Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Solace

Vol. 7: Chapter 10.2 - What Are You Talking About?

It didn't take long until my presence was noticed. Yamada Albert turned to me, waiting for my approach. I sedately walked towards him and stopped. I didn't know much about Albert other than the fact that he was one of Ryuuen's underlings.

He motionlessly stood there, fixing his gaze past me.

"Don't worry, I didn't bring anyone. No one else will come here, so you go inside too."

I spoke to him in English because I thought it'd be faster. He looked at me with a reluctant body language.

"Ryuuen and the others won't be able to stop me. They will definitely need you there."

"..." He seemed to have understood that I wasn't joking around. 

I see. So Yamada Albert is the type to think about things rationally. He opened the shutter without saying a word.

The dark interior of the warehouse was dimly lit by the light outside. However, even that started to fade as the gray clouds in the sky threatened rain. I saw Kikyou near the center. She was devoid of vigor and her body struggled to stay sitting. With the noise that the shutter made, everyone inside knew that I had arrived. 

Apart from the only Class D girl which was Ibuki, there were twelve guys including Ryuuen. As expected, they had more than enough weapons for each person.

"Look who's here. It's Kikyou's knight and shining armor. Though I guess that's really not appropriate given how beat up your princess is," he taunted.

"Kiyotaka...-kun..."

"Sorry, I'm late."

"R-Run away... They're going to hurt you!"

Albert closed the shutter, extinguishing our chances of escape.

"It'll be fine. I'll get you out of here," I said.

Hearing that, some of the guys grimaced. They probably wanted to say something, but none of them tried to talk. This wasn't surprising since they were in Ryuuen's presence.

"You say some funny things, Ayanokouji. Surely, you already know what's going to happen now that you're here."

"It doesn't matter to me. I came here because I had something to do, and that's to get Kikyou. She sent me a text message using your phone, didn't she?"

"Heh, are you trying to give your girl some reassurance? I didn't think you were the type to do that."

I saw a pen and paper littered on the ground. I see... She didn't betray the class until the end. 

"You can think whatever you like, and you can do whatever you want. It seems like your classmates are itching to do something by now as well."

Ryuuen's smile didn't fade, but he started feeling a little bit suspicious.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you brought a teacher or two with you." He glanced at Albert who calmly shook his head in denial. "But I guess you didn't. You came alone, for that matter. What are you planning?"

"What do you think? I came here just like you wanted. Aren't you the one planning something?"

Our conversation started going around in circles which upset Ibuki.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?! If you're gonna throw hands, then stop using your mouths!"

However, it seems like Ryuuen was waiting for her to talk.

"Isn't this a perfect opportunity? You wanted to test Ayanokouji's fighting skills, right, Ibuki? You can't really do that if he's bruised and battered, so why don't you do the honors?" He smirked as if he was about to watch something amusing.