Manipulation

As the two sides grew more and more forceful, neither was willing to back down.

To keep the situation from escalating further, Horikita Suzune knew that, since she was at fault, she had to resolve the matter herself, no matter what.

Without wasting any more words, Horikita Suzune wearily stopped Ken Sudō, took a deep breath, then bowed to Koenji and apologized with utmost sincerity.

"Koenji, there's no need to argue with him anymore. I'm at fault here. What kind of compensation would it take for you to forgive me? As long as it doesn't violate school rules and I can manage it, I'm willing to accept."

"Horikita, you don't have to..." Ken Sudō still wanted to say something, but when he met Horikita Suzune's angry gaze, he could only fall silent with a bitter expression.

"Oh, my, beautiful lady, you really don't need to apologize to me."

"After all, I only wanted to know the reason. I'm not so petty as to haggle with you over its value."

His voice was still clear and resonant, but for some reason, by the end of his words, there was an inexplicable air of disdain.

"As for the reason, I'm afraid I..."

"Smack!"

Before she could finish, a sharp crack interrupted Horikita Suzune's thoughts.

"Hey, what was that supposed to mean?" At those words, Ken Sudō could no longer hold back.

He thought, For the sake of a stupid mirror, Suzune had already bowed and apologized to him. And this guy still had the nerve to answer her—and all of us—with such an insulting tone.

The next second, the enraged Ken Sudō shot to his feet, his six-foot frame towering as he grabbed a thick book and hurled it at Koenji.

"Sudō, stop! Calm down!" Seeing this, Hirata Yosuke, who had been trying to figure out how to handle the situation, hurriedly stepped in front of Ken Sudō.

When the others saw their class leader step in, they too rushed to stand between the two.

But no one noticed that Rinya, who had been staring blankly out the window in the back row, now held a small crimson pen in his hand.

And on Koenji's faint reflection in the window, a gesture resembling a thumbs-down had somehow been drawn.

No one knew what it meant...

"Damn it, just wait until after school, you ugly bastard!" Ken Sudō growled through clenched teeth.

He had seen the book he'd just thrown easily dodged, and Koenji was still standing there with that smug, infuriating look.

Already seething over what had happened with Ryuen Kakeru, Sudō couldn't let this go.

But despite his words, when he suddenly felt Horikita Suzune's disgusted gaze fall on him,

his heart sank. Only then did he begin to realize that he had made another mistake...

He was about to get up and apologize, but Horikita Suzune's next words left him frozen in place.

"Sudō, that's enough!"

"This is my business. I don't need anyone else meddling. Please don't get involved again. I'm begging you."

"Horikita, I..." Ken Sudō tried to explain, his voice weak.

But Horikita Suzune was already in a bad mood and seemed unwilling to say another word to him. Her cold voice left him utterly crushed.

"First of all, I don't have any feelings for you."

"So please call me Horikita. We're not that close."

"And from now on, could you please be quiet? This is my business. Thank you."

After watching Horikita Suzune get to her feet and bow to Koenji again to apologize for what he had done, Ken Sudō's expression turned vacant, and he slumped to the floor.

His panicked voice came out in uneven bursts.

"How... how could this happen~"

The little connection I worked so hard to build... It's gone. It's all gone...!

His face turned deathly pale. His blood surged, and darkness gradually closed in around him.

"Ah, Sudō, what's wrong~"

"His face is so pale. Call the Emergency Department!"

"What's going on? Boss, wake up..."

As the voices around him rang in his ears, Ken Sudō's consciousness gradually faded.

He didn't know how long he remained that way. When he opened his eyes again, all he saw was a snowy white ceiling.

"Am I in the hospital~" Ken Sudō murmured.

The next moment, perhaps remembering something, the big boy—who rarely cried—felt tears gathering in his eyes, glistening as if they might fall at any moment.

"You're awake?" a calm voice said.

Ken Sudō, feeling utterly hopeless, had no desire to talk to anyone. But when he realized who it was, he forced a stubborn smile. "Rinya, I never thought you'd be the first to visit me. Sorry you had to see me like this, haha~"

"No, I wasn't the first. I only just got here, so don't take it personally, hehe~"

Since it was the weekend, Ken Sudō looked over—and couldn't help being a little dazzled by how fresh-faced and handsome Rinya looked in his white casual shirt.

He had been about to tease Rinya for being so blunt, but when the words reached his lips, he instinctively added a self-deprecating remark.

"Is that so~ You're as straightforward and funny as ever. No wonder so many girls have crushes on you. Unlike me..." Sudō gave a bitter smile.

"Are you not going to ask who came to see you before I did?" Rinya didn't respond. Instead, he watched him with a meaningful look.

"Sigh~ What difference does it make who it was? It doesn't matter anymore~" A flash of grief crossed Ken Sudō's eyes.

Rinya gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile. Then he continued, "Not necessarily. But if you don't want to know, that's fine. You haven't recovered yet, after all."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Ken Sudō was baffled.

Rinya waved a hand as if to brush off the subject, apparently unwilling to say more.

Naturally, Ken Sudō couldn't let it go now that his curiosity had been piqued.

After asking again and again, Rinya finally relented and agreed to tell him the truth, first warning Ken Sudō to prepare himself.

"Actually, the first person who came to see you was Horikita Suzune."

At that, Ken Sudō's eyes immediately widened, his excitement plain to see.

But Rinya's next words turned everything around and completely crushed him.

"Don't get excited yet. She did have her own reasons for coming to see you first, but the main reason was that Koenji asked her to."

"What!"

"Cough, cough..." At the mention of Koenji, Ken Sudō raised half his body, coughing furiously as anger surged through him.

Rinya patted his back and chided him with feigned irritation. "Didn't I tell you to prepare yourself? You can't even handle that. If so, I'm not going to tell you the rest."

"Come on, bro~"

"I just couldn't control myself. Please, you have to keep going, or I'll go crazy," Ken Sudō begged anxiously.

"I knew you'd react like this. Fine, fine. We're brothers, after all. Just make sure you keep your emotions in check."

"Mm, I will."

Seeing him nod firmly, Rinya got straight to the point. "That day, Horikita Suzune agreed to Koenji's condition. That's why he didn't report the incident to a teacher, understand?"

"Otherwise, with your previous record, you'd definitely have been expelled this time."

"Was it still because of that mirror?" Ken Sudō gritted his teeth.

"No, because of you~"

"Me... because I threw the book at him?"

"No, that's not it."

"Koenji wasn't particularly hung up on the mirror incident. Even if Horikita Suzune hadn't given him a satisfactory explanation, he wouldn't have pressed her further."

"But!"

Rinya's tone changed. "Do you remember what you called him?"

Ken Sudō thought back. He didn't think he'd called him anything especially nasty.

But Rinya's next words left him speechless.

"Do you remember calling him an ugly bastard? That was it. For someone who cared about his looks as much as he did, it crossed a line."

"Tch, was I wrong?" Ken Sudō could still picture Koenji's ugly, punchable face.

"Whether you were right or not is beside the point. You might not have realized it, but because of that, Koenji made Horikita Suzune agree to a condition before he'd forgive her."

"The condition was roughly this: he'd let her come see you first, but while visiting you, she had to post a photo of you in the hospital on the School Forum with the caption 'Ugly Person.'"

"What? That bastard! Just wait, just wait!"

"Cough, cough, cough..." Coughing painfully, Ken Sudō clutched his chest and hurriedly grabbed his phone without thinking twice.

When he opened the School Forum, he saw not only his own photo but also that many people were already discussing it. Ken Sudō, whose pride had always been fierce, was so furious that his hair stood on end and his face turned crimson.

Rinya, as if he'd expected this, tried to soothe him. "Have some water and calm down. That's all I can tell you. At least you were spared expulsion, but you'll have to be more careful from now on."

Seeing Ken Sudō nod blankly, his eyes red, Rinya said nothing more.

Just before leaving, he did remind him, "Don't try to settle things with him in private. He spends every weekend at the gym, and he's no pushover."

"Mm... Thanks for telling me all this today, bro. Take care on your way back."

After learning the news indirectly, Ken Sudō saw Rinya off, then silently began dialing numbers he hadn't called since enrolling.

The last time he'd dialed those numbers, it had been just before he went to juvenile detention...

After leaving the school hospital, Rinya found Ibuki Mio from Class C waiting at the entrance. She had a worried look on her face.

"Master~ If you have me lure Ryuen Kakeru and the others here, won't something serious happen?"

The concern that had been on Rinya's face earlier was now replaced by a strange smile.

"Hehe, it's fine~ Everything's under control."

As he spoke, Rinya suddenly clenched his hand, his tone growing more playful.

"Koenji~ Just how far does your strength go? I can't wait to find out, hehe..."