Chapter 050 Yagami: I'm going to provoke Shimizu Akira / Impossible? I'm 50/50 with her?
"Tsubaki? Tsubaki!"
Utomiya Riku shouted several times before Tsubaki Sakurako finally snapped out of it.
"Are you alright?" Utomiya Riku looked at her complexion. "Today is the day we move against Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Shimizu Akira. If you're feeling unwell or didn't sleep well, why don't you go back and rest for a bit?"
"No need," Tsubaki Sakurako thought. If she went back to the tent and had another nightmare, what then? She didn't want to relive the past again.
She pulled a lollipop purchased with points from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. The sweetness slowly dissolved, and her sleepiness and messy thoughts finally receded slightly.
The two waited for two or three minutes until a rustling sound came from the bushes, and Yagami Takuya stepped out.
Utomiya Riku was startled because Yagami Takuya's state was unusually poor. Not only were there dark circles under his eyes, but he was filthy from head to toe, with bits of grass hanging in his hair.
"Yagami, you—"
To put it bluntly, this guy looked like he had just returned from a wilderness survival ordeal; people would believe it if you said he was a refugee. While others were participating in an uninhabited island exam, they slept peacefully in sleeping bags inside tents at night. He, on the other hand, had truly turned his life into Man vs. Wild.
Yagami Takuya raised his hand to brush the grass clippings from his hair. He hadn't slept well at all these past two days, but in front of these two classmates, he still maintained an air of composure and confidence.
"Don't worry about me. How is your plan coming along?"
The first-years' plan was simple: send out a group of students who weren't averse to violence, block Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Shimizu Akira's path, and directly use force to compel them to withdraw from the exam.
"About twenty people will listen to us," Tsubaki Sakurako answered expressionlessly. Yagami Takuya had long known she was the mastermind behind First-Year Class C, so there was no need for Utomiya Riku to explain on her behalf.
"Oh? Even with Housen out of the exam, you could still gather that many people?" Yagami Takuya was somewhat surprised.
"Because if two people are expelled, Tsukishiro will reward forty million private points," Utomiya Riku, who was responsible for recruiting, explained simply. "We can distribute 10 million private points to them afterward."
"That's 500,000 points per person," Yagami Takuya smiled instinctively. "It is indeed a good bargain."
"Speaking of which," Tsubaki Sakurako looked at him calmly, "I wanted to ask—my plan was for Housen to block Ayanokouji Kiyotaka at the very end. Why was he forced out of the exam on the seventh day? What exactly happened?"
"Sorry, I personally don't know what happened either," Yagami Takuya spread his hands with an innocent face. "But Housen was late from the very beginning of our cooperation. Perhaps he had his own little schemes and ended up being counter-killed by Ayanokouji."
"Is that so? Then why did you completely lose your GPS signal starting from the fifth day and haven't shown your face until now? What have you been doing?"
"Well... my watch malfunctioned unexpectedly that day. I judged that it would be more convenient to act alone without a signal, so I've been staying in the forest these days, secretly observing the movements of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Shimizu Akira."
Tsubaki Sakurako didn't believe a single punctuation mark coming out of this man's mouth. Housen Kazuomi's matter was eighty percent his doing. However, there was no point in pursuing that now; the most important thing at this stage was to get those two expelled.
So, Tsubaki followed up on his words. "Then what have you discovered these past few days? Let's hear it."
Yagami Takuya spoke with a smile. "I've discovered quite a bit of useful intel that should be very helpful for this operation."
"Speak."
"The first discovery: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has been acting alone so far, without joining any group."
Utomiya Riku nodded instinctively. "That's good news. As long as he loses his exam eligibility, he will definitely be expelled."
In this special exam, group members could withdraw to leave the opportunity for subsequent companions. But if a group only had one person left, once they lost eligibility, they would directly face expulsion, and all points earned by that group would be voided.
"Wait a minute." Tsubaki Sakurako thought of the exam rules. "If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has six million private points, he can be saved, right?"
To her surprise, Yagami Takuya chuckled. "Who said six million? It's actually twenty million."
"What do you mean?" Utomiya Riku didn't understand.
"Tsubaki-san should have figured it out," Yagami Takuya threw the question to her. "I'll give you a hint: it's related to the card system added to this uninhabited island exam."
Tsubaki Sakurako thought for two or three seconds and reached a conclusion. "I remember the Trial Card Ayanokouji Kiyotaka received was the only one among the eight cards with a penalty effect. The school didn't explain it in detail, but do you mean that if Ayanokouji doesn't enter the penalty zone in the first half, the points required for expulsion will revert to the standard twenty million?"
Yagami Takuya laughed. "Correct. That is the leverage I have to confidently expel him, and it's also a move planned by Acting Chairman Tsukishiro."
Tsubaki Sakurako nodded and asked again. "Fine, I have no more questions regarding Ayanokouji. But what about Shimizu Akira? Unlike Ayanokouji, he has private points. According to my inquiries, he also has Protection Points. With so many safety nets, how do you plan to expel him?"
In truth, the most troublesome one had never been Ayanokouji, but Shimizu Akira. The accumulation of a second-year compared to a first-year still had a massive gap.
"Protection Points and private points are indeed invincible, but at most, they are only internal school settings," Yagami Takuya laughed. "If this Shimizu-senpai intentionally harms someone, causing injury, or harasses a girl, even the school wouldn't tolerate a criminal student, would they?"
Actually, Housen had originally intended to use this trick against Ayanokouji, but he was betrayed by Nanase Tsubasa. Later, Amasawa Ichika didn't execute it either, allowing Ayanokouji to escape the ordeal. Yagami Takuya felt this plan was the key to expelling Shimizu Akira and intended to use it.
"I see." Utomiya Riku looked thoughtful. "But from what I know, Shimizu-senpai Akira has a calm personality. He doesn't seem like someone who would randomly hurt others."
"That's why someone needs to provoke him," Yagami Takuya smiled. "If he really hits someone, as long as the evidence is preserved, he will definitely be expelled, and might even be sent directly to a juvenile detention center."
"You're quite ruthless towards him." Tsubaki Sakurako didn't quite understand why he was going to such extremes.
"Oh, it's not that I'm ruthless, it's just that Shimizu Akira is too difficult to handle," Yagami Takuya spread his hands helplessly. "If he didn't have so many points and protection cards, I wouldn't have to resort to this."
In reality, he blamed his lack of sleep over the past few days entirely on Shimizu Akira; Ayanokouji must have been acting under his orders to patrol every night.
"Since you've observed for so long, you should know how to make this Shimizu Akira angry?"
"Naturally. Shimizu Akira's weakness is his girlfriends."
"You mean, moving against Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei?" Tsubaki Sakurako had been present at the meeting with Tsukishiro that day. According to the testimony of Yagami Takuya and Amasawa Ichika, Shimizu only had those two girlfriends on the surface.
"Yes," Yagami Takuya said. "Seeing his girlfriends captured and surrounded, he will surely get anxious and try to break through with force. Then, you can record the evidence with your tablet."
"Did you forget? Kidnapping and harming others is also against school rules."
"Don't worry, I naturally have my ways." Yagami Takuya smiled.
Utomiya Riku frowned. "This doesn't seem right..."
"What's not right about it?" Yagami Takuya looked at him. "Do you think this is some house-playing game? This is an exam." He then looked at Tsubaki Sakurako. "Besides, Tsubaki, didn't you also plan to snipe those lower-ranked third-year teams on the last day for the benefit of our grade? How is this any different? Furthermore, the ones taking action aren't the two of you. You are only responsible for intercepting Shimizu and Ayanokouji; I am responsible for the kidnapping."
Utomiya Riku wanted to say more, but Tsubaki Sakurako raised her hand to stop him. "I understand."
"But..."
"He said it himself, he's responsible for the kidnapping," Tsubaki Sakurako said coldly. "And do you think we could have talked him out of it from the start?"
"..."
"Correct, I intended to do this from the beginning." Yagami Takuya smiled with satisfaction. "To be honest, I still have an old score to settle with Kushida-senpai."
"So, is there any other intel?"
"Yes. I know their check-in routes. Without a doubt, they are on routes four and six out of the twelve routes." Yagami Takuya originally wanted to take out his tablet, but since Shimizu and Ayanokouji were watching too closely, he couldn't easily approach other students, so he could only relay it verbally. "For the specific itinerary, you can go back to the class and find people on the same route; it should help with the interception." He frowned as if he had thought of something.
"One last piece of critical intel: those two will act together at 5:00 PM and will also communicate via walkie-talkie. So, you'd better act simultaneously so they don't have time to react."
"With so many people moving together, won't it be very conspicuous?" Utomiya Riku raised another doubt.
Yagami Takuya smiled dismissively. "Thanks to Nagumo Miyabi sending so many people to block Koenji Rokusuke, even if we first-years have more people, others won't say anything. If anything happens, just push it onto Nagumo Miyabi. After all, it was the President who led the way; presumably, the Student Council won't say much either."
"If twenty people are intercepting, how should we split the numbers? Ten each?" Utomiya Riku asked hesitantly. "I originally planned to lead a team with Housen Kazuomi, but now I can only choose one side."
"Utomiya, you go with the Ayanokouji side," Yagami Takuya thought for a moment. "Ayanokouji's strength has actually regressed quite a bit; he took so long just to deal with an opponent of Housen's level. If a dozen of you go together, your chances of winning are very high."
"As for the Shimizu Akira side... I have already approached Amasawa Ichika in advance."
Although Amasawa Ichika had intentionally or unintentionally helped Ayanokouji last time, he was her long-time object of admiration after all, so holding back was inevitable. If it were Shimizu Akira, she should be able to play her part, and she could involve aspects of female harassment, making it easy to play tricks. After all, Amasawa was also someone he had known for many years. As a White Room assassin, she should also understand how miserable the consequences of a failed mission would be.
"I'll just take ten million private points afterward." Yagami Takuya clapped his hands. "After deducting the ten million distributed to the others, the two of you can each take ten million.
Because Shimizu Akira knows many second-year friends, Acting Chairman Tsukishiro will arrange more tasks these next two days, so there's no need to worry about that either.
That is my entire plan. Do you two have any other questions?"
Utomiya Riku stroked his chin. Currently, it seemed Yagami Takuya had thought of almost everything in advance.
Tsubaki Sakurako looked straight at him. "If Shimizu Akira or Ayanokouji Kiyotaka break through our encirclement—especially Shimizu Akira—if he finds you, what do you plan to do?"
Yagami Takuya paused, then slowly spoke. "Then let me personally meet this Shimizu Akira."
If he could break through a ten-person encirclement and defeat Amasawa Ichika, it would indeed prove he was quite a fighter, but by then, his stamina should be nearly exhausted. And he would have Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei as hostages. No matter how he looked at it, there was no possibility of him losing.
But then again, he felt Tsubaki Sakurako was overthinking. Once he caught the girlfriends, the first thing he'd do was destroy their watches.
Shimizu Akira wouldn't even be able to check their GPS, so how could he possibly find him?
-
-
-
10:00 AM.
Yagami Takuya began the first step of his operation. After some thought, he decided to meet Karuizawa Kei first. He picked up his tablet and spent points to check her GPS; she was by a river.
He also checked the positions of Shimizu Akira and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka; both were very far from here, about four or five kilometers away. Even at a speed of five minutes per kilometer, it would take them over twenty minutes to rush over.
"Shimizu Akira is truly an idiot." Yagami Takuya shook his head instinctively. "Kushida Kikyo should have warned him that I would move against his girlfriends. It's the last two days, and he actually isn't by his girlfriend's side, going off to participate in a task instead?"
Was it because he slackened off in the last two days? Or did he want to protect Kushida Kikyo more than Karuizawa Kei? Who told him to have two girlfriends! In such a situation, one can only personally protect one person.
Therefore, he felt Shimizu Akira would definitely prioritize protecting Kushida Kikyo. But regardless, this gave him a great opportunity.
-
-
-
Twenty minutes later, Yagami Takuya arrived at a riverside. A fishing task was being held here. Karuizawa Kei was holding a fishing rod alone, fishing happily.
Yagami Takuya scanned the surroundings and didn't see anyone from Second-Year Class B. After some thought, he walked straight over.
"Karuizawa-senpai, good morning."
Karuizawa Kei turned around and was startled to see Yagami Takuya suddenly appearing behind her. She subconsciously reached for the walkie-talkie placed beside her.
However, the moment Yagami greeted her, he had already snatched the walkie-talkie from her side.
"Oh my, Senpai isn't being very honest," he said with a smile. "Did Shimizu-senpai instruct you to notify him the moment you see me?"
"You are Yagami Takuya... why are you looking for me?" Karuizawa Kei was a bit panicked but still looked at him with forced composure. "Wait, there are so many people here, you wouldn't try to move against me in person, would you?"
"I naturally won't harm you, Senpai," Yagami Takuya said with a smile. "I just hope you can come with me for a bit."
"Huh? Who's going with you!"
"Not coming?" Yagami Takuya tilted his head. "Then I'll have to tell everyone fishing here about Karuizawa-senpai's dark history."
"What dark history? I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Don't understand? Then I'll be direct. Actually! Senpai and I graduated from the same middle school, so I know very well about your past of being bullied. Oh my, back then, you were bullied quite miserably, weren't you? If I'm not mistaken... you have a very ugly scar left on your abdomen, right?"
He spread his hands and said with a cheerful, threatening tone: "Karuizawa-senpai, you wouldn't want the whole school to know about that embarrassing mark, would you?"
Karuizawa Kei's body froze. Her past of being bullied, her embarrassing scar—this person knew it all. Akira-kun had said this guy could find the records of everyone in the school; there was no reason he wouldn't know hers. She was now one of the cores among the girls in her class; if such information was made public, she definitely wouldn't be able to continue being a "gal."
Yagami Takuya couldn't help but laugh. Yes, this was his method for dealing with Karuizawa Kei. Many people who came to this school hid dark histories they didn't want to look back on. The data was indeed correct; Karuizawa Kei had a simple personality and was completely shaken by a few random words.
However, before he could celebrate for long, a voice suddenly came from behind the two of them.
"While I was away grabbing bait..." Kiryuin Fuuka walked over, naturally blocking the front of Karuizawa Kei, looking at Yagami Takuya with interest. "Yagami-kouhai, were you just threatening my cute kouhai?"
Yagami Takuya couldn't help but frown. It was this woman. Tsukishiro had mentioned that besides Shimizu Akira, there were two other people in this school whose combat strength was suspected to be infinitely close to a White Room assassin. One was Koenji Rokusuke, but he was currently being besieged by Nagumo Miyabi's people, so there was no need to worry too much. The other was the Kiryuin Fuuka before him.
But he remembered this person also had a free-spirited personality; since when did she like meddling in such business?
He thought for a moment and spoke with a forced, composed smile. "I just have some secrets to discuss with Karuizawa-senpai; it shouldn't have anything to do with Kiryuin-senpai. There's no need for Senpai to meddle; just continue fishing."
To his surprise, Kiryuin Fuuka threw the bait directly onto the ground. "Isn't it normal for a senpai to protect a kouhai? Besides, Shimizu-kouhai approached me privately and asked me to protect Kei. But actually, he did something redundant; Kei is a rare friend of mine, so even if he hadn't said anything, I would have protected her."
Yagami Takuya's expression changed. He hadn't expected Shimizu Akira to have actually requested Kiryuin Fuuka to protect Karuizawa Kei. The intel Tsukishiro gave him only said this woman was very strong, had an eccentric personality, and disliked social interaction—it never said she would accept someone's request to protect another. And, were these two on such good terms?
"Senpai's friend?" He barely maintained his smile. "So Karuizawa-senpai and Kiryuin-senpai are on such good terms?"
"What, don't believe it?" Kiryuin Fuuka turned to look at Karuizawa Kei. "Kei, tell him, are we friends or not?"
Karuizawa Kei was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! Kiryuin-senpai is a very important friend of mine!"
She let out a huge sigh of relief in her heart—she was saved! So her boyfriend had already thought of Yagami Takuya coming for her and asked Kiryuin-senpai to protect her in advance!
As expected of her boyfriend! Speaking of which, the effort put into building a good relationship with Kiryuin-senpai last year finally paid off.
My boyfriend is the best! She almost wanted to cheer out loud.
Yagami Takuya's smile was becoming hard to maintain. "Senpai, what exactly do I have to do for you to let Karuizawa-senpai come with me?"
"It's simple." Kiryuin Fuuka cracked her wrists. "Have a fight with me and knock me down. I've always known about the existence of the White Room, but my parents weren't interested in taking sides or genius cultivation; otherwise, I probably would have been sent in as a child. Let me see what kind of strength these so-called talents actually have."
Yagami Takuya's eyes lit up. "Really? Just have to defeat you? Karuizawa-senpai agrees too?"
"Yeah! Fine!" Karuizawa Kei was full of confidence in Kiryuin. "If you can really defeat Kiryuin-senpai, it's not impossible for me to go with you!"
"Oh my, Kouhai has a lot of confidence in me."
"When I was running with Akira-kun last year, I saw Senpai running many laps in the morning—way more laps than Akira-kun runs every day. This kouhai looks thin and weak, and he doesn't seem to run much normally. How could he possibly beat you?"
Yagami Takuya didn't know what to say. "You actually use running to measure a person's strength?"
Kiryuin Fuuka, however, burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Kei has a point! Alright, Yagami-kouhai, enough talk. Quickly find a place for the two of us to have a fight."
"I saw an open space when I came over. There are many tasks today, so there's almost no one there. Let's choose that spot."
"Fine."
The three walked for over ten minutes and arrived at the open space Yagami Takuya mentioned.
Yagami Takuya smiled confidently. "Kiryuin-senpai, before that, please destroy your watch. If an alarm goes off and attracts the school's attention, it will be a bit troublesome for me."
Kiryuin Fuuka smiled. "Quite confident." She reached out and directly destroyed her own watch.
"Be careful, Senpai!" Karuizawa Kei stepped aside.
The two walked to the open space and stood facing each other. Yagami Takuya loosened his wrists, his gaze fixed on Kiryuin Fuuka. Kiryuin Fuuka, on the other hand, was very relaxed, hands in her pockets, and even let out a yawn.
"Can we start?"
Yagami Takuya didn't answer and charged straight in. He was very fast, his fist whistling through the air toward Kiryuin Fuuka's face. Kiryuin Fuuka dodged to the side while raising her leg to sweep at his lower body. Yagami Takuya jumped to avoid it, turned in mid-air, and kicked toward her shoulder.
Kiryuin Fuuka raised her arm to block, using the momentum to step back twice and stabilize herself. She shook her numbed wrist, her eyes gaining a hint of seriousness. "Not bad."
Yagami Takuya didn't respond and closed in again. Their movements became faster and faster, the sound of fists and feet colliding echoing in the clearing. Yagami Takuya's offensive was sharp and fierce, every move aimed at vital points, while Kiryuin Fuuka used soft to overcome hard, redirecting his strength, her movements flowing like water.
After a dozen or so exchanges, neither had gained an advantage. Yagami Takuya suddenly changed his technique, feinting a punch and then executing a sudden leg sweep. Kiryuin Fuuka jumped to avoid it but was caught in a vulnerability, a palm strike hitting her shoulder. She groaned and stepped back twice.
Currently, Yagami Takuya held a slight upper hand, but only by a little bit.
Yagami Takuya panted, saying with some shock: "How is this possible? How can I only have this much of an advantage?"
"Why can't it be?"
"I am a White Room assassin, you are just an ordinary student of Advanced Nurturing High School!"
"I'd be happier if you called me a lady."
"What kind of training do you usually receive? How much actual combat have you experienced?"
"Actual combat?" Kiryuin Fuuka tilted her head. "I haven't actually hit anyone for real before."
Was this really the opponent's first time performing in actual combat? Yagami Takuya even felt that the opponent seemed to be slowly improving while fighting him. To think that a mere high school like this actually had such a genius.
"People from the White Room are indeed very strong." Kiryuin Fuuka rubbed her shoulder, her fighting spirit intense. "Oh my, I feel quite a bit more motivated now. Let's continue, Yagami-kouhai!"
Yagami Takuya's face looked grim. Half an hour had passed since he found Karuizawa Kei. If they kept fighting, although he could win, it would take at least another ten minutes, and he might get injured or have his stamina depleted, which would surely delay the plan.
"Since Kiryuin-senpai protects her kouhai so much, I'll take my leave."
"Leaving already? I haven't fought enough!"
"Heh, if there's time, I'll find Senpai to spar again." Yagami Takuya never wanted to fight this kind of woman a second time.
"Why are you wimping out! Yagami Takuya! Is that all?" Karuizawa Kei couldn't see the specific situation and thought Yagami Takuya couldn't beat Kiryuin Fuuka, so she took the opportunity to mock him.
"At the beginning, you even made Senpai break her watch; I thought you were such a great fighter! And this is your combat power? It's not even worth a single hair on our Akira-kun!"
Was he joking? This guy had threatened her from the start; as a "gal," how could she not strike back?
Yagami Takuya, who was turning to leave, looked back with an ugly expression. "Senpai, did you forget? Your dark history is still in my hands. It seems you really want me to make your past public."
"I..." Karuizawa Kei was a bit at a loss for words.
Kiryuin Fuuka, however, walked to her side and said comfortingly.
"Scars are medals of a lady's growth. Shimizu-kouhai probably doesn't care about that stuff at all, right? So what if it's said out loud?"
"Right! Exactly!" Karuizawa Kei seemed encouraged and said without thinking, "I don't care about that stuff! As long as our Akira-kun doesn't care, it's fine!"
Yagami Takuya's mouth twitched—another "love brain." He quickened his pace and left the area.
He had to hurry. The next target was Kushida Kikyo. He refused to believe it! Kiryuin was here, and Koenji wasn't around—could Shimizu Akira really find another capable fighter?
Read ahead (120 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting