Though she really wanted to ignore it, the sensation against her thigh kept reminding her that she was giving a boy a lap pillow.
They weren't even dating, so the whole thing felt strange.
"Besides studying wilderness survival and learning about camping gear, what else do we need to prepare?"
Forcibly pulling her attention away from her thigh, Horikita Suzune continued asking Aoyama for more advice.
Those were all the preparations she could think of for now.
"There's one thing you seem to have forgotten."
"What did I forget?" Horikita thought it over, but had no idea what Aoyama meant.
"Take a guess."
Leaving Horikita with the answer she least wanted to hear, Aoyama left the girls' dormitory floor before eight.
The biggest reward for pushing Horikita into the position of Class D's leader was the authority to make decisions for Class D's first Special Exam.
But Horikita had already forgotten about it—or, more accurately, she didn't care much about it.
The reason was simple: Aoyama's recent attentiveness had thrown her off. She thought that when the time came, he'd discuss things with her and take on the role of her strategist.
At most, she'd give him some extra private points as a reward.
Don't hate me too much when that time comes, Suzune.
Back in his room, Aoyama lay on his bed and reviewed his plans for the Uninhabited Island, looking for anything he might have missed.
He'd fed Horikita Suzune plenty of carrots. It was about time to give her a little stick.
Should he visit Karuizawa Kei's room next time and draw once?
As he thought about it, Aoyama's mind wandered again.
This time, he'd struck black gold in Horikita Suzune's dorm room. Maybe he'd strike gold in the blonde Karuizawa's room.
Maybe Sakura's room would be good too—red-hot.
As for Kamuro's room, would it give him more purple cards?
"Bzz, bzz, bzz."
As Aoyama indulged in his wild ideas, a call came in from someone saved in his contacts as "Blondie."
"Moshiboshi. No need to explain. You failed the mission, so of course there's no reward."
To keep Hashimoto from launching into a long sob story, Aoyama cut off any chance of him rambling right from the start.
It was already past eight, and Hashimoto had called only now. On top of that, he hadn't sent the promised video.
There was no need to ask. Hashimoto had failed.
"I succeeded. I just don't have any proof."
On the other end of the call, Hashimoto's bruised and swollen face wore a bitter expression.
Just as Aoyama had said, Sakayanagi Arisu had shown up for the meeting.
The problem was that the phone she had with her was already on a call—and the person on the other end was Kito Hayato, waiting to ambush them.
The instant Sakayanagi cried out after he'd "accidentally" kicked her cane away, Kito—who looked and glared like a demon—charged out of the stairwell in a fury.
After that, Hashimoto was beaten up, and the video on his phone was deleted.
"No video, no success."
As a proper businessman, Aoyama didn't give him a single point in compensation.
No picture, no proof.
Chapter 57: Testing His Abilities
"Don't push it, Aoyama."
The next morning, Kito slammed his hand down on Aoyama's desk with a scowl. The loud bang quickly drew the attention of the students in the classroom.
Katsuragi, the class leader, immediately stepped between the two.
"Push it? I don't see how."
Ignoring Kito's terrifying expression, Aoyama looked utterly unconcerned.
That only made Kito angrier.
"Could you tell me what happened, Kito?" Katsuragi asked calmly, looking him in the eye.
He needed to understand the whole story before he could pass judgment.
"Aoyama ordered Hashimoto to pretend it was an accident, kick Sakayanagi's cane away, and film it."
"What?! Hashimoto was cruel enough to bully Sakayanagi, who's practically a grade-schooler? That's inhuman." Aoyama pretended to be shocked. "But isn't he part of the Sakayanagi Faction? Have you turned against each other?"
"Don't make baseless accusations. I never did anything like that."
Rising from his seat, Hashimoto gave a bitter smile as he denied Kito's accusation.
He wasn't an idiot. He'd deleted the video himself in front of Kito, without giving him a chance to make a copy.
"That's what Hashimoto says, Kito. Want to beat him up until he admits I put him up to it?"
"Or you could beat me up until I confess."
Turning his head, Aoyama lightly tapped his cheek with a finger, looking like he was asking for a punch.
Even Katsuragi, standing beside him, was at a loss for words.
"Kito, don't be angry. I told you I'm fine. Just think of it as me tripping by accident." With light steps, Sakayanagi came over with a smile, coming to Kito's rescue as he stood there helplessly.
She didn't say anything outright, but her words hinted to the Class A students that Kito was telling the truth.
"Hashimoto, deal with the mess you caused yourself. Don't drag me into it."
"The podium seems like a good place to talk. You can tell everyone how heartless your former grade-school boss was, too."
Trying to play the victim, huh, brat?
Noticing the change in the students' expressions, Aoyama immediately struck back.
"Do I have to say anything?" Hashimoto's face looked unbearably bitter.
"What do you think?"
Aoyama shot Hashimoto a cold glare, his voice icy.
If you did something wrong, you had to face the consequences. Having his reputation damaged was already a pretty light punishment for Hashimoto.
Before long, after Katsuragi failed to stop it, Hashimoto reluctantly climbed onto the podium.
Borrowing Aoyama's nickname for their grade-school boss, he told them how someone had ordered him to follow another student and steal her away from someone else.
After getting caught in the act and coming to his senses, he'd already joined Katsuragi's side. From then on, he was cutting ties with his former boss and wouldn't make the same mistake again.
The Class A students got their fill of gossip first thing in the morning.
"Long time no see, Shiranami. Have you gotten a little taller?"
Now that July had arrived, Aoyama kept his promise to Sakura and moved his workout time to match Ichinose's.
Unlike Ichinose's earlier description of her workout partner as just Amikura Mako, there was another person with them now: Shiranami Chihiro.
"Stop messing up my hair. I'm not a little kid." Shiranami gently brushed Aoyama's hand away, her face a little red as she ducked behind Ichinose.
"Aoyama, you know Chihiro too?"
Amikura Mako, with her long, high ponytail, toned thighs, and delicate features, looked curiously at Aoyama and Shiranami.
She thought it made sense that Ichinose and Aoyama knew each other. Ichinose had a wide circle of friends, after all.
But the gentle, timid Shiranami was different. Most of her friends were girls from Class B, and she hardly had any male friends.
"We had a pretty nice conversation once."
Aoyama smiled at Shiranami, making her pout. She hadn't been happy at all back then.
"I'll leave Sakura to you, Ichinose. I'm going to play around over there."
"Huh?!"
Aoyama pulled Sakura out from behind him and placed her, stiff as a board, in front of Ichinose.
Then he waved goodbye to Sakura, who looked like she was about to cry.
Yesterday's new purple-card ability wasn't easy to use in a cramped room.
Gymnast Aoyama Shiki, ready for action.
Standing in front of the parallel bars in the spacious gym, Aoyama provided his own sound effects in his head.
Then he grabbed one bar with each hand, jumped up, and pushed himself into position. Tightening his core and legs, he raised them until they were parallel with the bars and at a right angle to his body.
Easy as pie.
Once he realized it didn't take much effort, Aoyama lowered his legs and began to swing.
After swinging back and forth several times, he felt he had enough momentum. He suddenly exerted himself again, swinging his legs overhead until he was upside down in a split.
Then he slowly spread his legs, doing the splits in midair.
His body barely wavered as he showed off remarkable balance and core strength.
Before drawing that card, he could never have pulled off a move like this.
Awesome!
He landed with a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree aerial flip, steady on his feet.
"That was beautiful. You're every bit as good as a professional gymnast."
Clapping lightly, a boy wearing nothing but a pair of short workout shorts approached. Judging by his upper-body muscles, he must have spent years training.
Koenji Rokusuke, heir to the Koenji Conglomerate, was one of the most outstanding students in the school in academics, physical ability, and judgment.
"You're too kind. I bet you could do that move easily, Koenji."
After loosening up, Aoyama returned the compliment.
Just as he respected Horikita Suzune for her self-discipline, he had a good impression of Koenji, who was just as hardworking.
"Seems I'm not as unknown as I thought, handsome boy."
"As Student Council Vice President, I've kept an eye on the capable first-years. I think the strongest student in Class 1-D this year is either you or Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."
Aoyama smiled, blatantly using Koenji to spook Ayanokoji.
He'd do it even if there was nothing in it for him. That was just the kind of mischief he enjoyed.
"Seems like you really dislike gloomy boy."
"A little. I did want to get you to pay attention to Ayanokoji, but I'm also serious when I say I can't tell which of you is stronger."
"What about you?"
"For now, you two are still stronger." Aoyama admitted without hesitation that he was currently inferior to them.
Koenji, who'd been raised by a conglomerate, and Ayanokoji, who'd come from an institution that cultivated artificial geniuses, had both been taught by top instructors since childhood. They'd learned countless skills.
In both academics and combat, he was currently inferior to them.
"Interesting. I admit you've piqued my interest."
Laughing boldly, Koenji went back to training his body.
Aoyama did the same and jumped back onto the parallel bars.
[Killing Gymnastics: Having once studied gymnastics, you can even kill someone with moves that not even a world-champion gymnast could perform on a moving roller coaster.]
Yesterday's draw—nine white cards and one purple—had really annoyed him, but the purple card's ability was pretty good.
It just came with a few questionable details.
Chapter 58: The Shopkeeper with the Terrifying Eyes
"How are they? They're all good people, aren't they?"
Before you continue