Ryuuen Kakeru Short Story: What Became Apparent to Me After a Year Introduction

It happened on that day right before the spring break was over.

I dragged myself to the Keyaki mall. Once I defeated Ichinose and managed to return our class back to Class C, I decided to fight with Ayanokouji again.

I have to think up a good strategy or else it won’t work on that guy.

Which is why I seek someone who can become my hands and legs and move according to my will. No matter how insignificant they may be.

There should be several useful pawns in his class that could be easily swayed.

My class on the other hand, has for some reason too many of those who only have muscles for brain.

They are sorta excellent as foot soldiers, but they can’t follow detailed instructions.

And what’s more, my class still has a deeply rooted distrust towards me.

Right now, Ishizaki holds the position as the ruler of the class, but I’m getting bored of his acting skills.

A critical point for me to think over is when to take the reigns from him again.

“Good morning. Are you alone today?”

I sat down at a seat at the Keyaki Mall, waiting for Ibuki and Ishizaki to arrive, when a certain busybody called out to me.

It was Sakayanagi Arisu.

“I can say the same to you, what happened to those bodyguards of yours, Sakayanagi?”

I can’t see Kamuro or Hashimoto here either, those servants of hers… no, maybe I should say familiars?

“Fufu. Even I go out alone sometimes. Congratulations on your comeback victory.”

“Same for you. You beat Suzune’s class I hear.”

“4 wins, 3 losses. It was close of a result despite fighting with a lower class however.”

“But you won so they have just become stepping stones for you in the end.”

A lead of 500 points was too large to lose during a single year. You could safely assume it meant you were safe. Or at least, that’s how lazy people normally thought.

“Empty words coming from you. You mean to say you plan to close the gap in 2 years…no, within this year. At least, you eyes do.”

“Kuku, who knows?”

“How about it? Care for a cup of tea we while discuss the next year together?”

“Together? I have nothing to talk about. And I’m not in the mood either, alright?”

“Oh, really? I was thinking of a little celebration for your comeback. My treat, of course.”

She’s obviously looking down on me, but she’s still watching my every steps. Making sure she doesn’t miss anything.

If I show her even the slightest of strange movements, it would bring her joy beyond compare.

The battle between us has already begun.

Well, I can play with her anytime. We’ll just try to read into what’s hidden behind each other anyway.

I didn’t have any intention of doing that today.

“Later.”

I stood up, looking for another place to go. Seeing me like that, she called out to me again.

“Your aura has certainly changed.”

“What?”

“A year ago, you would look at me with full enmity in your eyes. You surely don’t look like that same person to me.”

I laughed making a sound saying ‘as if’. The same smile appeared on her face.

So, she doesn’t think I’m showering her with all my hostility now, is she? I thought while holding back my laughter.

“The fact that you still are directing it towards me hasn’t changed. But it’s obvious that the ‘colour’ has changed.”

It seems like what she tried to say wasn’t what I had expected.

“I didn’t think you were even worthy of being my opponent right after we entered school, but it’s different now it seems.”

“That’s stupid, Sakayanagi. Aren’t you overestimating yourself a bit, huh? My principle is to win no matter what methods I have to use. I can kick you down to the ground right here, right now if I wanted, you see? And just so you know, I won’t show any mercy to you even if you cry.”

Since neither Hashimoto not Kitou were here, she was just a weak girl who couldn’t even beat a brat.

“As you say, I’d have no chance to win in a physical fight, but that doesn’t mean you’d win either.”

“So you won’t admit a loss from violence just because of your handicap, huh?”

“That’s not the problem. Physical power is also a necessary factor to any fights. I’m just saying that exercising violence against me here wouldn’t led to your victory. A lot of people and survellance cameras are watching us now after all. It won’t just end with a suspension, if you raised a hand against me now. I, who can’t move as I please, I may say. What a third party observer would deem a victory is also an important factor as well.”

“Logically that is. But what if I wanted to use force to claim my victory for my own satisfaction, what then?”

I took a step towards her and lightly raised a clenched fist in a somewhat threatening manner.

I think it would have been a bit cute to see her frightened by this, somewhat charming. But she didn’t fret a single bit, only showing me that unpleasant smile of hers.

She’s way too naive if she thought I wouldn’t hit her for real. But that wasn’t the reason it seems.

She didn’t mind since being hit wasn’t a loss, but instead a step leading to her victory. That’s what her eyes told me.

“You do have intelligence, despite your appearances. I’m just relieved you also can calculate your gains and losses.”

Even if I punched her, she would end up brandishing her mark of the lowest scum onto me.

“I think you, as you are right now, have grown to be worthy of playing with, you know?”

You say I’ve grown during this year?

Lol…you say the most ridiculous things as you please.

“I haven’t changed at all.”

“You sure about that? You’ve changed quite a bit as far as I can see.”

She was still persistent on that despite my denial.

Foolish ideas, I thought…

But, I might have changed a bit.

I thought I didn’t have any room for growth after middle school.

I thought I had matured completely.

And everyone else were my playthings.

I had no empathy towards such things.

“The current you seems to have changed your view compared to how you were a year ago perhaps?”

Right… I’ve changed how I view things.

I decided this school wasn’t much of anything once I took control over Class-C in April.

I was aware that Sakayanagi, who used Katsuragi as her plaything, was pretty smart, but other than that she wasn’t worth taking notice of.

I only thought about how to stave off boredom by crushing Class B or Class D.

It’s laughable now that I think about it.

But anyway, even I was surprised by how much motivation I had towards trying to pull up my class now.

“It seems to me that something big has happened that made you change this much.”

Her attitude and eyes were telling me she was testing me, but I didn’t show her anything and just let it go.

“Fufu, I’m looking forward to— a new war this year too, okay?”

“You’ll end up regretting it.”

I noticed the guys I’d been waiting for, then turned my back and walked away from Sakayanagi.

“Good morning, Ryuuen-san. That was Sakayanagi…right? Did something happen?”

Ishizaki was taking glances back while trying to catch up to me.

“Just some small talk.”

I’d have wasted time and energy trying to explain to these guys anyway.

Even idiots learn in their idiotic ways since he shut his mouth and didn’t pursue the topic.

“Ah, by the way, we met Ayanokouji this morning. He also went to this Keyaki mall.”

“I see.”

At this time of day, the amount of places which could be used was limited.

Meeting up and talking with someone on the 2nd floor should be about it.

Well, I don’t think that would end in just 10 to 20 minutes.

Going out this early must mean that the talk must be somewhat important after all.

I’ll make these guys make the first moves for starters.

“Oh by the way, Ryuuen-san. I suggested a plan to Ayanokouji, but he refused it though. To have him and you in the same class and aim for Class A together…”

“Are you an idiot? No way Ryuuen will say that’s a good idea even if you told him.”

Ibuki was disgusted by it, but what Ishizaki said shouldn’t be overlooked.

It’s true that if we joined forces for real, there would be no enemies left standing in our year.

“Well, that’s impossible.”

“So it was impossible… yeah… sorry for my stupid suggestion.”

“And? Why did you call us today?”

“I wanted to talk about this 2nd year and what follows.”

“What follows?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with special exams, I will crush Class A this year.”

“…You’re not joking, are you?”

“Sakayanagi won’t show us any openings but if we let Class A steamroll their way, any chances we have will disappear. I’ll drag them back with me and defeat them to smithereens, no matter how stubborn I have to be.”

But well, I need to make sure of the timing and such at least.

“What about Class B?”

“They’ll just self-destruct if we leave them alone. They won’t use any dirty tricks.”

In other words, they aren’t worth paying any attention to.

“Oh yeah, we don’t need to be aware of them, right.”

The only exception may be Kanzaki, but he isn’t worthy of being my opponent at this stage.

Whether he only has the ability to bark or not will become apparent sooner or later.

“That’s right, no need to pay them any attention, but—that’s why we must go out and finish them. To crush them so that they never can rise again.”

And defeating all classes will send him a signal as well.