A Villain Should Act Like a Villain

With a light laugh, Aoyama answered Shiina, who had smiled at him, then left the library and headed straight for the sports field.

Exercise, meals, studying, washing up, and sleep.

The first vacation of the first-year students at Kouiku arrived with the rising sun.

The sun was shining, and it was a day off with no classes. Most students chose to sleep in, then have a blast with their friends at Keyaki Mall.

Aoyama, however, chose to study, together with the tool he'd lined up for the job.

"You asked me here just to study? Explain yourself, Aoyama Shiki."

In the boys' dormitory, the second girl to show up sat down with a displeased look. The schoolbag she'd been asked to bring landed on the table with a thud.

They'd recently added a square table measuring one and a half meters on each side, and the three of them were now seated around it.

"Studying at this school is important. If you fail an exam, you'll be expelled." Aoyama looked up at Kamuro, who was practically radiating resentment, and brought up one of the school's hidden rules.

When they entered Kouiku, excellent students were assigned to Class A first. But that didn't mean every student in Class A had good grades.

Kamuro was one of the students at the bottom of the class.

"How do you know that?"

Kamuro was a little surprised, but she didn't seem to doubt him.

After all, on the first day of school, Aoyama had shown her that this place wasn't as wonderful as she'd imagined.

"Well, we have our capable Yamamura to thank for that." As he praised Yamamura, Aoyama quietly drew Kamuro into their ranks.

Before Kamuro could react, he played an edited audio recording on his phone.

[You didn't review over summer vacation? Do you want to fail the Midterm Exam and get expelled?]

"Yamamura secretly followed a second-year student and recorded this. It's authentic."

"I'm guessing she recorded more than just that."

Kamuro asked. Seeing how mysterious Aoyama was acting, she suspected that failing exams couldn't be the only reason so many upperclassmen had been expelled.

Aoyama rubbed his fingers together in a money-counting gesture. "Lend me fifty thousand Personal Points, and next Monday I'll take you to do something really interesting."

"I have a feeling you'll borrow it and never pay me back."

"If... if you don't mind, I still have ninety thousand points I could give you, Aoyama."

Kamuro frowned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Then Yamamura timidly chimed in, leaving Kamuro speechless.

"There are still more than twenty days until next month's points are distributed. If you lend all of them to that bastard Aoyama, what will you live on?"

"...I haven't even agreed to anything yet. How did I become a bastard?" Aoyama let out a little sigh and tapped Yamamura on the forehead with his pencil. "If you're this nice to me, you'll spoil me rotten."

There was no mention of lending in Yamamura's offer. Unlike Kamuro, Aoyama didn't think she'd simply forgotten to say it.

Who could resist being handed ninety thousand Personal Points just like that?

"Give me your phone so I can see your ID. I'll transfer it to you."

As Yamamura hurried to explain that she hadn't meant it that way, Kamuro reached for Aoyama's phone on the table and opened her own Personal Terminal.

It showed that the account holder had a little over seventy thousand Personal Points.

She'd spent over twenty thousand in less than six days—not too extravagantly, but not frugally either.

"Who else have you borrowed Personal Points from?" Kamuro took the phone Aoyama handed her, and her expression turned sour.

Aoyama's Personal Terminal showed that he had over one hundred and forty thousand Personal Points, almost twice as many as she did.

"Secret."

"What do you need so many points for? What are you buying?"

"You'll find out after school on Monday." Aoyama kept her in suspense.

For Monday's planned deal, he'd invited two students each from Classes B, C, and D. Kamuro was there to lend the group some presence—and to bring her aboard their pirate ship.

Yamamura, of course, would remain hidden behind the scenes. Showing herself to Classes B, C, and D now would only do her harm.

"Next Monday again?"

Kamuro was a little displeased, but she knew she couldn't force Aoyama to tell her.

They'd known each other for almost a week, and she could tell Aoyama was the sort who responded to gentleness but not force. Maybe if she acted cute, she could get him to tell her early.

But there was no way she'd do that!

She'd rather see him dead than act cute for a bastard like Aoyama, who was more conceited than confident.

"For now, let's start reviewing. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me or Yamamura."

"What makes you think you and Yamamura have better grades than me?" Kamuro's face darkened.

They'd been at the school for less than seven days, and the first-years hadn't taken a standardized test yet.

She didn't think her grades were especially good, but they weren't so bad that she was completely hopeless.

"I was in the top three at my middle school. Yamamura was supposedly in the top thirty. What about you?" Aoyama had reached the one area where he could show off, and the smile on his face was exceptionally smug.

The morning of Sunday, the seventh day of school.

Aoyama realized he'd forgotten something.

He'd gotten the contact details of two popular students from Class D through Karuizawa, and he'd invited Ryuen from Class C using the phone number Shiina gave him.

But when it came to Class B, he realized he didn't have the contact information of a single student from the class.

The reclusive Kamuro and the low-profile Yamamura didn't have any friends in Class B either, as he'd expected.

Would it be all right to invite someone in person that day?

After hesitating in his dorm room, Aoyama finally decided to head out and see if he could run into a Class 1-B student.

If he bumped into even one student from Class B, he'd be able to get the phone number he wanted.

[Lunch at Keyaki Mall is on me. We can shop afterward, so bring your friends.]

After changing into casual clothes and throwing on a light jacket, Aoyama sent Karuizawa a text.

As her publicly known childhood friend, he could naturally treat Karuizawa and her friends. With that sort of sweet-talking and bribery, he figured they'd support her even more.

If he ran into a Class 1-B student along the way, he'd kill two birds with one stone.

Karuizawa Kei: [Isn't this kind of sudden?]

Aoyama Shiki: [That's an order. Let me know what time you've arranged, and I'll wait for you at Keyaki Mall.]

Aoyama had no particular problem with Karuizawa.

But a bad guy ought to act like a bad guy. If he was too nice, she might start taking advantage of him.

Then he'd be the one stuck dealing with the trouble.

After changing his shoes and leaving the dormitory, Aoyama walked along the smooth road and saw plenty of students with the same destination as him.

Perhaps because it was still early in the month, quite a few students had money to spare. And since it was their first day off since school started, it made sense to spend it with friends they hadn't seen in days.

Damn, I didn't think this through.

As soon as he reached the entrance to Keyaki Mall, Aoyama regretted texting Karuizawa first.

His target, the Class 1-B representative, Ichinose Honami, was right there in front of him.

Surrounded by several cute girls, Ichinose had an even cuter face, and her smile was so captivating it seemed to heal the heart. Her pink hair was bright and silky.

They were probably waiting for someone.

As he guessed why the Class B students had gathered, Aoyama walked straight toward Ichinose.

His conspicuous approach was quickly noticed by the sharp-eyed Class B students. A girl with short brown hair and a cherry blossom hair clip pointed in his direction, mouthing something.

One by one, the girls—including Ichinose—turned their eyes toward him.

"I'm Aoyama Shiki from Class 1-A."

"I know this is a little abrupt, but I'd like to speak with Ichinose and Kanzaki. Monday at five in the afternoon, in the counseling room beside the teachers' office."

To avoid rumors that he was hitting on Ichinose, Aoyama spoke first as he approached and made it clear he'd invited not only Ichinose, but Kanzaki Ryuji, a boy in their class as well.

That way, no one would have to worry about it.

"I'm free, but I don't know if Kanzaki is."

"Let's exchange contact information. I'll get back to you as soon as I hear from him, Aoyama."

Ichinose patted the girl holding her arm. With her right hand free, she took out her phone and naturally exchanged contact information with Aoyama.

"I won't keep you any longer. I hope you have fun."

Having accomplished his goal, Aoyama promptly took his leave under the many curious gazes.

"See you Monday, Aoyama."

"Yeah. See you then."

Aoyama waved back at Ichinose as she waved goodbye, then walked into Keyaki Mall.

As a fully equipped shopping center, its first-floor directory listed a whole range of stores: a café, an electronics shop, a hair salon, a karaoke place—everything you could want.

It even had a movie theater, all for the few hundred students.

No wonder Ichinose Honami was so popular. Her smile was practically a weapon.

As Aoyama studied the directory and wondered where to wait for Karuizawa, Ichinose Honami came to mind again.

Her looks were top-tier, and she had an almost unfair ability to put people at ease. She'd left a deep impression on him in an instant, making it hard to imagine becoming her enemy.

It was no surprise that people would one day call her the school's angel.

"But you're just too easy to take advantage of, Ichinose."

Speaking softly to the empty air, Aoyama settled on his next target.

He'd not only picked a place to wait for Karuizawa and the others, but also decided who he'd prey on after Class D.

A girl who cared more about her classmates than herself had far too many weaknesses.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Aoyama."

A little over an hour after he'd sat down in a stylish café, Karuizawa finally appeared in Aoyama's line of sight, accompanied by two other girls.

The girl with slightly wavy brown hair introduced herself as Sato Maya. The one with short black hair was Shinohara Satsuki.

Aoyama could see they'd put a little effort into their appearance.

They were both cute enough, but they were a notch below Karuizawa.

"Order whatever you like. Lunch is on me." After introducing himself as well, Aoyama placed the menu between Sato and Shinohara, who were sitting across from him.

His goal of arranging a meeting with Ichinose was accomplished. Now it was time to help Karuizawa strengthen her standing among the girls.

"Karuizawa can be a little domineering and sometimes act out, so I hope you'll be patient with her, Sato and Shinohara."

"So this is a bribe to buy us off? I guess we don't have to worry about saving you any money, Aoyama."

Sato glanced at Karuizawa, who'd suddenly put on an unhappy face, then at Aoyama's warm smile. The tension left her, and she started speaking more casually.

"When have I ever acted out? Shinohara, Sato, order whatever you want. Don't hold back just because of him."

At Sato's teasing smile, Karuizawa expressed her displeasure just enough to break the ice between them.

Before long, even Shinohara, who'd been a little self-conscious around the handsome Aoyama, joined in the playful banter at Karuizawa's expense.

They all enjoyed the meal, and their conversation stopped feeling so stiff.

For their next activity, they went shopping together. Along the way, Aoyama secretly bought three sets of matching accessories—not too cheap, but not too expensive—and gave one to each of them on the way back to the dormitory.

I hope the three of you always get along.

After saying that, he borrowed Karuizawa from the amused Shinohara and Sato.

"Tomorrow, after five in the afternoon, be ready to send the truth about this school that I told you to the class group chat at any moment."