Chapter 49

Ryuen nodded. He'd assumed this from the start, so he hadn't given it much thought. It wasn't until just now that he realized this was Class C's Achilles' heel. "What are you going to do next? Tell Class D?"

"No, no. I've already squeezed Class D dry. This time, I'm going to help Class C," Yuan Yuyuan said with a laugh. As if he'd tell Class D about this—how else could he tell Hoshinomiya?

"Fair enough. Take this report, then. I have a backup." With that, Hoshinomiya turned her attention back to the TV show. Yuan Yuyuan was one of her own, after all. A little slacking off wouldn't hurt.

"Sure. I'll get going, then." Yuan Yuyuan glanced at the time. Honestly, that siscon had left him with no time to himself. He hadn't even had a chance to relax, and class was almost starting again. But he still had a little time, so he contacted the all-purpose Kushida Kikyo.

[Where does Ryuen from Class C usually hang out after school?]

[Karaoke. They often rent private rooms to sing, and a lot of Class C students have complained to me about how many points they spend there.]

She really did know everything. Was Kushida actually some kind of all-purpose genius...? Once Yuan Yuyuan got the information, he didn't forget to thank Kushida for her help.

[Great. If this works out, you'll get most of the credit, Kikyo. If you run into any trouble, you can tell me, too. I have something to take care of, so I'll talk to you later.]

Yuan Yuyuan headed to the karaoke place. Large entertainment venues like this tended to have plenty of cameras, so there were hardly any blind spots. Once he arrived, he showed the staff his credentials and had no trouble accessing the security footage from that night.

As expected, when the three of them arrived, their injuries weren't as severe as Hoshinomiya's report had made them sound. But once they went inside, they disappeared from view. Yuan Yuyuan turned to an employee. "What about the cameras inside the private rooms?"

"Those would violate our customers' privacy, so we don't—"

"Don't give me that. I don't have time to stand here arguing with you." Yuan Yuyuan cut the employee off. He didn't believe that crap for a second.

To speed things up, he threatened, "Either give it to me now, or you can hand in your resignation to the chairman along with the footage."

They were investigating a serious incident, so firing an employee for obstructing the investigation wasn't unreasonable.

"Uh... Please come with me." The employee was at a loss, but led Yuan Yuyuan down a winding series of corridors to an extremely well-hidden room. After the employee worked the controls, Yuan Yuyuan finally got to see footage of Ryuen beating Ishizaki and the others in the private room.

Was Ryuen arrogant, or just stupid? He could've at least avoided the cameras and gone somewhere deserted before finishing them off. Still, without Kushida, Yuan Yuyuan might not have found this place.

Thanks to his position as vice president of the Student Council, Yuan Yuyuan successfully copied the video. Now that everything was ready, all that remained was to give Kushida a big reward... namely, a hug.

P.S. I was pretty confused by this setup when I watched the anime. It made Ryuen seem really stupid, and I don't think this scene even amounted to anything in the end. It was just there to highlight Ryuen's methods and authority.

First Semester: Chapter 46

Chapter 43: Right now...

"Hey, you've been acting all secretive lately. Where do you run off to after school?" Himeno Yuki interrogated Yuan Yuyuan as soon as he sat down, after spending the whole lunch break running around. He didn't get it. Wasn't he the boss here?

"Big brother found Class C's weakness. Now they're..." Yuan Yuyuan had been so eager to brag to Himeno Yuki that he'd almost forgotten the angel sitting in front of him, whose ears were twitching back and forth. He was relieved he'd caught himself in time.

"Huh? Seriously? Wait, what did you just call yourself?" Himeno Yuki narrowed her eyes, though her face was adorned with a sweet, gentle smile.

Yuan Yuyuan instinctively guarded his kidneys. Good—he still had both of them.

"No, I just... Oh, right! My intermittent speech disorder is acting up again. This old problem always crops up now that I'm getting older. It's such a pain."

"Oh, is that so? That's terrible." Himeno Yuki placed a hand on Yuan Yuyuan's face and gave him a sympathetic look, then pinched him hard.

"Hey, hey, cut it out!"

"Are you okay, big brother? You can't even speak properly. Oh! I know. Your intermittent speech disorder must be acting up, right? Let me treat you."

"Don't! Have some mercy on me in b—"

That reminded Himeno Yuki that they were in class. She glanced at the onlookers, the corner of her mouth twitching, then quickly let go of Yuan Yuyuan and buried her face in her desk.

I want to die, I want to die, I want to die! What was she doing? Himeno Yuki was full of regret. She'd accidentally brought her usual routine into the classroom. Would he be angry with her? The way she'd acted might have damaged Yuan Yuyuan's image...

Himeno Yuki peeked at Yuan Yuyuan with one eye. He was rubbing his face, and didn't seem angry with her. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.

Just to be safe, Himeno Yuki tugged at Yuan Yuyuan's sleeve and pleaded, "I'm sorry~ Forgive me, okay...?"

"Now you know you're wrong? Do you know how much that hurt?"

Himeno Yuki blinked. She had a feeling they weren't talking about the same thing.

"You're not mad that I did that to you in front of everyone? You care so much about your image."

"Where did that prejudice come from? I get by on my own ability. You think you can ruin my invincible image? Unless your hands bring me bad luck? Ugh, that would be pretty—"

Seeing Himeno Yuki's fist tighten again, Yuan Yuyuan quickly shut up. He wasn't scared; he was just indulging her. He'd always been such a nice guy.

"Try showing me a little consideration, would you? One of these days, I'm going to tear your mouth off," Himeno Yuki said through gritted teeth. To avoid drawing everyone's attention again, she kept her voice low.

"Seriously, Xiaoxue's flirting skills still need some work. Th—okay, I'll stop."

Only after Himeno Yuki's hand moved away from his waist did Yuan Yuyuan finally breathe a sigh of relief. It made him reflect on himself.

He'd spoiled this woman too much! He had to show her his authority!

"Himeno Yuki, you—ugh... I'm sorry."

Yuan Yuyuan suddenly decided that staying alive was more important. Authority didn't really matter, since they were all friends, after all. He loved playing the good-friends game, so he didn't mind what Himeno Yuki did to him... probably.

After school, Yuan Yuyuan went to the library. That's right, it was time for a fake... date!

Since it was Class D that had clashed with Class C, Shiina didn't need to avoid him despite being in Class C.

Throughout the long month of June, Yuan Yuyuan hadn't spent every day in his dorm. Sometimes he'd read with Shiina, and their relationship had made some progress. But Shiina, who'd suggested they call each other by their first names, seemed to have only followed through halfway.

"You're here early, Hiyori." Yuan Yuyuan sat down beside Shiina. "Do they have a teleportation panel here or something?"

"Honestly, you tease me about that every time," Shiina Hiyori replied with a smile. But usually, she was the one who invited Yuan Yuyuan.