"Someone... save me."
Kiyotaka, who had been silently watching everything from the second floor, murmured to himself when he saw Karuizawa's state.
"Manabe's pretty good at this. She's probably almost at her breaking point."
"For convenience's sake, it'd be better to let her break down completely first."
Having made up his mind, Kiyotaka continued to watch the scene below with indifference.
He watched as Manabe and the other two humiliated Karuizawa, as Rika—who had been timid at first—grew increasingly deranged as she slapped her, and as Karuizawa sat on the ground with her legs folded beneath her, her heart seemingly dead.
"Hahaha, look at her face. She looks like a corpse."
"I really went all out, too. Her legs are shaking like a leaf."
It was a long time before Manabe finally left with the others, still not satisfied.
Karuizawa seemed oblivious to everything that had happened. She sat slumped on the ground, muttering to herself, until Kiyotaka's figure blocked most of the dim yellow light. Only then did she mechanically raise her head.
"Ayanokoji? What are you doing here?"
Karuizawa's voice trembled as she asked.
But Ayanokoji paid her no mind. He merely looked down at the disheveled Karuizawa.
Her clothes had been torn during her struggle. The buttons at her collar were long gone, leaving her ample breasts exposed.
Karuizawa seemed to notice Kiyotaka's gaze. She hurriedly covered her chest and shouted, "Who said you could look?!"
Kiyotaka looked at Karuizawa as she tried to act tough and spoke blandly.
"In the end, you still can't change the fact that you're a victim of bullying."
Karuizawa stared at Kiyotaka as if she were looking at a demon. The words she had been about to blurt out caught in her throat.
"You... saw everything?"
As Karuizawa spoke, she slowly reached toward her pocket.
"Calling Hirata won't help. I know all about your fake relationship and your past as a bullying victim. In other words, if I want to, everyone could know about your past by tomorrow."
Hearing Kiyotaka calmly utter those demonic words, Karuizawa reached out and slapped him.
"Smack. Thud."
Kiyotaka raised his hand and blocked her, then grabbed the same hand and slammed it against the wall with a loud bang.
"What are you going to do?!"
"To avoid being bullied again, you hid your past and turned yourself into a parasite, surviving by relying on others. But the result..."
"Y-you're after my body, aren't you?"
Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That doesn't sound so bad."
Kiyotaka abruptly released Karuizawa's trapped hand. She dropped to her knees in a heap.
"Spread your legs."
"Huh?"
Karuizawa stared at Kiyotaka in terror.
"I said, spread your legs."
Chapter 53: The Truth Karuizawa Had Hidden
Kiyotaka looked down at Karuizawa without expression, like a hunter watching its prey.
Tears welled in Karuizawa's eyes. She looked into Kiyotaka's golden eyes, utterly devoid of emotion, then awkwardly sat up and hugged her legs.
"I... I won't admit you're bullying me. You just caught me with something I didn't mean to reveal, and now you're humiliating me..."
As she spoke, Karuizawa slowly spread her legs. The edge of her white panties gradually came into view.
"You're not going to fight back?"
Kiyotaka asked calmly.
Karuizawa turned her head away and said, looking utterly hopeless, "You know, when someone realizes they're powerless to resist reality, they give up fighting. They know perfectly well they're prey. They won't struggle, cry out, or resist. All they can do is submit and beg for it to be over quickly."
Kiyotaka crouched down and looked Karuizawa in the eye.
"Tell me, what's the real pain in your heart? What made you give up struggling and even offer your body?"
As he spoke, Kiyotaka reached for Karuizawa's clothes.
"Please..."
Karuizawa pleaded, but she didn't dare move.
Kiyotaka pulled her clothes aside and saw a long scar across the smooth, pale skin of her stomach.
"Is this it...?"
"Karuizawa, do you know there are many kinds of despair? What you've been through is undoubtedly despair.
"But people shrouded in darkness are drawn to one another. Then the one surrounded by greater darkness protects the one surrounded by less."
At his words, a glimmer of light appeared in Karuizawa's eyes.
"W-what are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying is, there's a lot of darkness in this world that you don't know about. I can promise that from now on, I'll protect you. And my protection will be more practical than Hirata's or Machida's."
Kiyotaka took out his terminal and showed Karuizawa a video of what had just happened.
"I'll use this to threaten Manabe and make sure she and the others never bother you again."
Karuizawa stared blankly at the video and asked in a daze, "Then what do you need me to do?"
"I need you to submit to me, body and soul, and work for me from now on. Can you do that?"
Karuizawa gazed at Kiyotaka with a dazed look in her eyes. She reached out, took his arm, and slowly guided his hand beneath her skirt.
"I... can do that..."
Kiyotaka stopped Karuizawa and stood up.
As she looked at him in confusion, she saw a large hand reach out toward her.
"Get up. Before I take your body, we have something more important to do: win this competition. You're the VIP, aren't you?"
Karuizawa stared at Kiyotaka in shock. Even as he led her upstairs, she still hadn't recovered.
Inside the theater.
"It's rare for you to come looking for me. What is it?"
Chabashira sat in a chair with a cigarette between her lips, looking at Kiyotaka, who stood nearby.
"I want to buy something."
Kiyotaka looked at Chabashira.
"Oh? Looks like you've come up with another scheme."
Chabashira looked at Kiyotaka and smiled thoughtfully.
The fourth discussion took place early in the morning. Kiyotaka had arrived at the room first, but when he walked in, he found Ichinose asleep on the sofa.
Watching her peaceful sleeping face, Kiyotaka quietly walked over and sat down in a chair nearby.
"Mm... 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 is this supposed to mean?"
Kiyotaka murmured under his breath.
"Beep, beep."
Ichinose's terminal alarm rang. Groggily, she sat up and stretched sleepily.
"Mmm~"
After letting out a contented moan, her expression suddenly froze.
"Ayanokoji... how long have you been here?"
"Um... probably since you started talking in your sleep?"
Kiyotaka thought about it for a moment, then answered calmly.
"Oh, come on! Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I had no reason to wake you, and you seemed to be sleeping soundly."
Kiyotaka replied without expression. Ichinose, meanwhile, grew redder with every word.
"Ayanokoji, since we have the chance, can I ask you something?"
"Again?"
Ichinose's cheeks flushed at Kiyotaka's response, but she met his gaze and asked, "Ayanokoji, you do want to advance to Class A, don't you?"
Kiyotaka sighed helplessly.
"Fine, I'll answer for free this time. More or less, yes."
"I knew it. I have a wish I can only fulfill if I graduate from Class A, too. But we're in different classes, so only one of us can fulfill our wish."
"I heard there are exceptions. The conditions are just so difficult that no one's ever managed it."
"Oh~ You mean you can use twenty million points to transfer to the class you want? You really did peek at my points."
Kiyotaka didn't think he had peeked, so he merely replied, "I happened to see them."
"I'm not blaming you, but I'm afraid I can't say anything more about that."
"Understood."
Just then, the lights in the room came on. Hirata and Doctor walked over.
"Oh, Kiyotaka, you're here."
Hirata said.
Doctor also looked suspiciously at Ichinose and Kiyotaka and asked, "Kiyotaka, why are you alone with Ichinose in a room? Don't tell me you're... secretly meeting up?"
Before Kiyotaka could say anything, Ichinose spoke first.
"Ahaha, you're early. I just had a chat with Ayanokoji."
After she finished speaking, a faint blush rose on Ichinose's cheeks.
Just then, Karuizawa walked in. She glanced toward Kiyotaka without drawing attention to herself, then casually found a seat and started browsing on her terminal.
Thanks to Karuizawa's arrival, Doctor didn't pursue the subject. The others each found a seat as well.
Before long, it was time for the group discussion, and everyone had arrived.
Ichinose stood up and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone, this is our final discussion. We don't have many opportunities left. Personally, I still hope we can get through this exam with Result One. What does everyone think?"
"That's all well and good, but what's the point when we still don't know who the VIP is?"
Manabe said unconcernedly.
Before you continue