Prince Ganlongdao, What a Reckless Girl!

At the sight of this,

Prince Ganlongdao hurriedly stepped in front of Ibuki Mio, blocking her way with an outstretched hand.

"Stop. You might think this is boring, but acting so recklessly and refusing to follow the rules affects the stability of the class. That makes it really hard for me to manage things, you know?"

"Boring. Move."

Ibuki Mio glared at the man in front of her.

She wasn't stupid.

There was no way she'd fall for that sort of talk.

As long as nobody provoked her, she wouldn't hurt anyone. She wouldn't cause trouble for the class in academics or sports, either. How could she possibly affect the class?

The class's other loners probably thought the same way.

They believed that as long as they took care of their own business and didn't bother anyone, that was enough.

But—

As long as you were human,

and still part of a team,

everything you did affected the class, whether or not you were causing trouble for anyone!

Outsiders would question Prince Ganlongdao's ability to manage the class.

The others would also get jealous.

Why could Ibuki Mio do whatever she wanted while they couldn't? That resentment could sour the team atmosphere. Even if you didn't like talking to people, you couldn't skip necessary communication.

That was why so many companies tried to organize team-building activities and icebreakers.

Of course,

a class wasn't quite at that point.

But Prince Ganlongdao still had to get her to draw the prize, didn't he?

"Hmm."

Prince Ganlongdao looked down at the petite girl before him and raised an eyebrow.

"If that's how you're going to talk, then I won't go easy on you. Don't think I won't hit you just because you're a woman."

"Bring it on. I don't know how you managed to deal with Ryuen, but I'm not afraid of you."

Ibuki Mio snorted and took two steps back to put some distance between them.

A flicker of excitement even crossed her bright eyes.

She'd heard Prince Ganlongdao could beat Albert, but apparently he'd won mostly by using tricks. When it came to technique, Ibuki Mio wasn't afraid of anyone!

As for the Ganlongdao Ishizaki and the others had mentioned—

Ibuki Mio didn't really understand what it was,

but she figured it was pretty much the same as the Yamaguchi-gumi.

In a society like Sakurajima, where the rule of law prevailed and organized crime was legal,

even the underworld had rules. It was less intimidating than the street-racing gangs. The Yamaguchi-gumi was like a charity that sold milk tea on the street; she didn't feel any particular reverence for them.

As for their reputation,

Sakurajima's underworld had long since gone respectable.

They only showed their ugly side when their interests were at stake.

Compared to all that,

she'd much rather have a serious fight with Prince Ganlongdao.

To see who was stronger.

With that thought,

Ibuki Mio snapped up her right leg in a high kick aimed at Prince Ganlongdao's head.

But—

the very next moment,

Prince Ganlongdao caught her ankle with ease.

"Damn it."

At the sight of this,

Ibuki Mio looked at Prince Ganlongdao, who was nearly two heads taller than her, and braced both hands on the ground. She swung her left leg around in a back kick, striking his shoulder.

He took the hit without flinching.

Prince Ganlongdao raised an eyebrow.

Honestly,

the gap between him and Ibuki Mio was just too great.

He was two meters tall and weighed nearly a hundred kilograms—almost twice as much as Ibuki Mio.

They weren't even in the same weight class.

What's more,

Prince Ganlongdao exercised regularly. That hit barely registered.

Ibuki Mio seemed to have studied taekwondo,

and those techniques would work against a guy like Ishizaki, who wasn't that much bigger than her. But against someone in his weight class, technique didn't mean much.

At that moment,

Ibuki Mio had her back to Prince Ganlongdao, both hands braced on the ground as he held her by the ankle. She couldn't move at all, and her pretty face had turned bright red with strain.

That was how despairing the difference in weight could be.

In the bright moonlight, Prince Ganlongdao noticed that she was wearing teddy-bear panties.

She really hadn't outgrown her childish streak!

"Let go."

Prince Ganlongdao released her ankle.

"If you understand, then—"

But—

before he could finish,

Ibuki Mio had barely regained her footing, yet she had no intention of calling a truce.

She feinted with her left leg, then kicked at Prince Ganlongdao with her right. He caught her ankle again in an instant. The gap between them was so vast he didn't even need to block.

Prince Ganlongdao didn't dare use much force.

It felt like even one punch might break her bones.

This time, though,

Prince Ganlongdao wasn't so gentle. He grabbed Ibuki Mio by the right ankle and pushed her leg upward.

Ordinary people struggled to kick their legs higher than ninety degrees. Ibuki Mio might have been more flexible, but once she reached her limit, she'd feel pain.

And the strain on her body was far beyond what an ordinary person could bear.

"That's the difference between us."

Prince Ganlongdao's left hand clamped around her smooth ankle like an iron vice. He kept pushing her leg upward, his eyes drifting toward the space between her thighs.

He couldn't help it.

That little teddy bear was a bit too eye-catching.

"If you understand, then behave."

But—

the next second,

something unexpected happened.

Ibuki Mio kicked her leg up in a high kick, nearly a hundred and ninety degrees, pulling him down with her into a full split.

Fortunately,

Prince Ganlongdao was tall enough

that he could keep hold of her ankle without letting go.

Ibuki Mio glared at him fiercely. Prince Ganlongdao's lips curled in delight.

Interesting!

Beating Ibuki Mio should have been simple enough.

He'd meant to make her feel pain and force her to give in.

He hadn't expected

Ibuki Mio to see through his intentions at once—and kick him into a full split.

Of course, this wouldn't let her escape or beat Prince Ganlongdao.

But—

this was as far as Ibuki Mio could go.

If he kept hold of her leg and pushed it higher, he'd break it for sure.

Would Prince Ganlongdao dare to risk it?

He saw not only stubbornness in Ibuki Mio's eyes, but also an intense desire to win.

Even faced with such a huge difference between them, Ibuki Mio still refused to admit defeat.

Her competitive streak was truly abnormal.

Maybe it had something to do with what she'd been through.

Whatever.

Now wasn't the time to think about that.

"What? You think I'm afraid of your threats?"

Ibuki Mio stood on one leg, looked up at the man before her, and glared at him defiantly.

"Got nothing to say?"

"..."

Prince Ganlongdao still had hold of her ankle.

He had to admit,

the girl really had studied taekwondo.

Even standing like this, she was as steady as a rock.

She must have incredible flexibility. Playing around with her would probably feel pretty good.

Honestly,

she had him in a bind.

There was no way he could keep pushing her leg up and break it.

Everything had its limits.

A little roughhousing was fine.

But if he seriously crippled or killed someone, the school would definitely step in, and Kazuma Sakagami wouldn't be able to protect him.

The university claimed that students were in charge of everything.

But Prince Ganlongdao wasn't so naive as to believe that nonsense.

He had to admit,

Ibuki Mio was even harder to deal with than Ryuen Kakeru.

At least Ryuen had a brain and some self-control.

Whether it was a fight or a battle of wills, he could still go toe-to-toe with someone.

But Ibuki Mio...

She'd invited a huge guy like Prince Ganlongdao to meet her alone on the rooftop, and had even dared to show up by herself. That alone was enough to show that you couldn't treat her like an ordinary girl.

Ibuki Mio was just plain reckless.

Unless he knocked her unconscious, she simply wouldn't admit defeat.

Of course,

that was mainly because of the system mission.

Prince Ganlongdao wouldn't have provoked her otherwise, and getting Ibuki Mio to do something for the class wouldn't have been hard.

But once he stoked her competitive streak, she was even more single-minded than Ryuen!

This was troublesome...

Prince Ganlongdao looked down at Ibuki Mio.

This was the first time he'd met someone so reckless, a girl who didn't care if she got hurt...

And besides,

this was a university in a law-abiding society like Sakurajima. His options were limited.

After thinking it over,

Prince Ganlongdao still felt

there was only one way.

Since Ibuki Mio liked pandas, he'd just have to feed her bamboo.