Css C’s delinquent leader, Ryūen Kakeru, had one hand in his pocket while holding his phone in the other, speaking to one of his underlings.

  "You’re telling me that bastard Uesugi went into the locker room alone and hasn’t come out since?"

  Ryūen frowned.

  "Yeah, Ryūen-san. I saw him inside when I was changing, and I’ve been watching the entrance ever since—I’m positive he’s still in there."

  His subordinate’s voice carried a cautious tone.

  "Listen, Ryūen-san, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Because of privacy concerns, the pool area barely has any security cameras. If we can just disable a few of them in the hallway—"

  "Destroy a couple of cameras—just enough to create a blind spot. I’ll be there soon."

  "Yes, sir!"

  Ryūen hung up, then immediately checked Uesugi Gen’s location on his phone. Seeing the result, he grinned.

  "Finally… I’ve got you now, Uesugi. I’ve been waiting day and night for this moment."

  He turned to his towering subordinate.

  "Let’s go, Albert."

  "OK, Boss."

  ---

  With an expressionless face, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka pulled out a ski mask and some tools. What was meant as a contingency was now about to be put to use.

  The moment Yamauchi Haruki had thrown open the locker room door earlier, Ayanokōji had immediately noticed Uesugi inside.

  At that instant, he had made his decision—he was pulling out of this meaningless mission.

  Uesugi Gen.

  Whether it was because of his status as the heir to the Uesugi financial group or his absurdly sharp insight and judgment, Uesugi was someone Ayanokōji wanted to avoid at all costs.

  Whenever he was around, Ayanokōji deliberately kept his presence to a minimum—fading into the background like a nobody, even outright avoiding any location Uesugi was in.

  And this time, he had never expected Yamauchi and Ike to run straight into Uesugi.

  There was no way those two could fool him. So, Ayanokōji had found an excuse and backed out immediately.

  His instincts proved correct. The voice of Sotomura Hideo, their so-called "Doctor," buzzed through his earpiece.

  Uesugi just went back into the locker room. There’s no doubt—Yamauchi and Ike have been seen through.

  If Uesugi caught them red-handed…

  Ayanokōji had no faith in Yamauchi keeping his mouth shut for his sake. That guy would happily drag him down with them if it meant reducing his own punishment.

  Even if Ayanokōji didn’t get expelled, simply being exposed as part of the pnning process would be enough to taint his reputation throughout the entire grade.

  That would shatter any hopes he had of living a normal school life.

  Stuffing the ski mask back into his pocket, Ayanokōji headed toward the locker room, his expression as calm as ever while he mentally calcuted the timing.

  Yamauchi, Ike, and Sotomura had all retreated. Before leaving, Sotomura had reported that Uesugi had already left again—presumably to fetch tools for opening the vent cover.

  Which meant…

  Right now, the locker room should be completely empty.

  Factoring in the distance to the nearest hardware store…

  It’ll work.

  Originally, he had pnned to destroy the memory card once the others retrieved the RC car. But pns had changed—now he would have to retrieve the car himself.

  ---

  [Indoor Cleaning in Progress, Please Wait]

  Ryūen stared at the sign in front of the door and let out a scoffing ugh.

  "What kind of bullshit is this? Was this sign here earlier?"

  He turned to his subordinate.

  "Uh, Ryūen-san, the cameras weren’t positioned well enough for me to see when that sign got put up… so I’m not sure."

  "Useless."

  Ryūen sneered and kicked the sign over before gncing at the six delinquents behind him.

  "Let’s go. All of us."

  Grinning, Ryūen pushed open the door, and his group flooded into the locker room, quickly shutting the door behind them.

  A few moments ter—

  A shadowy figure expertly maneuvered through the blind spots of the security cameras, silently slipping inside.

  Then, a hand discreetly reached out and propped the fallen sign back up.

  [Indoor Cleaning in Progress, Please Wait]

  ...

  Ryūen scanned the empty locker room, then promptly turned and kicked the snitching subordinate to the floor.

  "So this is what you call ‘Uesugi is definitely inside’? Where the hell is he? Did he shrink into a little kid and hide somewhere?"

  Clutching his stomach, the underling knelt on the floor, his face filled with disbelief.

  "T-That’s impossible! I swear, he was here just a moment ago!"

  Ryūen swept his gaze across the room again.

  "Maybe the bastard’s just hiding—"

  Suddenly, his pupils contracted.

  His gaze locked onto the air vent.

  The cover, originally secured by four screws, had only one left—haphazardly clinging to the wall.

  "You don’t think… that bastard actually turned into a kid and hid in there, do you?"

  Ryūen sneered as he strode toward the vent.

  As he got closer, a small RC car came into view.

  "Well, well… I may not have caught Uesugi, but I did find a pervert."

  He crouched down and picked up the RC car.

  "Now, let’s see… Should I hand this over to the school? Or maybe track down the pervert and make him work for me?"

  Ryūen’s sinister grin widened.

  Just then—

  A scream rang out behind him.

  "ARGH!"

  A figure wearing a ski mask had knocked out one of his underlings. Without wasting a second, the masked assaint moved to strike another.

  Ryūen instantly pieced everything together.

  "Well, well… looks like our school has been harboring a masked pervert spy all along."

  He tossed the RC car aside and unched a powerful kick at the intruder.

  Yet the masked figure nimbly dodged with a sidestep before countering with a sharp elbow strike.

  "Ishizaki! Albert! Get in here!"

  With the rest of his gang joining the fight, chaos erupted in an instant.

  ---

  Nagumo Miyabi gazed at the sign on the door, a hint of suspicion flickering in his eyes.

  As the Vice President of Advanced Nurturing High School’s student council, he was well aware of the cleaning schedule.

  This sign…

  There was no way the cleaning staff had put it up.

  Which meant—something shady was going on inside.

  Now, should I bust them and use this to bckmail them into working for me? Or bckmail them into working for me?

  After straightening his blonde hair and adjusting his colr, Nagumo confidently stepped into the locker room.

  Meanwhile—

  Once again, a hand quietly reached out and straightened the sign.

  [Indoor Cleaning in Progress, Please Wait]

  ---

  T/N: Vice president? bro is delusional