Seeing that the task was finished, Narumori chose to go straight home. Before leaving, he handed two student dormitory room keys to Ryunosuke and didn't want to bother himself with anything else afterward. He believed that his future son-in-law could settle everything properly.
Although hiding this matter from his own teacher, Atsuomi, risked damaging their relationship, he didn't care. He did all of this for Arisu's sake. Between the choice of opposing his teacher or for the safety of his daughter's life, he would certainly choose his own daughter.
Ryunosuke didn't waste much more time. He turned toward the two people who had just escaped from the White Room and said, "Ayanokouji, you come with me. And also..."
He shifted his gaze to look at Yagami, "I'll give you two options. First, you leave Advanced Nurturing High School, hide your identity, and live in the outside world."
"Second." Ryunosuke proffered an iron mask to him, "Wear this, pretend your face was disfigured by a burn injury. I will help you enter Advanced Nurturing High School again as a new student. But, you must keep your original identity a secret, alter your appearance, and change your name."
"What do you think?"
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Yagami chose the second option. He reached out his hand to take the iron mask and put it on.
"I don't have anything else to worry about out there either. The only person I care about is Amasawa, who is in the same year as me. I've always thought of her as my own little sister. Can you help place me into Class 1-A? I want to accompany her."
Something like this was no big deal, just a trivial matter for Ryunosuke, so he readily agreed without hesitation. With this, he also no longer owed Ichika a favor, because that debt of gratitude was now paid in full.
Ryunosuke looked back at Ayanokouji. "Even though I've already said it once, you seem to not take it seriously. I'm warning you one more time, don't ever betray me a second time. If it happens again, I won't care about you anymore."
This sentence was not just an ordinary warning, but also a firm reassertion of his stance to the opposing party. If he dared to betray him once more, he would no longer be willing to protect him.
Ayanokouji merely responded with a short, murmured "Oh." like an oppressed wife. This attitude instantly left Yagami, who was beside him, stunned in bewilderment behind his iron mask.
(You are the finest masterpiece of the White Room! How can you show such a weak expression?)
Yagami had absolutely no idea that Ayanokouji's actions this time had gone far too cross. He had caused Ryunosuke, who was incredibly money-mad, to lose up to 140 million points. If he didn't bow his head and soften his stance right now, then this best friend who was simultaneously his best tool would truly leave him behind.
Ryunosuke didn't want to coddle him. He immediately asked his father-in-law, Narumori, for help to arrange Yagami's transfer into Class A, while simultaneously changing his name to Yagami Taichi.
Yes, that's right, the exact same name as the character Yagami Taichi in the Digimon anime.
This was purely due to Ryunosuke's bizarre sense of humor. As an acute sufferer of chuunibyou syndrome, what was wrong with wanting to be a little mischievous? Wasn't something like this completely normal?
Yagami didn't dispute anything either; he merely shrugged his shoulders in resignation. Being able to obtain a result like this was already enough to make him highly satisfied, and he didn't demand anything else. At least now he was free and didn't need to return to the White Room again.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The next morning.
Yagami Takuya, who had now changed his name to Yagami Taichi, officially transferred into Class 1-A, which was the class where Ichika was located.
Ichika was originally sitting in the classroom with her cheek propped up by one hand, looking at the scenery outside the window. When she heard there was a new transfer student, she only then glanced over briefly to look. However, that look instantly startled her half to death.
Ichika reflexively stood up from her seat, even forgetting that the teacher was still inside the classroom at the moment.
The female teacher with long black hair and glasses who led Yagami inside immediately cleared her throat. She assumed that the mask worn on the new student's face had startled the female student in her class, so she offered a brief explanation.
"This student is named Yagami Taichi. Because his face once suffered burn injuries from a fire, he must wear this iron mask so as not to startle you all. Please be understanding, everyone."
The other students expressed that they could understand; they all promised the teacher they would look after their new classmate named Yagami Taichi.
Only Ichika remained standing frozen in her place with a face full of confusion, her eyes blinking in disbelief.
It was blindingly obvious that she recognized the man. Let alone merely wearing a mask, even if that man had already turned to ash, she would certainly still recognize him. After all, they originated from the same organization, so don't expect to be able to deceive her just by wearing an iron mask.
As soon as the bell signaling the end of the period rang, Ichika hurriedly approached him and asked in a low voice to find out the situation.
"What exactly happened to you? Why did you go so far as to change your name? Coupled with wearing a piece of junk mask like this. Also, how could you escape from inside the White Room?"
There were far too many questions inside Ichika's mind that she wanted to straighten out immediately.
Yagami Takuya, who had now changed his name to Yagami Taichi, patiently related the entire chronology of events from beginning to end to Ichika. Hearing that story, Ichika's head was instantly filled with massive question marks.
"How did Akasaka-senpai do it? How could he sneak inside the White Room?"
"From what I remember, there are hundreds of guards there, and they are all also equipped with firearms."
"Akasaka-senpai shouldn't possess that much capability."
"He indeed doesn't have that much capability, but the person around him does." Yagami replied with a tone of resignation.
"Have you forgotten about the mysterious pixelated shadow that incapacitated the two of us in an instant during the deserted island exam back then?"
"She was the one who did it."
Hearing that, Ichika immediately recalled that blurry, dark figure whose face could not be seen clearly, making her entire body instantly break out in goosebumps.
"Around Akasaka-senpai, it turns out it really is filled with many incredible people."
"Even a phantom is by his side."
"That's not a phantom, she is truly a real human." Yagami reflexively corrected her words. At the same time, Ichika became somewhat curious.
"Then why was Akasaka-senpai willing to do all of this? What did he trouble himself to rescue you out for?"
"Do you very much wish for me not to come out?" Yagami asked with a flat face.
Ichika hurried to wave her hands. "No, no, that's not what I meant. I was just curious, Yagami~"
Ichika immediately took advantage of the opportunity to act spoiled, just like a little sister next door. Yagami was the type of person who was least able to hold out when faced with this kind of attitude. Every time Ichika did something wrong and acted spoiled like this, he would certainly always forgive her.
Including back in the White Room, when he accidentally stepped on Ichika's pink plush doll. The girl had immediately drawn a dagger to slash him, but after realizing that she couldn't win the fight, Ichika immediately acted spoiled, and he just forgave her just like that.
Even later on, although the girl repeatedly intended to finish him off, every time she acted spoiled toward him, unconsciously Yagami would always forgive her. This matter seemed to have already turned into an instinct within him.
Who told it to be that back in the White Room, only this single colleague of his could keep up with his footsteps. As time passed, he had already thought of her like his own flesh-and-blood sister. And for Ichika herself, the situation was also more or less the same; rather than thinking of him as an older brother, their relationship leaned more toward being arch-nemeses.
After learning the entire detailed chronology from Yagami, Ichika still could not fathom why Akasaka-senpai was willing to help rescue this man for her sake.
Yagami suddenly thought of a possibility. Although the probability was extremely small, it didn't mean it was impossible to happen. After all, that man was famously very flirtatious, and Ichika herself wasn't an ugly girl.
Unconsciously, that sentence immediately blurted out from Yagami's mouth.
"Does that Akasaka actually like you?"
SLASH!
A sharp sound was heard as Ichika suddenly drew her dagger and drove it straight into Yagami's back.
The man immediately groaned in pain and collapsed, leaning over the desk.
This young girl truly had no fighting ethics, going so far as to heartlessly take advantage of the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on him. Because this time Yagami was not alert at all, he was immediately hit square by her attack.