Collar and Reward, A New Hunt

As Chabashira Sae finished speaking, the classroom instantly erupted.

"No way? Random groups across the entire grade?"

"Red Team and White Team? How are we supposed to earn points for our own class now?!"

"We're screwed. What if we get grouped with those rabid dogs from Class C? Won't they drag us down?"

The poor students led by Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki wailed in despair. What they feared most was a situation beyond their class's control.

Sudo Ken, on the other hand, did not care. He clenched his fists, and his knuckles cracked.

"Who cares what team it is? As long as I get to compete, I'll just knock everyone on the other side flat!"

His gaze fell on the group list. When he saw that both he and Horikita Suzune were on the Red Team, he flashed a genuinely pleased grin.

"All right! Horikita, we're on the same team again!"

Horikita Suzune did not respond.

Her brows were tightly furrowed, her gaze nailed to the list.

Beside her own name lay that other name, like a parasite clinging to bone.

[Kushida Kikyo].

A visceral sense of disgust welled up inside her.

But she understood even more clearly that the Sports Festival was a team battle. Personal likes and dislikes had to yield to the collective interest.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her displeasure, and her expression returned to its usual coldness.

Meanwhile, Kushida Kikyo was surrounded by a group of classmates.

"That's great, Kikyo-chan is on our team!"

"With Kikyo-chan here, we'll definitely win!"

She wore a perfect, angelic smile as she gently responded to each of them.

"Let's all do our best together. I'm not very athletic, so I might hold everyone back... I'll have to rely on you all then."

Her gaze casually passed over the crowd and briefly met Natsume Yu's eyes in the corner.

The gleam of excitement and anticipation in those beautiful eyes flashed away in an instant.

She knew.

This was the stage Natsume Yu had prepared for her.

A grand stage where she could thoroughly grind Horikita Suzune into the mud.

The night was black as ink.

Behind the school's main building, in a blind spot beyond the surveillance cameras.

This was their agreed meeting place.

Kushida Kikyo arrived five minutes early, standing quietly in the shadows like a pet waiting for its owner to feed it.

Footsteps drew closer from afar.

Natsume Yu emerged from the darkness, moonlight coating him in a cold sheen.

"Natsume-kun."

Kushida Kikyo approached him. The smile on her face had faded, replaced by obedient submission mixed with reverence and fanaticism.

Natsume Yu did not waste words.

He took a USB drive from his pocket and handed it to her.

"This is your script."

His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable sense of command.

"Inside is a personality analysis report on Horikita Suzune, detailing her strengths, as well as... every one of her fatal flaws."

Kushida Kikyo held out both hands and respectfully accepted the tiny USB drive.

The metal was cold to the touch, yet her fingertips burned hot.

"At the Sports Festival, I want you to completely isolate her."

Natsume Yu's gaze settled on Kushida Kikyo's face, sharp enough to pierce straight through a person's heart.

"She thinks highly of herself, believes individual ability comes above all else, and sees every mediocre person around her as dead weight. What you need to do is exploit that and make her everyone's enemy."

"Make everyone turn against her."

"Make her fall the hardest in the field she excels at most."

"And finally..." Natsume Yu leaned closer, speaking into her ear in a breath only the two of them could hear, "make it so that coming to beg me is the only path she has left."

His warm breath brushed against her ear, and Kushida Kikyo's body began trembling uncontrollably.

Not from fear.

But from excitement.

She would destroy Horikita Suzune with her own hands!

She would stomp that woman, who had always looked down on her, beneath her feet and savor the sight of her breaking down in despair!

This was practically the reward of her dreams!

Natsume Yu's plan perfectly satisfied the deepest, darkest destructive urge in her heart.

"I... I understand." Her voice was hoarse with excitement. "I'll definitely... complete the task perfectly."

"Good."

Natsume Yu straightened, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

From his other pocket, he took out an exquisite black velvet box.

He opened it.

Inside lay a necklace, adorned in the middle with a small silver metal ornament.

"This is...?" Kushida Kikyo's pupils widened slightly.

"A reward for obedience."

Natsume Yu took out the necklace and moved behind Kushida Kikyo.

Click.

He fastened it around her neck.

Natsume Yu's fingers lightly brushed the back of her neck, gentle as though he were soothing a pet.

"Of course, it's also a reminder."

"A reminder of your identity."

There was a trace of amused laughter in his voice.

"A..."

The unfinished words did not provoke any resistance from Kushida Kikyo.

She slowly raised her hand, and as her fingertips touched it, a strange sense of satisfaction and security instantly spread through her entire body.

Rather than feeling ashamed, she revealed an obedient smile.

After they parted, Natsume Yu walked alone toward the dormitory.

A figure stepped out from the shadows of the roadside trees and blocked his path.

It was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Something wrong?" Natsume Yu stopped walking.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression was as placid as ever, but there was a trace of scrutiny in those still, ancient-well eyes.

"You've been getting close to Kushida."

He stated it as a fact.

"I saw you together just now."

Natsume Yu raised an eyebrow but neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Don't play with fire, Natsume." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's tone carried an unusual hint of warning. "Kushida Kikyo is far more dangerous than you think. She's unstable and could explode at any time."

Natsume Yu suddenly smiled.

He looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with the composed superiority of someone looking down from above.

"Ayanokoji, do you know the difference between a bomb and a weapon?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka silently watched him.

"If the detonator of a bomb is in someone else's hands, then it's a dangerous object."

Natsume Yu extended his right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist before Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"But if the detonator is in my hands..."

"Then it isn't a bomb."

"It's my strongest weapon."

As his words fell, even the air around them seemed to grow quieter.

Looking at the absolute confidence on this man's face, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka realized for the first time that he could not see through him at all.

What kind of monster was hidden deep within the heart of this man called Natsume Yu?

Back in the dormitory, Natsume Yu cast aside his tangled thoughts.

Scheming was certainly entertaining, but the small joys of daily life were equally worth enjoying.

During lunch break.

Sakura Airi ran over with a flushed face and handed him a beautifully wrapped lunch box.

"Natsume-kun... um, today's lunch, I think I... accidentally made too much..."

The girl's voice was barely louder than a mosquito's, and she nearly buried her head in her chest.

Natsume Yu smiled as he accepted it and thanked her warmly. "Thank you, Airi. It already looks delicious."

That single sentence made happiness practically steam from the top of Sakura Airi's head.

In the library.

Shiina Hiyori excitedly hugged a thick old book and sat across from him.

"Natsume-kun! Look at this! I found an out-of-print book! It's a first edition signed by the author!"

The girl's eyes sparkled as she shared a small joy that belonged only to the two of them.

The notification light on his phone flashed at just the right moment.

It was a message from Ichinose Honami.

[Sports Festival practice must be tough, right? Do your best, Natsume-kun! But don't push yourself too hard either! (o^^o)]

Natsume Yu lightly tapped out a reply on the screen.

With one hand, he enjoyed the girls' tenderness and daily companionship. With the other, beneath the surface, he stirred an undercurrent powerful enough to overturn everything.

The feeling of perfectly switching identities and keeping everyone in the palm of his hand made him incomparably content.

A few days later, on the track field.

The joint training for the Sports Festival had begun.

Horikita Suzune was practicing sprints on the track. Sweat soaked her hair and pressed it against her fair cheeks, yet her gaze remained sharp and focused.

Not far away.

Kushida Kikyo was chatting and laughing with several girls as they stretched.

The smile on her face was as sweet as an angel's.

Suddenly, she raised a hand and absentmindedly brushed her fingertips over the collar around her neck.

Her gaze crossed the noisy crowd and precisely locked onto that solitary figure running with all her strength.

The curve of her lips turned venomous and cloyingly sweet at an angle no one else could notice.

Just then.

The phone in Natsume Yu's pocket vibrated faintly.

He took it out and unlocked the screen.

An unfamiliar message came into view.

The sender was [Sakayanagi Arisu].

[I'm very interested in you, Natsume Yu.]

[Or rather, should I call you... the mastermind controlling Class D from behind the scenes?]