#82 Preparations

When the bell rang, indicating the end of the last class for today, everyone dispersed and went their way. Most of the people left in groups, although it couldn't be said that Class D is perfectly united, at least the groups are becoming bigger and they don't have much problem interacting with the other groups as they had before the Survival Exam on the desolated island. Maybe even the event where we visited the pool in our spare time as a class helped a bit in uniting us.

During the lesson when everyone was either paying attention to the teacher or taking their own notes about the lesson, I used this chance to give a piece of paper to the person sitting right behind me.

"Are you planning something for this upcoming sports festival?" I asked Ayanokoji when the only people remaining inside the classroom were 2 of us.

"...Well, not really, there is no need to do anything anyway." Ayanokoji answered my question, ever since our talk at the pool, he stopped playing fool around me and took our conversations seriously.

"What about Chabashira-sensei?" I asked with my back to him while acting as if I was still taking some notes from the previous lesson.

"That's what I find intriguing, she actually stopped demanding results from me..." He replied with a serious tone. Although he didn't actually ask me, I already know what he is thinking.

"I dunno if it's because of me since she never actually 'DEMANDED' anything from me. Maybe it's her tactic, to find out who is more worthy of her protection." I nonchalantly said while shrugging my shoulders.

"So you have the same condition..." He muttered.

"Don't tell me you haven't thought of it ever since our talk at the pool..." I turned around and looked at him with a weird expression.

"It indeed crossed my mind, however, there was no solid evidence so I wasn't a hundred percent sure. And with her personality, I think she would have already told us about such competition between us." What he said was indeed the truth. Sae-chan is someone who is straightforward when it comes to these things. If she indeed plans to cover for only one of us then she would have already told us to get the best results during the sports festival. Why did she suddenly stop demanding results from him?

"So you have no intention of doing anything...Would you at least be interested in lending me a hand?" I asked him with a faint smile.

"...*sigh* Well, it depends on what do you expect from me and I also want you to answer one of my questions before I accept" He said with a slightly hesitating expression.

I put my arms on my desk and supported my chin with my hands while coldly looking outside of the window.

"Kikyo Kushida, do you know anything about this girl?" I narrowed my eyes while observing our classmates leaving the school building and asked him with a cold tone.

"Only that she will probably try something again and that she will be the main obstacle for the unity of this class together with Horikita." He said while following the direction of my gaze where he spotted Kushida happily speaking with her friends. He wasn't trying to hide the fact that he knew about her betrayal or even his expectations of her another betrayal in the near future.

"Judging by your cold tone and how you referred to her as 'this girl'...Do you perhaps want to expel her? " He asked me with a troubled voice, maybe he didn't want to bother himself with that girl.

"Not yet, her existence is still useful for the Class D plus her athletics and academics aren't bad so it would be waste to get rid of her, instead..." I stood up and faced Ayanokoji and stretch out my hand with an open palm.

"Hehe, I will dominate her and make her submit to me!" I said and violently closed my palm with a crescent moon smile across my face and with a slightly crazy expression.

I will use her own popularity against her, having her as my pawn will be extremely useful in the future, however for that to happen...I will also have to take care of Ryuen.

"...I see but where is my role in all of this?" Ayanokoji looked up from his seat into my eyes with his usual poker face and asked me.

"I need your help to discover what's her problem with Horikita and why is she so obsessed with her. I want to know what exactly had happened between them, that's where is the root of her problems that I need to take hold of if I want her to fully submit to me." I told him what I needed him to do. He was much better for this job than me because he had a much closer relationship with Kushida and even closer one with Horikita because both of them were loners who were sitting right next to each other.

"...*sigh* Alright, I will try to do it but don't expect anything from me." Although he released a tired sigh, he accepted to help me with this small matter.

"Nice, ask your question right away." I didn't forget about our deal so I told him to shoot his question at me.

"What is your goal behind the striving for Class A? Why would you bother yourself with this when you have said to me that you are here just for fun and to experience teenage life?" He asked me with a suspicion deeply hidden in his eyes.

"I see what you are thinking about...I don't know how much our paths are crossed but I can tell you one thing...As long as you don't bother me, I won't bother you. As for your original question...Do you still remember the very first day? In what state this class was?" I reassured him and asked him.

He simply nodded so I continued.

"Don't you find exciting to bring those people all the way to Class A? There are some real idiots inside this class and seeing them in Class A... wouldn't that be simply hilarious? Plus why not try something no one has ever done? Of course, I don't expect to overthrow Class A during our first year, even if I was able to do that all alone then we would very quickly drop down because our grades aren't good enough to keep us in Class A." Although special exams have a big impact, it's not like normal grades and exams have absolutely no impact. Plus I am not aware of how many 'special exams' are there planned for us within 1 school year.

"Is that actually a legit reason?" He asked me with a weird expression.

"Well, for you it might sound like I am simply wasting time, no, for the normal teenagers, it might look like I am wasting my time around doing nothing with no goal in my head, however, for now, I have only 1 goal..." I looked once again out of the window, while watching the sunset my face became much colder than the time when I was talking about Kushida...if it had to be compared...the other time would be simply called warm expression in front of the face I was making right now.

"?!" Ayanokoji also noticed how the air around me completely changed and I was no longer in my 'fun mood', he slightly moved the chair he was sitting on further from his desk, perhaps to get a better position in case I abruptly attacked him. Even his usual poker face was replaced by unusual cautiousness.

"Sorry, I recalled some old memories. However, I can assure you that neither you nor your father is part of my 'goal'. Although your father perhaps can't be called a good person nor he can be called a good father, still, there are much worse people living in the outside world, I advise you to be careful, these kinds of people also tend to be slightly crazy in their heads."

"Anyway, I still have something to do, so see you tomorrow. Thanks for today." I took my bag and waved at him with the other hand as I was leaving the classroom. He only nodded in response with a slightly absent-minded face.

...

It was getting late and hardly anyone could be found inside or even around the school building. Although it was still open, no one was inside anymore, not even people bussy with their club activities.

I was waiting for someone to show up behind the school building, leaning my back against the wall with my eyes closed

*click clack*

"Finally" I said in a slightly annoyed tone and opened my eyes when I heard nearby footsteps.

"What do you want? If you think that you can do whatever you want to me then you are extremely wrong!" She said with a confident voice, however, I could see a deeply rooted fear in her eyes.

"I don't want to do anything to you, your existence, your body is totally meaningless to me." I said in a cold tone. I understood her concerns and I was slightly annoyed at the fact that she would even think that I would try to touch her.

"I don't believe you...Why else would you choose such a time and place to set it up as a meeting place?" She didn't believe my words and was hatefully glaring at me while wrapping her arms around her body.

"First of all...take out that phone out of your pocket and stop recording already." I said while looking at her in a disinterested way.

"What are you talking about?" She was shocked for a moment before she acted confused and puzzled at my words.

"I am running out of patience" I said with more strength than before and showed her my own phone with a video playing on the display.

"..." She was panicking a bit and it was visible on her expression.

"3...2...-" I started counting down.

"Alright, alright! Please just don't show it to school, here is my phone." She quickly handed me her phone and I stopped the recording and also turned it off just in case before returning it to her.

"This time, I will also tolerate that you didn't come actually alone as I instructed you but I guess they are only your friends who were involved in that incident right?" I said with a nonchalant expression, however her expression was completely opposite when she heard my words.

"H-h-how? How did you-?" This time, she really looked extremely afraid as she even started shaking.

"You were overly confident compared to before, plus I know your type but enough of your questions. You are here to listen to me and not to question me, do you understand?!" I raised my voice and she quickly and obediently nodded.

"I want you to record all of the strategic meetings your class will arrange. I also want a photo of your class's participation table. Don't even try to make a fake photo, I have already seen your limits but have you seen mine?" I said with a cold smile.

"You- you want me to betray my entire class?" She asked in complete disbelief.

"You don't have to do it alone...your friends involved in that incident can also help you with this." I ruthlessly added with a warm smile.

"Even if I do that, you can blackmail me even after that event and there won't be the end of it." She dejectedly shook her head.

"I promise to delete this video after you fully complete your duty." I showed her again that video while pointing at the delete button with a smile.

"Why should I believe in your words?" She asked me with a hesitating expression.

"You have no choice here, either 4 of you get expelled and I will simply contact someone else to replace you or you will do as I tell you and have a small chance that I will delete it afterward, however, if you really want, we can also write it down on the paper." I said with a reassuring smile.

"You have someone else to use?!" She cried out with a horrified expression.

I simply nodded with a confident smile and it took her a few minutes to calm down her emotions raging inside her. I guess I gave her quite a scare by discovering all of her plans, to that extent that she believes in everything I say.

"If we write it down on the paper then it will be controlled by the school...so our video will be discovered in the end." She said with a helpless smile.

"You are really a dummy, aren't you?" I said with an amused smile.

"?! What do you mean?!" She appeared to be angered by being called a 'dummy' by me.

Average boobs and average looks overall with no brain...that's how I would describe this girl standing right in front of me. I thought while looking at her with pity in my eyes.

"If we will decide to make a contract, it will indeed be controlled by the school, however, they won't care about that video at all. They only act like a middle man who acts as he saw nothing. They will delete the video and will question neither of us.

"...Alright, I will do what you want this time." She agreed after a few seconds of hesitating.

"Well, that's everything for today, I will be going back. We will sign the contract another day, make sure that no one gets hold of what we just discussed." I said and as I was leaving, I waved a few times behind me.

That video will become completely useless anyway after this event so there is no need for any contract but whatever. The most important thing is that she doesn't know that.

Ahh, what a beautiful night. I thought while observing the full moon on the sky with a tranquil smile.