"Stop right there!"

  Horikita Suzune had appeared behind Uesugi at some point.

  "Oh my, if it isn’t Miss Horikita."

  Uesugi turned to her, a teasing smile in his voice.

  "Perfect timing. I just found decisive evidence proving that Css C made the first move. I was about to help you settle the score with them."

  A fair, delicate hand stretched out in front of him.

  "Hand it over. You don’t need to trouble yourself with this any further."

  Horikita’s face was completely expressionless.

  Moments ago, she had already learned from Sakura Airi that the camera containing the evidence had fallen into Uesugi’s hands.

  As expected, this guy had no intention of helping her out of goodwill. He was only using this to attack Css C.

  "That won’t do, Miss Horikita. This is my property now. Even if you’re a student, you can’t just demand I hand it over."

  Uesugi spoke in an almost fatherly tone, as if earnestly expining a simple truth.

  Horikita’s irritation was evident as she retorted,

  "That’s clearly Sakura’s camera! How is it yours?"

  "She told me she didn’t want it anymore, so I picked it up. According to school rules, any uncimed items found on campus must be handed over to the student council for processing."

  "This memory card here? It's an uncimed item. And I just happen to be the student council vice president. What a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?"

  For the first time, Horikita’s usually icy expression cracked slightly.

  How does he manage to make something so shameless sound so legitimate?

  But giving up wasn’t an option.

  Ever since she had fttened Yamauchi Haruki with sheer force, she realized that sometimes fists were more effective than words.

  "Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Pnning to snatch it by force? Let me tell you, if you y a hand on me, I’ll go straight to your brother and tell him you assaulted the vice president of the student council. Let’s see if he doesn’t beat you up again."

  Noticing Horikita’s intent, Uesugi took a small step back, immediately pulling out the ultimate deterrent—Horikita Manabu’s name.

  Horikita’s hands, which had been about to grab him, froze midair before she reluctantly withdrew them. She gritted her teeth and gred at Uesugi.

  "You bastard. If you have guts, don’t go tattling!"

  "I’m just too zy to fight you. If I accidentally hurt you, your brother would come nagging at me again."

  Uesugi kept up the act.

  "I don’t care. Give me the evidence now, or you’re not going anywhere today."

  Horikita was fully prepared to stand her ground.

  Seeing no other choice, Uesugi decided to switch tactics.

  "Come on, don’t be so distant. We’re practically partners. You just want to settle things with Css C, right? Tell you what, let’s go together. You take care of your grudge, I handle my business. Win-win."

  Horikita studied him in silence for a while.

  Right now, she didn’t have a better alternative.

  "If you trick me again, I’ll make sure you experience the pain of regret and the despair of regret—simultaneously."

  "Yes, yes."

  "This is the pce?"

  Uesugi looked at the "Css 1-C" sign, feeling an overwhelming sense of chuunibyou energy emanating from it.

  He turned to Horikita.

  "If a fight breaks out ter, make sure you protect me first."

  "Hah? What are you up to now—"

  Before she could finish, Uesugi had already pushed open the door and stepped in, eyes closed, as he shouted:

  "Kakeru-BOOM!!!"

  The thunderous voice echoed through the entire Css C room, refusing to die down.

  All the students inside stared in stunned silence.

  In that one yell, they heard a mix of emotions—an exasperated father scolding his useless son, a boss losing patience with his zy subordinates, a teacher menting the wasted potential of his students…

  Horikita, following behind, was slightly sck-jawed.

  This guy… he’s actually this fearless?

  Meanwhile, Ryuen Kakeru, who had his feet propped up on the table, was momentarily caught off guard. But he quickly snapped out of it, veins bulging on his forehead.

  Without a word, he unched a flying kick straight at Uesugi, fully intending to nd a serious hit.

  Uesugi swiftly pulled Horikita in front of him, peeking out from behind her as he added,

  "Oh, forgot to mention—I’m wearing a hidden camera. Everything is being streamed live to the student council."

  Ryuen's expression shifted instantly mid-air.

  He desperately tried to halt his kick, but it was already too te.

  With no other choice, he forcefully twisted his body, redirecting the impact elsewhere.

  CRACK!

  A crisp sound came from within Ryuen’s body.

  It sounded like… he pulled something.

  Oof. That sounded painful.

  Uesugi stepped forward with an overly concerned expression.

  "You okay? Does it hurt? Should I call the school nurse? I know her pretty well."

  Ryuen, frozen in an awkward posture, clenched his teeth and gred at the approaching Uesugi.

  "Back off. Next time, it won’t just be a greeting."

  You were clearly trying to kill me just now.

  Uesugi took two steps back, looking at him in mock disgust.

  "Fine, fine. See if I care. Just go rub some spit on it or something."

  …

  Whose fault do you think this is?!

  I can’t take this anymore. I’m going to beat the hell out of him!

  Ryuen limped toward Uesugi, seemingly ready to throw a punch at his face.

  But at the st moment, he hesitated and reluctantly lowered his fist.

  Still, his voice carried unmistakable menace.

  "What do you want?"

  Oh? Swallowing his anger for the sake of his css? Not bad.

  "I heard you sent three guys to mess with Css D. And conveniently framed them for it. Miss Horikita here has come to settle the score."

  Uesugi gestured toward Horikita.

  "I asked what you want."

  Ryuen repeated, clearly uninterested in Horikita’s grievances.

  "Helping out Miss Horikita, of course. She’s my valued partner. And while we're at it, I thought I’d share something… interesting with you."

  Horikita narrowed her eyes at Uesugi.

  A second ago, you were reluctant to involve me. Now that we’re here, you’re pushing me forward as a scapegoat?

  "Hey. If you want to stir up trouble, leave me out of it."

  Ignoring her, Uesugi casually gnced around before lowering his voice.

  "Want to take a look? It’s something I worked hard to get my hands on."

  He held out his phone, dispying an image to Ryuen with the air of a friend sharing an inside joke.

  One gnce at the photo, and Ryuen’s face darkened.

  "Name your price."

  The screen clearly showed one of his men shoving Yamauchi. And it wasn’t just a single photo—there were multiple, forming an undeniable sequence.

  This alone was enough to overturn all of Css C’s previous cims.

  If the school found out about the false accusations, Css C would lose at least 100 points.

  And the fact that Uesugi hadn’t reported it immediately meant he had something else in mind.

  "Simple. Css C will pay me 800,000 private points every month until graduation. I’m even leaving you 20,000 points as a goodwill gesture. See? I’m a generous guy."

  So that’s his real goal… He used Css D’s crisis as a front to bckmail other csses.

  Horikita’s fists… are tightening.

  "Oh, how very kind of you," Ryuen said with a sharp-edged ugh.

  But in the end, he agreed.

  To him, as long as it wasn’t expulsion, it wasn’t a loss. He would keep coming back with new schemes until he achieved his goal.

  ...

  "So, Miss Horikita, I helped you get revenge. Shouldn’t you thank me?" Uesugi teased.

  "You were after points from the start. Bringing me here was just part of your pn."

  "Come on, you got what you wanted, didn’t you?"

  "…I suppose. But next time, I won’t fall for it again."

  "We’ll see about that. Later, Miss Horikita."

  "Wait!"

  Horikita called out as he turned to leave.

  "Let’s… add each other as friends."

  For the first time, Miss Horikita had initiated a friend request.