Chapter 1.9 - Insanity

T/W: Contains offensive content (ie. sexual violence, threats, assault), and quite frankly, this chapter is poorly written. If you're not okay with dark scenarios, please skip this chapter.

"Anything, huh?" I said emotionlessly. My eyes were devoid of anything. They became hollow pockets.

"W-What?"

Horikita sensed the change in the air. She knew there was something wrong and quickly moved her arms in front of herself. A classic defense mechanism.

But it didn't matter.

I quickly moved in front of her and pushed her against the wall, pinning both of her arms above her head with my left hand. I leaned forward.

"S-Stop! What are you doing!?"

"Let me begin by asking you a this, Horikita Suzune." I began my forced interrogation. "Do you understand how this school works?"

"H-huh?"

"Class A, B, C, D. All academic years are differentiated by these four classes in this school. Each class has different individuals with different sets of skills and personalities. Perfectly normal, just like every other normal class in every other normal school in this country. But is that really case?"

"That... that's correct. What's the meaning of this, Levent-kun?"

"I see. But remember Horikita. This is Ikusei Kyoudo National High School, Tokyo. A government sponsored, arguably the best educational institution in Japan. A high school that holds a ridiculous hundred percent acceptance rate in college/job sectors. Not only that, we living in those lavish dormitories free of charge, a ridiculous amount of money provided to us 'every month', high quality facilities with affordable expenditure etcetera etcetera... Just getting accepted here means a free ticket to a better life. I'm sure most of my classmates have interpreted it like this. But I wonder, I just wonder how brandish that fantasy world sounds like."

"What are you talking about?" Horikita probed me, visibly confused.

"Have you not wondered why the school seems so lenient in hindsight? Why are they not taking any action against the ignorant bunch? Why are they giving us so much freedom?"

"....."

"Do you want to know?" I asked coldly.

My job was to forcefully feed her all the information. It was still more than two weeks away from the revelation. But I had concluded it to be fruitless if I waited that long. It was a huge mistake not to probe Chabashira in the first place. I cursed myself for trying to portrait myself as "John Doe".

Just, what kind of arrogant fool was I, back then?

Horikita nodded, reluctantly.

"Then, let's get started..." I began my explanation.

"First hint, I'm sure you must've noticed the 'free items' section in the convenience store during our third fateful meeting. And the question I raised during sensei's briefing. Do you you remember them?"

"Yes. I do remember."

"Then, you maybe asking yourself, what are the meaning behind those abnormalities? Simple, it indicated that we would not be receiving the same amount of points at the end of each month. It means we're going to receive a different amount of point, quite possibly lower, judging by the 'free items' section. But that raises another question, how will the amount change? On what basis?"

"That's..."

"Second hint," before she could answer, I interrupted. "I'm sure you must've noticed it by now. How the the entire school seems to have developed this passive aggressiveness toward us. No, toward the title 'class D' itself. This condescending outlook holds true to all the other academic years too, not just the first years. Compared to that, apparently our seniors hold class A in incredibly high regards. Is there a reason for that?"

"So you're saying... class A is superior to all classes?"

"Spot on. You always catch things fast. That's what I genuinely admire about you. Do enlighten me, your highness. What are the differences between us and class A?"

"I... I... don't, know."

Hm? She didn't come with a reply? I honestly expected her to be more capable. Maybe I'm still overestimating her.

"Of course you don't. Not because you're unaware. It's because you're afraid. But don't worry, I'll tell you clearly..." Even if it means tearing your ears apart.

"I did some investigation on the residents of this school. From my research, I have found an eye-opening information. We all know that this school runs on a point based system. But there's also an element called "class points". Each point being worth a thousand points. Apparently, we receive our monthly allowance according to the amount of class points we have. At the beginning of the month, we were given 100,000 private points. By that logic, I'm sure we had 1000 class points back then. But now, I'm sure we would be seeing a huge downward spike in that number."

"Why would that happen?"

"There are cameras everywhere. The school is always monitoring us. Our behavior, attendence records, test results, social activities... all of them will most likely prove to be catalysts to our point evaluation. Thus, that would be our downfall. There's also a hierarchy, a ranking system based on points to put it simply. Judging by the chronological order, class A is on the top of the rank, while class D is at the dead bottom. Don't misunderstand, this is not a baseless hierarchy. In fact, the school itself engineered this hierarchy."

"The school did that?"

"Precisely. Class A consists of all the extraordinary and capable students from the entire year. Every single one of them excel at both academics and athletics. I may even dub them as 'the high quality batch'. From there, the quality consequently degrades, leaving us to be the worst of them all. In short, all of us in class D, we're all defects."

Horikita's eyes raised in shock and realization. Her pride and ego surfaced over this hopeless situation.

"No! That's not true! I refuse to acknowledge this! You're just making that up!"

"No, you're the one in denial. If we were to bet each other's soul in this, then I'd bet an extra arm and leg without having a single bit of hesitation. That's how confident I am."

"You're lying! I'm not a–! This must be a mistake!"

You wish...

"I bet you've always wondered why you were surrounded by a group of ignoramus children who are incapable of comprehending the most obvious of hints, haven't you?" My eyes narrowed to their thinnest. "Well surprise, that's because you are one of them. A resident jack-of-the-trade, foolish, arrogant rabble!"

"W-wh-wha?" Horikita's mouth was agape as if she was not expecting those words to come out of me. Her sweat and tears began rolling down my fingers.

"You are immature, Horikita. Your thought process is painfully comparable to an infant's. Your stubbornness and your superiority complex are nothing but an annoying drag. You take everyone's kindness for granted and throw it like it's nothing. For that reason alone, everyone hates you. You have no social standing. Even if you don't see it, I can see why you were placed in class D. Make no mistake, the school did not make any mishaps in placing you here. This is where you truly belong, Horikita."

"I don't belong here! I'm not a defect! I'm nothing like you!"

"Is that so? Then answer this question, why did you choose to come to this school specifically?"

"I... I'm here for... the same reason why everyone is here." she replied while averting her eyes. She's lying.

"You're lying. In actuality, you're chasing after someone, aren't you?"

"N-no... I'm not!"

Grabbing both of her cheeks with my free hand, I forced her to look me in the eyes. "Then say it to me, looking straight into my eyes without stuttering!" I commanded.

"I... I... I am not."

Where is the prideful ice queen that punched a hole in my hand?

"I've created a hypothesis, Horikita." I sighed. "The reason behind your obsession with being isolated. Your superiority complex is something that was derived from someone else, wasn't it?" I said in an icy cold tone.

She glared at me, her eyes full of tears. After all these years of maintaining a strong fortitude, she had finally shown a crack in her defense. I just needed to break them one by one.

"I will take a completely random guess. It's because you have feelings for your brother, isn't it?"

"H-huh? N-no! I don't!" Again, her eyes were jittering from left to right, proving exactly the point I was trying to make. Who knew that her brother complex would actually turn out to be canonical?

But then again...

"I see. Well then, let's test it." I moved my free hand towards her face and gently pressed it upon her lips.

Her eyes widened in horror, I had cornered her in every sense of the world. We were in a completely isolated building. It was almost evening when everyone had already gone to their dorms. There was no one here to help her.

"Stop it! Stop this now!"

Horikita was frantic. Like a fish without water, she uselessly kicked her legs, but I had already shoved my right knee between her thighs. It was dangerously close to touching her crotch.

I'm sure from an outsider's perspective, it looked like sexual assault. However, I wasn't interested in her body.

I was interested in seeing something entirely different.

She had walked straight into the demon's hand. Her body lacked the necessary strength needed to overpower me.

"L-l-let me go, Levent-kun!"

"No."

I imagined her heart pounding as I looked down. Her teeth clenched, and her legs wildly thrashed around, but all of it was a futile effort. My dark gaze bore down on her unyielding eyes.

"Hold still," I commanded.

Her reaction to my supposed hypothesis was all I needed. While my thumb traced both of her lips, my palm was slowly caressing her cheeks.

"Eek!"

Every time my fingers touched her skin, she shrieked. I knew that look on her face. It was a look of panic, confusion, and fear. I've seen it multiple times when I was alive. All my victims would give me that look before I brought their utmost despair.

A sight that left a bad taste in my mouth.

"St-o-p, please!"

The lower part of her belly, specifically her belly button was her sensitive spot. I forcefully poked and started circling my fingers around it. It was a very irritating and uncomfortable sensation, especially when it was done by an outsider. There was no intention of instigating a sexual situation, but regardless, that was something I needed to do to completely deteriorate her psychological state.

After a few seconds, I put my hands on her skirt.

"STO..."

Her fear increased, her mental state deteriorated and panic arose within her. People are programmed to panic even more when their well-being is endangered.

That was more reason for me to continue.

I kept caressing both of her thighs, slowly advancing toward her upper part. Then I pressed on her left thigh.

"Kya~!"

She moaned with an unusually high-pitched voice. Her face had become completely red in embarrassment. Her breathing had become ragged. She was sweating at an unnatural rate. If I were to accurately describe her state, then I would say, "She was perfectly messed up."

There was no romance between the two of us. There was only one common trait that we had.

Despair.

"I will show you the cold and dark truth that perfectly describes your situation Horikita.."

I looked down at her.

"You are nothing but an incestuous, arrogant, and defective product of your parents."

After hearing those words, Horikita was mortified.

"No, that's not..."

"I honestly pity your brother." She looked at me with a mortified expression.

"Why is that...?"

Why?

"Because if I were to expel you, your brother president Horikita Manabu, would undoubtedly receive a huge blow. 'The sister of the student council president being the first one among the first years to get expelled' would bring quite a shame on his public standing, don't you think? His reputation, his popularity, and his pride, all of them shall be tainted because of you and your immaturity."

I paused for a while before I continued.

"He truly is unfortunate to have a defect like you as a little sister."

"Nn..no... I'm not.."

She went silent and stopped resisting, her body was completely frozen. All I did was just watch and observe, just like a scientist would watch a lab rat search for the end of a labyrinth. The torrent of tears was falling upon her already-soaked shirt. What followed was an unbroken stream of tears.

"Yes. You. Are."

I released my restraints and threw her on the ground. Horikita was in an intense episode of panic and fear. Her breathing became ragged. Every breath she took turned into sharp and shallow gasps for air as her lungs threatened to collapse due to the impending monster standing right in front of her. Her heart and mind raced against time-time that never stopped, that kept ticking away.

She looked up at me with red eyes, but all she could see was darkness. An endless abyss of infinite suffering and torture

"Get up," I commanded with a cold voice.

Her hands shook. Her feet tingled. I'm sure she wished to get away. She couldn't stand to be near me any longer. She couldn't take it.

Her breathing became even more haggard. She took deep, sometimes short erratic breaths. She couldn't control herself any longer. Horikita was in a complete mental breakdown. She cried harder and harder, clutching at her heart, her chest growing heavier as despair rose in her throat.

"Get up."

I said with a sharper and louder voice. As a reaction, she stopped moving.

She struggled at first but slowly managed to push herself and sat down leaning against a wall. If the wall wasn't there to support her, I doubt that she could even sit properly at that moment.

"Don't run, if you try to do anything, I will expel you with everything I have."

"You... err..." She sputtered.

Rage, panic, fear, despair, her face was a mixture of all kinds of emotion. She had already realized that I was completely different from the person she had depicted me to be. However, what I intended to do would undoubtedly turn me into the worst person to ever exist near her vicinity.

A recreation of a scene from the original novel.

"Take off your skirt."

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