"Oh? Just watching?"
Kazehara Tetsu was not frightened by her momentum. Instead, he took a step forward and approached her.
"But in my judgment, when a person loses the courage to take action, it is already a complete defeat. It is even worse than being knocked to the ground."
"The so-called same refers to the result."
Ibuki Mio's pupils shrank suddenly.
Yes.
If not, why would she remember it so clearly?
"... You're right."
Ibuki Mio took a deep breath. She did not refute Kazehara Tetsu's almost humiliating judgment, but accepted it calmly.
"But that's why..."
"It's really to make up for the... fear on Uninhabited Island."
She said the last two words very softly and with great difficulty.
For a girl who considers herself strong and has a twisted personality, admitting that she is "scared" and a coward is even more uncomfortable than killing her.
"Oh?"
This time, Kazehara Tetsu's face finally put away that joking smile, revealing a hint of real surprise.
"I didn't expect... that Ibuki Mio would actually say the word 'fear' himself."
"There's nothing to hide."
"I'm just scared. When I saw that look in your eyes and what you did... I was really frightened and couldn't even move my legs."
"But..."
This is why she has always been hostile to Kazehara Tetsu, but she can't help but want to cause trouble for him.
If she doesn't step over that shadow, she will always be a weakling dominated by fear.
"No matter how strong you are, whether you are Monster or something else..."
"I don't want to live with that disgusting memory anymore."
"So..."
She stared at Kazehara Tetsu.
"Compete with me again."
Kazehara Tetsu His hands were still in his coat pockets, and his body was leaning against the pillar.
He lowered his eyes slightly and looked at the girl in front of him with "I want to fight" written all over her face.
"Competition?"
"Let me tell you, Ibuki. Today is Christmas Eve, a day for resting, dating, or at least sleeping in the warmth Bed. If you call me to stop, it's Cinema's 'physical conflict' again, and it's like this again..."
Kazehara Tetsu sighed, and the white breath he exhaled was instantly blown away by the wind.
"Why compete? I'm not a sparring partner to satisfy your weird competitiveness. I can't get any benefits from such a thankless job except Waste of Time."
"... Tsk."
Ibuki Mio bit the lips that were a little white from the cold.
Of course she knows how snobbish this man is, and behavior that is not motivated by profit is stupid in itself.
"Good thing, right?"
She took a deep breath and seemed to be making a difficult decision.
Then, she roughly took out her mobile phone from her pocket, quickly tapped the screen a few times with her fingers, and called up Transfer Interface of Personal Points.
"Ten thousand... no, twenty thousand Personal Points."
Ibuki Mio raised the phone screen in front of Kazehara Tetsu. The number on it was definitely a huge sum of money for the average Class C student.
After all, Class C is not rich in points due to Ryuuen's previous squandering and various points deductions. The 20,000 points are probably the living expenses she has saved for a long time.
"I'll give you 20,000 points and play a game with me. As long as you take action seriously, no matter you win or lose, these 20,000 points will be yours."
However, Kazehara Tetsu just glanced at the number lightly without even raising his eyelids.
"Twenty thousand points?"
He chuckled lightly, and there was no mockery in that laughter, only a plainness that stated the facts.
"Sorry, Ibuki. Although I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, but in my account balance, the twenty thousand Points... is not even a fraction of what it is now."
"For a person who is not only not short of money, but also has a lot of resources, do you think this mere 20,000 points can constitute any 'attraction'? It is as ridiculous as if you want to hire a millionaire to help you move bricks with a meal."
"You..."
Ibuki Mio's hand froze in mid-air.
She forgot that the guy in front of her belonged to Class A.
In his eyes, these 20,000 points are indeed no different from waste paper.
Embarrassment suddenly came to mind.
She took her phone back angrily.
If no benefits are given, this man will never agree.
But he is not short of money.
So what does he lack?
In other words... what else can I use?
Ibuki Mio's brain was running rapidly, and finally, she gritted her teeth.
"Then..."
"I can promise you something."
"One thing?"
Kazehara Tetsu finally became interested. He straightened up and looked at the girl in front of him with great interest.
"Is anything okay? Even if you betray Ryuen or do something that violates School Rules?"
"... As long as I can do it."
Ibuki Mio didn't say it to death, but in this context, this is already an extremely heavy promise.
For a person with her personality, being owed a favor is more uncomfortable than being owed a million.
"Oh?"
Kazehara Tetsu did not agree immediately, but took two steps forward to close the distance between the two.
His eyes slowly moved down from Ibuki Mio's stubborn face.
"If anything goes..."
"That sounds like a pretty... bold blank check."
Sensing that kind of gaze and some dangerous hint in the words, Ibuki Mio's body suddenly tensed up.
Almost subconsciously, she put her hands on her chest and took a step back.
"You can't do the kind of thing you want!"
She almost growled, her cheeks instantly turned red, not sure if it was because of shame or anger.
"Huh?"
Kazehara Tetsu stopped and spread his hands with an "innocent" look on his face.
"What kind of thing does 'that kind of thing' mean? I haven't said it yet, Ibuki."
A wicked smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Could it be that... under your seemingly cold appearance, you actually hide a heart full of pornographic waste? Or are you expecting me to make some excessive demands?"
"Stop pretending!"
"Who expected it? I said that because I know who you are!"
"You are so evil to the extreme. If you don't make it clear in advance, who knows what perverted requests you will make?!"
She no longer had any hope in Kazehara Tetsu's "character".
In this man's dictionary, the word "gentleman" probably does not exist at all.
"It's really hurtful..."
Kazehara Tetsu pretended to be hurt and covered his chest, but the smile in his eyes betrayed him.
"Don't worry."
He restrained his joking attitude and leaned back on the railing.
"Although I'm a little interested in your slightly barren... well, fairly tight figure, I'm not willing to use such threats to force girls."
"There won't be anything you're worried about. I'll just ask you to do...'normal' things. For example, run errands, or do a small favor at certain times."
"... really?"
Ibuki Mio looked at him suspiciously, obviously doubting the definition of the word "normal" in Kazehara Tetsu's mouth.
"Your standard of 'normal' is different from that of ordinary humans."
"But..."
She glanced at Kazehara Tetsu's "forget it if you don't agree" attitude, and finally stamped her foot hard.
"Forget it! I promise you!"
"Now that the deal is done, let's not blow the cold wind here. Although you want to prove yourself, I don't want to catch a cold tomorrow."
He looked around for a week.
"Let's change a place. There are too many people here, and there are couples everywhere. If you start something here, you will be there in a minute. You don't want to be arrested by the school and write a self-criticism at Christmas Eve, do you?"
"Bullshit."
Ibuki Mio put his hands back into his pockets impatiently.
"Then where to go? There are surveillance cameras around here."
"That's a problem."
The two began to wander around the mall.
"Where there are no cameras..."
Ibuki Mio frowned and scanned every corner.
"There is only a toilet."
After saying this, she felt unreliable.
Although multifunctional toilets like those in shopping malls are not monitored, they are public areas.
"Forget it."
Kazehara Tetsu immediately rejected the proposal.
"We are not of the same gender. Should we go into the men's room or the women's room together? No matter which one we enter, as long as others see it, tomorrow's School Forum headline will be 'Toilet Fight'... I can't bear this kind of news."
"And in that narrow space, if you break something, you have to pay for it."
"Tsk... it's really troublesome."
Ibuki Mio scratched his hair irritably.
"Then where do you want to go? You can't go to your Dormitory, right?"
"Hmm... not very good either."
Kazehara Tetsu shook his head, and then turned his attention to the outside of the mall.
"There's only one place left."
He pointed in that direction.
"Get out."