[Before reading the chapter. I would like to say that I am extremely sorry for not uploading for so long! I have no excuses and I was simply lazy since it was my vacation.]
In the scavenger hunt race
Yuto looked at the chit he got with visible shock.
"Who the fuck wrote this?!" he cursed aloud as the paper read.
[A black guy's glasses]
He frantically looked around and immediately narrowed his eyes as he saw Albert.
"Those Class C bastards!"
He darted towards Albert and looked at him with pleading eyes, "Yo Albert! Come with me, please."
"No."
"I'll treat you to a—"
"No."
"I'll buy you a—"
"No."
Yuto sighed as he spoke his last resort. "I'll give you the panda plushie..." he said somewhat hesitantly.
"Where are we going?" Albert said almost instantly.
Yuto wiped away his imaginary tears as he led the way, a sense of victory tinged with a bittersweet feeling. 'I won, but at what cost...' he mused silently to himself, his thoughts swirling as he glanced at the stunned Class C students.
Ryuen's instructions had been clear: reject giving anything. But Albert had chosen to defy him, knowing full well the consequences. 'Boss will beat me, but it's worth it,' Albert thought, feeling a hint of pink colouring his sun-kissed face.
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Horikita frowned as she examined her leg, "I always depend on him..." she sighed as she imagined the brown-haired boy. Her pale skin soon turned red. "Depending is not bad, you know." Horikita flinched as she looked up at the brown-haired boy in front of her. He was not the same one she thought of though. He had dead-fish eyes with a static stoic expression.
"What do you want, Ayanokoji?" Horikita asked, her tone sharp as she narrowed her eyes. Ayanokoji sat next to Horikita and looked at the ground below as he answered, exhaling a bit of air. "No one can do anything alone, Horikita."
Horikita immediately frowned as she said in a raised voice, "What exactly are you pointing at, Ayanokoji?" Ayanokoji turned his face and stared at the black-haired beauty in front of him. "Your brother is never going to acknowledge you if you think you can do everything alone and not depend on anyone."
Horikita recoiled slightly, her features contorted with disdain. "Don't pretend to understand my brother," she snapped. Ayanokoji remained composed, his gaze unwavering. "I would argue that I understand him more than you realize," he replied calmly.
Horikita gritted her teeth as she opened her mouth to say something but closed it with a big frown appearing on her face. Ayanokoji paused as he continued, "Right now, you are utterly useless by yourself and you will continue to stay that way unless you start to use those around you."
"They're all incompetent," Horikita muttered bitterly.
She paused, her gaze drifting toward Yuto at the scavenger hunt. "Except for one," she added reluctantly. Ayanokoji simply nodded in agreement. Horikita exhaled a tired sigh, "I can't exactly use him, though."
Ayanokoji did his best to show a confused expression but his face was still stoic. "What do you mean?" he questioned. Horikita quickly shook her head as she stated firmly, "He is not someone I can control."
"You can," Ayanokoji said. Horikita looked at Ayanokoji with a frown, "You are probably the only one who can." Ayanokoji added with a tinge of displeasure in his voice. He turned his neck to Horikita as they made eye contact, "The reason being due to the feeling he harbours for you."
Horikita's face turned unreadable. She didn't know whether to frown, to blush, or to grimace.
Ayanokoji, looking at her, thought, 'Perfect. All I said was the truth to her. Yuto is not someone who can be manipulated or controlled. He was always an unpredictable piece in any plan I had. All I did was plant an idea in her. An idea to use Yuto. If I was any earlier, she wouldn't go all with the idea due to her principles and if I was any late, she wouldn't have gone all with the idea as she would have fallen for him. Right now, however, is a golden rope. She is still confused with her feelings for Yuto and this would be the perfect time to strike her. Now, Horikita will try to control Yuto by taking advantage of the feelings he holds for her and I can control him through her. I could have only done this in this brief period. I was able to notice it by sheer luck. I must do better next time.'
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Joint 1200-m relay
Yuto stood next to Manabu and regarded him with a smirk. "You performed better than I expected," Manabu remarked with a side glance. Yuto raised his chest proudly with his arms on his hips, "Of course I did. I was always bound to surpass your expectations!"
Manabu's lips curled up a bit. "Seems like the relay is about to start," he said. Yuto nodded as he replied, "Yeah, seems like the substitutes from our side are also done. From what I heard, it seems Ayanokoji will run the final run. Unfortunately, I can't race against you since my class wants me to 'trust' them with this one. I suppose it's their way of saying, take a rest for this one."
Manabu raised a brow as he glanced at Class D's tent, which was at least 50 meters away from where they currently stood. He smiled as he said, "Your eavesdropping skills seem to surpass mine. It's amazing how you can converse with me while listening to another one much further away." Yuto nodded before smiling, "I suppose you can call it experience."
Manabu chuckled a bit as he said in the same voice, "It's clear that your class is going to be promoted after this festival. What is your goal now?" Yuto pondered for a moment. "Let's see... I might think of expelling a two-faced jerk if she does something I don't like." He paused and said with an evil grin, "There is another jerk I could have expelled, but I would much rather give him a beating." That 'jerk' Yuto was referring to was obviously Ryuen.
Manabu smirked and he gave Yuto a final glance before leaving for the ground, "Good luck with your plans. I hope you treat Suzune well."
Yuto grinned as he looked at Manabu, "I knew you weren't a heartless brother!"