Leaving School / The Nightmares of the Past

For more than a week since the start of winter vacation, Aoyama has spent every night very fulfilling.

Today, he also woke up in a warm, cozy bed.

As usual, he skillfully prepared breakfast and then woke the sleepy girl.

"Come with me off campus today to cover up my real purpose."

"Perfect timing, let those who bullied you back then experience the pain too."

After finishing breakfast together, Aoyama held the shapely Karuizawa in his arms, his hand sliding under her clothes and onto her delicate skin, finally resting on a certain abnormal protrusion.

With Sakayanagi Narimori's tacit approval, the school's rule against leaving the school was nothing to him.

"Huh, so suddenly?!" Karuizawa, but quickly calmed down and leaned against Aoyama.

"Yes, it was that sudden, and I had no choice but to go."

Aoyama spoke earnestly: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—that's the right thing to do.

If you are bullied, you must fight back. Even if you are not strong enough at the moment, you must take action when you have the strength.

"... Okay, I'll listen to Shiki."

Without much hesitation, Karuizawa nodded.

Later, next to the car belonging to the Chairman, she saw Amasawa Ichika, a first-year girl with whom she had little interaction.

"Ichika, and we need to clear away the shadows of the past."

After explaining to Karuizawa, Aoyama led the two to the back seat of the car.

Soon the car smoothly drove out of Kouiku and then stopped in front of a secluded villa as he instructed.

We'll be staying here for a couple of days.

He ripped open the door lock with brute force and took the lead into the Aoyama villa.

This was one of the safe houses in the Oba Group Oba. He found the deed to the villa in the safe that day and also noted its location.

Given Japan's administrative efficiency, it's uncertain when it will be discovered that the owner of this house is no longer alive.

"Is this alright, Shiki?" Karuizawa asked with some concern.

"No problem, the homeowner is no longer in this world. Please clean the rooms you're going to sleep in first."

After discovering that the water and electricity were indeed still working, Aoyama directed the two to tidy up and clean up, while he went into a relatively empty room and took out the main body of the Noah's Ark.

Because of its large size, he didn't have a good place to take it out at school. After all, the school was Sakayanagi Narimori's territory, and Sakayanagi Narimori wasn't really on his side.

"Noah, covertly attack this experimental facility called the White Room. I need to obtain access to its surveillance system."

After naming the AI, Aoyama searched for a map of Japan, zoomed in, pointed to a certain place, and instructed Noah to do something.

[Understood, Master.]

The mechanical response sounded, and Noah's Ark in Aoyama's sight began to work.

"What's this, senior?"

Just as Aoyama was waiting for Noah's Ark to complete its attack, Amasawa Ichika, wearing an apron he'd somehow found, walked into the room without knocking.

Looking at the rows of electronic monitors in front of him, Amasawa Ichika showed a curious expression.

"The artificial intelligence Noah is currently carrying out my orders to infiltrate the White Room network." Aoyama answered Amasawa Ichika's question, unsure when Noah would complete the intrusion.

He still trusted Amasawa Ichika, who was already one of his men.

"Artificial intelligence?! How can something like that be here???"

Her eyes, which had been full of curiosity, suddenly widened; Amasawa Ichika was as shocked as she appeared to be.

This is something that only appears in science fiction comics; in her understanding, it's impossible to create with current science and technology.

Even if it were Naoko national research project, it wouldn't be found in this remote villa, much less be controlled by a student Aoyama.

The existence of artificial intelligence was more shocking to her than the hacking of the White Room network.

"That's Naoko. Anyway, I'll take you back to the White Room the day after tomorrow."

"In the form of a king's return."

Staring at the surveillance images that suddenly appeared on the electronic screen, some ordinary and some extraordinary, Aoyama spoke with great conviction.

Once the trauma of Karuizawa's past is resolved, it will be the time when Ayanokoji Atsuomi lies dead.

"It really is the surveillance footage from inside the White Room!" Amasawa Ichika, who was initially somewhat skeptical, understood when he saw the familiar scene on the electronic screen. This was genuine artificial intelligence, a god in the online world.

She recognized many familiar figures in the image, including Yagami Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Well, as expected, there's no office for Ayanokoji Atsuomi."

After watching all the surveillance footage one by one, Aoyama also discovered that Ayanokoji Atsuomi, like Oba, did not have surveillance cameras installed in his office.

Suspicious leaders are all like this; they trust no one but themselves.

"There are many more security personnel than before; I don't remember more than half of them."

"And some of these people were armed."

After the initial shock, Amasawa Ichika immediately reminded Aoyama that the White Room wasn't so easy to break into; it wasn't just a matter of having high combat skills.

Many combat instructors are retired military personnel; some have gun licenses and carry guns, while others do not have gun licenses but still carry guns.

Even the greatest martial arts master is afraid of bullets.

"Don't worry, the world is so beautiful, Ichika is so lovely, I can't bear to die."

Aoyama embraced the worried Amasawa Ichika and lowered his head for a moment, asking for something in return.

He chased Amasawa Ichika, who was breathing heavily, out of the room to clean up. While simulating the route to attack the White Room, he went to the yard and retrieved a car from the System Space.

Porsche 356A, Gin's personal car.

If you have a car, you might as well drive it; it also reduces the possibility of your whereabouts being exposed.

"Shiki, are you going out for lunch? I need to buy some daily necessities too." After cleaning up, Karuizawa went to ask Aoyama.

Before leaving, she thought she was staying in a hotel, so she didn't bring many toiletries, and the bedding in the room wasn't brand new either.

"Okay, let's drive out to eat later."

"Drive?"

"Yes, there's a car in the villa's garage. I found the keys and drove it into the yard."

"You can drive, Shiki?"

Karuizawa was only slightly surprised that Aoyama could drive, after all, Aoyama had driven a yacht before, a mode of transportation that was obviously much more complicated than driving.

"Can we eat whatever we want?" Amasawa Ichika chimed in, joining the conversation as they discussed food.

"Yes, you can eat whatever you want."

Being rich and willful, Aoyama generously stated that he was fine with eating anything.

"Then let Karuizawa- senpai decide today."

Amasawa Ichika offered to let Karuizawa decide today, so that Karuizawa wouldn't feel comfortable competing with her the next day.

"Me decide? Then let the Shiki decide what to eat..."

After hesitating for a while, Karuizawa did not act as Amasawa Ichika had planned.

Chapter 397 Nightmare of the Past

Winter break is the time to celebrate youth.

Only unpopular people who have no friends would stay at home every day without ever going out.

Thinking she could brag about how she spent the entire winter break having fun with her friends every day and was incredibly popular, Koharu Tano calmly went out today despite her parents' disapproval.

What do you mean, spending all day loitering around instead of studying? You can't even get into university, as if nobody cares about going to university.

That top student in Class A, who was guaranteed a university degree, was still bowing down to me like a dog.

With a mind full of indifferent mutterings, Koharu Tano strode forward into the warm winter sun.

It feels good to bully others.

It's even more fun to bully cute girls, and girls with good grades too.

Starting in junior high, she found some girls who were cuter than her to be really annoying, and then she chose to resort to violence in places where there were no surveillance cameras.

After slapping the girl hard and hearing her moan with pleasure, she regretted her impulsiveness. Even after the beaten girl, under her threat, dared not tell her teacher or parents what had happened, she still regretted it.

I regret not realizing sooner how satisfying it is to bully girls who are better than me.

I'll be waiting for you at our usual dessert shop.

Copy and paste.

After arriving at a fried chicken restaurant that served good food and that she frequented, Koharu Tano sent text messages to her followers and a 'wallet'.

She never directly asks bullies for money, and even if she bullies a victim when she's in a bad mood, she won't let students who aren't on her side see it.

Her caution was the reason she remained safe and sound.

"Strawberry cake, Americano."

With practiced ease, Koharu Tano finished her appetizer before her companions arrived.

After her companions had all ordered food, she continued ordering, treating the money in her 'wallet' like it was nothing, after all, this 'wallet' belonged to a rich person, just a bit dim-witted.

Where should we go this afternoon?

With a smile on her face, she very "kindly" asked her "wallet" to pay the bill, and then Koharu Tano began to think about where to go for fun in the afternoon.

Just then, a tall, strong man with a face even more handsome than a celebrity walked into the store. He had the looks, the physique, and the charisma.

Such people usually have a nickname: school heartthrob.

"He just looked at me, didn't he?"

"Which school does he go to? How can he be so handsome? I've never heard of anyone like him before!"

"I'm so lucky today."

As soon as Aoyama sat down, he faintly heard some surprised sounds coming from the table where his target was sitting.

If it's my own revenge, then you should listen to me, right?

During their rest after last night's pleasure, Karuizawa said this to him, and he agreed.

Although he felt it was unnecessary to go through all that trouble, he kept his promise to Karuizawa and prepared to stage a "domineering CEO falls in love with me" drama.

"Excuse me, could you tell me which school you're from? You look familiar, but I can't quite place you."

The excited chatter, suppressed in its own voices, ended after a short while.

Then, Koharu Tano, the leader of the gang and the one who left the scar on Karuizawa's stomach, sat down opposite Aoyama and struck up a conversation.

Without even a smile, Aoyama's expression remained indifferent. "Advanced Nurturing High School."

"No wonder we seem so close. My cousin also goes to your school. She showed me pictures of her before, saying there's a really handsome guy at her school."

Not paying attention to what Aoyama meant by the special nature of high school, Koharu Tano skillfully picked up the conversation, then waited for Aoyama to be happy because of the praise, and then stop putting on his aloof and unapproachable demeanor.

What's your cousin's name?

"Yoshida," Koharu Tano blurted out without thinking.

A school has at least several hundred or even a thousand students, and Yoshida is a common surname, so it's unlikely that anyone would be so bored as to ask.

Even if you press her for details, she can just make up a name; if she doesn't know you, just call her her cousin—she's practically invisible.

Yoshida, ah.

With a disdainful smile, Aoyama quickly saw through Tianye's little trick.

"There are no girls with the surname Yoshida in our school because, as the Student Council President of Advanced Nurturing High School, I have memorized the names of all the students in the school."

"Please look in the mirror before you try to pick me up." Aoyama's eyes were cold. "My lovely girlfriend is almost here. Although she won't misunderstand once she sees your face, please get lost as soon as possible."

With freckles on her cheeks, Koharu Tano's overall appearance can only be described as not bad-looking, but not exactly cute.

In short, even the least attractive girl in Second-Year Class D is significantly better looking than her.