Trap Card: Activate

"Let's take a break. Has anything interesting happened lately that you can tell me about?"

Since Yamamura hadn't come to the study session yesterday, Aoyama had arranged a private tutoring session for her.

After tutoring Yamamura for over an hour, he rested his head on her lap, thinking they could chat and give her a break.

"Classmate Sakayanagi came up and talked to me a few days ago." After racking her brains, Yamamura could only think of Sakayanagi approaching her as something worth mentioning.

Avoiding Aoyama these past few days, she'd only gone between school, her dorm, and the occasional vending machine.

Aside from Sakayanagi Arisu, the only people she'd spoken to were the supermarket cashier, the woman serving lunch, and the like.

"Sakayanagi? When?"

"Wednesday afternoon, by the vending machines."

Aoyama's attention shifted from the softness of her lap. Yamamura's presence by the vending machines was even less noticeable than usual, and she wasn't easy to spot.

Besides, if the person who'd approached her was Sakayanagi, Aoyama doubted it was a chance encounter.

"Tell me exactly what happened," Aoyama said seriously.

If his guess was right, Sakayanagi had found an accomplice and begun making moves in secret. He was almost certainly her ultimate target.

With Sakayanagi's poor athletic ability—she needed a cane—she couldn't do anything without help.

The students closest to her were Kito Hayato, Machida Koji, and Hashimoto Masayoshi.

As Yamamura recounted what had happened, Aoyama considered which of them might be helping Sakayanagi.

Kito Hayato looked so fierce he seemed more like a delinquent than Ryuen, but he was actually a student with a strong sense of justice who cared about the class's overall interests.

As for Machida Koji, he was good at avoiding risks and chasing benefits. It wouldn't be easy to get him to take a risk and cause trouble.

And then there was Hashimoto Masayoshi, a man who believed money could make the world go round.

"Miki, I need your help again."

After hearing Yamamura describe what had happened that day, Aoyama realized Sakayanagi wanted to steal Yamamura away from him.

The nerve of her, trying to poach Yamamura right from under his nose.

Guess she thought he was a pushover just because he hadn't shown his claws.

Monday afternoon.

Yamamura Miki of Class 1-A submitted an application to the Student Council.

Her request was simple. She'd lost an important item last week and hoped to use the school's security footage to find it.

She'd also prepared the personal points required to access the footage.

"I happen to be free, so leave this to me." Nagumo tossed his hair with a suave flourish, then smiled warmly at the somewhat timid Yamamura.

He thought a Class 1-A student who'd come to him might prove useful later.

So he volunteered to the Student Council President, offering to take Yamamura to review the footage.

"Sorry, Horikita President, but I don't really like being around blond guys. I think students should behave more seriously."

"If possible, please don't assign Vice President Nagumo."

Before Horikita Manabu could respond to Nagumo's offer, Yamamura repeated the words Aoyama had given her.

Aoyama had predicted that Nagumo might try to take over the task before they came to the Student Council.

"I'm free too, President."

Smiling at Nagumo's stiff expression, Aoyama volunteered.

Naturally, the task fell to him.

He also brought Kamuro along, and the three of them headed to the security room to review the footage.

"Losing an important item was just an excuse, wasn't it?" Kamuro studied Aoyama's expression.

If Yamamura really had lost something important,

she'd have been moping around by now, given her timid nature. Yet Kamuro could read happiness on her face.

She looked much happier than she had last week.

"Correct. And there's a reward."

"What reward?"

Aoyama snapped his fingers. "I'll check the footage of your recent movements too."

For now, he only knew Sakayanagi had set her sights on Yamamura, but he couldn't afford to let his guard down around Kamuro either.

After all, Kamuro had a bad habit of stealing things in secret for the thrill of it. He didn't know if joining the Student Council had made her curb that habit.

"Huh?! Why are you checking my footage? And how is that a reward, you jerk?"

"Got some secret you don't want anyone to know?"

Aoyama reached out to poke Kamuro's cold, expressionless cheek. As he'd expected, she slapped his hand away before it could reach her.

"Last week, Yamamura and I seemed a little distant, and then Sakayanagi approached her."

"I think Sakayanagi might have her sights on me. You're both people close to me."

To lull Sakayanagi into a false sense of security, Aoyama had kept up the same act at school as last week, maintaining some distance from Yamamura.

For the time being, he'd switched back to calling her Yamamura instead of Miki.

Kamuro cut him off, sounding irritated. "You're worried Sakayanagi will talk me into going after you?"

"May lightning strike me if I think that."

Aoyama raised his hand and swore. He hadn't expected Kamuro to get the wrong idea and think he wanted to see whether she'd been secretly meeting with Sakayanagi.

He only wanted to see if anyone was following her.

If someone was, they could set a trap and lure them right in.

"You think someone might be following me?" Kamuro thought it over and understood what Aoyama was getting at.

"Yeah. I think it's possible."

After explaining himself to Kamuro, the three of them reached the security room.

They explained the situation to the staff member on duty, and soon they were allowed to review the footage.

As they watched it carefully, a familiar blond appeared.

He was blond, but not Miyabi Nagumo of Class 2-A. He was Hashimoto Masayoshi, the blond from Class 1-A.

Chapter 53: Trap Card, Activate

At first, the footage showed Hashimoto following Yamamura. Later, he switched to following Kamuro.

"Yamamura, head back first. Kamuro and I still have to go to the Student Council."

After reviewing the footage, Aoyama ruffled Yamamura's hair and said goodbye to her outside the security room.

Instead of doing as he'd said and returning to the Student Council, he took Kamuro to the rooftop of the school building.

From up above, all the students on the sports field looked like tiny figures.

Aoyama suddenly spoke. "If I wanted to get Hashimoto Masayoshi expelled, would you help me?"

If he wanted to make Class A's students fear him once and for all, making an example of someone was always the best way.

If he framed Hashimoto and made sure every Class A student knew this was what happened when they crossed him, Sakayanagi wouldn't be able to find another ally in Class A.

Of course, there was also a small chance that Katsuragi would fly into a rage and stop maintaining their unspoken truce.

"No."

Kamuro answered without hesitation. She thought Hashimoto didn't deserve to be expelled just for following her classmate.

Besides, based on what she'd learned in the Student Council,

a student's expulsion for misconduct would also cost the class points.

That would make Class A's students hate Aoyama even more, and the atmosphere in the class would deteriorate rapidly.

She might not like going to school, but she didn't want to hate it either.

"Then I'll take your advice and not get Hashimoto expelled." Aoyama smiled.

Since Kamuro didn't want a classmate expelled, he wouldn't expel him.

He could always kill half the chicken and keep it bleeding, leaving it half-dead.

The downside was that the chicken might cause trouble.

"What do you mean, you'll take my advice? If you really wanted Hashimoto expelled, would you just give up so easily?" Kamuro sounded disdainful. She hadn't known Aoyama for just one day.

If he really wanted to do something, even if he respected her opinion, he'd still argue with her about it. He wouldn't just give up like this.

"You know me so well, Kamuro."

Even a mosquito's leg was meat. If the plan went smoothly, he could probably squeeze quite a bit out of Hashimoto.

With a smile tugging at his lips, Aoyama began laying out his plans on the empty rooftop.

Since it wasn't something as extreme as getting a classmate expelled, Kamuro quickly agreed.

Starting the next day, Aoyama quietly began preparing.

Time passed slowly, bringing them to early July.

The class point totals on the first-year bulletin board were updated.

[Class A: 1,040]

[Class B: 990]

[Class C: 880]

[Class D: 340]

Compared with June, only Class D had lost class points for its students' behavior. The students in the other classes had completely adjusted to life at Kouiku.

The corresponding personal points were soon distributed to the students, and no one in the Class A classroom looked unhappy.

"I'm taking the day off from the Student Council today. Aoyama, can you tell Horikita President for me?"

After the dismissal bell rang and the teacher had just left the classroom, Kamuro called out to Aoyama, who was sitting in the back row.

Once Aoyama confirmed he'd do it, she picked up her bag and left the classroom at an unhurried pace.

"Sorry, I have somewhere to go."

Hashimoto said goodbye to Motodo Chikako, who'd been about to speak to him. Less than five seconds after Kamuro left the classroom, he followed, keeping his expression calm.

It was unusual for Kamuro to do something out of the ordinary after he'd spent so many days following her. He figured he might find out something today.

[100,000 personal points have been paid. You may begin.]

After watching Hashimoto disappear from the classroom, Aoyama contacted a member of the school staff.

Just now, he'd spent the over 100,000 personal points he'd only just received, leaving himself with barely anything.

His plan to strip Hashimoto of his personal points had officially begun.

Was she really just going to the convenience store to stand around doing nothing instead of going to the Student Council?

Keeping a fair distance behind Kamuro, Hashimoto didn't follow her into the convenience store right away.

He'd been following Kamuro for a while, and he'd noticed one of her quirks.

She'd stand in front of the beer display at the convenience store for over ten minutes, then usually leave without buying anything.

But why take the long way to come to this convenience store?

Using a pillar to hide half his body, Hashimoto stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and pretended to look at his phone.

Because it was out of the way, the people who came to this convenience store were mostly school staff. There were hardly any students here, sometimes not even a handful all day.