Another Like Me - Part I (CoTE x OC) ?

Chapter 61 - Suspicion

I headed towards the spot that Ishizaki had pointed me towards.

I walked down the staircase, and was greeted by a nail-biting cold wind. I wrapped my scarf around another fold, and headed towards the magenta-haired boy, who was sitting down on the bench, staring at the floor.

"Ryuuen."

Ryuuen turned his eyes to look at me, and he narrowed them. "Takeyama? The hell you're doing here?"

"I wanna know too."

Ryuuen scoffed. "You really are a bastard, you know that? You won't even let me get expelled."

So Ryuuen really did not get expelled.....

But why?

Why would the school overlook such blatant misconduct from a student, and let them off with just a deduction in Class Points? Guaranteed, 50 Class Points is a huge hit, but that doesn't change the fact that Ryuuen's actions were enough to get him expelled.

Besides, Ryuuen himself approached the teachers with an expulsion letter. In other words, the school does not want Ryuuen to leave.

That did not seem plausible at all.

First of all, if a student himself is applying to leave the school, why would the school prohibit him from doing so? As far as I remember, there was no rule which stated that you could not leave school of your own volition.

It did not make any sense to me.

Kiyotaka did not help him. I did not help him.

Ryuuen should not be in school.

Perhaps it was Kouenji.....?

No. That's not possible. Kouenji would not care about things like these. Besides, he is not aware of the fact that Ryuuen had taken the decision to leave school. Only I was aware, and in tandem, Kiyotaka.

"What are you spacing out for, retard?" Ryuuen mocked me. "Or maybe I shouldn't call you a retard. You did save me from being expelled, after all. You even patched me up after I lost to you. Even though I'm not particularly thankful."

So Ryuuen thinks I'm the one who saved him from being expelled?

I decided to play along for now.

"I didn't want to lose an opponent like you so soon," I lied. "It would be a shame, don't you think, Ryuuen?"

"Tch. You and your twisted sense of justice," Ryuuen replied. "Did Ishizaki and the others tell you about it? I don't see how you did it otherwise."

"They approached me last night, and I decided to lend a helping hand."

"I see."

Ryuuen gave me a short reply, and went back to staring at the ground. I sighed. There wasn't much to talk about to him, now that we've officially established my victory.

"Kouenji wasn't the mastermind, was he?"

I turned to look at Ryuuen, who was eyeing me warily.

"I know Kouenji isn't the mastermind. It's someone else. And I'm sure of it now," he continued.

"Well, you can take your shot Ryuuen," I said. "Doesn't change the fact that you still lost. Whether you figure out the mastermind's identity now or later, it's over. You can only assume their identity."

"Kuku, I expected this answer from you....." Ryuuen smirked. "You're neither going to confirm nor deny my accusations. You're like those annoying lawyers....."

"What are you planning to do now?" I changed the question in my favor. "Will you continue to lead Class D?"

"What do you think I should do?" he asked me cheekily.

"Why're you asking me? It's your class," I replied exasperatedly. "Go ahead and do whatever you think is good for you."

"Then in that case, I might as well continue to be the leader of Class D," Ryuuen replied, standing up. "But I've come to a realization, Takeyama — you're a demon. I'd rather not go up against you so fast. Maybe Ichinose would be a better target....."

Ryuuen smiled an evil smile. I felt a pang of guilt. My heart went out to Ichinose and her class.

"Well, you do you," I waved him off. "I'd rather you keep this incident under wraps."

"Of course. I don't want the entire grade to know about how my ass was handed to me now, do I?" he replied. "You win, Takeyama. I'll give you that. But I'll come back stronger the next time. Once I'm done destroying Ichinose and her class of wimpy losers, I'll come back to challenge you again."

"I'll be waiting for it, Ryuuen."

Ryuuen scoffed, and immediately set off in the opposite direction, towards the dormitories.

"Who do you think the second mastermind is?" I called out behind him, and he turned around to give me one last grin.

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"I have no fucking idea."

With that last sentence, Ryuuen left.

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