Second year. The day of the entrance ceremony for new students at Advanced Nurturing High School arrived.
The incoming first-years were riding a large bus toward the school. Among them was a familiar face, Ryuen Kakeru, who had previously been expelled by Ryunosuke and was now returning.
Sitting behind him was the fifth-generation White Room graduate, Yagami Takuya. In front of him was Amasawa Ichika.
Ichika wore a captivating expression of barely contained excitement.
"We finally get to meet~ Ayanokoji-senpai~" She couldn't hold back the smile of someone who had been secretly devoted to this moment for a long time.
Yagami, seated behind Ryuen, was in much the same state. He pressed one hand over his face, let out a laugh that belonged in a certain Uchiha's repertoire, and murmured to himself. "Ha. I've finally left the White Room. Finally free. Ayanokoji! I will defeat you and prove that I am the finest graduate the White Room has ever produced."
To Ryuen's right, Housen Kazuomi was running his tongue along a short knife with an expression that made it clear he also was not entirely stable. "I'll use physical force to dominate this school."
Ryuen: 😑
(What is wrong with the first-years this year? Why do they all seem slightly unhinged?)
He unconsciously glanced to his left, where Nanase Tsubasa was sitting. She at least appeared to be the most normal among them. He felt a small, involuntary wave of relief.
(At least there's one who's reasonable.)
He had barely finished the thought when Nanase started. She gripped her school bag with white knuckles, her purpose etched clearly in her expression: settle things with Ayanokoji.
"Just wait, Ayanokoji. I won't let you live in peace."
"I'll make you pay back everything you owe Eiichiro."
"Tsk." Ryuen couldn't hold back the sound.
(This one is also not normal. Every single first-year this year has something seriously wrong with them. Has the school's admission standard shifted toward selecting mentally volatile people? These four, each one more disturbing than the last.)
He had heard their muttering, but dismissed it as being directed at Ayanokoji, without thinking further about it. As far as he understood things, Ayanokoji was the assistant of his main enemy, Akasaka Ryunosuke. That was the relationship he had observed.
The bus arrived at the school gate. Hiyori, who was currently leading Class D, had brought the entire class to wait there for the return of their former king.
Ryunosuke had told her that Ryuen would be coming back today. She was able to breathe properly for the first time in a while.
She had been tired of being class leader for a long time. The role ate into her reading time and, more importantly, cut into the hours she was supposed to spend with Ryunosuke.
Ryuen stepped off the bus with his hands in his pockets. He was carrying a book tucked against his chest and wearing glasses that gave him an unmistakably intellectual air. Ryunosuke had played no part in his return. He had passed the entrance exam entirely on his own.
As a result of this return, Ryunosuke had received 30 million points from Hiyori at no cost. He had known the situation couldn't be hidden, so he had told her everything. He was ready to lose those points at any moment; besides, given the nature of his relationship with Hiyori, those resources would eventually flow back to him in some form anyway.
To earn re-enrollment at Advanced Nurturing High School, Ryuen had pushed himself until his scores reached the range of a model student, no less than 80 points. This was a man who had once struggled to reach 60. It was proof of how seriously he had come to take Ryunosuke as an opponent. The glasses on his face were a consequence of studying too hard and developing myopia.
Hiyori didn't know that. Seeing Ryuen standing there radiating the aura of a fellow bookish person, her eyes lit up. She immediately drifted closer with a look that said everything: You've finally joined my kind.
Ryuen scratched his head with irritation. "Stop looking at me like that. It's not what you think. I'm still me. I'm still a delinquent."
"Oh~" Hiyori looked mildly disappointed.
Then Ryunosuke arrived to welcome back the long-absent king. The moment he appeared, Ryuen couldn't stop himself. He stepped forward and threw a punch at his face.
In the same instant, Ryunosuke touched his Stardust Dragon card and slipped into Chuunibyou mode. He tilted his head and let the punch pass, then locked Ryuen's arm in a grip like a vice. The two of them pressed their foreheads together, eyes not particularly friendly.
Ryuen's expression was equal parts excitement and menace. "Long time no see. You really made me suffer. I'm holding onto every bit of this. Sooner or later, I'll pay you back for all of it."
He announced his grudge openly. Not only had this person gotten him expelled, he had forced him to become a diligent student in the process. This debt demanded settlement.
The first-years who had just stepped off the bus watched with curiosity. Among them were Yagami, Ichika, Housen, and Nanase. Their target was Ryunosuke.
Ayanokoji Atsuomi had given them their highest-priority directive: get Ryunosuke expelled.
Atsuomi's resentment toward this person ran deep. Ryunosuke had caused him to fail his bid for a seat on the Kyoei Party council, and had also stood in the way of his efforts to have his own son removed from the school. Every move Ryunosuke made seemed to land squarely on Atsuomi's most sensitive points. So he had ordered the White Room operatives to prioritize Ryunosuke's elimination, with his son placed secondary.
The corner of Ichika's mouth curved in a peculiar way. "So this is the target. Not bad looking~"
"He's reasonable." Yagami said with detached objectivity. "His physical output at least clears the baseline." He didn't rate the opponent highly; the only person who occupied his real attention was Ayanokoji.
Housen, for his part, was looking around the school grounds with undisguised enthusiasm. "This place really is something. Things are not going to be boring from here on."
Housen was not a White Room product. He was a street-level fighter whom Atsuomi had deployed as a decoy, a false threat placed among the real ones to obscure who the genuine operatives were.
Nanase paid none of them any attention and continued scanning the crowd for Ayanokoji.
Back at the gate, Ryunosuke and Ryuen released each other. This was the school entrance, there were new students watching, and there were security cameras. Neither of them was going to start a real fight here. The school implicitly permitted that kind of thing in unseen locations, by any method, and that was the way of Advanced Nurturing High School: ability was everything.
Ryuen had also grown smarter. He had only used this moment to deliver what he considered a warm greeting. Ryunosuke straightened his slightly ruffled clothes and said with a flat expression:
"Interesting way to say hello. Though I'll admit you've gotten a bit sharper. At least you didn't just start swinging the moment you got off the bus."
Ryuen shoved his hands back into his pockets with open contempt. "Hmph. Save it, kid. You got me expelled. Don't think that's something I'm letting go of."
He smiled, thin and cold. "I'll be ready for you whenever you are."