Star Color recommended some books about Camus to Miki Yamamura. Perhaps they would help Classmate Yamamura better understand herself and her loneliness.
Camus was an undeniably charismatic man. The world was absurd, and absurd things existed. One must never despair or give in to apathy; one had to rise up and resist the absurd.
Miki Yamamura, I'll be watching you. Will you break the shackles of [Destiny], or remain bound by fate? What an interesting experiment... In a sense, Miki Yamamura's curse was also part of her ability.
Star Color covered his mouth, unable to hold back a laugh.
The teacher had organized a swimming competition with a prize of 5,000 points. Sitting by the pool, Star Color pondered the matter of Kaneda Satoru.
But it was strange... Miki Yamamura was sitting to Star Color's left, and Tamiya Emi to his right.
Oh no... How was he supposed to think with this going on?
Tamiya Emi was undeniably pretty, but Classmate Yamamura had her own charm, too.
She wore her hair in a high ponytail and had a certain... vibe. She was plain, but definitely not lacking in sex appeal! Her downturned eyes were even more pronounced than Classmate Tamiya's. Just a slight frown gave her that "naturally disdainful" look. Just imagining it got Star Color going...
What on earth was he thinking?! Star Color immediately slapped his cheeks. Could Classmate Sakayanagi be right? Was he a closet pervert? No way! Hmph.
Speaking of which, was Classmate Tamiya sneaking closer again...?
So close. This was really bad.
"Star Color."
"What is it?"
"By the way, you still haven't learned how to swim, have you?"
"Uh... haha, you caught me."
Star Color couldn't swim at all, so he'd deliberately made himself inconspicuous. Then he'd struck up a conversation with the transparent "Miki Yamamura."
"Would you like me to teach you?"
"Really?"
The boys' competition was won by [Hayato Kito]. What a splendid victory—congratulations!
After the competition, during the free-swim period, Tamiya Emi held Star Color by the arm and slowly guided him through the shallow end. Star Color looked up at her like a puppy, kicking his slender legs.
[Star Color learned → Dog Paddle [Water-type Skill]]
Star Color's mind was filled with the sort of "skill learned" screen common in RPGs. If he didn't lose himself in a daydream, all he could see right in front of him was Classmate Tamiya's chest... How was he supposed to calmly learn to swim like this?! He could see its shape and watch it bounce from this close... He could die happy!
He took a deep breath, hoping to lessen the flush on his face.
"That's enough. I've got it now."
Only then did Tamiya Emi let go. Star Color slowly lowered himself to the bottom.
After calming his racing heart, the swimming lesson came to an end.
(Kaneda Satoru's perspective)
Monday, after school—
I'm going to suffer through his violence again...
Ryuen Kakeru ruled the class through violence. Throughout history, anyone who defied a tyrant had met a brutal end.
No one could help me. Everyone was cowed by violence. If the whole class stood together, Ryuen Kakeru wouldn't be so brazen. In the end, they were nothing but coldhearted bystanders.
If I hadn't met Seishiki Otonashi, I would have submitted to Ryuen Kakeru.
A dog that's been shocked? That's just like me. I'd always gotten decent grades growing up—excellent ones, even...
This school valued strength, not academic performance. That explained how a piece of trash like him could end up in the same class as me.
No one had ever taught me how to turn off the [button] or [resist violence]. That was why I'd endured the repeated shocks and even submitted to them.
The Kaneda Satoru of today was already a different person.
No matter what, Ryuen Kakeru was still a piece of trash who abused his power through violence.
So resisting him was the right thing to do.
[Violence with legitimacy is precisely what people long for deep in their hearts.]
Those were Seishiki Otonashi's words. I remembered them well.
What Ryuen Kakeru wanted was to wield [legitimate violence]. As long as he became the leader, his violence would be tolerated—it would be legitimate.
He'd chosen an incredibly clever approach. I had to admire him a little.
[Violence can never make others happy...]
[Violence can never bring others joy...]
[Violence can never earn others' admiration...]
[When everyone obeys out of fear, that is what violence looks like.]
Seishiki Otonashi's words from that night echoed in my ears like radio waves traveling through the air.
Albert and Daichi Ishizaki had cornered me in the classroom.
"Hey, four-eyes, you still haven't learned your lesson, have you? You actually dared to openly challenge me today."
Ryuen Kakeru sat high on the teacher's desk, looking down at Kaneda Satoru.
That was a sacred desk, fit only for outstanding teachers. Someone like Ryuen Kakeru belonged behind bars.
"You think I'll submit to someone who does nothing but abuse violence?"
Kaneda Satoru pushed up his glasses. He was still afraid of Ryuen Kakeru's violence, but he no longer cowered. He stood tall, spine straight, like a man.
Ryuen Kakeru stared at Kaneda Satoru's unwavering presence and froze for a moment. The fear I planted in him... had it just disappeared?
"You had a vacation and already forgot how much it hurts? Guess I'll have to show you twice as much affection. This time, it won't be like that little game last week... Grit your teeth and take it."
Albert and Daichi Ishizaki held Kaneda Satoru down and took him to the familiar bathroom.
The sink was running... until it overflowed.
Ryuen Kakeru drove his knee into Kaneda Satoru's stomach. The pain and momentum doubled him over.
He tried to breathe on instinct, but a hand shoved his head into the sink.
Water...
Water filled his throat and nose...
It hurt so much...
Kaneda Satoru's hand clutched the pocket of his clothes...
"Submit to me, or keep suffering like this. Choose."
Kaneda Satoru gulped in air and spat out his answer through clenched teeth.
"My choice is..."
"Go to hell, Ryuen Kakeru!"
He pulled a packet of flour mixed with chili flakes from his pocket and threw it in Ryuen Kakeru's face. Then he swung the hardest punch of his life and hit Ryuen Kakeru square in the nose.
With his vision obscured and the chili irritating his eyes, a person's instinct would be to rub them or curl up to protect themselves. Even the Tyrant was no exception.
"Are you attacking me?! Kaneda Satoru!"
Ryuen Kakeru's blurred vision locked onto Kaneda Satoru. Kaneda Satoru pulled a can of [bug spray] from his backpack. A strange mechanism had been attached to it.
(Friday night)
"Why are we taking apart this microwave? It looks brand-new."
Kaneda Satoru watched in confusion as Star Color skillfully dismantled the appliance.
"To make a weapon."
They had the tools, the batteries, the wires, and the bug spray. Star Color checked off the items they needed.
To answer Kaneda's question, Star Color took a lighter from his pocket and flicked it on, producing a tiny flame.
"Kaneda, guess how a lighter works."
"Electric ignition."
"Bingo! What if we made a bigger electric igniter and attached it to the bug spray?"
"A makeshift flamethrower?"
Kaneda Satoru was quick on the uptake. No wonder he was a good student. He seemed like the typical science type.
"Bug spray contains flammable ingredients, such as propane and butane—hydrocarbons."
"What would happen if we threw a handful of flour in Ryuen Kakeru's face and then set it alight?"
"A dust explosion?! Wouldn't that be too dangerous?"
Star Color simply smiled faintly from his chair as he watched Kaneda Satoru. His smile was terrifying, chilling to the bone...
"His grades aren't great, so we only need to scare him a little. Using behavior and an information gap to deceive an idiot like him is basic con-artist stuff. Flour only burns under certain conditions, and this bag of flour will be scattered on the ground in no time. So don't worry!"
"Besides, if we don't make him afraid, the bullying will only get worse next time. Kaneda Satoru, are you ready for both of you to go down together? Well, even if you aren't, I'll help you. I've already contacted the vice president of the Student Council. He can make Ryuen Kakeru behave for a while."
"Then there's only one answer!"
Light flashed across Kaneda Satoru's glasses as he suddenly shouted, startling Star Color.
"What's gotten into you? You scared me."
"I'm going to make sure Ryuen Kakeru never dares bully the weak again!"
"Uh... well, it's good to be determined."
The two of them modified the bug spray by attaching metal strips to the pump nozzle. When the upper and lower strips touched, they immediately activated the electric igniter. The spray would shoot out of the can, pass through the high-temperature electric arc, and turn into flame.
(Bug spray won't flash back, but this is still dangerous. Do not try it.)
Kaneda Satoru aimed to the right, away from where the flour had been thrown, and pressed the bug spray once. The roar of the flame and the crackle of the electric arc tearing through the air would trigger anyone's instinctive fear. Humanity's ancestral fear of lightning, etched into our DNA, had taken physical form.
"Take one more step, and I'll point the flame between us. The dust in the air and the flour on your face will catch fire and cause a dust explosion. We'll both go down together!"
Kaneda Satoru prayed inwardly that Ryuen Kakeru knew nothing about dust explosions. In fact, flour could only cause a dust explosion under certain conditions: the particles had to be suspended in the air and mixed with oxygen at a certain concentration before they encountered a source of ignition.
Prometheus had stolen fire and given it to humanity. With fire, humanity had conquered nature. Fire let people cook food and keep warm; with fire, people could forge weapons...
Ryuen Kakeru stared at the column of flame shooting out before him. Faced with Kaneda Satoru's [lie], he didn't dare move forward.
He'd brought along his two lackeys: one foreigner who could barely speak Japanese, and one strong-limbed, simple-minded boy who was at least more or less normal—Daichi Ishizaki. Neither of them had good grades, so Kaneda Satoru managed to fool them, too.
"As long as knowledge is useful, I can keep crushing trash like you with my brains. I don't care how vicious your methods are. If you come after me, I'll make sure you learn how to spell [death]—even if we both go down together!"
Ryuen Kakeru stared at Kaneda Satoru in disbelief. He'd thought Kaneda Satoru was just like the boring good students from his middle school—someone he could insult whenever he wanted. But this had gone completely beyond his expectations.
He'd wanted to plant fear in everyone's hearts, but instead he'd stirred up the defiance of the person standing right in front of him? He could feel the fearless, leopard-like look in Kaneda Satoru's eyes. Had this guy evolved?
"Kaneda Satoru! You've really surprised me. I thought you were just another boring good student. I never expected you'd dare fight back! I'll come after you every day, every hour, every minute. It doesn't matter when—during class, after class, after school, during breaks, while you're eating lunch, going to the bathroom, or on your way back to the dorm!"
"Can you endure three years of violence from me bearing down on you?! Kaneda Satoru!!"
Ryuen Kakeru let out a villainous laugh, as if declaring war... Just as Seishiki Otonashi had predicted. Only [now] had Ryuen Kakeru become afraid of Kaneda Satoru, but the fear still hadn't reached a sufficient level...
"Oh? How interesting. You're using violence to unite the class?"
At that moment, the bathroom door swung open.
A blond-haired boy smiled as he looked at the redhead.
Before you continue