The noisy Sports Festival has come to an end at this time, and the residual heat wave on the Sports Field has not been able to enter this Teaching Building.
In the empty corridor, only some footsteps echoed.
When she and Kushida Kikyo walked to the remote Corner Tower, the people waiting there had been waiting for a long time.
Ryuen Kakeru leaned against the tiled wall with his hands in his trouser pockets. His slightly messy long hair could not hide the playful light in his eyes.
"Oh..."
Ryuen Kakeru saw the figure of Horikita Suzune appear, and the mocking arc at the corner of his mouth gradually widened.
"It seems that you did not escape, Suzune. I thought you would hide in a corner and cry, or escape directly to Dormitory and become a turtle."
"Escape?"
Horikita Suzune stopped. Her voice was as calm as a pool of stagnant water, without a trace of ripples.
She looked at the man in front of her who had once made her feel troublesome and even forced her into Desperate Situation.
"I'm not going to run away."
"Whether it's for myself... or for the person who gave me the possibility of 'victory'. I will come here. Because there are some accounts that must be settled today."
"The one who gave you victory?"
Ryuen Kakeru raised his eyebrows, seeming to sneer at this statement, or maybe he simply didn't understand what she was talking nonsense about, "I kicked someone else's leg, lost the game, and got the stigma of violence... Are you still dreaming now?"
Horikita Suzune ignored Ryuen's taunt.
Her eyes moved slowly and finally landed on Kushida Kikyo standing aside.
"Before solving the problem of Ryuen..."
Horikita Suzune spoke, and his tone suddenly turned cold.
"There are some personal matters that need to be dealt with first."
"Kushida."
Kushida Kikyo, whose name was called, tilted his head slightly and blinked his big eyes, "What's wrong? Horikita? Why are you looking at me with that scary look?"
"Is your farce over?"
These words without beginning or end made the air freeze for a moment.
"Huh?"
The smile on Kushida Kikyo's face was not stiff at all, but seemed even more confused, "What do you mean? I was worried about any conflict between you and Ryuen, so..."
"That's enough."
Horikita Suzune interrupted her sweet voice, with a trace of disgust in her eyes.
"You can continue to pretend to be a good person. That is your freedom and a mask for your survival. But..."
Horikita Suzune took a step forward and stared at this hypocritical girl.
"If you leak Class D's internal information to Outsider for the sake of pure revenge on me and your narrow selfish desires... betray all our entries to Class C, Class C will be able to snipe us so accurately, and even plan the 'accident' against me."
"Now that you are still standing here, you also want to confirm with your own eyes whether things are developing smoothly according to your ideas. You want to see if I am in such a mess that I will fall into hell as you wish, right?"
If it were an ordinary girl, she would probably be flustered or angry when faced with such accusations.
But Kushida Kikyo just covered his mouth lightly.
"That's disgusting, Horikita. What are you talking about? How could I do that kind of thing?"
She put down her hand and turned her eyes around Horikita Suzune's face, still smiling.
"Who did you hear this from? Could it be that... someone is sowing discord?"
"I didn't listen to anyone."
Unexpectedly, Horikita Suzune shook his head.
"This is purely my own feeling. It's a former junior high school classmate's... intuition about the existence named Kushida Kikyo."
"..."
Kushida Kikyo The smile on her lips softened slightly. The word "junior high school" seemed to have touched her sensitive nerves.
"You were the person you were then, and you are now... even though the mask has been changed, the feeling cannot be concealed."
"Now Class D believes in you very much. You are the center of the class and everyone's 'Little Angel'. But, Kushida..."
"Enough is enough."
"Stop clinging to the so-called 'past'. You should know very well what kind of person I am. As long as you don't take the initiative to bring up the past, I won't care about it at all, and I have no interest in spreading it everywhere."
This is Horikita Suzune's last act of kindness.
Or an ultimatum.
Silence.
The deathly silence lasted for more than ten seconds.
The perfect "smile" on Kushida Kikyo's face gradually disappeared.
"... Indeed it is."
Kushida Kikyo's voice has changed.
It's no longer that sweet voice, but a deep, deep tone.
"You are indeed arrogant and withdrawn, and have no interest in other people's affairs."
She raised her hand, scratched her hair nervously, and stared at Horikita Suzune.
"But...Horikita. I'm not sure this will last forever."
"Even if there's only one chance in ten thousand, even if you just let it slip when you were in a bad mood one day... I'm done."
"How can I sleep in a situation where I can be exposed at any time?"
Kushida Kikyo said while taking steps.
She did not go to Horikita Suzune, but went straight to Ryuen Kakeru over there.
Then, she turned around and stood side by side with Ryuen Kakeru.
"So..."
"The best way, the safest way... is to completely remove the people who know about my past from This School."
"That is... let you Expulsion."
"Haha..."
Ryuen Kakeru looked at this scene and burst into laughter.
"Did you see it? Suzune."
"You have been completely abandoned by your 'reliable' partner."
Ryuen Kakeru stopped laughing and his eyes became fierce again.
"Okay, that's the end of the touching classmate reunion drama."
"Now, let's get back to the point."
"About the fact that you maliciously injured Kinoshita, causing her serious leg injury... the issue of 'compensation'."
He stretched out his hand and touched the floor in front of Horikita Suzune with his fingers in the air.
"The conditions agreed before have not changed. One million Personal Points, plus you are here... kneel down, kowtow to me and admit your mistake."
"If you can't do it, or don't want to do it..."
Ryuen Kakeru shook the phone in his hand.
"Then the evidence I have here is enough for Student Council to fire a violent person like you directly."
This is a dead end.
At least according to common sense, this is a perfect dead end.
However.
Horikita Suzune lowered his head.
Her bangs covered her eyes, making her expression unclear.
"... Yeah."
She said softly, without the fear Ryuen expected in her voice.
"I admit... this time, whether it was tactics or the control of people's hearts, I completely lost."
"I was too naive. I was naive enough to think that I could win as long as I competed properly. I was naive enough to not be prepared for the sharp knife behind my back."
Hearing these words that were similar to "defeat speech", Kushida Kikyo felt happy in his heart.
"It's good to know. Then kneel down quickly..."
"But..."
Horikita Suzune slowly took out the mobile phone from Sports Uniform's pocket.
The black screen hadn't turned on yet, like a mirror, reflecting her own face.
"Ryuen."
"This time... you lose too."