Uninvited Guest

With that, as the rescue teams arrived one after another, the massive riot incited by the school counselor Mikawa finally came to a complete end with the collapse of the last person who had lost control.

"Doctor, doctor! Someone has fainted over here, hurry over..."

A desperate escape from death, a chaotic consciousness, and a reality impossible to accept.

Seeing the rescue team heading toward her, Hoshinomiya, who had been subconsciously holding on, finally allowed her highly focused mind to relax at this moment.

As an endless wave of drowsiness surged between her eyes, some things she was destined never to understand would eventually be buried within her dreams.

After everyone was brought back to the school, the school administration personally issued a statement via the broadcasting department the next morning, publicly apologizing to the four classes of the first year regarding the riot that had occurred.

Furthermore, they announced that every participant in the incident would receive 100,000 private points deposited into their accounts, with additional double compensation for those who were seriously injured.

However, despite this, what puzzled everyone was that aside from the notification that the already comatose Mikawa had been expelled and handed over to the police, the school seemed to have no intention of further investigating the source of the incident, offering only an ambiguous answer.

As for the members of the Security Department who should have been able to testify to the truth, it was disappointing to everyone that after this event, they were all still in the neurology intensive care unit.

According to the attending physician, it wasn't even a matter of whether they could wake up; simply surviving the aftermath was already a stroke of immense luck.

Hearing this, no one felt at ease, for if such a thing could happen once, who could guarantee it wouldn't happen a second time?

It was a pity that even though many people had heard the voice in the recording box at the time, the school administration insisted that everyone produce actual evidence for them to hear.

Yet, the recording box, which was the key piece of evidence, had mysteriously vanished after the riot.

After all, words alone were not enough... for such a major matter, one either needed physical evidence or a witness of sufficient weight. Unfortunately, the deputy director who could have testified was still in the hospital receiving emergency care...

And the four homeroom teachers, who were the only ones qualified to verify all of this, had three of them unusually chosen to claim they heard nothing, while the one remaining in the hospital chose to remain silent upon learning of it...

Perhaps in this school of meritocracy, the status of students only reached so high, and the same was true for the teachers~

Moreover, ever since the strange incident involving the geological disaster last time, everyone understood in their hearts that whenever something touched upon the school's interests or reputation, the only thing they could do was remain silent...

Rather than a school, most people had long since come to view it as another society that kept its secrets well hidden.

"Master, don't we actually have the evidence? But why..." Kushida asked, her face filled with confusion as she watched all of this.

"Heh, that is a treasure I intend to use against the school in the future. Wouldn't it be a waste to use it now?" Rinya's eyes were filled with mockery.

Upon hearing this, the girl was struck with immense shock.

"The school, huh..."

Class D, first year, inside the classroom.

"Alright, alright, don't be sad anymore, okay? My boss said that once we step into society, things will be even more realistic than this."

Inside the Class D classroom, Ike Kanji was comforting Shinohara Satsuki, who was in low spirits, just as he always did.

"Mm~ Thank you, Kanji~"

Watching the two at the neighboring desks looking into each other's eyes, Yamauchi Haruki, sitting nearby, couldn't help but turn his head away in annoyance, secretly despising them: "Damn it, making me play the third wheel for you two. Pfft, you're no brother of mine."

However, despite these thoughts, when Yamauchi caught a glimpse of Sakura Airi lost in a daze, his gaze shifted, and he immediately walked up to her with a confident air, smoothed his hair, and mimicked Ike Kanji's lines: "Airi, don't be sad, it's okay..."

"Is there something you need?"

"Uh..."

With just a faint, icy glance, Yamauchi was interrupted and awkwardly pulled the love-struck Ike from the neighboring seat over to him.

"W-what's going on? Quick... help me out here."

"???" A bewildered Ike looked at the other's expression and finally began to understand what was happening.

He immediately retorted angrily, "What the hell? Yamauchi, are you trying to ruin my moment on purpose?"

"Damn it, just help me out, she's not going to run away, why are you in such a rush?"

Watching the two start to bickering, the surrounding onlookers, who had been in a gloomy mood, finally found some relief and couldn't help but laugh.

Yet, Rinya, watching this scene, let his gaze fall gently upon Sakura Airi.

"Heh~ It seems I wasn't wrong back then; she's a hidden gem."

He could already indirectly sense that her personality seemed to have undergone a subtle, transformative shift after that incident, giving birth to another side of her.

"Heh, no wonder~" Rinya thought to himself.

Ever since the riot occurred, he had always felt as if Class D was missing a few people.

And today, seeing the accounts the school had credited for the participants, he finally realized that Sakura Airi and Karuizawa had actually taken long-term leave due to "illness" before the joint exam was even announced.

"Could it really be such a coincidence~"

Rinya smiled at the corner of his mouth, and within his dark red, abyss-like pupils, it seemed he had already found the answer...

At night, because of the riot, the entire area around the school had fallen into a state of desolation.

Even the upperclassmen, having heard the news, rarely ventured out.

However, such conditions were exactly what made it convenient for certain people to act.

For instance...

Outside the Supervision Center of the Security Department, the calm youth from the day was now, at some unknown moment, already quietly buried within the darkness of this place.

Apart from a pair of pupils that occasionally glowed with an eerie red light like a beast, nothing else could be discerned.

"What... what did you say... they would kill to silence me!"

From the boy's earpiece came the incredulous voice of Chairman Sakayanagi.

"That is why I have come to take you away."

"But, how did you know..." Chairman Sakayanagi asked, still unwilling to give up; after all, he was set to be reinstated tomorrow, and if he ran away tonight, it would surely lead to a major incident.

"If I said I had foreseen it long ago~ would you believe me?" The boy did not answer him directly, instead looking at him with a meaningful gaze.

"I..."

"I believe you!" Without much contemplation, Sakayanagi gritted his teeth and replied.

Having long since recognized the boy's terrifying talent, he had actually, from the moment he struck the deal, unknowingly bound himself to the same path as him.

He trusted everything the boy did, just as the boy trusted the help he provided from the shadows whenever he launched a plan.

"Hehe~ you hesitated for a second, but I don't mind."

"And you can rest assured, someone will take the fall for you coming out early." Rinya said with a faint smile.

Hearing this, although Chairman Sakayanagi was somewhat puzzled, he still offered an explanation for his earlier hesitation.

"Actually, I was wondering if Arisu could..."

"Wait, I have prey appearing here. I'll contact you later."

"Beep~"

"Uh..." Looking at the phone that had been hung up in an instant, Sakayanagi couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.

As for Rinya's side, some things were indeed as he had expected, though the person who arrived caught him slightly off guard.

"Oh? Sakura Airi."

Recalling how she had acted cold toward everyone during the day, the corners of his mouth gradually curled upward: "Hehe, things are starting to get interesting."

Although she was wearing a mask, her explosive figure was unmistakable, no matter how well her outer clothing tried to conceal it.

"Screech!"

Just then, it was unclear what tool the girl held in her hand, but as a red light flickered, all the surveillance and electronic facilities of the Security Department lost their signal.