Arisu Sakayanagi's POV
Karuizawa Kei, hmm…?
Fufufu…
My other, male self would have an incredibly difficult time capturing a girl like her.
She is far too vigilant, too guarded, and he simply lacks the necessary charisma and forceful presence to break through the protective walls someone as fragile and defensive as her would erect around herself.
Unfortunately for her, we have never played fair. We both developed a liking for her at the same time. I remember exactly how Karuizawa Kei saw us back then or, to be more precise, how she saw the female version of me, Arisu Sakayanagi.
She idolized that version. She practically worshipped her.
And that adoration is what makes it so easy for me to approach her in this identity.
I can strip away every one of her defenses effortlessly. Once I have infiltrated her heart to the point she cannot refuse a single one of my requests, that is when I will begin to corrupt her.
I will meticulously rewire her desires until the very thought of my male self becomes an addiction she can never shake, a permanent, unforgettable imprint on her soul.
My male self is a deeply empathic and emotional person. He would never even conceive of such a manipulative plan. But I am different.
This female body may have gifted me a sharp, calculating intelligence, but it has also stripped away nearly all of my empathy and innate kindness toward others.
It leaves me calmer, yes, but that calmness borders on the ruthless.
Of course, I am not going to approach her just yet.
My precious time with my other self is infinitely more valuable than any second I could possibly spend on her at this moment.
The point distribution proceeded as usual. We are given 100,000 private points per month. No one else knows that my father privately transfers an additional 500,000 points to my account. Nor do they seem to know the fact that the school's distribution is conditional, demanding a certain level of student competence and discipline to be fully earned.
However, the contrast between the classes was stark. While Class D resembled a chaotic marketplace, Class A was the picture of discipline. They didn't act like wide-eyed fools who had never seen the world.
Instead, they listened to the teacher with rapt attention, diligently taking notes until the very moment the bell rang.
This atmosphere presented the perfect opportunity to seize control of this class.
So, I raised my hand, directing my question at our Class A homeroom teacher, Tomonari Mashima. "Teacher Mashima, will our point distribution be fixed at 100,000 points every single month?"
Mashima-sensei raised his eyebrows, a flicker of intrigue in his eyes, though his answer remained as flat and unreadable as ever. "I cannot answer that question, Sakayanagi-san."
"Then we will operate under the assumption that the monthly point distribution is conditional upon our performance," I stated, a faint, knowing curl on my lips.
The bald boy, Kohei, raised his hand immediately after. "Since everything in this school seems to have a price, how many points would this specific piece of information cost us, sensei?"
"How pointless. What a waste of valuable points," I interjected, my voice cutting through the room before the teacher could even form a response. "The answer is already concluded. You should all save your points for something that will actually benefit the class as a whole. Everyone, listen carefully. If any of you decide to follow Kohei's lead and frivolously spend your points to buy information we can deduce for ourselves, I will not stop you. But remember this: the points for next month are not guaranteed. This is an elite school. It is patently obvious they demand we prove our competence and discipline to demonstrate our value, is it not? Perhaps, just perhaps, they will allow us to continue enjoying this level of financial comfort next month... but only if we show them we truly deserve it."
With that final, manipulative grin, I stood up and made my grand exit from the classroom, not once looking back.
The last image I caught was the unmistakable look of pride on our homeroom teacher's face, while Koenji was plunged into deep, frustrated thought, and the rest of the class descended into a heavy, awkward silence, their minds already bending to the will of my unspoken command.
...
After purchasing the set of luxurious lunch boxes for my other male self, I found myself humming a random, tuneless melody under my breath as I walked down the street.
My next stop was the convenience store, a necessary detour to pick up my daily essentials; soap, shampoo, and a few other miscellaneous items to keep my life running smoothly.
But just as I was about to push the glass door open, a flicker of movement in the periphery of my vision made me stop dead in my tracks.
My eyes, sharp and always seeking amusement, narrowed in on the source.
"Fufufu... What exactly do you intend to do with that, my dear girl?" I whispered, my voice a low, carrying purr that cut through the sterile hum of the store's lighting.
The girl with the distinctive purple hair, who had been in the process of trying to discreetly stuff a cold canned drink into the inner pocket of her red blazer, froze completely.
Her entire body went stiff with the tension of a caught predator.
Slowly, she turned her head, and her eyes, wide with a mixture of shock and defiance, locked onto mine. "Arisu Sakayanagi? Why… why the hell are you here?"
"A great number of students from our school frequent this place. How remarkably bold of you to attempt a little theft in such a crowded, public space," I stated, my gaze locked onto her with playful, unblinking intensity.
"You should consider yourself fortunate that the one who caught you is me, Kamuro-san. Or perhaps… is this what you were secretly hoping for? Do you enjoy the stories in those hentai manga, where a naughty girl gets caught and is then blackmailed and violently raped by a bunch of rough men in a back alley, all because of her own heat-driven actions?" I challenged her directly, my words designed to provoke and humiliate.
Masumi Kamuro's face flushed a deep, furious crimson at my blunt and vulgar accusation.
She pointed a trembling finger directly at me, her composure shattered. "What the fuck would you know about anything, you noisy loli?"
"The only thing I need to know is that you were stealing," I chuckled, the sound low and utterly unbothered.
I stepped forward and patted her shoulder in a gesture that was somehow both condescending and falsely reassuring. "Next time, if you're going to do it, at least have the sense to be discreet about it. Look around you, you've drawn attention. Everyone is staring right at this little scene."
Without waiting for her sputtered reply or the inevitable wave of curses, I simply turned my back on her.
I dismissed her from my immediate world, choosing instead to mind my own business. I began to browse the aisles with a calm focus, collecting all the things I needed for the upcoming meeting with my precious Narcissus-kun.
The thought of sharing a sweet, intimate lunch with him was far more appealing than any petty drama.
As for the potential of blackmailing Kamuro, or the simple pleasure of breaking her spirit and subduing her completely?
Those fleeting ideas were trivial, meaningless distractions.
They were not even remotely as important as the prospect of seeing Narcissus-kun's face.
So, I decided to let her be.
For now.