"That was too much..."
"That guy's a complete psycho."
"Why is someone like him a disciplinary committee member?"
The classroom was now packed with students, whispering as they pointed at Takamine Rinji with open disdain.
"Why..."
"Hm?"
Takamine Rinji followed the voice and saw Kyoko Ootomo step forward, visibly angry. She couldn't believe her boyfriend had been beaten so badly.
She confronted Takamine Rinji, "Why... why would you do this!?"
"Why? That's a funny question."
Takamine Rinji sneered.
"Obviously because I'm sick of you annoying couples."
"What did you say..."
"So just because of that... you beat up Ogino?"
"That's not it!"
Ishigami, just helped to his feet, quickly tried to explain.
"Rinji would never—"
"Shut up, Ishigami!" Rinji cut him off with a roar. "We'll deal with your meddling later."
"..."
"A-anyway, let's get Ogino to the infirmary."
"Y-yeah, hurry!"
Several boys moved to help the unconscious Ogino, but Takamine Rinji stepped in front of them.
"You've gone too far!"
"Rinji! Do you even know what you're doing!?"
"You think after doing something like this, you can still—"
Amid their outcry, Takamine Rinji, clearly irritated, scratched his ear and suddenly grabbed one student's collar and threw him out.
Bam!
The boy slammed into the wall and collapsed to the floor, groaning and holding his waist.
The noisy classroom instantly went silent.
"If you're not afraid of dying, step forward," Rinji said coldly, sweeping his sharp gaze across the room.
Everyone instinctively stepped back.
Seeing their fearful eyes, Takamine Rinji nodded in satisfaction, pulled out his phone, and made a call.
"Hello... Yes, the 'target' is severely injured. Please send an ambulance to Shuchiin Academy, Class 1-B, Minato Ward, Tokyo. Ogino Ko. Please hurry."
He hung up and smiled at the frozen students.
"Don't worry, I've called an ambulance. Ogino doesn't need to go to the infirmary."
One student muttered timidly, "B-but it's just a minor injury. There's no need to call an ambulance..."
"You're right."
Rinji nodded, then walked up to Ogino, lifted his foot, and stomped down hard.
Crack!!
"AAAHHHHH!!!"
With a scream of agony and the sound of bone breaking, Ogino passed out again.
"Now it's serious."
"..."
This guy is absolutely insane! A total lunatic!
Takamine Rinji's vicious actions had struck fear deep into the hearts of the students.
"What's going on here!!?"
Just then, the PE teacher arrived, followed by Rinji's classmates Iino Miko and Osaragi Kobachi.
"Teacher, Ogino was beaten by Rinji."
"Is that true?"
The teacher stepped forward, and upon seeing Ogino collapsed with a clearly broken leg, he gasped.
Just what kind of hatred would drive someone to do this?
"Who's Takamine Rinji!?"
"Right here."
Rinji calmly raised his hand.
"Good. Come with me to the office!"
"Sure."
Takamine Rinji smiled and walked forward.
As he approached, the students instinctively cleared a path for him, not even daring to meet his gaze.
But one person stood in his way.
"Rinji, why did you do this?"
Iino Miko bit her lip, unable to believe Rinji could be responsible for all of this.
The person who had once shared her ideals, doing something so brutal?
"When you ask why, why don't you investigate it yourself?"
With that, he walked past her. Just before leaving the classroom, he looked back at Ishigami.
"Rinji..."
Ishigami tried to stop him, but one look from Rinji was enough to make him freeze.
That look said: Stay out of it.
---
In the end, the ambulance came and took the unconscious Ogino away.
News of Takamine Rinji's violent fight spread across every class in Shuchiin Academy.
Naturally, it reached the student council as well.
"Takamine Rinji got into a fight...? I can't believe it," Miyuki Shirogane muttered in frustration.
That usually friendly guy who often joked around—how could anyone associate him with such violence?
"Eh!!! Is Rinji going to get punished!?" Chika Fujiwara asked anxiously.
"Definitely. Normally, for injuring someone in a fight, it's a one-month suspension, plus a written reflection. And even if he comes back..."
Shirogane couldn't help but hold his head in his hands.
He just couldn't understand—why Takamine Rinji of all people?
"President, there's nothing strange about this," Kaguya Shinomiya said calmly while sipping her coffee.
"I told you before—Rinji is a violent person at heart."
"...That's true."
Shirogane recalled their conversation from Saturday night—Takamine's own words.
'President, just as she said, I'm not a good person.'
"But Rinji wouldn't just hurt someone for no reason."
"Then that unlucky guy must have provoked him."
Kaguya placed her cup down and locked eyes with the troubled Shirogane.
"He's different. He never hides the malice in his heart. I witnessed it four years ago."
"Then..."
"He never tried to hide his fangs. Even now, among the 'flock,' he won't conceal himself. The environment won't change him."
"Is that so… maybe you're right, but this matter isn't over yet."
Shirogane Miyuki rummaged through the table and pulled out a roster. From it, he extracted a document.
It contained all of Hikaru Ogino's personal information.
"Takamine Rinji… is my friend."