The karaoke room,
Yuki Gyakukai checked the room number to make sure it was right, then led the others inside.
"Ryuen, we could've discussed this over the phone. Why did you have to book a private room?"
Ryuen Kakeru had been singing in the room just moments earlier. When he saw them arrive, he lowered the microphone and signaled to Yamada to turn off the music.
Then he directed the other students from Class C to gather beside Yuki Gyakukai and Ryuji Kanzaki.
"Gyakukai, for safety's sake, I hope you don't mind if we search you."
"Why do something so pointless? Ryuen Kakeru, you should know I wouldn't do anything unnecessary."
Every corner of the room with a camera had been covered by black balloons.
That meant no one outside would know what happened inside.
However, given Yuki Gyakukai's terrifying fighting ability, no one from Class C dared to step forward and search him.
For a moment, the situation grew awkward.
Seeing that no one from Class C dared to search him, Ryuen Kakeru frowned as he sat on the sofa.
He turned his gaze to Yuki Gyakukai, who remained perfectly composed.
"This is for safety's sake. After all, you've filmed people before. I don't want a video of the two of us discussing business spreading to the other classes."
Knowing that Ryuen Kakeru was referring to the incident where he had filmed Class D, Ryuji Kanzaki looked to Yuki Gyakukai and waited for his response.
Noticing Kanzaki's gaze, Yuki Gyakukai kept smiling, pushed the Class C students aside, and sat down next to Ryuen without paying any attention to their expressions.
"Cooperation requires the right attitude. This kind of distrust is a little hurtful, but..."
Yuki Gyakukai changed tack.
"Since mutual trust is the foundation of cooperation, I'll let the people from Class C search me."
The atmosphere wasn't as tense as they'd expected, and the students from Class C breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
After all, they knew they'd covered all the cameras in the room.
Even if everyone in the room beat the two of them up, the only evidence pointing anywhere would be that Class C had invited two students from Class A.
They didn't know what the consequences would be, but both classes would probably lose Class Points or be confined to their dorms for about half a month.
"Hey, Gyakukai!" Mio Ibuki walked over from the corner, looking impatient.
The lights in the room weren't fully on, so it was rather dim. Even so, nothing could hide Ibuki's shapely, long legs or her dashing air.
She came up to Yuki Gyakukai, her voice full of impatience. "So, from what you just said, we can search you, right?"
As she spoke, she kept moving. With everyone watching, she reached toward the pocket of Yuki Gyakukai's clothes.
Smack!
"Ugh! What are you doing?!"
Caught by surprise when her wrist was suddenly grabbed, Mio Ibuki stared at the man in front of her in shock.
The smile had vanished from Yusoku Gyakukai's face, replaced by a fierce malice.
In the dim light, two rows of menacing teeth showed.
He tightened his left hand around Ibuki's wrist and pulled her into his arms.
At the same time, he swept the clutter off the table with his feet and propped them up on it.
Then he opened a drink on the table with his free hand and casually took a sip.
"Like I said, cooperation is built on trust. I'm willing to let you search me, but... how can you guarantee that the terms of this cooperation will benefit our class?"
The atmosphere in the room turned sour. The calm from before gave way to open hostility.
It was as if a violent incident would break out unless Ryuen Kakeru gave them a reasonable explanation.
Caught completely off guard, Ryuen Kakeru frowned.
Then he turned a cold gaze on Mio Ibuki, who had acted on her own and was now struggling in Yuki's arms.
"Ibuki, I don't remember telling you to do anything."
Pinned with one hand, Mio Ibuki gave Ryuen a cold sidelong glance and snorted in disdain.
After all, she wasn't like the others in her class. She hadn't submitted to Ryuen.
Although Ryuen had beaten her with violence and taken control of the entire Class C, she didn't approve of how he did things. For now, she was only helping him for the sake of the class.
But who could've guessed that a spur-of-the-moment attempt to search him would leave her in such an awkward situation?
She deliberately avoided everyone's gaze and kept struggling with her elbows, knees, and legs, but none of it worked.
Instead, her desperate attempts looked to the others like she was giving Yuki Gyakukai a treat.
After all, her family ran a dojo, and she'd studied martial arts under her parents there since she was young. They'd raised her like a boy, too.
Her short, practical haircut had come from that upbringing.
But now, all her attempts to fight back seemed useless. Faced with Yuki Gyakukai's overwhelming strength, she was utterly outmatched.
Yuki felt Mio Ibuki's struggles grow weaker and weaker, then casually let her go.
"Blue-Haired Little Hedgehog, could you stop putting your hands on me before I've finished talking?"
Freed thanks to Yuki, Mio Ibuki hurried to her feet and straightened her clothes. Then she swung a roundhouse kick straight at Yuki Gyakukai's head!
Just as expected, he caught it easily with one hand.
The drink in Yuki's other hand didn't even wobble.
The difference between them was plain to see.
"Ibuki, I'm starting to think I really did give you the right nickname. You're just like a little hedgehog."
A nasty smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He tossed Mio Ibuki aside.
"If you want to fight... fine. But we still have business to discuss. After we're done, we'll go to the Fitness Room next door and spar one-on-one."
He glanced at Mio Ibuki, who had fallen onto the sofa looking displeased, and shrugged indifferently.
Then he turned to Ryuen Kakeru, who had been watching the show for some time. "Now, Ryuen, tell me why you invited Class A here."
So, in the end, no one searched him.
After all, Yuki Gyakukai would never let anyone search him.
Letting someone freely touch his clothes and body would be like having his dignity ground into the dirt.
Afterward,
aside from Yuki Gyakukai and Ryuen Kakeru, who sat on the sofa, everyone else stood to either side and listened to the two class leaders talk.
"Take a look. These are Past Exam Papers I got from the upperclassmen."
Without wasting time, Ryuen Kakeru pulled out a few Past Exam Papers and placed them in front of Yuki Gyakukai.
"Since you can buy anything with points, and you know we've got plenty of idiots in our class, I tried another approach. I bought Past Exam Papers from the upperclassmen. Guess what I found?"
Meeting Ryuen's ruthless grin, Yuki picked up the papers in front of him.
One was for second-years, the other for third-years. Both were midterm exams, and they contained exactly the same questions.
"So?" Yuki Gyakukai set the papers down, folded his hands beneath his chin, and calmly looked at Ryuen Kakeru.
"Ryuen, you should understand that Class A doesn't need these Past Exam Papers. We can pass even without them. So tell me your real purpose."
"Of course I know Classes A and B don't need these Past Exam Papers. But you should know that this midterm exam can earn Class Points based on each class's results..."
"At the same time, it can also make people fail and get expelled."
And who would be expelled?
What a difficult question to guess!
A ruthless smile appeared on Ryuen's lips as his cold gaze swept over the onlookers.
For a moment, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Before you continue