A Tyrant's Will

Volume 2: Chapter 3.1 - The Expulsion Plot

I woke up earlier than usual, my body tense. Today was extremely important, and I could not afford to mess things up.

To be honest, I shouldn't be nervous. What I had to do was incredibly easy, after all. However, the fact that I only had one chance changed everything. There's always a creeping sense of doubt, even when handling the simplest of tasks.

While dressing, I recalled a certain conversation I had last night on the phone.

"Hey. What are you doing right now?"

"Uh...nothing much, really. Just cleaning my room. I definitely wasn't expecting a call from you this late, Ibuki."

It was around 10 pm, when most students turned in for the night. I was about to head to bed myself when my phone buzzed, disturbing the peace and quiet inside my room.

"Yeah, well, something came up. I've got some big news. Ryuuen's revealing his plan to win the contest tomorrow during homeroom."

"What?" I sat up from my bed in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yup. He wants the whole class to be together before mentioning anything. Even I don't know the exact details as of yet."

I paced back and forth in my room, feeling a surge of excitement. Since Ryuuen didn't know Ibuki and I had turned traitor, he was essentially spilling his entire plan to the enemy without even realizing it!

"This is huge. If we tell Sakayanagi about Ryuuen's plan, then she'll be able to counter him. Class A will win easily!" I exclaimed.

"Right. That's why I called. I also have an idea on how we should go about this."

"Oh yeah? What're you thinking?"

"As soon as homeroom starts, Ryuuen will reveal his master plan or whatever. When that happens, we'll record everything on our phones and send the file to Sakayanagi afterwards. Quick and easy, and it also saves us a lot of effort."

Of course. An audio recording was certainly a much more efficient method than typing everything out to her manually.

"Good idea. Can you record on your phone as well, Ibuki? I just want to be safe in case something unexpected happens."

"I would, but I'm sitting near the front of the room. I don't want Ryuuen to see me and get suspicious. Since you're sitting in the back, it'll be a lot easier for you to pull it off undetected," Ibuki responded.

"Oh, I see. Don't worry, I'll handle it. It shouldn't be too hard."

It was only tapping a single button, after all. At most, it would take a couple of seconds, which should be quick enough where no one would notice.

"Alright, it's settled then. This is it, Tokitou. We do this right, and we'll have gotten our revenge. Don't fuck it up."

"I won't," I promised. I don't think I would forgive myself if I did.

Ibuki hung up quickly after that. And thus, after a restless night filled with tosses and turns, we reach the current situation.

Despite my nervousness, I couldn't help but feel a little curious. How exactly did Ryuuen plan to expel someone from Class A? Was he going to frame someone, or did he have something completely different in mind?

I took my seat in the classroom and waited anxiously. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, but after what felt like an eternity, homeroom finally arrived.

Ryuuen quickly ascended to the podium, causing all chatter and movement to cease instantly.

"Listen up. You've all done well tailing Class A so far, but it's time we move to the next stage. It's in everyone's best interests for the contest to end as soon as possible, and I'm going to do just that."