The dimly lit café at night cast a warm glow ohree students seated in a quiet er. Ibuki sat stiffly, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

  Since childhood, she had developed an aloof personality, disied in socializing. Enrolling at Advanurturing High School, she hadn't cared much about css rankings or school politics. She had simply hoped for a straightforath to graduation.

  However, on the very first day of school, she entered a man she absolutely could not stand—Ryuen Kakeru.

  Ibuki didn't particurly care about who held the position of Css C's leader, but she despised being coerced into decisions she didn't agree with. More than anything, she detested being forced into submission.

  So, when Ryuen challenged her, she had not hesitated to strike first.

  Despite her small stature, she possessed martial arts experiend had honed her own unique bat style—a focus on powerful kicks.

  She had initially thought that putting Ryuen in his pce with her superior teique would be enough. However, she soon realized her mistake.

  Ryuen wasn't necessarily the stro fighter—his skill was average at best. But he had one dangerous quality that set him apart from others.

  He didn't fear pain.

  Even after beien to a pulp by Albert, he refused to cede. He simply took time to recover before jumping right bato the fight.

  Ibuki had never entered anyone quite like him.

  She k was only a matter of time before Ryuen mao wear Albert dowually seg trol over Css ot that she particurly cared—until now.

  Hearing Hikaru cim that the css representative had authority over everyone's Private Points, she felt a surge of frustration bubble inside her.

  The thought of that disgusting man trolling the financial lifeline of their entire css made her stomach turn.

  Her voice was ced with icy disdain as she finally spoke. "What do you wao do?"

  "Simple. Ryuen hasn't fully seized trol of Css C yet, which means he isn't the official css representative," Hikaru said, reizing that she had taken the bait. His pn was already halfway to success.

  Ibuki's expression, he tinued in a coaxing tone. "You might not be afraid of Ryuen, but let's be real—others will eventually cave to his tactics. If he mao solidate power, he'll force a css-wide vote. And when that happens, you'll have no choice but to accept his rule. I'm guessing that's not a future you want to see?"

  "Tch… Damn right it's not," Ibuki muttered, her annoyance palpable.

  She didn't care who led Css C—but Ryuen definitely wasn't an option.

  "Iose-san, expin our pn to Ibuki-san," Hikaru prompted. "We o set things in motion as soon as possible."

  Iose nodded with a gentle smile. She had spent the afternoon building rapport with Ibuki, which had been no easy task. The girl had been ht hostile at first, refusing to trust her in the slightest.

  But Iose had persevered, using her experience as a former css president to slowly break the ice. After repeatedly emphasizing that she had something important to discuss, Ibuki had begrudgingly agreed to this meeting.

  "The pn is simple," Iose began. "We need you to lure Ryuen into a situation where he's forced to attack you. We'll be nearby, rec the whole thing."

  She paused before eborating, "Once we have video evidence, we'll submit it to the Student cil for review. That will guarahat Ryues suspended."

  Ibuki frowned. "That's it? Suspension isn't perma. He'll just e back."

  "You're right," Hikaru interjected smoothly. "But that's not the whole picture. We need him out of the way because we're pnning something big with Css d since we've seen how he operates, we 't trust him. This is the only way to move forward."

  Ibuki narrowed her eyes. "You're pnning something with my css?"

  "That's a versation for aime," Hikaru replied cryptically. "Once Ryuen is suspended, Iose and I will visit Css person to discuss the details. Trust me, it'll be worth your while."

  Ibuki leaned ba her chair, pting his words. "...Tch. Who knows what you're really up to."

  She didn't trust Hikaru in the slightest.

  But she hated Ryuen more.

  "I assume you don't just wao beat the crap out of him, right?" she asked, her voice tinged with sarcasm.

  "That's right," Iose chimed in. "Even though you win against him, we don't want the video to show a fair fight. We need footage of him ag as the aggressor—him being the bully."

  "So you just wao dodge?"

  "Exactly."

  Ibuki scoffed but ultimately nodded. "Fine. I'll py along."

  "Great." Hikaru's smile deepened. "Now, when do we set this up?"

  "Hmm…" Iose tilted her head and turo Hikaru. "What do you think, Hikaru-kun?"

  "The soohe better."

  Hikaru g the café's clock. It was nearing closing time.

  "Ideally, tomorrow. We 't give Ryuen time to react. Ibuki-san, do you think you challenge him to a fight tomorrow?"

  "Easy. I'll tell him I refuse to aowledge him as our leader. That should be enough to piss him off."

  "Good. Let's exge tafo. Keep an eye on your css tomorrow. Once you find a good moment, tell him." Hikaru's eyes gleamed with determination. "Everything depends on timing—we 't afford any slip-ups."

  Ibuki snorted. "Yeah, yeah. I got it."

  After exging numbers, they ed up their meeting ahe café.

  Uhe soft glow of the moon, Iose walked beside Hikaru, her expression tinged with mencholy.

  Hikaru, who had e tnize her subtle shifts in mood, asked, "Is this about earlier? Because I asked you to lie?"

  "Yeah…" Iose's voice was quiet, uncharacteristically subdued. "I know it was necessary to vince Ibuki-san, but… lying still feels wrong."

  "You're overthinking it," Hikaru said gently. "Look at it this way—we're redug the amount of violen campus. If we take Ryuen out of the equation, fewer people in Css C will get hurt."

  He paused before adding, "But if you still feel bad after everything's done, we'll apologize to Ibuki-san together. We'll expin why we did it."

  Iose fell silent.

  After a long moment, she lifted her head a Hikaru's gaze. Her striking blue eyes shimmered uhe night sky.

  "Hikaru-kun… Will you ever lie to me?"

  "…"