That night, I had to call Hirata on the phone.
"Ayanokouji-kun? It's rare for you to call. Is everything alright?"
"Hirata, I'll get straight to the point. Are you thinking about confronting Ryuuen?"
"What? What makes you say that?"
"It's just a hunch. You sounded a bit different when you called us earlier... I thought you might try to do something on your own."
Even if I couldn't see him I'm sure that Hirata was wearing a surprised expression.
"That's-... Ahaha, I guess I couldn't hide it from you, huh, Ayanokouji-kun... Yeah, I am planning to talk to Ryuuen-kun myself... I mean, what options do I have?"
"Well, you're doing it precisely because you can't think of any other options, right?"
"Yeah... Sorry, Ayanokouji-kun. I think it's the only way to save Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun."
"I see... Then, Hirata, can you leave it to me and Horikita? The two of us will be the ones who'll confront Ryuuen."
"You and Horikita-san? Are you sure...? I mean, I can come along with you guys if you want."
"No... I know you're worried, but it'll be fine. You can trust us on this one. We'll definitely save Ike and Yamauchi."
After a brief pause, I could hear Hirata sigh in resignation from the other end.
"Alright... Please be careful of Ryuuen-kun. Contact me if you ever need help."
"Yeah. Thanks, Hirata. I won't let you guys down this time."
"I never thought you did in the first place. You're doing everything you can."
After our call, I released a small sigh of relief. Now, I just have to rope Horikita in and have her take the lead role in a small show.
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When Thursday came around, I asked Horikita to come with me. We called Ryuuen to the Special Building and he happily obliged.
He sure is confident. I wonder how he'll act once he's driven into a corner...
I gave Horikita the rundown of my plan and had her listen to the recordings on my phone. They were two separate voice recordings containing everything that happened during the incident. In other words, the truth.
"What... is this? This is the plan you were talking about? How did you get a hold of this?"
Horikita instantly stiffened upon hearing everything.
"Don't worry, I'll explain the details when the time comes. Just be sure to act like everything was your plan, at least, in front of Ryuuen."
"Alright..." Horikita replied while trying to fix her expression. "I'll act as instructed."
Finally, Ryuuen arrived along with Yamada Albert and Ishizaki Daichi.
"Oho? It's just you two in here, or was I interrupting something? It's not civil to make out on campus just because there are no security cameras, you know?" snickered Ryuuen.
"You're finally here, Ryuuen-kun." Horikita addressed him, appearing unperturbed.
"Why did you call me here, Suzune? And what's Ayanokouji doing here? Is he your bodyguard?"
Horikita gave me a quick glance.
"I told you to not call me by my first name, but your brain can't even comprehend that." Horikita sighed before giving me a glance. "Anyway, I guess you can consider Ayanokouji-kun as my convenient helper. I didn't want anyone else to know about this, so I just asked someone who isn't too relevant to come with me."
"Heh..." Ryuuen's smile widened. "Alright, the fun is getting stale. What are you trying to accomplish by calling me here? Are you going to kneel and beg? That's a great idea, Suzune. I want to see that strong expression of yours crumble down into tears."
"Sigh. Your cheap provocations don't mean anything Ryuuen-kun. You've already lost."
"Oh...? You're saying some interesting things, aren't you, Suzune?" Ryuuen squinted his eyes and observed Horikita.
She took out my phone, which I'd given to her earlier, before speaking. At the same time, I also took out her phone and started recording.
"Hey, Ayanokouji? What's with that? I'm not a big fan of paparazzi, you know?" Ryuuen questioned my actions with a smirk. I was explicitly showing them that they're being recorded right now.
"It's just insurance. Knowing how you've worked for the past few weeks, it's not bad for us to assume that you might resort to violence, right?" Horikita answered for me.
Ryuuen raised an eyebrow before widening his eyes. Not just him, even Ishizaki and Yamada froze upon hearing the voice recordings that Horikita played.
"Oi, Kinoshita. We finished shooing the recorder guy away..."
"E-Eh? What are you doing he-... Augh-?!"
"Can we get this over with?"
"Agh... W-What... K-Kinoshita-chan...? What's happening...?"
"Don't rush it, Kinoshita. We need to do one last thing..."
"Fine, hurry it up..."
"Ugh-!"
"Kukuku, our guest is here..."
"W-Who the hell are you, man?"
"Why are you with Manabe-chan?"
"Calm down, Yamauchi Haruki. Let's wait for the rest of the gang..."
"The what? What the hell are you talking about? Manabe-chan, what is this?"
"Can you not talk to me? It's really gross..."
"What-?!"
"Ryuuen-san, we fended off the rat."
"Alright, hold him for me..."
"H-Hey! What are you guys-... Aghhh-!"
"That's no good, Yamauchi. Sexual assault isn't a cool thing to do. It might get you expelled, you know-? Manabe, come here..."
"Do I really have to? I can just take my blazers off and give it to you, right?"
"I don't want my fingerprints on the unnecessary parts of your blazer, so shut up and do what I say-"
"I'm sure you know what's going on by now, right?" asked Horikita.
Ryuuen's expression slowly turned dark. His smile came back before finally shuddering to a laugh.
"Hahaha... Hahahaha! I see! Amazing, Horikita Suzune! Simply amazing!" he laughed hysterically. "To think that you'd outsmart me like this... It's nothing short of incredible! Interesting, really interesting!"
"I would advise you to wipe that smile off your face. The situation's completely reversed now, isn't it?" asserted Horikita.
"Oh please. You don't have to scare me like that," shrugged Ryuuen.
"Hmph. Once I give this evidence to the school, it'll be all over for you and your classmates."
"R-Ryuuen-san, what are we gonna do?" Ishizaki asked with a panicked face.
"Hahaha, don't frighten the clueless ones, Suzune." Ryuuen's smile didn't fade. "Once you give the evidence? Don't make me laugh. You called me here because you never planned on doing that, right? If you really wanted to rat us out, you would've done so a long time ago."
"I see. You're quite smart, aren't you?" Horikita replied as if she expected his response. "You're right. I'm not here to have you and your classmates punished."
"Heh, so? What's your goal?" he asked.
"An extra hand."
"Hohh... Elaborate." Ryuuen asked with a curious grin.
"We want to reach Class A, obviously. However, I figured that it would be quite a challenge. So, in the future, I want your help if we ever need some. That's my real goal." Horikita looked at Ryuuen with cold eyes. "You're quite the underhanded person, Ryuuen-kun. So if you plan to betray us, don't make it obvious, lest I use these recordings to blow out your class points."
Ryuuen laughed at Horikita's bold words.
"I see... Hahaha! I see now. If you use these recordings now, Class D will surely suffer, but that's irrelevant to you, who's in the higher class. So, you'd rather use me as a weapon against Class A in exchange for hiding this evidence, am I right?" he scoffed.
"Your understanding mind is convenient. My initial condition plus Kinoshita-san and Manabe-san withdrawing their accusations-- Agree to them, and we'll have a deal. So, what do you say?"
This role fits her perfectly. I couldn't have asked for a better accomplice.
"Heh, you can use the evidence more than once. I'll accept if we sign a memorandum." Ryuuen proposed with a smirk.
"Very well, I've anticipated that already. We'll sign the memorandum in secret tomorrow, after your class's withdrawal."
Ryuuen was still smiling, but he couldn't reply.
"Be thankful, Ryuuen-kun. I was considerate enough to just keep this between me and Ayanokouji-kun. I never thought you'd walk right into my trap like that. I'd suggest you try to come after Ichinose-san, Sakayanagi-san, or Katsuragi-kun before challenging our class." Horikita turned around with a cool expression as her hair swayed. "Let's go, Ayanokouji-kun. We're done here."
After recording everything, I pressed the stop button and followed Horikita.
"Wait, Suzune," called Ryuuen.
Horikita was visibly shocked, but she composed herself before turning around.
"Give me a copy of the recordings," he demanded.
"Hmph, so you want to investigate the authenticity of the recordings? Sure, why not?" she shrugged.
"Heh..." Ryuuen's smile widened as he narrowed his eyes.
"Remember, I have the recordings along with the video evidence that Ayanokouji-kun recorded just now. I trust that you fulfill your end of the bargain... for your own sake," she said, giving him a side glance. "Farewell."
At that point, Ryuuen could only stare at our retreating backs. We've averted the crisis and obtained a new card on top of that. I've gained a significant understanding of how Ryuuen's mind works. The only ones left are Katsuragi and Sakayanagi.