Pawn

The night was already deep, and only the faint glow of distant streetlights fell across the open ground.

Yuefeng took off his jacket and began repeating the basic movements he had practiced countless times: blocks, dodges, opening moves for joint locks... Sweat quickly soaked through his tank top, and the old injury in his left arm throbbed faintly under the repeated strain.

But he paid it no mind. Only through this kind of all-out physical exhaustion could he temporarily empty his mind and avoid thinking about those things.

He was immersed in his own rhythm when a faint, nearly inaudible footstep broke the stillness behind him.

It was not the sound of wind rustling fallen leaves, nor the scurrying of a small animal.

It was a human footstep, deliberately softened, yet still unmistakably clear in the silent night and to his highly focused senses.

Someone!

Every muscle in Yuefeng's body tensed instantly, and his movements came to an abrupt halt.

He did not turn around at once. Instead, he maintained a half-crouched defensive stance, listening for movement behind him while fully activating his Slow Motion perception in an attempt to catch more details.

The footsteps stopped. The person had halted at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, seemingly observing him.

Ishizaki? Or one of his lackeys? Was the "conspiracy behind the Equipment Room" Airi Sakura had heard finally about to be put into action? An ambush here, at this hour?

Yuefeng's heartbeat accelerated, but his mind remained unusually calm. He slowly adjusted his breathing, calculating the best angle and timing to turn and counterattack. The old injury in his left arm was a concern, but not one he could not overcome.

Just as he was about to spring into action, a familiar, utterly calm voice that made his scalp prickle spoke behind him:

"Your point of force for the block is wrong. Your arm is raised too high, leaving an opening beneath your ribs.

"Against an opponent far stronger than you, you should block diagonally with the outside of your forearm while turning your body sideways to redirect the force and prepare a counterattack to the lower body."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

Yuefeng froze completely. He turned around with extreme slowness and saw Kiyotaka standing in the shadows at the edge of the open ground, his back against the Gymnasium's weathered red brick wall.

His hands were in his pockets as he calmly watched Yuefeng, as though he had merely commented on an unimportant practice match.

"You..." Yuefeng opened his mouth, momentarily unable to find the words.

Shock? Anger? Or fear? Why was Kiyotaka here? How long had he been watching? What exactly did he want?

"Practicing at night makes it easy to get injured, and easy to be misunderstood," Kiyotaka continued, his tone as flat as if he were stating that it would rain tomorrow. "Especially in a place like this."

Yuefeng forced himself to calm down. He lowered his guard, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and tried to make his voice sound normal. "Why are you here?"

"Passing by." Kiyotaka's answer was, as always, concise and utterly devoid of useful information.

He stepped out of the shadows, moonlight falling over his expressionless face. "Your movements show traces of imitation, but you lack systematic instruction and corrections from real combat.

"Against someone truly experienced, you have far too many openings."

He was evaluating his combat training? Alarm bells rang in Yuefeng's mind.

Kiyotaka had noticed even this? How long had he been observing him in secret?

"I'm just practicing casually. For self-defense." Yuefeng answered vaguely, unwilling to delve further into the subject.

Kiyotaka nodded, seemingly accepting his explanation. But his next words made Yuefeng's heart sink again.

"Horikita told me about what happened today. What Sakayanagi Arisu said in the group today was interesting.

"'A higher-level consensus,' 'key individual variables'... She was reminding you, and reminding everyone else." Kiyotaka's gaze settled on Yuefeng's face, his dark brown eyes seeming especially profound in the moonlight.

Yuefeng did not respond. He merely watched Kiyotaka in silence.

"She is testing your 'position,'" Kiyotaka continued, as if analyzing a math problem. "She is also assessing whether you can become a useful 'pawn' on her chessboard, or a 'variable' worth paying attention to."

"And you?" Yuefeng finally could not hold back any longer. He shot back, "What are you evaluating? What are you observing?

"Am I a suitable target for 'guidance' in your 'father's' mission? Or am I... an 'interference factor' that needs to be eliminated?"

He poured all the doubts, pressure, and even a trace of anger he had accumulated over the past few days into that question.

Kiyotaka did not answer immediately. He tilted his head slightly, making that habitual motion again, as though adjusting parameters.

Moonlight cast shifting shadows across his face, making him seem even more unfathomable.

"My father's mission is 'guidance,'" Kiyotaka slowly said, his voice exceptionally clear in the silent night. "And the premise of 'guidance' is 'existence.'

"An individual who does not exist, or has lost their 'value of existence,' cannot be guided and does not need to be eliminated."

He paused, his gaze seeming to pass through Yuefeng and into a more distant darkness.

"Your 'value' depends on your own choices, and on your 'performance' on the chessboard.

"Sakayanagi Arisu has seen that. Ryuen Kakeru has also seen that. The difference is how they intend to 'use' that value."

"As for me..." Kiyotaka's gaze refocused on Yuefeng. His eyes were still calm, yet they seemed to carry immense weight.

"I am merely observing how this game, involving my 'father,' Sakayanagi Arisu, Ryuen Kakeru... and you yourself, will develop."

"And you," he said at last, with no emotion audible in his voice, "are currently one of the most 'interesting' variables in this game."

After saying that, Kiyotaka did not linger. He turned and, just as silently as he had arrived, melted into the shadows on the other side of the Gymnasium, as though he had never appeared at all.

Yuefeng stood alone in the open ground as the night wind swept over his sweat-soaked body, bringing a piercing chill.

Kiyotaka's words were like a cold scalpel, cutting open the fear and confusion he had tried to conceal.

Sakayanagi Arisu's probing, Ryuen's exploitation, his father's remote control... In Kiyotaka's eyes, they were all merely parts of a "game."

And he himself was an "interesting" "variable" in that game.

A pawn? A variable? A tool? Or... a player?

Yuefeng slowly crouched down, picked up his jacket from the ground, and clenched it tightly in his hand.

He looked toward where Kiyotaka had vanished, then toward the darkened windows of the Research Group Activity Room on the top floor of the main building.

The chessboard had already been laid out, and the players were in position.

And how was he, this unexpected "variable," supposed to find his own way to survive in this "game" of competing forces, or even...

Turn the tables?