#47 Aftermath

(Manabe's POV)

"Are we really going to do whatever he tells us to do?! Are we really going to just take it like that?!"

She looks really frustrated by the entire situation but it is our fault for being so naive...Of course, that doesn't mean that I will just take it without doing anything. I will make him pay even if I will have to rely on someone like Ryuen... When I thought about Ryuen I inwardly shivered but I still wasn't sure who I feared more...Walker or Ryuen? Both of them are cruel, they don't even care about gender when it comes to violence.

"Of course not. But it will be better if we stay put for a while or do you really want to rely on Ryuen?!" I said to my friends who had a dissatisfied expression on their faces but that immediately changed to fearful one when they heard name 'Ryuen'

"But what about Rika-chan? Are we going to let that prostitute Karuizawa go so easily?" Even though they had uneasy and slightly afraid expressions, they were still feeling pretty dissatisfied.

"I don't know about you but I won't rely on Ryuen unless there is no choice." Even though I said that, I was still feeling really skeptic about the entire situation we were in.

I don't really think we can do anything against him if Ryuen won't be the one to make a move... I thought about that time when he almost broke my arm while looking at me with such cold eyes devoid of any emotions...I couldn't help but shiver again.

Ryuen and Walker are both just monsters but if I had to choose who is crueler then even though I want to choose Ryuen because I already know few things about him, I can't help it but my intuition is telling me it's Walker...

I really wonder what kind of relationship he has with Karuizawa. And now that I think about Karuizawa... wasn't she acting really weird back then? Acting all weak and then it was like she became a different person...there is something wrong with that girl but what?

(Manabe's POV END)

I checked my phone while I was waiting for Karuizawa near the cafe. We already switched our phones back and I restored the changes to default to destroy any evidence of the tampering with the device

Class A - -200 Class Points

Class B - No change in Class Points

Class C - +150 Class Points

Class D - +50 Class Points

Class A really fucked up this time... But to think that Class C would be placed first.

Those 50 points we got are probably from the traitor in our Rabbit group. Just looking at the numbers it seems that Class C guessed 3 Class A's targets which made them lose 150 points. Therefore the traitor was probably from Class A but it's not certain.

Now what remains to discover is whether they guessed it from their behavior or if it's due to Class A's infighting between Katsuragi's faction and Sakayanagi's faction. This could be Sakayanagi's strategy to make Katsuragi's influence much smaller which was already quite successful after the survival test. If I assume that there were at least 3 traitors in Class A then it's already 150 Class Points...would it be really worth it to destroy Katsuragi this way? Or is it that Sakayanagi is really confident to gain those lost points back? Class B is right behind their backs but I guess it doesn't matter that much since this is only the end of the first semester.

"Good morning! I am planning to make you bleed really bad this time" Karuizawa appeared and instantly claimed with a naughty smile.

"Please spare me, I didn't even win that much" I rolled my eyes and said in low voice.

Someone betrayed our group and they guessed it wrongly which meant outcome number 4. This outcome gave our class 50 class points but only 50.000 private points to the target, me.

As of lately I also noticed that Karuizawa was getting more and more comfortable around me, to the point where she acts like a spoilt girlfriend...

"I know that you want to celebrate the end of this exam but we should still be careful... After all, Hirata-kun is still known as your boyfriend and you haven't spent much time with him lately, yet you are leisurely spending time with me right now." I reminded her of the fact that Hirata is still her boyfriend and when she heard me, she had a slightly sad look in her eyes but that lasted only for a while before she returned to her cheerful mood.

"Alright, let's go inside unless you want to stand here all day?" I said and entered the cafe, Karuizawa followed right after me with a satisfied smile like a tail.

You kidding me, right? What kind of coincidence is this? I thought when the first people I saw in the cafe were Ayanokoji, Horikita, Yukimura, Sudo and even Hirata. But it turned even worse when I noticed that Ibuki and Ryuen were talking with them.

I just want to relax for one day, why is it that I always meet such annoying pest during the time when I want to relax? I even though about leaving before they notice us.

"Hey! Walker-kun, Karuizawa-san, come to join us!" Hirata waved at us with a wide smile when he noticed us. For others, it might look pretty weird that he wasn't suspicious of us since Karuizawa is still his "girlfriend"

Any thoughts of escaping were immediately destroyed. It would look pretty bad if I just ignored him and just left, I guess I will have to face this situation.

I also noticed that Karuizawa wore complicated expressions when they called out to us. I guess she really planned to make me bleed so joining them might not be a bad thing after all.

"Let's go" I said to her and walked up to their group. Sorry Kei-chan, it seems that I can even change a misfortunate situation to my advantage.

She looked pretty dissatisfied when I accepted their invitation so easily like that but I couldn't really refuse.

"Hey" I greeted them and they returned the greeting. Horikita and Sudo were the only ones who threw me a weird look when they saw Karuizawa right behind me.

"Taking out a taken girl on a date. Tsk, tsk, tsk...you fear nothing don't you, Walker?" Ryuen immediately commented with an amused smile when he saw me with Karuizawa.

"Thanks! You are doing pretty good yourself" I tilted my head to the side and said with an arrogant smile while throwing a look at Ibuki. Instead of denying and amusing him, I immediately switched to the offense.

Everyone here except for Yukimura and Sudo already knew about my and Ryuen's bickering wherever we see each other. It was like a competition who can be more shameless.

"Hey! That's between you two, don't drag me in!" Ibuki noticed my gaze and immediately snapped back at me with a disgusted expression.

"What is going on? Walker-kun, why are you on a date with Karuizawa?" Sudo immediately asked after he heard us arguing. He indeed didn't know that we were just playing around but it seems that even Yukimura was able to notice that...

"Sudo-kun, shut up..." Horikita looked at him like on idiot and he looked depressed after noticing it.

Now that I think about it...What is he doing here with Horikita? And why is he looking like some kind of bodyguard for her?

...Hehe, I even want to tease her but I guess I shouldn't since that tsundere can't take it without making a scene.

"Then let's ask what her boyfriend thinks about this. What do you say Hirata?" Ryuen looked amused when he saw Sudo's behavior and how he got scolded but he quickly redirected all this to Karuizawa's "boyfriend".

"Haha, let's not make this unpleasant situation shall we?" Hirata said with a friendly smile and closed eyes but I could feel the slightly threatening tone in his voice that you wouldn't normally notice but I noticed it thanks to talking to him quite often recently.

Haha, I like this new Hirata. If I could I would have laughed aloud but everyone would probably look at me like on the madman.

"You are no fun..." Ryuen said and immediately lost interest in us when he saw that Hirata wasn't worried about it.

It seems that Manabe and others didn't inform him of what happened yet...

He said a few more perverted things to Horikita before leaving, of course, Sudo didn't like it and tried to intimidate him but Ryuen just ignored him.

"Sudo-kun, it's nice to see that you want to protect your classmate but be careful who you antagonize" I gave him advice just because I didn't want him to make Ryuen angry. We already saw what happened when he offended Ryuen and I honestly don't want to do more than I have to. I already anticipate Manabe informing him, after that he will surely make a move and if he will involve Karuizawa in it then it will be much easier to teach him a lesson. He is the type of person who likes to involve violence and make his enemies submit or humiliate them. Unfortunately, he picked up a fight with the wrong person.

I coldly thought about what exactly should I do to him when that time comes.

"Huh?! Do you mean to say that I am weaker than him?!" Sudo grabbed me by my collar in anger but it was understandable considering his temper and how he was just ignored.

"Sudo-kun, let him go!" One would think that the first person to defend me would be Hirata but it was Karuizawa who was looking at Sudo like she was ready to bite him.

She really looks like a loyal puppy following me around...

"Why are you defending him like that?! Isn't Hirata-kun your boyfriend? Ryuen was right, you two are really suspicious..." Sudo angrily snapped at Karuizawa.

"Sudo-kun, forget it..." Hirata tried to calm him down peacefully.

"Pfft" I lightly chuckled, not bothered by him still holding me by my collar.

"What's so funny?" Sudo frowned when he heard me.

"Like I already said Sudo-kun...You should be careful who you antagonize" I said while looking down on him with extremely cold eyes.

Maybe I can use this chance to reveal my connection to Karuizawa which would make it easier for me to contact her in the future. Yukimura and Hirata are the only ones who know about it, if others especially Sudo knows about it, rumors will definitely start spreading.

I easily slapped Sudo's hand away without any problems and he looked pretty surprised for a moment.

"By the way, Do you think that Karuizawa is forbidden to hang out with her childhood friend?!" I said with a smile.

"WHAT?!" Sudo was the only one who shouted out in surprise but I could also see surprised expression on Horikita's face, while Ayanokoji's expression remained almost the same except for small changes. He probably already expected something like this.

"Childhood friends...Is that really the truth?" Sudo asked with a complicated expression.

"Of cour-" Karuizawa wanted to reply first with her head high but I placed my hand on top of her head and started to ruffle her hair once again.

"Of course! She is like a little sister to me!" I said with a big smile while ruffling her hair to tease her before everyone.

"Stop it!" She quickly moved away from my hand's reach and everyone watched this scene with dumbfounded expressions.

"*Little sister...HMPH!*" Karuizawa mumbled and then snorted with an angry expression while looking at me.

She looks angry instead of embarrassed. Perhaps I fucked up?

Well, I will worry about it later...I thought while cautiously observing Karuizawa in case she wanted to approach me to bite me.

"*Should I tell them that I broke up with Hirata-kun?*" She whispered to me when no one was paying any attention to us.

I looked a bit surprised by this but I quickly recovered.

"*If you think you are ready to endure all kinds of rumors then be my guest...but I definitely don't recommend you to do it right now...It would look pretty bad, don't you think so? By the way, you don't need to ask me every single thing, I am not your parent to decide for you but I can still be your Niisan if you want to.*" I winked at her when I whispered the last sentence and I immediately received elbow to my ribs.

"Ouch!" I pretended that it hurt me a bit just to satisfie her and her expression surely turned to better when she saw me in "pain"

"Hey, what are you two whispering there?" Yukimura looked suspiciously at us.

"Nothing at all" I waved my hand.

Class C is once again ahead of us but there is no such a big gap between us anymore. I don't know when the next special exam occurs but I will make sure to make my class advance once there will be an opportunity.

I have feeling that there will be a few peaceful days before another storm starts