At that moment, Ryuen seemed to have finally regained his composure.
He casually picked up the drink beside him and took a sip, pretending nothing was wrong.
Before he could swallow, Onizuka leisurely reminded him, "That's mine, Ryuen."
Ryuen's hand froze, and a crack appeared in his composure.
He seemed not to have expected himself to make such a low-level mistake. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, but he still set the drink back on the table with a cold expression and gave a cough, as if to cover it up.
"Stop playing games, Onizuka." Ryuen lowered his voice and spoke to him slowly.
"So what exactly do you want?"
Onizuka's lips curled slightly. Unaffected by Ryuen, he looked past him toward the cruise ship on the sea, then straightened up and gazed at Ryuen with a smile.
"What else would I want? Naturally, I've come to talk business, Ryuen."
"I'm here to work with you, of course, Ryuen."
"Work with me? Spare me. What about the contract we signed before? Tear that up first, then we can talk."
"Oh? There's no need for that, Ryuen." Onizuka smiled without changing his expression, his gaze carrying a hint of teasing.
"You and I both know that the previous contract was just a matter of each of us getting what we wanted. That's a separate matter, and it doesn't conflict with working together now, does it?"
As Ryuen listened to Onizuka's calm, unruffled tone, displeasure gradually rose in his eyes.
His hands clenched unconsciously, as if he were doing his best to hold himself back.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Onizuka. If you want something out of this, just say so. Don't try to fool me with all this empty talk."
Onizuka looked at Ryuen's angry expression and smiled unhurriedly, a hint of meaning in his expression.
"You've blown through all your exam points and are only earning twenty thousand points a month from Class A. From what I've seen, Ryuen, you've never been the sort to keep your head down like this."
Ryuen scoffed and retorted with a hint of contempt.
"Then you've got me all wrong, Onizuka. Don't act like you know everything."
"Is that so?" Onizuka looked at him with an inscrutable smile and spoke slowly.
"Then why do I get the feeling it's not that simple?"
He narrowed his eyes, as if trying to puzzle something out, and his tone took on a more probing edge.
"I've been talking with you here for quite a while. Why are there only thirty-eight people here today? Your two remaining 'good classmates' haven't shown up at all. Where did they go?"
Ryuen's expression darkened slightly, though he still wore a strained smile.
"Even if you're careful, there are always people who can't stand my methods and want to rebel. So I drove them out, so they wouldn't be in my way."
"Oh?" Onizuka raised his brows with interest, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"But you know that they could just withdraw and board the ship, and still be supervised by the teachers. You couldn't do anything more to them, could you?"
"If they really couldn't stand your behavior, wouldn't withdrawing be more convenient? Why come all the way to this deserted island to 'hide'?"
Onizuka's incisive rhetorical question made Ryuen's expression stiffen at once.
The silence that followed was especially tense. Ryuen's eyes flickered, but for a moment he was at a loss for words.
It was as if all his nonchalant excuses had suddenly caught in his throat; he couldn't even force out a sneer.
Onizuka smiled and placed the Leader ID Card in his hand on the table.
Onizuka watched Ryuen's expression, a crafty glint flashing in his eyes, and slowly set the ID card in his hand on the table.
"Did you know that the leader can be changed, Ryuen? As for the 'valid reasons' the school requires, there are plenty to choose from."
At that, Ryuen's pupils contracted. He finally understood where the sense of incongruity he had felt was coming from, and why Onizuka dared to lay this ID card out in front of him so openly.
"You can't guess the leader scores for Classes B and D. Instead, we'll guess yours, and you'll lose points. In the end, Class C's outcome in this exam will undoubtedly be zero."
Ryuen reflexively objected. "No, we can also-"
He hadn't finished speaking before he suddenly realized something and swallowed the rest of his words.
Seeing Ryuen's expression, Onizuka curled his lips into a cold smile, his tone unmistakably contemptuous and provocative.
"You've realized it too, haven't you? Your strategy means you're almost completely unable to change leaders, because right now you have zero exam points available."
"Other than you, it's hard for me to imagine anyone in Class C surviving alone on this island without any supplies."
Onizuka leaned back in his chair and deliberately slowed his speech, enunciating each word.
"Or do you want to take a gamble? With their lives?"
Ryuen's breathing caught at the challenge. He clenched his teeth, his expression so dark it seemed ready to drip, but under Onizuka's gaze, he couldn't say a word.
He knew Onizuka was right.
"I can withdraw and take everyone with me, can't I? Even those twenty thousand points would be enough."
Onizuka clasped his hands and looked at Ryuen with a somewhat surprised expression, a flicker of barely noticeable confusion in his eyes.
"Didn't the contract you signed require you to provide them with information on each class's leader?"
Ryuen chuckled twice.
"Well, it's rare to see you guess wrong. That's right, the leader information isn't mandatory."
Onizuka thought it over for a moment, finding it somewhat difficult to understand.
Katsuragi was so cautious, yet he had signed a contract that seemed to impose no restrictions. Onizuka couldn't make sense of it.
Wait, no. What gave Katsuragi the right?
Why would he sign such an unequal contract? Did he really think he was guaranteed to win?
Between him and Sakayanagi, who was the radical one?
Watching Onizuka beside him, looking as if he were questioning everything, Ryuen sighed.
"In that case, I can just enjoy the rest of this vacation. At least I won't waste seven days for nothing, will I? Thanks a lot, Onizuka."
Hearing his taunt, Onizuka waved a hand indifferently.
"It's fine. I just misjudged how confident that guy Katsuragi was. Anyway, Ryuen, how about we work together too?"
Ryuen immediately became interested. He was very curious how Onizuka could make things work under these circumstances.
"Hmph. Don't beat around the bush. Tell me, how do you want to work together?"
"It's simple, Ryuen. You stay in the exam and don't withdraw. I can persuade Classes D and B not to vote against Class C. In exchange, your Class C can't leak the leader information for our two classes."
He paused, his sharp gaze fixed on Ryuen.
"That way, you can at least get fifty points for identifying Class A's leader. That's better than getting nothing, right?"
Ryuen was taken aback and furrowed his brows slightly. "What do you get out of it?"
"It's simple. Every month, I need everyone in your class to transfer three thousand points to me, just like last time... Just a small fee for my trouble."
Hearing Onizuka bring up their previous contract again, Ryuen's expression darkened further. But after carefully considering Onizuka's proposal, he realized it was actually acceptable.
After all, twenty points of class points was practically free. He might as well take them, right?
Seeing Ryuen's expression, Onizuka knew he had agreed, and held out his hand.
"Pleasure doing business?"
Ryuen looked at him with distaste, then reluctantly shook his hand.
"Tch. I never thought I'd end up working with you."
"Pleasure doing business!"