Kazuma's Next Prey

"Don't screw with me! Who do you think you are?!"

[Heh. You know exactly who I am.]

Whereas Kazuma and Yui were hanging out, Ken was in his spacious and luxurious living room of his family's mansion while he wore an expensive looking bathrobe.

At the moment, he was on a phone call with Shinya.

Bang.

"I paid you to get rid of that piece of shit! So why is he still attending school so happily?!" Ken asked furiously as he hit the table in front of him.

[Don't know. Don't care. If you want your money back, then come and get it. We don't care about your requests anymore.] Shinya answered disinterested.

"Want another stack of money!? Just get rid of him!" Ken tried to negotiate.

[Nah, not needed.]

"What do you want? State your desire!" he slowly began to get desperate.

[Why are you so fixated on him?]

"I-I'm not obliged to answer that! Just do your job and you'll get rewarded!" he began to sweat nervously.

[Kirisaki Ken.] Shinya's voice turned serious.

"W-what?"

[I already told you that we won't do it. Do you really think you can change my mind?] his voice was threatening.

"..." Ken gulped his saliva down.

"Tch. Send me the location and I'll come Sunday." Ken gave up.

[Okay.] Shinya's voice turned into a more carefree one again.

Then, Shinya ended the call.

"That damn bastard! How can Tokyo's almighty gang not get rid of a single person?!" he shouted from the bottom of his lungs.

The next day.

Kazuma was currently in class as he looked at the cloudy and gray sky.

"Ichinose-kun?"

"!"

He flinched after he saw that his teacher was right beside him.

"Y-yes?"

"Could you please solve the problem on the board?" the teacher pointed to the front.

Kazuma looked at the board and analyzed the problem.

Then, he stood up and walked to the board. He took the chalk and began to slowly solve it while he explained how to do it.

"That's correct, Ichinose-kun! Magnificently explained!" the teacher praised him.

Kazuma went back to his seat.

"?"

He noticed that someone looked at him. Therefore, he looked around and saw Yui who rapidly turned back to face the board again.

His face became warmer.

The two ignored each other the whole day. The reason was because of yesterday. After they had time for themselves, they realized how embarrassing their conversation was. They could not bear to watch the other one without blushing in embarrassment. Hence they did not even walk together to school today.

During all the lessons they had, they would occasionally and unconsciously look into the direction of the other one without being found out.

Then, the bell rang.

It was Kazuma's time to strike. After all the time, he wanted to finally confront Emma. And there was no better opportunity than lunch time. Therefore, he stood up from his seat and made his way to the rooftop where the three of them always ate together back then.

But before Kazuma actually exited the classroom, he quickly glanced at Yui. This time, she was sleeping as she rested her head on the table.

"?"

Kazuma was slightly confused because it was odd that Yui would spend lunch time like that. Usually, she would either eat lunch with him and Emma or she would hang out with her other friends.

However, he had not the leisure to waste more time there. He had to hurry up.

Thus, Kazuma walked in a fast pace to the roof.

Then, he arrived at the door. He only noticed it now but he was extremely nervous. How should he approach her? What should he say? Was she still mad?

He had several questions. But those questions only made his nervousness greater.

Kazuma was sweating bullets and his body was shivering as he reached out for the doorknob.

Holding the doorknob, he gulped his saliva down and finally opened the door.

"!"

"!"

He was startled after he opened the door because in that moment, another person was about to leave the roof.

"Kazuma-san..."

"Emma."

Right now, Kazuma and Emma were standing at the entrance of the roof.

Each one of them averted their gaze. Kazuma was not the only one who did not know what to say.

"D-do you want to talk?" Kazuma suggested as he scratched his cheek nervously.

"S-sure."

The two  went to the bench where they would normally sit. This time, the atmosphere on the bench was rather gloomy than joyful.

"I'm sorry!" they apologized on the same time.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Kazuma and Emma stared baffled at each other.

"N-no, I'm sorry for badmouthing your fiance!"

Despite the pain he felt by admitting that Ken was her fiance, he still insisted on apologizing to her because it was his fault.

"Not at all! I must apologize for raising my voice! I knew that you just tried to cheer me up but I was just... just a little moody on that day..."

Emma was the same. She thought that it was her fault. Therefore, she also insisted on blaming herself.

"What? No, I..."

Thus, they wasted ten minutes to argue who was at fault.

"... hey, how about just deciding this with a game of rock - paper - scissors?" Kazuma suggested with an exhausted voice.

"... yes, let's do that..." Emma was as exhausted as he was.

Then, they stood up and faced each other.

"Rock!" they took their stance.

"Paper!" they were about to launch their arms.

"Scis-"

"Kirisaki?!" Kazuma shouted.

"What?!" Emma turned around.

However, Ken was not there.

"Huh? He isn't there, Kazuma-san." she turned back to Kazuma.

"I won." he said with a mischievous smirk.

"Huh?" she was in shock.

Emma chose scissors whereas Kazuma chose rock.

She did not realized it but she already unfolded her hand while she turned around.

"B-but this is cheating!"

"Cheating? Do you have a witness?" he teased her.

"That's unfair!" she sulked.

"Hehe, a win is a win." he nodded his head.

And yet again, another 10 minutes passed as they argued about their match.

"So everything back to normal?" Kazuma asked with a faint smile as he faced her.

"Yes." she nodded while she wore her usual smile.

Now, 15 minutes were left until the bell rang.

"Kazuma-san... ehm, there is something I need to tell you." her face turned stern.

"Hm?"

Kazuma did not know what to expect.

"It's about that night."

He had now an idea how serious the talk would be. He almost forgot it but he also had some questions to her concerning that incident.

"Promise me to stay calm, alright?"

"Alright, I promise." his expression turned serious.

Emma took a deep breath before she started.

She talked without a break until the bell rang. Kazuma did not interrupt her while she was talking and remained clam just like he promised. However, it was clearly perceivable how enraged and disgusted he was. To calm down, he had to bit his lip and clench his fists despite blood flowing out.

"... and that was everything I had to tell." Emma concluded her story.

"Thanks for telling me." Kazuma said as he stared at the ground.

Kazuma stood up and was about to leave as he did not want to be late for class. Emma followed suit. 

"Uhm, if I may ask, what are you planning to do?" she asked him shyly while they walked to their respective classes.

Currently, Kazuma walked ahead and was typing something on his phone.

"My plans? I will just bring justice." he finished typing and faced Emma.

His eyes were void of any emotions.

Not knowing what he exactly meant, Emma tried to predict his actions.

"You better hurry up or else your teacher will arrive before you." he said as he started walking again.

"Y-yes..." she stuttered as she was sill in thoughts.

She did not expect that Kazuma would be still calm after she finished telling her story. She thought that he would storm enraged to Ken or the others.

But those eyes of him were making her shudder. What did he plan? She could not know as much as she tried to.

"Emma?" he turned to her for the last time before entering his classroom.

"Y-yes?"

"Could you do me a favor and convey the following message to Kirisaki?"

"I suppose I can..."

"Then, tell him this: You are next."

It was just a few words and yet they were so intimidating that Emma could only gulped down in fear and nervousness.

Slam.

Kazuma entered his classroom as he slammed the door open.

"!"

Due to the slam, Emma snapped back to reality and also returned to her class.

The lessons started again.

This time, Kazuma did not only notice the confused gaze of Yui but also the nervous gazes of other people. However, he did not pay them any attention.

With the stage set, he only needed to wait for his turn.