Cooperation

"Let's look around, just in case."

At Sudo's offhand remark, the girls by the pool immediately erupted into a commotion. They each wrapped themselves in towels and began searching the area.

Sudo, meanwhile, shrank into himself in terror, forcing Kiyotaka to start dodging and hiding along with him.

As the girls' search spread wider, their hiding place was no longer safe. Sudo turned to Kiyotaka at once.

"Kiyotaka, let's split up and run. We'll have a better chance of getting away!"

Before Kiyotaka could say anything, Sudo had already bolted as if the soles of his feet were greased.

Even Kiyotaka, who was usually calm, couldn't help gritting his teeth. What the hell was this?

Left behind by Sudo, Kiyotaka had no choice but to crouch and start moving. For some reason, though, the girls' search kept circling around him, while Sudo managed to get away.

Kiyotaka was baffled. I'm not the one who did anything wrong, so why am I the one stuck suffering through this ridiculous situation?

Still, he could be frustrated all he wanted. He couldn't even imagine what the girls in his class would do to him if he were caught, let alone how Horikita and the others would look at him.

He hadn't imagined that the abilities he'd kept hidden since the start of school would be put to such use. It had taken everything he had just to barely escape the encirclement. He was still near the pool, but the girls' excited chatter had suddenly faded.

"This should be safe... right?"

Kiyotaka muttered as he walked, but when he looked up, his eyes met someone else's.

His gaze drifted down, just a little. Her fair skin, the gentle swell of her breasts, her flat stomach, and, lower still, a glimpse of the forest between her thighs.

Their eyes blinked in unison. Kiyotaka's lips curled into a slightly awkward smile, betraying him.

"W-Well, this is a surprise. You're taking a bath too, Ibuki?"

He would have been better off saying nothing. The moment the words left his mouth, Kiyotaka wanted to slap himself.

But, to his surprise, Ibuki didn't scream. Her face was so red it looked as if it might drip, yet the confusion in her eyes gradually gave way to anger.

She snatched up a towel and wrapped it tightly around herself, then slowly started toward Kiyotaka, her bare feet stepping lightly.

"So you're the one who was staring at me with those filthy eyes? Then maybe you don't need them anymore!"

Ibuki's voice brimmed with undiminished fury. She quickened her pace, breaking into a sprint as she reached Kiyotaka and launched a fierce roundhouse kick straight at his face.

Kiyotaka was in the wrong, but he wasn't about to stand there and take a beating. He immediately raised his arm to block. His forearm dipped slightly from the impact. It was impressive strength for a girl, but still not enough to trouble Kiyotaka.

When Ibuki's first strike was blocked, she launched a relentless series of kicks at him. Their blows cracked through the air as they traded moves.

"Look, I didn't do it on purpose. I just wandered over here by accident. There's no need for this, is there?"

Kiyotaka managed to say between blocks.

"Shut up, you lecher!"

Her attacks weren't getting through, and Ibuki was already losing her temper. On top of having seen her naked, he was now trying to shift the blame. Her whip-like kicks grew even stronger.

Seeing that Ibuki wouldn't listen, Kiyotaka slowly began to lose his patience. While blocking her attacks, he deliberately started taking liberties with her most private areas.

Before long, Kiyotaka was no worse for wear, while several distinct red marks had appeared on Ibuki's soft skin and thighs.

Ibuki felt ready to explode with rage. She attacked with reckless abandon.

But when Ibuki threw an upward kick, Kiyotaka caught her ankle firmly, leaving her frozen in an extremely compromising pose.

Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes slightly and said,

"Nice shape. You take good care of them."

"You!"

Ibuki felt as though she might cry from anger. Tears the size of beans began streaming down her face. He had seen her naked, touched her all over, and now he'd gotten an unobstructed view of her most private parts. On top of that, he was holding her in place so she couldn't move, no matter how embarrassed she felt.

"I'll let you go, and we can stop fighting, okay? You can't beat me."

Seeing Ibuki begin to cry, Kiyotaka felt a little sorry for her. He asked in a conciliatory tone.

But Ibuki showed no intention of answering him. She simply sobbed to herself.

Seeing that, Kiyotaka released her ankle.

But as soon as Ibuki was free, her battle-hardened kicks came flying at him again, cutting through the air.

Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes. A trace of anger showed in his golden gaze as he deflected her attack, blocked her, and pulled her in. In an instant, Ibuki was pinned in his arms, unable to move.

"You bastard! Let go of me! I'll kill you!"

Ibuki struggled violently in Kiyotaka's embrace. In the process, her towel fell to the ground, leaving her completely exposed.

Her softly raised breasts brushed against him, and her nipples slowly hardened.

Watching Ibuki twist and thrash in his arms, Kiyotaka decided to fight fire with fire. He opened his mouth and began tasting her nipples.

Ibuki had never experienced anything like it. She froze on the spot, then shuddered involuntarily as a wave of sensation washed over her.

Kiyotaka paid no heed. His tongue toyed with her nipples as if he were savoring an incomparable delicacy.

Ibuki felt her body growing hotter and hotter in Kiyotaka's arms. Her tense muscles began to slacken against her will, and she couldn't summon any strength.

A moment later, Kiyotaka finally stopped. Ibuki's face was flushed, and her body was covered in a rosy hue.

Kiyotaka turned Ibuki's head toward him and looked directly into her slightly dazed eyes.

Strategy Sight activated. Cooldown: 336 hours.

As a voice sounded in his mind, Kiyotaka felt Ibuki's body growing softer in his arms.

"I'm going to let you go now. Can we talk this out?"

Ibuki didn't struggle again. She simply nodded in silence.

Seeing that, Kiyotaka immediately released her. Ibuki collapsed to the ground, and before long, she began to sob.

She was so strong when she was hitting me. Why does she cry so easily? The contrast is way too much.

As Kiyotaka grumbled to himself, he picked up her fallen towel and draped it over her.

Chapter 34: Cooperation

Ibuki was in despair.

The person who had rescued her had seen her body in its entirety. She was furious about it, but because she owed him, she'd originally planned to punish him a little and then pretend nothing had happened.

Who could have guessed that the punishment would go nowhere, while Kiyotaka kept violating her body again and again?

What made her feel the most ashamed was that she didn't feel the slightest bit of disgust toward what Kiyotaka was doing. Instead, the waves of pleasure only grew stronger.

Ibuki was becoming more and more conflicted and torn. Her helpless, complicated feelings and the strange sensations spreading through her body left her completely at a loss.

"Um, could you stop crying? How about I apologize?"

It had to be admitted: Kiyotaka was the sort of person who responded to softness, not force. If Ibuki had been throwing a tantrum and trying to pick a fight, he wouldn't have felt the slightest guilt even if he'd taken her completely.

But now Ibuki wouldn't stop crying, and it left Kiyotaka feeling like he'd punched a cushion.

"Uh... Ibuki, how are we supposed to settle this?"

Ibuki looked at Kiyotaka resentfully with her eyes red. Her towel was draped carelessly over her, barely concealing the glimpses of her body.

"How can you be so shameless? You were the one who peeped at me. Why are you acting like we're both at fault?"

Ibuki yelled at Kiyotaka, but she didn't know why the throbbing sensations in her body completely drowned out the small amount of resentment in her heart.

Especially when she saw Kiyotaka's undisguised gaze resting on her. Her body actually trembled against her will, and the heat she'd barely managed to suppress began to flare up again.

Kiyotaka was conflicted for a long while. Under these circumstances, going further would have been all too easy. But this situation had happened by accident, and ultimately, he was the one in the wrong.

Taking advantage of her in this situation left a bad taste in his mouth.

So, after a moment's hesitation, Kiyotaka took off his jacket, draped it over Ibuki, and said,

"I'm sorry. This was my fault, but please believe me when I say I didn't do it on purpose. Go back and get dressed first. If you want revenge, I'll be ready whenever you are."

With that, Kiyotaka left without looking back, leaving Ibuki alone.

Night deepened. Ibuki sat there in a daze until a gust of night wind passed by and jolted her back to her senses.

Clutching Kiyotaka's jacket, she murmured to herself,

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Ryuen, why'd you call me out this late at night?"

Katsuragi, his head completely bald, appeared before Ryuen, whose purple hair fell to his shoulders. He asked, puzzled.

Katsuragi had come because Ryuen had arranged to meet him during the morning gathering. He had no idea what Ryuen was planning.

"Oh, Katsuragi's here."

Ryuen greeted him warmly, a blade of grass he'd picked up lying between his teeth.

Katsuragi looked at Ryuen with a stern expression.

"Cut the crap. Just tell me what you want."

Seeing Katsuragi's attitude, Ryuen only laughed, unfazed.

"Katsuragi, you're constantly being suppressed by Sakayanagi's faction in Class A. Doesn't that make you angry?"

"What are you getting at, Ryuen? Do you have so much free time that you've started provoking Class A?"

Ryuen raised a finger and wagged it from side to side.

"No, no. I just want to make a deal with you. Of course, if you don't want to take advantage of Sakayanagi's absence, we can pretend we never met tonight."

"Go on..." Katsuragi considered it for a moment, then finally relented.

Ryuen immediately grinned in triumph and laughed as he looked at Katsuragi with a sly expression.

"I'll help you take first place in this exam. I'll transfer Class C's 200 task points to you, and I'll tell you who holds Class C's Ghost Card. All you have to do is pay each person in Class C 20,000 points a month from now on. What do you say?"

Katsuragi sneered when he heard that.

"Ryuen, you've got quite the nerve. You think 250 task points can buy you 20,000 points per person every month from now on? Dream on."

Ryuen wasn't annoyed. He simply gave Katsuragi a meaningful look.

"I don't mind either way. But how many chances will you get to control Class A on your own and improve your standing?"

Those words pierced Katsuragi's heart like a sword. Class A was divided, and Katsuragi's faction remained on the weaker side, constantly suppressed by Sakayanagi. For him, this really was an opportunity.

As for the points, they were a mere drop in the bucket for Class A—not worth worrying about.

After much hesitation, Katsuragi finally agreed to work with Ryuen, who was grinning maliciously.

"Then, here's to a pleasant partnership, Katsuragi. And as promised, the holder of Class C's Ghost Card is..."

There were no true enemies in this world. Only shared interests could make friends for life. A conspiracy had quietly begun.

The first day of the exam passed relatively peacefully.

The next day, early in the morning.

"Hey! We caught a ton of fish!"

"Great! We gathered lots of fruit over here too."

"Good work, everyone. Sudo, could you and the others start a fire? Kikyo, could you and your group take care of storing and managing the food?" Hirata said with a warm smile to Sudo and Kikyo's two groups as they returned.

"Oh! Leave it to me!"

"No problem!"

"Could the remaining students who are free use these empty bottles to collect some clean water?"

Hirata handed out some empty bottles to the students around him. Under his direction, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Kiyotaka watched from the sidelines, thinking to himself.

Hirata Yosuke, Class D's leader? He seems outstanding in every respect. Why was someone like him placed in Class D?

Gradually, the students around them each found something to do. Only Horikita and Kiyotaka were still idle.

Seeing that, Kiyotaka spoke up at once.

"Hirata, Horikita and I are going to look around the area and see if there are any unclaimed sites."