Verbal Sparring / Because I'm Batman

"But Shiina, even a single finger of hers is cuter than her."

"Here we go again, always using such exaggerated language." Shiina gave a helpless smile. "Classmate Sakayanagi heard this, she'd probably start pestering me again."

Even if it weren't Sakayanagi, any other girl would feel dissatisfied upon hearing Aoyama compare the two of them like that.

Girls can be very jealous, Aoyama.

If Kushida's friends overhear this, it could cause all sorts of trouble.

Shiina began to mutter to herself, her gaze drifting towards the students passing by. Then she met a pair of beautiful, icy blue eyes that seemed to hold a hint of resentment.

Holding a cup of coffee with a saucer, the owner of the icy blue eyes stood alone. Upon meeting eye contact, he stopped in his tracks.

"What a coincidence, Shiina, Aoyama -san." Ichinose smiled warmly. "I hope I haven't disturbed you."

"We haven't disturbed you. We've just finished our business. Ichinose, would you like to wait together for the exam to start?"

When Aoyama turned to look at Ichinose, Shiina first indicated that they had just been discussing serious matters, and then moved a seat further in.

After only a slight hesitation, Ichinose crossed Aoyama and sat down next to Shiina.

"I heard from Ninomiya that she often sees Shiina at the library. What kind of books does Shiina like to read?" Ichinose asked Shiina naturally and skillfully.

Given the opportunity, Aoyama immediately began to complain, "Shiina likes to read more mystery books, but her tastes are a bit special and hardcore."

A cute girl with a light and soft aura, it's not too unusual for her to like mystery books, but she especially likes American hard-boiled fiction, a genre known for its realism, violent narratives, and moral gray areas.

While the books she liked weren't exactly uninteresting, they were completely at odds with her gentle appearance, which explains why she tolerated the violent rule of Ryuen.

"But Aoyama seemed to enjoy it too," Shiina retorted, raising an eyebrow. "Who says girls can't like hard-boiled mystery novels?"

"Hardcore?"

Ichinose knowledge prevented her from understanding what the hard-boiled movement represented.

This is normal, though. Aoyama estimates that nine out of ten people wouldn't understand it, because this type of book is so obscure that very few people would come across it.

"It's a genre of mystery that originated in America, one that's a bit violent and dark," Aoyama explained. "Ichinose is interested, I recommend you read <Goodbye, My Love> first."

Raymond Chandler, the author of "Goodbye, My Love," is considered a literary master of his generation.

This is the book that Aoyama liked the most among Shiina's selected works.

"I also recommend this one. If Ichinose is interested, we can go to the library now and borrow it so we can read it when we're bored during the exam."

When the topic of recommending books came up, Shiina's face immediately lit up with excitement, like a child eager to share their joy.

She occasionally makes rash moves when it comes to recommending books.

In Aoyama's eyes, it was absolutely adorable.

Chapter 150 Verbal sparring

Waaah, is the punishment for being a bad kid coming so quickly?

In the Dragon Group's exam room, Ichinose, abandoned by Aoyama, Amikura, and the other two, could only huddle alone in a corner, longingly watching her books.

Looking at Amikura and Aoyama, who were chatting and laughing while playing Ludo, a pang of regret welled up in her heart.

Our meeting at the coffee shop was no accident.

Because Aoyama and Shiina are both quite conspicuous, a student in Class B mentioned it briefly, which was then seen by Ichinose, eventually leading to a chance encounter.

Thinking they were probably already gone, she used the excuse that she suddenly wanted to have coffee to go to the coffee shop.

How did things turn out like this? I really want to play Ludo too.

Ichinose absentmindedly flipped through the book "Goodbye, My Love," which Shiina had strongly recommended. Because of Shiina's fierce demeanor, she couldn't refuse her request to go to the library before the exam.

"The Chicken Group's VIP is given to Class A, right, Classmate Sakayanagi?"

Amidst the ongoing verbal sparring, Shiina smiled as she retorted to Sakayanagi's wild guesses, "Yamauchi is so easy to manipulate, isn't he? But how did Class A manage to pinpoint Yamauchi so precisely?"

"That goes without saying, there must be a traitor in Class D." Ryuen sneered at Horikita Suzune, "Your Class D is really leaky everywhere. You can't do anything without Aoyama's help?"

Unless there are Special Exam, the students in the four first-grade classes don't interact much. It's possible that they haven't seen each other for several months after the start of the school year and don't even know each other's names.

If Class C and Class D hadn't been next to each other and hadn't deliberately inquired, Ryuen wouldn't have known about Yamauchi's personality traits.

What can I do? Tell me what I can do? My teammates are all geniuses, how am I supposed to give commands?

With a cold expression, Horikita Suzune ignored Ryuen's words.

Faced with Ryuen's blatant disrespect, she didn't even know how to refute him. Class D had acted so ridiculously in this Special Exam, and Aoyama's quick deduction of the pattern in the selection of the VIP must have been Class D fault.

The students' disobedience, and the fact that there was more than one traitor, made it difficult for her, as the leader, to shirk responsibility.

If we try to impose ruthless sanctions, Hirata, the second-in-command, will explode again.

"There's a traitor in Class A Class C too, Ryuen. A student from Class C contacted me this afternoon, but he was a little too greedy." Sakayanagi chuckled, covering his mouth, and casually tossed out a smoke bomb.

It's just a matter of a few words. If it can cause a major commotion in Class C, then we'll make a fortune.

With his legs crossed, Ryuen didn't care at all. "No student in Class C dares to defy me. It's different from your Class A. I heard that Class A only has thirty-six people in class meetings. That's hilarious."

"At least the traitors in Class D would at least pretend, while the ones in Class A don't even bother to pretend, and there's nothing you can do about it."

With ease, Ryuen's retort Sakayanagi with the same expression as Horikita.

Lies are not sharp blades; the truth is the real weapon.

Sakayanagi's lies were utterly powerless against the truth of Ryuen. She could only grit her teeth in hatred while maintaining a smile to avoid being seen as having broken down and being ridiculed even more.

Katsuragi crossed his arms. "No matter how much discord there is between Class A, Class C is not someone they can mess with."

Even though Class A lost the four members of Aoyama, their overall strength still far surpasses that of Class C.

"No matter how good a chess piece is, it depends on who plays it. Have you ever heard of the saying 'An incompetent general can ruin an entire army'? Former leader of Class A." When it comes to arguing, Ryuen has never been afraid of anyone, especially when Class D each have their own weaknesses.

Currently, the only class without any obvious problems is Class B.

"We're all classmates, so it's best not to argue."

"Yes, yes, Special Exam are over, we can still be friends. It's not good for anyone if things get too tense."

Seeing the increasingly tense atmosphere in the room, Hirata immediately stepped in to stop Ryuen from continuing to expose his shortcomings, and Kushida quickly followed suit, looking at everyone with a worried expression.

As if to give Hirata or Kushida face, Ryuen also turned his gaze away from Katsuragi and did not speak again for a moment.

"Why did you eat mine again? You could have eaten Kanzaki's too. Don't push your luck, Aoyama."

"I love seeing you get angry but can't do anything about it. Kanzaki didn't even react with a smile after eating; that's no fun."

"This is my last plane to take off, please don't eat mine!"

"When a girl says no, she means yes, I understand, Amikura."

Because of the quiet that followed, the group that had just been exchanging barbs could clearly hear the conversation between Aoyama and Amikura inside the room.

Compared to their wary infighting, Aoyama and his companions seemed quite happy.

Simultaneously, Kushida and Horikita's expressions darkened, and Shiina also secretly pursed her lips.

"How can I get Aoyama to give up on this idea, Asuka?" In the four-person room where only the two of them remained, Nishikawa, with her long hair loose, lay sprawled on the bed and spoke to Shiraishi.

The rumors were spread at Shiraishi's request, and she didn't know what punishment she would face if Aoyama found out.

If Aoyama were to arbitrarily classify it as bullying, it would be a very serious matter.

"I already told you that following Classmate Sakayanagi will get you into trouble. Aoyama -san seems easy to talk to, but he's actually incredibly domineering."

Sitting in front of a vanity with a mirror, Shiraishi combed her waist-length blonde hair, looking somewhat helpless.

She hadn't figured out how to deal with the rumors yet, and now, based on the posts on the School Forum, Aoyama had become even more mysterious in her mind.

It's not surprising that Sakayanagi Arisu knows Ayanokoji, after all, her father is the Chairman Sakayanagi and has helped White Room a lot in the past, but Aoyama is different.

He doesn't look like a rich kid; he doesn't seem like someone who could have access to the White Room.

"I'll explain everything to Aoyama -kun, so don't worry, Ryoko." Shiraishi glanced at her best friend, who looked utterly dejected, and reassured her.

She caused the trouble, so there's no reason for her to run away.

Nishikawa rolled over, propping his chin up with his hands on the bed. "Could she be planning to use her beauty to seduce Asuka -san, who admitted to having had many boyfriends?"

"If the honey trap works, I'll push Ryoko out immediately." Shiraishi returned to his bed, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at Nishikawa.

"A handsome guy like Aoyama wouldn't be interested in me; it has to be the popular Asuka."

Despite having a pillow smeared all over his face, Nishikawa still didn't shut up, "If you can win Aoyama back and get him to wholeheartedly contribute to the class, Asuka, you'll be the new queen of Class A."

"The first thing I'll do upon becoming queen is to ruthlessly suppress that girl with the double braids who loves to tease her classmates."

Seeing Nishikawa's teasing expression, Shiraishi pursed his lips slightly and then made a forceful move, leaping across the small gap between the beds.

At someone's pleading, she sat on the soft 'throne'.

Chapter 151 Because I'm Batman

The exam ended the following morning.

Following the instructions he received from Aoyama the previous night, Shiraishi arrived at a room decorated like an office. His initially calm mood turned somewhat uneasy before he even entered.

With the figure behind the chair out of sight, thoughts became even more complicated.

Why is Chairman Sakayanagi here, and with his back to me? What role does Aoyama play in all this? Was his action against Sakayanagi Arisu also at the Chairman's behest?

After knocking on the door, Shiraishi was absolutely certain that he heard Chairman Sakayanagi's voice.

"How's Kiyotaka's mission going, Shiraishi- kun?"

"Everything is normal. We haven't noticed anything unusual about Ayanokoji." After a moment's consideration, Shiraishi calmly replied to the Chairman behind the executive chair.

Kouiku is a special school with government backing. All students who are admitted are screened after background checks, and those who are admitted without screening or backdoor admission cannot be hidden from the person in charge of Kouiku in front of her.

Therefore, it's normal that Chairman Sakayanagi knew her identity.

"What do you think of the posts on the School Forum? Do you think we should stop Aoyama from covering up Kiyotaka's past?"

"It's not a good thing for ordinary people to know about the White Room's existence."

Why ask me what I think? Is my opinion important? Besides, I don't even know who Aoyama is; can't you at least offer some hints?

Shiraishi was very puzzled, but she never imagined that the person who spoke was not the Chairman Sakayanagi in her mind, but Aoyama, whose face was playful but Aoyama words were mature and steady.

He crouched behind the high-backed executive chair, hiding his entire body where Shiraishi couldn't see him.

"On my own, I probably can't stop Aoyama -kun." Shiraishi chose to say that she lacked the ability. As for asking Chairman Sakayanagi about Aoyama's identity, that was not something she could do at her level.

Although Sakayanagi Narimori's tone was as kind and approachable as usual, she knew how great the difference in their social standing was.

"That's true, after all, you were only given the identity of an observer, Shiraishi." Sitting up straight, revealing half of his head, Aoyama swiveled his chair to face Shiraishi directly, his voice very clear.

He used the voice of Nishikawa Ryoko, a close friend of Shiraishi Asuka.

Shiraishi couldn't contain his shock, "Aoyama -kun?!!"

"Isn't it a pleasant surprise? You instantly perked up."

Aoyama switched back to his own voice, and in front of Shiraishi, he took a cell phone that was recording video from the corner of the room.

The phone was in recording mode before Shiraishi even entered the room.

"You don't want everyone to know you're an observer, do you, Shiraishi?" Aoyama gently lifted Shiraishi's delicate chin as he walked up to her, who was still in a daze.

Because Kamuro and the others are all on guard against by Sakayanagi, he urgently needs a new, unknown pawn in Class A.

The mere fact that Nishikawa Ryoko spread rumors is not enough to force Shiraishi to become a pawn.

Shiraishi stared wide-eyed, unable to resist. "How did you know? What is your true identity?"

"Because I'm Batman."

With a playful smile, Aoyama showed no intention of giving Shiraishi an answer, and Shiraishi naturally couldn't force him.

Shiraishi, who was held hostage by him, could only be the one being forced by him.

"Hiss— Ryuen has seen through your plan; he's no longer pinning his hopes on me."

In a secluded room, Hashimoto touched the wound on his face and, drawing in the cold air, reported the latest situation to Sakayanagi.