Testing the Waters, Komatsu Kyo?

Even with Katsuragi and the others explaining things, almost nobody believed them except Totsuka and a few other members of the Katsuragi Faction.

Because

Kijima Tsukur's actions had been too outrageous, and Hashimoto Masayoshi and Kamuro Masumi had deliberately stayed silent.

People preferred to believe what they wanted to see!

Rather than believe Kijima Tsukur had shared the information freely, they preferred to think he'd sold it for personal points—he'd just charged too little.

Of course,

the information had all been Kijima Tsukur's own deductions and findings.

Strictly speaking,

the others had no right to stop him,

but Sakayanagi Arisu wouldn't let the matter rest. She was deliberately stoking the conflict.

That might not be quite the right way to put it.

She couldn't bring Kijima Tsukur down on this alone, and Sakayanagi Arisu had no intention of defeating her opponent so easily.

She was simply keeping the conflict alive,

maintaining everyone's dissatisfaction and tarnishing their impression of Kijima Tsukur.

"Should we go take a look?"

Morishita Ai wasn't worried, but she was more interested in seeing how Yamamura Miki would react.

"Well..."

After hesitating for a moment, Yamamura Miki finally nodded.

"Okay. Are you coming too?"

"Yeah. I don't have anything else to do right now."

"Then let's keep quiet~"

The two girls crouched low,

sneaking over like a pair of little mice.

The spectator stands on either side were separated by a deep passage leading to the competitors' entrance.

The two stood in the passage,

which happened to be close enough for them to hear Kijima Tsukur and Sakayanagi Arisu talking.

Yamamura Miki and Morishita Ai tiptoed forward, their little hands gripping the wall as they peeked around it, only their heads showing as they secretly spied on the two.

Chapter 36: Testing the Waters, Komatsu Kyo?

The spectator stands.

A few minutes earlier.

Watching Kijima Tsukur turn a Rubik's Cube in one hand while reading a book with the other, Sakayanagi Arisu approached him slowly, leaning on her cane.

"Kijima, aren't you going swimming?"

"Not interested."

"Kamuro told me that you've had martial arts training before, right?"

"Of course."

"What kinds of martial arts have you studied? I may not look it, but I know a little about martial arts."

"Taekwondo, karate, aikido, judo, sanda, boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, kickboxing, Chinese martial arts, Brazilian capoeira..."

What, couldn't you just claim you could fly while you were at it?

Kijima Tsukur rattled off a long list of martial arts, but Sakayanagi Arisu naturally didn't believe him.

How old was Kijima Tsukur?

Mastering even one discipline would make someone a master. How could anyone study so many?

He'd probably only dabbled,

or maybe he just knew their names.

"I heard from the teacher that first place in swimming class earns five thousand personal points. If you've studied so many martial arts, you must be in good shape. Aren't you going to give it a try?"

"Not interested."

"May I sit here?"

"Suit yourself."

Sakayanagi Arisu sat down beside Kijima Tsukur and smiled.

"Do you think the reward isn't enough? If you take first place, I can put up another twenty thousand personal points myself."

"Not interested."

"Oh? Are you afraid of losing?"

"..."

Kijima Tsukur looked at his textbook and replied calmly.

"Then let me answer another way. The school has midterms and finals. If you can place in the top twenty in your class, I'll give you fifty thousand personal points as a reward. How does that sound?"

Given Sakayanagi Arisu's grades, making the top twenty was a certainty. Those personal points would practically be a handout.

However,

the real point of the question

was to judge something more fundamental—

to see what kind of person the other was and whether money could control her.

As for getting something for nothing, that wasn't really possible.

Give someone an inch and they'd take a mile!

Someone who could be swayed by money's allure would inevitably let it corrode their character and pride, and when they were in a tight spot, they would inevitably give in for money.

For an ordinary person,

that kind of character wasn't praiseworthy, but it wasn't especially dangerous either.

But for a leader,

being pleased with herself over a few personal points was a fatal flaw.

"How interesting. As it happens, I'm not interested in money either."

Faced with personal points she could easily claim, Sakayanagi Arisu also turned them down. Gazing at the pool, she said,

"However, there's something I don't quite understand. Would you answer a question for me, Kijima?"

"Go ahead."

"You shared the personal points you earned equally with everyone. Yet over the past few days, I've led some of my classmates in criticizing you for selling information and harming the class's interests. Don't you feel any resentment, Kijima?"

Sakayanagi Arisu's voice was ethereal, and her smile never wavered.

She made no effort to hide that she was the one behind it all. What she wanted most was to see how Kijima Tsukur reacted. Only then could she plan her next move.

And yet,

no matter how she attacked him these past few days, Kijima Tsukur hadn't reacted at all.

It was as if, however strong the winds blew, the mountain remained unmoved; however fierce the waves, the moon still shone over the river.

Kijima Tsukur really didn't feel anything.

"No."

"Hmm..."

That impenetrable calm was giving Sakayanagi Arisu a bit of a headache.

"This will undoubtedly undermine your position as a leader. You really don't care at all? Do you actually believe in some kind of divine destiny?"

"..."

Kijima Tsukur turned to the next page and spoke as he read.

"Then I'll answer in a way you can understand. Everyone has their own strengths. If I had to take my subordinates' opinions into account, I'd have worked myself to death by now. All you need to do is gather the information and bring it to me, then follow my orders."

As he spoke, Kijima Tsukur closed his book and glanced at her.

"Anyway, you're here to probe for my weaknesses, right? You don't have to beat around the bush next time. You can ask me anything directly."

"I'd say I have two weaknesses!"

"First, I'm headstrong and almost never listen to the people around me. But personally, I think I just haven't met anyone who's my equal."

"Second, I suppose I'm a bit of a womanizer. But that's hardly a real weakness, and I can keep it in check when necessary."

"But..."

Kijima Tsukur suddenly turned toward Sakayanagi Arisu, leaning in until his face was only a few centimeters from hers. His deep gaze seemed ready to swallow her whole.

"My shortcomings are the destination you'll spend your entire lives trying and failing to reach!"

"..."

Sakayanagi Arisu met Kijima Tsukur's gaze without the slightest hesitation.

She didn't like it, but she would never back down.

Just then,

two little heads suddenly appeared in the passage beside them.

"Is that so?"

The smile on Sakayanagi Arisu's lips grew even more delighted.

"Still, I've noticed two more weaknesses of yours."

"First, arrogance. Even the elites among politicians and the wealthy families wouldn't dare look down on me like that. This is the first time anyone's underestimated me to this extent."

"Second, you don't know how to make good use of people."

Seeing Kijima Tsukur sit back in his seat, Sakayanagi Arisu explained with a smile.

"I've observed Morishita and Yamamura. Setting Morishita aside, Yamamura barely draws attention, which makes her well suited to gathering information. But you've only kept her at your side as a secretary. That's poor judgment of character, don't you think?"

"And that's why this is as far as you can go."

Kijima Tsukur's expression remained unchanged as he replied coolly.

"Though her limited mobility is an objective factor, the fact that you need her to gather information for you just shows that your abilities aren't enough. As for me, I value what's at her core. She does a decent job taking care of my daily needs."

"..."

Sakayanagi Arisu's lips twitched slightly. She was genuinely so irritated she could've fallen over.

This time, she really had come to sound him out and challenge him.

But every time she dealt with Kijima Tsukur,

the essence of it could be summed up in two points.

When he gave an order, it was divine destiny.

When someone questioned him, they were just incompetent!

There was no way around it!

"I see. I hope you can keep that attitude up."

With that, Sakayanagi Arisu left, leaning on her cane. She was seething with anger; she'd never been this furious in her life.

Fine, fine.

She'd have to give that arrogant fool a thorough thrashing!