67 Chapter 13: Kurushima vs. Ayanokoji

A/N: Here comes the chapter.

I hope you all will like it. 

Please make sure to leave a comment there in the end cause it will be very helpful. 

Here's also the image of Hiyori as I mentioned last time. 

I'm gonna continue them so be excited. If there are any girls you'd like to be generated in particular tell it to me and I'll try my best, if it works. 

[Image:]

Anyway, that's going to be everything. 

Hopefully you have fun reading this chapter.

[Word Count: 7698]

--

[Ayanokoji Pov]

[22nd December]

"Then you must be Y, I presume."

The person in front of me neither affirmed it nor denied it.

Even if he remained quiet, I'd have expected him to nod or shake his head at least. 

In the end, I expected that much, at least from him. Then again, the person in front of me was clearly not intending on revealing his identity. 

It was evident by the fact that he wore a black mask that entirely covered his face. But not many people should have been aware of my meeting with Ryūen, today.

But it's not something Y would not been able to deduce, anyhow. My actions in the Sports Festival should have made this clear, already. 

In the blur of a moment, Kurushima, who was supposed to participate in the Sports Festival at the Final Rally as our final runner, had to retire, who was also our fastest runner, and instead, I participated, for his stead. 

Ryūen was under the impression that I'd be hiding, and this matter itself, was purely coincidental, so he naturally would also not think I'd be using this.

X, the Mastermind, relied on simple luck?

That was not his impression of X, at all.

In the end, I did. It's not something I intended too, initially, but I've had a change of mind, when the opportunity arrived.

A few plans I had in mind changed, but in the end, the result would have been the same, no matter which plan I chose regarding Ryūen. 

However, Y, who knew me back from the Island Exam already, should have gotten confirmation of my intention, with this, too. 

Instead of hiding myself, I wanted this violent confrontation all along, because it was the only language Ryūen would have understood. 

It's something Sakayanagi was able to deduce, most likely, due to her association with the White Room, as I was the White Room's one and only success. 

But it was not her alone, too. That included Kurushima, too, who deduced it based on one of our conversations, and simple logical reasoning on what happened so far.

After clearing the issue that I never wanted to hide from Ryūen's eyes, it was clear for him.

Of course, Y was different. 

However, even if he did not realize it at that point, there were plentiful of occasions,, he could have used, for his deductions. 

The Cruise Ship with the Karuizawa situation, if he asked his classmates from Class D about something strangely occurring in the meetings of the Rabbit Group. 

He should have been able to deduce something going on with Karuizawa, which made her reliant on other boys, essentially, since she was around Mashida, closely, from the current Class A, even though, she had a boyfriend. 

Also, there was the scheme with the protection of her VIP identity, in which Karuizawa was involved with me, so that itself was also clearly suspicious. We never talked, but suddenly, she was involved with me. 

He should have known the truth, like Ichinose.

If not for that, there was also an indication during the time when the Paper Shuffle concluded and we met up in a Karaoke Room, where Karuizawa, however, spilled juice on Kushida's Uniform according to my orders. 

If he met her or saw her on that day, he might have concluded what happened based on these events.

We students, generally, only have a two pair of student uniforms. For additional ones, we would be in need of tailoring them, from a shop at the Keyaki Mall. 

Once the juice was spilled, Karuizawa paid for the cleaning of Kushida's Uniform at the laundromat, and smuggled a cheat paper in her blazer.

A tactic that could have worked or not, depending on which Uniform Kushida decided to wear on the days of the Exam, in his view.

In my view, it'd have definitely worked, because she blackmailed me with rape, so wearing that uniform, where my fingerprints are, is something she'd not do. 

But no one else, was in knowledge, of that, as of now. 

So even if this appeared suspicious, it was nothing he could have been sure of, if he did not witness the incident happening between me and Kushida where she framed me of rape.

In short, just a matter of luck, that would have decided whether Kushida is expelled or not, according to his view, and that of anyone else, too. 

Although there were some other indications with Karuizawa's sudden change, which should have made him attentive on that.

Essentially, for one, she would be around me more often.

Even if the only person in-between us was Hirata, sometimes, for lunch break, it did not change, that she hanged around me, who she'd have never been involved, with. 

In that sense, my appearance here today, was something he might have been confident, all along. 

It required immense deduction skills, for one to conclude this. 

However, he was aware of me, all along, so another explanation, which I believe too, would work, is him knowing of the existence of the White Room, with me known as the White Room's success.

I could not deny it nor affirm it.

Depending on which case, I'd be more impressed. If it's the first one, his deduction capability is certainly very impressive. 

Connecting all these dots together, through the entire time. 

If it's the second one, I'm rather less impressed. 

Currently, around nine boys from Ichinose's class are within Y's height, which is around my height, wherein Kanzaki, is, included, too. 

But I could not understand why he appeared, here.

The irrationality behind his actions, currently.

The essential reason with Y was even admits all these countless speculations, neither Ryūen nor I have gotten a confirmation which gender they belonged. 

Ryūen must have speculated that it was a boy from the way of how his E-Mails were written, but it naturally didn't mean it was like that, automatically. 

In other words, through his entire class, he was very well hidden.

A class that is fairly similar in regard to academics and athleticism, so you couldn't pinpoint who was among them exceptionally well. 

But even among those, there're some that stood up from the rest. 

Naturally, Ichinose stood out the most in their class, but she was not Y, after all. 

Kanzaki, the leader next to her in line, who easily could have realistically achieved all these things, stood out, more, among these students. 

Did Kanzaki know that I'm suspecting him as Y, so he appeared here under that belief to solidify his innocence in the end...?

There was no real reason for Y to appear here today, aside from that.

And if he was in fact, in knowledge of the White Room, would he really appear here...?

No... it might be possible.

That man has visitor rooms for his Sponsors...

It usually shows the less cruel side of the White Room and, in some way, would show our mental abilities, but not as much from our physical abilities.

Especially not our martial art progress showing how a child is punished, shown to fight an adult who specializes in one martial art, otherwise punished, or various other kinds of training schedules we had...

Showing how a child is mercilessly beaten by an adult expert to install fear inside them is something that 'that man' would never show his sponsors.

Fear has been one of the essential parts of each white room student ingrained...

If he's under that impression, it could have been possible.

Haah...

I've been analyzing something useless again. 

Y was right in front of me, so why was I doing this again?

I'm not entirely sure, but today, he threw away the advantageous cards he held with appearing here today.

A grave mistake, which will lead to his identity being revealed.

However his appearance here proved one additional thing, too. 

Despite the fact that he saw four people being beaten by one single person, his stature has not shown any change at all through the whole time. 

In very simple words, he was someone fairly acquainted with martial arts; for him to still elude this confident kind of posture in this situation, regardless.

I could hardly tell anything about my opponent, aside from his potential height, potential weight, and potential shoe size, with these simple rough estimates.

There was nothing else I could observe, aside from that.

He wore a black outfit, with his skin entirely covered by the outfit, so it's hard, in fact, to notice who it was. 

But even if I had been able and seen his skin, in the dark, it's hard to carefully observe it and conclude who the person in front of me was, based on that piece of information.

Kanzaki has always been one of the most suspicious people, but naturally, one could not deny, whether it was someone else, too. 

Throwing your advantage away...

In the end, it seems like his overconfidence in his abilities will lead him to his downfall.

I expected... more from the individual that predicted my actions...

I'm slightly disappointed...

"If you decided to appear here today, you must be quite confident of beating me. But I'm afraid that won't go down as you expected."

"You're just one single person. You'll need more than that to beat me."

A moment of silence, but the person in front of me did not answer. 

I never expected to get an answer to begin with, but I wanted to see his reaction to what I said. 

In the end, his body stature did not change. 

Still remaining confident, huh...?

"... So you're not going to reply, huh...?"

"I suppose that was to be expected, after all."

With today, the mystery about Y's existence, will be solved, too.

I'm a bit disappointed, but well, that's nothing I can change now, can I? 

"Time for Round 3."

Admits the moment of silence, the two of us had a lockdown of our eyes.

Mine looked at his, the only thing preventing me of seeing the eyes behind it, his black mask that covered his entire face, while that of his, looked at mine, currently.

In the spur of a moment I noticed how his chest was moving upwards, taking a deep breath, before the fight between us would start. 

I was thinking whether to attack him or not, but I'll evaluate the person in front of me firstly, before I'll be thoroughly starting.

Although I was very well aware that he must be someone very impressive by simply standing in front of me currently, because he must have defeated Horikita Manabu, which is something, clearly impressive. 

On top of that, without myself suspecting anything at all, as I did not hear anything from the outside, even in the slightest bit. 

Defeating Horikita Manabu, it surely is not an easy thing at all. 

He ranked 5th Dan in Karate, and 4th Dan in Aikido.

That alone places him in at the top of the school in terms of a fight. 

Even someone like Albert Yamada would have trouble on defeating him. A fight Horikita Manabu would win ultimately, with hard efforts. 

But the person in front of me looked completely unharmed. 

Perhaps he sneaked on him, but I cannot tell. 

Even if he did, it would mean his stealth abilities were that good, that someone like Horikita Manabu did not notice him. 

I wonder...

Which one was the case...?

Still, it won't be enough to beat me.

However, I at least now understand where his confidence is coming from.

Swish

"Close Call."

I muttered, dodging the kick from him towards my face, as I swiftly shifted my weight to the left, narrowly evading the trajectory of the kick.

It was a roundhouse kick he aimed towards my face with his left leg.

But after further inspection of how his footwork was placed and how his kick was prepared, it was easy to tell he was a practitioner of the martial art of karate. 

This kick was also known in Karate as Mawashi Geri, a very powerful kick, if you're hit with it. 

It was very fast.

Faster than that of Horikita Manabu's one, in the past, when he pinned his little sister towards the wall and he tried to hit me with this kick. 

If it wasn't for my fast reflexes now, I might have gotten hit with it. 

Unfortunately for me, I was not able to start a counterattack, and my opponent suddenly started to guard himself up.

If it were against any other opponent, it'd have been successful. To his misfortune, I was his opponent. 

But that kick...

It was definitely better than that of Horikita Manabu's.

So even the best student in Japan can be bested by someone who's not originating from the White Room, huh...?

Quite the surprise, indeed. 

Swish

Immediately, he approached me again, throwing several punches at me.

He was someone who was using only Karate, but perhaps he was a practitioner of another martial art, too. 

Although, until now, there was no indication for that so far. 

I was able to block his attacks easily. But likewise, he has done the same with my possible counterattacks so far.

I might decide to go one step further now. 

Swish

The person in front of me did another one of his hand-strikes he used so far. 

I moved my right arm upwards, blocking it, with an outside block.

But this time, I noticed something different from the other ones, so I immediately moved my left arm upward the same, blocking the strike that would have hit me. 

While primarily this hand strike does not seem to be very dangerous at all, the person in front of me moved his arm differently, turning it around, so when I would block it with my right arm, the hand strike would hit my neck when blocked, aimed at a dangerous location which would make me lose my consciousness.

To be more precise, it was aimed towards the carotid sinus.

No matter how strong one is, or how much one trains themselves, it'd have led me to become unconsciousness if I was hit by the hand strike. 

If executed correctly, "carotid strike" will cause a sudden loss of oxygen to the brain, followed by the fainting and collapse.

It's located on either side of the neck, slightly behind the jaw. 

The carotid sinus is the area at which the common carotid artery separates into the internal and external carotid arteries. The carotid sinus contains numerous baroreceptors which act to regulate our blood pressure.

A strike to the carotid sinus "confuses" the receptors to believe that the body's blood pressure is too high. That, in turn, leads to a sudden drop in blood pressure, as the body attempts to rectify the "high blood pressure".

The effect is insufficient blood supply to the brain, which triggers the fainting. It is a very striking result. 

And the hand strike he was doing was strong enough to make this happen. 

It's also known as Knife Hand Strike, Karate Chop, or in Japanese known as shuto-uchi.

By simply moving your thumb next to your pointer finger and bending the thumb finger to the left if one is right-handed or to the right if one is left-handed you're able to create enough tension in the edge of the hand to punch through bricks, hit hard enough against the solar plexus with it, the ribs, the head, or in this case, the carotid sinus. 

The past attacks were all meant to leave me with a different belief, while this was his real intention from the very beginning. 

Making me fast unconsciousness.

His first attack with the kick aimed towards that. When he noticed it didn't work, he secretively thought of this method all along. 

Against any opponent in this school this move would have worked, but I'm the opponent he's facing, so I was able to block it, before his hand hit my carotid sinus. 

Given the current predicament he was in, as I had blocked his attempt of an attack with his two arms still blocked by me at the moment, I immediately hit him several times with the palms of my right and left hand against his chin and his face. 

It left him slightly stumbled upon, so while I was at it, I hit him with a front kick, which made him fall to the ground. 

Now, he should have realized the mistake behind his overconfidence today.

But well, I can't deny that if I were never here, he would have been justified with it. 

To my surprise, in the spur of the moment where I kicked him with a front kick, and he fell on the ground, he used the momentum of it and rolled himself backwards so that he was able to immediately get up without any troubles.

I was planning to use this to my advantage, but well, I guess that won't happen. 

He's far better than expected. 

"Not bad. I can see now why Horikita Manabu stood no chance against you. But don't expect the fight against me to be as easy as the one you had with him."

I could see how he was clenching his fists. It must have been frustrating to know that you're getting bested currently, in something, you're normally very confident. 

If he did not appear everything would have been going fine for him, but well, sometimes, overconfidence in one's own abilities can lead to this very own scenario. 

For someone who indirectly must control many things behind the scene, it must have been a huge shock that I was pushing him this far, currently. 

Like before, when our battle was in the process of starting, I saw how his chest was moving upwards again, taking a deep breath.

But afterward, his posture changed. 

He seemed to be now more focused, and took this more serious.

Initially, he came with the assumption of easily winning, but after seeing how I used Wing Chul, Jeet Kune Do, Karate, Muay Thai, so far against him and bested him, he seemed to have realized, this is something he should have taken wholeheartedly. 

Swish

As he lunged forward at me again, he threw several strikes at me. They were faster than before and had more power behind them.

That was something I could easily tell. 

His strikes were swift and precise, a testament to his karate training.

Yet, despite his relentless assault, I managed to deflect each blow.

Immediately, I hit him several times with the palms of my hands against his face, overwhelming him with the amount of my strikes temporarily. 

Just when I wanted to grab his mask with my right hand, he slapped my arm away with his arm, backing away, seeing that I had a counter-attack prepared, with which I could hit him, if he did not back away. 

"That's a surprise. Fast reflexes and a good amount of spacial awareness." 

"You'd be definitely better than anyone in this school, probably."

"But unfortunately, I'm your opponent."

My attacks should have dealt damage, but he's quite the durable person. I attacked him against his nose, chin, face, against his stomach, but he's still standing, easily. 

Unlike when I fought Ryūen, the force of my punches and attacks was more severe, so I was quite surprised, nonetheless, to see him standing up like that, effortlessly. 

But in comparison with my fight against Ryūen, I did not let myself get deliberately hit by him.

With Ryūen, it was different. 

I was genuinely curious whether I could experience the "fear" he was talking about, so I took a few punches from him.

To be more precisely, it were four.

With Albert, from whom I also let myself deliberately hit by, it was five punches in total, I received, during the fight with them. 

But with this person in front of me, it was different. 

From his roundhouse kick alone, I knew, I shouldn't let myself hit by him.

Although, if there was an advantage for me in it, I would potentially do it. 

Swish

He leaped through once again, aiming several jabs towards me. I was able to deflect them easily, and aimed to deliver a kick towards his leg that was close, but he narrowly dodged it, avoiding the attack. 

Not even a second further, he launched a kick with the same leg I tried to attack. 

But instead of dodging it, I had two other intentions right now. One outweighed by far the other of my intention, so I let it happen, letting him kick my left ribcage. 

"It surely does hurt. So that's how a kick from you feels like, huh...?"

"Horikita Manabu would have stood no chance either way, if you sneaked on him, chopping him on the carotid sinus, or if the two of you had fought." 

"That's very interesting to know."

But in return for letting him kick my left ribcage, probably having bruised one or the other rib with his kick, I held his right leg with my left arm, making him unable to leave, as he was now standing on one leg. 

I was curious about how much force the kick had, so I decided to take it instead of avoiding it, by trying to block it with my arm. 

Of course, I could have done it, but there was no reason for me to do this. 

And now, I could simply put him easily on the ground with a well familiar judo move. 

But then I saw, however, what he did. 

"Close Call."

I released his right leg as he immediately once I got ahold of his right leg tried to kick me with his other leg at my face, which was holding him on the ground.

In order for me to avoid his incoming kick, I could have tried on blocking it, but with this kind of speed it was moving and the strength of the kick I witnessed so far by my own, I decided to dodge it, preventing any further injuries. 

He had a great amount of awareness of what was going to happen. 

My opponent fell on the ground with his back, but quickly got up, very impressively.

He did a flip up, rolling himself backwards, then jumping up with fluid motion, landing with his two feet on the ground. 

But I noticed at both of his hands something.

The person in front of me was clenching his fists, seeing that I wasn't even thinking of using this towards my advantage at all, which must have infuriated him very much.

Instead of using it as my opportunity while he's on the ground, I simply stood there, watching him with my simple "apathetic" look as Ryūen would describe. 

Ryūen got infuriated by my apathetic gaze, so I presume, it's the same for him, too. Alongside that I was not taking him entirely serious, since I didn't take this as my opportunity, is something, which clearly adds to that. 

In a fight, the more one is confident in their own skills, the more they will despair upon sensing the difference of power. 

Ryūen, who had to teach himself in the streets everything on his own, wasn't like that.

But for that, his determination to stand over and over again, to defeat his opponent until defeated, is what has made him so special and dangerous for most people.

My opponent opposite towards me was someone clearly with great amounts of confidence in regard to a fight, so seeing how I didn't take this as my chance at all, has greatly angered and infuriated him. 

Swish

He loosened the distance between the two of us immediately.

Just when I wanted to move towards him, I held my right arm upwards for an outside block, supported by my left arm to endure the soon-to-be impact, because of what he did, so suddenly. 

It was a kick that he aimed at my face.

But unlike the one's before, this one was delivered at a speed that even I could not dodge currently. 

Even if I tried, it would not be possible. To be entirely honest, I doubt that I could kick so fast in my current state. 

A year ago, it would have been possible, but now, not quite anymore.

As for the kick that was aimed towards me, it was one of the most dangerous one can receive. 

Unlike the Karate Styles he used before, for this, he used the Kyokushin Karate Style, which made it even more severe. 

It was a spinning hook kick, or also known in Karate as Ushiro Mawashi Geri. 

If you're hit with it, you'll lose your consciousness right away, with a high probability. 

Pam

Feeling the impact of the kick against my right arm, I could not help but notice the rush of pain I felt on my right arm.

If I had blocked the kick with only my right arm, without the support of my left arm against it, I'd have definitely stumbled because of the amount of force that was behind that kick. 

The strength of his kicks, they might even surpass that of mine, currently. 

In the past, it would have been no debate at all, but now, it's not. 

My right arm might even be bruised.

No, it's definitely bruised. 

What a pleasant surprise. 

When was the last time someone achieved this kind of thing against me...?

It was when I was 9, I think...?

After that, the instructors were not able to injure me like this, anymore. But then again, I quickly surpassed them and adapted to their fighting styles. 

He suddenly approached me immediately, taking the momentum of this situation as his advantage, grabbing my right arm, where I still felt the numbness in my arm, and did one of the more common Judo Throw's, the Seoi Nage. 

Judo, huh...?

So he's a Mixed Martial Artist, too.

Once I felt my arm being grabbed, to be more precisely my shoulder, he tried on throwing me with the Judo Throw on the ground. 

To his misfortune, I was more than aware of this move as well as how to easily counter-attack it, as I was taught by a former olympian champion in Judo in the White Room and had a decent amount of sparring in Judo. 

There were two easy ways to escape the predicament of the Seoi Nage, one of the more common Judo Throws, which is highly effective to bring down an opponent. 

The first one would be to resist where your arm is being grabbed on by your opponent.

If your opponent is able to grab your shoulder, it'd be over for you, so in order to prevent that, resist as much as possible with the arm that is being grabbed and get him to engulf the lower part of your arm. 

In order to make this judo throw effective, the opponent uses the current momentum, kneels down, and throws you down to the ground, easily. 

But if you are able to make him grab the lower part of your body you can escape the indefinite Judo Throw you're supposed to receive with something which sounds perhaps rather absurd, but in the process of where one reaches the ground, one can do a cartwheel, to avoid getting thrown on the ground.

If you're able to do that, you can avoid getting thrown on the ground. It's dependent on the factor, however, whether your opponent grabs you by the shoulder or the lower part of your arm.

In every case, you're bound to get thrown on the ground if your opponent has his grip on your shoulder, so there's no way to avoid it, if you're not able to break free.

As for the second method now, it's the one I'd be using. 

It's easier and far less risk-taking.

Although, I could easily do the first method, too, if I intended. 

This method was more of a counter-attack, instead of avoiding the Judo Throw.

In order to pull this off, you have to anticipate that your opponent will make this throw. 

Once my opponent kneeled himself on the ground in order to throw me on the ground I moved my right leg stepping around him as he was in the kneeling position, avoiding the Judo Throw, immediately. 

I grabbed him with my one arm at his back, under his armpit, to be more precise, while the other one was around his chest, then made my right leg moving forwards in front of him, and threw him with my two hands at the ground, turning him over. 

I do have to admit, it worked because I was very well experienced with Judo. Against anyone else, it would have worked. 

The problem was, like him, I lied on the ground, too, now. Although I didn't withstand that much amount of force from the concrete unlike him, so this attack might have gotten him unconscious. 

If not, well, we'll see. 

I stood up easily, looking at my opponent, who did the same. 

He wiped with his left hand and his black outfit, looking at me.

"Standing up despite that counter-attack, huh...?"

"Quite impressive, honestly. It must have hurt a lot, didn't it...?"

"I thought you might have gotten unconscious by it, so I was patient enough to wait a couple of seconds before confirming your identity."

"It seems like this fight will still continue."

"How about we wrap this up fast...?" 

"I've got a couple of troublesome things to deal with, so I'd like to conclude this fast."

Although I knew I was speaking provocatively, I merely spoke the truth. 

I wanted to deal with this within twenty minutes, yet it's nearly five minutes past these twenty minutes already, since I defeated Ryūen and his group. 

For neither of these four did it take that long to fight them, but he's quite different.

He's by far better than Ryūen and his group. 

The counter-attack was supposed to deal the finishing blow as it was a two-times more painful and harder throw than I did with that of Ryūen, yet he effortlessly stood in front of me, still. 

A fortunate surprise, if I'm truthful. 

Being thrown with such an amount of force into concrete like that is quite painful. 

Swish

Immediately, he approached me again, throwing several jabs and kicks towards me.

I blocked them and the two of us dealt exchanges of several blows against each other.

For half a minute no progress was made, until I created an opportunity for myself, to end this, now. 

Through my several attacks against his face using Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chul, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Boxing, and some other martial arts, my attacks had some effects now. 

After seeing how he was being affected by them, I threw a kick towards his solar plexus with the full striking strength of my leg.

To my surprise, he was able to react and hold his two palms in front of his solar plexus.

It just minimized some damage from the solar plexus, but that's all.

Pam

Although his two palms minimized the damage he would receive, it was by far not enough, as my kick still hit his solar plexus in the end. 

Especially with my full striking strength. 

Despite having received that kind of attack towards his solar plexus, where one cannot train themselves, no matter what, I looked at him, curiously. 

Even if he managed to slightly block it.

"Still standing, huh...?"

"I expected you to be on the ground now, at least."

Just when I slowly approached him, trying to remove his mask, he slapped my arm away, surprising me, backing away. 

"You can still even move in this dire state, huh...?"

When a person gets punched or kicked in the solar plexus, it can result in intense pain and a feeling of breathlessness.

The solar plexus is a complex network of nerves located in the upper abdomen, and a strong blow to this area can cause the diaphragm to spasm, making it difficult to breathe.

In some cases, it can also lead to nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. 

In his case, I was surprised at how well he was able to take that pain, especially considering, that the kick came from me. 

I didn't hold back with it. 

Even the Instructors from the White Room I have fought in so far could not even stand up after receiving my kicks against their solar plexus. 

Some of them immediately even got unconsciousness by my kick. 

"Inside this mask, you must have quite trouble breathing properly." 

"The Mask..."

"Is it not better to take it off simply...?"

"You know that you won't be able to win."

"It's fruitless." 

"The moment you decided to appear here today, you made your first grave mistake."

"Your identity—It's bound to be revealed, now."

"There's no point of escaping."

The person in front of me turned his head towards the door. 

"It won't use. Don't even try to think about it."

"Unless your identity is revealed, you'll be locked with me here.

For a small period of time our eyes met us, until he looked at the boy who was lying on the ground next to him.

Immediately, I approached him. 

Right now, he did not try on hitting me.

Instead, he was intending on hitting with full force of his feet to hit Ishizaki, the one who lied right next to him on the ground. 

But I moved plunged towards him, preventing him of doing that.

He backed away, slightly.

"So that was your plan, huh...?"

"You came under the assumption that you could beat me, so once I would have been defeated, you'd have injured these four critically enough that the school could not overlook this matter at all."

"You'd leave me pretty much unharmed, so I'd look like the insinuator behind these critical injuries."

"It'd make sense, naturally. And there are many people to prove what I did here. It'll clearly look for anyone as my fault in this situation."

"No matter what, if four people were to come out with injuries like broken bones, the school has to get involved in this. Chabashira would not be able to hide her involvement alongside Horikita Manabu, too."

"Essentially, since you seem to be aware of their involvement. Spreading rumors is quite an easy task which would put them in a very difficult spot."

"If they were to keep quiet, they're at risk of possible punishment for hiding something this severe." 

"Even if they did hide it, you'd have taken pictures of this, spreading it among the school further, leading towards my expulsion."

If I tried I could use Karuizawa Kei as the means to justify what I did, but I'd basically dispose her, then.

Her bullying past and everything else would ultimately be revealed. 

And all my efforts regarding her would have been futile, then. 

Besides, it would not be entirely certain whether I'd still be spared by the school if they knew of this reason, regardless. 

Surely, Ryūen would be punished for what he did, but likewise would I, for my very excessive use of violence towards them. 

One broken bone would be something; two, three, and four are an entirely different matter, however. 

No matter what, I would not be able to keep this quiet in that situation. And I was the perfect scapegoat for all of this. 

Everything would point to me and be connected to me, if anyone investigated. 

Chabashira-sensei and Horikita Manabu would be punished, too, for supporting me and my 'excessive' plans in terms of the school's view. 

Broken Bones are something you cannot overlook, especially if they are publicized by this very own person in front of me.

"And in case of Ryūen you would blackmail him and his class, then. He has no option but to accept your conditions."

"You must have surely something that'd put him in a very difficult position."

"I assumed you'd be using it for the leverage of points or a potential class transfer but it seems like you're ready to use it for this, too." 

If everything went well, he could have gotten the statement of these four to lie about their injuries.

As for Karuizawa, she'd not be judged as a trustworthy enough witness, either.

Upon the revelation of the information that Ryūen and his group bullied her, she'd be seen as someone who was doing it in order to protect me. 

Especially since I did not receive any injuries from them, it'd be hard for them to believe me. 

Four people, yet I did not receive any injuries. 

No matter how it's phrased, it'll be hard to believe that I'm not the aggressor, since there's evidence that points to my coming here in this building, too. 

Alongside that of Horikita Manabu.

But the person in front of me did not, likely. 

In order for this to work, he had to take a route without security cameras, so despite my potential statements, it would not be believed at all. 

Horikita Manabu and Chabashira will be seen as supporters behind my action, and there are still certain things where I'm unsure. 

While there are matters for the student council, there are places where the school would interfere, if matters went beyond the duties of the student council. 

This should be something like that, as it would not fall under the juridical matter of the student council.

Even if, there was Miyabi Nagumo, who would use this as his chance regarding Horikita Manabu, with a high probability, so everything has been well thought.

These two would be punished, but not as severe as the aggressor, in short, myself. 

The only thing was to defeat me, and it would have worked. 

"Everything seems to have been quite well-thought."

"I was disappointed at first when you appeared here..."

"But now, I'm impressed..."

"Until now, I was unaware of my potential expulsion behind your back."

"Unfortunately, it's me who's your opponent, so I'm sorry to disappoint you, that it won't go down like you expected."

He used my plan to his advantage and formed his own one, that heavily relied on my actions, without him doing anything much, just adding the last pieces together. 

He's a very dangerous opponent, indeed.

But even so, it's even more important to not let him escape from here. 

Quickly, I approached him, but in return, I noticed where he was standing. 

Near the door, so I could tell what he was going to do.

He was near both Ryūen and Ibuki, but I doubt he would do anything now. 

Especially since he knows I won't let him have it at all. 

Unexpectedly, I was very wrong with that.

Because in the next moment his actions even surpassed what I thought, checking me in a two-layered trap, immediately. 

As he was near Ibuki, he threw her body with his right foot towards my direction, which required immense strength itself already, to pull something like that off. 

If I decided to catch her she'd be safe, and I'd be safe, but in return, he'd be able to flee from here, without myself catching him up to him. 

The other approach was that I'd not catch Ibuki at all, but based from where her trajectory is heading too, she's bound to break at least one or two bones, which would put me in a difficult spot, if he later manipulates the events towards his liking. 

Since he entered this building without being seen, there must be a way he held himself open, in one of the rooms on the first floor, to leave the building. 

I did not know which, so I was not aware if I decided to trail him where he'd be heading too. That was one of the few risks with the second approach. 

One of the other ones was Ibuki's Trajectory. 

She was flying exactly in the way where I could neither go from below nor above by jumping, so I had to sidestep if I wanted to follow him if I didn't want to get hit by her body.

That alone would have given him a certain appropriate distance between me and more than five seconds of an advantage, alongside the fact that I did not know from where he would be leaving this building. 

In short... I was trapped...

The second approach was far too risky.

Like how his overconfidence led to his loss in our fight, my overconfidence in knowing that I could keep him here and that I did not need to take my opponent in a fight all too seriously has led to my loss, too.

I wasn't sure what my facial expression looked like, but I could say, that I was feeling a bit bitter, I suppose. 

I caught Ibuki with both of my arms, putting her on the ground, while leaving the rooftop, opening the door.

At my right side directly, I saw Horikita Manabu unconsciously lying against the wall. 

I glazed at him with a cold look. 

If he just had been able to put a fight against him, I could have easily heard him, notice the thing that happened between them, and interfered with his plans, easily. 

The situation would have certainly been able to develop differently, then.

But with his authority as the former Student Council President, he should have at least some decent amount of use if it comes to the identification of Y.

I should wake him up.

These four might wake up too, so I should do this, fast. 

I tapped him on the shoulder, several times, waking him up. 

"Ayanokoji...? What happened...? And why was I leaning against the wall...?" he said, standing up. 

"Do you really not remember anything anymore...?"

Suddenly, he touched his neck with his right hand. "Someone from behind..."

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Who was it...?" he asks me.

"Do you know what happened in the first year all so far...?"

"Not everything, precisely."

"I see..." I nodded.

"I'll make it short."

He nodded.

"The reason behind Ryūen's successes is not because of him, but because he has been manipulated so far."

"Manipulated...?"

"In the Island Exam someone provided him with two Anagrams that told him about my strategy in advance, which was the reason his class placed in the second place, instead of being in their initial place, the fourth place."

"The very own person that helped Ryūen also provided clues regarding my identity early on during the Cruise Ship, something Ryūen was not able to catch on though. A easy decoding method."

"And that very own person provided him with my strategy in the Paper Shuffle, too. He has been interrupting me so far."

"So it was that person that made me unconscious, then."

I did a slight nod.

"That person I searched appeared today, and we had a small little fight."

"So who is the person, then?"

"I don't know. He was able to flee."

"Huh...?" he looked at me in shock. 

"That's why I would like to know something from you."

"What precisely?" he asks, coming straight up to the point. 

He noticed the danger the person was emitting already, without myself overly explaining much to him. 

"Tell me, among the males in the First-Year, who practices the Martial Arts Karate and Judo?"

"That person should be at the black belt."

"You're under the assumption that I'm aware of this information."

"Are you not?"

He did a slight smile. "I am..."

"But..."

"I know. I'll make sure to uphold my promise regarding Nagumo. And if it's your little sister you are worrying about, I'll also make sure she joins the student council."

"So who is it...?"

"You're quite immersed in this matter, Ayanokoji."

I looked at him in a doubtful look. 

"I'm not... I suppose..."

"No... I cannot say that for sure."

It was the first time, by far, that I experienced such things.

I danced in someone's else palms, like Ryūen did into mine. 

"He's from Class 1-B initially, now in Class 1-D. He is someone who can be considered a martial arts prodigy. According to his Student File, he was able to gain at the age of 9 both the black belt in Karate and Judo."

"The student I'm talking about is..."

"Ryuji Kanzaki."

--

A/N: And this concludes the chapter.

Oh my god, finally, I finished writing it.

The fighting scenes were really pure hardcore. 

Watched myself in the weekend movies from Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, or movies generally with Martial Arts in hope of getting a greater understanding of certain moves. 

Please let me know your thoughts about this chapter. I genuinely need them, so do write me what you thought about this chapter so far. 

Did I do a good job with the fighting scenes...? Did you enjoy them. I'd love to know that.

I researched so long, thought what to write for long, and made sure all these moves are applicable.

Especially the thing with the Judo Counter Throw and many other things. 

Also, genuinely, how did you like the plan that Kurushima developed to expel Ayanokoji?

Give me your takes on Kurushima, if possible.

What is the category he excels at the most now?

In the most recent chapters you saw what plans he was able to pull off, so hopefully, you can answer this question, too. 

And the plan in this one, too. 

Among Ayanokoji and Kurushima, I'm wondering, who would you say is better. 

Anyway, that'll be all. 

I'm going to sleep now.

When I stand up, I want to see comments, lol.