front of them, while they were about to approach the stairs and almost succeeded.
However...
Really, no one expected it...
"Pre-Pre-President?!" They both turned their heads towards the trembling and horrified voice source.
Older Horikita widened his eyes 'Oh, shit.'
Even the great Horikita Manabu was cursing himself in his thoughts. After all, he told Tachibana to go to the dorms herself. And since she is a member of the student council, she was passed through by the rest of the members who were to stop the passers-by.
The scene where he and Ayanokouji are carrying an unconscious student may be misinterpreted.
Tachibana held her head in her hands "Pre-President is... P-President and this girl again, THEY-THEY'RE MOVING A DEAD CORPSE!?" She fainted due to schock.
Older Horikita's worst guesses came true when he dashed and caught Tachibana in the air.
However, he forgot about Ryuen, whose legs fell to the ground and something in them even cracked.
"Uh-oh, it's gonna hurt a lot in the future." Commented Ayanokouji bluntly, not moved by the whole incident.
Ayanokouji looked at President Horikita. Gray haired held Tachibana in his hands.
"It seems that I can no longer assist you, Ayanokouji. I have to take care of Tachibana." He said and went towards the elevator.
"Wait-!" The elevator door already closed and Ayanokouji Kiyone stood alone on the first floor, holding unconscious Ryuen by the hands.
'Damn. I really have to take him upstairs to my room all by myself?' Ayanokouji sighed tiredly.
She picked him up in bridal style 'I've heard that men should do that instead of women. I only hope that no one will notice me, cause I'll be dead!'
When she looked at the stairs in front of her, she immediately wanted to refuse to do anything atl all.
'*Sigh* Here I go.'
Ayanokouji is almost on her floor. Carrying a heavy Ryuen is definitely an irritating experience, but she signed up for it.
Her senses worked at the highest level to avoid meeting unwanted people. If Kushida saw her now, she would be pretty screwed. Horikita would probably kill her with compass and Hiyori fainted.
Kei is not even to be mentioned, she would most probably kill Ryuen on the spot. Ayanokouji had to pass unnoticed only one more floor.
Unfortunately, when Ayanokouji thought it was done, she spoke of the devil.
This was the floor of Kei Karuizawa. *Creak* The door from Kei Karuizawa's apartment started to make scary sounds of opening.
Ayanokouji quickly entered the elevator, which luckily just opened. She had to take her left hand and stop holding it with Ryuen, whom she now leaned against her leg and held her left hand behind his back in order for him to be in a sitting-like position.
After that, she rapidly pressed the same button on her floor several times 'Come on, come on, come on!' The elevator door closed and Kiyone sighed with relief.
Meanwhile, Karuizawa Kei stepped out the door from her apartment and looked around.
'Hmm, and I thought I smelled Kiyone's scent...' She thought disappointed and closed the door back.
Ayanokouji Kiyone opened the door to her apartment with her keys and went inside with Ryuen, still in bridal style.
For the first time, she may admit that she is a little tired. She put Ryuen on the bed and went to the kitchen to make herself a hot chocolate to relax. Now just wait until Ryuen wakes up. This may take some time, but Ayanokouji Kiyone has to complete her plan.
Ryuen's POV
*Drinnnnnnnn-!*
"SHUT UP." I smashed the source of the annoying sound unconsciously with my fist from above.
'Oh, shit. My head hurts.'
The dark ceiling showed up before my eyes when I woke up.
I quickly returned to my senses when I remembered that I wasn't coming back to my apartment. I was massaging my head spontaneously to make the pain disappear.
As expected, it didn't work, so I decided to move to a sitting position. My back, no, my whole body hurt like hell. The very fact that I got up was a miracle.
'Wait, now I remember! That trashy Nagumo guy knocked me out, and then.. Ayanokouji called the older brother of Horikita...? So I fought another goddamn master of martial arts and have lost huh.'
'And now.. Wait, where the hell am I then?' I quickly looked around the dark room and noticed... Nothing, there is absolutely nothing here, probably because of the darkness that reigned in the room. It's dark, so it' s probably night? I guess so. Was it possible that I was transported to the new apartment? But how?
It was quite dark in the room because the room was lit only by a night lamp, which was on a shelf next to the bed.
I was so focused on my situation that I didn't even notice a person sitting on the couch burning holes in me intensively from the shadows.
"Ryuen.." I heard a feminine voice calling me and I turned my back towards it. A figure sat on the couch, all covered by the shadow. After a while I noticed a familiar brown color of hair in the dark.
"...Ayanokouji? Is that you?" It was difficult to recognize her in this darkness, especially since the night light illuminated only me and a piece of the bed when Ayanokouji was sitting in the dark.
If it was her, she looked now like a hunter waiting for her prey to wake up. I was in a troublesome situation.
I waited for her to say something, but...
*Stare.*
*Staaaaaare.*
*Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare.*
"Ayanokouji, what the hell? You look like some murderer!"
"Ryuen, that is, no, was my alarm clock." She said emotionlessly pointing to the ground.
'Alarm clock? What is she talking about? Wait.. Oh, no.' My gaze went up to where she looked and I saw a destroyed alarm clock lying on the carpet.
I destroyed it when I woke up.
"Ahem, yeah, sorry." I couldn't see her expression accurately or whether she was sad, but I felt bad about it. I destroyed it when I woke up.
"*Sigh* Nevermind." She said and stood up.
"I'll get you a new one." I said unintentionally.
'Wait, what the hell am I even saying? I have no regret for it at all! It seems that fall on the cold walker is starting to really mess up my mind.'
Frustration from my own words started to reach me, but I cannot go back in time.
"There is no need."
Ayanokouji approached the wall and turned on the light switch.
Now I could exactly see her whole room, but before I could do that, what attracted all my attention was Ayanokouji's clothing.
She was wearing white strawberry pajamas and her hair was more disorderly than usual. It even looked kind of sexy with her expressionless face.
But why would I say that? I mean, Ayanokouji looks sexy, but that's all. After all, I always think of other sexy looking women like that. But this time it is a little different. I can't explain it to myself. I hope it's not what I think it is.
I hope that no unnecessary feelings are beginning to build up in me, because then it will be the worst thing for me. I have already been to many nightclubs where I have seen numerous women, so why do I affect about Ayanokouji so differently? It's bad, I hate to mix my feelings with my beliefs.
Though, I'm no longer a Class C leader, am I? So I can afford a little more leeway than to command these morons.
My eyes were widened as I was shocked because... Suddenly there was a rain of a Cupid' arrows heading towards me.
'WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!' I mentally avoided every arrow that would hit me. Damn, it was really tiring. Where did they all come from?! I was breathing hard from weariness. How I got tired from imaginary attacks in the first place.
This seriously becomes more and more dangerous and it certainly has something to do with Ayanokouji.
"Everything okay, Ryuen? You don't look well." She said and tried to bring her hand closer to my forehead.
"Don't. Even. Touch. Me." I said commandingly. I know these numbers with hand on forehead, so I avoided it. Despite this, I felt deeply dissatisfied for whatever reason. Maybe I took some fucking drugs.
I pinched my nose from irritation. I couldn't fall in love, could I? I am Ryuen Kakeru, an individual who is an violent type and not one who would blush at something like that. Maybe Ayanokouji actually gave me some drugs.
I will remember that, Ayanokouji, I will remember that.
"I'm fine." I added.
Brown haired distanced herself and went for something, probably towards the kitchen. Judging by the fact that practically every apartment structure is the same as the others in our dormitories.
At that time I was looking around her room, but as I thought, there was absolutely nothing here. But seriously, a girl shouldn't have something here that she's interested in? Fashion and all that stuff. There are only basic things that should be in the beginning in the apartments in the dormitories.
I will get my answers when she comes back. But really, my wounds hurt like hell all the time. My stomach hurts like if I got hit by a metal bat. Not to mention that I practically cannot move my legs, so it became impossible for me to follow Ayanokouji to the kitchen.
I won't be surprised if by these fucking martial arts masters will get me disabled someday if it goes on like that.
Speaking of the devil, after a while she returned with two cups, which she put on the cafe table. One was with hot chocolate and the other only glass of water.
Ayanokouji gave me a cup of water after a while, because I couldn't move my legs yet, so I stayed on the bed.
Though I frowned my eyebrows when I saw that Ayanokouji took a cup of hot chocolate.
"Why only water for me?" I demanded an answer, solidly justified one.
She was looking at me with these eyes, where you can see your fucking own reflection rather than read her "Because I don't want to warm you up too much and it's already too hot in this room. Look." She pulled out some cold compresses.
"I'm going to put them on you later, when you were lying down before, you already had some on you, but I had to put them back in the fridge because they lost their coldness due to the warmth in the room."
'I see, so she went to the kitchen to get them back from the fridge. So she took care of me during that time.'
"Ku ku ku, so you took care of me during that time, how kind of you. Get to the point and tell me how you transported me here and why did you do it in the first place?"
Hearing my question Ayanokouji made a face (¬_¬) and looked away "You'd rather not know how you got here, trust me." I was taken aback by her sudden opposition and reaction. Seriously, I am afraid to ask if it changes her typical expressionless face so much.
However, I failed to notice that Ayanokouji skipped my second question and changed the subject quickly.
"You will have to wait until the morning, then you should leave early while people are still sleeping. I was unable to transport you to the school nurse because she had already finished her job. I felt a little bit guilty, so I have decided to get here with you."
Hearing this, I know that she didn't feel guilty at all.
It is a fact that the school nurse's office is closed at this hour. Basically, school nurses are never there when you need them most from what I always see. Their harmonic is kind of messed up, judging by the fact that once they appear at 9:00 and disappear at 12:00, otherwise they are at 13:00 and then they leave at 17:00. Just ridiculous.
"Still, you really saved me from trouble too, so I don't mind, Ayanokouji."
Even if I try, I won't be able to figure out her real reason why she took me here. Her action was very risky if not crazy. I don't know if they delivered me with any permission and with whom, but apparently they succeeded.
No matter what it is, she took me off this cold walker. I suppose the president of the student council has something to do with this whole situation, because Ayanokouji, from what I remember, stopped Nagumo guy with information that a president is already there, of course this could be an excuse to drive the vice-president away, and to prevent Ayanokouji from getting involved into the fight.
"Actually I wanted to ask you something." Ayanokouji said, waking me up from my thoughts.
"Bring it."
"Are you really going to drop out?" I stopped drinking and looked at her suspiciously. It was quite a confusing question for me.
How strange of her to ask this question again. Did she feel sad about it? No, impossible. She is definitely not the kind of person who would worry about others. Besides, I couldn't even hear a hint of worry in her voice. It was as apathetic as usual. Although I can see that Ayanokouji is now looking into her mug of drink.
"How odd of you to ask me such a question."
I've already told her a few times that I'm going to drop out, and still she asked such a thing. It is possible that she has a purpose in this, but what could it be? If she wants to prevent me from dropping out of school for some unknown reason, yet why stop one of her main opponents from quitting school?
I glanced at her again "Ugh.' I made an exasperated groan in my mind when I saw that I cannot learn anything from her facial expression once again. I hate it when I talk to her and I have to base my thoughts only on deduction.
I usually use my ability to read the other person's expression to know what that person has done, what emotions they have inside them now. Happiness, satisfaction, anger, hate. It helps me to establish many things, just like when I had to pull information from those idiots who sold us out at the sports festival.
The atmosphere on my side became different because I was suspicious of her motives. Her actions today are very bizarre. She decided to take me to her apartment instead of leaving me on the cold walker, but why?
Does this monst-woman really feel something behind this mask or is it just part of a certain plan? Because if so, for now she is doing well from what I see. I m definitely perplexed by my current situation.
"Yeah, I was going to drop out, at first. Although when you suggested this strange friendship offer to me today, kuku I was very amazed, you know." The smirk played around my lips to hide the confusion "What time is it, anyway?" I asked while drinking a drink.
"Oh, it's 2:00. now." She said bluntly. I almost spit out. I even choked myself a little.
"What?! Why would you set your alarm clock at 2:00?"
"Keep your voice down. I set my alarm clock at 2:00 since I was going to take the compresses out of the fridge at that hour. I didn't know you would wake up. You shouldn't. Your injuries were so severe that I thought you wouldn't wake up until the morning, although I wouldn't prefer it."
"But I will definitely get my payback on this Nagumo guy. The beating I got from this guy was nothing compared to yours."
"Oh, is that so?" I don't know if she felt pleased or uncomfortable with this compliment, as you might even call it this way.
"Let's talk about something else." I proposed. It's a good idea to try to get some information from her, although I doubt I'll get any "We don't have anything to do anyway, and I don't like to sit and waste time compared to you, who would rather be lazing and doing nothing."
Ayanokouji blinked and raised her eyebrow "Not very polite of you. *Sigh* Okay, what do you intend to do?"
I laughed at her lack of enthusiasm "Kuku, a simple trade, I give you my information and you yours. "
"And you apparently have anything to offer me?"
"Tch, obviously I have."
"I'll tell you if I'm really going to drop out of school and you'll tell me a few things I would like to know. How about that?"
Ayanokouji thought for a moment "Okay then, I'll play this little game of yours."
I was supposed to start talking, but Ayanokouji interrupted me "But Ryuen, I don't have any reason to believe that what you're saying is true, do I? Even if you tell me what you are going to do, I have no guarantee that you will tell the real thing."
Of course, just because I tell her my plan doesn't mean that it will actually happen. I can just lie and do the opposite.
"I have no reason to lie to you, right? I said that before I crush you, I'll take care of the other classes first." I'm referring here from yesterday day.
"In fact, you don't have to worry about competing with me anymore. I've already thought about giving up on assisting the class. Of course, if you want, I can occasionally compete with you in other things to see your growth."
My smirk dropped.
"Wait Ayanokouji, what do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. The reason why I somehow assisted Class D has disappeared. Now I can focus on my peaceful school life." (I refer here to a conversation with Chabashira-sensei, while Ayanokouji knew about her lie and that she no longer has to work for the class.)
I looked at her with disappointment.
"Are you telling me you won't be pulling strings from the shadows anymore?"
"Unfortunately, no. If it was so wonderful, I would withdraw from it at the beginning. *Sigh* A very unwelcome individual has recently appeared on my way, so I cannot afford to take a break. If he attacks me, and I'm not going to do anything, I lose. And unfortunately I need class D to win."
There is only one person that comes to my mind now.
"You're talking about this annoying Nagumo guy, right?"
She nodded "Indeed."
Ayanokouji told me about how the Vice President of the Student Council has made her a target due to her contact with the President of the Student Council. There was no reason to hide it, as I would have come to the same conclusion after our incident today.
Now I understood what she meant by saying that she preferred not to attack her now. She will have her hands full if she intends to beat Vice President himself somehow. Avoiding him and waiting for her contact with President of the Student Council to quieten down, it won't work this time because today's incident has confirmed that Nagumo won't simply lie down.
Old Ryuen Kakeru would probably take advantage of this situation and strike because old Ryuen doesn't care about morals. He looks down on people as if they were small fries. But since when was there actually a new Ryuen who believes in any morality? Is she telling me this because she believes that I have changed in any way? Hah, laughable!
But deep inside, I know that this is a sad truth. I'm disgusted with myself right now.
Until yesterday I would have been willing to use every possible method to finish off my opponent, be it dirty or disgusting.
But today something has changed, but what?! Maybe I will be able to discover it soon, but now I will do something really stupid. I really haven't done something so moronic yet. The old me would laugh and mock me now.
I took a deep breath while Ayanokouji took a cup of chocolate from the cafe table into her hands and rested comfortably against the couch. "Tell me hypothetically, as a class C leader, what should I do now to beat you in the future? If you tell me what your thoughts are about it, I will tell you exactly what I am going to do. Seriously."
I saw how Ayanokouji made slighty surprised by my desire to cooperate. I chuckled to myself seeing her face. I guess she hadn't been expecting that. I'm being dumb so it's not suprising.
"You're telling me that I should trust you?"
"Kuku, I know what it sounds like.. Yeah, I promise at my word I'll tell the truth. If you want it so badly, we can even record it with a recorder if I lie."
Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Ryuen Kakeru, the person who not long ago said himself that verbal promises are absurd, is now an imbecile. How ironic my life is.
Ayanokouji sighed and probably processed the deal she was given. Probably this woman is reconsidering all the ways why I should say something like that. But in fact I have almost nothing here in terms of profit.
"Okay. To start with, I'll tell you what I think about your C-class leadership and you'll tell me what you were trying to do as well as my opinion on the matter." She said as I prepared myself for the upcoming information.
"First of all, my impression of your leadership over your class." She started.
"You control using fear and violence, which is manifested by the obedience of class C students. Also judging by your behavior since the beginning of the year when I saw you start your plans to beat the rest of the classes at this stage a month later. I understood this after seeing you take your first actions towards Sudo."
"Although you have introduced this system of rule since the beginning of the year, you haven't managed to control everyone at once. Everything probably changed when you started to gain new influence by having Ibuka, Albert and Ishizaki by your side... You wanted your control system to be comparable to absolute power or dictatorship, at least I see it that way... "
She started to talk extremely fast, so I had great difficulty following her. I even stopped listening because I couldn't keep up. I mean, I'm erally beginning to suspect that she's not some kind of a very advanced human machine.
However, I was amazed at her ability to deduce these conclusions. The fact is that most of them are true, it was enough for her to meet me once and see my actions several times to know my thought process. This level is already beyond the scale of reality, beyond my scale. Can I really overcome it in my current state? Impossible.
"You see Ryuen, I won't tell you exactly how I control class, but I can tell you one thing. If you want to improve, I can suggest a B class first. When you are in a battle with class B, you will be able to give vent to your tendency to cheat and different kinds of actions during exams." She stated and continued.
"Class B is really strong, it has indeed great, no, perfect teamwork and very wise Ichinose Honami, but under her leadership they will never survive in this school at this stage. Ichinose wants to do fair play which completely misses the point and gives them less success. If they don't start taking other measures in the next exams, you will have a chance to take an action."
"Destroying Class B first will allow you to learn how to act against the relationship between such cooperative groups, which will give you a great benefit of knowledge."
So first I'll have to take care of class B, I've already thought about it and that would be a good move considering what she said. Crushing class B should not be a problem thanks to their lack of playing dirty. Kukuku, it will be fun.
"Even so, if it seems quite easy for you, don't underestimate Ichinose Honami, who has great potential and talent to predict your movements. Remember Kanzaki, who supports her, because on the other hand he is the most calculating one there."
Ayanokouji stopped for a while and took the cookie box out of the cupboard. She opened the box and took a cookie before taking a bite. I was waiting for her to continue the topic, slowly feeling annoyed.
She started to consume more pieces, making crunchy sounds, until one cookie fell down her pajamas. Ayanokouji made the sound of a humming and looked at the part of cookie that fell for a moment with an absent-minded stare at it.
I looked at her with irritation, cause she started forgetting about my presence.
"Ahem."
I produced a loud sound to bring back her attention.
The action ended with success as she turned her eyes on me. But I got a reply that I never anticipated.
"Oh, you want some?" I facepalmed, how can someone be so stupid but a genius.
"No, just go to the topic."
Ayanokouji quickly picked up a previous cookie that fell and put it away before she composed herself.
"Regarding class A, this is a different story. Class A leader, Sakayanagi Arisu is a person who is on a completely different level from your previous opponents. Such a person will use a lot of tricks and deceit to disorientate you and then destroy completely. Considering that Sakayanagi is gaining more and more influence in the class as a leader while Katsuragi has almost no power anymore, their class has almost no weaknesses. Therefore, unless you get better, you can forget about defeating Sakayanagi."
To be honest, Ayanokouji's knowledge scared me more than this mad loli. But seriously, what the fuck, did she just tell me all her thoughts about it?
I massaged my head "I get it, and that's all you know about it?"
Ayanokouji got question marks and tilted her head to the side questioningly "Huh, what are you talking about? I just gave you some tips. You're from another class, so I couldn't tell you everything obviously."
I gained a dumb look.
Pardon the fuck? Did I hear her right? You're telling me she only told me a little?! This is fucking SICK!
I pinched my nose again, and analysed the information I received. I feel as if I just got a free tutorial from Ayanokouji called Way to Class A.
Let's say I'll consider it later. Now let's move on to my part of the deal.
I took a sip of a drink.
"Hear this. I intend to take advantage of the fact that I resigned as a class C leader because of the humiliation I felt." I said with a confident smirk and extended my hand "I won't take any action to confirm that I really withdrew as a leader."
"That means."
"Yeah, I have no intention of dropping out of school anymore. Kuku, after all, if I leave school, who will crush you? I have to crush you myself. I will take advantage of this ideal opportunity to spread rumors that violent Ryuen Kakeru is about to drop out." I made a decision.
I continued, as Ayanokouji listened "And of course, rumors are still just rumors, so the leaders of the other classes will remain suspicious for a long time yet. Thus, I will do absolutely nothing, making them finally drop their guard down after a few weeks. Then there will be my return when I attack unexpectedly."
As I mentioned, even if most people will still be cautious, it is only a matter of time. Not all people are Ayanokouji, so they are not going to be forever cautious and will eventually put their guard down, even for a moment. However, this tactic is not meant to deceive A class, because it would never work. Sakayanagi is definitely at a high level competing with me, so she will see through my whole plan. My goal is to keep B-Class unknowing after some time, keeping them busy with other issues.
Nevertheless, for this plan to work, I will also have to partially deceive my own class, which is not likely to be problematic. If my own class believes in my lack of further involvement, other classes would take it easy.
Kukuku, it will be fun to see all those shocked faces when I return in grand style and destroy them all. The imagines of terrified expressions of Ichinose Honami and her classmates have gone through my mind, as I'm crushing all her hopes of victory.
"I see what your idea is, I wish you luck in its success." Ayanokouji said, perhaps trying to cheer me on, or wish me good luck? She said it with her apathetic voice, so it is hard to conclude anything from it. I really wouldn't be surprised if she already knew about all my purposes. Her thought process allows her to somehow anticipate my actions.
"I'll get going."
I said, and with pain I got up from the bed. Something even made the sound of a crack in my back, I still wonder how I will get to school tomorrow.
It was already 4:00 in the morning, so I had to sneak unnoticed into the boys' dormitory. Classes start at 8:00, frankly speaking, leaving aside my enormous pain in the whole body, I had a good rest.
Ah, I would forget! I glanced at Ayanokouji and said "You should get some sleep, from what I saw you stayed and took care of my injuries for a long time."
"Oh, Ryuen, you care? I'm touched." she said supposedly jokingly touching the place where her heart is. I rolled my eyes "How surprisingly on your part, but there is really no need for that."
"Whatever."
I approached the apartment door with my hands in pockets. Ayanokouji followed me to close the door afterwards.
"By the way, Ayanokouji." I called her and turned around "I think I know a way to rip off that always carefree face of yours."
"Huh, is that so?" I smiled mischievously.
"The answer is simple. Every woman has a weakness that manifests itself on her face. Men, on the other hand, adore it." I watched Ayanokouji helplessly try to guess what I am talking about. I chuckled in my mind. Really, how can you be so clueless and yet intelligent at the same time.
"The answer is... Sex."
"..."
Ayanokouji looked at me with a blank face.
"Believe me, even during sex you couldn't keep this facade forever. Ku ku ku, I wonder what you would look like with a blush on that apathetic face of yours. Sooner or later you would break."
Every woman will feel the pleasure and won't remain indifferent during the experience that is sex.
"*Sigh* You sure talk a lot lately."
"Kuku, you didn't do anything dirty to me when I was unconscious, did you?" I said teasingly.
"No." I received an instant answer. Seriously, this woman is a rock. The pigs will sooner start flying than I see her embarrassed face "But I had a good time with you yesterday and today, Ryuen. And I hope that you will join us in the library like yesterday." Was it an indirect request to join her? Her expression has not changed at all as well as her tone.
I scratched the back of my head with a confused face. "...Yeah, I'll see if I have time."
I was about to leave when Ayanokouji called me out again.
"Oh, and Ryuen. In private, you can call me Kiyone, as I mentioned before." She's referring to it now that we were walking through the park "Goodbye." My eyes shot wide open, however, not because she asked me to call her by her first name, but by something else.
Ayanokouji wore a small smile on her face, I don't know if she was even aware of it. Daisies and hearts appeared everywhere around her.
'WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! I'M ON DRUGS AGAIN?!'
This is bad, very bad. I saw how behind Ayanokouji was flying cupid with a tricky smile.
'WAIT, AM I SEEING THINGS RIGHT NOW?' But this time, instead of having a bow and arrow, he had a fucking ballist with a spear that had a big heart at the end 'AND WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SHIT?! tHiS iS sIcK!'
I rapidly tried to pull the door handle.
"Ryuen, something wrong?" I ignored her, focusing on the situation. I had more important things on my mind RIGHT NOW.
I reminded myself that you have to open the lock from the door and I immediately opened the door. Stupid. I wanted to facepalm myself but there was no time.
"YoucanalsocallmeKakeruprivatelyseeyou." I said at the light speed.
I shut the door behind me quickly and breathed hard while leaning against the door in the hallway before the elevator.
I went into the elevator and calmed down with my whole face burning.
Having no idea that cupid managed to hit me.
Kiyone SS: The Reason
Kiyone's POV
Ryuen has already left in order to get to his apartment. I went to the kitchen to clean a cup that contained hot chocolate and a glass of water that was for Ryuen.
The tap water made a sound when it collided with the porcelain, while washing the dishes.
I sighed.
Apparently I'm slightly tired. I remembered when Ryuen looked as if he was trying to understand the reasons for my actions, but he probably couldn't get anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised, my actions today and yesterday were quite illogical and unpredictable.
However, Ryuen made a huge mistake in his deduction. I wondered if he would guess what my real purpose was and what exactly I did, but even though I told him most of the information about it, his deduction was laid elsewhere.
The point is that Ryuen was too focused on thinking over me than on his surroundings. The appearance of Vice President Nagumo and an intervention of older Horikita. It all began when I already knew about Ryuen's plans to drop out of school.
I contacted Ishizaki because he was the most reckless of the group and said I knew a way to stop Ryuen from dropping out. He instantly started talking when I spoke to him. Ishizaki informed me that Ryuen would most likely come to the library today since he mentioned it when they begged him to remain.
When we were in the library, I checked the time from time to time to wait perfectly for the time I calculated to leave.
I continued the plan and asked Ryuen to accompany me to the dorms. At that time he was already suspicious of me, but I didn't give him any signs with which he could use to understand my true intentions.
It was slowly getting dark, and then the sun was setting behind the horizon. I have chosen the way through the park to face a confrontation between us and Vice President Nagumo.
How did I know we would meet Nagumo there? It's simple.
Nagumo belongs to a soccer club. While we were preparing for the sports festival, I was helping Hirata and observing the improvement of our classmates. In this way, I knew exactly when the soccer club's schedule ended, so it gave me information about what time Nagumo comes back from the sports club.
Earlier I sent Kei to follow Vice President Nagumo and get to know his route to the dormitories after the club's activities. It turned out that Nagumo practically always comes back through the park, probably to breathe fresh air after activities as well as playing in the club or whatever.
I didn't want to be unsure of the information about the end of the activity by the soccer club because it was from the time of the sports festival, so I took one more measure in this direction.
Before I went to the library yesterday, I asked Hirata exactly whether they were actually ending up late, he said yes and I didn't give him a chance to ask why I asked such a question because I left the classroom at the time. It seemed that my confirmations proved themselves, so I could continue.
Back to Ryuen.
I waited and watched if Ryuen will take any offensive action towards Nagumo or if he will stand aside. However, he exceeded my expectations. Ryuen not only started to discuss and argue with Vice President Nagumo, but also took up a fight to support me.
This only confirmed my motivation to pursue my purpose. The incident itself with Vice President Nagumo was to prove and show Ryuen that I don't have time to compete with him in any way, because I have to focus on eliminating Vice President Nagumo.
At that time, there was already a turn of events, in which I had several options. I had to stop Ryuen from dropping out of school, but not because of the C-class.
The worst thing started with Ryuen's transport to my apartment, because of some... problematic circumstances.
I decided to deal with Ryuen's injuries during this time but there was a great risk that his stay in my apartment would be discovered, however, I managed to avoid it. I let Ryuen carry on a conversation and give him some tips from me, everything in order to win his trust, which is quite a difficult achieve.
Ryuen decided not to drop out of school and play departure as a leader, I listened closely, while he explained his plan. Well, his plan has a chance of success, but I told him his flaws.
But why did I undertake all these actions? The answer lies in Ryuen himself. This plan was to see if Ryuen would feel any affection for me. His participation in the confrontation with Nagumo instead of standing aside and watching, his complicity and the cooperative conversation between us later.
All this has proven that Ryuen can be a candidate for my partner in a romantic relationship. At the beginning, of course, I asked him for a friendship, because as far as I know, you should first start a friendly relationship with the opposite sex before you start doing anything else.
At first I thought of Hirata Yosuke as a potential candidate, but Hirata is neutral while helping others. He is not good for any romantic relationship, at least for now. There is also his past, which I don't know completely, his friend who committed suicide and Hirata's mental state itself is not really positive.
That is why Hirata was dropped out, and then Ryuen was chosen by me. He has many disadvantages that can be easily repaired due to his incredibly fast growth ability. Now only I need to water this flower.
However, Ryuen had no chance to figure out my plan because he lacked crucial points. Without them, his puzzle would never have been solved and deduction won't help this situation.
I was supposed to take a lot of action today and in all of them I achieved a positive as not very good result.
These were:
- Show to Ryuen about Nagumo and his interest in me;
- Gain Ryuen's trust;
- To learn Ryuen's plan;
- To evoke a affection about me within Ryuen;
Everything has been going according to my plan from the beginning, which I had planned some time ago.
When Ryuen had left, I looked in the mirror in the lobby. It turned out that I had an almost unnoticeable smile on my face. Did I also feel some sensation? My body has a higher temperature than usual, but not from a cold. It seems that I actually had a very pleasant time with him. Is it a feeling of happiness? Or is it an affection for a romantic feeling...?
For the time being, I don't know what exactly love is, an affection for the opposite sex, a relationship between a woman and a man.
I do not know different types of feelings of pleasure and shame. In the near future, I will definitely know the answer to each of these questions one by one.
Do I believe that change will arrive? Maybe. Who knows.
For now I will just study as always.
I hope I won't need to read a book called the opposite sex for me.
What now? I will just wait and water slowly this flower of affection.
We will see where it leads me.
I finished washing dishes and prepared for sleep, but before I was going to do it, I came up and picked up my phone. I turned on the phone and went into gallery.
My eyes darkened when I saw a image of Nagumo kicking Ryuen lying on the ground.
"This may be useful in the future."
Yamauchi SS: A Normal Day
Yamauchi's POV
"Ahhhh, what a great day!" I said determined with wide smile by today's great day.
Why do you ask such a great one? Hah! Today there are swimming classes today when I will be able to admire the girls in swimsuits again!
In a few minutes the swimming classes are about to start. But I will be able to see the girls in the swimming pool! Last time I was brutally beaten and kicked by women, but this time it will be different! FOR I AM AN ULTRA PERVERT!
I had to go quickly to my locker where I left my swim shorts.
My happy humor was replaced by horror when I saw my locker.
"EHHHHHHHH?" My locker had deep dents like it could be called destroyed.
The key did NOT enter the lock.
"WHO HAVE DONE THIS TO YOU, MY POOR LOCKER!" I cried.
"Argh, argh argh!" I tried to open it in different ways by grabbing it from different sides but nothing!
My hands suddenly let go of the edge of the locker while I tried to open it by force and as a result I flew and hit the wall behind me. I massaged my head in pain.
I tried to open it with a crowbar, but it didn't work anyway! I was depressed!
After some time I fell on my knees in despair. I WON'T BE ABLE TO WATCH THE GIRLS TODAY!
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Professor Ayanokouji SS: A bad feeling
Professor Ayanokouji's POV
I was checking the papers in my office and thought about how to make my beloved daughter leave school.
Hmm, what should I do? Kiyone is perfect in all aspects, both intelligence and physical strength. Defeating her is a serious challenge, and the government forbids me to interfere in this pathetic school.
Meanwhile, Kiyone smiled to Ryuen.
I flinched suddenly. My dadradar turned on that something happened to Kiyone that should never happen.
"Professor, everything alright? You were staring as if into nothingness for a while." My stoic assistant spoke to me.
"Something bad happened to Kiyone." I stated.
"Huh, excuse me? Where did Professor get that conclusion from?"
"Feeling, you imbecile."
Now I need to take care of bringing Kiyone home all the more. This pathetic school. No, it was all Mateo's fault, he helped her escape. I just want the best for her.
"Blake, have you prepared a list of the most successful White Room students from a similar generation to Kiyone?"
"Of course. Here Professor." An assistant named Blake walked up to the office desk and put down the mountain of papers that made the *Thump* sound.
I have to bring Kiyone back at any cost.
"If I may say something, Professor." I gave permission, nodding my head "I have doubts that the students from White Room will manage to get expeled an outstanding perfection that is your daughter."
I smirked at that.
"Hah, naturally they don't have any chance, Kiyone is too perfect for some retarded teenagers to handle it."
Blake sweatdropped "Why you sound as if you were more proud than upset about it. Wasn't Professor supposed to bring her back?" I ignored him.
"What should I do?"
"If I may suggest something, Professor." Blake asked and I agreed.
Blake took something out of his suit pocket and handed it to me.
"This should help with Professor's problem forever." Blake said with a bright smile that I had to look away from the brightness.
I saw that it was a book and read the title "How to be a good parent." I glanced at still smiling Blake and pinched my nose out of annoyance.
"Blake, I'm beginning to believe that you really want to be fired."