The air in the hospital room is so thick I could choke on it.
My brain is still trying to boot up, trying to process her words. "Why do you keep risking your life like this? You've been doing it for years."
"How...?" I whisper again, my voice sounding weak and stupid.
Ayako Katsumi just stares at me. Her face is a perfect, beautiful mask. There's no pity, no concern. It's just... observation.
The two kids I saved, the boy and girl, look back and forth between us. They are totally confused.
"Um... Katsumi-san?" the girl asks, still clutching my hand. "Do you two... know each other?"
Ayako's gaze snaps from me to the girl. Instantly, the terrifying intensity is gone, replaced by the calm, reassuring smile of the Student Council President. It's like flipping a switch.
"We are classmates," Ayako says, her voice smooth as silk. "Minatawa-kun sits next to me."
She then looks back at me. "You are quite famous, Minatawa-kun. Your school file is as thick as a phone book. It's my duty as president to be aware of... problematic students."
Oh.
That's... actually a pretty good excuse. It makes sense. It also makes me sound like a total delinquent, which, to be fair, is what everyone thinks I am.
But it doesn't explain the black car. It doesn't explain the men with steel pipes.
Before I can ask, the boy steps forward, bowing low. "Seriously, Minatawa-san... and Katsumi-san... thank you. Those guys... they're from the Seidou-kai. They've been shaking down my dad's shop for months."
The girl nods, her eyes wide. "And those men in the black car! They were incredible! They just... poof... all ten of those awful men were on the ground. They're like... ninjas! Are they with you, Katsumi-san?"
I turn my full attention to Ayako. Yeah, Katsumi-san. Explain that.
Ayako doesn't even hesitate.
"They are private security," she says, her tone matter-of-fact. "My family worries about me. They happened to be in the area and... intervened when they saw students from our school being assaulted."
A... plausible lie. A very, very convenient coincidence.
"My name is Miki," the girl says, finally letting go of my hand to wipe her eyes. "And this is my brother, Kenji. We... we owe you everything."
"Just... stop getting cornered," I grunt, trying to sit up. A sharp, white-hot pain lances through my side, and I collapse back onto the pillows with a hiss.
"You have two fractured ribs and a mild concussion," Ayako states, reading from a chart at the foot of my bed. When did she even get that? "You will be staying overnight for observation."
"Great," I mutter.
Ayako turns to Kenji and Miki. "The police will want a statement. I will handle the report on the school's behalf. It is probably best if you two go home and rest. Your parents must be worried."
"Ah, right..." Kenji says, looking dazed. "Thank you, Katsumi-san. You too, Minatawa."
They both bow one last time and shuffle out of the room, leaving me alone with the enigma.
The second the door clicks shut, the silence is deafening. I stare at her, and she stares right back.
"So," I say, my voice raspy. "'Private security.' That's your story?"
"It is the truth," she replies, not a flicker of emotion on her face.
"And them 'happening to be in the area'?"
"A fortunate coincidence."
She's stonewalling me. Hard.
"And your critique," I press, "about my 'predictable' right hook. That in my file, too?"
"I observe," she says, stepping closer to the bed. "It's my duty to know the students. All of them."
"You're lying, Katsumi."
For the first time, something in her eyes changes. It's not anger. It's... colder.
"You are reckless, Minatawa-kun," she says, her voice dropping to that low tone from the classroom. "You fought ten armed men to save two people you don't even know. You would be dead in an alley right now if not for that 'coincidence'."
"And what about you?" I shoot back. "What were you doing there?"
"I was on my way home."
"Bull. You were..." I stop. The image flashes in my head. The black car... the woman's silhouette... the long hair...
My blood runs cold.
"That was you," I whisper. "You weren't just there. You were in the car. You were... you were directing them."
Ayako Katsumi stands perfectly still. She doesn't confirm it. She doesn't deny it.
She just watches me, her dark eyes completely unreadable.
"You need to rest, Minatawa-kun," she says, turning to leave. "The school will be informed of your... heroic, if foolish, actions."
"Hey! Wait!" I call out, the pain in my ribs flaring up. "Who are you?"
She pauses at the door, her hand on the handle. She looks back, her face framed by the hallway light, making her look like a goddess in a painting.
"I am Ayako Katsumi," she says, her voice flat and final. "Your class president."
Then she's gone.
I'm left alone in the sterile white room, my body aching, but my mind racing faster than it ever has.
The "perfect" student council president... is a total lie. The untouchable goddess... is something else entirely. Something dangerous.
And I, like a complete idiot, am sitting right next to her in class.