If you turned the clock back five minutes, Yukio would still be sitting there with Amasawa, sampling the snacks his class had just brought out. Calling it a full meal would be a stretch, but it was enough to take the edge off their hunger.
Amasawa was in high spirits, cheerfully rating everything she ate.
"This one's better than what Ichinose's class had, but this other one's worse."
She was basically just saying whatever came to mind.
Still, she kept her voice low enough not to annoy the rest of Yukio's class. Neither Yukio nor Shiina minded anyway. If anything, they found Amasawa's blunt honesty oddly charming when she was in a good mood.
Then Yukio received Ibuki's "come now" text.
He immediately pulled up her location, excused himself by saying he needed to use the bathroom, and left the classroom at once.
Following the marker led him here, and when he saw Ibuki pinning Yagami down, even he was a little surprised.
He had already known Yagami was the other White Room plant.
What he had not expected was that this White Room student would get taken down this easily by Ibuki.
Honestly, it said a lot. White Room really did deserve its reputation as a glorified gym. All it seemed good for was building physical ability after the fact. Anything involving actual brains? Not so much.
"So this is where it ends, Yagami."
Yukio stepped closer, making sure Yagami could not suddenly lash out like a cornered beast, then asked Ibuki, "What was this little bastard trying to set up?"
"Uh..."
Ibuki had still looked fierce a second ago, but the moment the topic came up, her expression turned strange and disgusted all over again.
Still, she did not hide anything from Yukio.
"He... wanted me to use your name to lure Ayanokoji out of Class 2-D."
"To meet him alone behind Gym No. 2 at one this afternoon."
Yukio already knew the White Room students' mission, so he did not make the same mistake Ibuki had and assume Yagami just wanted to confess his feelings or something.
"Hah. That's one hell of a crude plan."
"Even if he heard my name, what makes you think Ayanokoji would actually show up? And if he just contacted me to confirm it, your whole plan would've collapsed on the spot."
Yagami's face froze.
Then it turned viciously dark.
"You—you! What the hell would a nobody like you understand?! Someone with an ordinary person's intelligence could never appreciate the elegance of my plan!"
"???"
Yukio narrowed his eyes at him. The more he listened, the more obvious it became that this kid really was not all there in the head.
"Then explain this to me. If Ayanokoji contacted me afterward to confirm the invitation, what were you going to do?"
Yagami actually got stuck on that absurdly simple question.
For a moment, he could not answer at all.
Ibuki burst out laughing.
"Pfft! So you really are just a dumbass who only knows how to run his mouth."
"No! That's not it!"
Yagami could not accept it.
How could someone as superior as him get laughed at by two normal people?
"Ayanokoji would never contact anyone! He wouldn't! So my plan is foolproof! There was never anything wrong with it!"
Even in a situation that should have been tense, Yukio and Ibuki could not help laughing together.
This kid was ridiculous. Just because he claimed Ayanokoji would not contact anyone, that was supposed to make it true?
Yukio shook his head in open contempt.
"What are you, having a delusion episode? You really think reality bends to whatever comes out of your mouth?"
"What, does Ayanokoji not know how to be cautious? Or does he not know how to use a phone? Do you even hear yourself?"
He mocked me again! He mocked me again! This student council president mocked me again!
Yagami's face darkened as bloodshot fury flooded his eyes.
"Kill... kill... kill..."
His voice was low, but the murderous intent pouring out of him was enough to make both Yukio and Ibuki—who'd spent years training at her family dojo—go serious.
Ibuki instinctively increased the pressure of the lock, cranking it as hard as she could, but even then she could feel it becoming difficult to hold him.
Damn it. She had not realized before just how absurdly strong this scumbag underclassman was. His brain might've been trash, but his physical specs were completely out of line.
Yagami had finally snapped.
Yukio had humiliated him over and over again, and now, just when he'd been on the verge of moving against Ayanokoji, Yukio had ruined things yet again.
For someone as prideful as Yagami, reality like that was intolerable.
The rage finally burned through the last of his reason, and he gave up on restraint completely.
"Kill! I'll kill both of you, then kill Ayanokoji too!"
"Once that's done, everything will be over! You normal people who dared laugh at me should die! How could trash like you possibly understand what the White Room is—"
Smack!
Yagami did not even get to finish his threat before Yukio slapped him across the face.
The crack was sharp and clean, and the echo of it rang through the stairwell.
"The fuck are you acting superior for?"
Yukio was not even remotely polite about it. He figured he might as well collect a little interest on Kushida's behalf while he was at it.
The first hit had been with the front of his hand.
The second came right after, a backhand across the other side.
"You open your mouth with 'ordinary person' this, 'ordinary person' that—what's your problem? Did ordinary people eat your family's rice or something? You're not that special yourself. Without ordinary people, where the hell did you come from? Some spontaneous genetic mutation out of thin air?"
"Oh, sorry."
After delivering the two slaps, Yukio shook out his hand.
"That part I should apologize for. I almost forgot."
"You really are way above ordinary people when it comes to clowning."
"In that department, you've absolutely earned the right to feel superior."
"Pfft!"
That got Ibuki again.
She shot Yukio an exasperated look.
It really was the simplest, filthiest trash talk—and somehow the most satisfying kind.
Yagami's face was already swelling red on both sides, the skin puffing up in a ridiculous way. He really did look like some circus clown now.
The pain in his face was secondary, though.
What was truly killing him was Yukio's mockery.
How dare he call him a clown?
How dare he call a gifted White Room prodigy—someone far above ordinary people—a clown?
That was not just an insult. It was a total denial of Yagami's entire existence.
The pain of that ran all the way down to his soul.
"I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you!"
"How dare you insult someone from the White Room like this?! You people are just ordinary trash! How could you possibly understand what we went through in the White Room?!"
"It wasn't just combat training! We were taught every subject, every industry, everything! We survived a place where failing to learn meant death! That's why we stand above all of you!"
No matter how much Yagami screamed, Yukio did not react at all.
But for Ibuki, hearing about the White Room for the first time, it was enough to make her face go pale.
Until now, she had just thought this kid was a total idiot.
But from the way he talked, it sounded like he came from some genuinely dangerous organization.
Would that bring trouble down on Yukio?
The next second, though, she relaxed completely.
Because Yukio showed not even the slightest sign of fear in the face of Yagami's dramatic speech.
Instead, he took out his phone, held it up in front of Yagami, and showed him the voice-recording screen that had been running the whole time.
Right in front of him, Yukio stopped the recording.
"Okay. Thanks for the courtroom testimony."
"You've leaked more than enough useful information to us so-called 'ordinary people.' Which means your expulsion, clown boy, is now a done deal. That part's unavoidable."
"You... you set me up too?!"
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.