Chapter 7: What Ryuuen Wins and Loses

THAT NIGHT, I dreamed about my childhood. About that time I killed a snake. If I'd grabbed it and taught it to feel fear before killing it, would I still have slaughtered it in the end?

"Freakin' stupid."

That line of thought was pointless. You only got one life, and it didn't have an undo button. Some days you won, and some days you lost. Yesterday just happened to be the latter. The number of times I'd been beaten was probably in the triple digits by now. Heck, yesterday hadn't even been the first time I'd lost to Ayanokouji.

So, what made this different from everything that'd happened so far?

At eight o'clock the next morning, I left the dorms and made my way to the school building. Although this was the first day of our winter vacation, club activities were still being held, so the building had been left open.

School rules required uniforms be worn within the building, but I didn't need to pay attention to that particular rule anymore.

The clubs were already engaged in their morning practice, which generally started around seven. Since Keyaki Mall didn't open until ten, I was probably the only student heading toward the school building now.

"…Achoo!"

Along the way, I encountered a lone student standing by the side of the path, trembling from the cold. I ignored her and kept going, but she called out to me.

"You finally came." I just kept walking.

"Hey, wait a minute!" she said, chasing me in a panic. She grabbed my

shoulder.

"What are you doing? Don't just touch me like that," I growled.

"I don't exactly want to touch you. You foisted your phone on me, remember? I'm just giving it back," said a red-nosed Ibuki, thrusting the phone at me.

"You could've done this at a better time. How long have you been waiting?"

"Who knows?"

That probably meant she'd waited for quite a while. Why was she so sensitive when it came to pointless things like this? I didn't take the phone, but Ibuki grabbed my arm when I tried to slip past.

"Are you really going to quit?" she asked.

"Didn't you just say you only wanted to give my phone back?" I snapped.

Ibuki glared at me. "Do you remember what you said back when you fought Ishizaki and Albert? You said that the strongest person is whoever wins in the end, no matter how many times they lost before. That's exactly how it went when you fought them."

"So what?"

"Are you really going to end this after losing to Ayanokouji one time?" "I misread the situation and sealed my fate. Besides, I couldn't care

less anymore," I replied.

"What? That's super lame."

I didn't care anymore. Guess that guy was a big deal after all, if he could make me feel this way.

"Maybe," I said, responding to Ibuki with complete indifference. "Don't give me 'maybe,'" Ibuki huffed. She hadn't let go of my arm. "You wanted me to quit school, didn't you? Isn't this perfect?" I asked.

"I cooperated with you because you said you'd get us to Class A. Now you're just going to leave us in the lurch?"

Ibuki had her outbursts every so often, but it seemed like this had been building for a long time. She had more to get off her chest, apparently, because she showed no sign of stopping.

"I tolerated your tyranny. I put up with it because we had the same ultimate goal. Even when Class C got our points docked the other day, and you wouldn't tell us why, no one complained. We all believed you'd get us to Class A someday. And now you're just going to drop out? That's lame. So, lame."

She took a breath, and added one more thing. "Is there anything more pathetic?"

"You really gonna spin this however's most convenient for you?" I

asked. over.

I stopped walking. I had to move carefully, because my body hurt all "Yeah, I told you good-for-nothings that if you followed me, I'd get

you to Class A. That was just me dangling a carrot before your noses while I

used violence to sow the seeds of fear. You do know about my contract with Class A, don't you? That was all for me. Just me. I couldn't give a shit about the rest of you."

"You're saying you planned to make it to A Class alone?"

"Yup. There's really no way I'd try to take you lot with me. Don't you agree?"

I was sure even Ibuki would be convinced by this much. "Eight hundred million private points," Ibuki said. "Huh?"

"After you tossed your phone over to me yesterday, I agonized about whether I should transfer your points to my account. But then I decided to have a look at what else was on your phone."

Ibuki turned the screen toward me. It showed the three-year-long strategy I'd been working on.

"If you were trying to make it to Class A alone, two million points would've been enough. So why come up with a strategy that includes this number? Eight hundred million is the number of points necessary to get all of Class C up to Class A, isn't it? Though I can't imagine how we'd ever save up that many points…"

"Quit dreaming. I was only messing around when I wrote that." I snatched my phone back. "Hiyori and Kaneda will probably lead Class C from here on out. As long as Ayanokouji makes no move, it's still possible for you to rack up that many points."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Ugh. Stupid Ibuki. She hadn't transferred any of my private points at all. What a pain. "What do you want me to say?"

"If you're going to drop out, then fight me," she replied.

What an absolutely crazy proposition. Idiots made good pawns, but the downside was that they ran wild every so often, like this.

"With the injuries you got yesterday, and how cold it is today, you probably can't move too well, hmm?" I mused out loud. I'd noticed already that her grip on my sleeve was weaker than usual.

I pulled my arm free and started forward—and she hit me. I went flying, landing hard on the pavement.

"Ow. God, I can't even take a fall," I groaned. That bastard Ayanokouji had done a number on me.

"Ah. That felt great. Well, if you're going to quit, hurry up and do it," snapped Ibuki, before turning to head back toward the dorms.

I wondered just how long she had been waiting for me.

7.1

UPON REACHING THE SCHOOL, I paid a visit to my homeroom teacher.

I'd called ahead and made an appointment on the dorm's landline. I was doing this the very next day to forestall the complications of the whole mess on the roof as much as I could, especially considering I'd tampered with a security camera and the former student council president knew what had happened.

"I gotta talk to you about the thing I reported yesterday, Sakagami." "I understand," said Sakagami. "Please accompany me to the

counselor's office." "Sure."

"But first, there's something we must address." "What?"

"Would you step outside, please?" Sakagami called to someone in the faculty room.

"Ryuuen-san…"

Ishizaki and Albert emerged to join us in the hallway. First that idiot Ibuki, now them? Why were they here?

"They've been waiting since early this morning, wondering whether you'd come by. Even when I told them to contact you directly, they wouldn't listen. Quite troublesome. Before we have our meeting, I need you to do something about these two," said Sakagami.

"What're you even doing here? Beat it, or I'll kill you." I glared at Ishizaki.

"We—"

"Um…"

"About the surveillance camera being destroyed—did these two have anything to do with it?" asked Sakagami, touching his glasses.

"I did that by myself," I replied. "Come on, let's get on with it."

If Ishizaki and Albert said anything careless, they'd put the noose around their own necks. I shook them off, ignored Sakagami, and started walking to the counselor's office.

Sakagami had to suspect something was up, but he told Ishizaki and Albert to head back and followed me. "I have a general idea of what happened, based on what you said over the phone, but walk me through this once more, Ryuuen. First of all, you admit to defacing the security camera by spray-painting the lens?"

"Yeah. I did that on my own."

"Okay, one more thing. Is it true that a fight broke out between you, Ishizaki, Albert, and Ibuki?" Sakagami asked.

"Yeah, it's true. I take complete responsibility for it. I threw the first punch. They retaliated." No need to involve them in this losing battle.

"Well then, this'll be quick."

"Please wait, Ryuuen-san! We did have something to do with—" cried Ishizaki, who was still following us.

I kicked him. Violent outbursts before a teacher didn't really matter when you were going to drop out of school, anyway.

"Ryuuen?!" rebuked Sakagami. "What're you doing?"

"How many times do you plan on making me say it? Did the beating I gave you yesterday not satisfy you?" I spat at Ishizaki, who crouched on the floor in pain.

We'd made it to the counselor's office. I looked away from Ishizaki as we entered, leaving him and Albert outside. Time to wrap this up.

"You can add that outburst just now to whatever my penalty is," I told Sakagami.

"It seems there's a misunderstanding here, so allow me to offer some corrections," said Sakagami. "We've confirmed that there are inconsistencies in your statement."

"Huh? Hold up. Inconsistencies?"

"Based on my understanding, there's some kind of problem between you and Class D."

No way. Had Ayanokouji done something? If he reported what'd happened to the school, then this wouldn't end with me. The school would punish Ibuki and Ishizaki, too.

"Did they file a complaint or something?" I asked.

"A complaint? No, from what I've heard, a single Class D student was also involved in destroying the security camera."

"What did you just say?" The words made no sense.

"Class D already paid the private points necessary to cover the repair.

What I wanted to confirm with you was whether you wished to split the blame."

"You've gotta be screwing with me."

If you think this'll prevent me from dropping out, you're making a big mistake, Ayanokouji.

"I'm dropping out," I told Sakagami.

"There's no problem here, though. You still want to drop out, despite that?" Sakagami was no fool. He had to have figured out that something serious had gone down on the rooftop yesterday.

"That's right. I see no point in staying at this school any longer."

"I see. If that's your final decision, I can't stop you," Sakagami said, pulling out a piece of paper. "Please write your name, student ID number, and reason for withdrawal on this form."

"Just a second," I told him.

I picked up a pen, and Sakagami pulled out two more forms. "Once we finish processing your withdrawal, please deliver these to Ishizaki and Yamada."

"What? They've got nothing to do with this."

"You're certainly right. But this was their wish. They said that, should you choose to drop out of school, they would quit too. They wouldn't listen to reason."

That Ayanokouji… Had he put this ridiculous idea in those idiots' heads? He was basically holding Ishizaki and Albert hostage to prevent me from withdrawing. If I chose to drop out here and now, those two would go

with me, and my own withdrawal would become meaningless. I'd be putting the cart before the horse.

"Shit."

"Personally, I would find it rather regrettable for anyone in my class to drop out," said Sakagami, his gaze lowering to the withdrawal form in my hand. "As things stand, the matter can be resolved with a simple punishment for damaging school property. This is your first and last chance."

"What is the point of me even staying, though?" I muttered to myself.

Ayanokouji had my number. He knew I wasn't gonna cause more trouble for Sakayanagi and the other two.

"Fine. I won't drop out."

I handed the paper and pen back to Sakayanagi and left.

7.2

SOON AFTERWARD, strange rumors started spreading among the first- year students—rumors that Ryuuen Kakeru had abandoned his position as Class C's leader. That Ishizaki and the others were no longer his entourage. That he no longer talked to anyone, but spent all his time alone.

It was like looking in a mirror—a mirror of the person I'd been when I first started at this school. I wondered whether there would come a day when Ryuuen regained what he lost. I was sure of one thing, though. He and I were similar.

And I could still use him.