Complaint!

"Phew... Shiomiya, slow down..."

"Ah... I'm already going very slowly. It's fine, Kushida. You're already doing great."

"Phew... Well, thank you very much."

"Want to keep going?"

"No... I can't anymore."

On the grassy field of the track early in the morning, two figures sat on the ground.

Kushida was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, her flushed face red.

"Here... Have some water."

Shiomiya handed Kushida a bottle of water, and she immediately began chugging it.

"Drink slowly. I told you, you don't have to run at my pace." Shiomiya spoke helplessly.

Kushida wanted to say something, but she was still too out of breath to speak. In the end, she could only punch Shiomiya to show her dissatisfaction.

"What are you doing? Ouch!" Shiomiya's clumsy performance failed to earn Kushida's sympathy.

Kushida merely rolled her eyes at him, then drank water and steadied her breathing.

Once Kushida had recovered, Shiomiya continued, "What did you want from me, anyway?"

Kushida snapped, "Didn't you say you had a way to help me? It's been two days, and there's been no news at all! If I don't come find you, you'll disappear again!"

"I disappear after school every day. These past two days, I've also had to keep helping that bitch organize some study group."

Shiomiya felt a little awkward. He had spent every afternoon for the past two days gambling over board games, and business had been booming. He simply hadn't gotten around to dealing with Horikita.

Besides, why wasn't Kushida using her angel persona anymore?

At least she used to put on an act. Now she wasn't even bothering.

"I already came up with a way! I'll settle it in the next two days."

"Really?"

"Then how are you going to get hold of his weakness?"

"Don't brush me off! Tell me now!"

Shiomiya was rather helpless too. He had gotten hold of the leverage long ago; it was just a bit unethical.

Shiomiya took out his phone and opened a video.

It was the video of the Horikita siblings from before.

Why wouldn't Shiomiya keep a backup of something like that? He had uploaded it to the cloud long ago.

"See? This is it!"

Kushida watched it seriously, then turned to look at Shiomiya.

"What use is this? Horikita was the one getting beaten, not beating someone up."

Shiomiya smiled faintly and explained the emotional entanglement between the Horikita siblings to Kushida.

"So, in order to protect her brother, she'll definitely keep it secret."

Kushida suddenly understood. "I see. Then why not just make her drop out directly?"

Shiomiya got a bit of a headache. He had originally wanted to brush it off.

"I already blackmailed Horikita Manabu with this before, and I promised to delete the video.

Using it again to threaten her into dropping out feels a bit excessive, doesn't it?"

Shiomiya's sympathetic look toward Horikita made Kushida's anger flare up instantly, her expression turning dark.

"Shiomiya Yo, have I been too tolerant of you? Do you think you still have the right to choose?"

"Give me the video, now!"

As she spoke, she tried to snatch Shiomiya's phone. Shiomiya reacted quickly, nimbly raising his arm high to avoid Kushida.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

Kushida pounced on Shiomiya and continued trying to seize it. Shiomiya took the opportunity to fall backward onto the grass, stretching out his arm so Kushida could not reach it.

Kushida fell on top of Shiomiya. Just as she was about to get up and continue grabbing for the phone—

A familiar voice rang out.

"Yo, Kushida, what are you two doing?"

It was Koenji. He had just finished his other training and come to the field for his final exercise. The moment he arrived, he saw Shiomiya and Kushida lying together on the grass.

Seeing Kushida's flushed face, Koenji felt a little awkward.

"Well, I won't disturb you two.

But you should still be mindful of appearances. Next time, find somewhere else."

Koenji left the field directly.

Kushida clearly knew what Koenji had misunderstood, and her little face turned even redder.

She no longer tried to grab the phone. Instead, she punched Shiomiya hard once, then ran off.

Judging by the direction, she was going after Koenji to explain.

Shiomiya went back to shower, then arrived at the classroom.

Everyone was discussing something, occasionally glancing at Shiomiya.

Shiomiya understood immediately. Ryuuen had made his move.

Sure enough, Sae Chabashira came into the classroom and held a brief meeting.

"Today, a student from Class C lodged a complaint with the school against Shiomiya, claiming that Shiomiya had assaulted him unilaterally on the road back to the dormitory at night, causing him injury."

Everyone looked at Shiomiya, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Shiomiya had prepared for this long ago and put on a completely bewildered expression.

"I didn't hit anyone! They suddenly started fighting each other. I was totally confused at the time."

"But you have no evidence. It would be different if there were eyewitnesses."

Heh~

Even Shiomiya could not hold back a laugh.

This teacher is pretty interesting. Why the hell would I provide evidence?

I won't give them jack shit!

Isn't this their demand? They're the ones who should be proving it!

This teacher is utterly useless.

Kushida grew anxious at that moment, perhaps to maintain her persona, or perhaps for some other reason.

"Did anyone see Shiomiya and them fighting? Or does anyone know anything?"

The entire class looked toward Kushida. Not a sound could be heard.

Koenji also teased Shiomiya.

"Yo, this time, you might end up dropping out."

Shiomiya said nothing.

"In three days, you will negotiate with the student council and Class C. Points will be deducted according to the outcome, and Shiomiya may face disciplinary action."

After saying that, Sae Chabashira left.

During the break.

Everyone discussed Shiomiya's situation with their respective friends.

"He'd better drop out. Someone like him contributes nothing to the class."

"Yeah."

Horikita was also talking with Ayanokoji.

"Do you think so too? It would be better if Shiomiya dropped out." Horikita asked.

"I don't. What about you?" Ayanokoji asked Horikita in return.

"Our class points are currently zero. Even if someone drops out, there are no points left to deduct."

"True, you're right." Ayanokoji said calmly.

Horikita turned back to look at Ayanokoji.

"What is it? That tone of yours makes people think."

"Who knows whether the school has hidden point additions and deductions?

Maybe one of the conditions for advancing to Class A is that no one in the class can drop out."

"That's baseless nonsense."

"We still aren't familiar with the school's evaluation system. If we want to advance to Class A, shouldn't we minimize every risk we can think of?

Besides, Shiomiya is excellent in both academics and athletics. He might prove useful in the future." Ayanokoji merely gave a simple analysis.

At that moment, Yosuke Hirata stepped onto the podium.

"I believe in our classmates. Let's all look for witnesses and clues together."

"Okay, I agree." Kei Karuizawa raised her hand in support.

Kushida spoke up right afterward.

"That's what I think too. First, we should believe him."

Everyone nodded in agreement, swayed by Hirata and Kushida's influence.

Shiomiya, who had just returned from the restroom, looked at the united class in confusion.

What did I miss?

Kushida also went to ask Ayanokoji and Horikita for help.

"Ayanokoji and Horikita, you'll help too, right?"

"Uh..." Ayanokoji clearly did not want to get involved.

"After saying all that, you can't possibly refuse to save Shiomiya, can you?" Horikita said directly.

"No, I don't want to advance to Class A anyway."

"You're willing to help? Thank you." Kushida happily moved closer to Ayanokoji, not giving him a chance to refuse.

"Sigh... Fine." Ayanokoji said helplessly.

Seeing the whole class bustling about to find witnesses.

Shiomiya was speechless. Why the hell would I need witnesses?

As long as he denied it, at worst both sides would receive equal punishment.

If anyone had been there at the time, there was no way Shiomiya would not have noticed.