Inside a Karaoke room, Ryunosuke and Arisu's group met again.
Seeing the three people in front of him, Ryunosuke couldn't hold back a smile. "You all really are inseparable; Sakayanagi-san, Kamuro, and Morishita-san."
Ai suddenly put her hands on her hips and struck a cute pose with one hand making a "V" sign in front of her eyes.
"Yes! We are the best trio, Team Rocket!"
Ryunosuke reflexively clapped and responded according to that iconic script, "Then who are you all?"
Seeing Ryunosuke's question that was very familiar to anime fans, Ai's eyes instantly sparkled. She immediately entered acute-level chuunibyou mode. The girl put one hand on her hip while the other covered her face—similar to Uchiha Sasuke's pose—complete with a forced smile.
"Hehehe, since you asked so sincerely..."
Silence fell for a moment. Since no one responded, Ai elbowed Masumi standing beside her. However, Masumi just folded her arms and turned her face away, clearly not willing to get involved in this madness.
Ai didn't give up; she counterattacked by brutally tickling Masumi's armpit.
"Ticklish! Hahaha! Stop Ai! Enough! I surrender, I'll do it!!" Masumi screamed while laughing hysterically.
Ai stopped and stared sharply at Masumi, demanding cooperation.
Masumi, feeling her dignity shattered, was finally forced to follow the game with a reluctant tone.
"Since you asked so sincerely!" Masumi said weakly.
Ai responded enthusiastically, "Then we will answer it with full compassion!"
Masumi gritted her teeth and continued with a feeling of humiliation, "To prevent the world's destruction..."
"To protect the world's peace!" Ai continued.
"Upholding love and the true evil side..." Masumi said with an increasingly small voice.
"A cute yet charming antagonist character!" Ai posed beautifully with one hand on her hip.
"Kamuro Masumi..."
"Morishita Ai!"
The two suddenly knelt with one knee facing Arisu who sat on the sofa, as if she was their big boss.
"Two Team Rocket members crossing the galaxy!" Ai exclaimed, getting more excited with that embarrassing dialogue.
Meanwhile, Masumi looked like she had lost the will to live. "White hole, white future is waiting for us..."
Now only the last line from the third member (Meowth) remained.
Ai stared at Arisu with full hope. Sitting on the sofa while holding her cane, the "Young Lady" appeared to be on the verge of an angry explosion. She couldn't believe she had recruited such strange assistants.
Since when did Ai have such a personality? It seemed she hid it very deeply behind that stiff face.
Facing Ai's pleading gaze, Arisu finally said awkwardly, "Sorry, I don't know the next line. I've never watched Pokemon..."
Actually she had watched it, but she refused to acknowledge that because she was unwilling to say that embarrassing dialogue.
Seeing her boss wouldn't cooperate, Ai's spirit immediately dropped and she looked instantly withered.
Ryunosuke laughed seeing that comical scene and voluntarily completed the last line.
"Meowth, that's right! We are Team Rocket!"
Ai's eyes sparkled again. She lunged toward Ryunosuke and gripped his hands tightly.
"True comrade!"
Seeing Ai's enthusiasm, Ryunosuke immediately took out his phone to ask for the girl's contact. Not because he was attracted to her beauty, but purely because he felt she might be useful in the future.
Ai without hesitation added Ryunosuke's contact.
When Ryunosuke glanced briefly at her phone gallery, he clicked his tongue admiringly seeing the girl's favorite anime list from Code Geass to Madoka Magica.
"Just call me Ai, Comrade." Ai said casually.
"Why are you so sure I'm your true comrade?" Ryunosuke asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Instinct among the same species." Ai answered confidently.
The two stared at each other with full respect, even making a "kiss" gesture in the air as a sign of brotherhood. Arisu and Masumi almost fell over seeing that absurd behavior.
"What are you two doing?! Are you falling in love?!" Masumi shouted annoyed after getting up from the table.
"Sorry, we just respect each other and couldn't hold back." Ryunosuke and Ai answered simultaneously.
Arisu rolled her eyes. "Akasaka-kun, you became so quickly close to my assistant. People who don't know would surely think you're on the same side."
"You don't understand, Sakayanagi-san. This is a strong bond among fellow anime lovers." Ryunosuke replied casually.
"Exactly right!" Ai responded while standing beside Ryunosuke, truly looking like a traitor in Arisu's eyes.
Arisu began to suspect that her class's point decrease might be caused by a traitor inside, and seeing Ai's behavior now, her suspicion grew stronger.
Ai covered one eye and pointed her hand toward Ryunosuke, as if activating Geass power.
"In my name, Lelouch vi Britannia, I command you, Akasaka Ryunosuke, submit to me!"
Ryunosuke responded with wild laughter typical of anime villains.
"With such low-level mental disturbance, in front of my Mangekyou Sharingan—"
"ENOUGH YOU TWO!!!" Arisu screamed, finally exploding.
She was fed up with this chuunibyou drama. She regretted choosing Ai as an assistant. Turned out behind her silent demeanor, the girl was a hardcore anime fanatic.
Ryunosuke and Ai were startled and immediately put on apologetic faces. They got too carried away because they rarely met "patients" with the same disease at their age.
Ai returned to stand behind Arisu with a flat face as if nothing happened, while Ryunosuke returned to his serious mode.
Arisu took a deep breath to calm herself before starting the core conversation.
"I admit I lost this time, Akasaka-kun. But I want to know clearly, who betrayed our Class A?" Arisu stared at him sharply, certain there was an insider who helped the sabotage.
Ryunosuke didn't intend to expose anyone. After all, Masumi helped him without realizing her actions would have such a big impact on class rankings. Although Masumi was a bit careless, he couldn't bear to sell her out.
"There's no traitor in your class, Sakayanagi-san. You're overthinking." Ryunosuke answered while shaking his head.
"Hmph." Arisu snorted in disbelief. "If there's no traitor, how could you make our points decrease? But alright, I'm a sporting person. I'll still pay the bet money."
Arisu then transferred 900,000 personal points to him. The young man received the transfer with a flat face, because the millions of points he had just received from teachers made him no longer too shocked by the number 900,000.
Seeing that cold attitude, Arisu became more curious. "Judging from your reaction, it seems the balance in your hands is far more than this 900,000. And Class B's victory... that was also your doing, right? You must have made a big profit from there."
Although phrased as a question, Arisu's tone showed certainty. She became more interested in Ryunosuke.
Since childhood, aside from the White Room incident, she had never felt this curious about someone. She began looking at him like viewing prey that could only be hers.
Ryunosuke was aware he was being targeted by this "young lady." but he didn't care as long as he got his points. After his business was done, he took his leave and left the room.
At the doorway, Arisu smiled thinly looking at Ryunosuke's back.
"See you again, Akasaka-kun. Our battle has just begun..."
After Ryunosuke truly left, Arisu took her phone and called her father, the school foundation chairman.
"Father, I met an interesting person. Can Father help me investigate the profile of someone named Akasaka Ryunosuke? I want his complete data as soon as possible."
Her father, Sakayanagi Narumori, sighed on the other end of the phone. "My daughter, you're asking me to abuse my authority. That's not fair."
"If Father doesn't agree, I won't talk to Father forever." Arisu replied in a threatening sweet tone.
As a father who greatly spoiled his daughter, Narumori immediately agreed without conditions.
Arisu closed the phone with a cunning smile. "Let's just see later, Akasaka-kun. To win a battle, one must know their enemy inside and out."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Elsewhere, Ryunosuke suddenly sneezed hard.
"Achoo! Damn, who's talking about my bad points behind my back?" He muttered in wonder.