Ryuen appearing at the mall was normal.
A bookstore being in the mall was also normal.
But Ryuen showing up at a bookstore, especially at night, was a bit odd. This guy didn't look like he enjoyed reading, yet here he was. Even though he'd been studying honestly for the past month, it hadn't made him suddenly like books.
"I'll go say hello to Ryuen. I have some things to discuss later that might take a while. Why don't you two head back first?"
If only Shiina had been there, Kamio Tatsuya would have taken her to see Ryuen. But with Kamuro there, it was less convenient. Although his relationship with Kamuro was closer, she was still a student in their class, and some things were just not suitable. Kamio Tatsuya knew how to separate business from personal matters.
When Kamio Tatsuya said this, Shiina immediately understood his concerns. She took Kamuro's hand and said, "That's perfect, we still have some work to finish. We'll head back to the room and wait for you."
Kamuro nodded, not causing any trouble. This made Kamio Tatsuya very happy, as neither of them were the type to be difficult.
"See you later then."
After bidding farewell to Kamuro and the others, Kamio Tatsuya entered the bookstore.
"Happy New Year, Ryuen. It seems your injuries have almost healed."
"Happy New Year," Ryuen replied grudgingly. The insult right off the bat annoyed him. Kamio Tatsuya glanced at what Ryuen was holding. It was a manga book. Did this guy actually like these things? You really couldn't judge a book by its cover!
"Oh, by the way, I saw that guy with the slicked-back hair when I was eating."
"Slicked-back hair?" Ryuen looked puzzled for a moment, then understood. "You mean Shitou? What about him?"
"He said you're no longer fit to be Class C's leader and wants to rally the rebels in the class to take you down."
"Heh, interesting."
Ryuen didn't take Kamio Tatsuya's words seriously at all. He even laughed.
He didn't disbelieve Kamio Tatsuya; Kamio Tatsuya wouldn't joke about something like this. Besides, Shitou's dissatisfaction with him wasn't new; he'd been causing trouble behind his back before. But Ryuen hadn't bothered because it hadn't interfered with his plans. What he found amusing was that Shitou had been discovered the moment he started his move. He was utterly useless. Such a waste wasn't even worth his time. Kamio Tatsuya, too, seemed unfazed. It wasn't that he didn't care, but rather that he already had a counter-strategy in mind.
Just then, Ryuen's phone buzzed. Ryuen took out his phone, saw the message, and immediately burst into laughter.
"What's wrong?"
"You see for yourself."
Kamio Tatsuya took the phone from Ryuen and, upon reading the message, felt utterly speechless.
The text message to Ryuen was from Manabe Shiho, a classmate. It detailed the very plan Shitou had just discussed with her: how to overthrow Ryuen. Every word was written clearly. Wow, Shitou was so unlucky. Not only was he discovered by Kamio Tatsuya as soon as he started, but the partner he sought had also immediately sold him out to Ryuen afterward.
"What do you plan to do? While this guy is foolish, his foolishness might sometimes become an obstacle for Class C to move up to Class A."
"What do you think?"
"Let's remove him," Kamio Tatsuya said casually. "Your promise is to lead the obedient students to Class A, isn't it?"
"Heh, I didn't expect you to know about that. Did Hiyori tell you?" Ryuen said with a chuckle, looking pleased.
"Yes. Since I've decided to help, I naturally need to know my enemy," Kamio Tatsuya picked up his phone and started to reply. "If you don't mind, I'll reply for you." He had already finished typing, hit send, and handed the phone back to Ryuen.
"Whatever you say."
Ryuen took back his phone and looked at Kamio Tatsuya's message.
"Cooperate with Shitou as much as possible, but don't let him find out."
Heh, so he planned to make Manabe a spy within the rebellion. This guy was still so ruthless and dirty! If it were Ryuen, the old Ryuen, he would have found an opportunity to confront Shitou and give him a stern warning. That might have made Shitou behave for a while, but the backlash would have been even worse later on. Kamio Tatsuya's approach was different: plant Manabe within the rebel faction, watch Shitou make his own mistakes, and then strike him down when the time was right. That is, expulsion. His earlier question was to gauge Ryuen's stance. Ryuen's lack of response, and even letting him reply using his phone, meant he agreed. Ryuen had promised the Class C students that he would protect them and lead them to Class A, but that didn't include a fool like Shitou.
Furthermore, when Ryuen had asked all the students in the class for points to fund Kamio Tatsuya's transfer, Shitou had been incredibly uncooperative and hadn't given any. Therefore, Ryuen had no obligation to protect him. Now that Shitou was jumping out to court disaster, let him die. Besides, in this school, useless individuals who act out can bring about the ruin of a class, as seen with Ike Kanji and others in Class D. Ike's whim had caused Class D to lose all the class points they earned in the first semester. Class D didn't have many class points to begin with, but if Ike had rallied a few people and done such a thing, they could have easily lost nearly a thousand class points.
Not only that, but it also left Class D short-handed. Thanks to that, they lost miserably in both the Sports Festival and the Killer Shuffle. Therefore, Kamio Tatsuya intended to remove Shitou before he exploded like a bomb. It was necessary to cut out the rotten flesh, even if it meant a sacrifice. He could accept defeat by a god-like opponent, but he absolutely could not accept defeat due to a clueless teammate dragging him down. As this matter was settled, Kamio Tatsuya suddenly remembered something else.
"Oh, the current student council president might cause trouble for me soon."
The current student council president? Ryuen looked surprised.
"You mean that blonde guy?" Kamio Tatsuya shrugged.
"I remember you two seemed to get along well. What, did you cheat on him?" Ryuen grinned mischievously, making Kamio Tatsuya speechless. Look closely, my hair is black!
"Don't spread rumors without evidence," Kamio Tatsuya said, glancing outside. Not seeing Shiina and Kamuro, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I haven't even sorted things out with these two yet, and you're telling me I'm getting another one? Don't even joke, man."
"Heh, you're actually scared of women. I'm dying of laughter," Ryuen said, finding Kamio Tatsuya's guilty look hilarious.
"Scared? It's called respect. Can what a man does be called fear?" Kamio Tatsuya mumbled for a moment before bringing the conversation back on track. "I can only say that the former student council president's scheme to drive a wedge between us has succeeded. Nagumo plans to make a move on me because Horikita Manabu favors me." Kamio Tatsuya sighed, wondering what kind of mess he was in.
"That Nagumo guy... does he have some other intentions toward Horikita Manabu?"
Ryuen's question, delivered after some thought, left Kamio Tatsuya stunned. What on earth was Ryuen thinking? Nagumo was known as the notorious womanizer of the second year. Asuna-senpai said he hit on girls everywhere. "
And now Ryuen was suggesting he had special feelings for Horikita Manabu. Come to think of it... as he thought about it more, it seemed more and more likely!
"Ahem, anyway, that's not important. What's important is that Nagumo will likely cause trouble for me soon, and it might affect Class C. So I'm giving you a heads-up.
"Don't worry. The first year is so boring. I'd like to spar with some upperclassmen," Ryuen said, closing his manga with an eager look. Alright, his reaction was exactly as I predicted.
"By the way, since you know I promised the Class C students that I would lead them to Class A, do you think I can do it?"
"Hahaha, you're right, I asked a foolish question." Ryuen laughed joyfully. "Then, do you think it's possible for me to accumulate 800 million private points before I graduate in the third year?"
Eight hundred million? Kamio Tatsuya blinked, then couldn't help but laugh. "You really dare to dream, asking for 800 million."
It costs 20 million private points to transfer classes at this school. That means accumulating enough private points for all forty students in a class to transfer would require 800 million.
So Ryuen was considering using 800 million private points for the entire class to ascend? The reason it was 800 million and not 820 million was because Shitou would inevitably be removed by Ryuen and Kamio Tatsuya before graduation.
Even so, 800 million points was an absurd amount. The most rewarding exam for private points that Kamio Tatsuya and his group had experienced was the "Benefactor's Test" during the summer. That test generated a total of 86 million private points, but these points were divided among four classes, not taken by a single class. In the past, no one had ever accumulated 20 million points, and yet Ryuen was aiming for 800 million.
Kamio Tatsuya couldn't help but be amazed by Ryuen's wild ambition.
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