Chapter 11

It was around 9 pm. Curfew was approaching fast, and I was getting tired. We'd been partying for about 3 hours already, and it was getting exhausting. Fortunately, another shared my sentiment. Tsuchida-san got everyone's attention and started speaking.

"Hey, guys? As much as I would like to continue celebrating, it's getting late and I'm getting tired, so I'm going to be heading home."

Everyone started complaining and begging her to stay. I didn't participate, and Yoshikawa-kun defended her.

"No, she's right guys: It is getting late and our curfew is approaching. I think it's time to pack it in for the night."

When Yoshikawa-kun said that, there were moans, but they couldn't continue too much since Yoshikawa was right. After hearing that, Tsuchida-san got up and bowed politely.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't stick around much longer, but I do thank you for inviting me. I did have a good time."

Hironaka-san responded.

"It's no issue. I'm glad that you decided to join us."

Tsuchida-san smiled, grabbed her things, and left my dorm. Once she was gone, Hironaka-san started to interrogate Yoshikawa-kun's relationship with Tsuchida-san.

"Sooo, Yoshikawa-kun. What's your relationship with Tsuchida-san?"

"Relationship?"

He responded like he had no idea what she was talking about. She continued bothering him about it.

"Yeah. I see you two together constantly, so I'm just wondering how close you two are."

Everyone was looking at Yoshikawa-kun after Hironaka-san said that. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and leaned backward until his back touched my wall as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Me and Tsuchida-san are just friends. We talk together constantly since we are the two leaders of our class, and we had to coordinate the study sessions efficiently."

After he said that, Hironaka-san stopped like she understood the situation. It was hard to refute Yoshikawa-kun since his response made logical sense. However, she still didn't look convinced. Yoshikawa-kun must've seen this because he continued.

"I can see you don't believe me, so here's what I can do. Fukushima-kun."

He called my name and directed his voice towards me. I responded

"Yes?"

"Here."

He sat up straight and grabbed a phone that was behind him. He then handed it forward, aiming in my direction.

"Tsuchida-san forgot her phone when she left. I was going to return it to her when I left, but I think that you should do it to avoid any more misunderstandings in my relationship with her."

As much as I didn't want to do it, he didn't phrase it like a suggestion. It was more like he ordered me to do it. Actually, on second thought, this was fine. If I deliver Tsuchida-san's phone to her, then I can find out what's bothering her. I got up from my chair and grabbed the phone from Yoshikawa-kun's hand. I then responded.

"Okay, but the day is over, and I would like you guys to leave for the night."

I said that to Yoshikawa-kun, but it was directed towards everyone. It's just that Yoshikawa-kun had the most power in the room right now. He nodded and responded.

"When you come back, this room will be exactly how you left it when you came to school this morning."

With that, I left my room. When I walked over to the balcony, overlooking the surrounding area, I saw Tsuchida walking. However, she was walking in the opposite direction from her dorm. Huh, that's interesting. I got down and followed her. She walked towards the boardwalk on the beach that overlooked the ocean. She then stopped when she got to the edge, which caused me to stop. I was still in the forested area, but I was on the edge before the forest turned into the beach. Tsuchida-san then turned around, facing in my direction. I quickly hid behind a bush that was next to me. Even though I didn't have a reason to do so, my gut told me that hiding was the best course of action. The distance between me and Tsuchida-san was about 20 meters, so I was far enough that she couldn't see me, but close enough to hear her. After she looked around for a few seconds, she faced towards the ocean and began speaking. Speaking isn't the right word, more like yelling. I then took out my phone and began recording. I felt like that was the smart choice. 

"I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!!!"

She was stomping her foot on the boardwalk. From what I could see, it looked like if she continued, she would break the boards she was standing on.

"GOD DAMN YOU YOSHIKAWA-SAN, YOU UNGRATEFUL SWINE!!! I WISH YOU WOULD DROP DEAD!!!"

Well, that's interesting. I wonder why she hates him. From the outside, it seems like Yoshikawa-kun is the perfect student. However, it also could be a facade, from him, or her. Yoshikawa-kun is in D-Class after all, so if he was perfect, then he wouldn't be in our class. I wonder what happened. She continued like that for about another minute before I decided to leave. I figured that I would just leave her alone and drop the phone by her door. At least, that was my initial thought. Another thought came to me, I want to know why. But, when I got up, I didn't realize there was a stick on the ground, and I stepped on it, which made it crack. 

"Shit", I whispered.

Immediately after, Tsuchida-san turned around, facing my direction.

"Who's there?"

She exclaimed that out. Well, there was no point in hiding anymore. I got up all the way and walked over to her. When I did, she started rushing towards me.

"It's just me, Fukushima. You left your phone in my room and I wanted to hand it back to you-"

Before I could finish, she grabbed the phone from my hand and began speaking.

"How long were you there?"

The tone she asked that in, was menacing. Her eyes, anger, determination, anguish, she wasn't the cheerful girl that hung out with us a few minutes ago. This person was completely different. She looked me in my eyes like she was trying to intimidate me. I didn't see a reason to lie to her.

"The entire time. I have followed you since you entered the wooded area."

She got even closer to me, her body just inches away, and she continued speaking.

"If you breathe a word about this to anyone, I'll make you pay, heavily."

How amusing. I wanted to see how far she would go.

"Pay? I'm not sure I quite understand."

Her face twisted with anger. She then grabbed my hand and brought it closer to her chest. Realizing what she was doing, I immediately broke her grip on me and took a step back. There was no point in hiding anymore. At least, not in front of her. I went from a casual tone to a stern one.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Her face went from anger, to shock and worry as I stood there looking at her, with a stern expression on my face. From my body language, I let her know that I wasn't playing around anymore. She was getting flustered and from pure instinct, she started reaching for my hands. Every time she did that, I dodged her, and every time, she got more and more agitated. Finally, after the fourth time, she yelled and charged me. I dodged, and she tripped and fell against the boardwalk railing, sliding down to the point where she was sitting against the railing. I then put my left leg up next to her and looked down on her, still keeping that stern look on my face. Fear overcame her, and like a last-ditch effort, she tried to hit me between my legs. I immediately grabbed her arm and pushed it against the railing. She exclaimed in pain. I then began speaking to her, sternly and menacingly.

"Did you really think I would allow you to do something like that to me?"

She looked up at me. When she looked into my eyes, I knew I had won. Fear, worry, hopelessness. I can tell that was what she was feeling at that moment. She responded.

"What, what else was I supposed to do!? You, you know my true self now. I can't allow anyone to know."

"So you tried to use sexual assault as a way to blackmail me?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

She smirked when she said that.

"I'm not blackmailing anyone. You are the person that has a poor, defenseless girl pinned in the middle of the night."

"Hmm?"

"If you tell a soul about my true personality, I'll let everyone know what you did here. I even have the proof to back it up."

She was talking about the fingerprints I had on her wrist as I was holding onto it. I smiled back.

"Go ahead."

Her face changed again, this time, to a confused look.

"What?"

"If you do that, then I'll tell everyone what happened here."

She started laughing.

"And who do you think the class will believe: A loner and an outcast, or the prettiest girl in class?"

"You don't believe that our classmates will take me seriously?"

"Of course not. You are nothing compared to me, and I've gained the trust of everyone in class."

"Everyone? Does that include Yoshikawa-kun?"

"Huh?"

She responded in confusion, but I continued.

"I could tell Yoshikawa-kun what happened here."

"Even if you did, he wouldn't believe you anyway."

"You seem awfully confident in yourself."

She had a confused look on her face.

"What are you getting at?"

I think it's about time I ended this, even though I was having fun. I pulled out my phone and showed her that I was recording. I could tell that the second she saw that, her heart sank and the feeling of fear overcame her.

"I've been recording this entire conversation, including the outburst and your plan to blackmail me."

"B-but, if you showed that, if you made that public, then your reputation would also be affected."

"True, but I don't care about my reputation."

"Wha-?"

A look of disbelief appeared on her face. Time to squeeze her. I let go of her arm and took my leg off of the railing. I then outstretched my hand.

"Here's the deal: If you want me to keep this entire situation a secret, then you will have to help me raise this class' standing, to A-Class."

"A-Class?"

"Yes."

She took a minute, pondering whether to accept my proposal or not. She then spoke.

"How do I know you wouldn't betray me?"

"You are a central figure in our class. If I were to betray you, I would only end up hurting the class, and that's not my intention. But, if you are still concerned, here."

I gave her phone back to her. Then a message popped up, which was a copy of the recording that I took. She had a confused look on her face.

"Why did you give me this?"

"If you believe that I have betrayed you at any time, you can show this recording. Of course, this is a double-edged sword, since if you do release this, you would hurt yourself more than you'd hurt me, but I will still be affected by its publication."

This is the best choice. Whether she uses it or not doesn't matter. Her ego and pride won't allow her to sacrifice her image to hurt me, and by the time she does overcome it, it won't matter anymore. She then took my hand and stood up. When she got up, she continued to hold my hand and look me in the eyes.

"What about Yoshikawa-san? Why not ask him for help?"

"There's only so much I can do with him. Besides, based on your reaction today, there's something about him that you don't like, and that's too much of an unknown basket to put all my eggs in."

"And you believe that putting your trust in me is the smarter choice?"

"Why yes, but I don't trust you completely. At the very least, I know for a fact you will remain neutral, or won't get in my way."

She let go of my hand.

"Fine, I will help you. So, where do we begin?"

"For now, there's nothing to do, so head on back to your dorm. Here's my contact info, but only call in the case of emergencies."

She nodded. I began to walk away, but she stopped me, grabbing my wrist.

"This entire time, you haven't asked about Yoshikawa-san. Why?"

"Even if I asked, would you give me an honest answer?"

Her grip loosened a little, signifying that I was right. If I had asked, she would've lied to me anyway. She then began speaking.

"Who are you? Your demeanor, it's completely different from the one that you show at school."

"I could ask you the same thing. We all have skeletons in our closets, secrets that we keep hidden. Our persons are shaped by those experiences. We put up images of who we want to be, in order to fit in, out of fear that if we show our true self, we will be discarded and abandoned."

She then let go and I began walking. I stopped when I was about 8 meters away.

"Word of advice: If you want to manipulate someone, make sure what they have to lose is worth more than what you have to lose."

With that, I left. This school just got a lot more interesting, and so will the future. I will use Tsuchida-san to raise this class's standing, all the way to A-Class. When that happens, then I will transfer to Yuki-chan's class. I don't know if Tsuchida-san will be a useful resource. Even if she isn't, I'll make sure she doesn't become a hindrance. If she does, then she'll be disregarded. The only thing that matters is the mission, and my mission is to protect Yuki Fukushima.