Chapter 155 - Classroom of the Elite: Checkmate 18

Chapter 18 - Critical Position

"Damn, Ayanokouji... Your girlfriend is scary. Please protect me from now on."

Sudou's whole body shuddered as he recalled the merciless words Chiaki spoke when she pressed for the expulsion of all three Class C students without hesitation.

Her voice had been eerily calm throughout the whole exchange, which scared him more than expected. For him, she was his savior, but for them, their greatest nightmare. Sudou must have been thankful that she was on our side and not someone else's.

I couldn't deny his sentiments, however.

Chiaki was far more ruthless than anticipated.

Thanks to her, everything had worked out for us, even without my intervention into the events, which meant that I could depend on her abilities in the future if the need arose. Maybe I would get to spend some more time as I wished, thanks to my wonderful girlfriend.

"I think you'll be fine if you behave from now on."

I was about to lean against the wall to wait for Chiaki, but Sudou had other ideas.

"I will! I swear! Tell her that, would you?" He kept rocking my shoulders back and forth with a nervous, almost fearful expression before he turned to Sakura, who stood beside us. "And you..." She flinched, surprised by his sudden interest in her. "... thank you so much for helping me. I'm sorry that I put you in that position!"

He bowed down in front of her, whereupon Sakura stared at both of us with wide eyes. Her hands and fingers moved and began to squirm in a panic as she took two steps back. She wasn't used to such a heartfelt, genuine acknowledgement of her courage, so she didn't know how to behave under these circumstances.

"N-no. There is n-no need to t-thank m-me, S-sudou-kun."

The beaming girl lowered her head, overstrained yet happy that she could not only be of help in this situation, but also that her statement during the discussion had actually made a difference for him.

Due to her determination, the outcome had changed to our advantage.

"Sudou-kun is right, Ayanokouji-kun. The way Matsushita-san handled everything was really amazing." She softened her voice and peeked at me with quivering eyes. "But she's also super scary sometimes..."

My pawn shuddered as well as she remembered that she almost began to weep during and after her testimony, while Chiaki was so confident in her abilities and herself that she dared to cut off a teacher during the trial.

It was not surprising that both of them were caught off-guard, since her behavior had surprised even me. The way she had handled herself throughout the discussion was nothing short of marvelous.

Chiaki had utilized every weak point they had exposed during the trial without mercy and buried the enemy under a cluster of facts, evidence and expert statements after realizing that neither of these three goons could have orchestrated such an attack on us.

The only real danger in the room had been Sakagami-sensei, who turned out to be much less passive than our own homeroom teacher, but she still managed to stop him from interfering with an imaginative stroke of reasoning after he interjected and obstructed her plan once.

Her cunning hadn't stopped there, however, as she even used Horikita Manabu against the three Class C students to get the emotional Tachibana on her side. Even though she wasn't able to play this card during the trial, she began to prepare everything in case she needed it.

To sum it up, Chiaki did her homework and executed her own plan to perfection.

I should have been happy with what she had achieved, but I wondered how all of this had turned out if the mastermind had attended the trial as well. Would she have been able to outmaneuver him? Was she quick enough on her feet to figure out potential traps and pitfalls in a short amount of time?

My girlfriend and the two student council members strolled out of the room a few moments after my analysis of the events concluded. Tachibana locked the door while Chiaki walked up to me with a conflicted smile on her face.

The student council president strode after her and stopped as our eyes met.

"Ayanokouji, it's nice to see you again. Matsushita is quite something, isn't she? I heard that the two of you are a couple. I guess congratulations are in order."

All of my classmates glanced at me with more or less surprised expressions after the student council president addressed me. Due to the trial, they had recognized that the elder Horikita held a powerful position in the school, which begged the question how the two of us had gotten to know each other.

"It was quite a surprise to be running into you today, Horikita-senpai. Chiaki was indeed really cool back there. I'm glad that she asked me to accompany her today, even though I did little to help."

Chiaki blushed, grabbed onto my arm and rubbed her head against my shoulder.

The student council president regarded us with his usual deadpan expression until Tachibana walked up to him. Her two buns bounced around as she looked up to the elder Horikita with reverence.

"Well then, we won't be intruding on you any further. Please relay my greetings to Suzune."

"Will do."

"Goodbye, Horikita-senpai."

Sudou and Sakura just bowed while Horikita's brother left. The steps of the two council members grew softer until they eventually vanished in the distance. After a few moments, only the four of us were left in this empty, almost eerie corridor.

"That's quite a surprise, Kiyotaka. I didn't know that you and Horikita-senpai are acquainted."

Chiaki voiced the question that had been on all of their minds.

"Oh, that... we don't know each other that well, I guess. I ran into him on my way to Chabashira-sensei one day and he asked me how Suzune was doing. He figured that I ought to know best since we were seatmates. Why he didn't ask his sister directly is beyond me, though."

Sudo furrowed his brows before he glanced at me in surprise.

"Wait, wait, wait... hold up a moment. Your seatmate Horikita? Our Horikita? Wait... Suzune? They are siblings?"

The love-struck boy couldn't believe my words as he stared after his potential brother-in-law, who had long since vanished from our view. Sakura was just as surprised by this revelation as he was, which meant that only a few students must have formed the connection through their names.

Chiaki, for instance, hadn't reacted with surprise and had only nodded as if she understood everything.

"Well, anyway... we should celebrate, right? I mean, those punks had it coming messing with us! It's my treat so don't worry about your balances! I'm inviting all of you to Ayanokouji's room!"

"Wait, what?"

Both of our female companions began to laugh as my monotone voice rang through the deserted hallway.

I doubted that Sudou had enough points to even treat himself, but I kept quiet as not to spoil the current atmosphere. Since everyone was in a good mood, Sakura could feel more at ease than usual as well. With a little luck, she might be able to pluck up the courage to branch out to different people with whom she could grow close to in the future.

She seemed comfortable talking to Chiaki, so maybe they could become good friends as time passed.

On our way out of the building, we ran into two familiar faces.

"Yahoo! You guys are late!"

Ichinose waved, full of vigor, while Kanzaki stood beside her as stern as usual. He threw us a smile when he took note of the relieved expressions we all wore as we walked towards them.

"You were waiting for us?"

"Of course, we wanted to know what happened."

Class B's leader made a small hop and clapped her hands. Her eyes sparkled with genuine interest about how we managed to overcome a situation that was stacked against us from the very beginning.

"Sudou was found innocent and the Class C students were expelled."

"W-what?"

Her previous smile faltered after these unexpected words.

Both Kanzaki and Ichinose were shocked beyond belief.

As far as they knew, breaking even would have been troublesome enough, but getting them expelled should have been close to impossible with the proof Chiaki had shared with them and us before the trial began.

"C-congratulations, but... what happened? The body of evidence was slim at best. How did you manage to turn it around like that? Expelling a student, much less three, shouldn't have been this simple, right?"

The strawberry-blonde beauty wasn't too happy about this unforeseen outcome.

Even though they hadn't been her classmates and were probably part of the faction that had attacked her class during the last month, she didn't take this news as pleasant ones. She was happy that the truth prevailed, but the price those students had to pay left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

If Ichinose had been in Chiaki's shoes, she would have pushed for a suspension rather than straight up expulsion, or she would have ignored the video evidence altogether if she didn't need to use it. She might have also tried to strike a deal with Class C's shot-caller beforehand, so that no one would have gotten into too much trouble.

This was the mindset the person called Ichinose Honami characterized.

"At first Chiaki managed to convince the student council that Sudou was innocent and that Class C had laid a trap for him, just like you and Kanzaki assumed. This resulted in a warning for them as well as a harsh wake-up call for Sudou, since he barely scratched past suspension. That's when we all celebrated, but Chiaki had yet another piece of evidence she hadn't shown before, which was an entire video of the altercation from start to finish. The three students stated that they were planning on setting him up and the rest had turned out as Sudou had explained multiple times."

Since I was the most familiar with them, I recounted how the trial went according to the information in my possession. My girlfriend hadn't interjected either, so I deemed it fine to inform them of the details.

"But... this... How? There were no cameras, right? You checked with Horikita-san, didn't you? Kanzaki-kun and I also investigated the location and came up empty-handed. Where... did that video come from?"

Chiaki shook her head and shrugged.

"I don't know either. It was sent to me in the middle of the discussion by an anonymous number."

The two puzzled Class B students fell into a deep state of contemplation.

There wasn't much to figure out at this stage, since we were missing important clues to narrow down the mystery person's true identity. The only upside was that they didn't need to gather any more information to make a few preliminary assumptions that would narrow it down.

For one, they could be certain that no one in Class B had sent Chiaki the message, otherwise they would have done so sooner, or informed Ichinose, at least. This was also true for Class C, because it wouldn't make sense to expel their own. If someone in Class D had held onto this video, they would have most likely sent it to Chiaki before the trial instead of during the meeting.

With this, we could exclude almost all the first-years, which limited the potential sender to Class 1-A, as well as the second- and third-years.

Ichinose and Kanzaki would rule out the upperclassmen if their train of thought carried them this far, because they would falsely assume that the senpais couldn't interfere in the lower classes, which I had proven false by expelling students from the second-year with Kushida.

The adorable Class B girl peeked at me for a moment before heaving a sigh.

"Well, what's done is done. They lied to harm another student and had to pay the appropriate price. Even though expulsion is harsh, if Horikita-senpai himself decided that, then I'm sure it was a reasonable punishment."

"Do you know the student council president well, Ichinose-san?"

Chiaki tilted her head, confused by the way she had talked about the elder Horikita.

"Oh... You weren't with us when I told my class, right?" She let out a cute laugh and averted her head as if she felt embarrassed before dropping a bomb. "I got accepted into the student council!"

"Wow, really? Congratulations, Ichinose-san."

"Damn, congratulations."

"C-congratulations..."

"Thank you, thank you."

My girlfriend glanced at me as she realized that I hadn't congratulated her.

Since Ichinose and Kanzaki weren't surprised by my silence, she must have figured that I was informed beforehand. Her thought process was indeed correct, since I knew that she got accepted for some time already.

"That's nothing to worry about. But how is it? Working for the student council?"

Ichinose wore a bright smile and gave two thumbs up.

"It's exhausting but really rewarding. I'm glad I got accepted after all. At first Horikita-senpai declined, but I kept trying and a few weeks later Tachibana-senpai called and notified me that he had reconsidered my application and I got in. I felt out of place at first, but everyone was super nice to me during my adaption period."

Damn, this girl was beyond gorgeous when she was happy...

After our group separated from the Class B leadership, we strolled over to the dorms and made our way into my room in order to celebrate Sudou's innocence with everyone who had helped him.

This list would have included quite a few people since a majority of the class had asked around for a witness, so he cut it down without mercy. In the end, only Kushida and Ike joined us. Hirata had been invited as well, but he declined because he was on a date with Karuizawa. I also called Horikita after Sudou kept bothering me for at least ten minutes since I was the only one who had her number, but she said that she was busy and didn't intend to take part in the festivities.

Sudou was heartbroken after her blatant disregard for his feelings, which came as no surprise. Kushida tried her best to cheer him up, but even she needed some time to pull him out of his misery after this painful reminder that my neighbor didn't care about him.

I was pretty sure that Horikita wasn't busy, since she had picked up almost immediately, but I kept this piece of information to myself because Sudou would probably start weeping again.

The party went on for a while as drinks and snacks were served.

Even though Sudou said that it was his treat, most of the snacks were mine, since he had pulled them out of my drawers. The only things he had bought were the refreshments, which he had gulped down himself. Despite this shameless thievery, everyone enjoyed themselves over the course of the afternoon.

Sakura was still timid and uncomfortable around people, but she managed to take part in a few conversations with Chiaki and Kushida, who tried to help her acclimate to the unusual surroundings. It was easier if the girls talked to her, so I was quite thankful for their thoughtfulness.

After multiple, long and arduous rounds of talks, chats and other discussions, evening arrived.

The first ones to leave were, unsurprisingly, Sudou and Ike. As per usual, neither of them had any intention of cleaning up the mess they had made and wobbled out of the room with the pretext of being drunk on orange juice, or something equally absurd.

The girls stayed behind and helped me clean up, even though I had told them that it would be fine. They insisted on doing at least that much after intruding, just like the last time I had them over.

Kushida and Sakura said their farewells after everything was in order and ambled back towards their own apartments, leaving Chiaki and me behind in mine.

As the door shut, silence descended upon the once lively room.

My girlfriend blushed to such a degree that she could have put Sakura to shame as she realized that we were the only people left at my place. She didn't mind being here when others were with us, but it seemed like this alone time changed the situation for the worse.

"Y-your room is really nice. A little simplistic, but neat and tidy."

Chiaki looked through my room and roamed around with light steps. Her gaze wandered from the kitchen area, over to the bathroom door, to the bed and back to the entrance, where she found something to talk about.

"I see you like chess, Kiyotaka?"

She ambled towards the three chessboards in the corner and picked up the red king before twirling it around in her fingers with a curious glance. After setting the piece back down on the correct position, she spun around, awaiting my answer.

"I think it's a fun game, although I'm not that proficient. It's more like thinking 'wow, playing the piano is kind of cool', but being unable to do so. I know the rules of chess, of course, but that's pretty much all there is to it."

She snickered and twisted one of the boards with her index finger.

"I guess I know what you mean. But why did you buy three boards? And why the four player variant? Did you think that a few plants were too boring for your advanced interior design?"

"Oh, well... I'm not very good with plants. I could probably kill a cactus by accident. The chessboards were more of an impulse purchase, since I got them in a three for the price of one discount. I wanted one anyway, since it's fun playing with friends, so getting three was fine with me. Even if I don't need the other two, I could turn a profit if I sell the remaining ones. That's what I thought, at least, but I'm too lazy to sell them and they don't look too shabby as part of my interior, I think."

I walked towards the kitchen and began to boil water to prepare some tea.

"Hmm, maybe I should buy you a cactus. If I come over frequently, we should be able to keep him alive, don't you think?" She peeked at me with an adorable blush before averting her gaze from embarrassment. "Or maybe we just leave those chess boards alone for now, hahaha..."

"If you want to buy us a cactus, I won't complain."

Chiaki fumbled around with her hands as she lowered her head and changed the topic.

"Hey... about before, during the trial. What did you think of... you know..."

"About what you did?"

I walked over to my bed and sat down before tapping the spot beside me.

Her face once again flushed in a deep-crimson color as she made her way over to me. She brushed away her skirt and relaxed beside me before continuing to play with her fingers.

"Yeah. I thought a lot about it and I mean, those were three people we are talking about. Destroying their future at a prestigious school like this because of what they did... it feels wrong."

My hand grasped onto hers as I began to caress over her fingers.

Chiaki's thoughts were understandable for a normal, reliable and decent human being that grew up in a healthy environment. Even though they had tried to weaken our class, they were still people, and she felt horrible for paying them back in kind.

In the White Room, this would have been called weakness.

Here, in the real world, however, it was called compassion.

"Even though your actions sound cruel on paper, I think you made the right decision. They were coming after us and they probably wouldn't have stopped with just Sudou either, so retaliation sounds fair to me. Your actions protected all of us, so I don't think that they were a mistake. You are also reflecting on the steps and measures you took and feel bad about them, so you are definitely not a bad person, if that's what you thought."

The scent of peonies made its way through my nostrils as she leaned onto my shoulder and rubbed my hand. The odor was faint, since she had rinsed her hair some time ago, but it was still discernable now that she was so close to me.

"I did well, right?"

"Mh..." I nodded, leaning my head into hers. "You did really well. I'm proud of my adorable girlfriend, who's not only beautiful but also smart and fearless in front of a teacher."

A charming giggle escaped her enticing lips as she threw me an innocent, yet strangely inviting peek.

"D-don't I... like... you k-know... deserve a r-reward then?"

The aftermath of this celebration turned into quite a difficult situation.

How was I supposed to know what kind of reward she deserved for something like that? Did she want to go out or have a meal? Should I cook for her or did she want to visit a restaurant of sorts? But maybe this had nothing to do with food and she wanted another present?

Since she sat right in front of me, I had no time to ask anyone who might have known the answer. My only choice was to keep pretending that I know exactly what she wanted and hope that I could figure it out before the time arrived.

"Mhh... I guess you do."

"R-right?"

Chiaki's heartbeat sped up as she faced me with an even deeper crimson-colored expression. Both her pulse and temperature climbed, which made the skin above her carotid artery throb in quick periodic cycles. She kept gazing into my eyes with her quivering ocean-blue orbs.

The way she looked at me, stared at her own appearance, which reflected from my pupil and iris, reminded me of someone. Because of this hint, everything I had doubts about clicked into place.

The reward she yearned for...

I knew exactly what it was.

Confirming my assumption, Chiaki closed her eyes and leaned forward.

This would mark my first kiss if I ignored the one she had planted on my cheek back on the rooftop. As far as I was informed, a cheek kiss couldn't be considered as someone's first. In addition, this would be the first one I reciprocated, or initiated, even.

I wasn't too sure which action counted as initiation, but this was beside the point.

My first unforced kiss.

My own choice.

How would her lips feel on mine? How would she taste? Should I use my tongue or leave it at a normal kiss on the lips for a few seconds? Which time span would be the right amount to hold contact? Was this perhaps too soon for our first kiss? Where would I need to put my lips? Would it feel weird or bad if I made a mistake?

Questions I had no answers to popped into my mind one after the other.

My thoughts began to race, slowing down my perception of time.

Due to my unawareness of these topics, I decided to run a few simulations with different actions before determining the one that would produce the most satisfactory result for both of us.

As with Fuka's simulation, this one began with our lips almost touching. From there, I could formulate the perfect responses to every move she might make. About two-thirds of people tipped their heads to the right during a kiss, which meant that I could cut down on the time required to calculate if I neglected to run samples for a left-sided head tilt.

From there, I could analyze the movements of her lips.

Depending on how her levator labii superioris pulled her lip upwards, I needed to adjust my own muscle movements for this region. In the same sense, I had to accommodate for her depressor labii inferioris, which lowered her lip downwards. There were, of course, even more muscle regions in play, but these two were the most important ones to take note of.

With this information, I could extrapolate —

As I was about to run my first sample after confirming the theory behind the muscle movements of our lips, I realized something groundbreaking.

This wasn't how a kiss between two lovers was supposed to work.

My over-analyzation would ruin the sacred act that is known as 'first kiss'. It would not only spoil this once in a lifetime opportunity for the girl who had opened her heart up to me, but also for myself.

I canceled all the concurrent simulations I had prepared as time resumed.

There was no need to anticipate or perfect the actions that were about to follow. Here, just this once, mistakes were permitted. They didn't matter, because this process should be something natural between both parties instead of a perfect artificial execution of a specific sequence of actions I had calculated in advance.

The distance between our lips decreased as the seconds passed.

Her warm breath, which caressed mine just before the touch, was overwhelming the receptors on my skin. She still smelled like the green tea she had sipped during the celebration as her lips closed in on my own.

Without the simulations to prepare myself, I chose to lean in further.

This was yet another first time for me.

And then everything blanked out for a moment.

Chiaki's lips were as soft as cotton candy, almost like a pillow made of clouds you might throw yourself into after a difficult day. The scent of green tea mixed with the fragrance of peonies from her hair, which shuffled around, creating a whole new aroma for the receptors in my nostrils to experience.

The insecurities I held before vanished like long-lost memories as our lips nestled into each other without trouble due to their inherent shape and form. Contrary to my previous thoughts, the kiss didn't taste like anything, but a warm, fuzzy feeling spread through my nervous system as I brushed against her smooth and comfortable lips.

With most of my previous questions answered, I pulled away.

My girlfriend opened her eyes with a feverish yet innocent and shy gaze, not daring to meet mine. Her rosy cheeks shone in the light as nothing but our heavy breaths, synchronized heartbeats, and the boiling water for my tea could be perceived inside the otherwise silent room.

I wanted to feel her a bit more, maybe just a little longer...

After caressing over her chin, I tilted her head upwards, not allowing her to hide this captivating sight of her adorable, blushing face any longer.

Her eyes shimmered as I moved in once again.

"You are seriously too cute..."

"G-good morning, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Good morning... Sakura."

It was quite surprising to be greeted by her first thing in the morning, which was demonstrated by the other students' curious expressions after hearing her voice, since it was the first time for some of them.

Yesterday's discussion seemed to have lit a small but rich spark in her pursuit of changing herself. These shifts were only subtle as of now, but her overall confidence differed from before. Not only had her sitting posture changed and courage risen, her overall outlook towards this school and her future in it had transformed for the better.

These changes didn't mean that she would suddenly appear as self-confident and social as Kushida or Hirata, but she was working on her timid and meek bearing one step at a time. She took the plunge during the trial with which she had already accomplished one of the hardest steps.

After greeting Sakura, I ambled towards my desk.

Horikita already sat at her own and regarded me with her usual complacent expression. She nodded at me and returned to her book before I could reciprocate her kind gesture.

I guess I'll convey the elder Horikita's greeting later...

"G-good morning, Matsushita-san."

"G-good morning, Sakura-san. Once again, thank you for yesterday. You helped us out a lot."

Chiaki's voice was loud and clear for everyone to hear.

This was her way of taking care of Sakura and making sure that no one would talk badly about her. Since she was our de facto leader, she had a lot of sway over the class during critical times like this one had been. By thanking her, she elevated her reputation, at least by a little.

"A-ah... n-no it's not like I did a-anything really so..."

While Sakura tried to downplay her own bravery and overshadow her discomfort, Chiaki raised her hand and held it out in front of her, ready to receive a high five for a job well done.

Our timid classmate hesitated for a few moments before plucking up the courage to act.

"Yay!"

"Y-yay..."

She was still clumsy and awkward, but she tried her best to fix these bad habits and improve her low opinion of herself. It would take a lot of time and effort, but I believed that she could accomplish her goal at a decent pace.

"Good morning, K-kiyotaka!"

"Good morning... Chiaki?"

She was apprehensive during her greeting, which strayed far from her natural modus operandi. Her voice was quiet yet shrill and at least an octave higher than usual. The reason for her unnatural behavior didn't need to be mentioned, but I had hoped that she had somehow prepared herself for the emotions that were flooding her conscious.

The tracking hounds of Class D, mainly Karuizawa, Satou and Kushida, realized that something was amiss the second she had walked in and greeted Sakura. Without a moment's delay, the three of them scurried around her desk to discover the secret Matsushita Chiaki was hiding.

This was going to end horribly...

"G-good morning, S-sudou-kun."

The delinquent turned around with a bewildered expression.

"Eh? Yo, Sakura! How are you doing?"

Successfully greeting Chiaki and my humble self must have given her a small confidence boost which she had consumed in order to greet Sudou, who trudged into the classroom with Ike in tows.

"Ah... I'm good. Thank y-you. I'm.."

"Morning Sakura-chan!"

"E-ehh? H-hello... I-ike-kun."

He tilted his head with a pained expression.

"What kind of greeting is that? You are breaking my heart, Sakura-chan! Why does Sudou get a proper one? Something's seriously going wrong here. First Ayanokouji gets a girlfriend and now this!"

Our class squirrel shrunk back and looked around for someone who might be able to help her out of this sudden, unexpected situation she was confronted with.

"Ehhhh? I... uhm... wuuuuu..."

"Oi, stop messing with her, you jerk."

Sudou's flat hand slapped the back of Ike's head, who bowed forward in response.

"Ouch! I'm just joking! Joking!"

An embarrassed, almost inaudible chuckle escaped Sakura's pursed lips.

Even though Ike was one of the worst perverts in this class and consistency damaging my brain with his antics, he was quite adept at talking to people and making a fool out of himself to make them feel at ease.

Sometimes, at least.

Just like Sudou, I believed that his heart was in the right place.

His previous complaint might have been irrelevant and dumb, but it would help Sakura deal with different people who might express themselves with jokes and such things, just like he did. She still had trouble differentiating between seriousness and fun when she was confronted with certain remarks, but she would only improve in time.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!"

The crowd of girls that had formed around Chiaki squealed in unison after they had finally cracked her. A few glances flew my way afterwards, but I ignored their gazes as well as I could under these circumstances. None of them came over to ask questions, so I assumed that my girlfriend had protected me this time around.

The boys wondered about their conduct as well, since the girls' reactions were quite intense, which is why it didn't take long until the first part-time delinquent walked up to me with a grim expression.

"Oy, Ayanokouji! What was that about?"

His voice was deeper than usual as he gave off the feeling that he would beat me up if I didn't respond him honestly, or if the answer I supplied him with was insufficient or unacceptable.

"Nothing much. Probably Chiaki telling them that we kissed yesterday."

"YOU DID WHAT?! AYANAKOUJI YOU DAMN TRAITOR!" He jumped forward, grabbing my collar. "How could you do this?! Think about me and Sudou! But mostly about me! How could you leave us here, alone? How could you?!"

Ike's melodramatic act angered Horikita to such a degree that she stabbed him over a dozen times with her compass, which was rather unusual. The boy in question screamed and writhed on the ground in agony while my other classmates spun around with confused gazes, wondering what the fuss was about.

Sakura watched this exchange with one crying and one laughing eye.

This situation was quite funny, but Horikita's ruthless stabbing left her in shock. She had no intention of meddling in their business, which was a good decision considering her current social abilities.

My pawn might have taken a few steps forward, but she was still shy and insecure beneath her facade, especially in front of strangers or other classmates she didn't know that well, like Horikita. Rushing this change would be a mistake, because it was much safer taking such a long and arduous journey at a slow pace.

She had also made friends who would take care of her on this pilgrimage, so there was no need to worry.

A few minutes later, Chabashira-sensei strode in and homeroom began.

She notified us that the issue had been officially settled yesterday and that we should have already received our points for June. Some of my classmates had questions, since none of us had informed them what exactly happened.

"So Sudou-kun was innocent, just like everyone said, right? Then what happened to the students who set him up? I mean, the least we deserve are a few extra points from their class or something for our troubles, no?"

Karuizawa, who was running low on points, made a fair point to increase her balance.

"There won't be any extra points for you. The culprits were expelled for their actions and Sudou's violent outburst was pardoned this time. You can count yourself lucky that he wasn't suspended."

"Expelled?"

Hirata dropped his pen, which rolled over his desk and fell to the ground.

Chabashira-sensei heaved a sigh and explained what had transpired during the discussion, which caught everyone in the classroom by surprise. Not only had we somehow received much needed information, but Chiaki's brisk demands shook our classmates to the core.

Our knight in shining armor wasn't pleased by her announcement, since he would have preferred for everyone to stay at the school, similar to Ichinose. In contrast to him, most of my other classmates were happy that the perpetrators had been punished.

He forced a weak smile and picked up his pen in silence because he didn't want to drag down the mood.

After classes ended, I went over to Sakura to figure out what her plans were.

"Are you free today?"

"Um, today's... not good. I have something planned. Would tomorrow be alright?"

She averted her gaze and glanced at her desk with a nervous expression.

"Yeah, that sounds good. See you tomorrow then."

"Yes. See you tomorrow Ayanokouji-kun."

After leaving the classroom, I messaged Fuka to meet up with me, and Kushida to follow Sakura and inform me of her location until I caught up with them.

The pre-show was over and now was the time for the main act to begin.

"Why are we following that bitch?"

"Hmm, today was a good day for her, don't you think? She made huge progress by greeting everyone that was in my room yesterday and managed to laugh about Ike and Sudou. Aren't you proud of your classmates accomplishments?"

Kushida ambled after me with a rather unhappy expression. She heaved a deep sigh and shook her head.

"Urgh... of course you wouldn't answer me seriously. Can you at least tell me how long this is going to take? I still have a few errands to run, most of them to gather information for you."

"I didn't know you were such a busy bee... but I can't really answer your question in a reasonable scope, because I don't know how long it will take either. Maybe today isn't the day after all, but we should keep up with her to find out."

The subject of our observation made her way through the busy school grounds. We followed her through the park and past our previous meeting point until we closed in on multiple stores that were spread around the area.

"Give me your phone."

My queen handed me the device in question after unlocking it with her passcode.

I tapped around on it for a bit before opening the camera function and took a few pictures of Kushida's cleavage and a short video of her thighs to check if everything was in order.

Afterwards, I glanced around the area.

Sakura trudged towards the electronics store we had visited before and stopped at the door. Her hand already took hold of the handle, but she wasn't able to overcome her inhibitions about opening the lion's den just yet.

A few seconds passed until she took a deep breath and entered.

"What's that damn cow doing here? Is she getting the camera? You know, the one you guys went to drop off here? God, can this stupid cunt be any slower? I have places to be in contrast to a tits-for-brains bitch like her."

Her foul mouth was as charming as always.

"No such thing. The clerk said that the camera would be done in about two weeks due to the influx of repairs and a few parts he needed to order and wait for before he could begin."

"Then what the fuck is she doing here?"

"You'll know soon. If everything proceeds as anticipated, I need you to follow my commands without question or hesitation, since we will have little leeway. But first, let's find us a cozy place to hide." I pointed towards a suitable location near the alley behind the store. "How about there?"

She followed my lead with a slight, uncertain nod.

We reached our vantage point, which gave us a nice, clear view of the backside of the electronics store while also providing us with much needed cover. In other words, a place void of people and their curious gazes.

I received a message which simply read 'thanks', informing me that the man had locked the front door and turned the sign around to inform potential customers that the store was currently unoccupied. After deleting the message, I kept an eye on the back entrance, which was void of CCTV.

Since he had been working inside the shop for quite a while, he knew that the store's entrance and counter area on the customer side were filmed by security cameras. Sakura's reaction would betray the contents of their conversation, even without audio, which is why the man wouldn't stay inside.

"Seriously, what are we doing here?"

She pulled on the hem of my uniform and threw me a quizzical look.

"Do you remember Shizuku's blog?"

"Of course, I showed it to you, after all. What does her blog have to do with anything?"

"You haven't read the comments, have you? We weren't the only ones who had noticed that Shizuku, or rather Sakura, was a student at this school and continued to take pictures on the school grounds."

My queen furrowed her brows and glanced towards the store before her head jerked back to face me.

"Wait. You mean the store clerk?"

"He's a rather peculiar person with a taste for teenage girls, it seems. And he likes Shizuku... A little too much, if you understand. When I visited his shop with Sakura, his disgusting intentions were rather obvious."

The rear entrance opened just before Sakura and the store clerk walked out. Our classmate seemed scared and tried to get away from him, while the man grew more agitated due to her negative stance towards his explanations.

I pressed the big red button on Kushida's phone after making sure that only video and no audio were recorded.

"How did you know that something like this would happen?"

"It wasn't hard to tell that he had trouble controlling his urges after observing him during the camera drop-off. His behavior wasn't only nauseating, but also disrespectful towards any human being. There were multiple messages by a certain user under every picture Sakura had posted. At first, his messages were normal, compliments about her figure or choice of clothing, her hairstyle and stuff like that. These harmless messages soon escalated into an obsession of sorts, which only increased in intensity when she began uploading pictures from inside the school grounds."

"Sakura-chan!"

Spit and saliva flew out of his mouth as he stumbled after her. He reached his sweaty hands out in order to grasp onto her arm, which she pulled back in fear and disgust.

"Please don't contact me anymore!"

Just as expected, an unstable individual like this wouldn't give up such twisted 'love' without a fight. If the girl of his dreams and sleepless nights turned him down, he would break down and fall into ruin.

Kushida's eyes widened as Sakura's barely audible voice reached our ears.

Even though her emphasis was weak, she managed to get her message across with the strong conviction she had put behind each word. Despite her better judgement, Sakura had chosen to take care of this issue on her own, because she believed that she was ready to face him after everything she had accomplished until now.

"Are we going to help her, then?"

My queen grew uneasy the longer we observed the exchange in front of us.

She knew better than anyone what was about to unfold before us.

Kushida, as a near-rape victim herself, realized that this man was dangerous and that his actions and thoughts would turn darker and more violent the harsher Sakura's rejection towards him was.

"Help her?" I tilted my head as if she had said something unreasonable. "Of course not. The two of us are just going to watch how this scene turns out, no matter what happens to her."

Her pupils constricted in fear in response to my distant, apathetic words.

Kushida had first hand experience in how a person like Sakura would end up after such a traumatic experience. She, who still had nightmares due to what I had done to her, couldn't believe that I did nothing to save another from suffering the same fate, even though I could have stepped in much sooner.

"No..."

The girl beside me lowered her head and began to rough up her hair as she kept repeating this single word like a chant or a curse until her whole body trembled under the psychological pressure that weighed down on her.

"Please... Ayanokouji-kun... No... please..." My classmates breathing grew rugged and uneven as she stared at me with her horrified, shuddering orbs. "Please... let me go. I don't want to see... I can't... please..."

"No can do. I still need you, so you stay."

"I... understand..."

Kushida glared at her shivering, ashen hands and clenched her chest as if she was having another panic attack. While she was trying to pacify herself with her right, her left kept hitting her forehead as she uttered a few familiar words, like a chant.

"This is all your fault..."

The boy, clad in nothing but a white gown, glowered at me.

I didn't know his name, number, or age, but he shouldn't have been much older than eight or nine. His strong reaction surprised me, however, since I had long since lost the ability to emit such complex emotions.

"My fault...?"

It wasn't like I didn't understand his statement, but I couldn't see how I was at fault for the situation the subjects had found themselves in. Around a week ago, we had seen some of the other subjects for the first time after the project manager decided that our solitary study session and exercise plans would be changed to joint classes.

Thirty children had vanished in these past seven days.

According to the youth in front of me, this had been my fault.

"Yes, your fault! You are the reason that the examinations keep getting harder for everyone. We'll all end up like 045, 058, 117 and the others because of you! Just because you can't stop improving all the time. Why are you doing this?!"

The boy's angered voice echoed through the white, sterile environment.

But this time, I really didn't understand the question.

They, just like me, took the examinations as well as the physical and mental training routines without complaints. All of them knew that the subjects who didn't pass a certain threshold or broke down were disposed of.

If I stopped to improve, I would cease to exist.

The White Room was that simple.

So why...?

"Why is it my fault that you are so weak?"

Kushida followed the confrontation in front of us with half-closed eyes. She couldn't bear witnessing much more of this man's relentless attempts at sweet-talking Sakura into accepting his love. Tears formed in her eyes as she whispered incomprehensible gibberish to herself.

What exactly took place in Kushida Kikyou's mind in that moment?

It was a well kept secret that she didn't like most of her classmates. Sakura was one of the girls she despised the most because she was just a timid and stupid girl with nothing to show. After we had found about Shizuku, she was henceforth dubbed, 'the shy bitch with cow-milkers'.

I didn't know how Kushida came up with such insults, or why she disliked her classmates and half the school to such a degree, but maybe this was her way of dealing with some insecurities she had to work through, which might explain her need for love and recognition from everyone.

My queen despised Sakura's weak and pitiful nature and had shown no signs whether she wanted to keep her from harm. Ever since she had asked if I would help her, she worried more about herself and her own mental health than about Sakura and what might happen to her if we kept watching.

How would she have reacted if I hadn't traumatized her that day?

I wanted to know if there was some sense of justice in this girl, and if so, how much.

A few meters in front of us, Sakura and the man's heated conversation continued. No matter what she did, or how far she tried to back up, he didn't leave her alone and tried to get closer to her. My shy classmate dumped hundreds of letters in front of him and stood up to his repeated sexual harassment.

"How do you know my room number and why do you keep sending these?"

The store clerk tilted his head, confused by this apparently obvious question. He couldn't understand why Sakura wasn't happy to receive his love. Why she wasn't overjoyed that the two of them had met in this school.

"Why? What do you mean, why, Sakura-chan? Of course I would know your room number and send you letters. It's because our hearts are connected, Sakura-chan! Can't you see it?"

Kushida's face contorted in disgust while Sakura took a few steps back until she bumped into the wall.

"Please stop it! It's bothering me!"

Her harsh, determined rejection of the man's love, his blood, sweat and tears, led to the actions I had anticipated before either of us arrived at this location. It was for this sole reason that I helped Sakura to stand up for herself.

The mentally unstable employee was in no condition to control himself.

He liked teenage girls, especially Sakura, so he couldn't live with the words that had shattered his world view. A sick, twisted individual who had likely occupied and pleased himself with her pictures from time to time wouldn't take such a sharp rejection very well.

"Why?" The light in the man's eyes vanished, replaced by a lifeless glint. His voice sounded hollow and broken as he stomped the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. "Why would you say something like this? Even though I wrote out all my feelings for you! Why don't you understand how much I love you, Sakura-chan!"

Spit and saliva flew through the alleyway as the clerk rushed forward with glowing eyes. After his emotional, almost volcanic, outburst of anger, he wasn't able to hold himself back any longer.

"D-don't come any closer!"

He latched onto Sakura's arm like a leech and shoved her up against the wall. His hands brushed past her thighs and stomach before he ripped her blazer apart. Sakura defended herself, but her attacks were too hesitant and weak to stop her attacker in his tracks.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan!" His slithering, squirming tongue slid over her cheek as she tried to struggle free. "I'll show you how much I cherish you. If I do that much, you'll understand, right? Sakura-chan?"

A blazing inferno of pure madness appeared in the man's eyes.

His hands wormed and wriggled their way to Sakura's breasts as he thrusted her against the brick wall. He was elated as he noticed the bulge inside his pants and began to unbutton his work clothes.

"See, Sakura-chan? We belong together. Just the two of us!"

"N-no... P-please... Someone..."

Sakura's voice was too weak and barely reached our ears. She struggled as much as she could, but she was much less brutal than Kushida in her attempts due to her inherent weak and fearful nature. A girl like her didn't have it in her to stand up against someone stronger than her, even though her chances were anything but terrible.

"Fuck! Ayanokouji please... I'm begging you. Help her. Please."

Ignoring Kushida's desperate pleas, I kept filming.

"Listen to me!" She clenched my arm with a terrified expression. "I'll do anything, okay? Anything you want. But please help her! This is not... She can't end up like me... Please..."

Kushida was a great actress.

No, she was nothing short of phenomenal.

She still suffered tremendous, unspeakable horrors because of the inhuman actions I had taken against her, but she kept them hidden away all this time. In front of our classmates, her friends and teachers, she showed a version of herself that wasn't broken past recognition.

The tears she shed were the first real ones that hadn't been spilled for herself.

[03:49:33 PM][Ayanokouji] I think Sakura is in danger. But I can't find her. Can you check the mall?

"Fuck!"

My voice echoed through the changing room as I dropped everything and ran out wearing my basketball shorts and school uniform. The other guys from the club threw me looks of surprise as I dashed through the door.

Ayanokouji had notified me that she might be in danger when word got out that she is the witness, but I had thought that everything was alright, now that the Class C assholes were gone and forgotten.

The students I ran past regarded me with curious, confused expressions upon seeing my mismatched get-up and the speed at which I brushed past them. I caught sight of a few of my classmates as well, but now wasn't the time for chit-chat.

She had helped me when I was in trouble, so I couldn't let her down now.

When Kushida had told me that Sakura was an idol, I didn't believe it.

But the doubts I had harboured vanished when I saw the pictures she had prepared for my trial yesterday. She hadn't been wearing clothes as suggestive as in her blog-posts and the fashion magazine Kushida showed me, but that fascinating smile had been hers for sure.

Was she in trouble because of that, perhaps? Had another student found out about her career?

Argh, shit... screw this.

I wasn't smart enough to figure out stuff like this anyway, so I might as well leave it to someone like Matsushita-san while I concentrated on the things I could do best.

The mall area was huge, much larger than anything a normal school should reasonably have, so I didn't know where to start. Without a real plan of action, I began to check all the alleys around the stores one after the other, hoping that she was alright and that I wouldn't be too late in case she was in danger.

After running past a back street, I stopped in my tracks, since I caught a glimpse of what I believed to be a school uniform. I took a closer look into the alleyway and couldn't believe my eyes.

Sakura was indeed in danger, but not because of those Class C morons.

"Hey! You perverted asshole."

"Eh? Wh-wha?"

The man in staff uniform spun around with a frightened expression and almost stumbled over his jeans, which stuck to his ankles. His hands were slung around Sakura's hip, trying to pull her skirt off while she was struggling away.

"S-s-sudou-kun! H-help me!"

Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me with fear-stricken eyes. Her clothes were disheveled, the blazer was ripped and a few buttons had been torn off the shirt underneath. Aside from these obvious signs of attack, she seemed physically fine for someone who was on the verge of being abused by some sick pervert.

"You disgusting fucker!"

My brain short-circuited as I dashed towards the two. I raised my arm ready to punch that assholes lights out, when Horikita-san's voice echoed through my head.

"... then you need to deescalate the situation, Sudou-kun."

I didn't have time to be confused by this sudden memory as the conversations from the past days replayed in my head.

"Just be there and protect her. Don't start another fight, but run away. For her sake. I know you could beat them, even Sakura knows you could beat them. But you can't, under any circumstances, use violence to protect her."

"If you lose your temper tomorrow. You are going to regret it. I can't save you any time you mess up, Sudou-kun."

"Should any further physical altercation take place in which you are involved, then I won't be as merciful as today."

Argh, fuck!

I lowered my arm and crashed into the man with my shoulder. That piece of shit stumbled and fell over after I shoved him, due to my speed and the fact that his trousers were already below his knees.

"Sakura, let's run."

As these words left my mouth, she collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut and stared at me with widened, quivering eyes. Her whole body trembled and slumped over as she began to sob and sniffle until she broke out into tears.

We had little time before I'd lose my temper and beat this piece of shit up for good, so I had to get her away from here as soon as possible. She was hurt and probably needed medical attention before anything else.

If I was expelled, I couldn't protect her anymore.

So if she wouldn't move, then I had to.

"I'm sorry Sakura, please forgive me."

"Huh?"

Without waiting for her reply or permission, I lifted her up into a princess carry and ran off, leaving the man who rolled around on the ground behind in the shaded alleyway.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s —"

Sakura was unable to utter a single word.

Her mouth opened from time to time, but only cries and sobs escaped her lips. She must have still been in shock because of everything that had happened to her.

Physically, she seemed more or less fine since only a few scratches and pressure marks on her arm were visible.

I dashed towards the infirmary as fast as I could since I didn't know what other damages she might have suffered due to this guy's attack. Once I took care of her, I could inform the security guards and teachers that Sakura had been attacked by one of their employees.

"Are you okay?"

Kushida wiped off her tears and gave me a weak nod.

"Calm down and remember your job. I need you at your best."

I put on my gloves and peeked at my accomplice after Sudou had vanished around the corner.

"I know... I'll get it done..."

The two of us left our hiding spot and strolled over to the half naked pervert who wallowed on the ground like an inflated blowfish, or a turtle on its back. I grabbed this excuse of a human by the collar and dragged him inside the backroom of the store.

The clerk struggled around and glared at me as I dumped him against the wall.

"What? Who are you? What are you doing? That hurt!"

"That hurt? Wow, you are adorable."

I bend down and threw a right hook towards his jaw for spouting nonsense.

He jerked back against the wall, coughing and writhing in pain.

Multiple teeth chipped due to the force I had put into my punch. The broken parts trickled down towards the ground with his blood and saliva before his head drooped towards the mixture of his bodily fluids.

The man tried to crawl back and hid his disgusting face behind his trembling hands.

"Argh! F-fuck! Why are you doing this? I did nothing wrong!"

"No? That's good. I did nothing wrong either."

My hand flashed towards his throat before I dragged him up and shoved him against the wall.

Fear seeped into his eyes as he stared into my lifeless, apathetic orbs of pure darkness while Kushida stood by and watched this scene unfold while trembling. I squeezed his throat and repeatedly took shots against his solar plexus.

He coughed up small amounts of blood and would have collapsed due to the immense pain if I hadn't held him in place. Curling up or bending down to lessen the psychological and physiological impact wasn't a luxury this person deserved.

"That's your solar plexus." My voice was calm as the vast ocean during the night. "Right now, your diaphragm is partially paralyzed, which is why you're having trouble catching your breath."

The man screamed, shouted and shrunk in agony as his legs gave in and grew limp from the immense amount of pain he had to endure while I kept using him as my punching bag.

"Wh-who a-are y-you?"

"Just a concerned friend."

I pulled him further up while I smashed my fist into the upper right-hand portion of his abdominal cavity.

"That's your liver." I clarified while I conducted my experiment. "The nice thing about the liver is that if you hit it just right, you get the vagus nerve, which tentacles out to the rest of the body."

With every hit against his liver, another word left my mouth.

Kushida, who had never seen me get this violent, backed off against the wall in pure dread. The hope that she could somehow stop me vanished from the clerk's eyes as he stared at the shivering girl in unadulterated horror.

I kept slamming my fist into him and explained what was currently happening to his body, since he didn't look like someone who would know about the inner workings of the human anatomy.

"Your brain short-circuits, your body shuts down, and you feel... what's the word...? Terror?" A quake trembled through his whole body as I forced him to stare into my abyss. "Which is what Sakura must have felt just now."

"I..." My classmates shuddering voice echoed through the backroom. "I really t-think that's e-enough, right? P-please... just leave him be and get why you came. He doesn't deserve t-this..."

My hand motions stopped as I dropped the man into his own blood that had seeped out of his mouth and turned around to face Kushida. The whimpering employee slumped over like a dead fish as my hand wrapped around her throat.

My arctic, golden spheres, with which she was familiar by now, gazed straight into her shaking orbs.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up and follow me, huh? You're useless." I buried my knee in her abdomen before she collapsed towards the ground. "Get out and make sure no one comes in. I still have some things to do."

Kushida yelped out in pain and crawled away with tearful, fear-stricken eyes. After glancing at the helpless, bloody store employee for a moment, she stumbled out of the backroom.

"Unlock your phone."

"W-why?"

Once again, a right hook flew towards his face.

With a loud cracking noise, his nose broke and bent out of shape.

He tried to scream because of the pain, but I covered his mouth with my left to make sure that he could hear my next words clearly. If he hadn't realized that I wasn't messing around by now, then he was far past saving.

"That wasn't a question. Do as you're told and you might live."

His head slumped to the side as I was about to inquire about his passcode a second time. I wanted to check his pulse to verify that he didn't die on me as his eyes shot open in fright and horror. The man coughed and breathed through his mouth, since his nostrils could no longer supply him with enough oxygen.

"Welcome back. Passcode, please."

The employee's bloody fingers tapped over the required four digits whereupon the phone unlocked. After examining the generous sum of money in his account, I could only whistle in surprise.

"Wow. Have you been saving up for something? Let's send those points to someone nice who could use them. Kushida, for example, the girl you just saw. Isn't she a cute one?" I seized his throat and put pressure into my grip. "If you tell anyone that I stole your points, then she will get expelled. Isn't that kind of genius? I'd advise you not to mention anything to the guards once they arrive, or I'll find you and slowly remove your eyes after my graduation. How does that sound?"

He stared at me in pure fright without nodding or otherwise signaling his consent, which meant that he was fine with keeping his mouth shut and protecting his eyesight. The shock must've been quite overwhelming, so his non-responsiveness was understandable.

But there was still another potential meaning for his silence.

"Oh... you don't believe me, is that it?"

The clerk's eyes expanded in horror as he shook his head. Tears began streaming down his face and rinsed away some of the blood below his nose and around his chin.

"No, it's okay... I totally understand your doubts."

I glanced around the room and stood up before walking over to a magnetic wall that held onto all kinds of tools and other instruments one might need while repairing electrical devices. My eyes stopped on a blue screwdriver with a yellow spot on top of the handle.

"No... wait... Please... I under-understand... I... will..."

He crawled into a corner, as if this would help him escape.

"Shh..." I grabbed the screwdriver and ambled towards him. "Don't worry, I won't take one of your eyes. I mean, I still need them for afterwards if you don't adhere to our arrangement."

A faint, yet bone-chilling scream reverberated through the door.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck...

I roughened up my hair, partially shielding my ears from the weak howls and wails from inside the store.

Ayanokouji would have covered his mouth before he did anything that warranted such an outburst in order to keep everything as quiet as possible...

So why the fuck could I hear it so clearly?

After a short moment of relative silence, I heard another commotion from further inside. It sounded like something fell down a shelf, or got knocked off a high rack.

Or maybe something else...?

It didn't matter, because this was my signal...

I stood and peeked into the room through the crack of the door.

The employee, which Ayanokouji had brutally beaten up without a single shred of hesitation, squirmed and writhed over the ground while shielding his groin. His nose was bent out of shape, and a blood-soaked screwdriver protruded out of the man's right leg.

Blood, vomit and saliva dripped out of his mouth as he wallowed inside his own body fluids.

This was my chance...

I made sure that Ayanokouji wasn't nearby and tiptoed into the room before glancing at the man's nameplate.

"Hey, Yukitsu-kun... where is he?"

The man turned around with a surprised expression upon picking up my voice. His eye's lit up as he nodded towards the front room where the business was usually handled.

"Y-you know me?"

His voice was weak and choppy due to the pain.

"Of course I know you, Yukitsu-kun!" I beamed and took his disgusting, greasy hand into my own. "How could I forget you? You were really nice to me and my friends when we had questions at the beginning of the school year."

Fuck, I think I'm gonna puke. This piece of shit is so fucking repulsive that I want to kick his teeth in myself.

He clenched my hands as a pitiful smile formed on his face.

"Y-you... y-you need to h-help me. P-please. I beg you."

Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes.

"Yukitsu-kun..." I wept and wiped the tears away. "I want to help you, but I can't. He... took pictures of me. If I betray him, he will release them all and probably kill me afterwards. Yukitsu-kun... you saw it yourself... he's crazy..."

I had little time to talk to him, since Ayanokouji could be done with swiping the electronics he wanted any minute. There was also Sudou, who would likely be back with the schools security soon.

"Kushida-chan..."

He shed a few tears both for him and me, since our situations seemed equally hopeless.

"Please... call me Kikyou, Yukitsu-kun..." I grabbed my phone from the ground without him seeing and unlocked it. "Those points. Do you know where they came from?"

"Those were... mine... Kikyou-chan..."

Argh, fuck, don't you dare use my name, you disgusting piece of human shit. God, how can a living being be so fucking sickening. I just want to kick his fucking brains out. FUCK!

"Kikyou-chan... you don't think I did anything wrong with Sakura-chan, right?"

Are you fucking brain dead? You wanted to rape her, you stupid, abominable piece of shit. I hope you fucking drown in your own disgusting blood, you damn god-forsaken lunatic.

"Of course not Yukitsu-kun." I threw him the most dazzling smile in my repertoire. "You loved her, right? She just didn't understand that you just wanted her to be happy. I would have been over the moon if someone confessed their feelings to me this way."

Fuck, I think I really need to puke. Just spouting this nonsense makes me disgusted and sick of myself.

"Kikyou-chan...!"

I crept closer to the bloodstained employee and moved the cleanest of his hands towards my chest.

"Yukitsu-kun... I have a plan to get rid of him... but I need your help or it won't work. I'm cooperating with a second- and third-year student, but they are having trouble because he's always one step ahead of us. It won't be much longer until he figures out that I'm supporting them. But now you showed up, Yukitsu-kun! You are the only uncertain variable he doesn't have full control over... so please... Please help us get him expelled." I brought his disgusting hand closer to my breasts. "You'd be my hero, Yukitsu-kun!"

Even though most of the things I had told him were plain lies, I needed to enhance my proposal in his eyes, just in case the whole 'Yukitsu-kun' thing wouldn't work. I doubted that he was smart enough to realize that I just played with his repulsive heart strings after he believed me that we had already met before, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

I had to protect myself, no matter what.

"What kind of plan, Kikyou-chan?"

Calm down, don't strangle him...

My face lit up momentarily, unable to hide the luminous spark of hope that ignited inside of me.

"It's a little complicated, but we have no other choice because he is too cunning. Right now, for example, he stashed his phone on the other end of the school grounds with someone he trusts. Even if we told the school what he did to us, they wouldn't do anything because his GPS ping wasn't nearby. All we would do is sign our own death sentences..."

The gullible idiot nodded.

"Okay. I trust you, Kikyou-chan!"

Fucking die of blood loss already.

"Yukitsu-kun!" I pulled his hand into my warm embrace. "You are probably not aware of this, but he filmed what happened between you and Sakura-san with my phone and sent it to his accomplice. The school will investigate and probably let you go, meaning you'll be outside the school... outside of his reach."

He nodded, not even realizing that he would be put into a prison and rot for life for what he did.

"Once you are outside the school, you can help me with this." I unfolded a small piece of paper and handed it to him. "I have little time to explain since he could come back any minute, but you have to memorize what's written on the note and eat it so that he can't find it. You are our... my only chance... Yukitsu-kun. I would be forever grateful to you."

Fuck, if you stare at my damn tits a second longer, I'm going to poke your nauseating eyes out.

"Okay. I'll save you from this monster. I promise, Kikyou-chan."

"Thank you so much, Yukitsu-kun! I promise to visit you once I graduate, okay? Let's meet up in three years, just the two of us! We can spend time together as much as you want!"

I forced a smile as well as a few tears out of my eyes and made sure that he ate the piece of paper before slipping back outside.

"Let's leave."

I shut the door and took off my gloves before putting them in a previously prepared miniature trash-bag that I hid beneath my school uniform. Kushida followed me with a slight nod and threw me an insecure glance.

"Did you get everything you wanted?"

"Most of it, but it's too dangerous to linger around any longer. We were on a tight schedule because of Sudou. He should have reached the infirmary and informed the security personnel of the clerk by now. They shouldn't be that far... ah, speak of the devil."

Kushida and I ambled through the mall, away from the scene, as multiple staff members ran towards the location of the previous incident. We were already far enough away for the store to be out of sight, but I was sure that they were here to arrest him for what he did to Sakura.

They'll be quite surprised by his condition...

"You got your phone, right?"

"Yes, I picked it up as planned. Are you sure that everything is going to work out?"

I took her quivering fingers that still had some light bloodstains on them and caressed over the back of her hand.

"You know you can trust me, right? I would do nothing that would endanger you, my precious, beautiful queen. I'll always take care of you and your needs as long as you need me."

"Mh..."

A light smile formed on her charming face.

"Come to my room this evening. I have a present for you. You did excellent today, even though this must have provoked horrible memories for you. I'm sorry that you had to go through something like this again."

"A present?"

She shot me a confused, yet delighted, look.

"As long as you are good to me, I will be good to you. That was our deal, right? I never intended to hurt you on that rooftop, but your actions had left me no other choice. You'll love the present I got for you, I promise."

"I'll see you this evening, then..."

Her low whisper barely reached my ears before she vanished into the crowd.

A few minutes later, I reached the abandoned park area where Fuka and I first met.

I retrieved the garbage-bag, which was filled with the gloves and a few small to medium-sized rocks, and threw it into the ocean, never to be found by anyone who might have an interest.

With this last piece of evidence disposed of, my hands were clean.

Since today went well and I still had some time to kill, I bought myself two balls of chocolate ice-cream and ambled back to my room while making sure that no one who would remember my presence saw even a trace of my figure. Due to this, I strolled through the least frequented roads inside the school grounds, which was a new yet pleasant experience.

I took the stairs up to my floor, unlocked the door and wandered inside where I was greeted by a sweet, almost sensual sounding voice which originated from the most interesting, troublesome senpai I had met.

"Everything went well, I assume?"

"Naturally."

Fuka relaxed on the bed and tapped around on her phone. According to the frequency and urgency of some of her actions, she seemed to play a game. Her movements stopped as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out my phone before throwing it over.

Upon catching the device, I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the warmth in my hands.

"You perv~..." Her smirk grew wider. "We had a nice day. Parfait and cake in the jam-packed Palate followed by a nice, emotional love-story in the cinema before we strolled back to your room to relax."

It was smart, hiding in plain sight.

Even when the students in the Palate were asked if they had seen us together, it was impossible to answer to the sheer amount of people that walked in and out. Most of them would say that they wouldn't remember, while others would just nod their heads, remembering that they had seen similar hair or things along those lines.

The underlying suggestion that we should have been there, the misinformation Fuka would spread with the GPS data and her own presence, as well as their inaccurate perception, would help plant wrong memories in their minds on a large scale. They would mis-attribute both her and my visits to the Palate into a single recollection as opposed to multiple ones that were spread over the last days and weeks.

"The movie was boring, though, don't you think?"

"Boring? In no way, shape or form was this romantic love comedy boring. You were so touched when the two main characters unburdened their heart to each other on the walkway that you began to cry. I couldn't even believe it myself. And when they kissed, you were just blown away by all the emotion the animation and music had stirred up inside you."

She threw me a mischievous grin, followed by a loud, heartfelt laugh.

"That's a bit too much, don't you think?"

Fuka leaned back into the bed and stretched her arms and legs.

"Do you think you'll need the GPS data and my witness statement?"

"No, that guy should be too scared to do anything that would endanger him or Kushida. According to his revering gaze towards her, she shouldn't have had a difficult job to lull him into staying quiet for her sake. This, coupled with the threat of physical violence, will assure that he keeps his mouth shut. Even if the school finds out about Kushida, they will figure that someone had set her up and keep looking for the real perpetrator. The proof you acquired was just a backup plan in case something went wrong."

I checked the messages I received from Sudou, Ichinose and Chiaki while I didn't have my phone on me and responded to a few of them. Fuka had texted with Sudou during the time, but she left the other chats alone for obvious reasons.

"Speaking of Kushida, she'll come over this evening and I want you to be here as well. I guess you should put on your best apologetic face for when the two of you meet."

The girl who was lolling around on my bed showed me a toothy smile.

"So that's why you told me to leave her alone all week? Did she finally graduate from playing double agent? I'm glad, though... couldn't help but get bored the last few times. Apologizing isn't really my strong suit. Maybe we'll leave that for another time."

I had no doubts that she would act like this since Fuka was too proud of a woman to atone to anyone for anything she had done. This was her way of trying to gain the upper hand in this exchange, since we both knew that she would apologize in the end.

Fuka just wanted to see what she might get out of it.

"You tried to steal my first kiss, which wasn't a very nice thing to do. By now, you should have realized that I'm serious about my relationship with Chiaki, which is why it's only in your interest to keep playing nice with Kushida."

It didn't matter if she liked me romantically or if she was just trying to ascertain her standing with me due to her prior actions, but she understood that Chiaki was important to me. In a similar sense, she was mindful of the fact that Kushida was one of my most powerful pieces.

This would lead her to a myriad of conclusions, some of which were wrong and others which were correct. She wouldn't be able to narrow down much because she was still unaware of my inner workings. Fuka may have experienced how I thought and how I treated people to a degree, but she didn't know the values I had placed on certain individuals.

If she decided to be stubborn, her own would plummet.

"So all of this just to beat up the guy who stalked your classmate, some electronics and a few private points which might be unsafe to use? I don't buy it. You were after something else. But what?"

My senpai understood her place in this current constellation and offered me another transaction. She knew what I did, how I did it and who I used to accomplish what I sought to do. Yet, she couldn't believe that this was solely to gain access to the man's points and a few of his electronics.

"Aren't you intrigued to find out what I would do for Chiaki, you and Kushida if I do something like this for a girl I barely know or care about?"

Once again, a counteroffer from my side.

She would stop asking questions about my motives and I informed her of her current placement in the hierarchy. Whether this was the truth, however, she couldn't confirm. Fuka either took my word for it and accepted the proposal or she would take this information as unreliable and demand more compensation.

"Why did you decide to help her?"

With this question, our dealings had concluded.

We both knew how each of us operated, even though we couldn't confirm the other party's goal for certain. She and I realized how this conversation would end before it even began and we had been fine with this outcome from the very beginning.

"Because Sudou needs someone to hold his leash. A deeply rooted protector instinct is an excellent starting point to build upon. Whether their feelings would bloom into love or friendship wasn't important at this stage. Sakura would be scarred because of today and Sudou would feel partly responsible, even though nothing of this had been his fault. His heart wouldn't allow him to turn a blind eye, now that he had gotten to appreciate her somewhat."

The first girl had been put into his path already, and the second was bound to follow.

I was curious how their relationships would turn out once they began to prosper, which is why I decided to take a step back and watch the pieces surrounding my Rook evolve and unravel on their own. If the natural course of progression took too long, I could still create artificial situations to put them on a quicker path to their immutable resolution.

After my chat with Fuka, I excused myself to check on Sakura in the infirmary.

It didn't take long before I arrived and observed both Sudou and Sakura through the window, even though I had taken somewhat of a detour on my way here.

The basketball clubs newest regular was still clad in his sports gear and school uniform combo, which didn't look bad now that I took a proper look at him. He sat on the chair next to Sakura's sickbed and played a game on his phone. Our female classmate slept peacefully, probably because she got dosed with sedatives to help her calm down.

According to the doctor, Sakura had an extensive trauma because of the sexual and physical assault.

She had a few bruises and scratches, but wasn't that badly hurt aside from that. The school had already provided her with a counselor with whom she could talk to if she ever felt the need. Knowing Sakura, it would take her a while before she could open up, but therapy could help someone like her tremendously.

I slid the door open with careful movements and stepped into the room.

"Yo Sudou, I got your stuff."

He raised his head and pressed the power button on his phone.

"Ah, Ayanokouji. Thanks. I was worried they wouldn't let you in or something."

"I'm glad you found her, otherwise... I don't even want to think about it. How is she, anyway? Did they tell you anything?"

Sudou grabbed his bag and began to change out of his basketball clothes in the middle of the infirmary without a care in the world.

"They didn't tell me anything because of privacy reasons or some shit. The doctors informed Chabashira-sensei, so at least someone knows what's going on with her. Aside from that, she's been sleeping soundly for the last hour, I think." He clenched his fists with a darkened expression. "That piece of shit also got hauled in here some time ago. Someone really put that dude through the wringer. He was unconscious and bloodied all over."

"What seriously? Not that he didn't deserve it, but who would have done something like this? Wait... it wasn't you, right?"

He tilted his head and threw me a disappointed look.

"Duh! Put some more trust in me, will you? I remembered what you all said. I only tackled him out of the way and ran off with Sakura. Of course, I was their prime suspect, but I was cleared."

"Is he still here?"

"No, the police took him to some kind of prison hospital thingy... I don't know. But that sick bastard is gone for good."

My classmate sat back down after changing and stared at Sakura's sleeping figure with a worried expression.

The situation I had created brought them closer together, just as expected. Since her assault wasn't as bad as Kushida's, it was still possible for her to live a relatively normal life. She would still have traumatic episodes if her memories were triggered, but she was better off than my queen.

Sudou's timely appearance in the darkest, most terrifying moments of her life would forever be etched into her mind.

That had been the plan all along, for both of their sakes and ultimately for mine.

He felt a great need to protect her while she saw Sudou as her savior. This would encourage her to trust him and, according to her timid personality, might prompt further albeit slow, development. It wouldn't be easy for either of them, but they had each other as close, trusted friends.

No matter how their relationship played out, Sudou would help her escape the endless cocoon she had entangled herself in for most of her life, while Sakura could help him be a calmer, more gentle and socially acceptable version of himself.

The two of them would complement each other until they were both ready to be proper individuals.

This wouldn't happen in a short span of a few days or weeks, but they would make it work. If not, I could still lend a helping hand, with or without mentally damaging someone in the process.

After my talk with Sudou, I strolled back to my apartment and prepared everything for my queen's arrival.

The door slid open as a joyous Kushida stepped into my room while hiding the key back in her pocket.

"Good evening, Ayanokouji-kun!"

Her cheerful appearance surprised me somewhat after what we had done today. She must have had difficulties with her own psyche during that time and shouldn't have been able to wear such a carefree mask freely.

"I know that today was difficult, but you did great."

"Thank you..." She lowered her head. "I was terrified throughout the whole ordeal..."

"Because of me?"

She averted her gaze.

Kushida's self-confident manner had vanished in a matter of seconds. Masking her feelings like she did was beyond impressive, but she wasn't prepared to keep her act up in front of me.

"Yes..."

"You don't need to be afraid of me, Kushida."

I took a few steps forward and breached her personal space. Even though I had closed in on her, she didn't flinch or tried to escape. With another step, I invaded her intimate space and raised her smooth chin up in order for our eyes to meet.

"I told you already: you are my queen. As long as you stay by my side, I will take care of you."

Concluding my monologue, I embraced her.

Kushida's entire body trembled for a moment before she relaxed. Her fingers clenched the back of my uniform as she leaned closer into my chest. As if all power had left her body, she entrusted me with her warmth.

"You really mean that...?"

Her voice was quiet and unstable.

This marked the first time she had truly dropped all pretenses. All the emotions, thoughts, charades and mind-games she had tried to keep up for appearance's sake dissolved into thin air as she sought confirmation of my claims.

Kushida Kikyou wanted to feel safe and protected.

She wanted the nightmares and panic attacks to stop before they devoured the last working components of her inner self that were held together by the black thread I had spun around us.

"I can prove it, even. Are you ready for your surprise, Kushida?"

I caressed over her smooth cheek before slipping a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Yes..."

She was quiet, but her curiosity was piqued. In her mind, she couldn't think of any present that would assure her of my claims. No matter what I said or did, everything could have been a lie to manipulate her further.

But maybe she just stopped caring.

I gestured towards the bathroom door.

"Come out."

For a moment, Kushida was puzzled by those unexpected words that left my lips. She had thought that we would be alone, as always, and shrunk back. Her gaze shifted to me and back to the door when she heard it open up.

Her two beautiful orbs widened at the sight of the platinum-blonde girl that stood in the bathroom.

My queen's obedient face soon contorted into one of pure anger, rage and hatred. She roared in a fit of almost hysterical laughter while she covered her mouth to be quieter since we were in the dorm rooms.

"He got you! He really fucking got you, you stupid bitch! Did you really think I'd rat him out for your sorry ass, huh? Ohhh, fuck what I would have given to see you suffering and humiliated."

The insults and ridiculing remarks only grew in intensity as time passed.

Fuka stood in the doorway and waited for her to finish.

Her outward appearance was that of pure defeat, shame and embarrassment, while she had the fun of her life because of my classmate's reaction. Her acting abilities were on par with Kushida's, which came as no surprise.

After she was done mocking, taunting and humiliating our senpai, she turned towards me.

"What are you doing with her now?"

"I'll use her as I see fit. I know what she did to you, so you can take my word for it that I returned your suffering in kind. You don't have to like her, but it would be nice if the two of you could be on neutral terms if you ever have to work together. I'll try to avoid such a scenario at all costs, but I can't promise anything aside from that."

Kushida was more than happy that I had freed her from Fuka's shackles. She didn't know what Fuka had to go through as her initiation, but not knowing left a lot of room for interpretation, which satisfied her already. By now, my queen knew that there was no escape once I had someone in my grasp, so she stopped worrying about her altogether.

"I don't really like it... but if you say so, it's going to be alright. Thank you Ayanokouji-kun."

She rewarded my efforts with a charming smile and embraced me with no reserve.

If Ike or any other guy were to see this, I'd be dead by tomorrow.

Even if this was just an act intending to appear closer to me in front of Fuka, it felt good being hugged by her. Kushida's voluptuous chest pressed against mine, which made her cleavage stand out much more than usual. She had apparently showered before she came over since the scent of fruits spread through my nostrils as she nuzzled into my chest.

I couldn't help but feel like that I was consistently failing in being a good partner.

As I was, once again, doubting my integrity as boyfriend material, my phone vibrated.

Kushida noticed the tremors as well and moved away to give me some space.

"Ichinose? What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something important. Do you have time?"

"Yes, I'm free. Do you want to come over?"

She was silent for a moment before responding in an embarrassed tone.

"Um, actually... I'm already in front of your door. But I figured that I should call first and see if you are free."

"In front of the door? I'll be right with you."

I signaled Kushida and Fuka to hide in the bathroom, which could only end in a bloodbath. Both girls frowned but ultimately decided to behave like adults and hurried into their temporary hideout. As I heard the lock mechanism of the door, I opened up the one in front of me to let Ichinose in.

"Sorry for intruding on you like that. I didn't want to discuss this over the phone and I felt that I needed to tell you today."

It must have been something important if she decided that she needed to talk about it in person. Wait, it wouldn't be another love letter, right? Could she have heard something about Sakura and wanted to talk about it with someone?

"It's alright. I was bored anyway."

A captivating giggle escaped her charming lips before she looked around.

"Your room is really tidy, totally different from the other guys' rooms. They won't let me in, but I've seen pictures when everyone was showing off how they had decorated their rooms."

"How could anyone leave you standing at the door? Do you want a tea or coffee or anything?"

She sat down and held up her hands in an apologetic gesture.

"Oh. No, no. You don't need to go through all the trouble. I wasn't planning on staying very long, anyway."

"It's no trouble. I was about to brew a tea for me before you called. Are you fine with Kukicha?"

"Ah, then... yes. Thank you."

We talked about some general things while we waited for the tea.

The topic then shifted towards Sakura and what had happened to her.

Apparently, half the school already knew that something took place, but only a handful of people were aware what had transpired. I told her as much as I would reasonably know and left it at that.

Ichinose was surprised that Sakura was a former idol and immediately checked her phone for 'Shizuku'.

"Please keep this a secret though... only a few of my classmates know that she's a former idol. I only told you because, well... I thought that it would be safe with you."

"Of course! I would never pass something on that had been entrusted to me. But I wonder... will she be alright? Hopefully that man did nothing too bad to her..."

It was adorable how worried Ichinose got over someone she didn't even know.

I stood up and ambled towards the kitchen area before preparing two tea cups for us. My guest kept glancing around with a curious gaze until she caught sight of the chessboards.

"You are missing a few pawns..."

Her alluring snicker rang through my room as she noticed the chessboards on the corner.

"Ah, yeah... there was a discount because some of them were incomplete. I got three boards for the price of one, though, so I'm not that mad..."

I carried the two cups back to the table and served them up for both of us.

"Thank you very much."

She blew into the freshly brewed tea and took a small sip.

"It's fantastic!"

Her face flushed, likely due to the heat the tea was emitting. I mirrored her actions and got to the point of her visit.

"Now, what did you want to talk about?"

She looked downward, somewhat guilt-ridden.

"To tell the truth, there was a dispute between Class B and Class C students before. That time, the school didn't get involved as we did not escalate it to such a degree. Someone named Ryuuen-kun masterminded that one. I already mentioned him to you before, right?"

It was as I had previously figured. Class B and C both lost a good chunk of points this month due to Class C playing around with the other classes. I was pretty sure about my prior assumption, but now I could be certain since Ichinose confirmed my doubts.

"Yeah, you mentioned him once. But aside from being a delinquent, I know nothing about him."

"Few people even know his name, as he never revealed himself. I would be surprised if Kushida-san knew about him, even though she tries to befriend everyone. He is very careful, after all."

Kushida knew him.

Not very much about him, but both she and I were aware of his existence. As we went through the list she made for me, I told her that he was most likely the reason for Yamauchi's timely expulsion. I had no proof for my claim since it was just a feeling, but my queen took this hunch as a fact.

He was also mentioned in the video Chiaki had revealed at the end of the discussion about Sudou's incident, which painted him as the mastermind. She didn't mention that fact to Ichinose, so I should respect her wishes and keep quiet about my knowledge as well.

"It's hard to believe that Kushida doesn't know about someone."

I cracked somewhat of a joke, which seemed to have lightened the mood a bit.

"I think he set up Sudou-kun and instigated the dispute with Class B. Fortunately we have a very strong bond, so we managed to hold out until he let off, but... he doesn't hesitate to hurt other people for the sake of his own interest. He's a formidable opponent, and I wanted to warn you about him. I don't know how he'll react now that he lost three classmates, so please be careful."

A cornered rat is the most dangerous, something along those lines?

I was thankful for her concern, of course, but I doubted that he would retaliate without proper planning. Ryuuen will be more prudent after his loss upon picking a fight with us. He had underestimated Class D and paid a hefty price.

If he learned from this mistake and was as cunning as I believed him to be, then Ryuuen Kakeru would be much more careful and relentless from now on.

"I appreciate your concern, but why tell me? Chiaki takes care of the class. I'm just her boyfriend. That doesn't really qualify me for taking care of such things."

"Mhh... I think you are not giving yourself enough credit. I told you because I trust you, so we are the same, right? You'll do the right thing with this information."

Ichinose seemed to have some kind of hunch about my involvement, even though Chiaki did all the work in Sudou's case. I was only half-heartedly following commands and enjoying my free time.

Her inkling probably originated from the fact that she suspected me to be the source of the midterm exams she had received. There was a rather high chance that her conclusions were correct, because I was the only Class D student who had this much contact with Class B during that time.

The limited number of viable suspects shrunk after she had confirmed that both Class A and C didn't know about the midterm papers, which only left ours. Class B's leader decided not to voice her theories but gave me an equally important gift, at least from her perspective.

Between us, Ichinose and I slumbered an untold secret we both kept.

Neither of us was certain that the other one knew what our reasons for helping one another were, but a strange form of trust and faith into the other person formed between the two of us.

Untold and still somewhat fragile, but clearly discernable.