Thus, Ryuuen used the same method to force Hiyori to keep him company and chat for an entire week. With a beauty by his side, Ryuuen did not find it boring at all, and the occasional admiring expressions Hiyori showed were quite cute as well.
Finally, on Sunday night, beneath a somewhat gloomy moon, just as Ryuuen was about to message Hiyori, he noticed Kushida Kikyo walking toward the Small Lake.
Putting away his phone, Ryuuen hid behind a tree and watched Kushida Kikyo vent recklessly beside the railings of the Small Lake. The railings trembled from Kushida Kikyo's kicks, while filthy words poured endlessly from her mouth.
When Ryuuen looked for Ayanokoji, he found that he really was standing behind her. By coincidence, Ryuuen also spotted Hiyori. Opening his phone, he saw that Hiyori had indeed sent him a message: "Are you busy with something?"
What began as an unintentional act bore unexpected fruit. Ryuuen sent Hiyori a message: "Hiyori, help me hold up the D-Class boy in front of you."
As her Student ID Card vibrated, Hiyori saw Ryuuen's message. Her cheeks flushed slightly at suddenly being called by name, then she gritted her teeth and stepped forward to stop Ayanokoji. Ayanokoji himself was confused; he did not know the girl before him.
Seeing that Kushida Kikyo had vented enough, Ryuuen clapped as he walked toward her. "The angel has become a demon."
Kushida Kikyo's expression was frighteningly dark, but she said nothing. Perhaps she was wondering why Ryuuen was here, or perhaps she was thinking of how to explain what she had just done.
Ryuuen's use of violence to rule his class was hardly a secret in the first year, and Kushida Kikyo naturally knew about it. When she first heard the news, she had thought it was a rumor, because she could not quite believe that the boy who gave up his seat on the bus would do such a thing.
Her previous behavior had been an act. The moment Ryuuen appeared, Kushida Kikyo came to her own conclusion. For a moment, she even believed that Ryuuen was her kind of person, someone who hid his true self.
Ryuuen walked to Kushida Kikyo's side and leaned against the railing as he looked at her. "Why aren't you saying anything? You should have plenty to say right now. Oh, I get it. Are you tired from all that cursing? Want to rest before doing it again?"
"Don't tell anyone!" Kushida Kikyo said, staring into Ryuuen's eyes.
Ryuuen raised an eyebrow. "You think you can order me around?"
"Don't tell anyone!" Kushida Kikyo grabbed Ryuuen by the collar, but he remained standing there without moving an inch.
"You want to challenge my authority on my turf?" Ryuuen flung Kushida's arm away and mercilessly seized Kushida Kikyo by the throat. Ryuuen liked using a Chokehold; feeling a pulse beneath his palm excited him.
A girl's neck had no Adam's apple, making it softer and more fragile. Ryuuen only applied a little force before releasing her.
Kushida Kikyo collapsed onto the ground in a duck-sitting position, coughing as her ample chest trembled with every breath.
Ryuuen crouched down as well. "Your weakness is in my hands now. If you don't learn to behave, you'll suffer."
"I'll report your violent behavior to the school! Your fingerprints are on my neck!" Kushida Kikyo was still struggling, unwilling to become a prisoner.
A sudden punch landed in Kushida Kikyo's stomach. Her eyes nearly rolled back from the pain, and a little saliva trickled from the corner of her mouth.
"Whatever. Violence at this level will at most cost me some Class Points. I didn't do much to you, and these minor injuries will be invisible in a few days."
Seeing him act as though he had her completely cornered, Kushida Kikyo endured the pain in her abdomen, grabbed his hand, and pressed it against her chest. "Violence can only cost you points, but what if it's rape? You won't just be expelled—you'll be sent to prison too. Your whole life will be over!"
"Stupid woman." Ryuuen sneered. The hand pressed against Kushida Kikyo's chest did not loosen; instead, he increased the pressure.
Big and firm... The buttons on Kushida Kikyo's shirt popped open, revealing her cleavage and pale pink lace trim. Kushida gasped sharply from the pain once again.
"Stupid woman, do you think you have the strength to hold my hand? Do you think leaving fingerprints can convict me? Do you think I'll let you leave here with my fingerprints on you?"
A panicked, fearful expression finally appeared on Kushida Kikyo's face. Ryuuen's three questions made her realize that she had been at a disadvantage before him all along.
Tears fell from the corners of Kushida Kikyo's eyes, one drop after another, sliding down her cheeks onto her chest and onto Ryuuen's hand.
The wonderful school life she had imagined was about to crumble. The little angel persona she had painstakingly built was about to be torn apart, while that bitch Horikita Suzune was still perfectly fine.
"Why me! Why is it always me! Why! What did I do wrong? Why am I always the one who gets hurt?" Kushida Kikyo muttered blankly, the double damage to body and soul pushing her to the brink of collapse.
"Did I say I was going to expose you? On the contrary, I'll help you. All you need to do is pay a small price." Ryuuen gently wiped away Kushida Kikyo's tears.
The moon hung high overhead as the dark clouds dispersed. Kushida Kikyo raised her head, and light appeared in her eyes once more. "What do you want? My body?"
A stupid woman was still a stupid woman. Perhaps, at this moment, she believed her greatest value was that shell of a body.
Ryuuen took the opportunity to touch her neck, rubbing the girl's artery up and down with his index and middle fingers. "I'm greedy. What I want is far more than that. Obey me, and I'll give you the life you want."
Ryuuen's words were vague and hardly convincing, but Kushida Kikyo had no room to choose. Ryuuen liked cutting off every escape route for his prey before offering his own olive branch. Even if a bottomless abyss lay behind that branch, it was still hard for a drowning person to refuse.
Kushida Kikyo stared at Ryuuen with both hands clenched into fists, as if struggling. "You choked me and punched me. Let me hit you three times, and I'll agree to your conditions."
Although Ryuuen knew that even if he did not agree to her terms, Kushida would still be useful to him, letting the girl vent a little was not necessarily a bad thing. It was not that Ryuuen was a masochist; he was merely making a small compensation for his earlier offense.
"Fine." Ryuuen agreed easily. This deal was a huge profit for him.
Ryuuen stood before Kushida Kikyo and watched her first punch strike his left cheek. She had truly put her whole body into it.
Since he had not used any defensive measures, Ryuuen's skin was not as thick as he had imagined. His face immediately swelled, and Ryuuen thought, This woman is ruthless. Good thing I drained a lot of her strength earlier, or she would've made me bleed.
Kushida Kikyo wanted to punch Ryuuen's right cheek too, but beneath Ryuuen's clear gaze, she ultimately did not strike again.
"You don't need to pretend to be kind in front of me. Just be yourself." Ryuuen kept his word. Since he had agreed to three punches, he would not let Kushida Kikyo stop after only one.
"I'll save the rest for next time. We have plenty of time ahead of us!" Kushida Kikyo withdrew her fist.
That method of hurting the enemy for a thousand while harming herself for five hundred had left Kushida's fist red as well.
Ryuuen smiled. Kushida Kikyo saying that meant she had already accepted the transaction between them in her heart.
Before Ryuuen could reach out to help her, Kushida Kikyo climbed to her feet herself, patted the dust from her skirt, and left directly.
The moment Ryuuen turned around, he found Hiyori standing behind him.
"You saw that?"
Hiyori nodded. Her face was full of hostility, and she unconsciously puffed out her cheeks. Perhaps even she had not noticed why she was so angry.
"What did you see?" Ryuuen remained calm.
"You molested that girl, and then she punched you!" Hiyori's tone was icy as she stared at Ryuuen. "Don't you have an explanation?"
"Look, my face is all swollen, and you aren't even concerned about me." Ryuuen continued to tease her.
"You deserved it!" Hiyori ground her teeth. She still wanted an explanation, though in truth, she had no standing to demand one from Ryuuen.
"Don't you have an explanation!"
The question had become a statement. In Ryuuen's memory, it was the loudest sentence Hiyori had ever spoken, though to his ears it was still as soft as cotton.
The girl's attitude was so firm, as if she had suffered a great grievance, like a child whose favorite stuffed toy had been snatched away.
Ryuuen stepped forward and kissed Hiyori on the forehead, over her bangs. He had not actually touched her skin, yet Hiyori's body still stiffened and her neck flushed red.
"I don't need to explain what I do."
Ryuuen waved without looking back at Hiyori and returned to the dormitory. He needed to hurry back and put something cold on it, or his handsome face would not look very good tomorrow.
While riding the elevator, Ryuuen ran into Koenji.
Koenji was still in the elevator, using a small comb to groom his few strands of golden hair. Seeing Ryuuen's swollen left cheek, he mocked, "Dragon boy, you truly have no elegance at all."
Ryuuen could not be bothered with that monkey. He needed to get back to his dormitory and apply a cold compress.
While everyone else watched the Spring Festival Gala, the author was writing. Another diligent day—wishing all readers a happy New Year's Eve. (ˊωˋ*)
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