Welcome to the Paradise of Freedom

"Someone... please save me."

Having silently observed everything from the second floor all along, Kiyotaka murmured to himself upon seeing Karuizawa's current state.

"Not bad at all, Manabe. About time, she should be at her breaking point."

"For convenience's sake, it's easier to just make her completely collapse once."

With that thought, Kiyotaka coldly watched everything unfolding below.

Including Manabe's trio tormenting Karuizawa, including Rika who started timid but grew increasingly unhinged with each slap, including Karuizawa sitting in a limp duck-legged pose on the ground, her heart like dead ashes.

"Hahaha, look at her face, she looks like a corpse."

"Mine's even better, her legs are shaking like a sieve."

After a long while, Manabe finally left with her group, still not fully satisfied.

Karuizawa seemed oblivious to everything that had happened, muttering to herself as she sat slumped on the ground, until Kiyotaka's figure blocked most of the dim yellow light. Only then did she lift her head like a machine.

"Ayanokoji? What are you doing here?"

Karuizawa's trembling voice asked.

But Ayanokoji paid her no attention, merely looking down at the disheveled Karuizawa from above.

By now, her clothes were tattered from her earlier struggles, the buttons at her collar long gone, revealing her proud peaks.

As if sensing Kiyotaka's gaze, Karuizawa quickly covered her chest and shouted loudly.

"Who said you could look!"

Kiyotaka looked at Karuizawa, who was putting on a brave front, and said flatly.

"In the end, you still can't change the fact that you're a victim of bullying."

Karuizawa stared at Kiyotaka as if she'd seen a demon, the words she wanted to blurt out catching in her throat.

"You... saw all of that?"

Karuizawa said, her hand slowly reaching toward her pocket.

"Calling Hirata won't help. Your fake relationship, your past of being bullied—I know it all. In other words, if I want, your past will be known to everyone by tomorrow."

Watching Kiyotaka calmly speak these demonic words, Karuizawa raised her hand and slapped him.

"Slap. Thud."

Kiyotaka directly blocked her hand and, in one motion, pinned it hard against the wall with a loud bang.

"What are you doing!"

"You covered up your past to avoid being bullied, turning yourself into a parasite, relying on others to survive. But in the end..."

"You... are you after my body?"

Kiyotaka's eyes narrowed slightly.

"That... doesn't sound so bad."

Kiyotaka abruptly released Karuizawa's pinned hand, and she fell awkwardly to her knees.

"Legs. Spread."

"Huh?"

Karuizawa looked at Kiyotaka in terror.

"I said, spread your legs."

Chapter 53: The Truth Karuizawa Hid

Kiyotaka looked down at Karuizawa expressionlessly, like a hunter eyeing its prey.

Tears welled up in Karuizawa's eyes. Staring at Kiyotaka's emotionless golden pupils, she squirmed, slowly sat up, and hugged her legs.

"I... I won't admit this is you bullying me. I just happened to be caught by you, and now you're humiliating me..."

As she spoke, Karuizawa slowly spread her legs. The edge of her white underwear gradually came into Kiyotaka's view.

"You're not resisting."

Kiyotaka asked calmly.

Karuizawa turned her head away, looking utterly resigned, and said.

"You know, when a person knows they can't fight the truth, they give up resisting. They clearly know they're the prey—they won't struggle, won't scream, won't fight back. All they can do is submit, begging for it to be quick."

Kiyotaka crouched down, looking directly at Karuizawa.

"Tell me, what's the real pain inside you that makes you give up struggling, even willing to give up your body?"

As he spoke, Kiyotaka's hand reached toward Karuizawa's clothes.

"Don't..."

Karuizawa said in a pleading voice, but she didn't dare move a muscle.

Kiyotaka directly lifted her clothes and saw a long scar across her belly, which should have been smooth and fair.

"Is this it..."

"Karuizawa, do you know? There are many kinds of despair, and what you've experienced is undoubtedly one of them. But people in the shadows are drawn to each other, and the one with deeper shadows protects the weaker."

Karuizawa's eyes glimmered with a trace of light at his words.

"You... what exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I want to tell you is that there are many shadows in this world you don't know about yet. I can promise you that from now on, I'll protect you—and my protection is more practical than Hirata's or Machida's."

Kiyotaka pulled out his terminal and showed Karuizawa a video. The footage was of everything that had just happened.

"I'll use this to threaten Manabe and make sure they never bother you again."

Karuizawa stared blankly at the video and asked dully.

"Then... what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to submit to me, both in body and in heart, and be mine from now on. Can you do that?"

Karuizawa's eyes grew hazy as she looked at Kiyotaka. She reached out, pulled his arm, and slowly guided it beneath her skirt.

"I... can do that..."

Kiyotaka stopped her movement and stood up.

Just as Karuizawa looked at him in confusion, she found a large hand extended before her.

"Get up. Before I have your body, there's something more important we need to do—win this match. Because you're the VIP, aren't you?"

Karuizawa stared at Kiyotaka in shock, and she didn't snap out of it until he led her upstairs.

Inside the theater.

"Rare of you to seek me out. What's up?"

Chabashira sat in a chair, a cigarette dangling from her lips, and looked at Kiyotaka standing nearby.

"I want to buy something."

Kiyotaka looked at Chabashira.

"Oh? Sounds like you've got another scheme up your sleeve."

Chabashira looked at Kiyotaka and smiled knowingly.

The fourth discussion was held early in the morning. Kiyotaka arrived at the room first thing, but when he walked in, he found Ichinose already asleep on the sofa.

Seeing her peaceful sleeping posture, Kiyotaka tiptoed over to a chair and sat down.

"Mmm... Ayanokoji, what kind of person are you, really?"

Kiyotaka hadn't expected Ichinose to be talking in her sleep—and about him, no less.

"What kind of mess is this?"

Kiyotaka muttered under his breath.

"Beep, beep."

Ichinose's terminal alarm went off. She sat up groggily and stretched lazily.

"Mmm~"

Just as she let out a pleasant sigh, her expression suddenly froze.

"Ayanokoji-kun... when did you get here?"

"Mmm... about the time you started talking in your sleep?"

Kiyotaka thought for a moment and replied calmly.

"Oh! Then why didn't you wake me up!"

"I had no reason to wake you, and you seemed to be sleeping soundly."

Kiyotaka answered with a completely straight face, while Ichinose's cheeks grew redder with every word.

"Ayanokoji-kun, since it's rare, can I ask you a question?"

"Again?"

Ichinose's face flushed even more at his retort, but she still met his gaze and asked.

"Ayanokoji-kun, you do have the desire to advance to Class A, don't you?"

Kiyotaka let out a helpless sigh.

"Fine, I'll answer you for free this time. Barely, yes."

"I knew it. I also have a wish that can only be fulfilled by graduating from Class A. Too bad we're not in the same class—only one of us can achieve it."

"I've heard there are exceptions, but the conditions are so difficult that no one's ever done it."

"Oh~ you mean spending two million points to transfer to any class you want? So you did peek at my points."

Kiyotaka didn't feel he had been peeping, so he simply said flatly.

"I just happened to see it."

"I'm not blaming you, but I'm sorry, I can't say any more about this."

"Mm, I understand."

At that moment, the lights in the room blazed on. Yukimura and the Doctor walked over.

"What's this, so Kiyotaka was here after all."

Yukimura said.

The Doctor also shot a suspicious glance between Ichinose and Kiyotaka and asked.

"Kiyotaka, how come you're alone in a room with Ichinose? Don't tell me... you're having a secret rendezvous."

Before Kiyotaka could speak, Ichinose jumped in first.

"Ahaha, you're here early. I was just chatting with Ayanokoji-kun for a bit."

As she finished, Ichinose's cheeks flushed almost imperceptibly.

Just then, Karuizawa also walked in. She cast a subtle glance in Kiyotaka's direction before casually finding a seat and tapping away at her terminal.

Thanks to Karuizawa's arrival, the Doctor dropped the line of questioning, and everyone found their own spots to sit down.

Before long, the time for the final discussion arrived, and everyone had gathered.

Ichinose stood up and clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention.

"Everyone, this is our last discussion. We don't have many chances left. Personally, I still hope we can get through this exam with Outcome One. What do you all think?"

"Even if you say that, we still don't know who the VIP is until now. What's the point?"

Manabe said dismissively.