Contest

"Woohoo, what a coincidence. I got to see such a fine show. Ayanokoji, you really were rough." Ryuuen arrived late, but at exactly the right time. He had just witnessed Ayanokoji violently threatening Karuizawa Kei.

Naturally, Ryuuen had taken out his own phone as well, giving Ayanokoji a taste of his own medicine.

Ayanokoji noticed the phone in Ryuuen's hand and assumed that, like him, Ryuuen had been hiding in the dark and secretly filming. Ryuuen must have recorded what he had just done.

Ayanokoji frowned, but quickly took action.

Before Ryuuen could continue speaking, Ayanokoji swung a high kick at him. It did not do much damage, but it struck Ryuuen's hand and sent his phone flying.

The phone hit the ground with a clatter. Unfortunately, the school-issued phone was exceptionally durable, and Ayanokoji's kick had not caused any real damage. Ryuuen realized that immediately. The instant the phone left his hand, he moved to retrieve it.

But Ayanokoji was faster. He practically flew to Ryuuen's side, kicked him in the stomach, then reached down for the phone on the ground.

That kick to Ryuuen's stomach truly hurt. Ayanokoji had not held back at all. Ryuuen had been fast enough to take defensive measures in advance, but he had not. He needed Ayanokoji to kick him—only then could he get close to him.

And his reason for getting close was the same as Ayanokoji's: the phone. Not the one on the ground, but Ayanokoji's phone.

In the end, they pulled apart and returned to their original positions. Only, the phones in their hands had been swapped.

"Whew." Ryuuen whistled. Despite having taken a kick to the stomach, he was in an excellent mood.

When Ayanokoji opened Ryuuen's phone, he went numb. It was a blank phone. There was nothing on it. Ryuuen had not recorded evidence of his crime at all.

Almost instantly, Ayanokoji understood. This was a trap. Ryuuen had been orchestrating this situation from behind the scenes all along.

"Do you have superpowers?"

Ayanokoji, normally the very embodiment of rationality, had actually asked such a foolish question.

Yet that question made Ryuuen regard Ayanokoji more highly. They had only gone through two exams and met a few times, yet Ayanokoji had already seen through things to this extent.

Ayanokoji's words sounded foolish, but they also reflected his understanding of Ryuuen. In Ayanokoji's mind, Ryuuen's existence and behavior made no sense, so he classified him as someone with superpowers.

Ryuuen, whose soul had crossed over, did indeed possess advantages ordinary people lacked. Calling them superpowers was not entirely unreasonable, though it was an exaggeration.

Ryuuen did not think Ayanokoji truly believed superpowers existed. He simply did not understand Ryuuen as a person yet.

"Of course. My superpower is seeing through everything." Ryuuen played along with Ayanokoji's words.

"How stupid." Ayanokoji regained his calm, his mind returning to its rational state. That "stupid" referred to both Ryuuen and himself. Remembering what he had just said, he probably did find himself foolish.

"You're still acting so arrogant when I have your phone?" Ryuuen toyed with Ayanokoji's phone. Though Ayanokoji had set a password on it, Ryuuen was not worried. As long as the phone was in his hands, evidence of Ayanokoji's crime could not escape him. And the victim was still lying on the ground. With Karuizawa Kei's testimony as well, Ayanokoji would have a hard time getting away.

The threat of expulsion was in Ryuuen's hands, so Ayanokoji would not let him leave so easily.

Both of them understood the situation. Only Karuizawa was still confused. She did not know why Ayanokoji had suddenly appeared and tried to violate her, or why Ryuuen had appeared afterward. Was Ryuuen here to help her? Karuizawa did not know. She did not think Ryuuen would help her, but he was indeed confronting Ayanokoji, and he had indeed helped take Ayanokoji's phone from him.

Is he helping me? Karuizawa wondered. Ryuuen might be the same kind of person as Ayanokoji. Maybe he wanted to possess her too, which was why he had come to take Ayanokoji's phone.

In truth, Karuizawa was not far off. Both Ryuuen and Ayanokoji were after her. But unlike what she thought, neither of them had ever wanted her body. They wanted her value—her position among the girls in Class D, and the major impact she would have on the upcoming exams.

Both Ryuuen and Ayanokoji needed her, which was why they stood here. But the moment Ryuuen got the phone, the meaning of their fight changed. Karuizawa Kei became the prize for the winner, while the price of defeat was as unequal as the gap in their strength.

If Ryuuen lost, he would lose Karuizawa and then get beaten badly.

If Ayanokoji lost, he would lose Karuizawa and would most likely be expelled because of the evidence in Ryuuen's hands. In Ayanokoji's eyes, Ryuuen was openly hostile toward him, so naturally he did not think Ryuuen would leave him a way out.

They were thinking about different things, but they agreed on one point: neither of them believed he would lose!

This was a game of violence, a clash between genius and ordinary man. The genius was naturally Ayanokoji, while the ordinary man was Ryuuen. But Ryuuen had a cheat. It had not directly strengthened his body, yet it had allowed him to prepare for this day for sixteen years.

Ryuuen's punch carried sixteen years of sweat. Whether Ayanokoji could withstand its power was another matter.

At almost the same moment, Ayanokoji threw a punch as well.

There were no flashy techniques. In a true moment of killing, everything was often decided in a fleeting instant or a single move.

As their fists collided, Ryuuen could clearly feel the bones in his fingers threatening to shatter. Even so, he could not let go. The moment he let go, he would lose. Not only could he not loosen his grip, he had to keep applying force!

Ayanokoji was not doing well either. In a collision of straight punches, hurting the enemy for a thousand meant harming oneself for eight hundred. Ayanokoji had no way out either. He had even less room than Ryuuen to let go.

Their finger bones were practically about to fuse together. If they kept pressing, both hands would be ruined.

It had not reached the point of mutual destruction yet. Ayanokoji opened his mouth and said, "You don't actually want me expelled, do you? This fight has no meaning."

Ayanokoji had truly seen right through him. Sometimes, one could not help but lament God's unfairness. Why were some people geniuses while others were ordinary?

"Hmph." Ryuuen withdrew his fist. Since Ayanokoji had discovered what he was thinking, this fight could not continue. That was right—in Ryuuen's mind, he had defined this clash as a brawl.

If Ryuuen had truly wanted Ayanokoji expelled, he would not have stepped out the moment Ayanokoji began threatening Karuizawa. He should have recorded the entire process, waited until Karuizawa had been completely bullied, then secretly reported it.

"Your goal is Karuizawa?" Ayanokoji was doubtful. Karuizawa certainly had value, but he did not think her value was great enough for Ryuuen to spend so much effort setting up this scheme.

"Maybe. For now, let's talk about the problem between us." Ryuuen shook the hand he had just used to punch. It was sore and painful.