The next morning, sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains and fell across the bed. Onizuka slowly opened his eyes.
Still groggy, he felt his forehead and gently rubbed it before slowly sitting up.
The night before, Sakura Airi had stayed in his room until quite late.
She had told him about her past, talking about the confusion and struggles she had once faced.
She had not deliberately hidden anything. Instead, in a way that was almost apologetic, she had honestly shown him her most vulnerable side.
Onizuka walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Sunlight poured into the room, illuminating every corner.
The morning air was fresh and cold, making him feel alert. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.
"It's about time to close the net on that matter with Ryuen," Onizuka murmured to himself.
As it happened, it was Saturday. Onizuka contacted Ryuen directly on LINE.
He had not contacted Ryuen in a long time, not since the archaeology test incident.
Did Ryuen still remember him from Class D? Well, it didn't matter if he had forgotten. After this was over, Onizuka figured he would be the person Ryuen found hardest to forget.
Onizuka? What made you think of contacting me?
Don't be so impatient, Ryuen. There's something I want to discuss with you about Sudo.
Ryuen stared at the message on the screen, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.
He hadn't expected Onizuka to contact him on his own. And mentioning Sudo in particular made Ryuen feel inexplicably displeased.
Sudo? Don't flatter yourself. What happened between us last time was just a fair deal. You're not trying to use our relationship to get me to let him off the hook, are you?
If I did, would you agree, Ryuen?
Heh. What do you think?
Well, I didn't think so. Anyway, same rooftop as last time. See you in an hour~
Hey! Kid! Don't think I'm someone you can summon and dismiss whenever you feel like it!
Hey!!!
"Damn it!!!"
Watching his messages go unread one after another, Ryuen couldn't help swearing aloud.
Albert, who was standing nearby, came over and took the phone from him.
"Boss, what happened?"
"Go get Ishizaki. We're leaving together in a bit."
"Okay, Boss."
As Albert turned to leave, Ryuen suddenly called him back.
"Wait, Albert. Bring Komiya and the other two along as well. Ibuki can stay behind. It's not her time to appear yet."
"Also, bring everything I asked you to prepare earlier. All right, go."
"Okay, Boss."
At Ryuen's command, Albert turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Now Ryuen was alone in the room, and silence settled all around him.
He slowly sat back down in his chair and pressed his fingers to his brow. His eyelids kept twitching with a faint restlessness, and the gloom between his brows grew heavier.
Onizuka... That guy definitely hadn't come with good intentions.
He had picked this moment, inviting Ryuen to meet in that careless tone. It was clearly a deliberate provocation.
Ryuen gave a cold laugh, but a chill flashed in his eyes.
Hmph. Did he think just anyone could take the opportunity to step on him? Did he really think Ryuen was a pushover?
After some time, Onizuka finished washing up, ate breakfast with Sakura, then walked her back to her dorm. Only then did he leisurely head for the rooftop of the agreed-upon school building.
By the time Onizuka pushed open the rooftop door, two hours had passed.
Ryuen sat quietly at the edge of the rooftop, while his five subordinates stood beside him, holding their breath like frightened mice. The atmosphere was so tense it felt oppressive.
"Hey, Ryuen. Long time no see," Onizuka said with a smile.
"Got some nerve, kid, making me wait this long!"
Ryuen shot him a cold look, making no attempt at small talk. His lips curled slightly as he sat where he was, propping his chin on his hands without moving, a hint of danger about him.
"I hope you really do have something to discuss. Otherwise-"
He leaned forward slightly, his gaze growing colder. "I'll make you pay."
An ordinary person would have been too afraid to move under a stare like that.
Onizuka, however, paid him no mind. Humming a tune, he met Ryuen's gaze and sauntered over to the students who had been beaten until their faces were swollen and bruised.
With an amused smile, he looked them over, then reached out without hesitation to poke their arms and shoulders, openly curious.
"So these are the ones Sudo beat up?"
He clicked his tongue, his gaze passing over their three bruised faces. With a faintly disdainful laugh, he said, "He really went at them. I never knew Sudo could fight like that. You'd never have guessed from how he usually acts."
Then he pressed his hand hard against Komiya's injured arm. No matter how much Komiya struggled, he couldn't break free of Onizuka's grip.
Komiya's face gradually turned pale. His eyes were full of pain and anger, but he was powerless to fight back.
At that moment, Ryuen finally lost his patience and shouted, "Enough!"
Seeing Ryuen like this, Onizuka couldn't help laughing.
"Hey, Ryuen, when did you become so indecisive? This isn't like you at all. Looks like you've noticed something's wrong too, haven't you?"
Ryuen did not respond to Onizuka's words. Instead, Ishizaki, who had been standing nearby, lost his temper and punched at Onizuka's face.
Onizuka took a light step back and easily dodged, then grabbed Ishizaki's fist and pulled him forward.
Caught off guard, Ishizaki was thrown off balance and pitched heavily to the ground with a dull thud. He cried out in pain as a sharp ache surged through his chest.
At the sight, Ryuen finally stood up and glanced at the trio beside him.
The three immediately understood his signal.
They quickly took black spray bottles from their backpacks and sprayed the rooftop security cameras.
"Onizuka, now can you show me your trump card?"
"Don't rush me. I'm not done having fun yet."
Though he said that, Onizuka tossed his phone to Ryuen. It was playing the video he had recorded that day in the special school building.
As the video played, Ryuen's face grew darker and darker.
"Framing someone, giving false testimony, and beating up a classmate. Even if those three people don't press charges over the last one, you could all be suspended for quite a while, couldn't you?"
"Of course, the most important question is how many Class Points your class will lose. One hundred? Two hundred? Could it be three or four hundred?"
As the three from Komiya's group watched themselves looking so disgraceful in the video, their faces turned deathly pale, their eyes filled with fear and unease.
"Boss Ryuen! Is what he said true?"
"That's right, Boss!" another of his companions said in a low, panicked voice.
"You said we had to hit Class D hard, and that's why we agreed to do this! But if the school finds out, we're all finished!"
Ryuen's expression grew even colder, his gaze sinister, as if he wanted to bore a hole through Onizuka.
"Shut up!"
At his roar, the rooftop fell silent in an instant.
The three from Komiya's group lowered their heads, trembling and too afraid to look Ryuen in the eye again.
He stared at Onizuka, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes. His voice was low and threatening. "Onizuka, what exactly do you want?"