Ryūen, Katsuragi, and I were leaving the dining hall. I saw Kushida sitting quietly on a waiting chair near the entrance.
Kushida stood up as soon as she spotted the three of us and approached us without hesitation.
"Ryūen-kun, may I have a word with you?"
It seems she had been waiting here for Ryūen to come out. It was hard to believe that the girls left after finishing their food before Kushida, who would have typically gone with her friends.
I'm sure she had something she wanted to talk to Ryūen about and was preparing for it. Katsuragi, perhaps reading the mood, quickly returned to his room by himself.
"Huh? What do you want?"
"It's... Here, I'd like to go somewhere else, is that okay?"
Kushida was in her usual public mode because of the setting, but her behavior was a little strange.
"I'm sorry, but you're not my cup of tea."
"Haha, that's not what I meant. I mean, don't worry. I don't want you to die, yet."
Kushida, while being cautious of her surroundings, turned her murderous intent toward Ryūen.
"Well, okay, I'll at least listen to you. I'd better get rid of the troublemaker, right?"
The troublemaker was, of course, me. The two of them walked side by side toward a deserted area.
If I left them alone, things were going to take a turn for the worse.
I decided to follow them, ensuring they were completely oblivious to my presence. However, I paid close attention. It was the right decision to be cautious, judging from Ryūen's appearance along the way, with him showing signs of being concerned about what was behind him.
"So? What do you want to talk about after going through all the trouble of being alone with me?"
"It's about my relationship with Ryūen-kun. Even when we were working as a group, you sometimes said unnecessary things. Can you please stop that kind of thing?"
As far as I could tell, Ryūen had, on two occasions, threatened to light a fuse under Kushida. It was no wonder she didn't take kindly to that.
"What do you want with me?"
"What do I want? I ain't got no plans to do anything about you at the moment."
"So you mean you're going to do something about me someday?"
From the sound of her voice, Kushida didn't seem fully composed.
"You sold your soul to the devil because you wanted to expel Suzune, didn't you? Of course, that comes with risks. You can't just pretend the past didn't happen now, can you?"
"Yes, you're right. I believe that's true."
"I'm sure the old you wouldn't have thought to call me out here even if I had provoked you, right?"
Ryūen sensed something was wrong. He was likely oblivious to what happened during the Unanimous Vote Special Exam, but he must've sensed something from his keen perception.
"By any chance, did someone who knows your true nature appear?"
"You can speculate all you want, but you're wrong."
"Kukuku. Either way, you're one of the keys to my class strategy. Whenever I have to deal with Suzune's class, I'll use this weapon without mercy."
He intentionally avoided mentioning Kushida so far. He intended to leave it as one of the measures to effectively inflict damage during more important situations in the future. This was an obstacle for Kushida, who decided to get back on her feet and help the class for her own sake.
The connection couldn't be easily removed and would continue to torment her.
"What are you going to do? Do you plan to get down on your knees and ask me to keep my mouth shut? Or are you going to try and expel me? Both of those are going to be difficult."
"I'm..."
Neither of those options were things I was going to let Kushida choose.
Even if a third choice were to appear, it would result in the same thing.
"I'm sorry, Ryūen, but I'm going to have to ask you to back off on this one."
I decided to stop hiding and expose myself.
"Damn. I knew you were following me." "Ayanokōji-kun?"
"I already knew you would be wary of me."
"Well, that's okay. So? What did you mean when you asked me to back off of Kushida?"
"I meant exactly what I said. I know you're going to tell everyone about Kushida, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't."
Ryūen laughed and clapped his hands in amusement at the warning.
"Kukuku! What, Ayanokōji, you're also in on it, aren't you? And if you say so, that means she's no longer cancerous to your class like before."
Ryūen pleasantly smiled, having gotten an answer to his question up to this point.
"That's right. Kushida is now taking a new step forward as Horikita's classmate. I'm not going to let you destroy that with your provocations."
"Sorry, but this is getting even more interesting. I'm not going to let you ruin it with your interference."
"No one will believe a word you say, Ryūen-kun."
Kushida unbearably confronted him, but Ryūen didn't back down.
"That's not true. You won't know until you try."
What was needed now wasn't a half-hearted verbal deterrent, but complete restriction of movement.
"If I decide to expose you, there is nothing anyone can do to stop me."
He tapped Kushida on the shoulder. She couldn't hide her anxiety and humiliation.
"But if you do that, you won't be able to achieve your goal of fighting Sakayanagi in the final exams."
"Oh? I don't see why that would be the case."
"I'll have to deal with it in a way you don't want me to," I said.
As if in response to my words, Ryūen's smile instantly faded.
Just like when he once fearlessly abducted Kei, or even more so.
"Ha. What the hell, it's been a long time since you've shown me that face."
I intervened between Ryūen and Kushida and pushed Ryūen even more.
"Even if you choose to remain silent here and now, there's no guarantee that you won't expose me later, you know?"
Kushida looked strong, but then lightly raised her hands.
"Let's not talk about this. I'm not going to use Kikyō's story to attack your class in the first place. If Ayanokōji wasn't involved, it could have been a weapon."
"What do you mean...?"
"You don't know this, but he told me yesterday that he was no longer going to expel you. That's why I won't be able to attack you using that."
"That's right, I've already thought of a countermeasure for that situation."
"It's meaningless if I hit you with a strategy that doesn't work and lose out because of it, right? It's been my experience that a half-baked approach won't work if I want to defeat you."
I'm sure that he'll challenge Horikita's class to a fight with a strategy that I can't even think of.
"I'm going back to my room now. Bye Kushida, enjoy the rest of your school life as much as you can."
The way he called her was changed from Kikyō to Kushida. I was interested to see what he would do in the future.
Kushida and I were the only ones left in the area, and silence reigned.
"Why did you come to help me? There's no merit for you, is there?"
"There are advantages. You're an indispensable person for the class. I don't think Ryūen would have had any intention of exposing you even if I hadn't come here, but I didn't know how you would react. I'm sure you were wondering if there was any way you could prevent him from talking."
"That's… Well…"
"Ryūen is not your match. You're going to get yourself in trouble if you get into a fight that you aren't prepared for and get completely defeated. That's why I decided to show up."
"You mean you could handle that guy?"
"At least at this stage, I don't consider Ryūen as a strong opponent."
"How…?"
"Anyway, you don't have to cross any more dangerous bridges. You should take good care of yourself now."
"That's hard to believe. Do you really need me in your class that badly?"
"There's that too."
"That too?"
"I feel that I can be closer with Kushida, who can now speak more freely."
Being aware of both sides of Kushida's personality also made it easier to guess what she was thinking.
"Stop it. How can someone who knows my true nature really think that way?"
I'm sure she's acutely aware that she has a personality that people wouldn't like.
"Not really. You're honestly likable."
"I don't know how serious you are. You can't be trusted."
Normally Kushida would've laughed and answered, but her expression was firm.
"It's true. There are people in this world who feel more comfortable with your true nature."
"There isn't..."
Kushida looked at me, opened her mouth wide, and stopped moving.
Then she suddenly started walking towards the wall.
"What are you doing?"
Immediately after that, she spread her arms out, palms open, and then slammed her hands on the wall as hard as she could.
"It's okay, it's okay..."
She mumbled something and stopped moving. As I watched her, Kushida turned back to me, having regained her composure.
"I got a little dizzy, but I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Kushida raised her voice in a strange manner. I was slightly disturbed by what I just saw.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Even though she didn't seem to be in a normal state, Kushida showed her usual front.
"Yeah. I'm fine!"
"Oh, I see."
Reading Kushida's emotions was really difficult.
"I've kind of been saved by Ayanokōji-kun, haven't I? Thanks for..."
"I feel like I've been getting more and more thank-you's from you lately."
"Maybe so. I'll try not to get involved with Ryūen-kun from now on."
"That's good."
"Well, I'm going back to my room. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you then."
Kushida walked down the hallway with an expression that seemed to have completely returned to normal.
On the way, however, she stumbled and fell down again, and one of her slippers flew off.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't worry!"
She shooed me away with her hand, telling me not to approach her. She then staggered back to her feet and put her slipper back on.