A Ridiculous Cooperation

In the end, seeing that the other party was no longer paying her any mind, Kushida Kikyo pouted in anger and had no choice but to leave in silence.

"Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~"

The long, resonant toll of the bell echoed slowly across the campus. Just like that, the freshmen, having finished their day's activities, quickly gathered at the school's shopping mall and began to shop frantically.

Inside a corner seat at a cafe.

Unlike the others, as a boy who had lived two lifetimes and returned from hell.

For Rinya, being able to sit quietly, savoring his coffee while admiring the way the clouds drifted slowly across the sky, was already more than enough to satisfy him.

However...

Rinya set down the coffee in his hand.

Through the reflection on the table, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of his own face, hidden beneath his bangs.

"Is this me..." Rinya muttered to himself.

From the moment he was born until the ten-plus years he spent in the White Room, this was the first time he had truly seen what he looked like.

"Heh~ Not bad at all."

Rinya pondered briefly; since he had decided to start his life over, perhaps it was time to get a haircut.

"Bang!"

Just as the boy stood up to head out for a haircut, a loud crash suddenly erupted from the supermarket entrance across the way.

Turning his gaze, he saw Sudo Ken confronting three upperclassmen.

However, Rinya only gave it a faint glance and did not bother to intervene. He knew that the fuse for the events that would follow would be handled by someone else; he only needed to live his own life well.

"Ding~ Welcome."

Before long, Rinya arrived at a nearby barbershop.

But as soon as he stepped inside, he unexpectedly spotted a girl in the chair getting a perm.

"Matsushita Chiaki~"

Her long, slightly wavy hair paired with a Lolita uniform, and beneath her pure and beautiful appearance lay the excellent academic ability of a top-tier class.

However, Rinya did not want to have much interaction with such a sharp and perceptive girl. Just as he took a step back, the girl happened to notice him.

"Eh, is that Rinya-kun?"

"Looks like you're here for a haircut too."

"Come, come, I'm already finished, and the seat is just opening up for you."

Faced with the girl's direct invitation, Rinya gave a bitter smile. Knowing he couldn't avoid it, he had no choice but to nod and step forward.

Yet, the moment he sat down, the unique, maidenly fragrance lingering on the chair instantly enveloped him.

Even Rinya, with his iron-willed temperament, couldn't help but show a faint look of intoxication.

Seeing this, Matsushita smiled triumphantly, assuming he was just another pure-hearted boy who became incredibly passive the moment he saw a girl.

She was just thinking about whether to tease him a bit to make him feel embarrassed.

However, the next second, when the messy hair covering the boy's eyes fell away in front of the mirror, revealing his celestial face, Matsushita, who had just been plotting, found her gaze frozen...

"So handsome, truly so handsome..." the girl whispered to herself, completely forgetting what she had been thinking about just a moment ago.

His features were perfect and carried a hint of ethereal charm; even Keiko, the auntie cutting his hair, couldn't help but praise him repeatedly: "I have never seen such a handsome boy."

Thus, to thank the boy for visiting her shop and to create her most satisfying work yet, the barber Keiko decided to pour her ten years of experience into this haircut, striving to make every single detail meticulous.

Although he had wanted to refuse, seeing the barber's near-manic enthusiasm, Rinya could only sit there gloomily and obediently.

Just like that, by the time the haircut was finished, the afternoon had already slipped away into twilight without him noticing.

A shy, flustered girl and a calm, composed boy walked out of the barbershop together.

"Ri... Rinya-kun, would you like to have dinner together tonight?"

"As you wish," Rinya replied indifferently.

Although he felt it was a hassle, he realized that since he had to spend three years here, some things would have to be faced sooner or later, and he would likely get used to it eventually.

And so, following Matsushita's lead, when they arrived at the destination she had invited him to, Rinya was left speechless to find that this girl had brought him to a couple's restaurant.

Fortunately, when they entered to order, things didn't seem too bad, as Rinya unexpectedly discovered that sitting at a window table was a white-haired loli leaning on a cane.

Of course, there was no need to say who that was.

What made Rinya curious, however, was that at a table opposite the white-haired loli sat Ryuen Kakeru, along with Ishizaki and Yamada.

Although both parties were chatting and drinking, the confrontational glares they exchanged could not escape Rinya's eyes.

Before long, he saw both groups leave one after another in the same direction; this was clearly not simple.

Although Rinya didn't want to get involved, he had promised Chairman Sakayanagi, so he needed to understand the situation appropriately. If any problems arose, he could mitigate the losses in time.

Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, Rinya quickly and quietly followed them, eventually arriving at an alleyway that was a blind spot for surveillance.

I have to say, seeing them reach this point, Rinya was quite impressed by the boldness of Sakayanagi Arisu.

In such a dimly lit place, a girl leaning on a cane actually dared to come alone to talk with three burly boys.

"Speak up. How have you considered the cooperation I proposed earlier?" Ryuen Kakeru didn't waste any time and asked directly.

"Hmm, that? If it were before, I might have feigned acceptance and then played the role of the elegant oriole behind the mantis, but now..." As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu deliberately dragged out her voice in a methodical manner.

"Oh? Let's hear it."

"That is, the cooperation is cancelled!"

"What! Do you know the consequences of playing me like this?" Ryuen Kakeru's face, which had been full of interest, suddenly turned icy cold.

The two boys behind him saw this and immediately split to both sides, firmly blocking the other party's retreat.

However, even so, there was not a trace of fear on Sakayanagi Arisu's face; instead, she wore a look of utter contempt. "Heh, no wonder you were assigned to Class C. The truth is quite pathetic, isn't it?"

"You'd better explain clearly why you're refusing the cooperation right now, otherwise, there are no surveillance cameras in this place." Ryuen Kakeru's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, looking as if he might launch a lethal blow at any moment.

"Do you really want me to say it? Then, if I may be blunt, the idea of having Class A help you control the weakest Class D first, and then having you help us take over the not-yet-fully-formed Class B, was a joke from the start, wasn't it?"

"Why should I hand over to you what I can accomplish myself?"

"What's more, on the first day of school, when I saw that person's name, I knew this already ridiculous cooperation was even more absurd."

"Heh, is that so? Since you think that way, I have nothing more to say."

"Ishizaki, teach her a lesson." With that, Ryuen Kakeru turned his back, preparing to leave.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have anticipated this. She tapped her cane firmly against the ground several times, and in an instant, several boys led by Hashimoto Masayoshi, who had been lying in wait nearby, rushed over from all directions.

"Oh? So you had arrangements made."

"Otherwise, did you think I would come here alone?"

"Is that so? Then..."

Just as Sakayanagi Arisu thought the other party would give up, Ryuen Kakeru suddenly turned around without warning, his hook punch already primed and aimed straight at the girl's abdomen.

Sakayanagi Arisu never expected that this guy would dare to strike in front of so many people. Although her own reflexes were astonishing, her physical disability was a fatal flaw. At this critical moment, even if she could dodge a vital hit, she would definitely take a blow; escaping injury was impossible.

"Bang!"

Just as Sakayanagi Arisu leaned to the side with all her might and the fist was about to smash into her arm, she was suddenly surprised to find a small stone flying in from the distance in a split second.

It struck exactly on the pressure point of Ryuen Kakeru's swinging arm.

Consequently, a wave of intense weakness instantly caused his punch to go limp.

"Damn it, who is it!"

Ryuen Kakeru whipped his head around, but apart from the members of Class A who had already surrounded them, there was no sign of anyone in the dim light.

"Hmph, consider yourself lucky. We'll remember this, Class A. Retreat!"

Seeing that even the nearby security guards were closing in, and since Ryuen Kakeru had only just begun to rule Class C, he decided not to cause unnecessary trouble for his class. After throwing out a harsh threat, he hurriedly left with Ishizaki and Yamada.

At this moment, Sakayanagi Arisu, who had just escaped the tiger's mouth, stood frozen in place for a moment.

"I clearly didn't make this arrangement. Who could it be?"

"Are you alright, Class Representative?"

Sakayanagi Arisu waved her hand very calmly.

Of course, it wasn't that she had no defenses; wearing the latest explosion-proof soft armor produced in the United States as her hidden trump card, she wouldn't have been seriously hurt even if she had been hit, and she could have even used it to blackmail the other party.

It was just that she still couldn't figure out who the person was that had intervened at that critical moment.