Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, Class 1-A.
"The midterm exams are about to begin. I don't need to go over the requirements. The passing threshold is half the class average, and anyone who fails even one subject will be expelled."
Tomoya Mashima reminded the Class A students from the podium. Seeing how confident they all looked, he wasn't particularly worried.
"Rei-kun."
Before the exam began, Sakayanagi Arisu walked over to Amasawa Reigetsu's seat—
"Could you wait for me after the exam?"
"How about I wait for you on the rooftop?"
"...Are you misunderstanding something? Rei-kun, I just wanted to discuss some class-related matters with you."
Sakayanagi Arisu's voice was a shade softer than usual, and the end of her sentence even trembled faintly. She tightened her grip on her cane without thinking, her fingertips paling with the effort.
Her usually elegant face was now visibly turning red, the blush spreading from her pale ears to her cheeks. She turned her head slightly, trying to hide her flustered gaze behind her waterfall of light-colored hair, but her faintly flushed skin and slightly hurried breathing betrayed her completely.
The rooftop? Th-that's where people confess their love!
Amasawa Reigetsu watched her quietly, the corners of his mouth curling a little higher. He knew all too well how composed Alice usually was, as if everything were under her control.
But now, this girl had lost her steady breathing and had ears red enough to drip blood, all because of one teasing remark from him—
What a treat.
The exams ended smoothly. As Amasawa Reigetsu had expected, he'd probably gotten full marks in every subject.
School building, rooftop.
"Alice, you're late~"
Amasawa Reigetsu leaned against the rooftop's weathered wall, his hands casually tucked into his pockets. He tilted his head slightly as he watched the girl's awkward figure, drawing out his words teasingly.
"I even turned in my exam early so I could come up here and wait for you."
Sakayanagi Arisu gently bit her lower lip, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Rei-kun, you really have no sense of romance. You know I have trouble getting around, and yet you arranged to meet me on the rooftop..."
Counterattack ineffective!
"Don't you think this is a good place, Little Alice?"
"Click."
Amasawa Reigetsu locked the rooftop's iron door, cutting off Sakayanagi Arisu's escape.
"Huh?"
The light around her suddenly dimmed, and Amasawa Reigetsu's warm breath enveloped her.
Amasawa Reigetsu leaned down slightly and encircled her from behind. Their difference in height made it easy for him to reach over her shoulder. His long arms crossed over her chest, trapping her firmly against him.
"Don't..."
Sakayanagi Arisu stiffened. She could feel her reason cracking apart. She instinctively tried to struggle, but the warmth behind her drained all her strength.
"I need to talk about something serious... Mmm..."
Her soft protests only stirred Amasawa Reigetsu's desire to go further. Sakayanagi Arisu used Criminal Excitement Punch!
Amasawa Reigetsu didn't say anything. He simply rested his chin lightly on the crown of her head, as if to say—
"Mm-hmm. Go on. I'm listening."
Sakayanagi Arisu felt as though her heart would leap out of her chest. The strategy, composure, and genius intelligence she prided herself on had completely crumbled beneath Amasawa Reigetsu's irresistible presence.
"I... Y-you..."
Sakayanagi Arisu had completely short-circuited. Her eyes grew misty, and her body went limp in Amasawa Reigetsu's arms, as if all her bones had vanished. She could only let him control her every breath and heartbeat.
Ah... I really can't say no to Rei-kun—
I've fallen deeply in love with you... my one true god♡
As if sensing the change in her feelings, Amasawa Reigetsu tightened his arms around her chest and pulled her deeper into his embrace. The intense restraint drew a soft moan from Sakayanagi Arisu.
"Mmm... be gentler, Rei-kun♡"
After a thoroughly wholesome exchange of affection, Sakayanagi Arisu nestled in Amasawa Reigetsu's arms, a reproachful look on her face.
"Rei-kun, you're so mean. I really did come to talk about something serious..."
"You mean the matter involving Class C and Class D? I already heard about it from the Student Council. Horikita told me to see him tomorrow."
"Horikita? Which Horikita? →_→"
Sakayanagi Arisu knew that Horikita Manabu was also a Horikita, but she decided it was safer to check...
"Obviously, the Student Council president."
What the heck... So Rei-kun already knew. That means I threw myself at him...//
"What are you planning to do, Rei-kun? Whether it's Class C or Class D, this would be a good opportunity to attack, wouldn't it?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked up and saw Amasawa Reigetsu looking down at her, too. Their cheeks drew close, and they shared a fleeting kiss, as casually as if it were nothing—or rather, as if it were just a matter of course.
"You're pretty aggressive, Alice."
Amasawa Reigetsu pinched Sakayanagi Arisu's cheek to punish her for failing to show her classmates any solidarity.
"Grrr..."
Sakayanagi Arisu pouted in protest.
"Leave it to me."
Amasawa Reigetsu had already come up with... a few devious plans.
The midterm exams were over, but the points for June still hadn't been distributed. Tomoya Mashima held a class meeting to explain the situation: Class C and Class D had gotten into a violent altercation, and since both sides insisted they were right, the school couldn't determine the point results.
Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, Student Council Office.
Only Horikita Manabu and Tachibana Akane were in the Student Council Office, and the atmosphere was solemn.
The door opened, and Amasawa Reigetsu and Ichinose Honami entered one after the other. They closed the door behind them.
"You're here. Sit down."
"Okay."
They took their seats, and Horikita Manabu pushed a file over to Amasawa Reigetsu.
"Amasawa, I'm putting you in charge of deciding this matter."
Behind his desk, Horikita Manabu rested his interlaced hands against his chin. The light filtered through the blinds, casting deep shadows across his sharply defined face.
Amasawa Reigetsu met Horikita Manabu's gaze without hesitation, his tone carrying a hint of probing curiosity.
"I'm a first-year, too. Are you sure it's wise to hand this level of authority over to me?"
"This is the Student Council's authority."
So I'm an authority abuser now!? Wait, I have authority too. Never mind, then.
But wasn't this going a little too smoothly? Amasawa Reigetsu scrutinized the two third-years in front of him—
Nothing wrong with the cards.
That was when Amasawa Reigetsu understood why.
"...Because of your little sister?"
A crack appeared in Horikita Manabu's otherwise flawless poker face. It was a good thing Miyabi Nagumo wasn't there. It really had been wise of him to discuss this with Amasawa while Nagumo was away.
Horikita Manabu took a deep breath, burying the complicated emotions that had flashed across his eyes.
Keep it together.
"...If you have nothing else, get lost."
"Okay, got it."
The two left the Student Council Office, but Ichinose Honami was unusually excited. She followed right behind Amasawa Reigetsu all the way through the bustling hallways, until they sat down with their trays in a relatively quiet corner of the cafeteria.
Ichinose finally couldn't hold back her impatience. Leaning forward slightly, she blurted out:
"Boss, when are we starting the investigation? I can't hold back my detective spirit any longer!"
What? You have a detective spirit too? The last person whose grandfather was a detective is already...
Ichinose Honami: There's something like that?
Amasawa Reigetsu had just picked up his chopsticks. He paused at her words, a look of clear confusion in his eyes.
"Investigating what? Did you think I was going to investigate the scene later? Is that why you followed me?"
Watching the question marks practically materialize above Amasawa Reigetsu's head, Ichinose Honami froze for a second. Then several large question marks appeared above her own head.
"Aren't we going to investigate what happened with Sudo? The fight between Class C and Class D has caused such a commotion..."
She blinked her clear eyes, sounding as if the answer were obvious.
"There's no need to investigate."
Amasawa Reigetsu picked up a piece of fried pork cutlet, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather.
"Class C and Class D got into a fight. What does that have to do with Class A and Class B? At times like this, we just need to sit quietly on the shore and watch them struggle, trade benefits like bargaining chips, and then make sure the whole thing doesn't end too badly."
"This was Class C attacking Class D... The president handed it to us so we could profit from it and worsen Class D's disadvantage, thereby tempering his precious uncut gem of a little sister."
"But..."
Ichinose Honami's brows knit together. She clasped her hands tightly on the table, her voice filled with concern.
"If we do that, and Horikita fails, someone will definitely be expelled in the end!"
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.
Amasawa Reigetsu stopped chewing and raised his eyes to gaze calmly at the innocent girl before him. He asked:
"Honami, do you think anyone in Class B will be expelled by the time we graduate in three years?"
"..."
Ichinose Honami opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She knew she couldn't protect everyone in Class B. She could only bury her head like an ostrich and refuse to consider that possibility.
Seeing Ichinose's lowered eyelashes and faintly trembling shoulders, Amasawa Reigetsu sighed. It was time to start training his secretary.
"Have you heard of the trolley problem, Honami?"
"A runaway trolley is barreling toward five people tied to the track. On a side track, there's one person tied up. You can pull a lever and sacrifice one person to save the five, or you can do nothing and watch the five die."
"Or I could stop the whole train by myself, and no one would get hurt."
"Maybe that's not a perfect analogy... But at a school ruled by strength, protecting everyone comes at a cost. That's the cruel reality."
Ichinose Honami was at a loss, staring blankly at the boy in front of her.
Amasawa Reigetsu watched her dazed expression without rushing her. He simply reached out and gently pinched her fingers where they rested on the table, their tips pale from the force with which she'd clasped them.
Such beautiful hands. Ichinose, I'm sorry. This might be a little lewd... but I want the wings of your angel to be stained with my darkness...
A good tool had to be trained by hand!
The warmth of his fingertips brought Ichinose Honami sharply back to her senses. Only then did she realize how close they were—and that his hand was wantonly playing with her fingers.
"Ah...!"
Ichinose Honami's cheeks flushed at once. She hurriedly pulled her hand away and held it protectively against her chest.
"Let's head back. We'll hold the trial tomorrow. Set a time and place, then notify the people involved."
Amasawa Reigetsu stood and left, slipping his hands into his pockets without looking back.
"Ichinose, lesson one starts now:"
"Start by finding the person you truly want to protect."
June 1, afternoon.
Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, Class Trial.
A long table divided the classroom into two sides, and the atmosphere was charged with tension—
On the left side of the table sat the students from Class C. Ryuen Kakeru leaned back in his chair, relaxed, his hands resting on the armrests and a taunting smile fixed on his face.
Beside him sat Kaneda Satoru and Albert. A little farther away from Class C, Shiina Hiyori quietly held a novel, as if the tense atmosphere around her had nothing to do with her. The only sound she made was the faint rustle of a turning page now and then.
On the right side, the students from Class D seemed especially tense. Ken Sudō clenched his fists, apparently arguing with Horikita Suzune about something.
"What the hell! They were the ones who provoked us first! I wasn't trying to hit anyone!"
Horikita Suzune sat beside him, her face pale with frustration. The investigation period hadn't been long enough for her to find any decisive evidence, so she could only stare at Ryuen across the table, trying to spot a flaw in his confident expression.
At the very end of the row, Ayanokoji Kiyoko seemed like a passerby who'd wandered into the wrong place. Her entire presence exuded indifference, as if nothing here concerned her—
That is, if you ignored the burning gaze she had fixed on Amasawa Reigetsu.
At the center of the long table sat the Student Council representatives in charge of this "Class Trial": Amasawa Reigetsu and Ichinose Honami.
"All right, small talk is over."
Amasawa Reigetsu stopped tapping the table with his fingertips and leaned forward slightly, breaking the suffocating silence in the room.
"Class C accuses Ken Sudō of Class D of deliberately assaulting their students and demands that the school expel him. Class D claims it was self-defense and demands that he be acquitted. So—"
He raised his eyes and swept his gaze over everyone present, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold smile.
"Let's hear your evidence."