"Wow, so you're not a blond after all."

Koga Ashikaga shifted his gaze from the scattered sheets of papers on the table before him. His spiky hair once attributed to his blond wig was reduced to black curls that hung just above his eyelids—identical to the girl he'd called his older step-sister. He didn't appear as disgruntled as I would've imagined. In fact, retreating from whatever news articles his eyes behind his rectangular glasses were scouring moments before, he only beckoned me forward.

I removed myself from the doorframe and Koga promptly made some tea.

The quiet was unnerving, especially because he didn't try at all to break it. But I had a goal in mind. And keeping him distracted was the only way it'd work.

"Sugar?" he offered, holding out cubes into the tray he'd brought to the table.

My features fell. "You're kidding, right?"

His fingers halted. "You don't like black tea?"

His poise sent chills up my spine. It was as if he wasn't the same person I'd met. Damn actor.

"That's not the issue."

Koga's eyes widened. "Should I have gone out to buy you some sweets beforehand?"

When his back was turned, I leaned over and pressed the intercom button until it was glowing a bright red in a discreet ray of sight.

I feigned innocence when he turned back around, and fell into the seat in front of me. After gliding me a fancy cup of tea, Koga succumbed into his own directly across from me. The silence was steely—heavy. So I broke it.

"Look," I said. "I have no idea who the hell you really are, nor do I care, but you screwed up."

For the first time ever, he gained a haughty sense of amusement. "Don't you mean saved the entire school?"

"No, I fucking said 'screwed up.' Maybe you need to clean those ears of yours if you're having so much trouble hearing."

Koga glowered at me. I grinned, knowing I still had it in me to get on his nerves. Before I could dare relish in the accomplishment, he shook his anger aside and returned a smile.

"Why are you here, Yonamine?"

"To get answers. Why'd you throw the Student Council under a bus like that?"

He rolled his eyes. "I did the school a favour. I revealed the truth."

"Is that what you tell yourself in order to sleep at night?" I was met with a scowl, but that was the least of my concerns. "Where's Juuna? Wreaking more havoc with that alter ego of hers, or was the principal forced to punish her too for not coming forth sooner?"

The latter most likely hit the bullseye because Koga's eye began to twitch, inclining my amusement.

"Yonamine," he said, intertwining his fingers. "I should be the one asking why you're getting in our way. From the very first day I met you, you've repeatedly told me you wanted nothing to do with them. And now you're finally free from those lunatics. Why aren't you celebrating?"

I heaved in a tentative breath. "Listen, Ashikaga."

"No, you listen." He pressed a finger on the tabletop. "I'm not going to take back what I've accomplished because you have the same fetish as those losers. I sacrificed my dignity to go along with their nonsense, all to uncover the truth of that rotting committee. They've always deserved punishment for deceiving everyone."

"The Student Council aside, you and Juuna also put on facades," I said. "You deceived everyone. Where's your punishment?"

Koga scoffed. "You're not seeing the big picture. Big Sis Juuna and I had no choice but to lie to unearth the truth. The Student Council is well-loved. No matter how hard the News Department tried, we couldn't get the student body to believe us. You were our saving grace. Our key to finally unveiling their darkest secrets."

I glazed over the surmountable newspaper articles strewn across the table. The pictures they'd snapped in secret—insurmountable lies and fabrications sprawled across the margins.

'BREAKING: Reliable sources confirm the Student Council are sexual abusers.'

'Kakeru Horie enjoys "preying on the weak", especially by beating them senseless.'

'Wateru Horie isn't the quiet prince we all imagine. He loves torturing anyone he can get his hands on... starting with himself.'

'Shuuhei Okabe enjoys sexually assaulting younger girls to fulfill his fantasies. His recent target was renowned trouble student, Kasumi Yonamine, who has a lot to say on their intimate experience.'

I folded my arms, nails digging into my skin. "What secrets?" I spat, staring him dead in the eye. "These articles are all lies."

"Exaggerations at most." He simpered, reclining in his chair. "All creators hyperbolize in order to get an audience. Who's to say none of them haven't sexually assaulted another using their ideologies?"

I clenched my teeth. "Who's to say they have?"

Koga cocked a haughty brow.

I continued, "Sure they have questionable hobbies and preferences, but the Student Council would never stoop that low. They have standards."

"Really now?" he jeered. "A group that lives off a promiscuous ideology has 'standards'? That's news to me."

I rose from my seat. He watched, tentative. I stabbed the heel of my shoe onto the table, and he flinched, scrambling to steady the teetering tea cups.

Oh, they owed me big time for this.

"Kakeru might've been a darker person in the past, but at least now he's overflowing with positive energy. He's the most outgoing in the committee. There's seriously never a moment you won't catch him without a smile. Whenever the other members harassed me into doing paperwork, he almost always shared his sweet stash with me to cheer me up. It was usually a bribe to do his share, but from the moment I entered the committee, he's been the most welcoming.

"Wateru "tortures" himself because he's selfless. He's constantly thinking about others. How to help them, how to make it easier on them, how he can contribute... He works the hardest in the Student Council while simultaneously taking care of both the other members and the student body. Just the other day, he did all the remaining preparations for the Autumn Dance so that the rest of us could head home early.

"And Shuuhei... he's far from 'perfect,' I'll give you that. I think it's because his entire time here at Rokura High was deluded with the word that he's oddly stiff and talks like an old man. However, not once since I met him, has he ever forced me into any kind of relationship with him."

Except servant-master.

I nudged aside the thought.

"Sure they'd argue otherwise, but you can't categorize them under 'sadism' or 'masochism'. They're people, like you and me. They have weaknesses, and secrets, and bad sides. They trusted us enough to let us see these sides of them that exist outside of the "godly existences" the entire school envisioned. And yet you betrayed them."

"It's their fault for having weaknesses to begin with," Koga said, smirking wickedly. "If they were so perfect, they should've kept it that way. Not have their entire lives and futures ruined by a club like the News Department."

He ascended and approached. Perplexed, I craned my neck back as he came to a stop before me. Up close, his face was morphed in the way I detested most. Obnoxious, pretentious, evil.

"It's their fault," he repeated. "They wouldn't have made an enemy out of us if they didn't try to disband us this year."

"You had it coming from the moment you were formed. All you guys do is write fake articles."

"And the school is eating up these fake articles this time around, are they not?" He positioned his thumb and finger underneath my chin, raising it so I could meet his eyes. His smirk sent chills down my spine. "It doesn't matter if they're "gods" or "perverts". The News Department will do anything to destroy our enemies. And it's super easy considering we have such a stupid principal. That dumbass will believe anything we say as long as we put on some tears."

I cracked a wry smile. Idiot. He doesn't realize he's being broadcasted. "You're sure acting all high-and-mighty. Last time I checked you were a huge pervert yourself. How many stacks of porn did I find in your room again?"

Koga's eyebrow twitched. Red drenched his face. "Say what you will. That doesn't erase the fact that I've won, Yonamine. With the SC out of the way, the News Department will run this school. We'll become "gods" and "goddesses" ourselves! And there's nothing you can do to stop us."

Oh, I'd beg to differ.

While Koga cackled like the villain he was, I rolled my eyes. "What a disappointing antagonist you've become. I think I liked it better when you were a hot-tempered peeping Tom."

His laughter halted abruptly. He seized my waist, pressing his face inches from mine.

"I've never liked your personality either," he growled. "Relentlessly running that filthy mouth of yours as if you're better than everyone else. As if you're the queen of the world. But not here. Right now, I stand at the top of this school. I'm the one in control. And no matter what I do to you right now, nobody will come to your rescue."

"Wow. I'm quaking," I deadpanned. "Please don't come onto me in such a secluded room. Let go of me, pervert."

He was grinding his teeth so hard I assumed they'd shatter. With a forceful tug of my collar, his hand roamed down my hip. His hot breath fanned my neck. "You brought this upon yourself."

I wanted to hurl. Instead, however, I kicked him in the balls.

Though the action was kind compared to the other torturous things I wanted to do, Koga's reaction was priceless. As if I'd killed him, he emitted a strangled groan and flopped straight to the ground. I hovered above him, observing as he writhed in utter agony. It was quite a pleasurable sight, I had to admit.

Brushing strands of my long hair behind my ear, I crossed my arms. A smirk upturned the corners of my mouth as I glanced at the intercom button. "Sorry, Ashikaga. You were being so honest with me but here I could only bring your demise."

Koga peered up from the floor. His complexion was completely pallid. "Demise?"

Once more, his words echoed off the walls. I slid him the intercom, flashing its bright red light, indicating our entire conversation had been broadcasted to every inch of the school. Watching as the panic seeped into his features was delightful. He identified it straightaway.

"You didn't—"

"But I did." I mocked his shock. Pressing myself into a crouch, I stared him square in the eye as I slammed the button off. "I suggest if you don't want to ruin your reputation further, you'll disband your club willingly. Of course, if you resist, Mr. Jael will gladly do the honours himself."

He was in utter anguish, that was obvious. Scrambling to his knees, he barked, "Why did you do this? You already know that the SC is a haven of—"

"Then I guess I'm a lunatic, too." I breathed humorlessly, getting back up and crossing my arms. "But at least I'm not a two-faced ass who's also—gasp—a pervert."

"You'll regret this!"

"Stop acting like this is some cliched soap opera. It's just a Student Council."

"And you want to go back to being the Student Council's pet?"

"I was actually thinking a higher position. Now that I'm assuming Mr. Jael will back up the committee full-force, he'll ignore my future shenanigans if I become President. And I won't have to worry about getting disowned."

"Killing two birds with one stone, is it?"

I hummed. "Nah, more like three. I'll also be able to witness your perverse, corrupted self get exposed to the entire school, all because of your beautiful confession and attempt to violate me. Thanks for putting all villains to shame, by the way."

He opened his mouth, but was cut off with the slam of the door. A huffing and puffing, raging Mr. Jael stood at the threshold, possessing a sort of hunger in his eye. A terrifying hunger to rip a teenage sicko to oblivion.

"Koga Ashikaga, we need to talk," he hissed, his tone smouldering. "Now."

I spared an already blanch Koga a discreet snort.

Instead of fabricating articles to pursue a pointless grudge, why not face the whole truth, right, Koga Ashikaga?