"Ah~"
Fuyuji Mikage hung his head and let out a heavy sigh, casting one last, deeply reluctant glance at his room.
Yamamura Miki was tidying up the snack wrappers the three of them had just finished eating. Morishita Ai had commandeered his bed and the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, sprawled across the mattress on her stomach with her chin propped up on her hands, idly flipping a page from ti to ti.
Only he alone had to leave behind his cozy little nest and the ice-cold air conditioning, and instead go face...
Fuyuji pushed the door open and stared at Horikita Manabu, who stood ramrod straight before him.
This siscon, straight-laced, glasses-wearing pervert of a man.
Shooting a sidelong glance at Horikita Manabu, who was still ticulously dressed in his school uniform even on a Saturday, Fuyuji clicked his tongue in displeasure. "If you want to go see your little sister, just go by yourself. Why do you have to drag along? I'm very busy, you know."
Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses and said nothing. Silently, he pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket.
One minute later.
"Aiya, Horikita-senpai, you're far too formal! Why bring a gift when visiting? Next ti, if there's anything you need, just give the order."
Fuyuji instantly straightened his back, his face brimming with fawning smiles. Then, eyeing the notification for a deposit of one million points on his phone, he asked with confusion.
"Why so generous this ti?"
In the past, Horikita Manabu had always been stingy and tight-fisted. Even last ti's hush money had only been five hundred thousand. This ti, breaking all precedent, he was actually giving a million?
"That video was released by you, wasn't it?" Horikita Manabu gazed out toward the corner at the far end of the corridor and spoke flatly.
"You even know about that? Did you deduce it from the video I sent you? Or does the Student Council President have the authority to look up students' anonymous accounts?"
Fuyuji raised an eyebrow. Horikita Manabu should have had even less intel on this front than Horikita's little sister. Yet he'd managed to deduce from scattered clues that he was the mastermind behind it.
"No. Accessing such things, which involve personal privacy, requires submitting a formal report and applying to the school administration. I could see it..." Horikita Manabu turned his head, his sharp gaze scrutinizing Fuyuji. "Because, among the first-years, there were never many who could pull off sothing like this to begin with. Or rather, only you could."
"One million is your compensation for helping Suzune resolve this matter. This ti, she at least made so slight progress. However..."
"Her handling of the problem was far too immature. When you see her later, cooperate with . In that kind of situation, instead of giving the enemy a way out, she intensified her attack. An enemy in extre circumstances will, in desperation, bite back like a cornered dog."
Ah, this...
Fuyuji looked at Horikita Manabu, who wore a gratified smile.
His expectations for Horikita-girl had fallen this low? Just knowing to ask others for help already counted as a success?
But still, the custor is God. Whoever pays is the boss.
"OK! You paid, so you call the shots."
Horikita Manabu suddenly halted his steps. He slowly opened his mouth, a note of weariness seeping into his voice.
"You don't need to send Suzune's updates for the next two months."
"What, is your third-year Class A planning so major operation and currently consolidating funds?" Fuyuji was quite concerned about this major source of inco.
"No. I'm out of money."
Five short words. They laid bare the most dire aspect of this man's situation.
Fuyuji blinked in utter disbelief. The blissful grin on his face froze solid. Three seconds later, a sharp, piercing howl erupted through the empty corridor.
"How could you be out of money?! How can you possibly be out of money?! You're the Student Council President of the Advanced Nurturing High School, the current leader of the third-year Class A?!" Fuyuji clutched his head, his voice thick with incredulity.
Horikita Manabu turned his head and gave him a long, aningful look.
What do you think?
"..."
Fuyuji let out an awkward laugh and counted off on his fingers. "That doesn't add up. I've taken less than four million from you in total. You should still have so left. Your savings are that ager? That's not even as much as my own deposits."
How your deposits ca to be, and how my deposits vanished—are you not clear on that? And you're still eyeing what little property I have left?
A vein throbbed at Horikita Manabu's temple. He silently quickened his pace. Right now, he had no desire to exchange words with this scumbag.
He truly had no way to deal with this man. He could only go to his little sister and have her suppress this scumbag. Never had he imagined that, one day, he would actually have to rely on his own little sister to resolve his troubles.
Seeing Horikita Manabu already several ters ahead, Fuyuji quickly jogged to catch up.
"Don't be like that, Horikita-senpai! How about I offer you so counsel and strategy?"
"Learn from Nagumo-senpai's thods and harvest the third-years, how about it?"
"Otherwise, borrow a bit from that Tachibana-senpai?"
"No! The odds of borrowing from Nagumo-senpai might actually be higher!"
"This way, you'll have the money to continue guarding your little sister."
...
Inside the stairwell, the hot, stifling air still lingered thickly, refusing to dissipate.
Horikita Suzune and the Class B contingent, led by Ichinose Honami, listened to the gradually receding sound of Ryuen Kakeru's footsteps. At long last, they let out a deep, relieved sigh in unison. Their taut bodies relaxed.
"Although the process had so twists and turns, the outco was good." Ichinose raised a hand and wiped her smooth forehead with her sleeve, clearing away the beads of sweat. "It's truly wonderful. This matter is finally resolved, Horikita-san."
"Yes..."
This ti could be considered a complete and total victory. Ryuen would withdraw his complaint. Class C would, moreover, be docked to the point where a single special exam would be enough to catch up to them. Not to ntion the conditions Ryuen had signed afterward in order to avoid expulsion.
But...
Horikita lowered her eyes. Her gaze was fixed on the information displayed on her phone screen. The long black hair cascading down both sides of her face veiled her expression, making it unreadable.
"No. It's not over yet."
At that mont, Kanzaki Ryuji stepped forward and spoke with solemn warning. "If not for that video that appeared out of nowhere, we would have lost, one hundred percent."
"There is an extrely high probability that our operational plan this ti was leaked. I believe it is necessary to investigate further. Horikita-san, do you have any leads?"
Looking back now, this operation had been far too rash. Never mind that the Class D personnel hadn't been thoroughly vetted—even Class A had co ddling to stick a foot in.
And Horikita possessed, for each person who had participated in those etings, a certain degree of understanding. She should have had soone in mind to suspect.
Of course, there was one more thing Kanzaki did not say aloud.
"Yes."
Horikita raised her head. Her black hair slid away, revealing a cool, clear, yet candid face.
"I bear a certain degree of responsibility for this intelligence leak."
"Then, Horikita-san, do you know—"
"It's fine. As long as the matter is resolved, that's good, isn't it?"
Ichinose cut off Kanzaki's questioning ahead of ti. In two quick strides, she climbed the steps and rushed to Horikita's side, hurriedly stepping in to smooth things over.
Seeing that Ichinose had no intention of pursuing the matter, Kanzaki also let go of his line of questioning. However, his suspicions toward that Fuyuji Mikage remained far from dispelled.
After all, if Class B were to have class points deducted, the greatest beneficiary wouldn't be Class C—which trailed Class B by nearly six hundred class points. It would be Class A, whose class points had exceeded one thousand, standing at the very pinnacle of the entire first year, and which had, up to this point, remained in a state of concealing their strength and lying low.
Additionally, that Fuyuji Mikage—though he claid to be a perfectly ordinary Class A student, a re oddball of the first year—Kanzaki had always felt there was sothing off about him.
Kanzaki lowered his head and leaned against the wall, contemplating all the available intel concerning Fuyuji.
"Yo!"
A hand clapped down on Kanzaki's shoulder. Then, a voice that was a touch overly familiar sounded out. "What're you thinking about? So lost in thought?"
"That Class A—"
Kanzaki's body stiffened. He whipped his head around instantly. The oddball nad Fuyuji Mikage was standing right beside him, a plastic bag in hand and a bright, cheerful grin plastered across his face.
"Here. Good work." Fuyuji pulled out a can of ice-cold drink from the plastic bag and handed it to him.
"Oh. Thanks." Kanzaki accepted the drink woodenly, sowhat stupefied.
"Don't ntion it."
Then, Fuyuji raised his head and looked toward Ichinose and Horikita on the floor above. He lifted the plastic bag and called out.
"Minna-san, good work. I've brought refreshnts."
This scene... it was so painfully familiar. It seed that in movies, the mastermind behind it all always made their entrance just like this after victory—all cheerful and bright, offering refreshnts to the protagonist team.
Kanzaki's already sowhat expressionless facial muscles began twitching uncontrollably and violently. Watching Fuyuji's excessively radiant smile, every internal alarm bell in his mind was blaring at full volu. The more he looked, the more suspicious he beca.
And then, he watched as his own class's leader's face blood with a delighted, overjoyed smile. She ca scampering over with a pitter-patter of footsteps, her pretty face flushed red as she began chatting with Fuyuji. Her voice was utterly irrepressible in its cheer.
"Hey, hey, Fuyuji-kun, listen! Just now, it was really, really incredibly thrilling!"
Ichinose gesticulated excitedly, spreading both hands wide and tracing an exaggerated semicircle in the air toward Fuyuji.
"Oh, is that so?" Fuyuji, looking highly entertained, pulled another drink from the plastic bag and handed it to Ichinose.
"Yeah, yeah! Just now, Ryuen-kun suddenly appeared right here with a 'whoosh' and gave such a huge fright!" Clutching the drink, Ichinose laughed as she spoke, her light, lilting voice spreading throughout the entire stairwell.
"And then? How did you handle it?"
"And then..." Ichinose grew more and more animated as she spoke.
...
Kanzaki watched this scene, utterly dumbstruck, nearly falling apart on the spot.
Was this Ichinose? Was this the reliable class leader of our class? How had she suddenly beco so soft and moe?
Just monts ago, when Ichinose had stopped his questioning, he had thought it was because she already knew who the suspect was in her heart. So the truth was, she had never suspected him at all?!
Kanzaki raised a hand and rubbed his temples.
Class A hadn't made any moves for so long... They weren't preparing to send so pretty boy over to slap a debuff on our main force, were they?
"Ahem." A deliberately emphasized cough sounded out.
Kanzaki cleared his throat. Loosely balling his fist and stiffening his face, he stated with the utmost seriousness, "Ichinose, it seems there's a matter the girls in class need your help with. I think it's best we head back as soon as possible."
"Eh?"
Ichinose's cheerful voice ca to a halt. She puffed out her cheeks in a sowhat dejected manner and glanced at Fuyuji, standing rooted to the spot in imnse inner conflict.
"It's alright. We can chat more next ti, when you're free. Or you can ssage tonight."
"Mm... alright. Make sure to rember, okay."
After hesitating for a mont, Ichinose nodded. A sweet smile returned to her face.
Kanzaki let out a breath of relief. No matter what, he had to separate Ichinose from this slightly strange guy first. Once they had investigated the truth behind this incident, it wouldn't be too late to befriend him.
Before long, Ichinose and the Class B students had gathered their belongings, preparing to formally conclude this operation.
"Well then, see you next ti, Fuyuji-kun."
Leading the Class B group away, Ichinose waved her phone in her hand toward Fuyuji.
"See you next ti." Fuyuji also waved in farewell.
With the fading of yet another set of footsteps, the stairwell returned to silence once more.
At this mont, Horikita, who had been standing with her arms folded and remaining silent the entire ti, finally raised her cool, clear eyes and spoke.
"Fuyuji-kun." Her calm voice betrayed neither joy nor anger.
Fuyuji turned his head at the sound. "What is it?"
"Just now, the mont you saw that video, why didn't you notify imdiately? You should have known about the plan we were in the middle of executing?"
Horikita descended the steps, closing in on him step by step.
"You suspect ?" Fuyuji's expression was a mix of amusent and irony.
"Yes. I do suspect you."
Horikita t his gaze without the slightest evasion. Her cool, clear voice rippled through the empty stairwell.
"Because I had sothing even more important to take care of at that mont."
"What?"
"Um... can I not say?" Fuyuji's gaze began to drift evasively.
"No. Say it imdiately."
"Fine." Fuyuji sighed and looked behind Horikita. "Oi, you. Yeah, you. I'm calling you. You hear ?"
Horikita turned her head in confusion.
"Onii-sama!!"
Horikita, who had been so aggressively confrontational just one second ago, froze in place this second as if soone had pressed a pause button. She then spun around with lightning speed and stood before Horikita Manabu, every bit as docile as a quail.
"No helping it." Fuyuji spread his hands helplessly. "To prevent the Beast Ryuen from biting back in desperation, I imdiately went and called over soone who could hold the fort." As he spoke, Fuyuji wiped a crocodile tear from his eye. "I never imagined Horikita-san would falsely accuse like this."
"..."
The stairwell was utterly silent.
Of the only two audience mbers present, one had his head lowered, watching his own little sister. The other also had her head lowered—though she was staring at the floor.
Fuyuji's acting had been perford for precisely no one.
"Oi! I'm still standing here, you know?!"
Receiving no feedback whatsoever, Fuyuji banged his hands noisily against the stairway handrail.
Horikita cast a silent, fleeting glance at Fuyuji. A cold gleam flashed in her eyes.
Shut up! I'll deal with you later!
"Suzune."
Horikita Manabu spoke in that deep, composed manner—that sa old, cliched pretense of profundity he'd picked up from who-knows-where.
"Yes, Nii-san."
Horikita jolted in fright and hurriedly corrected her posture. Her left hand clasped her right, both hanging down to the hem of her skirt. Her stance was so obedient she practically looked like an elentary school student.
"Pfft—!"
Fuyuji burst out laughing without the slightest courtesy. At the speed of light, he whipped out his phone and snapped a photo of Horikita with a click. After admiring it for a mont, he saved it with great satisfaction.
Soday, when I need Cha-Cha to do so work, I'll pay this to her as her wages. I truly am a capitalist with a conscience.
Delete that imdiately!
Horikita shot another look at Fuyuji, her eyes blazing with warning.
In your next life!
Fuyuji returned a look without any courtesy whatsoever.
"..."
Horikita Manabu watched the two of them making eyes at each other right under his nose with considerable headache. Did they think his three years as a leader had been for nothing?
"Let's talk elsewhere. This place is unsuitable." Horikita Manabu swept his eyes over the stifling, sweltering environnt of the stairwell and took the lead, stepping down.
Faced with her brother's bloodline suppression, Horikita's brain had already begun to show signs of gradual regression. She could only chanically respond, "Yes," and then follow behind Horikita Manabu, step by step.
Twenty minutes later.
The Advanced Nurturing High School first-year dormitory building, at the far end of the corridor.
Fuyuji fished out the last two cans of drink, crumpled the plastic bag into a ball, and tossed it into the trash can with a thud.
Then, with a whoosh, he pushed open the window at the end of the corridor by a third. Fuyuji stretched luxuriously, savoring the dual stimulation of the sunlight before him and the cold air behind him.
Shortly after, the sound of small leather shoes clicking and clacking ca from behind him.
"It seems you've regained your composure, Horikita-san." Without turning his head, Fuyuji casually extended the very last drink behind him.
After a brief mont of hesitation, the person behind him ultimately accepted the drink from his hand.
"I thought you had already fled."
Horikita's voice rang out, as cool and clear as ever. She took a step forward and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Fuyuji by the window, gazing out at the scenery beyond.
"Hm? Isn't fleeing your specialty?" Fuyuji cracked open the can in his hand with a fizz.
"You're still trying to use this trick to divert my attention? Let's continue the previous topic." Horikita turned her head and stared straight into his eyes, enunciating each word with deliberate clarity. "Yes. I suspect you."
"Suspect of being the traitor?"
As if utterly unconcerned by Horikita's accusation, Fuyuji took a swig of his drink and began analyzing on his own.
"Mm, indeed. There is an extrely high probability that this plan suffered from an internal leak. The plan failed. The Class A that did nothing at all is, instead, the greatest beneficiary. From this angle—"
"No! I suspect you are the mastermind Ryuen-kun has been hunting all along!"
Horikita's tone carried an unprecedented firmness. She reassessed this oddball student of Class A bit by bit, from head to toe.
"It was you, wasn't it? That video."
"What makes you think that?"
Fuyuji instantly cald down. He raised an eyebrow, then lifted a hand to shield his forehead from the incoming rays of sunlight. He gazed out into the distance at the scenery, warped and distorted by the heat.
Mm... the scenery over by that central water fountain is quite nice. I'll go kill so ti over there tomorrow.
"I don't know. But I feel it was you." Horikita's fingers tightened around the ice-cold drink can.
"On what basis, Horikita-san? Even Ichinose didn't think so."
Horikita drew a deep breath. The breeze outside the window stirred the stray wisps of hair by her ear. "Because Ichinose-san had far too little information. There was definitely soone who leaked intel during this operation. She isn't certain who it was—or rather, she isn't willing to confirm who it was. But I am fairly confident it was Kushida-san who did it."
"Even so, that doesn't warrant suspecting of being the mastermind, does it?"
"Don't you think it's similar? The style of that mastermind. I feel it strongly resembles a certain soone."
"Does it?" Fuyuji rubbed his chin. "It probably... doesn't?"
"What Ryuen-kun encountered today, and the scamming thod a certain soone used against that day at the cafe—aren't they two sides of the sa coin, strikingly alike in approach?"
"That still doesn't prove anything, does it?"
"Whether you admit it or not is your own affair." Horikita spoke stubbornly. "I will repay you this debt of gratitude."
"How forceful, Horikita-san."
"I believe I have said this many tis. I am not accustod to owing others anything."
"In that case..."
Fuyuji mused for a mont. Then, suddenly turning bashful and coy, he spoke with shy hesitation. "Um... can I just have your body, and not your feelings?"
"What do you an?" Horikita furrowed her brow.
"I an, just your physical body. Not your soul."
"..."
In the very next second, a voice brimming with murderous intent erupted out the window.
"Do you want to die, Fuyuji-kun?!"
"So can I?"
"No!"
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