Time passed, and the agreed meeting time had long since gone by.
Chris had no intention of continuing to wait for Ryuuen.
After all, given Ryuuen's personality, if he was coming back he'd have come already; being held up by something and not showing was par for the course.
"I'm not waiting anymore." Chris put away his phone, turned to look at Ichinose Honami beside him, and asked casually:
"What about you? Still waiting here for Ryuuen, or heading straight to see Ayanokoji?"
Ichinose Honami didn't show any irritation at being stood up.
She just propped her chin on one hand, thought seriously for a moment, then gave a light shake of her head.
"Honestly, I only came as a former teammate—to check in on a classmate, and get a bit of intel on him while I was at it.
"Since Ryuuen's already gone over there... I think whether I go or not doesn't really make much of a difference."
Chris nodded. "True enough. Now that he's back, with Ayanokoji's ability there'll always be opportunities down the road. No real need to rush it."
Hearing their exchange, Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her cheek slightly to one side.
Her big eyes blinking, she mused, "Come to think of it... Ayanokoji currently exists at this school as a 'Combat teaching assistant,' rather than a formal Koodu Ikusei student, right?
"In his current state, can he still actively join a Special Exam or an advance test?"
Chris glanced at her. "No idea. For specifics we can only ask Chabashira-sensei later, or go straight to the Black Sphere Space before the exam and ask the presiding god.
"But I already returned the items he'd left behind, and on top of that he still keeps his Black Sphere Watch. I'd think that—aside from special situations like being forcibly dragged into an extra instance—he'll have no trouble protecting himself."
Kamuro Masumi, listening beside them, couldn't help opening her mouth in mild surprise.
"You gave it all back to him that quickly...? I thought you'd wait until the exam and only return it when you ran into him at the venue."
"You're overthinking it." Chris shook his head helplessly.
"Of the items Ayanokoji left, the only useful ones to me were the two vials of serum for strengthening my own baseline. To Ryuuen... not a single one is useful. And the rest of the gear can't just be lent out to other people to use."
Chris spread his hands, matter-of-factly.
"So I might as well just return it to the man himself. Saves any trouble from something getting lost or damaged later.
"Besides, Ayanokoji has already been chosen by the Black Sphere several times before—who's to guarantee he won't get randomly picked again one day?
"Anyway, I'm not short on points right now. There's absolutely no need to take a risk and greedily hoard for such petty gains."
After Ichinose Honami finished listening, she pursed her pale-pink lips.
Recalling the string of crises lately, she couldn't help sighing.
"It's just—I'm not sure when our next exam is going to be...
"If it ends up being like the upperclassmen, then I'm afraid we're in for a stretch of high-intensity exams."
Sakayanagi Arisu rested her chin on one hand and murmured, "After all, they're the poor souls who got forcibly teleported to another world by a Spacetime Rift during the midterm exam. The vast majority of them still don't have any powerful life-saving equipment on hand.
"Honestly, the fact that they held out until only yesterday before something went wrong is itself a miracle."
Chris paused, then took the opening to speak.
"By the look of it, we can't keep being stingy with those class points of ours either.
"Reality isn't giving us time to plan things out slowly according to the original schedule... We can't just stand by and watch while knowing full well our classmates' lives are in danger. That'd be far too ugly a look."
Hearing this, Ichinose Honami obediently gave a nod or two, echoing him.
"You're right, senpai—it really should be that way!"
But soon she let out a somewhat frustrated sigh. "It's a shame, though. Those items in the mysterious shop can only be exchanged in the presiding god's space outside of exam times... For most people, they really lack accessibility.
"All people can rely on for self-defense are the standard pieces of equipment exchanged through the Black Sphere Watch. Even if they wanted to use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for targeted training, the improvement wouldn't quite meet current needs."
At this point Kamuro Masumi couldn't resist cutting in. "Ichinose, you want to eat yourself fat in one bite—I don't think that's really possible...
"Right now, just fully arming the ones confirmed to be taking the exam and those joining the advance test is already the limit, isn't it?"
Ichinose Honami lowered her eyelids and sighed, blaming herself.
"I know... It's just, seeing everyone so scared and anxious, I can't help wanting to do a little more..." As she spoke, the girl suddenly seemed to remember something and looked up at Chris.
"Oh, right—that 'Instance Card' slot you mentioned before... Our class has already discussed it and decided to send Amikura.
"It's just... adding up her points now, she's only got twenty-something. If she wants to enter the mirror instance during the exam to obtain a Contract Beast, I'm afraid I'll need to front her some points..."
Before she could finish, Sakayanagi Arisu bluntly cut her off.
"Ichinose, did you forget?
"When Kiryuuin-senpai came back yesterday, she made a point of telling us.
"If a lent-out item isn't brought back in the end, or gets damaged in the exam venue, it'll permanently vanish from the system."
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at her with a faint smile. "Whether it's for the sake of training yourself or preventing an accident with high-grade items, there's no need to be in such a rush to gamble your entire fortune and life, is there?"
Chris agreed.
"What's more, we're not even sure right now whether an instance opened with an Instance Card might throw up some unexpected variables. No need to risk splitting our forces during the formal exam.
"If we're up against a high-scoring target then and come up a man short, that'd be bad."
Not to mention... he'd already promised Karuizawa Kei that he'd take her into an instance with him.
Naturally he couldn't go back on his word so easily.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, he still wanted to use the Mirror World's properties to play into the later Sacrifice Exam plot of "The Cabin in the Woods."
How could he possibly lose sight of the bigger picture and throw this whole grand chessboard into disarray early just to let Amikura Mako grab a Contract Beast ahead of time?
If he used it now, what would there be left for him to look forward to later?
Hearing the two of them object, Ichinose Honami's cheeks flushed slightly.
Her small hands unconsciously rubbed at the hem of her sportswear as she lowered her head, a little ashamed.
"Sorry... I got a bit carried away out of concern."
Chris waved a hand and consoled her indifferently.
"Understandable. If anything, this fretting-over-everyone-else look is exactly your style, Ichinose.
"That said, you've got plenty of points on hand now, so you really could buy a 'Blank Card Box' as an auxiliary and self-defense measure."
However, regarding the 'Blank Card Box' and the Mirror World—Chris was actually hiding a combo here that he hadn't spelled out.
According to the settings of Kamen Rider Ryuki, the only things that can persist for long in the Mirror World are native Mirror Beasts and Contract Beasts bound by a pact.
Ordinary people, even a transformed Kamen Rider, can't stay as long as they please; once time runs out, they particlize and dissipate.
So then... what if, when facing a powerful enemy, you unexpectedly dragged the exam target forcibly into the Mirror World?
Without the corresponding special ability to break the dimensional wall, those monsters would ultimately be unable to escape the fate of being broken down and vanishing by the world's rules.
Like, in the gap where the world is time-stopped, using this smooth little combo to stuff the monster into the mirror.
Honestly, Chris figured that even a BOSS on the level of Muzan or Jogo absolutely couldn't dodge it. At most, because of their tenacious vitality, they'd just break down a little more slowly.
Of course, this kind of "class-skipping"-level tactic wasn't something Chris planned to point out directly.
Now it was just a matter of whether, later, some little genius could take this small detail that had just surfaced and extend it into this kind of playstyle.
But Ichinose Honami, unusually, didn't immediately agree as she normally would.
She just shook her head a little helplessly.
"You already have a Blank Card Box now, senpai... If it's just for me to use alone, I feel like it'd be a bit extravagant to spend the points.
"I'd rather save my points and see whether the mysterious shop refreshes with something more targeted later—something that can protect everyone."
Seeing that her mind was made up, Chris didn't say anything more.
He just changed the subject rather casually.
"Buy it or not, either way's fine. As long as our items are enough to get by for now, keeping points on hand as a safety net is never wrong.
"It's just that I'm thinking about something else..."
Chris narrowed his eyes slightly. "If this current frequency of always starting exams early becomes the norm—at a rate of at least once, maybe even twice a week...
"Then before the final exam arrives, I'm afraid we'll have to take several extra Black Sphere exams.
"And by the time the finals come, in order to match the 'midterm exam,' the difficulty of the finals will definitely spike considerably. Otherwise how could it be called the big exam of the semester?"
At these words, Ichinose Honami fell silent for a good while.
In the end, the girl clenched her fair fist, as if psyching herself up, her gaze turning resolute again. "Let's do our best, senpai!
"I'll work really hard too!"
Chris smiled.
"Seeing you think that way sets my mind at ease."
Afterward, Chris glanced down the corridor—still not a shadow of Ryuuen.
So he waved a hand, said goodbye to Ichinose and Sakayanagi, turned, and headed off in the opposite direction.
...
Now, over on Ryuuen's side.
Actually, because he'd learned ahead of time from Chris about Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's intent to transfer into his class—
Even analyzing it rationally, Ryuuen knew this Ayanokoji kid was most likely coming because his class had the least competitive pressure; no one would fight him for a slot in the advance test or even the main event.
He was purely looking for an empty spot.
But... so what?
For Ryuuen, being able to freeload a top-tier, combat-capable immediate asset like Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was a guaranteed, no-loss deal any way you sliced it!
If some future Black Sphere exam got a whim and set up some kind of class-versus-class match... with Ayanokoji on his team, he, Ryuuen, would profit big.
After all, even now that the Special Exams have entered the phase governed by the presiding god, don't they still distribute class points based on each class's performance at the final tally?
Although everyone's all friendly right now under the life-and-death crisis, this kind of prepare-for-a-rainy-day foundation—it could be treated with an even mind, but it was absolutely a factor that had to be considered.
However, when Ryuuen strode over with his who-cares-about-anyone gait and arrived at the combat-dedicated classroom where Ayanokoji was...
The scene before him left him sorely disappointed.
He didn't see any hardcore drama of Ayanokoji oozing dominance and teaching combat killing techniques.
Instead, he saw a crowd of nameless bystanders in school uniforms surrounding Ayanokoji three layers deep, chattering all at once to ask what exactly had happened after he'd gone out, and what the outside world was like.
Chirping away like a flock of sparrows—it gave Ryuuen a splitting headache.
Fortunately, before he could impatiently bellow at these idiots to scram—
Hirata Yousuke, who had arrived ahead of him, had already spoken up gently, signaling everyone to quiet down, taking it upon himself to shoulder the duty of smoothing the mood.
Although in the current era after the Black Sphere exam appeared, he was no match for the strong and fierce Chris in force, nor as popular in sheer presence as Horikita Manabu and the others once were.
But he was, after all, the current Class A's outward leader, and everyone's acknowledged nice guy.
On top of that, he looked to be on good terms with Ayanokoji—the two seemed to share a deep karmic bond.
So there were still plenty of people willing to give him face and do as Hirata Yousuke suggested.
"Everyone, don't rush." Hirata stood at the edge of the crowd, pressing both hands down slightly.
"Ayanokoji-kun has only just returned and has a lot of work to deal with. If anyone has questions to ask, feel free to leave them on your phones for now.
"Once Ayanokoji-kun has time, I'll compile a summary, then share it uniformly to each of our group chats. That's more efficient, and won't waste everyone's time."
At this, Ryuuen, leaning against the doorframe, raised an eyebrow and let out a cold sneer.
Though he didn't think there was anything wrong with the way it was handled, Hirata Yousuke's personality was just far too nice-guy, far too soft.
This was different from Ichinose Honami.
After all, Ichinose was a woman, and had a flawless, saintly appearance on top of that—people were naturally willing to indulge her.
But Hirata Yousuke, as a grown man... just indulging another crowd of men like this with no limits?
Ryuuen would bet that later on, if they ran into those new transfer students who'd never taken a Black Sphere exam and thus had no sense of what they were dealing with, they'd inevitably lose touch with reality and end up walking all over him.
Of course, this was the private business of Chris's class, and Ryuuen couldn't be bothered to meddle in others' affairs.
He just waited quietly.
It wasn't until Hirata Yousuke had dispersed most of the irrelevant people and the classroom returned to quiet—
that Ryuuen finally stuffed his hands in his pockets and sauntered leisurely over in front of Ayanokoji.
Seeing Ayanokoji's usual unruffled dead-fish face, along with his currently empty hands—
Ryuuen grinned.
"By the look of it, that guy Chris wasn't lying to me.
"After you left school and came back, you really did fucking fully fuse that Parasyte into your body!"
He sized Ayanokoji up and down, with a trace of scrutiny.
"So then, if I also leave school someday carrying my Cybernetic Body and come back—wouldn't I really turn into a cyborg?"
Ayanokoji, who had already learned the other's identity from the Parasyte's mouth, shook his head.
He said noncommittally, "Perhaps.
"But I can't use its abilities in the outside world, and even when entering the exam venue as an Intruder... it's in a locked state as well."
Ayanokoji glanced at his own right arm. "Even though this is already after I spent points worth three times its own value to buy it out outright."
Ryuuen stroked his chin and thought for a moment.
He immediately strung the intel together.
"Not long after you left, our exam phase changed—an existence calling itself the 'presiding god' appeared. And the original Black Sphere got demoted to a guide for the testers.
"Back then, the presiding god said that in other worlds there'd be things like 'Spacetime Rifts.'
"In the so-called 'Magic-less World,' all extraordinary power gets suppressed—only we Anchors can be spared thanks to our privileges."
Ryuuen snorted coldly.
"And in those worlds where items can be used, the permissions are tiered too.
"Aside from us Anchors holding the highest permission, next come the formal examinees selected by slot; then the testers taking the advance test; and last... only then come people like you, the poor bastards who got randomly dragged in—the Intruders."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's brow furrowed slightly. "I see...
"Put that way, it does add up. Back then, apart from Chris, those girls at his side—when faced with the reaper's pursuit, all of them performed as nothing but ordinary people.
"By rights, given their seniority at the time, they should have had at least a set of Combat Suits.
"So the factor at work there must be this class suppression you mentioned..."
At this moment—
Hirata Yousuke, who had just finished sorting through the students' messages and was about to come over to strike up a conversation, heard the exchange between these two.
He stepped a few paces closer and, unable to help it, cut in with a face full of confusion.
"...Ryuuen?
"You got here this fast—you're here to find Ayanokoji too?"
Ryuuen didn't turn around, merely gave a slight nod as acknowledgment that he'd heard Hirata was there. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, meanwhile, took the timely opportunity to speak, ending the discussion about the Black Sphere.
"Now that the extraneous folks have mostly left, I ought to fulfill my duties as a teaching assistant."
He stared straight at Ryuuen without a ripple.
"You two—do you want to sign up for the Combat class?"
The subtext was self-evident:
This was inside the school, with countless surveillance cameras watching.
To discuss matters privately, they had to do it under the process-compliant guise of "instruction."
An old hand like Ryuuen naturally caught the hidden meaning in his words.
He took the cue and shrugged off his uniform jacket, tossing it onto a mat to the side, and walked to the center of the mat while flexing his wrists.
"Chris tells me you're planning to transfer into my class...
"I welcome strong people joining, sure. But the procedures that need doing still have to be done!"
Ryuuen's gaze turned vicious.
"I'll take this chance to see your ability with my own eyes!
"You've got a Combat Suit as a safety net now anyway, so if we really fight, it doesn't count as me bullying you."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained expressionless, silently stepping onto the mat and assuming a defensive stance. "Fine."
Hirata Yousuke, watching these two about to come to blows over a single disagreement, was utterly dumbfounded.
He looked at Ayanokoji, thoroughly bewildered.
"Ayanokoji-kun, you're transferring to Ryuuen's class?!
"Why? Weren't you doing perfectly fine in Class A? Everyone trusts you so much..."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his head aside and said calmly, "Because Class A's slots are limited.
"I need to guarantee I can steadily join the advance test every time. I don't want to fight with you all over those life-saving slots."
Hearing this blunt, unvarnished reason—
A vein twitched on Ryuuen's forehead.
"I guessed long ago that this was the reason you came to me...
"But having you say it straight to my face like that really is infuriating!"
Ryuuen abruptly kicked off the ground and shot out. "Cut the crap! Do your damn duty as a teaching assistant!"
Facing the charging Ryuuen—
Hirata Yousuke retreated worriedly beyond the safety line, blurting out reflexively:
"Ayanokoji-kun... will you win?"
"Bang!"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka steadily caught Ryuuen's heavy, forceful punch, a shockwave of air bursting out beneath the two of them.
He tilted his head slightly. "I'll win."
____
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