Ignoring Sakura Airi, who was still confused about what was going on and struggling nonstop, Onizuka waited until the three had entered the Special Building, then picked Sakura Airi up again.
Why am I getting more and more used to this? Onizuka wondered to himself.
He pushed the inappropriate thought out of his mind.
Onizuka took a long detour and hid in a classroom beside the scene of the incident ahead of time.
After being carried around by Onizuka the whole way, Sakura Airi seemed to have gotten used to it. She picked up the bottle of water from earlier and took small sips.
Looking at her pitiful, put-upon appearance, Onizuka couldn't help wondering if he was being a little too harsh...
Unfortunately, Onizuka didn't get to berate himself for long.
Ryuen soon arrived at the small platform with Albert. Everything that happened there was naturally visible to Onizuka, as well as to the camera on his phone.
"Ryuen!"
All three of them shouted his name in unison.
Onizuka then saw Ryuen click his tongue, raise his leg, and kick Komiya and the others.
"Hey, didn't I tell you to keep a low profile? Why are you shouting so loudly?"
The three who had been kicked to the ground didn't dare resist at all. They didn't even plead for mercy.
Ryuen stopped after kicking them for a while, then turned and began looking around.
Onizuka, watching from the side, could tell at a glance that Ryuen was checking again to see whether any new surveillance cameras had been installed.
To avoid being exposed, he immediately put his phone away.
After all, Ryuen was above the passing mark in terms of ability, and Onizuka naturally didn't want to take such a pointless risk.
Soon, Ryuen found nothing unusual and wandered back to the three.
Onizuka started filming again.
"Well, it looks like nothing's changed. Everything's going according to plan. Understood?"
The three, who had just been kicked around, showed no sign of complaint and still replied energetically, "Yes!"
But Ryuen obviously had no intention of letting them off that easily.
"Kondo, you all look pretty clean. Did you not hear me properly back then? I remember saying that everyone should have injuries."
Hearing Ryuen say this, Kondo and the other boy had been about to make excuses, but then they seemed to remember something and clamped their mouths shut.
"Good. Looks like you've finally learned not to question what I say. Albert."
At Ryuen's call, Albert clenched his fists and stepped forward, then beat the three of them up.
After that, their injuries looked many times worse than before.
Thud!
Ryuen was looking at their injuries with satisfaction and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a thump from the nearby classroom.
Onizuka heard it too. Who else could it have been but her?
He turned to look behind him and saw that Sakura Airi hadn't made any other movements. The desks and chairs around her hadn't changed either. She was just standing off to the side obediently, staring blankly in that direction.
She clearly wasn't the culprit...
Following her gaze, Onizuka saw a cat run into the classroom and knock the blackboard eraser off.
"Seriously? How cliché can this get? This is the sixth floor!"
Unfortunately, Onizuka's complaint didn't make things any better.
Ryuen was already leading the others toward the classroom at a quick pace. If they were exposed now, all their efforts would be wasted.
Bang!!
"Meow!!!"
Ryuen kicked the door open, and the kitten that had been playing on the teacher's desk jumped up and ran outside, passing Ryuen.
"Ryuen, it looks like a cat just knocked the eraser down," Komiya said from behind him.
"Hmph. Do I need you to tell me what to do?"
Ryuen ignored the cat that had just run out and began surveying the classroom.
The surveillance camera in this classroom had also been removed.
Only after noticing that did Ryuen enter and look around while talking to Komiya.
"Komiya, don't you know what we're doing?"
The desks and chairs were all in order. There was nothing unusual.
"Uh... framing Sudo, getting him expelled, and completely bringing down Class D?" Komiya answered uncertainly from the side.
"Completely wrong. Class D is just a bunch of trash. There's no need for me to go out of my way to target them."
The space under the desks was clean. Nobody could be hiding there, so the only place left was...
"I just need to find out what price someone in a class has to pay when they drop out of this school."
Bang!
Ryuen yanked open the storage cabinet at the very back of the classroom. When he found it empty, he relaxed slightly.
"It's fine. Komiya, you three, go register it with the Student Council as planned."
At Ryuen's words, the three behind him seemed to have been set free.
After answering, "Yes," they ran straight outside.
Without lingering, Ryuen and Albert also made their way out at an unhurried pace.
After they had left completely, a pair of hands reached up and slowly opened a window at the back of the classroom.
Then a boy appeared, gripping the window frame with his right hand and holding a girl in his left arm as he climbed in from outside.
The two of them were none other than Onizuka Tsukasa and Sakura Airi.
Time rewound to before Ryuen and the others entered the classroom.
What should I do? What should I do? What should I do...
Onizuka was quickly thinking of possible places in the classroom where someone could hide.
Under the desks? Anyone could see him at a glance.
Behind the curtains? Even more obvious, and there wasn't room for two people anyway.
The storage cabinet? Absolutely not. It was too conspicuous.
As Onizuka scanned his surroundings, he suddenly spotted a good place.
He hurried over to Sakura Airi and once again scooped her up in his arms.
"Ugh... again..."
Ignoring Sakura's quiet protest, he quickly went to the window at the back of the classroom.
He swiftly opened the window and reminded Sakura:
"Listen carefully, Sakura. In a moment, I'm going to take you out the window. I'll hold onto the windowsill with one hand and keep you firmly in my other arm."
"I won't have a free hand to cover your mouth, so please don't make a sound, or it'll be a lot of trouble. Got it?"
Hearing Onizuka say that, she immediately covered her mouth with both hands and nodded slightly. Then she seemed to remember that they were on the sixth floor and vigorously shook her head.
Ignoring her silent protest, Onizuka immediately jumped out with her in his arms.
Mmph! Mmph!! Mmph!!!!!