Chapter 22

"Excuse me, are you the two people in this video?"

The two had seemed a little impatient at first, but the moment they saw the video on Nangong Cheng's phone, they broke out in a cold sweat.

Seriously, dude?!

That's dirty!

It's already day... one, two, three! Why are you coming after us with a video from the first day?

"Hey, you two... we can talk this out. Can't we talk this out?"

They both used the internet.

Naturally, they knew about the commotion among the first-years. What else could Nangong Cheng be here for if not their points?

"Name your price. We'll see if we can scrape it together, and then that video..."

"You won't be able to afford it. Just call someone who can make decisions."

Nangong Cheng didn't want to waste time.

He was absolutely going to demand an outrageous sum.

The only reason he had approached these two was to give himself a reasonable excuse to summon Miyabi Nagumo and settle things privately. Otherwise, he would have simply asked Horikita Manabu to hold a hearing for Miyabi Nagumo back in the Student Council room.

Oh, right. That hearing would still have to happen.

After all, settling privately only meant he wouldn't use this against Miyabi Nagumo anymore. It didn't mean Horikita Manabu couldn't make trouble for him.

"...Fine. Give us a moment."

Faced with Nangong Cheng's unyielding attitude, the guilty pair, already at a disadvantage, naturally didn't dare argue.

They immediately took out their phones to call for backup.

Meanwhile, Ichinose Honami had been watching in silence the whole time... though there really didn't seem to be anything for her to do.

"Don't just stand there watching. Ask your homeroom teacher for advice, or just call her over."

Nangong Cheng lowered his voice to remind her.

Was it necessary? Not really.

He already had a clear idea of what to do. But this wasn't simply about giving Chie Hoshinomiya a chance to feel involved, either. There was no reason not to put another piece on the board.

Who knew when it might come in handy?

"Oh, okay..."

Continuing to follow her policy of talking less and doing more, Ichinose Honami took out her phone and messaged her homeroom teacher.

Nangong Cheng, meanwhile, quickly opened his phone, sent the surveillance footage to Horikita Suzune, then promptly removed her from his friends list.

He also deleted the selfies Sakura Airi had sent earlier.

With that, everything was taken care of.

Both sides settled down to wait for their respective reinforcements.

Yet the first person to reach the battlefield was—

"Nangong Cheng, found you."

A dragon? That works too.jpg

Nangong Cheng watched speechlessly as Ryuen Kakeru barged into the cafeteria with his lackeys. Their menacing entrance certainly could have frightened someone timid.

He wasn't surprised that Ryuuen knew his name. After all, his real identity couldn't stay hidden for long.

A little asking around would reveal that he had been impersonating someone else.

"Do you need something, Ryuen?"

"I'm busy here. Don't cause trouble."

Ryuuen flashed a rather unsettling grin.

He glanced at Ichinose Honami, who stood beside Nangong Cheng, then said, "The cafeteria's a public space. I can come here whenever I want. What business is it of yours?"

"You're busy? What a coincidence. Looks like I came at just the right time."

As he spoke, Albert and Ishizaki Daichi stepped out from behind him and planted themselves on either side like guardian statues.

And that wasn't all.

Whether it had been Ryuuen's idea or the brainchild of some genius in his class, the three produced banners from somewhere, unfurling one each above their heads.

All three bore the same words—

[Nangong Cheng: a despicable, shameless, black-hearted, treacherous scumbag]

Volume One: 28, Ryuuen: Nangong Cheng, You'll Regret This

"Nangong, what should we do?"

Ichinose Honami had always been a sweet, well-behaved girl in everyone's eyes. When had she ever seen anything like this...?

Well, actually, she had.

But that had been different from the situation in front of her.

She wasn't so frightened that she couldn't speak, but she couldn't help worrying that things might turn physical if this continued.

"Don't worry. Leave this to me."

Nangong Cheng gave her a reassuring look.

He had expected Ryuuen to come looking for him, but he hadn't expected it to happen in the cafeteria, let alone involve a ridiculous public shaming stunt with banners.

Still, it wasn't a big problem.

"Ryuuen, neither of us is an idiot. Just say what you want."

"If this is about the 2 million deal, all I can say is that my conscience is clear. All the information was true. I didn't lie to you."

"If you're picking a fight just because I made that information public, then all I can say is that you're awfully small-minded. You'll never make it to Class A."

Naturally, the cafeteria had surveillance cameras too.

Nangong Cheng wasn't going to get into a physical confrontation with Ryuuen somewhere like this. Besides, as far as he was concerned, a few words would be more than enough.

"Heh."

Of course Ryuuen knew he hadn't been scammed. But Nangong Cheng had played him.

He couldn't swallow that insult and pretend nothing had happened. If he got a chance to get under Nangong Cheng's skin, he certainly wouldn't pass it up.

"Sure, you didn't lie to us. But right after taking our money, you went and made the information we paid for public. How can you have the nerve to say your conscience is clear?"

"Ichinose, right? Don't you people in Class B have any complaints? Nangong Cheng used you and then threw you aside!"

Ichinose Honami smiled awkwardly.

How should she put this...?

What Nangong Cheng had done really wasn't very fair.

While he hadn't lied about what he was selling, taking their money and then immediately publishing the information was pretty...

But if Nangong Cheng hadn't chosen to trade with them, he wouldn't have released the information for free, either. In that case, Class A would probably have pulled considerably ahead of Class B, so the 2 million hadn't really been wasted.

They would have had to spend that money one way or another.

"Ryuen, I know you're upset, but if you think about it carefully, you should realize you're getting a little too hung up on this."

"If Nangong hadn't stepped forward, we would have stayed in the dark, waiting cluelessly until the second month to learn the truth."

"But by then, we would still have lost points over it, possibly even more than 2 million. Isn't that right?"

Nangong Cheng gave Ichinose Honami a surprised look. He hadn't expected her to see it that way.

Was this why people called her an angel?

It felt rather like she had gotten the right answer through entirely wrong reasoning, but he had to admit that she was simply too kind and gentle.

Class B had genuinely been caught in his AOE attack this time, yet Ichinose Honami was actually speaking up for him.

She really... I could cry.

"Did you hear that, Ryuuen?"

"Don't assume everyone's as petty as you. Take some time to learn a little generosity from our angel Ichinose."

Ryuen Kakeru almost laughed in anger.

Here I am trying to carry you lot, and you pull this shit.

Where did this bleeding heart come from?

He played you, and you're still defending him?

"Ichinose, you're truly unbeatable."

"Then I hope you'll keep making excuses for us like this when Class C attacks your Class B."

Ryuuen glared viciously at Nangong Cheng's eminently punchable smile. Of course he knew full well that he wasn't getting those 2 million points back.

Aside from possibly irritating Nangong Cheng and blowing off some steam, he had other plans for this visit.

So what if you're impressive on your own?

Think you can turn the world upside down?

What matters out here is having people behind you!

"Nangong Cheng, you'll regret crossing me."

"Ryuuen, I'm the... oh, wrong line. Almost mixed up my script there—Ryuuen, I won't regret it."

Smiling, Nangong Cheng watched Ryuuen leave the cafeteria with his lackeys.

Then he turned to Ichinose Honami, a teasing note in his voice. "Ichinose Mom, I'm curious. Did you really mean what you just said... or were you only saying it to smooth things over with Ryuuen?"

"Of course I meant it."

Ichinose Honami gave Nangong Cheng a reproachful look. "You were calling me an angel a moment ago, and now you're accusing me of lying... you're so mean!"

"But I really thought you were positively divine~"

"There you go saying strange things again..."

Nangong Cheng was indeed teasing her to cheer her up.

Of course he knew what kind of girl Ichinose Honami was. He even knew she had the potential to turn from a sweet pink-haired girl into a dark-hearted yandere in the future.

But she really was best just as she was now.

One dark yandere in the form of Kushida was enough. Adding another certainly wouldn't be as simple as one plus one equaling two.

He had no desire to become the next Makoto.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot the important part."

Nangong Cheng suddenly tapped his forehead.

"Ichinose Mom, could you pretend to be my girlfriend in a little while? It's very important for the next part of my plan."

"Huh?!"

Ichinose Honami instinctively covered her mouth.

Just then, the familiar panel appeared in her field of vision once again.

[Task issued: agree to pretend to be Nangong Cheng's girlfriend, and tacitly permit any actions Nangong Cheng takes while you are playing the role of his fake girlfriend.]

[Task reward: 500–2,000 points, depending on Nangong Cheng's actions.]

[Penalty for failure: send a two-thousand-word love confession to the Class Group Chat and the Campus Forum. (Content will be written by the system.)]

So this was what he meant when he asked for help earlier?

How should I put this...?

It's certainly a little unexpected, but it shouldn't be too difficult... right?

"If it's part of the plan... phew. All right. But what do you need me to do, Nangong?"