The victory equation had been programmed deep within Ayanokouji's heart; now, only the final steps remained.
He posed another question to Sae.
"If I wanted to have a specific small object distributed to every second-year student inside their classrooms, how many private points would be required?"
"Why are you asking this? What exactly are you planning?!" Sae realized something was amiss.
Ayanokouji was forced to lie to her, claiming that this was part of his effort to ascend to Class A.
Only then did Sae lower her guard and answer truthfully.
"If you want to distribute a designated small object to all second-year students, the cost is 10,000 points per person. There are over 160 students in the second year, meaning you would need at least 1.6 million private points."
Ayanokouji exhaled a long breath. Now he could feel at ease; as long as this method could be executed, everything would be secure. The only issue was that he currently did not possess that many points, so he had to devise a meticulous plan.
Ayanokouji left the faculty room and closed the door firmly.
However, before taking action, there was one hidden threat that had to be resolved: Kato Megumi.
This girl possessed a threat level that was simply too high; even Ayanokouji himself often ignored her subconsciously. To prevent his plan from being exposed, this matter had to be handled.
He went to the bench on the roof of the building. He took out an engraving knife he had recently purchased from the convenience store. He chose the same archaic method used by Morishita Ai: engraving information about Megumi onto his own body so he would not forget.
On his arm, several large words were carved:
[Kato Megumi is extremely dangerous! Beware of her! Suspect her! Do not forget her!]
One could imagine just how vigilant Ayanokouji was toward Megumi. For if his next move went wrong and Megumi noticed something strange, then contacted Ryunosuke outside the school by paying 10,000 points, his entire plan would crumble into pieces.
Having addressed the threat, Ayanokouji stood up from the bench. Blood dripped from his arm, but he had no time to care. He prepared for the next phase and immediately descended from the roof.
Next was the issue of points for his plan. The private points he possessed were clearly insufficient to support the execution of this scheme, so he had to find a way to gather them.
Where should he look? Naturally, he went to the people who most desired Ryunosuke's departure.
The people who had been vexed by Ryunosuke included all the first-year students, as well as Ryuen from Class 2-D. Ayanokouji decided to meet Ryuen first and invited him out.
The two agreed to meet at a karaoke lounge.
Ryuen came only because Ayanokouji claimed to have a way to take down Ryunosuke. He stared at the flat-faced man before him with impatience. Due to Ryunosuke's intervention thus far, Ayanokouji had almost never moved overtly.
Ryuen clearly did not take Ayanokouji seriously, as he considered Ryunosuke his ultimate nemesis. Seeing Ryuen's impatience, Ayanokouji went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Ryuen, I have a way to handle Akasaka, but I need your help." Ayanokouji said.
"Hah? You think I'll just believe that? What if this is a trap set by you and Akasaka Ryunosuke? I don't want to be made into a monkey for your amusement. You two are friends, aren't you?" Ryuen asked sharply.
Ryuen's sentence pointed directly to his primary concern. He did not believe that Ayanokouji would attack his own friend. He even suspected this was a trap intended for him.
Ayanokouji sighed. Prejudices in the human heart were like great mountains. Outsiders viewed him as Ryunosuke's friend. In reality, for him, there were never true friends; there were only appropriate tools.
Even the Ryuen standing before him was merely a tool. To make this "tool" more cooperative, Ayanokouji leaked a portion of his plan.
Initially, Ryuen didn't care, but the more he heard, the more shocked and horrified he became. He stared at him in disbelief.
"If you can be this ruthless, are you really his friend?"
Ayanokouji answered without expression. "Of course, we are good friends—the type of friends who can betray one another."
Ryuen stroked his chin, considering the feasibility of the plan.
Truthfully, Ayanokouji's plan was too perfect. It was as if Ryuen had only just realized how terrifying the opponent in front of him truly was. Cold sweat trickled down his temples out of fear.
"You bastard, if you had this kind of power, why haven't you moved before?"
Ayanokouji spread his hands and spoke honestly. "There was no need. Having Akasaka around was enough. I preferred to just be lazy."
Ryuen: "😐"
(Meaning, I wasn't valuable enough to make the two of them move together? Dammit!)
Ryuen suddenly felt the urge to hit someone. His fists cracked; when had he ever accepted such an insult? So he actually did it, swinging his fist toward Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji caught the fist with one hand and gave him a profound lesson.
Inside the KTV room containing only the two of them, for the sake of future cooperation and to prove his strength so Ryuen would be more respectful, Ayanokouji beat him relentlessly until he was screaming.
Finally, Ryuen surrendered and begged him to stop. Only then did Ayanokouji cease his strikes.
Ryuen's face was already swollen like a pig's head.
Ryuen almost wanted to cry, but he tried to remain calm as he stood up and sat back down. With a bruised face, he began to discuss the next steps with Ayanokouji.
It couldn't be helped. Ryuen was the type of person who, if not beaten into submission, could not be worked with. Ayanokouji was forced to use his fists to speak in order to achieve a fair negotiation.
At least now Ryuen began to take Ayanokouji seriously. The man across from him couldn't be beaten in a fight, and on top of that, he had a great idea to take down Ryunosuke; Ryuen didn't want to let this opportunity slip away.
After learning that the plan required 4 million private points, Ryuen frowned and expressed his difficulties.
"I'm no longer the class leader. It seems difficult to gather that many points to carry out the plan."
Ayanokouji wasn't in much of a hurry; he simply offered a suggestion.
"The current class leader is Yukinoshita, right?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Right! The one whose face looks exactly like Horikita's—even their personalities are equally annoying!" Ryuen answered.
He replied with a displeased tone. He truly hated seeing Yukino's face, which always wore a cold expression.
(Who does she think she is? She's not Horikita, who has Akasaka as a protector.)
(Just look at how Akasaka gave the Student Council President position to Horikita. That proves how much he values her.)
(And who does Yukinoshita have as a protector? She only knows how to make people annoyed every day. If it weren't for the help of Shiina, Furuhashi, and Ogata who help manage the class, Class D would have fallen apart because of Yukinoshita.)
Because Yukino did not consider other people's feelings at all. Even if the truth was right before her eyes, she would still walk her own path. Even if that path was wrong, she would keep going until the end. Her stubborn nature couldn't be pulled back even by ten cows.
In this regard, she was indeed very similar to Suzune.
In the Student Council President's office, Suzune, who was working, suddenly frowned deeply. She felt as though someone was talking behind her back.