Debt Settlement Game II

—Break time. Same day.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the period, with the teacher heading out of the class with her attendance.

Immediately their homeroom teacher went out the classroom, several students had already gathered together and at their table

They had gathered to continue gambling as usual, it was pretty much the norms here. Be it during recess, break or after school hours, there would still be several gambling activities going on in the school.

After stowing his books in his locker, Kinji stood up from his chair and made his way over to the desk of a lone girl.

The lone girl was of average height with long blonde hair that is into two ponytails where they are tied with black ribbons and dark-yellow eyes.

Pulling up a chair in front of her desk and adjusting it to face her, Kinji rested his chin on the backrest, his arms draped over the edge. "I heard... you've accumulated even more debt." 

Mary remained silent; her head hung low. "I warned you about this, didn't I?" Kinji sighed, his fingers tracing the contours of the chair. "You hate the current student council, are you?" 

His gaze shifted to the other students enjoying their gambling activities. Mary's only hope was to settle her debts and regain her standing, but she was desperate. 

House pets like her had a chance to engage in an official gamble, and ordinary games wouldn't just cut it.

This was her once chance. Yet—The student council, the Traditional Culture Club President Yuriko Nishinotouin…

She had her hopes up, only for it to come crumbling down, putting her in five times more debt than what she was supposed to owe.

"There'll be a chance to redeem yourself soon, just wait until then," Kinji waved as he stood up from the chair, with a goodbye wave, heading out of the classroom.

As Kinji left, Mary lifted her head slowly to watch him go, her expression unreadable. "..."

—Kinji.

'Haah, everything has been boring lately,' Kinji yawned as he walked past the hallway, 'Since I defeated one of their members—'

'—I expected them, or at least, her to have made a move on me.' But no, 'Then, Yumeko is her priority?'

'Or she simply doesn't want the trouble with me?' Kinji paused, putting his hand on his chin in a contemplative gesture. 'That doesn't seem to be the case.'

'Then, is there another reason?' Kinji tilted his head, 'If there has to be one then it should—'

"—Hey, Jabami Yumeko."

"I heard you are mittens now." 

"Come with me." Suddenly, Kinji was brought back from his thoughts. Near the stairs of the current hallway stood Yumeko, accompanied by six other boys. 

One of them, leading the group is a tall and muscled, with tanned skin, short dark brown hair with sideboards, and black eyes— Kiwatari Jun.

'Why is it always her getting into trouble?' Kinji frowned.

'I look away for a few seconds, and the next thing she does is get herself into trouble.' Kinji thought while rubbing his forehead.

"Yes, that's fine. Let's go…" Kinji facepalmed when he heard Yumeko agree. He wasn't surprised, but he couldn't help but be amazed by how fearless she was.

—School backyard.

"We've come a long way already."

"So, what do you want with me?" Backed up against the wall was Yumeko with the five others blocking her route out. 

The tall, muscled, tanned-skinned boy—Kiwatari—took a chair close by, turning it as he sat down with a smirk on his face.

"Take off your clothes. Strip." With a condescending tone, he ordered, still smirking. "…" Without much said, Yumeko silently removed her blazer from her shoulders, dropping it to the ground.

This only made the boy's smirk widen as Yumeko moved her hands up under her skirt, before dragging a black fabric with a blush on her face, but before that, she stopped.

"Oh. Perhaps…"

"Do you intend to get violent with me?" Yumeko said in puzzlement with an innocent face, taking them aback for a moment. "What the heck is she saying, lol?"

"I didn't say that. Hurry up and strip." Hearing this, Yumeko tilted her head to the side before stating, "I refuse." She then dragged the black fabric of her stockings up. 

"I don't want to let someone I don't know see me naked, and you people are…"

Crossing her fingers in an X-shape, she continued, "…very far from my type." Yumeko then paused, tapping her cheek with her finger. "Ah, maybe Kinji—"

"You bitch." Kiwatari lunged at Yumeko, grabbed her by the neck, and pinned her against the wall. "Fine then. If that's how you want it. If you want to get raped, then fine."

Kiwatari's grip further tightened on Yumeko's neck before—

"—Oh?! Such bold statement…" 

"Who are—"

One of Kiwatari's lackeys drew closer to Kinji, but before he could get any closer, he suddenly collapsed, dropping to the ground, passing out, with foam coming out of his mouth.

Kinji muttered before pocketing his hand, retrieving his mobile device, and dialing it. "Uh—let's see, I need an ambulance for one, two, three, four… five."

"Five people," Kinji stated before removing the phone from his ear and ending the call, putting his phone back in his pocket before staring at them. "This bastard." 

Another one of Kiwatari's lackeys—lackey number two—dashed straight at Kinji, swinging his fist, but Kinji simply dodged by tilting his head to the left, kicking the lackey's legs, and flipping him over.

"What—" Before they could register what happened, Kinji appeared in front of the nearest one — lackey number three, who happened to be close to the position of lackey number two who had just fallen. 

Kinji drove his fist into his stomach, sending him flying straight into the wall. "N—No way—"

THUMP!

Lackey number four muttered, only for Kinji to drive his knee into his stomach, knocking him out in one blow.

"This bastard, who does he think he is!" Kiwatari couldn't hold it anymore as he released hold of Yumeko, before he and his lackey number five lunged at him. 

Kinji took a step back, adjusting his position. Planting his leg firmly into the ground, redirecting lackey number's fist to the side before spin kicking him on the right side of his face.

After that, Kinji immediately closed the gap between him and Kiwatari, who threw a jab at Kinji. 

Kinji slightly moved his head to the side, dodging the jab, as he aimed for Kiwatari's abdomen. However—

"—Heh, that won't work." Kiwatari blocked Kinji's attack on his lower abdomen, causing Kinji's eyes to slightly widen.

Kiwatari had already observed Kinji attacking his lackey's lower half, which meant that Kinji must have learnt some martial arts techniques aimed at knocking out opponents with a single blow.

"Hmph." Kinji smirked before swiftly twirling to Kiwatari's other side, delivering a kick to the back of his knees. "Guh—"

TWACK!

The final blow came in the form of a kick to the side of the face, dangerously close to the temple. "Kuack!"

"Haah." After swiftly handling the situation, Kinji sighed before turning towards Yumeko, who clasped her hand, "Kinji-kun, thank you," looking at him with a mix of glee and adoration? 

No, even Kinji himself couldn't say for sure. 

"Woah! That's cool!" Just as Kinji was about to approach Yumeko, a voice came from behind. It belonged to a pale-skinned girl with short black hair styled in a concave cut, and extremely tiny pupils. 

With two piercings under her mouth, one on each side, and another piercing on each ear, along with a tongue piercing, her appearance was unique, to say the least.

"How cool! How did you do that?" Her eyes widened in surprise as she spread her arms apart before looking towards the ground. "But you did cause a scene here…"

"As the head of the Beautification Council, I can't let such trash lie around," she groaned.

"Don't worry, I've already called the ambulance, and I just knocked them out a little," Kinji looked towards the said trash, before grabbing Yumeko's hand.

Something about the girl in front of him rubbed him the wrong way.

From her appearance alone, he could tell she was the crazy and dangerous type. However, her kind of craziness was different from the one he liked.

"Well then, since we're done here, I'll take my leave with her," Kinji, without further say, dragging Yumeko with him past the girl.

"Oi! Wait!"

Despite her calling after him, Kinji didn't bother looking back.

—Yumeko and Kinji.

After firmly pulling Yumeko away from the backyard, both were now on their way to their classes. 

Yumeko toyed with her finger, stealing glances at Kinji, who wore a passive expression as they both walked towards their class. 

Yumeko carefully approached him from behind playfully nudged his shoulder with her finger. "Kinji-kun, are you perhaps angry?"

"..." The boy didn't respond immediately, but after a few steps, he halted and glanced back at her. "Why would I be?" He replied casually, tilting his head, earning a surprised look from Yumeko.

"Nevertheless, try not to put yourself in such situations again." 

"You might get molested for real, you know?" Kinji shrugged as he continued toward the classroom.

Yumeko was like a friend to him, she's free to act as she pleased; however, her behavior in moments like this was somewhat questionable.

Watching Kinji walk ahead, Yumeko's lips curved into a smile as she hurriedly followed behind him.

—As the break drew to a close, both Yumeko and Kinji entered the classroom as they both made their way to their respective seats. With Yumeko making her way to her desk

However, upon getting there, sitting atop her desk was a file, from cover of the file, it seems to be from the Student Council. 

"Life plan?" Yumeko pondered for a moment before opening the file and scanning its contents. After a brief pause, she closed it and walked over to Kinji's desk.

"Kinji-kun, guess what I found." Yumeko handed the file to Kinji, who raised an eyebrow before flipping through its pages.

"Oh? So, they wield enough influence to do something like this?" Kinji closed the file, his expression turning into a frown.

"This school never bores you, does it?" Yumeko remarked with a smile as Kinji rested his face on his palm. "It's just as you've said, Kinji-kun."

Yumeko pursed her lips before continuing, "Your entire life is under their control, even down to deciding your future partner."

"This is no different from the pets people keep at home," Kinji scoffed, a hint of disdain in his tone. 

If the Student Council possessed such authority, then surely, they could utilize it more effectively.

Instead of merely selling off prospective employees, the Student Council could essentially coerce students into working for them or the them or the school itself... 

Furthermore, considering the substantial funds flowing into the academy, establishing a gambling center or a resort with former house pet graduates as employees isn't impossible. 

The potential is immense.

By refining such concepts, they could potentially double the money in their pockets. After all, becoming a "house pet" is no different from becoming a corporate slave in the first place.

"Student Council... How foolish," Kinji muttered before sensing a presence approaching him.

Looking up to the person—

"—Mary…? What's the matter?" Kinji asked before noticing the tight grip Mary had on the file in her hand, as if she could rip it apart at any moment, "Oh… Same with you too?"

Mary nodded solemnly.

Normally, she would have stormed into the Student Council room, but this time, she thought better of it. All her actions since meeting Yumeko had led to unfavorable situations, leaving Mary at a loss.

However, maybe he can help. He had already advised her twice; she was the one unwilling to listen. So … "What's your answer? Do you want to follow that ridiculous life plan?"

"Of course not!" Mary replied almost immediately. While the plan might promise a better life, she insisted, "I refuse! I am the one who will determine the course of my own life!"

Mary clenched the file tightly, frustration evident on her face. Seeing this, Kinji's lips parted, and Yumeko standing behind Mary, clasped her hand in delight looking at Mary in new light.

"Saotome-san."

"Well then, let's have a nice and slow talk after school."