Shiyon had just left the school. Yuuto and Miyuki had decided on tomorrow.
A date.
Yuuto laid against the gate. It was already night. Dusk had long since passed.
Shiyon was walking on his own; talking in his phone to someone. On his way outside the gate. Yuuto didn't care, he appeared right in front of him; facing him down.
Shiyon looked at Yuuto and sighed into the phone.
"Sen-chun. You understand why I had to do that, right?" Shiyon spoke as he walked towards Yuuto, who, as soon as he heard Sendo's name, stopped himself from interrupting.
Shiyon then stood next to Yuuto, also leaning against the gate. Both looking forward; with Yuuto occasionally scrutinizing him.
Shiyon looked somewhat tired.
That bravado and confidence he'd exude was all but diminished.
"... You just broke the rules. You can't break the rules. You know that. You just... Can't do that right now."
"...."
"... I see. Goodbye. I'm glad you under—" Shiyon then looked at the phone as Sendo hung up.
A few moments passed.
"..."
"...For Sendo to hang up on you," Yuuto started, voice flat. "Just what did you do to him?"
"...You assume it's my fault?" Shiyon muttered, almost to himself.
Yuuto's fingers slipped into his pocket, feeling for the white bag. Ready.
"It's not, then?" he shot back.
Shiyon leaned forward and gently bumped his forehead against the gate's concrete. His smile came brittle, eyes shut.
"Sakurai-chun," he said, eyes meeting Yuuto's, "Be my lieutenant. Or—hell, I don't know—co-rule the school with me." His voice cracked. "I'm... I'm just out of options."
"...'I'm just out of options,' huh?" Yuuto echoed, mock-serious. "Things really that bad if you're asking me for help?"
He stepped closer.
"Have you heard about porn no-jutsu?" he asked.
Shiyon's jaw tightened. He stared at Yuuto for a beat too long, biting his lip—then looked away.
"...Never mind," Shiyon muttered with a hollow chuckle. "Forget it."
He blinked, dumbfounded. Just now realizing what Yuuto had said.
"...Wait, what? That wasn't in the script, Sakurai-chun..."
"Porn no-jutsu. That's what I call shadow clone plus Sexy Transformation jutsu. I just thought of it. I mean, if Naruto was realistic, not a single person would leave the house. They'd just stay home banging their clones," Yuuto said.
"Ah... I... I'm not sure I follow..." Shiyon tilted his head, clearly confused.
Really, no one was following.
"I mean, think about it. If you could clone yourself, then use transformation jutsu on your clone to turn it into anyone you wanted—would you really want to leave the house? Would you do anything productive? You wouldn't, right?"
He leaned in, voice more intense now.
"I mean, you could experiment infinitely indefinitely. If you wanted, you could even transform yourself into a girl, and go girl on girl with your clone. Point is; possibilities are endless and, well, limitless."
"I... Ah... W..." Shiyon stuttered, his mind glitching.
"No one would do anything productive ever again," Yuuto continued, "There'd be no real incentive. No-fap is about breaking out of the fantasy you carve for yourself. But with that? There's literally no fantasy to break out of. You could make it real. All the time. We'd all be slaves to it. Society would literally collapse."
Yuuto said it with full confidence.
Shiyon looked at him, eyes narrowed.
"????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????"
Shiyon's mind was filled with static and old fax machine noises.
"R-...r...right..."
"IN OTHER WORDS," Yuuto snapped, tone shifting sharply—pulling Shiyon back from the mental noise.
"We're all slaves to pleasure. Every single human alive. If you want to control the human race, you control their pleasure."
Shiyon flinched.
"...And you know that, don't you?"
"...."
"I bet—now more intimately than ever."
He pulled the white bag of powder from his pocket and tossed it against Shiyon's chest. It bounced off and hit the ground.
"...."
Shiyon stared at it for a few seconds, his expression growing grim.
"I swiped it from one of your cronies," Yuuto said.
Shiyon gulped.
"Are you..." Yuuto began, "Drugging the students here, you bastard?"
Silence lingered for a while, an odd tug pulling at Yuuto's chest.
'Weird,' he thought. 'He's not Miyuki. Not Sakura. Not even Chiyoko.'
'...So why do I feel like I just let something slip through my fingers? Like I should've heard him out.'
His eyes, at that moment, looked down at the small plastic bag on the ground—the one he'd snatched from the guy who almost assaulted Riko.
'No. I shouldn't have. He's probably just worried about some bullshit, like getting found out as the mastermind behind all this… It's the Organ Harvester crap getting to me. He's just a power-hungry teen playing dictator. Either way…'
"Tell me," Yuuto said at last. Raising his gaze back to Shiyon.
'... He's up to something. For sure.'
Another beat.
"Or what?" Shiyon asked, voice quiet.
Yuuto held his gaze.
"Or we'll fight it out, Sakurai-chun?" Shiyon scoffed, rolling his eyes as he circled the area, glancing around.
Yuuto remained silent, watching him closely.
"I actually like your attitude, you know. You remind me of Sen-chun when he was young. Constantly..."
"Constantly..."
"Shoving his nose where it doesn't belong." Shiyon rubbed his face, still smiling as he looked away; chuckling into his palm forcibly.
"Say," he finally raised his head, meeting Yuuto's eyes with a knowing smile.
"Why didn't you immediately call the police when you saw this?" He gestured at the bag of white powder, flinching ever so slightly.
"If my Disciplinary Committee really did shady things with it… then if you had just called the cops—this whole thing would've been over. Just like that."
He paused.
"Why didn't you finish it already?"
'...Huh.'
'If I didn't know any better, I'd say he sounds frustrated that I didn't.'
'…Luckily, I do know better. And I have proof.' Yuuto thought.
"...."
"Answer me. No, seriously." Shiyon suddenly snapped, snapping Yuuto out of his thoughts.
"I'm not continuing my little evil monologue unless you tell me—right here, right now." He stepped closer, eyes narrowed.
"Sakurai-chun."
"Why didn't you call the police on us?" he growled.
"...."
Yuuto exhaled.
"Well, as much as I don't care about this school... I do want to graduate. And seeing as this place already has a record... one more scandal would mean closure. If they found drugs here, they'd shut it down. Any brat here knows it. I'd rather stop it myself and—"
"Pfft... Hahahahahahahaha!!" Shiyon laughed, cutting him off.
"You're really selling the anime villain act now, you bastard—"
"No, no, I'm sorry... it's just... Haaah." He exhaled, then locked eyes with him, lips curling into a wicked smirk.
"You. You're a terrible liar, Sakurai-chun."
"...."
"You don't give two shits about this school. Not someone like you. Not someone who beat up my Gon-shun on a whim I still haven't figured out. Who hides his strength one day, then shows it off the next."
"I didn't beat him—"
"AND THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE IN THE MORNING! Hahahaha!" Shiyon barked.
"You may've used Sato-kun's help to sweep it under the rug and fooled everyone—but not me. I honestly couldn't care less why you did it... but I know."
He took another step. Now only an inch away.
"All your actions have been nothing but self-serving, Sakurai-chun. You're nothing more than a baby who throws a fit when things don't go his way. You care about nothing but your own motives, and your own ass."
He placed a palm against the concrete wall just above Yuuto's shoulder.
"Just like me."
"No. You didn't call the police because you suddenly care about this school."
"You didn't call the police…"
Yuuto's eyes darkened.
"Because you love it too, don't you?"Shiyon whispered. "Being the one to do it yourself. YOU want to bring me down—not the cops. Not the teachers. You."
He tilted his head.
"That's your sin, isn't it?"
Yuuto then saw Kyoya Guuji's visage briefly standing behind Shiyon
"Same... as me."
"You're a slave to pleasure too, aren't you? Just like everyone else."
"...."
"…Anyway, you were right about one thing." Shiyon stepped back and picked up the plastic bag.
"If there's anything shady going on in this school—" he held it up, inspecting it with a smirk "—it's on me."
"Just me." he repeated, with a pointed look.
"..."Yuuto met his gaze. Unflinching.
"Thanks for delivering this bag of flour, Sakurai-chun. I needed it for my cooking."
His voice dripped with mockery.
"Calling it drugs… Honestly, you had me for a moment."
He turned.
"Toodles~" he waved without looking back, strolling off and leaving Yuuto alone by the gate.
"And..."
"So long as you don't do anything stupid, I have no reason to break my promise. You know—letting people know who you really are."
"..."
'Tsk.' Yuuto clicked his tongue.
'He knew I was recording.'
He pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the recorder beneath his shirt. Then clicked it off.
'Either way, this confirms it. He's behind it. But... that's a problem.'
'If I move now—if I bash that crony of his who's drugging Kiriko—I'll expose myself. I wanted confirmation... but I just told the Organ Harvester I know.'
'Meaning—I can't stop the bastard without revealing myself.'
He pulled out his phone. Dialed.
[Yah?] A voice came through.
Yuuto deepened his voice.
"Yahiko, right?"
[Who's this?]
"Forget that. You're Kiriko's boyfriend, right? You..."
"...might want to check the second floor bathroom. Right now."
[WHAT?! WAIT, WHO—]
Click.
'I'll just let him find out.'
'Sometimes, there's no need for an elaborate plan. Sometimes—'
"Huh? Sakurai?" A voice called from behind the gate.
Yuuto leaned, eyes narrowing.
It was Hiyori. And walking beside her...
...Yuuno Michaels.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
Yuuto and Yuuno's eyes met for the first time.
'Well, well, well...' Yuuto thought. 'If it isn't blondie #3 himself.'
'The 2nd guy who talked like he was Shiyon-nee's equal...' Thought Yuuno.
Then—at the exact same time:
'I wonder if I also have to teach him a lesson,' thought Yuuto.
'I have to teach him a lesson, too,' thought Yuuno.
Their eyes locked. And neither of them looked away.