"Oh Yamauchi! What took you this long?!", Ike exclaimed as I entered the room, he mentioned before in the text.
I looked at the members of this gathering slightly, after offering a dramatic apology, like Yamauchi would have done.
It felt quite embarassing though.
Most of the students who said they would join, were present.
Both Sakura, and Karuizawa were here because of Ayanokouji, Kushida is always an outgoing girl, as for Shinohara, and Matsushita, and Hondou, well, they maybe here just for the sake of it.
After I joined, the girls continued talking among themselves, Shinohara, and Kushida making effort to make small talks with the boys.
They were properly taking turns in singing their selected songs too.
Matsushita ocaissionally communicated too.
Ayanaokouji, Karuizawa, and Sakura kept silent for the time being.
Well, the most of the talking was done by Ike, Sudo, and Hondou.
From the looks of it, Ike is really interested in Shinohara, but I am not sure of it yet.
I tried evading the singing and most of the talking just by saying that I had a bit of coarse voice, since the morning.
"Recently, you have been very quiet, haven't you? Yamauchi-kun?", the sudden question came from Kushida.
As expected it was too much cospicuous huh?
Yamauchi is supposed to be a noisy, irritating brat, who with Ike caused a lot of trouble for the class.
But, I could never act that way, not in a million years.
Seems like some people have noticed the change too.
"I am feeling a little under the weather, Kushida-chan.", I tried to force an awkward smile, to which she replied, "Ah...is that so?"
Then the topic deviated to class tests, the final exam, and a bunch of topics related to the conflicts of class B.
After a few minutes, my phone rang, and th number was a newly added one.
I immediately recognised it, and got out of the karaoke room, to answer it.
As I was going towards a less crowded place, the person with that number was standing there.
"How the hell did you know I would be here?", I asked her, acting a bit surprised, although it was me, who deliberately slipped this information, not to make her suspicious of me.
"You are the one who mentioned about going to karaoke after that, didn't you? Anayway, leave it at that. Just come out with me for a moment.", her tone seemed a bit laced with panic.
As we got out of the karaoke establishment, what I encountered was a bit problematic.
There was a fight going on.
Well a particularly intense one, at that.
One of the students was Kanzaki from class B, with a dew others from his class.
And the opponents were the scary looking fellows from class D.
Ryuen was not there, but I could identify a few others.
It wasn't a fair fight; Class D had clearly initiated a coordinated ambush.
I saw Kanzaki take a heavy blow to his side, his face contorting as he tried to shield a smaller classmate.
The Class D boys—led by Ishizaki's familiar, aggressive silhouette—were using the narrow alleyway to their advantage, boxing the Class B group in.
Chihiro stood paralyzed for a heartbeat, her hands over her mouth.
"We have to stop them! They'll get expelled if the cameras catch this!"
"Cameras don't reach this blind spot. That's why they chose it," I said, my mind already racing.
I took a roundabout way, slipping behind a row of vending machines to reach a service phone near the school's security hub while Chihiro tried to shout for them to stop.
By the time I returned with a couple of upperclassmen from the disciplinary committee I'd managed to flag down, the physical altercation had finally sputtered out.
The scene was grim.
Both sides were nursing injuries, but Class B had clearly been the anvil to Class D's hammer.
They were battered, their uniforms torn and dusted with grit.
Chihiro immediately rushed to Kanzaki's side.
He was slumped against a brick wall, clutching his right arm to his chest.
Even from a distance, the unnatural swelling in his forearm was visible—a jagged, painful protrusion that suggested a clean fracture.
"Kanzaki-kun! Your arm..." Chihiro's voice cracked.
"I'm fine," Kanzaki gritted out, though the beads of sweat on his forehead told a different story. "Just... get everyone to the clinic before the teachers arrive in force."
As the school security began taking names and the Class D group was marched away—wearing smug, bruised grins—I walked over to Chihiro.
She looked utterly defeated, her concern for her classmates outweighing her usual calm.
"Shiranami san," I said, keeping my voice low and steady.
"Confirm they all get to the clinic. Every single one of them. Don't let them 'tough it out.'"
"I will, but... why did they do this?" she asked, her eyes searching mine for an answer that made sense.
"It's a calculated move," I explained, leaning in so only she could hear. "Think about it. Class B is already dealing with internal friction. By targeting your leaders and putting people like Kanzaki in the infirmary, Class D is trying to aggravate the chaos. They want to make Class B appear weak and unstable in the eyes of the school. It's not just a fight; it's an attempt to break your class's spirit before the next special exam."
She looked at Kanzaki's swelling arm, then back at the departing Class D students, a flicker of realization—and perhaps a spark of cold anger—finally appearing in her eyes.
Then, she looked at me as if having determined something.
"I will handle my side of the bargain, so you should do what you wrote in the contract."
I looked at her in the eyes, and just said, "Alright. Transfer the private points right now."
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A/N :
Next - A Particular Reputation
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