Chapter 12.5 - Man is the cruelest animal
My phone rang.
I knew that it was Kiyotaka even before looking at the notification.
He was the only person in my contacts that was allowed to ring and vibrate, after all. The others were banished by the silent setting and could be happy if I answered them when I felt like it.
After checking the contents of his message, I made sure that no one was around before exiting his room. I walked past the elevator, which was about to open up, and vanished into the staircase.
Kushida Kikyou.
Where could she have gone?
The first time I took note of her was when Kiyotaka and a few of his classmates were hanging out together. There were quite a few curious people in his group, not because they could entertain me, but because he took an interest in them.
For starters, there was the fake couple, the rabbit and the two-faced girl.
These individuals stood out from the rubble that followed them around. At first, I hadn't known about any of them, but that had changed since Kiyotaka was inquisitive about my opinion concerning these people.
Number one, the fake couple.
I already forgot their names, but his assumption that these two weren't dating was spot on. It baffled me that none of the other students in his class had seen through their charade since Kiyotaka did, even though he seemed alien to everything that could be considered 'normal'.
Number two, the rabbit.
Kiyotaka mentioned that she was smart and observant, which I could confirm. I slipped up a few times while trailing them on their first get-together, which left the girl questioning my intentions for following them. She was cute and attentive, like a rabbit and had proven to be an outstanding student in Class D. At least compared to the usual trash in his class.
Number three, the two-faced girl.
He said that she was behaving weird and seemed to hide something, but that he could never find out what was wrong with her. When I had observed her on that day, I couldn't find anything wrong either, but my gut told me that something was strange about her. Thus, I began to shadow her sometimes and gleamed at inconsistencies in her behavior as well.
According to the message I had just received from him, he made some progress on number three, which is why I wanted to help him in any way possible.
If he trusted and confided in me, he might eventually open up and share more about himself.
After spending so much time with him, my interest piqued more and more, which was the total opposite to Manabu and Nagumo, who soon became boring and predictable.
Even though Kiyotaka never told or showed me anything that he didn't want me to see, I couldn't help but think about him even more. The days I spent with him were fun, interesting, and colorful.
I hoped that we could keep it this way for a while longer.
Other students glanced at me with surprised and confused expressions after I brushed past them and vanished from their sight as abrupt as I had arrived. I never cared what other people thought about me, and I did so even less now.
After reviewing the information he had supplied me with, I believed that we would reach the same conclusion: she needed some place away from people where she could be alone.
Kiyotaka must have already ruled out the possibility that she was going to the dorms, or he would have told me to check if she came by, meaning the only places that were desolate or private would be viable locations.
I came up empty-handed a few times, which left fewer places to scour through.
Since Kiyotaka was in the library, he most likely checked the places I didn't visit because of the distance, which ruled out around half the school premise. As I kept narrowing down my list, a certain place caught my eye.
The school building.
It was already late, and few clubs that took place in the school building had still activities around this time of the day. Aside from clubs, there would be no reason for students to be there around this time. Someone as social as Kushida would know this, and Kiyotaka would probably prioritize other places before he went to the school, since he might have thought that clubs were still ongoing.
I detected the two-faced girl as she headed into the building in question, her bag slung around her shoulder. As I was about to let Kiyotaka know about my discovery, I found him heading inside the construction just moments after her.
Neither of them saw me, as I was in a blind spot from their point of view.
This situation put me in quite a bind.
Kiyotaka asked me to keep an eye out for Kushida, which I did. He had found her now, so my part in this search could be viewed as accomplished.
But I didn't want to leave like this.
I wanted to see what he was going to do, hear what he was going to say.
There was no way that I could curb my curiosity.
With a heavy, somewhat conflicted heart, I followed them inside.
Up and up the stairs, I followed the single pair of steps my ears picked up on, which should have been Kushida's. I soon noticed Kiyotaka's back, as he had slowed down since we were about to reach the last floor before the roof.
As I was about to make myself known, he glanced back at me.
Of course, he had noticed my presence.
How could I have thought that he didn't?
Even after all the time we had spent together, his abilities and past were shrouded in mystery. What he had revealed to me so far was nothing but the tip of a colossal iceberg that stretched out into the deep, dark sea.
Kiyotaka was an enigma, a big question mark that I wanted to dissect and understand.
He must have been aware that I was curious from the first day the two of us met. Even now, I kept pleading him with my eyes, hoping to be allowed to watch the upcoming events unfold.
If he told me to leave, I would comply, no questions asked. I could, under no circumstances, jeopardize the rapport I had built with him if I wanted this relationship to work out.
His enthralling, golden eyes refocused towards the roof before he snuck up the stairs.
He didn't answer me, but not responding was basically a silent form of agreement.
I reached the final staircase and stopped while Kiyotaka crept up the rooftop door and pulled his phone out. From my position, there was no way to see what he was doing, but I expected that he was about to record whatever was about to happen. I backed him up, just in case, and pulled out my phone to start an audio recording.
Kushida's voice and the sound of her actions barely reached downstairs.
She kept cursing and hitting something, which continued for a while before Kiyotaka turned around. He gave me a signal and kicked against the door without hesitation. I didn't know what he was planning, but ducked back into the stairwell since I didn't know if she would move towards us.
Kiyotaka and Kushida began to talk.
After he moved away from the door, I inched closer to the crack he left open as careful as I could. Their voices got much clearer, and I had a rough idea about where they were standing, which is why I stopped around halfway on the staircase.
"If you tell anyone what you've just heard, I'll end you."
Her cheap threat was almost comical in front of someone far beyond her comprehension.
Kushida's mind must have been in turmoil because she was seen by him, an unknown, untrustworthy individual. I would be surprised if she registered that Kiyotaka moved away from the door to make sure that I wasn't found.
"And if I did tell?"
Kiyotaka's voice was as tranquil and serene as always. He must have had a plan, otherwise he wouldn't have kicked the door on purpose. Even if he didn't have one, I doubted that I needed to worry about him.
"Then I'd tell everyone you raped me."
"That's a false charge, you know?"
"That's okay. It wouldn't be false."
"What are you doing?"
"Your prints are on my clothes. That's evidence of my claim. I'm being serious. Is that understood?"
I couldn't believe that such a conversation was playing out in front of me, because that wasn't how fingerprints worked at all. The texture of the fabric would make it incredibly difficult to pull off prints, especially since he now knew about her plan and could deal with the problem before it turned into one.
Did she watch too much CSI or one of these other boring shows where the killer was discernable in the first few minutes?
"Oh, yeah, sure."
His monotone, bored voice rang through the area.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Disgusting pervert."
Did he actually just squeeze her breasts?
I couldn't think of anything else that he could have done to warrant her outburst.
Did he prefer her size?
If I didn't have my emotions in check, I would have probably walked out and beaten him up.
"So you'd expel me and ruin my life, just like that? So Horikita was right, after all. Did you really expel Yamauchi?"
These unexpected words shocked me.
The first surprise was the fact that Manabu's sister seemed to have found out about all of this before Kiyotaka and I did. According to Manabu, however, his sister was nothing but a disappointment.
Her presence in Class D reinforced that point.
The second revelation was as much of a surprise as the first. I knew that Class D had lost a student a few days after school started, but I always believed that Kiyotaka was the reason for his demise.
Was this guy's expulsion really her doing?
"So what? That disgusting pervert didn't deserve any better for always drooling after my ass whenever the fuck he saw me. If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do exactly as I say. Is that understood?"
"Yes."
Wait... was she bluffing?
I couldn't tell.
Even though I racked my brain and analyzed the information I held, I couldn't support either theory for certain. This would be different if I could see her expressions or if she was calm, but it was impossible when listening to an angered voice.
"What did that bitch tell you?"
"Just about that incident back in middle school. The rumors reached even Horikita, apparently, even though she was in a different class."
After this sentence, the puzzle pieces which revealed his plan fell into place and I understood why he had mentioned Horikita and that boy named Yamauchi.
With every step, Kushida kept playing into his hands without realizing it.
Kiyotaka mentioned the boy's expulsion to her, so she could use it as leverage on him, even if she had nothing to do with it. This would allow him to spill the beans about Horikita, without appearing suspicious, due to the huge threat that was looming over him.
It didn't matter who expelled him, whether it was Kiyotaka, Kushida, or someone else entirely.
He just wanted to help her threaten him.
It wasn't hard to decipher his strategy as an outsider with all the information, but it was almost impossible for an involved party that wasn't thinking with a clear mind.
"That fucking bitch! Tch. What rumors?"
"About what you did in your class."
"Fuck!"
He had more pieces of the puzzle than I had.
Did he lie to me? Or did he stumble over them just now as well?
The more I learned about him, the more questions arose.
Instead of answering them, he was creating new ones to figure out with every few sentences that left his lips.
"Listen to me, you piece of shit! Did she tell anyone else that I destroyed my class? Or are you the only one?"
"Since she pretty much only talks with me, I doubt that she told anyone aside from me. But I can't say for certain." Silence descended between them as she was processing the new information she had received. "Can you let go of me now?"
"Fucking creep. Did you enjoy touching my tits, you damn imbecile?"
I wondered about this as well. I should have a talk with him after this.
"Ahhh, so annoying!"
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
"Why can't she just die!"
A light chuckle escaped my mouth.
It was difficult not to laugh out loud in pure delight.
He extracted everything he needed from her before turning the tables.
That boy was frozen to the core.
But I didn't know what was yet to come. I had yet to see the darkness he carried.
"Really convenient, right? These smartphones, I mean. They have everything. From our points, recording functions and contacts, to a messenger a student could use to send files around. There's even a school board if I remember correctly..."
"Give me... the phone."
"Ahh, no can do. Sorry."
The girl growled and closed in on Kiyotaka before a loud bang reverberated through the air.
"Eh?"
After such a confused sound escaped her lips, a muffled thud rang through the area as he pushed her against the wall, reversing their previous position.
"Ay...ouji..."
Her voice was incredibly weak, strenuous, and choppy.
What was he doing?
I couldn't stop my curiosity, so I sneaked closer towards the door. Since he pinned her against the wall, only he would see me if I peered through the crack.
The girl tried to pry off his hand before she smashed her fists against his arms, face and neck. He didn't flinch and took the attacks head on without being bothered by them at all. Kushida began to use her feet as well and stomped against his femur and knee before concentrating on his private parts, which he kept defending with his free hand.
After he was fed up by her attempts, he simply lifted her up as much as the length of his arms allowed him to and squeezed her throat even firmer.
"... Air... lease... ouji... eathe..."
The attacks lessened as the girl grew weaker.
His eyes, which sparkled in a golden hue due to the moonlight, were cold and lifeless.
My whole body trembled upon gazing at those orbs once again. He should have also been able to see me out of the corner of his eye, but his pupils were fixed on the struggling, desperate Kushida, as if he didn't register me at all.
"What are you saying, Kushida? I can't hear you. Do you have trouble breathing?"
The poor girl nodded.
"...ji-ku... dyi..."
As if he increased the pressure that weighed on her throat, fewer sounds made it out of her.
"What is it, Kushida? Do you think you are dying?"
His classmate nodded with a pale face and teary eyes that began to lose their spark.
"And why should I care?"
Both her and my eyes widened in shock upon listening to his arctic, indifferent voice.
I knew him well enough by now to realize that he wasn't joking around.
He truly didn't care if this girl would lose her life today.
"Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."
After such cruel words, he kept his promise as his fingers buried themselves deeper into her neck. Not a single muscle in his body attempted to stop what he was about to do.
I watched this scene unfold with quivering eyes and a trembling body.
Would he really kill her? What should I do? Stop him, or keep quiet and watch? Help her, perhaps? Or would he do the same to me? No... he wouldn't kill a student...
... right?
As I reached this train of thought, an ice-cold shiver ran down my back.
If I had turned out to be an enemy on our meeting on the rooftop, would I still be alive? Had he lured me up there to throw me off if the worst-case scenario occurred?
The possibility of what could have been was terrifying.
My body began to tremble as dread and terror crept and slithered through my entire existence. Every single negative emotion I was feeling right now had been planted through his intricate, well-executed and unrelenting actions.
If it was him, everything up to this point had been planned from the very beginning.
He wanted me to see him like this.
Was this a threat to not cross him? Or was it something else?
Did he decide to trust me with his dark side, or did he show it to me so that I would behave?
I had no answer to any of these questions.
But I had walked in on his lesson of evil...
... and there was no escaping it.
For neither of the two pupils.
[Kiyotaka ]
I picked up the vibrating phone as I was lazing around on my bed. The time displayed was 00:12 AM, meaning that Kiyotaka had been occupied until now.
Back in the stairwell, when he inspected my phone, he had left a note not to contact him until he reached out to me. It took a moment until I realized why, but with this missing piece, everything he had done and said until that point in time clicked together.
"You can go ahead."
"I take it that the investigation went well then. Are you sure she'll play her part?"
"I got her covered. The rest is in your hands."
The subsequent beeping sound grew fainter as I removed the device from my ear.
There was nothing to worry about, then.
I tapped around on my phone and browsed to the data transfer notification I had previously received from an unknown number. There was no text, only an assortment of images depicting a certain naked girl, which I would need later.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was an interesting and infinitely cruel man.
The question why he had shown this side to me still lingered in the back of my mind, but there was no way to figure out the meaning without asking him. Even then, he might not tell the truth. He had also taken precautions in case I decided to act against him.
The number which had sent me these pictures belonged to none other than Kushida Kikyou.
I couldn't watch as he ordered her around, since he had positioned his victim in the perfect way that would have allowed her to see me through the crack in the door, which is why I had to back up a bit. This, however, didn't change the fact that I could hear the sounds and see the flashes that followed.
After I had received the note and these files, I understood the full extent of his plan.
There shouldn't have been any shutter sounds, because there is no such effect for the phone's camera. Besides that, some flashes had been too long, different from the ones a photoflash would create.
In other words, he didn't take a single picture with his own phone and was using an audio-cue and his flashlight manually to create the illusion that he was, because he knew that Kushida would retaliate and that his phone would be searched.
Aside from psychologically devastating Kushida, he also needed a few indecent pictures of her, which meant that he must have stolen her phone when he got close to her and returned it once he was done. I couldn't observe them, but the likeliest scenario was that he swiped the phone when he threatened to kill her and slipped it back when he was taking care of her attire once he was done with the 'photoshoot'.
I stretched my arms and fell back onto my bed.
Even though I couldn't answer the questions that plagued my mind, I chose to trust him. I believed that he let me watch not to threaten me, but because he wanted to put his trust in someone who might not turn away from his demonic nature.
Tomorrow would be a busy day, and the day after would entertain me in more ways than one. Since Kiyotaka had given me the go ahead, it meant that he would be done with Kushida before tomorrow night.
The investigators would need at least until then to find her.
Afterwards, they would use a similar excuse for Kushida's investigation and pull her aside during the later hours of the day, so that no rumors would begin to circulate through the school, similar to Kiyotaka's case. They had to move immediately for him, since there was a chance that the perpetrator could spread the pictures if it took them too long, but this wasn't a concern now.
Once she was done with her statement, they would waste no time before questioning my four classmates, since, as with Kiyotaka, they didn't want to give them enough room to spread the potential pictures. The four students we had chosen to target previously weren't anything special and gullible enough that this would work out without trouble.
Nagumo wouldn't be able to keep his cool after realizing that someone had attacked him.
Doubt would influence his thoughts and he would sabotage himself before Kiyotaka and I gave him the final push once we were done playing with him.
The next day was as beautiful as one could imagine.
Since I woke up rather early, I went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. It was a weird sensation when the own room felt foreign, since Kiyotaka's scent was nowhere to be found. I had showered in his room more often than in my own ever since I had the duplicate key made.
I wasn't in love with him or anything, but he was interesting, smart, mysterious, handsome and he smelled incredible. These reasons sound as if I was a maiden in love, but that was not at all the case.
He was the sole reason that the color returned to my dull, gray life, which is why I enjoyed the time I could spend with him. He harbored a side that few were allowed to see without ending up like Kushida.
As far as I knew, I was the only one.
After my shower, I prepared a light meal before heading outside.
The dorm was already bustling with activity, just like every morning. It was a shame that Kiyotaka lived in another one and was so far away from me. There were three dorms on campus, one for each year. Every time the third-years left, the new first-years took their place. This was the case with Kiyotaka's class, mine, and everyone else's before us as well.
While I was daydreaming, I ran into one of my classmates.
Not like a person would usually run into someone when you walk to school or anything.
I literally ran into him.
A dull sound echoed through the surroundings as the boy I crashed into stumbled forward.
"Watch where you are going."
My voice was bitter and sounded accusatory, as if he was the one at fault for this mess.
"Me? You were the one —" He turned around with an angered expression before paling like a sheet of paper. "K... Kiryuin-san!"
Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead as he stared at me with wide, quivering eyes.
"You were saying something?"
He backed away like a scared animal and flailed around.
"N-no. I mean... I didn't... I haven't... uh. Sorry that I ran into you, Kiryuin-san!"
He bowed down, turned around and scampered away.
What an idiot.
I pulled out my phone and typed around on it since I was bored.
After a few minutes, I reached our classroom and plopped down on my chair.
The whole class greeted me with bright smiles, but I just ignored them, as always.
I had no intention of mingling with such boring people.
"Kiryuin, you are early today."
A tall blonde-haired failure of a man who didn't even belong in this classroom stood in front of my desk.
The clock displayed the same time it always did when I arrived here.
I wouldn't make such a dumb mistake just because today would be an especially good one. He started this conversation because he needed something from me. Even though I already knew what he wanted, I made it seem like I didn't to play with him a bit.
"It's a little early for your usual round through the classrooms, no? What do you want, Nagumo?"
"Jeez, you're cold. You know that you are ruining your charm with that feisty attitude of yours, right?"
"My charm? You are just not good enough to draw out my charms."
His face flushed in anger.
It was easy to provoke him with specific topics and it was funny every single time.
"Tch! Have you reconsidered joining Class A and working with me? I may be the reason that you are in Class B now, but I never thought of you as undeserving of Class A."
He seemed annoyed by my antics and grimaced in dissatisfaction, but that was to be expected. I didn't know why, but he kept asking the same question again and again, and hoped for a different outcome.
Wasn't that the definition of insanity?
"If you can't answer that question yourself, you should really leave this school." I glanced towards the door. "Oh, your little fan club arrived. Turn around and smile, Mr. Notice Me Senpai."
"Good morning, Nagumo-san!"
"Miyabi! Morning!"
"Ohhh, Nagumo-chi! What are you doing here so early in the morning?"
He disregarded me with a frustrated shrug and spun around with a bright smile to face the girls that began to pour around him.
I never understood how a boring person like Nagumo managed to attract so many students. Compared to Kiyotaka, he was nothing but a speck of dust, even disregarding the formers superior abilities and looks.
Nagumo kept chatting with some of the Class B girls until it was time for classes. He separated from his fan club with a sorry expression and ambled back to his classroom.
Our lessons began as well and ended just as quickly.
Every single day I had to spend in this classroom was an insufferable amount of pain and sorrow.
How did Kiyotaka perceive days like this? Did he appreciate going to school? Was he enjoying the time he could spend together with his classmates and friends?
There were many questions I could not answer about him, not even the simplest things, like his favorite color or food.
Did he like sweets? If yes, then what kind? Chocolate, ice cream or something different?
For some strange reason, I cared about such insignificant details. This had never happened before. Yet, these harmless, regular questions were not all I was interested in.
What did he think about me? Was I just another one of his chess pieces, or was I something more? Did he consider me to be a genuine friend, or just someone who came over all the time and spent time with him? Was he aware of the reason for my advances, or was he frustrated and bothered by them? Had he seen something in me that prompted him to reveal himself?
I wasn't afraid to ask or hear the answers to those questions, but I had a rough idea how he would reply to each of them. Any normal person would feel angry, maybe even disgust or horror, when they saw his true demonic visage.
But I only felt intrigued and captivated.
What must have happened to Kiyotaka that caused him to act this way?
No person would just stand up one day and turn into such a man without a reason. There was a process involved, and I wanted to know more about him and the path he took to get here.
There was also the fact that he was clueless about some of the most common things. Someone with his intellect shouldn't have such obvious deficits, safe for the ones who never had a normal life to begin with.
So why didn't he have one? And what exactly happened to him?
The closest thing I could relate him to was someone who was raised in a laboratory. Such a person wouldn't know about certain customs and other such things, that normal people would deem natural. I found this idea quite amusing, but also tragic.
The possibility that something similar happened to him wasn't too low, after all.
"Let's go grab a bite, Nagata!"
"Sure..." The boy reached into his pocket to check his balance. "... ah, shit. I forgot my phone at my dorm room."
"You're such a blockhead. How did you cheat your way into Class B, anyway?"
The boy let out a light chuckle and smacked his friend's head.
"Shut up, Noya."
The group of four enjoyed themselves, not knowing that this would be their last day at this school.
Since Kiyotaka and I had decided to target a group in my class, I've been keeping tabs on every pawn that our selection criteria applied to. I made sure that those four had been with each other, and that nobody else could place them anywhere during that specific timeframe.
The initial goal was to expel a group of up to five people, which would have assured our spot as Class C next month. While it was still possible for us to drop to the lower class with four, it was not set in stone and depended on their and our performance this month.
But that much was more than enough, since downgrading my class wasn't our initial goal.
The boy I ran into this morning was none other than Nagata and a sly sneer crept up my face as I caressed the additional device in my pocket. My classmates made their way outside one after the other, which gave me some time to stash my phone inside the room.
The four joked around with each other and left as well, whereupon I began to follow them around.
If they were questioned and their devices would show the same general location as in their story, the investigators would believe that Nagata still had his phone on him during the day. If they kept our movement data for several days, it would also show that this was normal behavior for the four of them.
As long as they had the picture or the deleted data remnants on their phone, the school would have no choice but to expel them. I wondered what Kiyotaka had done about their GPS locations on that day, since he only said that everything would all work out if I just get the pictures onto their phones.
Did he know how long they were kept, or had he managed to alter them somehow? Was it possible to purchase the ability to purge such data or transform them to a certain degree?
Both possibilities were conceivable, but also incredibly dangerous for the school.
As far as the pictures go, we had already checked that the original time and date of the photo remained if we send them to someone without the use of our messenger. There was also no logging feature for such file transfers, which was why there would be no indication that a file was sent to the phone and not taken.
We could use this to our advantage and plant the evidence on their devices.
Even if they began to collect the metadata of the pictures in question, they wouldn't be able to gain any useful information, since everyone in this school used the same model.
Kiyotaka apparently came up with an easier and less physical option to accomplish this feat, but I wanted in on the fun, which is how I ended up tailing those four guys in front of me. I was intrigued by his imagination, since I hadn't figured out how he planned to transfer the pictures, but it would have been boring if I just sat on the sidelines while he took care of the whole performance.
I could ask him, of course, but I doubted that he would explain his approach to me. He was not only very secretive, but I also didn't want to show him my weaknesses. Knowing him, he would use this knowledge to his advantage somehow.
The five of us reached the Cafe, which was, as usual, filled with a plethora of students
In such a cramped space, it wouldn't be weird or unexpected that someone jostled you, because too many people wanted to find a seat or join their friends who had already saved a spot on the other side of the establishment.
It wasn't difficult to steal someone's phone in such an environment if a person was knowledgeable in the sacred art called sleight of hand.
The key was to overshadow the movements you would cause by removing the phone from their pockets. The pressure that was needed to mask such an action couldn't be too blatant, however, or the person in question might think that something was off.
I had tried the same tactic on Kiyotaka during our first meeting on the rooftop, but was beaten in my game as he managed to steal my phone while I couldn't even find the spot where he had hidden his.
As the four guys were patiently waiting for one of the tables to free up, I made my way over to Date and brushed past him. Due to all the busy people around this area, he didn't even notice that I was also here.
I unlocked his phone with the passcode I've seen him type in thousands of times and sent over a few of the pictures that I had saved on Nagata's device. Before he could notice that his phone was gone, I slipped it back into his pocket.
Afterwards, I repeated this sequence of actions for the second person.
During the whole time I kept rather close to them, in case one of these morons decided to check his phone. In such a situation, I could gain their attention while slipping the device back in before anyone missed it.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time for the third person, so I joined a group of Class B girls on the other side of the cafe and ordered a drink. They passed me a few questions from time to time, which I replied to with a short or joking answer, essentially behaving like always.
This wasn't the first time I had joined some random Class B group either, since I was usually too lazy to stand while I enjoyed my drink, so they thought nothing of my sudden appearance.
These four idiots couldn't stop talking about the movie they were going to watch after this, so I had already accepted my fate in sitting next to one of them, which would enable me to borrow his phone for a moment.
As luck would have it, their group ran into some Class A guys after leaving the Cafe, and a different opportunity presented itself. The classes in the second year knew each other rather well and weren't on bad terms during the peaceful school times, so it was no surprise that they began conversing with each other.
Despite Nagumo pushing us from our throne, he managed to rally everyone around him.
"I'm really jealous of you B guys, you know that, right?"
"Says the guy in Class A. Whose leg are you trying to pull?"
"I'd swap places with you anytime if I could spend some time with Kiryuin-san, even if it's just during the lessons."
The group of seven let out cheerful laughs and patted themselves on the shoulders while I could only shake my head.
"Spend time with her? Dude, all you could ever do is watch her from afar. She's too cold and doesn't spend time with anyone in our class. Kiryuin-san doesn't even care about Nagumo. You should have seen how she disregarded him this morning."
"Noya is right. It's gotten even worse the past month."
Well, because Kiyotaka was here. Everyone else was irrelevant.
"Watching Fuka-chan from afar is still spending time together, no?"
The Class A student elbowed Date with a disgusting grin.
"Damn you creep!"
The students began to holler around, but their laughter died down soon after I walked up behind Noya.
"What are you guys laughing about? I want in on the fun."
I entered their conversation with a smug smile on my face.
"K-k-kiryuin-san!"
The person who enjoyed watching me from afar shuddered, surprised by my sudden appearance.
"What? Uh... I forgot your name. Cat got your tongue?"
"Ahh... I'm Onizuka Eikichi, 18 years old. Single. YOROSHIKU!"
I ignored the guys whose name I had forgotten yet again and focused my attention on Noya.
"What about you? Do you also enjoy watching me from afar, No-ya-kun?"
My voice was arctic, as opposed to the sweet sounds that left my lips when I was with Kiyotaka.
With every syllable of his name, I pushed my finger deeper into his side, whereupon he winced. His erratic movements, due to this uncomfortable feeling, concealed my actions as I snatched his phone.
"W-what? There is no way..." His dry, nervous chuckle was apparently contagious as it spread through to the other guys in the group after they realized that I heard every word they exchanged. "We w-would never watch you from afar like some perverts. R-right g-guys?"
They nodded in the most pitiful attempt to salvage this situation.
"If I hear you guys talking about me again, we are going to have a word, alright?"
"Y-yes! Kiryuin-san!"
I slapped Noya's back twice with a wide, devious grin on my face. During this time, I slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned around with a satisfied smirk.
"Good boys."
I walked off and turned a corner, where I waited for the group to split up. I kept following them to the movies and took one of the free seats inside the showroom.
The rest of the day went by like that until the four of them split up in front of the dorms.
I shadowed Nagata until he stumbled into his room.
After a quick glance towards the entrance, I raised my hand and threw the phone down with all the strength I could muster.
The device cracked and split apart with a loud crashing sound.
"Ahhh, finally."
Even though it was my idea, I should tell Kiyotaka that today wasn't fun. Maybe he'll treat me to a nice dinner, or go on a date with me.
The latter seemed improbable, but a girl could hope...
"Good morning everyone, I have an announcement to make."
Our homeroom teacher trudged into the classroom like this. From his expression alone, everyone would realize that something must have happened. That, as well as the four missing students, of course.
"Your classmates Date Katsuhiko, Nagata Kazushi, Noya Shihei and Uzumaki Rai were expelled. They left the school premises last night. Are there questions?"
The faces of my classmates lost all color, as they glanced around like confused animals. They couldn't make sense of the sudden situation, since Nagumo had almost unified the whole year.
There shouldn't have been any attacks against our class.
Most of us knew that Nagumo wouldn't shy away from expelling students when he needed to, but these four were different. It would have been foolish of him to eliminate his own supporters.
If it wasn't him, someone else began to struggle for power.
Getting rid of four people at the same time was unprecedented in the history of this school, which meant that a formidable foe had appeared.
"Sensei, what was the reason for their expulsion?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. Don't think about spending points either. This information is not open for purchase."
The teacher shut down every incoming question.
Since we already knew that we could buy information like this, it was even more surprising that we weren't allowed to acquire any this time around. This alone would drive Nagumo close to insanity, because he could never find out what had happened for certain.
I snickered as I thought about the frustrated expression he must have been wearing at that moment.
Just a few moments after our lesson began, I received tons of messages. Since the frequency of new texts didn't dwindle, something must have happened.
"Sensei, could we turn off the cameras for a few minutes?"
Our homeroom teacher turned around, while my classmates regarded me with confused gazes. They knew that such a privilege could be bought, but they hadn't expected that I would use this option out of nowhere.
"You know the price."
"It won't take long."
The teacher pulled out his phone and tapped around on it before giving me a nod. Before I could even pick up mine, he continued his lesson as if nothing had happened.
I grew confused as I scrolled through the notifications that had arrived since they all originated from the same class. It didn't take a long time to realize that four Class B students had left the school premises forever.
Even worse, there was no way to figure out why they were expelled.
A frown appeared on my face as I've read through their names with clenched fists.
"Which piece of shit attacked me..."
My classmates turned around after listening to my mumblings. Since the cameras were shut off, they began to whisper amongst each other. They as well had friends in Class B and the news spread like wildfire.
Shit...
The resentment he must have felt after all his hard work went to naught should have been next to unbearable. Nagumo, who was about to unify the whole second-year under his banner, lost miserably against an enemy he didn't see coming.
How were you supposed to defend against such a foe?
The faith of the ones who followed him without question was shaken to their roots and his growing paranoia, which would surface from now on, wouldn't help him in his endeavour to salvage the situation at all.
Little did he know that this was only the beginning.