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Manabe's group didn't dare to object and hurriedly left without looking back, leaving only a few boys surrounding Kei Karuizawa.
Yukio unexpectedly glanced at Ryuen: "Aren't you going to eat?" His tone was much kinder towards those who often hung around together.
Ryuen said nothing, hands in pockets, turned around and prepared to leave. Albert followed without a word, but Ishizaki, the simpleton, asked, "Eh? Aren't you coming with us, Yukio-san?"
Then he noticed Karuizawa and seemed to have an epiphany: "Oh, I get it, I get it! Actually, I wanted to contradict Manabe just now. Karuizawa is not ugly at all, much better than…"
As he spoke, his voice trailed off into silence under Yukio's gaze.
"Ryuen, Albert, order the most expensive seafood set, Ishizaki is paying," Yukio casually said, causing Ishizaki to regret his words deeply.
Ishizaki hurriedly tried to persuade Ryuen and Albert: "Ryuen-san, Albert, let's not, okay? Seafood sets, you know, they can cause stomach problems. Let's order something else, shall we?"
Ryuen couldn't help but chuckle and left without a word. Ishizaki had no choice but to follow, pleading with them not to order something so expensive.
After everyone left, Yukio's attention finally shifted to Karuizawa, who was still trembling. Even with Manabe and the others gone, she instinctively shivered.
Her face was pale, devoid of its usual luster, weak like a wilted weed, devoid of vitality, only deathly stillness remaining.
"Kei Karuizawa, right?" Yukio approached her, sharing his observation: "A normal girl facing what just happened, even with me and Ryuen there, would have fought back."
"Whether it's slapping Manabe back or pulling her hair, they wouldn't have been like you, indifferent or, should I say, completely powerless to resist."
"After all, there's not much physical difference between you two. Someone like you, who loses strength and trembles at having their hair pulled, must have been bullied by other girls before, right?"
"!!" It was as if a hurricane had swept through, scouring the ground three feet deep. The wilted weed that had lost all its vitality now had its last root blown away!
The girl suddenly raised her head, her eyes clouded with age. Her deepest, most hidden secret, the one she least wanted uncovered, was now laid bare in the sunlight!
This person! Was he going to strip away even her last bit of space to survive?!
Although Kei Karuizawa thought she had hidden her secret well, the moment she became powerless when her hair was grabbed, Yukio and Ryuen saw through her.
The former made his judgment based on extensive learning, understanding the reactions of someone who had suffered bullying and psychological trauma.
The latter, simply due to having seen too much and having an abundance of experience, could see through her at a glance.
After all, a person constantly subjected to bullying becomes increasingly submissive. The overwhelming sense of helplessness and pity evoked is starkly different from most people.
However, Yukio also found something to admire. The girl, who should have been continuously spiraling down into the depths of hell, had emerged in high school, becoming a figure of trust for many girls in Class D.
This core ability alone demonstrated her considerable talent, albeit suppressed to some extent by her past bullying experiences.
"What's wrong?" Although it was just a subconscious raising of her head, Yukio spoke like a devil, his whisper echoing in the desolate space: "Did my casual words awaken the past you'd rather not face?"
"No, no more, please, no more...!" Karuizawa shook her head vigorously, hands full of grass, desperately covering her ears as if resisting Yukio's demonic whispers.
Her demeanor was like that of a scared girl watching a horror movie alone at night, trembling violently under the covers after scaring herself.
"Could it be that you're remembering the times you were bullied in the past?" Yukio watched her coldly, his tone overly gentle, almost indulgent.
Yet, his words were like knives, invisibly inflicting another wound on Karuizawa's psyche.
Cold, so cold – that was Karuizawa's only sensation now. So numb that she couldn't even feel her limbs, struggling to command them.
Her heart, which should have been beating warmly, seemed to be frozen, the bloodless body sinking into darkness. She should hate this darkness, the experience of it.
But the girl, twisted by bullying, only hated herself. Why was she continuously bullied? Was it because she did something wrong? Did she have some inherent flaw?
Thus, she always encountered such darkness.
The girl despaired, her head drooping as if no matter how she struggled, she couldn't escape the darkness. But at a crucial moment, she felt her chin being lifted.
It was Yukio who lifted Kei Karuizawa's chin with one hand, creating a scene reminiscent of a TV drama, right there at the side of the cafeteria.
Realizing a sinister possibility, Karuizawa's eyes, which had been clouded, now regained some vitality, as if desperately trying to hide something. She began to unfasten her pleated skirt: "Yes, that's it."
"You drove Manabe and Ryuen away to be alone with me, for that kind of thing, right? As expected, you guys... only think about such things…"
"?" Yukio was momentarily puzzled, as the situation unfolded differently from what he had expected.
Her anxiousness to undo her pleated skirt was evident, sharply perceived by Yukio: "Wait a minute, shouldn't it start with the shirt buttons, in the normal order?"
"A girl's subconscious should prioritize protecting her underwear, considering its importance. Yet, you prioritized the skirt. It seems like you're willing to sacrifice everything, even a girl's most prized possession, to hide the most crucial thing."
"!" Karuizawa's pupils dilated sharply, and her arms, without any thought, covered her left abdomen, as if silently telling Yukio, the answer is right here!
Yukio forcefully pulled Karuizawa's wrist away and lifted her shirt, revealing a ferocious stitched scar.
That was what Karuizawa had been desperate to hide, the highest secret she bore, and the root of her inability to resist.
Presumably, whenever she was bullied, this scar would ache subtly, turning into an eternal blade in her psyche, silently dissolving all her power to resist, making her incapable of any retaliation.
"I see." Yukio helped lower her shirt, even smoothing out a wrinkle on its hem: "I can keep all your secrets, and even ensure that Manabe and the others will avoid you next time."
"The price is simple. Apologize to Rika in private, then infiltrate Class D as an undercover agent and pass information to me, how about it?"
Initially feeling that Sakura alone was gathering information too slowly, he now unexpectedly caught Karuizawa, a girl with significant influence in Class D.
In just three days, with two undercover agents, Yukio felt like he could start an undercover club.
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400 power stontes = 1 extra chapter