Chapter 262: Nagumo's Nemesis - Ryuen Kakeru!

Time flew by. The one hour passed in the blink of an eye. By the time Fuyuji came out of the cafeteria, twilight had soaked through half the sky. The sun had already sunk to the west, and dark golden sunset clouds rolled at the edge of the sky.

A cold wind howled past his collar. The temperature at the forest school had grown even more piercing. On the distant branches, icicles hung one after another, as if ready to snap and fall at any moment.

“How’d it go? Did you smooth things over with those girls of yours?”

A crisp voice, carrying a touch of casualness, suddenly sounded from behind Fuyuji.

Fuyuji’s stepping foot halted abruptly. He turned around helplessly. “Senpai, popping out with a line from behind like that is pretty scary, you know.”

There, in the shadow cast by the setting sun against the cafeteria’s outer wall, stood a tall girl, leaning lazily against the wall. One long leg supported her weight, her right knee bent idly. Arms crossed, she quietly waited for someone’s arrival.

“Is that so?”

Kiryuin Fuka pinched her chin lightly with slender fingers and immediately lowered her eyes in thought. Her long lashes trembled faintly in the cold wind. She muttered to herself, head down, “Then should I change my greeting style? A pitiful, frail-girl style might make me more popular with my junior.”

“…”

Fuyuji’s eye twitched wildly. A few black lines appeared on his forehead.

Senpai, you dare say that, but I don’t even dare imagine it.

He walked over two steps to Kiryuin’s side and leaned against the wall the same way she did. The cool sensation passed through his clothes. He tilted his head back and gazed at the distant scenery.

“Why does Senpai have time to come find me now?” The distant mountain peaks were already shrouded in dusk. He paused. “Is your group already done?”

Although with Kiryuin’s overwhelming strength and skill, there was no way she’d be dragged into anyone’s funeral escort. But if her group fell to last place and someone used the same method as that Tachibana-senpai, that would be another story.

“Oh?” Kiryuin’s red, moist lips curved into an arc. She tilted her head slightly. A few strands of her silver, waterfall-like long hair fell with the motion, drifting lightly in the cold wind. The hair brushed the back of his hand, bringing a faint tickle and a light scent of shampoo. “Junior, are you worried about me?”

“Yeah.”

Fuyuji nodded frankly. His casually hanging hand quietly reached out and slowly covered the back of her cool hand, then took that slender, well-knuckled hand into his palm.

“After all, when Senpai is sick, she’s very fragile.”

Kiryuin let out a light laugh. Her free hand rose and casually tucked a few strands of silver hair, blown messy by the wind, behind her ear.

“Unfortunately, no one else gets the chance to see Senpai’s fragile side.”

“Really?” Fuyuji took the opportunity to pull her a little closer into his arms. His other hand naturally wrapped around her slender yet supple waist. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead to hers, his nose tip nuzzling affectionately against hers.

The white breath from their slightly parted lips mixed and tangled rapidly in the cold air, then dispersed like thin mist just as quickly. “There’s a big loophole in this exam, you know.”

He briefly explained Nagumo’s scheme.

Kiryuin listened quietly, then tilted her head and leaned lightly on his shoulder. “Heh… That kid Nagumo really does love using dirty tricks.”

“So Senpai’s group—”

Before he could finish, Kiryuin’s fist suddenly shot forward with a whistling sound, kicking up a gust of air.

“Currently, they’re still quite obedient.”

Fuyuji shut his mouth and silently tightened his hold on the senpai in his arms a little, so she couldn’t put more force into it.

Alright. His worry had been unnecessary. Senpai’s formidable strength, combined with her cheat-like intuition, meant no girl could pull any small tricks under her nose.

“So,” Fuyuji’s fingers lightly twined around a strand of her silver hair, playing with it in his hand, “is Senpai planning to skip this special exam too?”

“No. This exam is actually pretty interesting.” Kiryuin lifted her head. Her wine-red eyes reflected Fuyuji’s profile. She said with interest, “Those girls of yours, when the large groups meet tonight, I’ll team up with them.”

Fuyuji’s expression stiffened. “Senpai’s coming too?”

Well. Now they really were all gathered in one breath.

Maybe this exam wasn’t blond senpai’s scheme against Manabu, but a scheme against me!

Killing two birds with one stone. Without spending a single soldier, he could drive me into a corner, even into mortal danger. As expected of you, the Student Council President who rules the second year!

“Is that not allowed?” Kiryuin’s mouth curved into an arc.

“That’s not it.”

Fuyuji was already thinking about how to smooth things over with those girls once he got back.

But before he could come up with an answer, a sudden force came from the collar of his neck. The next second, her fair, pretty face filled most of his vision.

“Chatting with your cute senpai while still thinking about other girls. That’s rude behavior. Points deducted.”

“That other girl… Senpai is included in that count too.” Fuyuji tried to argue.

Kiryuin extended both hands and wrapped them around his neck. A body with astonishing elasticity pressed tightly into his arms. “That doesn’t work either. Other times I don’t care, but when we’re alone…”

Her voice was like a feather scratching at the tip of his heart. “You’re mine.”

The zipper of her striking red tracksuit jacket had, at some point, been pulled halfway down, revealing the white athletic shirt beneath, outlining the girl’s full, alluring curves at her chest. Even through the clothing, one could clearly feel the wearer’s model-like, graceful figure and astonishing warmth.

Fuyuji dropped to his knees in a second. “I was wrong, Senpai.”

“Then… how are you going to make it up to Senpai?” A slightly hoarse voice came out, like the most beautiful siren’s song, easily plucking at the heartstrings.

“How does Senpai want to be compensated?”

“Why do you think Senpai came to find her junior at this time?” Kiryuin tilted her face up slightly, her wine-red eyes glistening with moisture.

Fuyuji, taking the hint, lowered his head. Lips met lips, carrying the faint chill of winter and each other’s scorching heat. The two bodies rubbed against each other, drawing in each other’s breath.

The wind swept past the stream not far away, stirring up fine snow powder that beat against the rock face. A mountain bird, startled, flapped its wings and rose from the withered yellow thicket, beating its wings hard. It happened to skim past the dark golden sun about to fully set at the edge of the sky, and then its figure quickly vanished into the deepening indigo mist among the mountains.

A long while later, their lips parted. Both were slightly breathless. Their burning breath interwove into a vast white mist in the cold air.

“The one who used to be so dominant, or the one leaning in your arms now. Which do you like more?”

“The one with the long legs in black stockings. When is Senpai going to wear them for me?”

“Perverted junior. No wonder you’ve been staring at Senpai’s legs ever since school started.”

“Senpai, you’re the same. You wear them for me every time, paired with those fluttery skirts…”

“Shut up. Again.”

“Oh.”

…

The moon quietly climbed above the branches. Its bright, clean moonlight spilled down like water, draping the entire forest in a layer of silver gauze. In the utter silence, occasional birdsong or the calls of other animals came from the distance, making the surroundings seem even quieter.

Fuyuji returned to the group dormitory. Before his hand could even touch the door handle, the fierce sound of a war of words reached his ears through the wooden door.

“Just you wait. I’ll kill you sooner or later, and climb to the peak of Advanced Nurturing stepping over your corpse.”

“Talk is cheap, huh. Heh… You won’t make it to sooner or later. Before that, you’ll have dropped out first.”

“Hashimoto, you bastard. I didn’t know you were so good at talking big. Class A’s peacock.”

“Ryuen, you freak. You’ve got quite the mouth on you too. Advanced Nurturing’s Great Shit-Eater King.”

With a creak, the door was pushed open. Ryuen’s back, hunched over the wooden desk, came into view first. He seemed to be writing something, and while his pen moved, he traded insults with Hashimoto without even turning his head.

Komiya Kyogo and Yamada Albert sat like two door gods, ramrod straight on the edges of the beds closest to Ryuen, eyes fixed forward, backs perfectly straight, swearing to the death that they were not of the same ilk and that their loyalty to Ryuen-aniki was absolute!

Nearby, Kouenji Rokusuke, shirtless in the dead of winter, was doing push-ups upside down in the corner, huffing and puffing. Sweat slid down his muscle lines onto the floor. He showed no sign of slowing down.

“Yo.” Fuyuji raised an eyebrow and shut the wooden door behind him. “Leader, you’re right on time. Said you’d be back at night, and here you are at night.”

“Hmph!”

Ryuen let out a cold snort, indicating that he did not want to talk about this with you bastards right now.

“Welcome back. Fuyuji-san, want to join us?”

Class A’s heartthrob Satonaka Satoru and the three Class B students were gathered around playing cards. Yamauchi was shamelessly hovering at the side, spittle flying as he directed the game, putting on a look of “I’m really good at this, hurry up and invite me in.”

Only these few had good tempers. If it were Ryuen, one punch would have put him down.

“No,” Fuyuji let out a sigh, walked over to his luggage bag, and crouched down. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“This early?” Hashimoto, on the lower bunk, flipped a page of his manga, shifted to a more comfortable position, and continued trading insults with Ryuen while crossing his legs.

“I have to get up early tomorrow.”

“True.”

“The upperclassmen came by earlier. Monday and Tuesday breakfast is our responsibility.”

The school only provided lunch and dinner. Breakfast was handled by the students themselves, part of the forest camp’s training in class unity.

“I see.”

After chatting for a bit, Fuyuji finally remembered the main thing.

“Speaking of which,” Fuyuji, clothes in hand, glanced sideways at Ryuen with a strange look, “why is he so quiet? I thought when I came back, the fight would still be going.”

The moment this was brought up, not just Hashimoto, but even the three Class B students playing cards couldn’t hold it in. They all lowered their heads, shoulders shaking.

Hashimoto sat up from the bed, his expression instantly wide awake. “Our group’s leader came back in quite the style, you know. A personal escort.”

“Shut your dog mouth, Hashimoto, you bastard!” Ryuen gripped his pen tighter, veins bulging on his forehead.

“Having a teacher read you a formal reprimand in front of everyone. This is the first time I’ve even heard of such a thing.” Hashimoto completely ignored the murderous glare, his smile growing brighter.

In Japan, there generally was no such thing as a formal self-criticism. But Ryuen’s incident this time was too special. Not big, not small.

Although on-site witnesses confirmed it was indeed an accident, smashing the current Student Council President into the hospital in front of everyone was simply too brazen.

And now it was during a special exam. Suspension was impossible, and the exam rules didn’t specify any punishment for accidentally injuring someone. After discussing among themselves, the teachers could only symbolically make him write a self-criticism, to serve as a warning to others.

As for the true victim of this accident, Nagumo Miyabi…

“I heard… the first thing he did after waking up was clarify that it wasn’t Ryuen who did it. He said he… didn’t eat breakfast in the morning and tripped when he opened the door, that he fell…”

As he spoke, Hashimoto clutched his stomach, unable to hold back his laughter. “What luck, huh, haha… Leader, you got off easy, didn’t you?”

‘Well now…’

Fuyuji zipped up his luggage bag and stood up again.

Thinking about it, it did make sense.

Compared to being knocked out by Advanced Nurturing’s famous Toilet God of War with a pillow, the negative impact of a low blood sugar fall was a bit lower. Last time blond senpai’s sports festival loss had set the lower classes stirring. They’d only recently calmed down. If something like this happened again now…

Fuyuji’s gaze toward Ryuen had already turned to admiration.

Ryuen, whether last time or this time, you actually managed to make blond senpai take a huge tumble. You really are Nagumo’s nemesis!

“Hahaha… Ryuen-aniki,” Hashimoto lay on the bed laughing and rolling around, “I think I’m starting to worship you a little. To push Nagumo to this point… hahaha!”

“Hey! That’s enough, Hashimoto, you bastard! You haven’t stopped since earlier!”

“Sorry, sorry, hahaha… Ryuen, let me catch my breath.”

“Then you can…” Ryuen’s arm rose high and swung down in an instant. “Catch your breath in the next life!”

The next second, a whistling sound came. The pillow, carrying Ryuen’s full fury and humiliation, shot like a cannonball straight at Hashimoto’s extremely punchable laughing face.

Yanking the pillow off his face, Hashimoto’s expression visibly darkened. “Ryuen, you bastard, you dared to sneak attack me!”

“So what if I did?” Ryuen’s mouth twisted into a ferocious sneer. He grabbed another pillow from his own bed with his backhand.

In the blink of an eye, the two were already on opposite sides of the room, each holding a pillow, eyes locked dead on each other. Killing intent instantly filled the room.

“Die, Ryuen!”

“Go to hell, Hashimoto!”

“A sweat session before the shower? You boys are so energetic!”

Kouenji dropped down from the wall and, with his confident, radiant smile, joined the fray.

“Wait, let us finish this round first!” Satonaka shouted in a panic, trying to protect their scattered playing cards.

“Hold on, I’m Yamauchi—bang!”

A pillow slowly slid down Yamauchi’s face. The next second, his whole body toppled over with a thud, sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

The dull thud of pillows hitting the walls once again filled the forest dormitory. The artillery continued to fly. Wall plaster fell with a rustle.

The wooden door was pulled open with a creak. Fuyuji’s figure slipped out, and a note was stuck to the front of the door.

[World War III in progress. Do not enter at will. Enter at your own risk.]

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Three consecutive slaps on the wooden door rang out. Fuyuji patted his palms in satisfaction, turned, and headed toward the bathhouse with his change of clothes.

This kind of entertainment, and it had to last a whole week!

Subarashii!