Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 4 [Ryouta Rival]

- Part 20

As I made my way back to the most northern tip, the first thing I saw was Ryouta blocking my path.

"Takanori-san..."

"...Ryouta-san."

There was a look of guilt on his face as he called my name.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with Shimada-san."

"Ah... the truth is, when I heard you say to him that you were coming back to end this, I rushed all the way down here to try and convince you to back out of this."

"I see."

While this was an annoying roadblock, it was one I could easily get past. If Ryouta tries to block me physically, I'll be able to force my way through since I'm not wearing my watch to track my location. That way, if he tries to get me eliminated through breaking the violence rule, there won't be any proof I was here to commit it, thus keeping me safe.

"...also, Takanori-san. About what I did earlier, I—"

"Don't worry about it."

I wasn't interested in Ryouta's self-pitying, so I cut him off before he could finish.

"Matsushita-san and the others caught me. I know you were just trying to help."

"I know... but still, I feel incredibly guilty for having to catch you off guard like that... I'm sure you must've felt extremely betrayed by me in that moment... especially since it ended up being pointless in the end."

"To be honest, I was more surprised that pushing me off that cliff was part of your plan."

Ryouta looked away, pressing a hand onto his face and sighing.

"It was supposed to help you get away from Shimada-san so I could deal with him... but then you ended up nullifying it's purpose by coming all the way back here."

"I came back precisely because you don't have any way to stop him."

I decided to be blunt here to try and get Ryouta to give up. He's already played his role for me in my plan, so there was no need for him to try and help me anymore.

"...you're wrong about that, Takanori-san."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You still have something else in mind?"

"Remember earlier, when Shimada-san said that it would be impossible to arrest him right now?"

"Yeah."

"He's wrong. The truth is, it's entirely possible to do so, even now."

The moment Ryouta said that, I perfectly understood.

"One of the people here that's part of the faculty is actually the superintendent of the police force on GEN Academy— Juumonji Eisaku-san."

That's right. Last evening, Juumonji interviewed me alongside Hiden-sensei about Shigeru's allegation against me. Since he's the head police officer, he had the authority to arrest Shimada, even at this outdoors school.

"Since Hiden-sensei has the recording proving Shimada-san's guilty of conspiracy to kill, I could easily ask him report it to Juumonji-san and give the audio as evidence. This would allow him to arrest Shimada-san on the same day, and by extension, get him expelled from the school. However..."

Ryouta did a long sigh.

"...I'm also aware that I'm not in a position to make such a large call. My decision on this matter depends entirely on what you want, since the only reason I became involved is because you requested for my help. I want to respect your wishes, so I know that going this far may be overstepping the boundaries of what I was supposed to do, but... I wanted to ensure your safety as much as possible, Takanori-san. It's your choice on whether or not you want me to do this."