Chapter 132: Of Course I Choose to Be a Good Person!
Cold.
So cold!
Terrifying...
Yamawaki retreated two steps, trembling from head to toe as he stared fearfully at the smiling Yuto.
The man before him was not human at all. He was a demon whose entire heart had been dyed black!
"Shimizu Yuto... You kept that recording so you could have everyone who offended you expelled. You're ruthless!" Yamawaki said despairingly.
Ayanokouji nodded beside him. He also thought Yuto was rather ruthless.
Although Ayanokouji did not know the full story, his intelligence allowed him to infer most of what had happened from the conversation between Yuto and Yamawaki.
"How am I ruthless? Weren't you trying to have me expelled too?" Yuto asked with open disgust.
"You wanted me expelled, so I'm having you expelled instead. Aren't the prices we're demanding from each other exactly the same?"
"..."
Yamawaki could not refute him.
"Deceiving the student council, deliberately concealing the truth, and falsely accusing an innocent student who acted in self-defense are serious offenses."
"The three of you will either be suspended or expelled," Yuto continued.
He folded his hands and smiled at the pale-faced Yamawaki.
"However, I'll give you one way to survive."
"What do you mean? You're willing to spare me?!" Yamawaki asked excitedly.
"Yes. The people I want to eliminate aren't insignificant lackeys like you. My target is Ryuen Kakeru."
Yuto showed a knowing smile.
"If I'm not mistaken, Ryuen was the one who ordered you to attack me."
"That's right!" Yamawaki answered without hesitation.
His relationship with Ryuen had already been poor, and the injuries across his body had been personally inflicted by him. Yamawaki had developed a deep grudge.
Now Yuto also possessed evidence capable of having him forcibly expelled. What other choice could Yamawaki possibly make?
To remain at school, he naturally chose to betray Ryuen.
"Excellent."
Yuto was satisfied by his decisive answer and looked toward Ayanokouji.
"Ayanokouji, record this with your phone."
"Understood," Ayanokouji answered immediately.
Yuto turned back to Yamawaki.
"While Ayanokouji is recording, explain everything you know about Ryuen's plan against me."
"Do I really have to tell you everything...?" Yamawaki asked nervously.
"You can refuse. The price is that you'll be expelled in Ryuen's place."
"I'll talk!"
Driven into a dead end, Yamawaki shouted in resignation.
"I'll tell you everything, okay?!"
Under Ayanokouji's recording, Yamawaki revealed everything he knew in a defeated voice.
Ryuen had used Shiina Hiyori's name to lure Yuto to an area beside the second-year building without surveillance cameras.
He then ordered Yamawaki, Ishizaki, and Komiya to provoke Yuto and create a physical confrontation.
Afterward, Ryuen personally beat the three of them until they suffered serious injuries and instructed them to falsely accuse Yuto before the student council.
The objective was to have Yuto suspended, causing him to miss the midterm and be forcibly expelled by the school.
"That's everything I know about Ryuen's plan..." Yamawaki said, staring fearfully at Yuto.
Ayanokouji, who was recording, quietly clicked his tongue.
This Ryuen was extremely ruthless. However, Yuto appeared to be even more formidable, having anticipated the trap and arranged for the incident to be recorded in advance.
Without that preparation, Yuto really could have been suspended, missed the midterm, and been expelled.
Yuto nodded toward Ayanokouji, who understood and ended the recording before sending the video file to Yuto through Line.
"One witness who recognized his mistakes and abandoned the darkness isn't enough. Call Komiya here too," Yuto instructed.
"Understood!" Yamawaki immediately asked, "Shimizu-sama, should I call Ishizaki as well?"
"Don't call me 'sama.' It's disgusting." Yuto glared at him.
After being driven into complete despair, Yamawaki had finally recognized that Shimizu Yuto was a demon who could never be provoked. He was already beginning to behave like Yuto's subordinate.
"There's no need to call Ishizaki. That idiot will be difficult to persuade. If we reveal the situation to him, he'll report everything to Ryuen," Yuto explained.
"But even if Ryuen learns about your plan, he won't have any way to resist, right?" Yamawaki asked respectfully.
"Are you trying to teach me how to do things?" Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"No! Absolutely not! I'll call Komiya and convince him to abandon the darkness immediately!"
Yamawaki had a good relationship with Komiya and possessed his contact information. After one phone call, Komiya arrived at Café Dia.
"Why did you suddenly offer to buy me dessert, Yamawaki?"
Komiya greeted the stiffly seated Yamawaki, then glanced at the person sitting opposite him.
"What the hell?! Shimizu Yuto! Why are you here?!"
Komiya's terrified reaction was almost identical to Yamawaki's earlier response.
Seeing Yuto leisurely drinking his beverage, Komiya looked suspiciously at Yamawaki.
"What's going on? Are you betraying us? Did Shimizu Yuto buy you with points?!"
"I would've preferred being bought with points, but unfortunately, that isn't what happened."
Yamawaki showed an extremely bitter expression.
"Shimizu-kun possesses a recording of the confrontation beside the second-year building..."
"What?"
With the experienced Yamawaki explaining the situation, Komiya quickly understood the desperate position they were in. His face immediately turned pale.
Yuto looked at the frightened Komiya.
"So what will you choose? Will you be expelled alongside Ryuen and Ishizaki, or will you follow Yamawaki and abandon the darkness?"
"Of course I choose to be a good person!" Komiya answered without hesitation.
He looked at Yuto with complete sincerity.
"Shimizu-kun, I didn't have a choice before. Now I want to be a good person!"
"That's right! We only did those terrible things because Ryuen threatened us!" Yamawaki quickly agreed.
"So everything was Ryuen's fault." Yuto smiled.
"Exactly!"
Ayanokouji remained silent.
The three people smiling at one another all radiated an unmistakably false and hypocritical atmosphere.
Yuto stood and gave Yamawaki and Komiya, who instinctively rose with him, a meaningful look.
"I hope you'll say the same thing at the student council tomorrow. Otherwise, you'll be expelled alongside Ryuen and Ishizaki."
"Rest assured!"
"We've already abandoned the darkness! We'll never again commit such terrible acts as falsely accusing an innocent student!" Komiya hurriedly promised.
"Then I'll look forward to your performance."
Yuto turned toward a cafe employee.
"Excuse me, we'd like to pay."
"Let me pay!"
"I'll do it!"
Yamawaki and Komiya immediately competed for the privilege of paying Yuto's bill.
However, Yuto had more than enough points. Why would he allow two delinquents to pay for him?
Besides, Yuto hated delinquents more than anyone. There was no chance he would accept their money.
In the end, Yuto paid the bill himself and left Café Dia with Ayanokouji.
Once the two departed, Yamawaki and Komiya collapsed onto the cafe sofa.
After experiencing terror and despair before finally seeing hope of remaining at school, neither had any strength left.
"Yamawaki... Are we really going to betray Ryuen?" Komiya asked bitterly.
"You don't have to betray him. You'll merely be expelled with him," Yamawaki replied, imitating Yuto's earlier tone.
"But aren't you afraid Ryuen will beat us? If we testify against him, he might kill us," Komiya said worriedly.
Yamawaki sneered.
"Don't worry. Ryuen won't have another opportunity to attack us. Once we testify, he'll be suspended and expelled from the school."
"That's right! I completely forgot!" Komiya said excitedly.
Ryuen would be suspended for brutally beating them, then expelled after missing the midterm.
Therefore, Yamawaki and Komiya had nothing left to fear.
"I never expected Shimizu Yuto to help us get revenge for the beatings Ryuen gave us," Yamawaki said emotionally.
"Yeah... Shimizu Yuto is terrifying. No wonder the upperclassmen call him a demon. He really is one!" Komiya gritted his teeth, looking both frightened and furious.
"Exactly!"
"He clearly possessed a video proving his innocence, but deliberately kept it hidden. He waited until the student council increased the punishment for lying before using it to threaten us!"
Yamawaki shuddered whenever he thought about Yuto.
Fortunately, the demon had no interest in insignificant lackeys like them. Otherwise, they would probably have been expelled alongside Ryuen.
"Yamawaki, I've decided. Whenever I see Shimizu Yuto from now on, I'm going to avoid him!"
"You're that afraid of him?"
"Aren't you afraid?" Komiya asked back.
"I am... just not as terrified as you."
That evening, two more delinquents joined the list of people who would flee whenever they encountered Yuto.
...
Yuto left Café Dia in an excellent mood, a faint smile resting on his handsome face.
"Everything is finally arranged. That troublesome and irritating delinquent will soon be driven out of school."
Yuto had already dealt with Ryuen. Nagumo Miyabi was the only remaining problem.
Nagumo had conspired with Ryuen against him, so Yuto had no intention of letting him escape without consequences.
Unfortunately, Yuto had rarely interacted with Nagumo and currently lacked an opportunity to eliminate him.
However, that opportunity would soon arrive. Yuto intended to join the student council after the midterm, and once he did, his conflict with Nagumo would begin in earnest.
Walking beside him, Ayanokouji asked, "Shimizu, do ordinary high school students fight as viciously as you and Ryuen?"
"Of course not. How can you lack even that much common sense?" Yuto asked helplessly.
"Mm. You already know how I was raised," Ayanokouji replied with a nod.
"Speaking of that, did you enroll here to recover the emotions you lost or for some other reason?" Yuto asked.
"I'm not particularly interested in recovering my emotions. By interacting with the outside world, I want to discover what true ability and genuine equality mean."
"That's why I'm currently trying to live as an ordinary high school student," Ayanokouji explained.
He looked toward Yuto.
"Shimizu, you're more cunn—intelligent than anyone else. Do you know what true ability and genuine equality are?"
"You were about to call me cunning, weren't you?" Yuto glanced at Ayanokouji's emotionless face.
"No. That was your imagination."
"Tch. 'True ability' is far too broad a question, so I can't give you a clear answer."
"As for genuine equality... I don't believe it exists."
"What do you mean?" Ayanokouji asked.
Yuto looked toward him.
"Equality is a concept that exists within the spiritual and moral systems through which people assign value."
"Once you try to impose that abstract idea upon objectively different things, equality itself changes and becomes inequality."
"Therefore, the 'genuine equality' you're seeking exists only as an ideal. It does not exist in reality."
"I see."
Ayanokouji fell into thought, and Yuto remained silent rather than interrupting him.
They continued walking quietly until they reached an intersection. Ayanokouji headed toward the first-year dormitory, while Yuto returned to the detached apartment.
Because Kikyo was unable to bear it, she did not plan to come and find Yuto tonight. Therefore, he could go directly back to the apartment to accompany Airi.
Kikyo had already collected the gift Yuto bought for her from his dormitory. It was a pink dress that perfectly matched the lovable little-angel personality she displayed to others.
...
Time quietly passed, and Sunday afternoon soon arrived.
At three o'clock, the student council contacted Class D's homeroom teacher Chabashira Sae and student Shimizu Yuto, along with Class C's homeroom teacher Sakagami Kazuma and students Ishizaki Daichi, Komiya Kyogo, and Yamawaki.
Everyone was ordered to report to the student council office for the second hearing regarding the incident.
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