"Mountain Eagle, this is Wildcat. The target has exited the school building and is heading toward the Keyaki Mall."

  A low voice came through the earpiece. Uesugi Gen pressed his headset with a serious expression.

  "Mountain Eagle received. Snow Rabbit, Owl, Haisai, proceed to Keyaki Mall and await the target’s arrival. The rest, maintain surveilnce."

  "Copy that."

  "Roger."

  …

  "Hey, Uesugi, why the code names? Can’t we just use our actual names? These are way too hard to remember."

  Shibata’s voice came through the headset, sounding a bit exasperated.

  "Shut up, Wildcat. Revealing real identities during an operation is a rookie mistake. One slip-up, and the enemy could take us all out in one move."

  Uesugi scolded him in a harsh tone.

  "And address me properly—it’s Mountain Eagle."

  Shibata visibly tensed on the other end.

  "Y-yes… Got it, Mountain Eagle."

  Just then, another voice cut in.

  "New development—target has entered Keyaki Mall but isn’t heading anywhere specific. What now, Mountain Eagle?"

  It was the urgent voice of Himeno Yuki.

  Immediately, the team started to panic.

  Indeed, if Ichinose was simply wandering around without a clear destination, it would be a huge disruption to their operation. Without a fixed point to stake out, they couldn’t lie in wait.

  Owl—Kanzaki Ryuji—narrowed his eyes, quickly grasping the problem.

  "No need to panic. I’ll handle this."

  Uesugi’s voice radiated confidence through the earpiece.

  The previously flustered members instantly calmed down.

  That’s right—Mountain Eagle was still here. As long as he was leading, everything would be fine.

  Sure enough, after a brief pause, his voice returned.

  "All units, cease tailing the target. Head straight to the area behind the gymnasium. That’s her final destination."

  The entire team exhaled in relief.

  "As expected of Uesugi-kun—solving what we couldn’t in a matter of seconds."

  "How did you even figure that out? Can you teach me?"

  "Incredible… What was the clue?"

  …

  The Css B students showered him with praise.

  Brimming with pride, Uesugi delivered his grand reveal, much like a certain small detective exposing the culprit.

  "I texted her and asked."

  "…"

  A strange silence filled the earpiece.

  It was as if everyone had a mouthful of words they wanted to spit out but couldn’t.

  "So you’re saying… you could’ve just asked her from the start? Instead, you dragged our whole css into pying spy games for fun?"

  Himeno’s voice came through, barely concealing her irritation.

  "Come on, it’s rare for the whole css to work together like this. Think of it as a chance to improve your teamwork."

  "And besides, isn’t this the best outcome? We got to the destination before Ichinose, meaning we’ll see who she’s meeting before she does."

  Silence.

  …

  Damn it. He was right.

  Regardless of how he went about it, Uesugi had led them to the best possible result.

  Quickly brushing past the minor detail of his "tactics," Uesugi shifted the focus back to Ichinose.

  "Enough talk. Girls, keep an eye on the surroundings and observe anyone who shows up here. Boys, gather around me. If things take a turn for the worst, we need to be ready with a backup pn."

  At his command, Css B moved into action.

  The male students gathered behind Uesugi, waiting for further instructions, while the female students concealed themselves to monitor the area.

  And so, the entire css quietly observed the back of the gymnasium.

  Alright, let’s see who you really are.

  Every Css B student collectively thought the same thing.

  Finally, the long-awaited moment arrived.

  "Attention, everyone. A figure has appeared in Zone C1. Their path suggests they’re heading for the gymnasium."

  They’re here!

  Everyone’s eyes snapped toward the approaching figure.

  A silhouette strode toward them with an air of absolute arrogance.

  As the person drew closer, the shadows peeled away to reveal—

  A middle-parted haircut.

  Long, red hair.

  An insufferably cocky strut that made you want to break his legs.

  It was none other than Ryūen Kakeru, leader of Css 1-C.

  "It’s… really another css’s scheme."

  Amikura Mako’s voice trembled with anger.

  Css B knew all too well about Ryūen. Lately, he had been sending his ckeys to harass their cssmates.

  "Deceiving Ichinose like this… Unforgivable."

  Another voice seethed with rage.

  "This is beyond despicable. How can someone be like this?"

  …

  Murmurs of outrage filled the air.

  Then, Uesugi spoke with absolute conviction.

  "Everyone, it seems our worst-case scenario has come true. Proceed with the original pn. Today, we teach him a lesson—so he never dares y a hand on our css again."

  Hearing this, several students gulped.

  Were they really going to go through with this?

  "We have no other choice now, do we?"

  "Are we just going to let him keep getting away with this?"

  Kanzaki added fuel to the fire, igniting Css B’s collective determination.

  That’s right—we can’t let this go on any longer.

  "Let’s go."

  "I’ll do my best."

  "I’m gonna nd one right in his smug face."

  …

  With morale high, Uesugi issued the final orders.

  "Just as I said earlier—the nearby cameras have already been taken care of. Put on your masks and wait for my signal. When I count to three, every single one of you rushes in and beats him down."

  "I predict Ryūen will strike first. Girls, record everything discreetly. If we get caught, just cim he threw the first punch—we were simply defending ourselves. Otherwise, just go all out."

  As his words settled, Css B made their final preparations.

  "Last chance—are you all ready?"

  One by one, the students donned their masks, answering in hushed voices.

  "Ready!"

  "Alright. On my mark."

  "Three…"

  "Two…"

  "One!"

  Uesugi shouted—

  "Charge!"

  "Get him!!"

  A massive swarm of students thundered toward Ryūen.

  Of course, there was no way he wouldn’t notice.

  For a split second, he froze. Then, his instincts screamed at him—they were coming for him.

  Scanning the area, he realized escape routes were blocked.

  No choice but to fight.

  Despite his injured leg, Ryūen charged toward the horde.

  He had learned from experience—when faced with overwhelming numbers, hesitation meant defeat.

  There was no way he could take on all of them.

  But if he broke their morale, he could turn the tide.

  His strategy was simple—take out the leader first.

  If he could nd a decisive blow, their momentum would crumble.

  Locking onto the figure at the front, he sprinted forward and—

  Launched a flying kick straight at Uesugi’s face.

  Without hesitation, Uesugi yanked Shibata in front of him—using him as a human shield.

  Shibata, my friend… I hope you can forgive me.

  As Shibata crumpled to the ground, Uesugi lunged at Ryūen.

  The moment Ryūen’s opening strike failed, the fight was decided.

  CRACK! SMACK! POW!

  A chaotic flurry of punches rained down.

  Pinned under a relentless storm of blows, Ryūen had no choice but to accept reality.

  For the first time in his life—

  Ryūen Kakeru was being bullied.

  ---

  T/N: LMAOOOOOO