Chapter 46

"What a shame it would be if such a wonderful drama had no audience!" I said noncommittally.

"Kitazawa-san, she said something about the monitor..." Komiya reminded me impatiently.

"The monitor?" I smiled and glanced back at it, then took out the pen I always carried. I strode over and leaped lightly, driving the pen hard into the monitor's lens.

Humans were amazing creatures. As long as you had confidence, even a child could easily pierce an apple with a drinking straw—let alone a pen that could be used as a weapon. The monitor's casing shattered, and everyone stared at me in a daze.

It was understandable. This wasn't the Kitazawa Minya they were used to. He was brimming with confidence, casually doing something most people wouldn't dare attempt. This was Kitazawa Minya, who had carefully planned everything and now had it all under control.

"Kitazawa-kun!" Ichinose cried out.

"It's fine. Don't make such a fuss." I put away the pen, which was probably ruined, and brushed off my clothes. "Let me tell you something interesting. Do you know why Class C received so few Class Points last month?"

Ichinose and Ayanokoji remained silent, still frozen in place as they watched me perform.

"It was because Ryuen smashed all the monitors in the school. So we in Class C know exactly which monitors are real and which are fake, and where they're located. That's the difference in how much information we have in this battle."

Ayanokoji's expression turned serious, while Ichinose looked utterly disbelieving.

"So, destroying a monitor isn't a big deal—especially when it's a fake. Besides, the school's monitors aren't even this brand, and they wouldn't install surveillance cameras in a science classroom anyway. The chemicals at school aren't worth stealing. That's common sense."

As I spoke, I patted Komiya and Kondo on the shoulders.

"But the chemicals..." Komiya asked.

"What use is the junk in a middle school lab? They don't even have concentrated acid or pure alkali. Making a poison like cyanide? You've watched too many kids' detective shows. If you could make it with such rudimentary equipment, you'd win the Nobel Prize. And you wouldn't have all the materials, because there are laws about that. So there's nothing worth stealing among the chemicals at school. If you wanted to do something bad, you'd be better off buying some pesticide."

"I see! I almost got fooled!" Kondo scratched his head.

"And that's not all. When you run into a scammer like this, don't let her set the pace. Just ignore her. If you can't handle it, contact someone you trust. I only stepped in now because I wanted you to learn from this and grow through the experience."

Since the opportunity had presented itself, I took the chance to lecture the three of them.

"Sorry for the trouble, Kitazawa-san."

"Let's go to the Student Council and put Sudo out of his misery..."

"Kitazawa-san! Aren't you worried we'll all lose points? Why do something that hurts others without benefiting you!?" Ichinose grabbed my hand.

"Ichinose, I don't understand what you're talking about. Sudo's the one facing expulsion. Besides, you were the one who invited me to settle this through discussion. I still have the emails where you contacted me as the intermediary. Why have you been helping Class D this whole time? If anything, it seems like you've all been working together to deceive us. Is that how you treat a friend?" I said, pulling my hand free.

"So you really want both sides to suffer? Shouldn't we be working together toward Class A?" she said, her eyes welling with tears. She looked as though she were caught in the middle and didn't know what to do, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

That act wasn't going to work now! I'd expected the teary-eyed performance all along!

"Both sides suffering? We haven't suffered at all... Ichinose, if you insist on meddling, be prepared to face retaliation from Class C!" I warned her.

Ichinose froze, then began to sob softly.

"Are you sure you won't take it back?" Seeing this, Ayanokoji stepped in front of Ichinose and came forward.

"Still playing the hero at a time like this, Ayanokoji? How ridiculous." I smiled at him.

"Why can't I? Horikita sent me here in case something happened." Ayanokoji stared intently at me.

"In case something happened? What was Horikita going to do if we didn't fall for it? Have you get down on your knees and beg us? Why didn't she come herself?" I continued to taunt him with a grin.

"No. She told me to do this!" For the first time, something happened that I hadn't accounted for. Ayanokoji suddenly grabbed my collar and pinned me against the wall.

"Ayanokoji-kun! Don't do anything rash!" Ichinose clearly hadn't expected him to act like that either, and she screamed.

"You bastard! Let go of Kitazawa-san!" Ishizaki and the others rushed forward, and everything descended into chaos.

"You want to get expelled too, Ayanokoji-kun?" I grabbed his collar in turn, and we grappled with each other.

"Isn't this what you people do? Besides, think about it. From the school's point of view, this would be another fight. They won't make a ruling that favors either side in a brawl. If you don't believe me, we can have another fight right here. No monitors, no witnesses—you could even beat up Ichinose, a girl. What do you say? Want to start?" Ayanokoji's shouts echoed through the hallway as he tried to make up for the overwhelming disadvantage in numbers by sheer volume.

Ishizaki and the others tried to pull him off me but failed. Ayanokoji held on to me tightly. He was surprisingly strong.

"There are four of you here. If you hit Ichinose, it'll look even worse. If you don't, she'll be a witness on my side! And... and since this would be a second altercation, even if expulsion wasn't certain before, we'd definitely be expelled if we fought again today!" He forced every word into my head at the top of his lungs.

I froze for a moment. He was right. Whether or not we attacked her, Ichinose—a student from another class—had become a factor that kept us from acting rashly. Were the four of us supposed to just let Ayanokoji hit us? The school wasn't stupid. What would it mean to pull the same trick a second time, with a witness present?

"Want to try? There's a good chance I'd take all four of you down, right? Are you going to keep this up, Class C? Horikita stayed away because she didn't want to use up this expulsion slot. Ichinose is from Class B, so it's completely different. This so-called alliance is only verbal, after all. If five boys get into a fight, she'll be the witness!" Ayanokoji kept shouting like a madman as he resisted Ishizaki and the others' attempts to pull him away.

Even Ichinose stopped crying and stared at him, stunned. Ayanokoji's decisiveness and courage had shocked everyone.

"Well? Want to fight, Kitazawa Minya? I heard you're a rich kid who's no good at fighting. Are you scared? ...If we all get expelled together, I'll come out ahead! And it's only been a little over two months since school started. What's so bad about transferring?" Ayanokoji knew I had a reason I couldn't afford to be expelled. In hindsight, choosing him to keep an eye on Koenji had been a terrible decision.

"Is it worth risking everything for Class D? Horikita's beauty trap..."