Ibuki Mio stared at Katsuragi Ren, lost in thought as if recalling something.
"Ibuki-san, do you know Katsuragi-kun?" Shiina Hiyori asked, noticing Ibuki's odd behavior.
She was intrigued by this classmate who had dared to rebel against Ryuen Kakeru—especially since Ibuki was now staring blankly at Katsuragi Ren.
Surprised, Ibuki glanced at Shiina. She hadn't expected Shiina to start a conversation with her.
"Seen him, but don't know him," Ibuki replied, honest as always.
"Seen him but don't know him?"
Hearing this answer, Shiina became even more interested in Ibuki. "If you don't mind, could you tell me about it?"
There was nothing she couldn't say. Ibuki spoke openly about her past. "Shiina-san, my family runs a martial arts dojo..."
As the only daughter of the Ibuki Dojo, Ibuki loved martial arts from a young age and admired her father, a renowned master.
One day, while she was training as usual, a young boy pushed open the dojo doors.
The boy's first words were:
"Ibuki-sensei, please enlighten me."
The meaning was clear: he had come to challenge the dojo.
Seeing the challenger was about his daughter's age, Ibuki's father hesitated and said, "You're too young, child. Come back when you've grown up."
"How about this, then?" The boy, unfazed by the master's refusal, leapt up, snatched the dojo's signboard, and tossed it at Ibuki's father's feet.
No dojo could tolerate such provocation, even from a half-grown child.
Ibuki's father accepted the challenge.
As heir to the family dojo, Ibuki watched the entire match.
That boy was terrifyingly strong—effortlessly using techniques from different schools, dazzling everyone watching.
Later, her father admitted it wasn't even a real fight; he'd been toyed with from start to finish.
And what the boy wanted to do was...
Steal techniques.
He succeeded. The move that defeated her father was one taught only to students of their own dojo.
That boy was none other than the current Katsuragi Ren. Now, the scars on his body were even denser than back then.
Listening to Ibuki's story, Hiyori began to imagine the battle in the dojo at that time.
...
"Honami-chan, who in Class B do you think needs attention?"
Unaware that two girls in Class C were discussing his childhood, Katsuragi Ren began whispering in Ichinose's ear.
Not wanting to be outdone, Airi Sakura also leaned in, quietly acting as a listener.
Looking towards Class B, Ichinose began to observe based on the "physique theory" Katsuragi Ren had just taught her.
"Katsuragi-san, Hashimoto-san, and Kitou-san?" Suppressing her shyness, Ichinose found the three male students with the best physiques in Class B.
"What about Class C?"
"Albert-san and Ryuen-san." This time, Ichinose answered without hesitation.
As the leader of Class C, Ryuen Kakeru was the first focal point, and Albert was hard to miss due to his size and skin color.
The sharp-sensed Ryuen noticed someone was watching him and began to look for the source of that gaze.
He soon found the owner of the gaze: Katsuragi Ren from Class A.
Seeing Ryuen looking at him, Katsuragi Ren grinned at Ryuen.
As for Ichinose, the moment Ryuen looked over, she was pulled into Katsuragi Ren's arms, so she didn't attract Ryuen's attention.
Releasing Honami-chan, whose flush had spread to the roots of her ears, he turned the girl's head towards Class D.
"Koenji-san, Sudo-san, and Ayanokoji-san?" Ichinose piped up before Katsuragi Ren could answer, quickly spotting her targets.
When mentioning Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Ichinose's tone carried some uncertainty. She hadn't expected someone in Class D to hide so well.
Having revealed the hidden joker of Class D, Katsuragi Ren continued to test Ichinose. "Honami-chan, who among them do you think needs the most attention?"
"Koenji-san?"
"He's a slacker, just ignore him," Katsuragi Ren said with a smirk, making Ichinose dismiss him immediately.
Koenji Rokusuke had no intention of competing at all. Coming to this school, Katsuragi Ren only felt that the guy's narcissism had worsened.
"Ugh..." Ichinose was conflicted. Apart from Koenji, who often hung out with Katsuragi Ren, she couldn't distinguish the quality of these students' physiques.
Katsuragi Ren didn't keep her in suspense and said bluntly, "Kiyotaka Ayanokoji from Class D."
"His muscle lines and contours are obviously the result of professional planning and training."
"This requires immense financial support, yet such a person remains unknown in Class D. That is the most terrifying thing."
Ichinose, who'd heard more than once that Class D was for 'defective products,' nodded to show she understood.
Beside them, Airi Sakura heard Katsuragi Ren's final disparagement of Class D and lowered her head with some inferiority.
Sensing Airi's low mood, Katsuragi Ren rubbed her head and said straightforwardly, "Don't worry, Airi, you're just a simple idiot."
Airi, who was nuzzling Katsuragi Ren's palm, puffed out her cheeks slightly upon hearing the boy's words and protested, "Ren! Mean!"
A burst of cheers rang out as the swimming competition organized by the PE teacher on the other side came to an end.
Katsuragi Ren didn't pay attention to other groups. In his own class, the winner of the boys' group was So Shibata, and in the girls' group, Chihiro Shiranami pulled off an upset victory.
Relying on his stamina from frequenting the track and field club, So Shibata defeated the male classmates participating in the competition.
Chihiro Shiranami was a special case. The female classmates, acting as parental figures, tacitly went easy on her, letting this cute little girl win the 5,000 points.
With the end of the competition, the PE teacher told everyone to pay attention to safety while swimming and then let everyone start free activities.
With the PE teacher's order, the other three first-year classes became active.
Students with good friends in other classes began to visit and chat; the dirty-minded ones gathered to discuss inappropriate topics; and those who still wanted to swim jumped back into the pool.
Everyone in Class A moved freely in their own area.
Many people delusionally came to Katsuragi Ren wanting to test the feel of his body, but without exception, they were all kicked away by him.
Leaning on her cane, Sakayanagi Arisu approached the Class A area and called out, "Katsuragi-kun, could you come here for a moment?"
"What's up?" Katsuragi Ren responded lazily to Arisu Sakayanagi, unaware of her purpose.
"Nothing much. The competition organized by the PE teacher is over. How about our four classes organize one ourselves, taking advantage of this rare opportunity?" Arisu Sakayanagi stated her purpose for coming here.
Class A's students had just been playing around in the competition earlier; they weren't serious at all, so nothing could be seen.
Arisu Sakayanagi wanted to use this time to gather more intelligence on Class A.
"Wrong person, Sakayanagi-san. Our Class A leader is Honami-chan—talk to her." Katsuragi Ren nudged Ichinose forward, signaling the class leader to negotiate with Sakayanagi.
Ichinose, already worried Sakayanagi Arisu might be another new rival, quickly responded, "Sakayanagi-san, just discuss any activities with me."
"Yo, what's going on? It's so lively, let me join in too."
Seeing the situation in Class A, Ryuen Kakeru from Class C led Albert and Ishizaki over, wanting to see what the two classes were up to.
Class C had indeed been a bit too active recently. Ryuen didn't want Classes A and B to unite and catch him off guard.
Class B, already paying attention to Class A's situation, couldn't sit still either when they saw Ryuen taking two followers to Class A.
The lackey Masayoshi Hashimoto and the slave Masumi Kamuro went over first. Kohei Katsuragi, also a leader of Class B, followed with Yahiko Totsuka.
The scene suddenly became tense.
Seeing four more students beside Arisu Sakayanagi and Ryuen bringing two of his own, Katsuragi Ren quietly moved behind Ichinose.
"Nothing much, just considering if our four classes should take this opportunity to organize a swimming competition privately. Each class contributes a portion of points as a reward for the winner."
Arisu Sakayanagi believed Ryuen would also be curious about Class A's strength and wasn't afraid of his objection.
"I have no problem with that." Just as Arisu Sakayanagi thought, Ryuen agreed immediately.
With Classes B and C agreeing, everyone turned their eyes to Ichinose, the Class A leader, trying to pressure her.
As Ryuen's loyal younger brother, just as Ishizaki was about to speak to trample on Ichinose...
He saw Katsuragi Ren behind the girl narrowing his eyes slightly. His body began to emit a terrifying pressure, like a beast about to devour a human.
The step Ishizaki hadn't yet taken was retracted in fear.
This pressure wasn't just directed at Ishizaki alone. Except for Ichinose, who felt nothing, everyone else around began to endure immense pressure.
Damn it.
Ryuen cursed inwardly.
Seeing Katsuragi Ren's body from a distance hadn't had much impact.
Now standing in front of him, he finally felt this oppressive force like an evil dragon.
"Ugh... may I ask how many points constitute 'a portion'?" Ichinose, unaware of the person behind her, cared about the issue of points.
"Since it's a class competition, 400,000 points. 10,000 points per student, how about it?" Her tone losing its initial calmness, Arisu Sakayanagi suppressed her fear and stated the amount she had already decided on.
10,000 points was just a drizzle for Classes A and B; losing it wouldn't cause much loss to the class.
Ryuen's Class C, with his tyrannical behavior, could also easily gather 400,000 points.
This was a fair price. Three classes, 400,000 points each, totaling 1.2 million points.
A seven-figure reward was undoubtedly a huge sum for these new students.
As for why it was three classes and not four...
Sorry, Arisu Sakayanagi didn't consider Class D as people at all.
Seeing that Ryuen also agreed to Arisu Sakayanagi's proposal, just as Ichinose was about to speak to discuss it with her classmates first...
She heard Katsuragi Ren, who had been standing behind her for some time, speak first.
"Raise the stakes."
"2 million points."