After leaving the , the four members of Css B made their way toward the location Ibuki had provided—the sed-floor corridor of the Special Building.

  It was a secluded area, rarely visited by students uhey had csses in the special-purpose rooms. Given that no lessons were scheduled at this time, it was the perfect pce to set up an ambush.

  Arriving a little earlier than the agreed-upon time, the group o prepare. Hikaru had secured the key to a sce he staircase on the left side of the corridor. Unlog the door, he motioned for the others to hurry inside.

  Onside, Hikaru experimented with several angles before finding the best position for his phone camera, pg it so that it could record the se while keeping their presence hidden. The door was left slightly ajar, and he held his phone firmly, waiting for Ibuki and Ryuen to arrive.

  "They should be here soon. Ibuki set the meeting time for 4:30—six minutes left."

  Cheg her phone, Iose informed the group. The weight of anticipatioled over them, making their ighten. None of them had ever been involved in something like this before.

  Then, the sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase.

  The group focused on Hikaru's phone s, where a slender figure appeared—Ibuki, her fident steps leading the way.

  Behind her followed a tall young man with a sharp, almost predataze. His long hair hung loosely around his face, and his uniform was unbuttoned, exuding an air of absolute arrogance. A faint smirk pyed at his lips, as if he viewed everything in the world with pt.

  "Ryuen, this is the pce I chose for us to settle things." Ibuki's voice was firm as she stopped in the middle of the corridor, turning to face him. "You want to be Css C's representative, right? If you defeat me here, you have it."

  "Hah. I don't know what you're scheming, but since you've issued a challenge, I'll humor you."

  Ryuen rolled up his sleeves slowly, his smirk widening, his eyes brimming with violent i.

  "I already told you—I don't go easy on women. If you surrender now, I'll let you serve under me instead."

  "Dream on. Don't fet, st time you lost to me." A smirk tugged at Ibuki's lips as she taunted him. "You say you won't hold back against a woman, but weren't you the one who lost st time?"

  "Tch… You little—!"

  Ryuen's expression twisted with anger. Without hesitation, he lu Ibuki with arming speed, his hands reag out to grab her.

  The two instantly engaged, but Ibuki didn't meet his attack head-on. She remembered Hikaru's instrus from the night before—she focused on dodging rather than tering aggressively, using her quick reflexes to evade his attacks while subtly using her leg teiques to disrupt his movements.

  Right before they had parted ways the previous night, Hikaru had given her one final piece of advice:

  "Ibuki, while we need your help for this pn, remember—if at any point you feel gehreatened, fight back. We're not asking you to take unnecessary damage for the sake of success. This isn't an order; it's a colboration."

  At that, Ibuki had scoffed, boasting that her legwork was top-notch. If Ryuen really tried to hurt her, she would take him down with a single kick.

  That sparked an idea in Hikaru's mind—if Ibuki used only her legs, they could ahe footage to focus on Ryuen's upper body, capturing only his violent as while ensuring it would be usable evidence against him.

  From the sce , the Css B group watched anxiously, glued to the s.

  Ryuen's fighting style was ruthless, his movements aggressive, and his i undeniably dangerous. However, the real shock came from Ibuki's exceptional agility.

  It had beey seds, and Ryuuen had yet to nd a si on her.

  "You wanted a fight, didn't you? So why do you keep dodging?!"

  Ryuen growled, his breathing growing heavy with frustration.

  Ibuki smirked, feigning both anger and fear as she taunted him further.

  "And you wao beat me, right? If you 't even touch me, how are you supposed to win?"

  She pyed her role perfectly, giving the illusion that she was afraid, avoiding direct tact out of desperation rather than strategy.

  Ryuen suddenly halted his assault, his narrowed eyes fshing with suspi.

  "Hah. I knew something was off about this." His smirk returned, but this time, it was dangerous. "If you really had a problem with me, you would've fought me the sed you saw me. Why gh the trouble ing me here?"

  Ibuki stiffened, her instincts warnihat something was wrong.

  "I don't know what game you're pying… but since I'm already here, I'll make sure you don't leave until you've been thhly beaten."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  Ibuki's expression darkened.

  "Komiya, Ishizaki—e out."

  Ryuen called out, his mog grin widening, and suddenly, two Css C boys stepped out from the shadows behind Ibuki.

  Their smirking expressions made it clear—this was a trap.

  "What?!"

  Ibuki's eyes fshed with rage and shock. She had expected a one-on-one fight, but now she was fag three oppos. Against Ryuen alone, she stood a ce—but against three?

  "What the hell are you doing!?"

  Just as Komiya and Ishizaki advaoward Ibuki, the door to the sce burst open.

  "Stht there!"

  Hikaru's group had no choice but to intervehe moment Ryuen revealed his backup, they khey couldn't wait any longer.

  "Iose, stay here and keep filming," Hikaru ordered quickly, handihe phone. "We'll hahis!"

  Without hesitation, Hikaru, Kanzaki, and Shibata rushed out of the room.

  Hikaru hadn't expected Ryuen to prepare an ambush. His ing nature had taken them by surprise—but that didn't mean they would let him get away with it.

  Ryuen tur the sound of approag footsteps, his eyes narrowing as he spotted three new figures stepping into the corridor.

  "Who the hell are you?"

  "We should be asking you the same thing," Shibata snapped, fury bzing in his eyes. "Three guys ganging up on one girl? Are you not embarrassed?"

  "We're from Css B. Our teacher sent us here to retrieve some equipment for tomorrow's lessons, and we just happeo witness… whatever this is." Kanzaki's tone was equally firm. "Now, mind expining why you're harassing your cssmate?"

  "This has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it."

  Ishizaki, standing at Ryuen's side, snapped back, unfazed by the sudden interference. Having been molded into Ryuen's obedient ckey, he was used to frontations.

  Hikaru's lips curled into a subtle smirk. While stepping out of the , he had discreetly exged a gh Ibuki, signaling that they had successfully recorded the footage they needed.

  The operation was plete.

  "If we refuse to leave, what are you gonna do? Fight us too?"

  Ishizaki ched his fists, but before he could step forward, Ibuki intervened.

  "That's enough. No need for pointless fights." She shot Ryuen a gre before turning away. "I'll admit it—I uimated you."

  "Hmph. Good that you finally see reason."

  Ryuen didn't even aowledge Hikaru and the others. As though they were mere background noise, he turned and walked off, Ishizaki and Komiya following closely behind.

  Ohey disappeared dowairwell, Hikaru turo Ibuki.

  "Thanks, Ibuki. That went well."

  "So? What's ?"

  "Simple. Take this footage to the student cil and submit a formal pint." Hikaru brought up the video on his phohe clear rec pying smoothly. "Ryuen won't be able to weasel his way out of a suspension after this."

  Watg the footage, a satisfied smirk formed on his lips.