What kind of person was Akasaka Ryunosuke?
Ayanokoji's conclusion was that he was someone who was far too kind.
The reason was the incident with Sakura Airi. Ryunosuke could have chosen to do nothing, but he stepped in anyway. The justification that he had done it to earn back the points he had invested in Airi's situation felt too convenient. Based on reliable estimates, the points he had gained from that whole affair came to around 20 million. For someone who treated money like a religion, voluntarily spending 10 million of it to save a person was genuinely abnormal behavior.
That was what led Ayanokoji to his assessment. When Arisu approached him about cooperating, he knew he was being used. But he had a specific question he wanted answered: for Ryunosuke, which came first? Money, or the people he cared about?
That was why he got involved. Because Ryunosuke was growing stronger by the week. From the very beginning of the school year to now, the improvement had been visible to the naked eye. In strategy and in physical ability alike, he had the quality of a newborn absorbing everything around him and growing at a rate that pushed the edges of what Ayanokoji could calculate. It was nearly beyond his understanding.
At the same time, there was something else. A quiet hope. That Ryunosuke might surpass him. That he might prove the White Room's philosophy wrong and give the lie to everything his father represented.
That hope didn't mean Ayanokoji would sit still. By testing Ryunosuke through this situation with Masumi's expulsion, he could identify a genuine weakness and calibrate his approach accordingly.
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At the school gate.
Masumi was carrying a suitcase, prepared to leave, when she found Ryunosuke already waiting for her there. She stopped and asked with her usual edge.
"What do you want?"
He didn't answer immediately. She looked at him with irritation. "Why are you here?"
Ryunosuke sighed, closed the distance, and asked the question that had been sitting in his chest. "I heard from Arisu that you have feelings for me. Is that true or not?"
Masumi's face went red all at once. The color spread from her neck outward as though the temperature inside her had spiked beyond what the container could hold. When she still hadn't responded after a moment, Ryunosuke leaned closer and waved his hand in front of her face.
"Are you all right?"
She snapped back to herself and, finding his face that close, slapped him on pure reflex. The hit was hard enough that Ryunosuke spun in the air and landed face-first on the ground. It felt like a scene from a recurring nightmare.
Ryunosuke rubbed his burning cheek. "What was that for?"
Masumi crossed her arms. "Hmph. Don't get that close to someone without warning."
She grabbed her suitcase and started moving, but her wrist was caught. Ryunosuke's voice was serious. "You still haven't answered my question."
Seeing no escape, Masumi turned it around. "What about you? How do you feel about me?"
Without pausing to think, Ryunosuke answered plainly. "You're slow, you're gullible, and you're probably the easiest person to trick that I've ever met."
"I'll kill you!" Masumi launched herself at him like something starving, taking him down to the ground.
The two of them wrestled around in the dirt, laughing and irritating each other. After a while their clothes were a mess and both of them were out of breath.
To be clear, nothing was happening. They weren't fighting seriously either. It was entirely rough, stupid play between two people who knew each other well enough for that.
Masumi came to rest against him, still breathing hard. "Hey, since I'm leaving soon, can I ask you something?"
Ryunosuke cut her off. "Who said you're leaving?"
She blinked, confused. "But I've been expelled."
He sighed with fond exasperation. "I called you slow and you still won't admit it. Why do you think I'm standing here? Use your brain for one second."
She was about to argue when the school broadcast came through. The short version: her expulsion had been overturned. She looked down at the person under her.
"This was you? Why?"
Ryunosuke sat up and dusted off his clothes. "I spent 20 million personal points to bring you back. Now go back to the dormitory."
He said it as though 20 million was nothing, even though it was roughly a ninth of everything he had.
Masumi went still. He had genuinely spent 20 million on her. She knew exactly how much this man hated parting with money, and he had done it anyway. Something warm moved through her that she didn't quite have words for.
Seeing him start to leave, she chased after him and caught his wrist, her face flushed. "Why would you spend 20 million on me? Do you... toward me..."
The sentence didn't finish, but the meaning was clear. Everything hinged on his answer. Masumi was not someone who needed much to be happy. If he said the words directly right now, she would fall completely. And honestly, the feelings had been there from the beginning.
Ryunosuke kept his flat expression and chose to deflect. "I don't know what you mean. What about you? Do you have feelings for me?"
Masumi defaulted to her usual defensive posture. "What? Only an idiot would like someone like you."
"So you're admitting you're an idiot." Ryunosuke murmured, just loudly enough.
Another chase. More shoving. More laughing.
When they had both worn themselves out, Masumi sat on top of him and said with a calculating look: "If you confess to me right now, I'll accept it. One hundred percent. Do you want to try?"
Ryunosuke took the dare. "Fine. I like you."
Masumi's expression shifted into something that said the plan had worked perfectly.
Who said she was an idiot? She was plenty smart when it counted.
She grabbed his collar and kissed him, then pulled back with her face thoroughly red.
"Just so we're clear, I don't have the money to pay back those 20 million points. Consider them gone."
Ryunosuke shrugged. "I already have the person. Whether the points come back doesn't really matter anymore, does it?"
Masumi's smile spread wide. "Say it again. Tell me you like me."
Ryunosuke refused. "Something like that only needs to be said once. How many times do you want to hear it?"
A vein appeared in Masumi's forehead. She slammed her forehead hard against his, and he let out a pained noise. She was clutching her own head too, eyes watering.
"That hurt! Why did you headbutt me?!" he snapped.
Masumi had an identical bump forming on her forehead. Eyes glistening but jaw set, she issued her threat. "Say it. Tell me you like me. If you don't, I'll do it again."
Ryunosuke raised both hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. I like you. Happy now? And stop using your forehead as a weapon, that actually hurt."