83 Half a Step Forward (1/2)

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Another week passed by and things have relatively been quiet. Time went by peacefully as Maron concentrated more on improving herself after declaring that she was going to have a rematch with Kazuya. If there was anything, a small confrontation happened in the previous week when Kazuya chose to change locations during break times.

*scribble scribble scribble* Kurumi continued writing on her small notebook as she observed Kazuya while hiding behind a tree in the school courtyard.

*sigh* ”I really don't know what you're doing but do you really think I haven't noticed you've been observing and following me?” Kazuya turned towards the tree and could see the blond hair sticking out. He could feel Kurumi's gaze and presence and ignored it but this girl had been doing it ever since he told her that he thought that they weren't meant to be friends.

”!!” Kurumi was immediately startled and stood up immediately examined herself and saw her hair sticking out the tree's trunk from behind her. She reflected upon herself and walked nonchalantly towards the gymnasium where Maron was training herself.

”That girl…” Kazuya couldn't help but shake his head. Tomoyo already changed and wouldn't be the same person he hated but Kurumi was slowly turning into that weird girl that showed up around him. The only difference now was, she still sucked at it and didn't approach him at all. Kazuya didn't believe he would experience the same trouble in his previous life because of how different he was now compared to before.

Though Kurumi tried again when she got the chance, Kazuya would throw pieces of paper towards her direction that contained a [I still see you] note to make her go away. He believed that this girl would eventually get tired of spying on him once she learns that she wouldn't be able to hide from him.

Regardless of what the Stockton girls were up to, he really didn'tcare much anymore because he had already held up his end of the bargain to Kurumi's father. It just so happened that it didn't go according to what the person expected because of his daughter.

What Kazuya didn't know however, was that Takaya and the two girls weren't the only members of S class who had recently started going to school more. He didn't notice it because he had not seen them nor were they observing him, but Suzaku and Ringo had hidden themselves and were looking at Kurumi instead.

”That kid wasn't lying. He doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Stockton girls” Ringo spoke as Kurumi had once again walked away from Kazuya's direction looking disappointed.

”More like he's already done with them after using them against my family” Suzaku scoffed. ”How are things going on your parents' end?” he turned to Ringo and asked.

”I told them about Kouzuki Kazuya's message from Ono. It looks like it's an empty threat. His mother hasn't shown any signs of movement and their corporation seems to have already stopped their advances towards our market. She even granted that assistant of hers a long vacation” Ringo reported the information that she had gotten from her parents.

”Nothing but a kid that's all talk it looks like” Suzaku grinned. He was confident that Kazuya had only bluffed so that they wouldn't intentionally look for trouble with him. It looks like it had the opposite effect instead.

”Don't be like your cousin. He underestimated Kouzuki Kazuya too much and look where he ended up” Ringo reminded. ”That kid seems normal on the surface but he's been slowly revealing his cards after what happened to Hashiyama Lee”

”So you mean his intellect?” Suzaku scoffed. ”So what if he's good at exams? That doesn't amount to anything especially in our world”

Kazuya appeared quite normal when he first attended the academy but after the very first exam results were posted after his arrival, all those who paid attention to the ever-changing fight for exam ranking found out that the only rank they would be fighting for was the place below the name Kouzuki Kazuya.

This fact had not changed along with his Kendo championship title. Ringo didn't want to underestimate Kazuya too much but because of her pride, she still looked down on him especially since her family was the one responsible for stopping an established family such as themselves from entering the field that they controlled.

”Don't let your emotions take over. I know you bear a grudge against him but you and I both met Hashiyama Lee. He was like his adoptive mother. Both of them and Nagisa-san were better than us when it came to hiding themselves” Ringo reminded Suzaku of the shocking plot that was included in the video that prevented anyone from believing that they had no hand in Lee's plans.

”I get it…” Suzaku frowned. He usually didn't get agitated this quickly but losing to the Kouzukis even with their overwhelming advantage was a hit to every Kurogane's pride even if they did have the help of the Stockton family.

”Did you finish finding more about him from your cousin?” What they lacked was information about the boy. They believed that Hashiyama Lee's demise was because he had greatly underestimated Kazuya because of his proximity to him.

Lee was sentenced to a stay inside a school that was for minors who could not be tried as adults. Suzaku had some strings pulled so he could visit his cousin and talk about the case. Ringo asked Suzaku to pay him a visit as Lee's 'cousin' and get everybit of information they could use under the guise of getting back at Kazuya for him and the damaged Kurogane family.

”I did but…” Suzaku hesitated.

”But what? He didn't cooperate?” Ringo frowned.

”He laughed the moment I said that we were planning to get back at the kid. He still gave the information we wanted. From what he said, Kouzuki Kazuya had himself beaten without fighting back on purpose. He even claimed that it was the kid himself that pulled the trigger” Suzaku shook his head thinking that it was a guilty person's ramblings.

”Hmm…” Ringo crossed her arms to think.

”Don't tell me you believe him? That guy is just willing to tell his story to anyone who will listen at this point. He even told me that Kouzuki Kazuya told him before pulling the trigger that he would kill him if he ever showed his face again” Suzaku laughed at his former cousin's claims. He didn't believe them in the least.

”Most of it is most likely false but does not mean that everything is. Think about it, he had the capability of knocking out the leader of those thugs so why did he let himself get taken to the room where Lee was?” Ringo's words made Suzaku freeze.

She was right. Both of them assumed at first that Kazuya's initial threat against them was violence. This was because of his fame as a student that was talented enough in Kendo to be able to compete in advanced divisions. Though he was six at the time, he was able to knock out an adult in one hit did he purposely get captured just to set a trap for Lee?