The Secret Gathering

Ayanokouji hadn't expected to make friends just two days after starting school.

Three of them, no less.

The dorm gathering he'd never experienced before had finally come to pass in his room.

To celebrate, he'd taken out the can of beef he'd bought at the supermarket yesterday. It had cost a fortune, and even he hadn't wanted to eat it.

But to his surprise, the delicacy he'd planned to enjoy himself was snatched away by Kanji Ike the moment he opened it.

As he watched the three of them eat bite after bite of the can without him even getting a taste, his eyelid twitched.

This wasn't the White Room, nor was it wilderness training.

If they'd been in an unmonitored forest, he would have pierced the other boy's chest without hesitation and taken back his food.

The survival of the fittest. That was the law of the jungle.

But this was school.

He'd finally gotten a taste of ordinary life, and he wanted to be an ordinary person for once, to experience what an ordinary life was like.

The chairman had said that even ordinary people had things they could teach him.

Cooperation, unity, friendship, hope. Those words he couldn't understand echoed in his mind.

He still couldn't make sense of them.

But it didn't matter if he couldn't understand them. He only needed to learn how to use them.

Right now, he wasn't strong enough. The moment he left this school, he'd be caught.

He only wanted to grow stronger—strong enough to control his own fate.

When that time came, true freedom would await him.

"Hey, Ayanokouji, what do you think?" Yamauchi and the others looked at him.

He shook his head. "I'm not good at this. You guys figure it out."

He'd heard their conversation. They were just figuring out how to set up Bai Ye and humiliate him.

He'd thought of a way, but didn't plan to say anything. He didn't know how strong that person really was, and he didn't want to expose himself.

Trying to scheme against someone before learning everything about them had a very slim chance of success.

Besides, he didn't think their plan would work. Even if Bai Ye was ostracized, there'd still be other people standing in the way, like Hirata Yousuke.

There was no point in doing something like that. They'd be better off making themselves stronger.

"You're an idiot. What's wrong with you two?"

"You're the idiot. Those ideas are all terrible!"

"Quit arguing! You're annoying!" Sudo said at last.

They'd talked for ages, only to nearly start arguing. Ayanokouji couldn't help feeling speechless.

Should he give them a hint?

Never mind.

He didn't really want to make an enemy of Bai Ye. There was something strange about him. His behavior was completely different from everyone else's.

Perhaps he was hiding some unknown secret, just like Ayanokouji.

But then again, he decided to let it go. Everyone had secrets; they just differed in size.

"All right! It's settled. We'll observe him for a while and wait until we find something we can use against him!"

Ayanokouji thought they'd finally made a wise decision.

Meanwhile, in the room next door to Ayanokouji's.

They hadn't expected there to be a gathering here, too.

But the main attraction was one boy and two girls.

Bai Ye looked at the two girls before him, confused. "You came to my room this late at night to hang out. Aren't you afraid?"

Kushida smiled. "Jingu-kun, are you planning to get handsy with me? There are two girls here, you know."

If Wang Meiyu hadn't been with her, she wouldn't have dared to go to the boys' dorm alone.

The dorm rooms were extremely soundproof. If a boy really gave in to his lust, she wouldn't be able to fight back. And if he left behind evidence to threaten her afterward, she'd have no choice but to swallow her pain.

Although the chances of that happening were very low, she had to consider the worst-case scenario. She knew how ugly people could be when driven by desire.

"Sorry, Bai Ye. Kushida caught me on my way to your room, so..."

Wang Meiyu lowered her head.

Bai Ye propped his chin on his hand and leaned against the desk. "You didn't say you were coming over tonight. Couldn't you have told me beforehand?"

"I... I was afraid you'd say no..." Her voice grew quieter and quieter.

"Hm?" Bai Ye frowned.

He felt like his little sister was learning bad habits. Did she think he wouldn't turn her away once she reached his door?

Even now, after she'd entered his room, he could still kick her out.

So he said:

"Leave, Kushida. Meiyu and I have something to talk about."

"Huh?"

Kushida's eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to kick her out.

She couldn't keep up her sweet, cute façade anymore, and looked at him with a resentful gaze.

At that moment, Bai Ye felt like a heartless man. If Wang Meiyu hadn't been there, Kushida might have taken a knife to him a few times.

In reality, the two of them weren't close at all. Kushida was only acting like this because of a woman's vanity.

Just like how she couldn't outdo Wang Meiyu right now.

Seeing Kushida's gaze toward Wang Meiyu turn strange, Bai Ye didn't want the two girls' relationship to sour, so he said:

"I have something important to tell Meiyu. It's not suitable for you to listen in. If you have something to say to me, come by yourself next time. You're very welcome."

"Tch, I don't want to come over. I just didn't trust Meiyu on her own. Since you two have things to talk about, I won't bother you. Bye."

Kushida seemed not to have heard the deeper meaning behind his last sentence. She walked out.

Only after the door closed did Wang Meiyu let out a long breath.

Bai Ye finally felt free to speak casually. "It's almost bedtime. What are you doing in my room? Don't tell me you want to sleep with me."

"W-would that be so bad?" Wang Meiyu asked tentatively.

"Of course it would. You want to be my little sister, don't you? What little sister sleeps with her big brother?"

"I don't mind."

As she said this, Bai Ye saw Wang Meiyu's face flush a little.

When Bai Ye didn't answer, she bit her lip and glanced at her somewhat underdeveloped figure. "You can just think of me as a child, Big Brother. Besides, I..."

"Pfft."

Bai Ye couldn't help laughing. "Don't you know there are people in this world who like petite lolis?"

"Is that so...? Then what kind of girl do you like, Big Brother? What kind...?" Wang Meiyu clenched her little fists and looked at him with tear-filled eyes, her cheeks bright red.

It had taken a great deal of courage to say that. At least as far as Bai Ye remembered, Wang Meiyu wouldn't have dared say something like that.

Looking at her delicate, petite body, he said:

"First, she has to have a good figure."

"Ah...?"

"Second, she needs a unique aura."

"..."

"Third, she needs to understand what I'm thinking."

"Fourth..."

"..."

With each thing he said, Wang Meiyu seemed to shrink a little more. By the end, she'd curled up in a corner, hugging her knees, and was completely scrunched into a ball.

Bai Ye couldn't help finding it funny.

"Big Brother, should I even be alive in this world...?"

Yet Bai Ye, who'd been joking just moments ago, answered her seriously. "Whether you should live is up to you. I'm not like other people. I won't tell anyone to live well. Some people are never satisfied, and even with more money than they could ever spend, they're still anxious. Others live happily on plain meals every day. It comes down to whether you enjoy the life you have or keep chasing ever-expanding desires... In the end, whether you're happy and whether you want to live are things each person has to decide for themselves."

"Big Brother, why can't I understand what you're saying?"

Wang Meiyu tilted her head, looking bewildered.

"Once you understand, you won't be happy anymore."