Ryūen Kakeru’s hearty ughter came to an abrupt halt the moment he id eyes on them.
At the entrance of the cruise ship, the three former leaders of B, C, and D-Css silently sized each other up. An awkward tension settled between them.
In that moment, it was as if Ryūen rediscovered something—something he had long abandoned ever since stepping into delinquency.
That was shame.
Kanzaki Ryūji and Horikita Suzune gave Ryūen a once-over, their gazes lingering on the bandages wrapped around his head. Recalling the ridiculous, chuuni-style ugh he had just let out, they exchanged a gnce of mutual understanding.
Then, with a sigh, they shook their heads in unison.
Poor guy. That bastard Uesugi pyed him like a fiddle.
They didn’t say a word, but their expressions alone conveyed everything. The message settled into Ryūen’s mind naturally, as if he could already hear Uesugi Gen’s mocking ughter echoing in the background.
No… No, I… I didn’t…
Ryūen’s lips moved soundlessly. He wanted to throw out a sharp retort, like he always did, but—
As an experienced delinquent, he knew one thing for sure:When the loser talks tough, the winner just hears the barking of a sore loser.
Ryūen steeled his face, exerting every ounce of willpower to suppress any trace of emotion. Without a word, he slowly took a step back.
Alright. Just like this. Act like nothing happened. Pretend I know nothing. Turn around, head back to my room, and get my mindset back on track.
This was his st, desperate attempt at self-deception.
In two days, no one will remember this. I’ll still be the leader of C-Css—Ryūen Kakeru!
And then, I’ll regroup, rebuild, and strike back at that bastard Uesugi!
It was a fwless pn.
Too bad it fell apart immediately.
Kanzaki casually clenched a fist and cleared his throat before speaking with an almost sympathetic tone.
“Ahem. Just so you know, B-Css bought out all access to the entrance surveilnce cameras today. If you were pnning to pretend this never happened, well… that’s not an option.”
Thunderstruck.
At that moment, the sky above Ryūen seemed to darken.
Damn you, Uesugi! Did you account for this too, you bastard?!
“HAHAHAHA!”
Just then, Uesugi Gen came sprinting onto the ship like a refugee escaping a disaster, with Katsuragi and several others hot on his heels, clearly eager to interrogate him for more intel.
“Daddy is back!” he decred dramatically.
Then, he spotted the three waiting figures on deck.
“Oh! You came all this way just to welcome me? As expected of my best friend.”
Uesugi beamed in surprise, as if deeply touched by the gesture.
It’s nothing. I merely fulfilled my duty.
Kanzaki could only shake his head at Uesugi’s delighted expression. With a resigned sigh, he spread his arms…
Idiot… We were apart for just one day, what’s there to be so happy about?
Horikita, on the other hand, turned her head away as if uninterested. But despite that, she subtly extended a hand toward Uesugi…
They were just about to reunite.
And then—
Without so much as a gnce, Uesugi strolled right past Kanzaki and Horikita.
Instead, he grabbed the hand of the utterly bewildered Ryūen, fshing a wide, friendly grin.
“Ah, how embarrassing. My dear friend, not only did you generously provide me with A-Css’s leader information, but you even personally came to welcome me.”
……???
Kanzaki and Horikita stood frozen in pce, stiffly turning their heads.
For the first time, they truly understood Ryūen’s pain.
Something… feels seriously off here…
Before Ryūen could even react, Katsuragi caught up, his sharp gre locking onto him.
"I was skeptical when Uesugi first told me, but I see it now, Ryūen. You really went that far just to bring A-Css down."
His voice was heavy with accusation.
"Now I’m certain. You’re the one who leaked our leader’s identity to the other csses."
I’m not, I didn’t, stop sndering me!
Though Ryūen had no idea what had actually happened, one thing was clear—there was no way he was taking the fall for this.
He might be arrogant, but he sure as hell wasn’t an idiot. Instantly, he tore through Uesugi’s btant attempt at sowing discord.
“I don’t know how your leader’s identity got exposed, but it wasn’t me. Maybe you should go back and confirm whether it was that useless leader you picked screwing up instead.”
Katsuragi clenched his fists, veins popping on his smooth forehead.
“20 points.”
His voice was deadly cold.
“No matter how I look at it, it means three csses correctly guessed our leader. Your C-Css is definitely one of them. And you also provided intel on the leaders of B and D-Css. That’s the only reason we ended up in this situation.”
At that, Ryūen fell silent.
Wait… 20 points?!
How the hell did they even score that low?
They started with 270 points. Even if they openly fought other csses, they shouldn’t have sunk that far.
But the real problem was—
C-Css really had swapped leaders without informing A-Css.
That meant, regardless of whether he personally leaked anything, the fact remained that C-Css had actively screwed A-Css over.
With no way to argue, Ryūen resorted to shifting the bme.
“This is all Uesugi Gen’s scheme! He’s using you to go after me! Don’t fall for it!”
“You wrote down our A-Css leader’s name!”
“I didn’t leak your leader’s name! They figured it out on their own!”
“You wrote down our A-Css leader’s name!”
“I never expected the exam to turn out like this! This is all Uesugi’s fault!”
“You wrote down our A-Css leader’s name!”
---
Meanwhile, Uesugi had already happily slipped away to his dorm.
"Five hundred and three points, huh? That really was a beautiful victory."
Kanzaki stood beside Uesugi, going over the results of each css. His tone couldn’t hide his excitement.
"We can’t let our guard down."
Lying comfortably on his bed, Uesugi idly scrolled through his phone, his voice rexed but ced with meaning.
"For our css, the real challenge is just beginning."
"The special exam on the cruise ship…"
Kanzaki’s expression turned serious.
He hadn’t forgotten—the luxury cruise was a two-week event.
Only one week had passed.
"That’s right."
Uesugi sat up, gazing out the window at the vast sea.
"Right now, there’s already a 300-point gap between our css and A-Css, the closest team behind us. For the other csses, that’s not just a number—it’s a threat. If we win again…"
Kanzaki picked up the thought.
"The gap could widen to 500 points."
500 points.
Just seeing that number alone would be enough to crush the morale of the other csses. If the leading css had a 500-point advantage, it wouldn’t just be a ranking gap.
It would be a psychological one.
"This time, we need to be ready."
Kanzaki’s expression darkened.
"For the possibility of all three other csses targeting us at once."
"Which is why…"
Kanzaki narrowed his eyes.
"Just now, you deliberately stirred up tension between A and C-Css."
---
T/N: LKMAO KANZAKI AND EVEN HORIKITA??? THOUGHT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THEM? LMAOOO OBV ITS BEST GIRL RYUEN