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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." ~T.S. Elliot
***Kakeru Ryuen***
Geniuses.
What are they, really? We're taught that geniuses are rare. That you can't become one, only be born as one. That genius is something innate, untouchable. But I don't buy that bullshit.
The entire concept is flawed at its core.
Take me, for example. Am I a genius?
There are only two ways to answer that question: yes or no.
If someone says yes, then I could point out the obvious: I lack academic brilliance. My physical ability is above average, sure, but far from exceptional. I'm not socially gifted. My communication skills are rough. I wouldn't even rank my intellect as extraordinary. And by most standards, I'm a thug, reckless, aggressive, the kind of guy who's made a few too many bad decisions.
But if someone says no? Then I'd ask a simple question: How did I get this far?
I've outsmarted so-called geniuses, one after another, in my life. I've stood on equal ground with them, even surpassed them. I'm not the smartest in the room. I'm not the most athletic. I'm not the most persuasive. And yet, I've handled people this school calls "elite" without breaking a sweat.
So what's the truth? What is genius?
Honestly? I don't give a damn.
Whether someone's a genius or not means nothing to me. The only thing that matters is results. Success. Winning.
And to achieve that? All you need is force.
No one should waste their time defining what a genius is. It's pointless. In this world, one rule stands above all: the strong rule, and the weak kneel.
Even the greatest geniuses are bound by something—morals, principles, "codes." All just fancy words for limitations. Most people don't have the luxury of playing fair against someone who's talented.
So don't play fair.
Lie. Scam. Cheat. Beat. Threaten. Blackmail. Exploit. Betray. Ambush. Frame. Sabotage. Steal. Intimidate. Humiliate. Dominate.
Simple. Don't waste your time on luxuries you can't afford. That's how you beat a genius.
And if you're not willing to do that? If you're not ready to take the risk, to crawl your way up by any means necessary?
Then you were never going to win anyway.
At the highest levels of this world, there are only two kinds of people:
Those born with the luxury of morality.
And those ruthless and persistent enough to destroy them.
***
It was another boring class. I never really paid much attention. Mediocrity was more than enough to get by here. As long as you could keep your class in A by graduation, there was no point in aiming higher—the returns were basically nonexistent.
Thankfully, lunch was around the corner. Not that lunch itself excited me. The cafeteria wasn't even as crowded as it used to be, now that students had figured out they could fake sickness to snag free meals from the school.
So, as the period finally came to an end, I stood up and walked over to Ibuki. On my way, I flagged down Shiina, signaling for her to join us.
"What do you want, Ryuen?" Ibuki asked, her tone rough and blunt as always.
"No need to be so rude, Ibuki. Maybe I just wanted to have a friendly chat." A smirk pulled at my lips.
"Sure. You never approach anyone unless you want something," she shot back flatly.
"That's only somewhat true. I'm capable of caring too, you know."
"Is that so? Then let's see how this conversation goes," Ibuki said, crossing her arms, clearly unimpressed.
A brief silence stretched between us before I finally spoke.
"…So, have you been doing what I asked?"
Ibuki let out a sigh, but she didn't look surprised.
"It's only been three days, but yeah—I've been following her in my free time. I hope you're enjoying the fact you've left me with no time to myself, stuck stalking some Class D girl."
She glanced around as more of our classmates filtered out of the room, leaving essentially just me, Ibuki, and Shiina.
"It isn't just any Class D girl. You know how important this is," I replied.
"…Then finally tell me what it is you actually want." Her annoyance was obvious, her glare sharpening.
"Bring her to me. Tell Matsushita to follow you here."
"Huh? You really think it's that simple? It's lunchtime, we're in school, there are cameras everywhere. Why would she follow me just because I tell her to?"
"She'll follow you."
That was all I said.
Ibuki didn't look satisfied with that explanation. Her glare lingered, sharp and questioning.
"Just trust me. Even if Matsushita isn't the mastermind I'm searching for, she's proven herself smarter than your average student. She's holding back. Which means she'd likely do anything to make the attention we've been giving her disappear. The desire for a normal, peaceful life… it is pretty dull, isn't it?"
Ibuki sighed again, finally nodding—though the irritation was still clear on her face.
That's when Shiina, who'd been standing there looking confused, finally spoke up.
"Uhh, but… why did you call me over here, Ryuen?"
"I need a second pair of eyes. It's that simple. You'll stay here with me and give me your impression after we talk to Matsushita."
Shiina looked reluctant, but in the end, she nodded without arguing.
I took a seat by one of the windows in Class B's room, resting an arm on the exterior, looking out casually as Shiina stood nearby.
As I stared out at the campus, a slow grin spread across my face.
Class D's mastermind. The upcoming Paper Shuffle.
Two very intriguing subjects to dig into.
I only hoped neither would disappoint me.
I continued to wait by the window, watching the campus lazily as Shiina stayed silent. I didn't have to wait long. As expected, Ibuki returned quickly, and at her side was Matsushita.
She didn't look scared. That was expected too. She understood what this was—and that Class B wouldn't risk doing anything reckless to her in the middle of a monitored school building. But still, she came. Which meant she was willing to talk.
"Here she is," Ibuki said as they walked in.
"Close the door. Make sure she can't leave," I said, my voice relaxed as I stood from my spot by the window and made my way over.
Ibuki did exactly that, shutting the door and positioning herself in front of it. Matsushita stayed where she was, silent and perfectly still. No fear. Not outwardly, at least.
"You made use of Kushida pretty flawlessly, didn't you?" I said, referring to the gambling special exam. Kushida had been used to feed me false intel—almost certainly a move orchestrated by Class D's mastermind. Horikita doesn't have that kind of finesse.
This was more than an accusation. It was a test. To see if the mastermind was standing right in front of me.
Matsushita looked slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question. It wasn't enough to prove she knew nothing, but her reaction leaned in that direction.
"What do you think, Shiina? Is this Class D's little mastermind?" I asked, stepping closer—close enough that Matsushita couldn't ignore the pressure.
Shiina studied her carefully, eyes moving over her face, her posture, her breathing. She was obviously talented at reading people. If she were more cooperative, she could easily serve as my first-in-command.
"I think she's telling the truth—" Shiina finally said. Matsushita likely wasn't the one. But that didn't mean she didn't know who was.
Before I could finish processing that, Shiina added more.
"But… I'm not sure. She could still be lying. It wouldn't be the first time someone slipped past my instincts…"
That caught my attention.
"What do you mean?" I asked, watching her carefully.
Shiina paused, thinking it through. "Well, we're talking about Class D's mastermind here. Someone even Yagami has praised. And honestly… I can't see through Yagami at all. So if he struggles to fully read this person, it's very possible I wouldn't be able to see through Matsushita either, if she's the one."
Something about that rubbed me wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it set my teeth on edge.
"Can you read me?" I asked abruptly.
"Uh? I—well, with some exceptions, yeah. I can't read you completely, but… I can usually get a general sense, if that makes sense?" Shiina answered, clearly thrown off by the question.
I frowned, not responding.
Then, without warning, I lifted my right hand and drove it into the wall just above Matsushita's shoulder. The sound vibrated through the empty classroom. She flinched—a small, instinctive reaction—but the first real break in her composure.
I reached forward, brushing a few strands of her hair between my fingers, holding her gaze.
"So then… I'll just ask you myself. Are you Class D's mastermind?"
Matsushita looked at me for a moment, regaining her composure almost instantly. She brushed my hand aside lightly and spoke.
"No, I'm not. I'm just here because I want you to leave me alone. I'm tired of all the issues Class B is always stirring up."
"Oh, is that so?" I tilted my head slightly. "Then this should be simple. Give me a name. Tell me who pulled your strings during the sports festival. And don't bother feeding me bullshit. You may be clever, but you're out of your depth here. If you give me that name, you can go right back to your comfortable little life, without eyes on you 24/7."
"I don't know." Matsushita's reply was quick—disappointingly so.
"You couldn't come up with anything better than that?" I replied, eyebrow raised.
She didn't flinch. "I don't think you understand. I don't know who the mastermind of my class is, because I've never met them. The plan involving Hirata? That was mine, and no one else's."
"Is that what they told you to say? Don't they get tired of this constant game of cat and mouse? It's always the same story. Even Horikita ends up taking credit for all their work. It's annoying."
Matsushita crossed her arms slightly. "Is that all you're going to say?"
I didn't respond right away.
I thought to myself. I'd initially considered questioning the generally suspicious members of Class D, but decided against it. Even if I ended up interrogating the actual mastermind—if he kept playing dumb, kept acting like a fool—I wouldn't be able to tell. It's easy to pretend to be clueless.
That's exactly why I chose Matsushita instead. She was smarter than the average student, and I knew more about her, which meant her answers had to take a different path. There was more information to potentially pull from her, if it could be dragged out. No matter how hard you pressed the truly average, incompetent members of Class D, you'd only ever get meaningless replies. This was the only way to go.
"It seems you've left me with no choice," I said, stepping back from Matsushita.
She stayed silent.
"If you won't tell me who it is, then I'll just have to force the information out of you."
"I'm not scared of you, Ryuen," Matsushita replied, her voice steady.
"Maybe you aren't. But Class D is full of cowards, isn't it? I know all about your little friends—Satsuki Shinohara, Maya Sato, Mei-Yu Wang, Kei Karuizawa. Maybe you can handle pressure. But can they? They don't exactly have strong wills. They're not smart, and they're definitely not cunning." I let that hang before continuing. "Then there's even Ayanokoji, who played his part in the whole Hirata fiasco. I'm sure he'll claim he was instructed by you—and that may be true—but that will make it all the sweeter when I watch your eyes realize you're the one who caused all of this. You wanted a normal school life? No—I'll give you a life in hell."
"You wouldn't dare," Matsushita said, clenching her fists.
"Why wouldn't I? I've done worse before. Haven't you all learned by now? I've never needed a reason to hurt someone. Just give me the slightest excuse, and that's more than enough."
"I wouldn't let you," Matsushita shot back after a tense moment.
"Is that so? I'm sure you'd try to stop me—but you're not capable of it," I replied bluntly.
"Someone will stop you," she said then, catching my interest.
"Who? The mastermind?" I asked, my persistence creeping back in.
She hesitated. "…I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe it'll be your own classmate. I'm sure Yagami wouldn't just let you bully groups of students for no reason."
"Is that what you think? Yeah—maybe that's true. But there's not much he could do if the choice he's forced to make is between protecting a few random Class D nobodies and risking his own class's standing by seeing them expelled. What do you really think he'd pick?"
Matsushita's face tightened, her fists still clenched, teeth biting down hard. It had to be aggravating.
Not that I cared.
"So, Matsushita. Will you give me a name and end all of this?" I asked. She stayed silent.
"Do you think the mastermind is worth all this trouble? Do you really think they care about anything but their own anonymity at this point? They've made it pretty clear they've already abandoned Class D."
Still nothing. She was unsure. She couldn't deny what I said, probably wanted to give up the name, but couldn't bring herself to do it. That meant only one thing. Her attachment to the mastermind was weak. It was likely she'd only found out who they were during the sports festival, just like I suspected. That actually narrowed things down. It probably wasn't one of the popular students either. I'd make a list later.
"Fine then. Just leave. Go have lunch with your friends, Matsushita. But while you're sitting there laughing with them, I want you to remember—everything that will happen to them is your fault. No one else's. And when you finally come to your senses and decide to be a real friend, you can come find me. Until then, I hope your precious 'normal school life' falls apart as all your friends start realizing what you're bringing down on them."
For the first time, her eyes lit up with genuine anger. Her grip tightened on her bag.
"Go fuck yourself, Ryuen," she snapped before storming out, the classroom door slamming shut behind her.
As Matsushita left, I picked up a marker from the ledge in front of the class whiteboard and began to write.
Ibuki looked genuinely surprised as I started scrawling down names. Shiina seemed caught off guard, too, watching me in silence. Five minutes passed quickly.
Finally, Ibuki spoke up. "You're obsessed, you know that? You struggle to even get C's on tests—even when cheating—but you can somehow memorize an entire class's roster?"
I shot her a glare but didn't bother answering. My eyes were focused on the whiteboard.
Setsuya Minami, Nene Mori, Ryūko Nishimura, Airi Sakura, Chiaki Matsushita, Wataru Ijuin, Rokusuke Koenji, An Maezono, Kyosuke Okitani, Soshi Miyamoto, Kikuchi, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Chiyo Sonoda, Teruhiko Yukimura, Rino, Kayoko Ishikura, Kei Karuizawa, Haruka Hasebe, Maya Sato, Ruri Ichihashi, Onizuka, Kondo, Satsuki Shinohara, Kayano Onodera, Akito Miyake, Suzune Horikita, Susumu Makida, Kikyo Kushida, Hakuo Minami, Ishizaki, Komiya, Ryotaro Hondo, Soshi Miyamoto, Setsuya Minami, Nene Mori.
I let the silence hang for a moment as I read through the names.
"The mastermind likely isn't Matsushita, Koenji, Yukimura, Karuizawa, Sato, Shinohara, Horikita, or Kushida. I can say that much with about 95% confidence," I said as I began crossing out those names on the board.
Then I continued methodically.
"And given their complete lack of popularity or any notable association with Class D's main representatives which I have been informed of in regards to—Hirata, Horikita, Kushida—the mastermind probably isn't Setuya Minami, Hakuo Minami, Nishimura, Ijuin, Maezono, Okitani, Kikuchi, Sonoda, Rino, Ishikura, Ichihashi, Onizuka, Kondo, Makida, Ishizaki, or Komiya either."
This was my general assessment based on who these people were connected to—or, more importantly, not connected to. It was a safe initial filter. No guarantees, but the odds were strong.
"How confident are you in that?" Ibuki asked, her tone more serious now.
"…" I paused, thinking for a moment. "About 45%," I finally replied.
Ibuki scoffed as I finished crossing out the last set of names.
"So you're 45% sure the mastermind of Class D is one of—what? Nene Mori, Airi Sakura, Soshi Miyamoto, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Haruka Hasebe, Akito Miyake, or Ryotaro Hondo? Honestly, it sounds like pure blind guesswork. Be real for a second—do you even have the faintest clue who Class D's mastermind is? Or are you just tossing mud at the wall hoping something sticks?"
She folded her arms, voice dripping with disdain.
"Do you not hear how crazy you sound? 'I'm 50 percent sure it's one of these seven people—but hey, could just as easily be anyone else.' Is this even worth it? Because from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like it."
"Ibuki," I said flatly, not bothering to hide my tone. "You know I'm not against hitting women. So shut your damn mouth."
Ibuki didn't back down.
"Hah. Like I care, I'm already stuck doing your dirty work. It's not like you can afford to break me—you still need me to hunt down your little mastermind. The same mastermind Yagami figured out months ago. Look at you now: incompetent as ever, standing in a classroom scribbling guesswork on a whiteboard. Just admit it, Ryuen—you have no idea what you're doing. You're incapable of leading this class."
I was done listening to her. Done talking. I stepped forward, grabbed her by the front of her uniform, and lifted her off her feet, pressing her hard against the wall near the classroom's entrance. The simplest power in the world—pure, unfiltered force.
Ibuki's eyes still burned with that same fiery defiance. She could fight back if she really wanted to. Hell, with her training, there was even a chance she'd win. But there was nothing for her to gain by doing so—only losses. For her, and for the class. So she just stopped scowling and glared at me in silence.
Satisfied, I let her down.
"The mastermind… I'll find him. You'll all see," I said finally.
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Please comment and let me know your thoughts on the chapter. Personally, I am happy with it, but I love hearing everyone's thoughts, theories, and opinions. Also, the chapter is a bit longer than usual. Hopefully, this is long enough. I'm not sure if I'll be able to maintain this length for every chapter, but I'll try.