Chapter 34

After school, in the student dormitory.

A rich Darjeeling aroma drifted through my spacious one-room apartment.

Seated around the low table on cushions were Ichinose, Kanzaki, and Hiyori.

As we elegantly sipped the tea Hiyori had prepared with practiced ease, we waited for the “guests” who would soon arrive.

---

(…Sigh. Honestly, I really didn’t want to participate in this meeting at all.)

Outwardly, I maintained an arrogant and flawless smile, but internally I was letting out a deep sigh.

(Because of all the stuff I’ve done, Horikita-san seriously hates my guts. I even asked them to handle the negotiations without me…)

But Ichinose had practically begged me with tearful eyes, saying, “I absolutely want you there, Aizen-kun!”

And Kanzaki had added:

> “—On the battlefield of negotiation, your mere presence is enough to prevent Class D from carelessly playing their hand… Please.”

For some reason, he’d even started imitating my dramatic way of speaking.

As a result, my room had ended up becoming the meeting place.

---

“Hiyori-chan’s tea is always so delicious.”

“Fufu, thank you very much, Honami-chan. Today I tried blending the tea leaves a little.”

The two girls chatted peacefully while Kanzaki quietly sipped from his cup.

It looked like an elegant aristocratic tea party, but the topic we were about to discuss was the muddy strategy of the upcoming sports festival.

Then—

Ding dong.

The sterile sound of the doorbell echoed through the quiet room.

---

“—The enemy has arrived. …First, let us prepare tea.”

(Translation: Ah, looks like the Class D people are here. Hiyori, can you prepare tea for them too?)

I gently placed my teacup onto the saucer and muttered in the calm, composed manner of a final boss.

---

“They’re not enemies, Aizen-kun! We’re meeting to cooperate today, remember?”

Ichinose immediately retorted in an exasperated yet familiar tone.

“Fufu, our guests are here. Then I’ll prepare tea for everyone from Class D as well.”

Smiling cheerfully at my dramatic phrasing, Hiyori gracefully began preparing additional tea leaves and cups.

I stopped Ichinose, who had begun standing to answer the door, and headed there myself as the host.

When I opened the door—

Three representatives from Class D stood there.

---

“Hey, Aizen-kun. Thanks for inviting us today.”

The one greeting me with a refreshing smile was Hirata Yousuke, one of Class D’s leaders.

Behind him stood my childhood friend, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, wearing his usual unreadable expression.

And then—

“…………!!”

Standing beside Hirata was the black-haired beauty, Horikita Suzune.

The instant she saw my face, her teeth audibly ground together as she glared at me with murderous eyes.

---

(Hyeeeeeh!? Horikita-san is SUPER pissed!! Scary! What’s with that look!? She’s practically awakened the killing intent aura! Help me, Manabu-onii-chan!!)

I screamed internally.

And honestly, her hatred toward me was completely understandable.

There were reasons for it—deep as the ocean, and all seemingly my fault.

First, during the disciplinary hearing over the violence incident in the first semester, I had used my authority as student council vice president to impose severe penalties on Class D.

But more importantly…

During the second day of the deserted island exam, when we encountered each other in the forest, the curse had caused me to mercilessly provoke her as a “loser crawling through the mud.”

On top of that, I’d ripped open her brother complex with the legendary poem:

> “Admiration is the emotion furthest removed from understanding.”

The despair and rage on her face back then still haunted my dreams.

And to top it all off, during the VIP exam, I had allied with Ryuen from Class C and outmaneuvered Class D.

To someone as prideful and victory-obsessed as Horikita, I was nothing less than:

“A gigantic wall that utterly humiliated her,”

and

“the most unforgivable enemy in existence.”

---

“H-Horikita-san, let’s at least go inside first, okay? We can’t start anything just standing here glaring at each other.”

“He’s right. Let’s hear what Ichinose and the others have to say first.”

Hirata tried calming her down with a strained smile while Kiyotaka quietly spoke from behind.

But Horikita’s anger showed no signs of subsiding.

Refusing to even step across the threshold, she coldly declared:

“Hirata-kun. Ayanokouji-kun. I opposed speaking with this man from the beginning.”

“…Have you already forgotten what he did in the previous exam by conspiring with Ryuen-kun from Class C? Forming a trusting cooperative relationship with someone this despicable is impossible.”

Harsh.

Painfully reasonable.

It wasn’t like I’d wanted to team up with Ryuen. It had simply been a desperate measure to secure victory for my class.

(Please, Horikita-san, just come in and drink some tea so we can calm down! I want a peaceful discussion too!)

Determined to soothe her anger, I opened my mouth to offer a gentlemanly and friendly welcome.

---

“—What purpose is there in a crawling insect resenting the footsteps of the giant elephant that crushed it?”

(AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! WRONG!! Why does it always turn into MAXIMUM-LEVEL TAUNTING!?)

My icy baritone voice froze the air in the entranceway.

My condescending gaze.

My overwhelmingly arrogant posture.

My very existence behaved like a perfected work of art crafted solely to irritate her.

---

“W-What are you even saying!? Calling people insects—how much more can you possibly look down on others!?”

Horikita’s face flushed bright red with fury.

At that moment, the great angel came trotting over from the back of the room with a soft smile.

“Ah, Horikita-san. Welcome.”

Smiling like an angel, Hiyori began “translating” in her crystal-clear voice.

---

> “What Sousuke-kun means is:

‘Just as one doesn’t concern oneself with stepping on insects by the roadside, defeating your class in the previous exam was insignificant to me.

Clinging to resentment over something so trivial is unsightly.’”

---

(Hiyori-saaaaaan!! STOOOOOP!! Why are you translating it so accurately AND adding lethal poison!? Please wrap it in softer words! Just lie and say “welcome”!!)

“…………!! AIZEN SOUSUKEEEEE!!”

The sound of Horikita’s patience finally snapping echoed through the hallway.

She stepped forward, about to grab me by the collar, but Hirata and Kiyotaka quickly restrained her from both sides.

“Stop, stop, Horikita-san! Calm down! We didn’t come here to fight, right!?”

“Let go of me, Hirata-kun! This man—I absolutely won’t forgive him today…!”

A black-haired beauty rampaging in the entrance while a handsome guy and an emotionless boy desperately held her back.

Internally, I was trembling in terror.

Outwardly, however, I remained perfectly composed, wearing an unfazed smile as though mocking Horikita’s fury.

---

“Come on, let’s not stand around out here. Hiyori-chan made delicious tea for everyone.”

Hearing the commotion, Ichinose peeked out from deeper in the room and tried to ease the atmosphere.

Thanks to Ichinose’s endlessly cheerful voice and Hirata’s desperate persuasion, Horikita finally lowered her spear and reluctantly stepped inside.

---

A few minutes later—

The members of Class A and Class D sat facing each other across the low table.

Horikita hadn’t touched her tea at all and still glared at me like I was her mortal enemy.

Meanwhile, despite feeling like her stare might bore a hole through my stomach, I elegantly crossed my legs and sipped my tea with the composure of an absolute ruler.

---

“...Haha. So, we’re here to discuss the sports festival, right? Ichinose-san?”

Hirata forced the conversation back on track with a strained smile.

“Yep! Sorry for making you come all the way here. The reason we invited everyone from Class D today is because we had a concrete proposal regarding cooperation during the sports festival.”

Ichinose opened the notebook in front of her with a serious expression.

“It’s a strategy we decided on in Class A recently… For the group events—Pole Toppling, Cavalry Battle, and the Ball Toss—we were wondering if we could share strategies and cooperate with Class D beforehand.”

“Cooperation, huh? What kind exactly?”

“For example, in Pole Toppling, we could coordinate the placement of our defense and offense teams to neutralize attacks from powerful classes like B and C. And in Cavalry Battle, we’d like our classes to cooperate and focus targets together.”

It was an extremely reasonable and rational proposal.

---

“I see… Certainly, avoiding unnecessary conflict in the group events would increase both our chances of scoring points.”

Hirata nodded thoughtfully.

“However,” Ichinose continued,

“I don’t think we need to share our participation lists for individual events like races or obstacle courses. Every class has its own circumstances, and going that far might make things feel too restrictive.”

“Yeah, I agree with that. Partial cooperation in group events isn’t a bad deal for Class D either.”

At Hirata’s agreement, Ichinose smiled brightly like a flower blooming.

Meanwhile, Horikita remained silent, her sharp gaze never leaving me.

I quietly set my teacup down and glanced at Kanzaki beside me.

---

“…As expected of you, Aizen.”

For some reason, Kanzaki looked at me with admiration as he muttered quietly.

“Even while facing such blatant hostility and provocation from another class representative, you remain completely unfazed, merely overlooking the board with cold detachment…”

“…Your immeasurable composure is truly astonishing.”

(Eh? Kanzaki, you DO realize my heart rate is through the roof right now!? What’s with that respectful look!?)

Meanwhile, on my other side, Hiyori smiled peacefully and asked:

“Would anyone like another cup of tea?”

Completely unconcerned by the hellish atmosphere in the room.

---

And then there was one more person.

The man with the most troublesome thought process in the room:

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

Hidden beneath his expressionless mask, his mind accelerated silently.

---

(…Aizen Sousuke. As always, he’s impossible to read.)

Kiyotaka observed the childhood friend elegantly smiling before him.

(What happened at the entrance earlier wasn’t simple provocation. It was a sophisticated psychological attack that accurately stabbed into Horikita’s trauma from her previous defeat and robbed her of her composure.)

(And indeed, Horikita’s anger has narrowed her thinking and significantly reduced her ability to critically analyze Ichinose’s proposal.)

His gaze swept across the room layout and the neatly arranged teacups.

(This tea gathering itself is the same. By inviting us into his own territory and deliberately creating a relaxed atmosphere, he’s actually amplifying Horikita’s stress and vigilance.)

(By placing Ichinose at the forefront of the negotiations while he himself acts as an absolute being observing from above, he has completely dragged the initiative of this discussion into Class A’s hands.)

(What a terrifying man. Now that he possesses the authority of the student council vice president, escaping his game board may already be impossible.)

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had once again trapped himself within his own overanalysis, raising his wariness toward Aizen Sousuke by several more levels.

---

(…Kiyotaka’s staring at me really seriously. What? Does he want another cup of tea or something?)

Feeling my childhood friend’s intense gaze—while completely misunderstanding it—I elegantly took another sip of tea without dropping my arrogant smile.

---

“So, will Class D agree to these terms?”

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll bring it back and explain it to everyone in class too.”

In the end, thanks to the two sane and reasonable people—Ichinose and Hirata—the details were adjusted and confirmed several times, and a partial alliance between Class A and Class D for the sports festival was successfully established.

---

“Thanks for today, Aizen-kun, Shiina-san, Kanzaki-kun, Ichinose-san… Let’s go, Horikita-san.”

“…Yes.”

As they prepared to leave, Horikita shot me one final piercing glare.

(Hyeeh… she’s STILL glaring at me! At least this time I should try acting friendly and repair our relationship a little! I’ll gently say, ‘Sorry about today, don’t worry too much about it,’ okay!?)

Wearing the smile of a perfect gentleman, I gave my farewell.

---

“—There is no need for you to lower your head. An ant cannot be blamed for failing to touch the scales of a dragon…”

“…Return home while savoring the bitterness of your own insignificance.”

(UWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! IT HAPPENED AGAIN!! Why do my taunting skills max out whenever I talk to Horikita-san!? That’s not an apology at all—it’s just adding insult to injury!!)

“……!!”

---

> “‘There’s no need to feel depressed today. It is simply the natural law that the weak cannot reach the strong—

so please return home while fully savoring your own powerlessness.’”

---

(HIYORI-SAAAAAN!! STOP!!! PLEASE STOP RIGHT THEREEE!!)

“—is what Souusuke-kun said.”

Hiyori cheerfully waved goodbye while delivering the perfectly translated lethal poison with a smile.

Horikita trembled with rage from head to toe, biting her lip so hard it nearly bled.

---

“…Say whatever you like. No, enough already.”

“Aizen Sousuke… I swear I’ll drag you down from that arrogant throne of yours someday…!!”

Throwing out those hatred-filled parting words, Horikita turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

Kiyotaka also exchanged one final glance with me—as if confirming something—before quietly leaving.

---

The storm-like guests departed, and silence returned to the room.

“Fuuuh… That was tense…”

Ichinose stretched deeply and sank into the sofa.

“You did well, Ichinose. It was a perfect negotiation.”

Kanzaki praised her while Hiyori smiled warmly.

“Good work, Honami-chan.”

Then Ichinose turned toward me with narrowed eyes.

---

“Aizen-kun… You really shouldn’t provoke Horikita-san that much. We finally managed to reach an agreement…”

“—Relationships bound together by the chains of compromise will eventually rust and shatter…”

“…Only overwhelming fear can truly make others submit.”

(Translation: Sorry! I didn’t mean to say any of that either!!)

---

> “‘I apologize. However, half-hearted kindness would not benefit her.

Only by engraving the overwhelming difference in power into her through fear can they be properly guided.’”

---

“Geez… Aizen-kun, you can be really strict sometimes.”

Ichinose puffed her cheeks in exasperation.

Meanwhile, I was finally freed from the pressure and internally shedding tears of relief and blood tears of regret simultaneously.

(It’s over…! My stomach seriously hurt…! More importantly, if I keep verbally destroying the student council president’s little sister like this, that siscon president is going to genuinely snap someday…! I’m terrified of going to the student council room tomorrow!!)

Unaware of my pathetic inner turmoil, the setting sun streaming through the window cast the long, dark shadow of the endlessly arrogant and flawless “Aizen Sousuke” across the floor of the room.