Over the Top

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, student dormitory.

A splitting headache.

Kushida Kikyo's consciousness felt as if it had been tossed into a giant industrial washing machine, spinning violently between the borders of darkness and light, accompanied by countless sharp, ringing sounds in her ears.

Apologizing to Amasawa Reigetsu... would that finally end this nightmare?

This was the unrealistic fantasy Kushida Kikyo clung to before losing consciousness, the only piece of driftwood she could grasp at this moment.

Kushida snapped her eyes open, gasping for air. Cold sweat soaked through her pajamas, sticking clammily to her spine. An unfamiliar ceiling came into view, and the air was permeated with a faint, cold fragrance.

This room again...

"Hahahahahahahaha..."

Kushida Kikyo was certain she had lost her mind.

"You're awake."

It was a man's voice! Not Ayanokoji's voice!! It was Amasawa's voice!!!

"Amasawa-kun... Amasawa-kun!"

She scrambled off the bed, nearly falling, her knees slamming into the floor with a dull thud.

Kushida Kikyo wanted to grasp at hope!

Her voice was hoarsely unrecognizable, thick with heavy sobbing and uncontrollable trembling.

Amasawa Reigetsu sat by the bedside, his black, choppy hair falling over his forehead. Those pale gray eyes watched calmly as Kushida Kikyo threw herself at his feet with every ounce of her strength.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry! I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong!"

Tears gushed out like a broken dam, dripping onto the floor and blooming into dark, wet stains. Kushida Kikyo gripped Amasawa Reigetsu's lower legs tightly, like a drowning person clinging to life.

"Please... forgive me..."

Kushida Kikyo looked up, though she dared not meet Amasawa Reigetsu's eyes. Her once delicate and cute face was now covered in tear tracks, twisted by extreme terror and weeping.

She struggled to force a smile that looked worse than crying, her eyes filled with obsequiousness and flattery, trampling the secrets and dignity she had once fought to protect.

"I was too stupid, I was too self-righteous... I shouldn't have hidden things, I shouldn't have had those filthy thoughts..."

"I'm just a hypocritical liar, a piece of trash hiding behind a mask... Amasawa-kun, you're right, I'm just a disgusting woman..."

As she cried, she rubbed her cheek against Amasawa Reigetsu's knee, like a stray dog begging for its master's mercy.

"I understand now... only apologizing to you is the right thing to do... please, save me from this nightmare, I'll do anything you ask... Master."

Kushida Kikyo's voice had thinned to a mere thread. The severe mental trauma had left her body unable to sustain such a long outburst, yet she still struggled to undo the buttons of her collar.

"From now on, Kikyo will only obey Master's orders. I will be the most obedient... dog."

Amasawa Reigetsu leaned down and patted Kushida Kikyo's head. Like a startled puppy, she flinched at the first touch, but upon realizing it wouldn't hurt, she leaned into it voluntarily.

"Did you have a nightmare, Kushida-san?"

Amasawa Reigetsu's voice was very gentle, as if it possessed the power to smooth over the ripples in her heart.

Finally, I've woken up from that damn nightmare—

Kushida Kikyo climbed up from the floor and buried herself in Amasawa Reigetsu's arms. The long-lost warmth made it impossible for her to stop herself from greedily wanting more.

"Waaaaaaah—"

She burst into loud, painful sobs.

"It seems Kiyoko went a bit too far..."

Amasawa Reigetsu merely patted Kushida Kikyo's back gently to help her feel better, while conveniently shifting all the blame onto Ayanokoji Kiyoko.

Perhaps if it had been Kiyoko, Kushida Kikyo would have ended up even worse? No, if it were Kiyoko, she wouldn't have gone this far just for the sake of amusement.

"Do you want me to take you back to your dorm?"

"Master, the puppy is scared... can you not leave the puppy behind?"

Kushida Kikyo's head remained buried in Amasawa's chest, her words muffled and incoherent.

"Good girl."

The next day, Kushida Kikyo took a leave of absence.

The concerned private messages made her terminal vibrate incessantly like a detonator, which actually made things more convenient for Amasawa.

Time passed quickly. Because of the past exam papers Kushida Kikyo had brought for the members of Class D, the atmosphere in the library was peaceful, as if everyone could happily and smoothly pass this midterm exam... or could they?

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, library.

"Morishita, I think you've betrayed me."

After finishing the mock exam set by Sakayanagi Arisu, Kamuro Masumi looked at Morishita Ran's ninety-one-point paper beside her, then glanced at her own score of seventy-eight, unable to help but feel the unfairness of the heavens.

Kamuro Masumi: If you want to hurt me, please use the law to punish me, rather than making me study here.

Sakayanagi Arisu: Oh?

Kamuro Masumi: I forgot that I actually have broken the law.

Morishita Ran: Law? I've been crying the whole time.

Amasawa Reigetsu: Crying until it became psychosomatic, crying until I lost control of my tears.

Morishita Ran: Law?

Amasawa Reigetsu: Law!

Sakayanagi Arisu: Get out!!

Sakayanagi Arisu kicked the last two "visual kei" members of Class A out of the study session, and the atmosphere instantly became less niche.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The Class D study session was underway, while the "tyrant" of Class C, Ryuen Kakeru, led his subordinates to surround them like a pack of sharks that had caught the scent of blood.

All of this was seen by the passing Amasawa and Morishita.

"Holy crap, that guy!"

Morishita Ran erupted with a massive shout in the quiet library. Everyone's gaze instantly aligned with her, and then shifted toward Albert.

At the same time, several sharp gazes fell upon Amasawa Reigetsu, who was standing to the side, including one extremely intense stare coming from an unknown corner of the library.

"Fuck you!"

Albert raised the international gesture of friendship and charged at Morishita Ran—

As a master of ancient martial arts, Sister Ran was naturally unfazed, but she decided to give Amasawa a chance to show off.

"Albert—"

Ryuen's voice was not loud, but it was filled with authority.

Albert gritted his teeth, but ultimately halted his movements.

"Student Amasawa, I've heard so much about you. Our class's Shiina has been mentioning your name constantly."

Ryuen Kakeru paid no mind to the farce that had just occurred, his eyes fixed on Amasawa Reigetsu like a hawk.

"Class A and Class C have no reason to be hostile... at least for now, right?"