Classroom of the Elite, I Also Want to Be a Good Person

"Oh, so it's the Vice President's girlfriend. My apologies for the intrusion."

Lowering his head slightly to apologize, the upperclassman who recognized Aoyama made the wise choice to run away.

Aoyama didn't harbor any thoughts of "you have invited your own death" or feel the need to pursue the matter; after all, Japan had its own social climate, and it wasn't uncommon for people to try and pick others up.

"Thank you... Aoyama."

"What is there to thank me for? Let's go." Aoyama shook their joined hands. "My princess for the evening."

"Calling me 'princess' is just too embarrassing."

"Then, my queen?"

Pretending to scan the surroundings casually, he spotted Kusuda looking furious. With a light smile, Aoyama pulled Sakura's hand and they set off.

Walking slowly through the bustling streets, the environment grew quieter the further they went, and the figures passing by them gradually disappeared.

"It's so quiet."

"Yeah, it really is. It feels like something could happen and no one would ever know."

Arriving at the railing by the coast, Aoyama and Sakura faced the sea together, resting their hands on the railing as they stood close to one another.

Although it wasn't quite the full moon yet, the silver disc in the sky was already somewhat rounded, casting a cold, brilliant glow over the sea that possessed a unique beauty.

Staring at the profile of Sakura, who was looking at his hand with hesitation as if wanting to hold it again, he found her beauty to be no less captivating than the seascape.

"Do you mind if I act a bit more intimate, Sakura? The fish I'm trying to catch seems to be hesitating." As he spoke, Aoyama took that hesitant little hand and gently rubbed the back of her soft, fair skin.

He intended to escalate the situation tonight; it was necessary to make Kusuda angry enough to lose his sanity.

If he didn't make himself look a bit miserable, how could he blackmail the school for a sum?

"Um... I don't mind."

Lowering her head, Sakura's voice was filled with shyness, and the ear not hidden by her red hair had already turned bright red.

"Then, I'm going to make my move."

Turning Sakura's body to face him directly, Aoyama placed one hand on her slender waist and the other on the back of her head.

He slowly lowered his head, looking into her wide, beautiful ice-blue eyes.

As the distance between their faces grew smaller, Sakura trembled and closed her eyes, her heels instinctively lifting slightly.

Just then, a sea breeze blew by, and the twin tails of the cute girl with pursed lips danced in the strong wind, looking absolutely aesthetic.

"That's enough, the prey has taken the bait." Unable to resist nuzzling her delicate, flushed cheek, Aoyama immediately let go of Sakura and turned around.

Amidst the sound of rapid footsteps, Kusuda—a fanatic who viewed Sakura as his own possession—charged toward him with a twisted, ferocious expression.

"Shizuku is mine! Don't you touch her!"

"Sorry, sorry, but I already have. Honestly, she's very soft."

Recalling the sensation of Sakura's delicate cheek, Aoyama's tone and expression were equally infuriating.

Unsurprisingly, Kusuda's charging speed increased, and judging by the momentum of his swinging fist, the force behind it was not insignificant.

This was not a punch one should take with their face.

With a quick thought, Aoyama turned his body to take the punch with his right chest, and then, under Kusuda's excited gaze, he didn't dodge or block, taking the next, weaker punch with his face.

He let his body fall backward, rolling twice for good measure; his once-pristine clothes were now a mess.

"My turn, you little brat." Catching a glimpse of a figure rushing out from the shadows, Aoyama endured the pain and scrambled to his feet.

Amidst Kusuda's smug expression, he threw a punch filled with feigned rage.

Seemingly confident from landing the previous two hits, Kusuda didn't intend to dodge and swung his own fist directly.

Then, he learned what it meant for "an inch of length to be an inch of strength."

He also learned what a fist the size of a sandbag felt like.

"Laugh, why aren't you laughing?"

"Are you not happy?"

As Kusuda's body swayed from the punch to his face, Aoyama followed up with another blow to his intact left cheek.

Next came the classic Ultraman flying double-kick, sending Kusuda flying away in an instant.

By the time he landed, two burly security guards had arrived on the scene, pinning him firmly to the ground, one on each side.

Hearing the crunching sound of the joints in his pinned hands, Aoyama was certain the guards were using plenty of force, and that the screaming Kusuda must be in a lot of pain.

[Horikita President, your dear Vice President has been attacked. Come quickly.]

"Mashima-sensei, I was stalked and attacked by a clerk from the Keyaki Mall. I was almost drowned in the ocean."

Taking out his phone, Aoyama immediately sent a text to Horikita Manabu and then called his homeroom teacher.

"You're lying! I wasn't stalking you, I... I just happened to be here for a walk."

Hearing Aoyama's words, Kusuda's face turned pale as he began to argue, attempting to downplay the serious incident.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine." Ignoring Kusuda entirely, Aoyama first comforted Sakura, who was standing in front of him with a worried expression.

He chose this location as the site for the attack precisely because it was under hidden surveillance.

Being followed the entire way, coupled with the fact that Kusuda had initiated the assault, this already qualified as a criminal case; there was no doubt the school bore significant liability.

No matter how much Kusuda tried to quibble, the fate awaiting him would be anything but pleasant.

"Shizuku, it's me! I'm your fan, the one who leaves you comments every single day! I only took action to save you from being bullied, you have to speak up for me!"

"From the moment I saw you in that magazine two years ago, I've been your fan ever since!"

"I did all of this for you!"

"For you!"

Seeing that Aoyama wouldn't even spare him a glance, Kusuda immediately pinned his hopes on Sakura, wishing that she would excuse his criminal behavior out of consideration for him being a loyal fan.

"It wasn't for me at all!"

"You were only doing it for yourself! Those disgusting comments, too—I loathe them to the core."

"To dare and hurt the person most important to me... your very existence makes me sick."

Looking down at Kusuda, who was straining his neck to stare up at her, Sakura's icy blue eyes were filled with nothing but coldness.

She felt hatred.

The person who hurt her cherished friend was actually her own fan, and he had the audacity to claim he did it for her.

Just by looking at his lecherous gaze, Sakura could understand exactly why this bastard who called himself her fan had attacked Aoyama.

"Bitch! Slut! How dare you! You—"

"Shut your mouth, trash."

Aoyama stepped forward and stomped hard onto that upturned head.

For someone so lacking in self-awareness, he preferred to use his feet whenever possible.

Author's Note

My editor told me to go live tomorrow, Friday. I'm very sorry, but I don't have any buffer chapters saved, and I'm still writing today's second chapter.

I had originally planned to save up some chapters this week to increase my output, but my father suffered a stroke on Monday. I've been staying at the hospital to look after him at night for the past few days, so I haven't had much time to write.

For now, I can only promise to try my best to start posting three chapters a day tomorrow. I'm sorry.

I will work hard starting next month.

Kowtow.jpg

Chapter 62: I Want to Backstab Your Sister

Every time Kusuda opened his mouth, Aoyama would stomp hard on his head.

After a few times, the sensible Kusuda began to play dead, lying completely motionless.

As rapid footsteps approached, the figure of Mashima appeared not far away, his expression tense.

"I'm fine, I'm just faking it," Aoyama whispered to Sakura, leaning his body against the railing and resting a hand on his forehead as if he were in extreme pain.

"Then I'll help too."

Having a sudden inspiration, Sakura stood beside Aoyama and let him drape his arm over her shoulder to make it look like she was supporting him.

As she wrapped her arm around Aoyama's waist, Mashima arrived in front of them.

"Are you alright, Aoyama?"

"I am not alright. I am very much not alright, both mentally and physically."

Speaking in a weak, listless voice as if he were half-dead, Aoyama began to pour out his grievances to Mashima.

He spoke of how, as the Student Council vice president, he took pride in the school and hoped the school would take pride in him, only to be attacked by a staff member today, nearly losing his life and ending any possibility of the school being proud of him.

While he understood that a school this large would inevitably have some management issues, understanding was one thing, but medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress, and lost wages were non-negotiable.

Mashima's stern face turned dark. "You're a student. Where would you get 'lost wages' from?"

After carefully observing Aoyama, he noticed that Aoyama's clothes were only slightly dirty, and there wasn't even a scratch or a drop of blood on him.

"What are you saying, Mashima-sensei? Isn't there a saying that a student's job is to study? My physical and mental trauma has greatly reduced my study efficiency."

"Besides, just hiring Sanada and Tanaka to follow and protect me already cost me 200,000 private points."

Pointing at the two security guards who had been following them since they left, Aoyama made his intentions clear.

In two words: he wanted money.

"...I can only do my best to apply for it for you, but don't get your hopes up too high. The school generally doesn't give out large amounts of private points outside of special exams." Aoyama had already invested 200,000 points, and Mashima knew his appetite was not small.

However, this wasn't gambling; the more you put in, the more you win.

Mashima didn't even dare to guarantee that the school's consolation payment would exceed 200,000 private points.

Seeing that Mashima had misunderstood his meaning, Aoyama shook his head. "This isn't a request, Mashima-sensei."

"If the school's sincerity isn't enough, my mouth might start leaking information. Rumors about a school staff member attempting to murder the Student Council vice president, or how stalkers randomly spawn at the school at night, will spread throughout the entire campus very quickly."

"Perhaps due to a concussion, I might miss more than a week of classes, and then, due to the emotional shock, I might shut myself away—turning the Student Council vice president, who is ranked first in the grade, into a piece of trash who can only rot in his dorm room."

A mere few hundred thousand private points wouldn't even be enough to satisfy a dog; if it were only that much, those two punches would have been taken in vain.

Having seen through the school's hidden rules in the first week of enrollment, ranking first in the grade for the Midterm Exam, and serving as the vice president of the Student Council, he had gathered quite a bit of attention thanks to these halos.

For the sake of its reputation, the school would not want to blow things out of proportion, as this was, after all, a failure on the school's part.

"If you do this, the school's impression of you won't be very good," Mashima said, looking at Aoyama sternly.

As the party being threatened, there was no way the school would be happy about Aoyama's actions.

"Perhaps it might even be better. The school cultivates leadership talent; if one cannot even defend their own interests, how could they possibly defend the interests of those under them?"

With a faint smile, Aoyama rejected the chance to back down that Mashima offered him. Money in hand was what truly mattered; as for what the school thought, that would just have to be left to them.

Now was not the time to worry about such things.

After waiting a few more minutes in the cool breeze, Horikita Manabu, with his cold expression, finally arrived, his posture straight and full of pressure.

After roughly explaining the situation, Aoyama asked him to help demand an explanation from the school on his behalf, getting as much as possible.

Having the Student Council president step in would look much better than him getting involved personally.

"Reason."

"For the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, I will backstab Suzune to let her experience the malice of the human heart."

"Fine."

Without asking how Aoyama knew the location of the next special exam, Horikita Manabu accepted the payment for his help after only a brief moment of thought.

Although this might have been something Aoyama had already planned, he still agreed to Aoyama's request to prevent him from changing his mind.

Dealing with the school was just a routine matter for him.

"Then I'll leave it to you two." Waving his hand, Aoyama bid farewell to Mashima and Horikita Manabu, who was about to take Kusuda away.

Under the moonlight, the coastline soon returned to its original silence.

The two people, who had previously been standing very close to each other, also moved a little further apart.