"Don't underestimate me, old man."
Ryuen's mocking laughter left the man thoroughly embarrassed.
He never expected his sneak attack to be countered by a high school student, instantly making him feel utterly humiliated.
"Let me go, now!"
The man's shout was purely instinctive.
He hardly believed the other would actually listen and release him so easily. Yet, Ryuen, like an obedient child, compliantly loosened his grip.
After a brief hesitation, the man chose to turn and run. That one punch had made it clear—the gap in strength between him and this boy was vast. If he got caught again, he might not be lucky enough to be let off a second time.
"You don't actually think you can get away, do you? I recorded the whole thing while you were tailing her. You creepy old man can just wait to get expelled."
Ryuen raised his phone, shouting at the man's retreating back.
Ibuki shot a curious glance at Ryuen.
Then she looked down at the two drink bottles in her hands.
Wasn't he just drinking a moment ago? When did he have time to record anything?
Whether it was a guilty conscience or sheer fear of expulsion, the man actually stopped in his tracks.
Ryuen strolled over unhurriedly, glancing around. This small alley near the restaurant had no surveillance cameras.
Besides the restaurant's side door, no one had any reason to be here. The man had, in his panic, run right into the spot most advantageous for Ryuen.
Smack!
A sharp, crisp sound rang out.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ryuen slapped the man to the ground.
"Go on, run. Let's see you try and get away now."
Ryuen crouched in front of the man, a cruel yet excited grin spreading across his face. He grabbed the man's hair, forcing him to look up.
What had this guy done to fall for such a simple, blatant lie? Why would he rather endure humiliation from a high schooler than risk expulsion?
Ryuen sensed something unusual. Maybe this weekend wouldn't be as boring as he'd thought.
"Please, let me go... I'll do anything, just don't report me..."
The man, facing someone far younger, actually fell to his knees, begging incessantly.
Ryuen responded to the pleas with nothing but a cold sneer.
"Anything? Then hand over what you just hid in your jacket."
Ryuen had seen this old man kissing something earlier. It didn't take a genius to guess it was probably related to some girl—private photos, maybe, or scandalous love letters. If so, he'd have immediate leverage over him.
"N-Not that! That's my love for Shizuku! How... how could I give it to a vulgar thug like you who only knows violence?"
The man shouted with a surprising, self-righteous fervor.
Ryuen's answer was three merciless punches, striking so hard the man couldn't even lift his head.
"Vulgar? Hah. Does a pervert who lusts after high school girls really have the right to call Ryuen Kakeru vulgar?"
Ryuen directly retrieved the item the man had hidden—a stack of unopened letters. The sender's name was written on them: Kusuda. The recipient: Shizuku.
That name made Ryuen frown. He didn't recall anyone in the first-year classes with 'Shizuku' in their name. To get more info, he'd have to open the letters.
"No, please don't read those! They're my love... Agh!"
A kick to the eye socket finally forced Kusada to quiet down.
"Hey! Ryuen, what are you doing? If he reports you for hitting him so hard—"
"If he reports me, I'll make sure everyone knows about his crush on a high school girl. The girl he likes might even spit in his face and call him a creep."
Ryuen held the letters, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
So, Sakura Airi from Class 1-D was a former idol.
Her stage name was Shizuku. And this fool, now sobbing at his feet, had enrolled in this school just to be close to the idol he adored.
How utterly pathetic.
Forget whether this idiot even had the money to support an idol. Could someone who could be called an idol ever take a useless fool like him seriously? What a joke.
Ryuen Kakeru had stopped dreaming such unrealistic dreams back in kindergarten.
"Huh?"
Ibuki's expression twisted with clear disgust and discomfort, visibly creeped out that Kusada was infatuated with a girl their own age.
"Lucky for you it was me you ran into. Anyone else would've dragged you straight to the police. Can't say you're unlucky in the luck department."
Riiip—!
One by one, Ryuen tore the love letters to shreds right before his eyes.
Kusada lay on the ground, weeping bitterly at his own powerlessness, but it was useless. He could only watch as Ryuen destroyed nearly every letter.
But as he reached the final one, Ryuen paused, a thought striking him. He pocketed it.
"Ibuki, let's go."
"O-okay."
Ibuki glanced back at the still-sobbing Kusada, then quickly caught up to Ryuen.
As she fell into step beside him, she caught a sudden glimpse of the cruel smile playing on his lips.
"With this, I'll get to see a good show. Hope that Miyako Amane doesn't disappoint."
Ryuen hated remembering names. In his view, only names with tangible value deserved to be remembered by Ryuen Kakeru.
But the name Miyako Amane was one he couldn't shake, even if he tried. It always seemed to pop up and ruin his mood when he was happiest.
Not only had she and that girl from Class B—what was her name again?—swindled him out of 400,000 private points, but when he tried to outsmart them afterward, Amane turned the tables, costing him another 50,000 points down the drain.
Even though Class C had a much stronger foundation than Class D, even they couldn't sustain that level of loss.
Yamada had still been challenging his authority back then; his mistake nearly undid all their previous schemes.
Thankfully, he'd since beaten Albert Yamada into submission.
Now, Ryuen was planning to properly take on Amane.
"You're still going to provoke her? She might seem a bit flaky, but from what I've heard, she's seriously not someone to mess with."
Just hearing Amane's name gave Ibuki a headache.
The first time, it was because of her that Amane got leverage over them.
Ryuen had to pay through the nose to protect her. Remembering that made Ibuki grind her teeth in frustration.
But when it came to actively targeting Amane, Ibuki wasn't exactly confident.
"The tougher she is, the more I want to cross swords with her. We need to figure out how a potential threat like her operates early on, so we aren't blindsided later by some sudden rise. And if we fail? Consider it tuition. Class D doesn't have what it takes to climb over us."
Ryuen's confidence was infectious.
Even though Ibuki didn't care for his methods, his presence gave her a sense that there was nothing he wouldn't dare to do. Maybe, under his leadership, Class C really could reach Class A one day...
Achoo! Achoo!
Amane, walking along the path, suddenly sneezed twice out of nowhere.
Airi, who was happily eating a cloud of cotton candy beside her, immediately looked over with concern.
"Amane, are you catching a cold? It's summer, but the evenings still get pretty chilly. You should take care to stay warm."
Staying warm at night...
That's kinda tough with that going on.
"Feels more like someone's talking about me, weirdly enough."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.