I Won't Believe You Unless You Put It in Writing!

Or was this guy forcing you?

Looking at the other girl's stance—like she wouldn't leave unless he talked to her—Shuichi Kanda was starting to lose it.

So she was playing dirty, huh? One of these days, she'd get a taste of her own medicine.

"In that case, please wait a moment. I..."

He'd been about to suggest they go outside and talk, but Shuichi Kanda stopped himself at once.

Wait. What if Kamuro had brought more backup than just Sakayanagi Arisu? Wouldn't going outside be even more dangerous? What if a few burly men jumped out of the shadows as soon as he left the dorm? Then Shuichi Kanda would be done for.

He knew all too well how weak he was physically. Taking that into account, Shuichi Kanda decided to let her in after all.

"Never mind. Were you planning to come in, Classmate Sakayanagi?"

Whatever happened, Shuichi Kanda wasn't going to invite her in.

"Then would you be willing to go for a walk with me, Kanda?"

"Of course not."

Sakayanagi Arisu was caught off guard. After waiting a moment, she smiled. "Then please excuse the intrusion."

Shuichi Kanda opened the door all the way and ushered her in. As soon as she entered, he shut it again to keep any hooligans from barging in.

That's right. I'm guarding against you, Classmate Kamuro!

No matter how capable Sakayanagi Arisu was, once she stepped into my territory, there was no way I'd come off worse.

"Sit wherever you like. I need to dry my hair first."

"Mm, please go ahead. Don't mind me."

Without waiting for Shuichi Kanda to offer, Sakayanagi Arisu took off her shoes, then sat on his bed, leaning on her cane.

She kept her legs together, removed the beret from her head, and placed it on her lap. She looked extremely elegant.

Seriously, why did all of you like taking over my bed? Was it really that comfortable?

Shuichi Kanda grumbled to himself, then turned on the hair dryer again and thoroughly dried his still-damp hair.

A few minutes later, the hair dryer fell silent. Shuichi Kanda put it away in the cabinet beneath his computer desk.

"Go ahead and tell me what you came for. Given our relationship, there's no need for formalities."

"Our relationship? We're nothing but strangers who've met once, Kanda. Please don't get the wrong idea."

What was she thinking, this frail, white-haired little girl?

"It's precisely because we're strangers that I don't want to talk with you any more than necessary. So just tell me what you want. Don't waste either of our time."

"What a heartless man."

"Exactly. I'm not interested in little girls."

"Then I'll have Classmate Kamuro talk to you instead."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

The atmosphere fell into a brief silence. If Kamuro could come, Sakayanagi wouldn't have come alone to a stranger's room—especially a boy's.

This move of hers was a last resort. Sure, she could have openly asked to meet Shuichi Kanda during the day, but he could simply refuse to go, just as he'd refused her invitation to talk outside a moment ago.

She still hadn't found any weakness in Shuichi Kanda aside from his poor health. So he was the one in control right now, while she was at a disadvantage.

"I see. Then I'll get straight to the point. But first, please let me apologize for showing up unannounced."

As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu put the beret back on her head, then stood and gave a slight bow, leaning on her cane.

"Don't worry about it. At least you're much more polite than Kamuro."

"I see. Since the rude Classmate Kamuro is so unwelcome, would you return her to me, Kanda?"

So she was throwing Kamuro under the bus again. Poor Kamuro.

"That's a strange way to put it. Classmate Kamuro isn't anyone's property. I have no right to give her to anyone. If you want her, you can go ask her yourself."

Shuichi Kanda suddenly felt like he'd stolen someone else's toy and now their parent had come to his door.

Wait. A toy?

Kamuro, you...

You did it on purpose, didn't you?

You figured you couldn't get that photo from me, so you told Sakayanagi Arisu—who also wanted to treat you like a toy—and sent her to negotiate with me, right?

You wanted to sit back and watch us fight? Since you were going to be a dog either way, you might as well use someone else to take one of us out, huh?

"Then the photos you have of Classmate Kamuro behaving inappropriately are fake, too?"

Yes, they're fake!

If Shuichi Kanda answered that way, he had no doubt Sakayanagi Arisu would leave right then and there, then find an excuse to deal with Kamuro.

If you're going to play dumb, then I'll take your piece off the board. Shuichi Kanda had no doubt she'd be willing to hurt herself just to hurt him.

That wasn't based on anything in particular; it was simply his gut feeling.

"No, they're real."

As he spoke, he showed her the photo he'd secretly taken earlier.

A purple-haired girl was furtively tucking a can of beer into her clothes. From that angle, there was no way anyone could see it as anything but suspicious behavior.

You brought up the photo because you wanted to see it, didn't you? You wanted to know whether the evidence I had could actually cause you trouble.

In that case, I'll give you what you want and show you. And while I'm at it, I'll make sure you understand that the photo I took could absolutely be used as evidence.

At that moment, Shuichi Kanda began to understand why Kamuro had sent someone as weak as Sakayanagi Arisu to see him.

If anyone else had come, Shuichi Kanda wouldn't have even unlocked his phone, let alone confirmed the photo.

Kamuro had tried to check what was in the photo yesterday, too, but she hadn't even managed to get the phone unlocked. That showed just how guarded Shuichi Kanda was.

But Sakayanagi Arisu was different. She was even weaker than you, Shuichi Kanda. If you still acted suspicious around her, then I, Kamuro Masumi, must be an idiot.

When Sakayanagi Arisu saw the photo, she sighed.

The angle was so perfect that ten out of ten people would think Kamuro was a thief. Now she could be sure that her weakness was in his hands.

Then all that remained was to buy back the rights to Classmate Kamuro.

"Name your price, Kanda. How about 200,000 Private Points?"

"Sure. Let's exchange contact information."

Huh? That easy?

Sakayanagi Arisu stared blankly for a moment, then she and Kanda exchanged contact information.

"I never expected Classmate Sakayanagi to be a girl who likes other girls. That's quite a surprise."

Hearing Kanda's words, Sakayanagi really wanted to whack him in the face with her cane. How awful! He was just awful!

If you didn't want to sell it, just say so. There was no need to label me a lesbian. You're a real jerk, Shuichi Kanda.

And if you thought the price was too low, we could keep negotiating. Isn't that what business is? But instead, you just played dumb.

Were you expecting me to spend 200,000 Private Points on a copy?

However, the powerful preyed on the weak. Sakayanagi understood the rules of this school better than Kanda, and she wouldn't casually abandon anyone in her class.

That included Kamuro Masumi, even though she had poor character and had let the enemy get hold of her weakness.

If Sakayanagi had enough time to find a weakness in Kanda, she might have been able to handle this without lifting a finger. But time was not on her side, and she was the one at a disadvantage. Classmate Kamuro was such an idiot.

Chapter 27: I Won't Believe You Unless You Put It in Writing! ### In truth, Sakayanagi also felt rather frustrated. She called herself a genius, but this guy in front of her was so utterly unafraid, so sure he had her cornered.

For now, Sakayanagi had no way to deal with someone like him. She'd planned to invite him out to talk and, if that didn't work, use a pity play and stage an accident to take him out in one go.

But he was too cautious. Not only had he avoided her trap, he'd seen through her predicament and forced her to come into his room instead.

There were no cameras in here. More importantly, when that guy had shown her the picture he'd taken of Kamuro Masumi, whether intentionally or not, he'd let her notice that his phone was recording.

She couldn't make a move! There was no way to pull off the pity play! And staging an accident was completely out of the question!

Damn it! When had I, Sakayanagi Arisu, ever taken a hit like this?

"Kanda, you're quite the joker. I don't believe Classmate Kamuro's freedom is worth only 200,000 Private Points."

Hearing that, Shuichi Kanda put away his phone and looked at Sakayanagi Arisu.

You know she's worth more than 200,000, yet that's what you offered?

We've never wronged each other, so why are you treating me like an idiot?

If I weren't so easygoing, I'd have snatched your cane and pinned you to the bed, then &*@/&^%#&^$.

Sakayanagi Arisu had meant to humiliate Shuichi Kanda, but his look—the one you'd give an idiot—humiliated her instead.

In fact, all the information about the school that Kamuro Masumi had leaked to Shuichi Kanda had been shared at Sakayanagi Arisu's instruction.

She'd wanted Shuichi Kanda to understand that Class D would receive almost no Private Points next month, so that he'd misjudge the value of the points.

That was why her offer of 200,000 Private Points wasn't just an insult. If Shuichi Kanda didn't understand the value of the points, she'd have no reason to hold back.

Besides, that information wasn't worth only 200,000. It was just not very useful to Shuichi Kanda.

It was precisely because she'd seen through that that Sakayanagi Arisu had so generously given Shuichi Kanda information her class had paid 2,000,000 Private Points for.

"2,000,000 Private Points. In exchange, I'll give you the original photo and every copy, and I won't keep anything for myself."

By now, Shuichi Kanda wasn't pretending anymore. He was here to make money.

"That's quite a steep price. It's only the third day of school, and you're already trying to extort 2,000,000 Private Points from me." Sakayanagi Arisu sat back down on the bed and tilted her head up to look at Shuichi Kanda.

"This isn't extortion. It's a transaction. If you don't want to buy it, you can walk away."

Of course, Shuichi Kanda didn't think she could produce 2,000,000. He had advanced technology on his side, which was how he'd managed to save up so many points at once.

As for Sakayanagi, even though she'd spent 2,000,000 to buy the information, she'd probably collected that sum from the students in Class A. In other words, she'd used class funds to buy it, spreading the cost among everyone. That was how she'd pulled it off.

And now, if she asked Class A to spend 2,000,000 Private Points to save one person, they might not agree.

For them to agree, she'd have to tell them the whole story about Kamuro. Then it would be almost the same as Shuichi Kanda making the photo public.

Under the strange looks of her Class A classmates, Kamuro Masumi would probably end up dropping out.

That was something she had to prevent for now, so there was no way Sakayanagi could come up with 2,000,000 Private Points.

After going to all the trouble of planting a pawn in the other class, how could Shuichi Kanda let her go so easily?

Even if she was an unreliable pawn, if he played his cards right, the benefits he'd gain later would probably be worth more than 2,000,000 Private Points.

"Kanda, are you sure you want 2,000,000 Private Points for this deal?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. If you can produce 2,000,000 Private Points right here, I'll delete every photo of Kamuro and keep no copies. Of course, I can give them to you too, if you want."

"But how can I trust you? What if you kept a copy hidden away? I'd have no way of knowing."

That was reasonable, but she had no choice.

"How about we sign a contract?" Sakayanagi Arisu suggested.

"A contract?"

"Exactly."

As she spoke, she took a sheet of paper from her uniform pocket and handed it to him.

She'd come prepared. After a brief grumble to himself, Shuichi Kanda stood and took what she offered. It was two identical copies of a contract.

After reading it carefully, he could easily tell it was a contract certified by the school. Once both parties signed, neither would be allowed to violate its terms. Otherwise, they would face severe punishment.