"Sorry, you two~ I'm busy right now, so I don't have time. If you really want to ask me something, we can arrange another day, okay?" Kushida replied with a slight bow, apologetically.
But sharp-eyed Ibuki Mio still caught the faint trace of timidity on Kushida's face. She immediately knew she had the upper hand, and her tone grew even more brazen.
"Hey, you really dare to turn me down, Kushida Kikyo?"
"Why's your face gone so stiff? If you keep that up, I'll just have to ask you myself."
"Come on, you can't do that. I clearly said no. Please let go and let me leave, okay~" Kushida forced a helpless smile.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm still standing, he won't interfere in a one-on-one fight. Ready, Kushida Kikyo?" With that, Ibuki Mio rolled her snow-white neck. Without giving Kushida a chance to say anything more, she strode toward her.
"Don't come any closer, Ibuki. I already turned you down. If you take another step, the cameras will catch us, and we'll be breaking school rules." Kushida hurriedly tried to dissuade her, panic creeping into her voice.
She clearly hadn't expected Ibuki to be so direct. But that only made her words betray her guilty conscience even more.
"Heh~ And then what?"
Ibuki Mio's eyes glinted with menace. She was now completely certain that this woman's supposed strength was all a bluff.
She didn't hesitate. In a swift dash, she closed in, fixing on the infuriating swell of Kushida's chest. With the force of someone eager to flatten it completely, she launched a full-power side kick.
"Stop!" At that very moment, a long-haired figure burst around the corner behind them.
It looked as though she'd been waiting nearby all along.
"Thud!"
Even so, the heavy sound of bodies colliding made it clear that two of them had clashed.
As the dust settled beneath the glow of the setting sun, two long, pale legs stood pressed tightly against each other, as if neither girl wanted to be the first to give in.
"Horikita Suzune!"
When Ibuki Mio recognized the one blocking her, her eyes widened in disbelief.
She could have accepted it if it were anyone else, but not Horikita Suzune—the woman she'd found most unbearable ever since their first day at school. Horikita always managed to outdo her in everything, and even that infuriating part of her was..."
"Hmph, damn you!" The angrier Ibuki Mio got, the harder she pressed with her foot.
Horikita Suzune was visibly struggling, but her stamina was clearly no worse than Ibuki's. She kept holding back the attack and managed to turn her head and call out, "Kushida Kikyo, I already called for help. Go. I'll hold them off here."
But despite Horikita's words, Kushida Kikyo showed no sign of moving. Instead, her expression twisted by the moment. "Y-Why are you here? Why are you helping me?"
She had never imagined that Horikita Suzune, her sworn enemy even before they'd enrolled, would step in to save her.
Kushida had used the secrets she'd uncovered to destroy the class Horikita had once loved most. And even now, she was plotting how to drive Horikita out of this school, step by step.
So when Horikita came to her aid, Kushida couldn't accept it. Worse, she couldn't stand the feeling that Horikita got to play the good person while Kushida was made out to be the one in the wrong.
"Get away! I don't need your fake pity!" Kushida Kikyo shouted again.
While the two of them argued, Ishizaki had no intention of standing around watching. Ibuki Mio had failed to complete the boss's task, so now he would have to test Kushida himself—and give her a proper beating.
"Ishizaki, what are you doing? I'm still standing, so don't you dare jump in!" Ibuki Mio yelled when she saw him heading toward Kushida Kikyo.
"Tch, since when do I take orders from you? Don't forget where you stand under the boss, Ibuki Mio."
"You..." Her face went livid with anger, but she had no way to argue back.
Ishizaki glanced at her scornfully, then continued toward Kushida Kikyo, his eyes vicious as he sneered. "Heh, aren't you pretty tough? You dared to make our boss lose face in public. Let's see how I deal with you today."
"I said I'm busy today. Don't make me fight you." Leaning against the wall, Kushida replied coolly, her expression unchanged. But the clear light that had once filled her eyes had turned vicious and venomous.
"Oh? So you can change your expression. Let's see if your strength changes too!"
With that, Ishizaki planted his feet and raised his left arm. He lunged forward with a swift elbow strike, aiming straight for Kushida's vital spot. He showed no hint of mercy.
"Run, Kushida!" Seeing that a hit would have disastrous consequences, Horikita Suzune cried out and tried to stop him. But Ibuki Mio's increasingly fierce attacks gave her no chance to break free.
"I don't need you telling me what to do, Horikita Suzune."
"Remember, I'm not as helpless as you think." Gritting her teeth, Kushida Kikyo kept her eyes fixed on the rapidly approaching Ishizaki.
"Ah!"
The next moment, a scream rang out. A dark side of Kushida Kikyo had emerged. She had somehow pulled out a shard of glass, and as Ishizaki came within reach, she slashed his arm with pinpoint accuracy.
Staring at the blood pouring from his arm, Ishizaki gritted his teeth against the pain, fury blazing in his eyes. "Damn it, you little brat! You dare play dirty? You're dead!"
Ishizaki immediately pulled a nearly one-meter-long stun baton from a backpack on the ground. It gleamed darkly as he glared at her. "You asked for this, brat. Even if the boss shows up this time, you're going down!"
He pressed the switch, and crackling arcs of electricity flashed across the baton's surface.
"Isn't that a high-voltage stun baton from the school security office? How did you get it?" As Ishizaki came closer, Kushida Kikyo backed away and stared at him in disbelief.
"Heh~ You'll find out when you're lying on the ground." With his rage having completely overwhelmed his reason, Ishizaki kept advancing with a cold laugh.
Seeing that someone might end up dead, the two girls on the other side immediately forgot about continuing their fight.
Free of Ibuki's hold, Horikita Suzune hurried to Kushida's side, ready to face whatever came together.
"Get away from me! I told you, I don't need you meddling in my affairs." Seeing Horikita Suzune approach, Kushida felt a strange stir in her heart. She hated that unfamiliar feeling.
"Say whatever you want. I just need to be able to live with myself. No matter who it is, I won't look the other way."
"Tch. Suit yourself."
But while the two of them spoke, Ibuki Mio was stuck in a wretched position, caught between both sides. She had just finished fighting Horikita Suzune and hadn't even caught her breath, and now she had to desperately hold back her own teammate, Ishizaki Daichi.
"Hey, are you two done talking? Hurry up and run! I can't hold out much longer!"
With her whole body hanging off Ishizaki's arm and still unable to quell his raging fury, Ibuki Mio couldn't help yelling, "You big idiot, Ishizaki! Ryuen's orders were just to test them and teach them a lesson. How long are you planning to keep going crazy?"
"Get off me, you nuisance!"
Ishizaki was already prone to sudden fits of rage. He didn't care who was trying to stop him; he jabbed the stun baton toward her without hesitation.
"This is it~" Despair flooded Ibuki Mio. She'd never imagined he'd go so far as to use the stun baton on her.
The attack came without warning, leaving Ibuki Mio no time to react.
She shut her eyes and waited for death, having given up all hope.
But the instant the stun baton touched the girl, a fierce gust of wind suddenly swept in from behind.
"Crackle!!!"
What made the moment suffocating was that even in the gale, the stun baton continued to crackle with repeated bursts of electricity, unwavering.
"Ibuki!" Horikita Suzune screamed, having just finished calling for help. Someone's life was at stake—and Ibuki had even saved her. Even Kushida Kikyo, cold as she was at that moment, couldn't help freezing in place.
"Fwoosh~"
As the dust cleared, the two girls' pupils trembled. They were too afraid to look directly at the hazy scene. Then Ishizaki's towering figure toppled straight backward.
The deadly stun baton was now spinning arcs of electricity like a toy between the fingers of a young man whose eyes glowed a dark red.
"Hey, I've got a question... Did you get my permission to bully my people? Hm?"
His low murmur, three parts playful and seven parts icy, drifted through the space without a trace of emotion.
Under the suffocating gaze of those dark red eyes, everything seemed to fall into a brief silence.
All Ibuki Mio could do was stare blankly and nod. Her gaze remained fixed on the young man's pale hand, electricity crackling across it.
Before you continue