The Defectives (CotE x Male Reader)

Checkmate

Ibuki's POV

After I showed the key card to Ryuen, I contacted another guy using the transceiver.

Ibuki: Ibuki's here. I've acquired Class D's key card, as directed.

After a while, a man appeared from the shadows. Katsuragi, from Class A. He was definitely the calm and dependable type, the complete opposite of our leader. I pretended to be calm, but in my mind I couldn't help but be reminded again of Ryuen's awfulness. Immediately after the test had started, Ryuen told me that he would coax Class A into helping us. Apparently he'd done it. But how in the world?

Katsuragi took Horikita's card from Ryuen and looked it over it carefully. You couldn't have made a fake or anything on this uninhabited island.

Katsuragi: It looks like the real thing.

Ibuki: Are you convinced now?

Although he'd been shown definitive proof, Katsuragi's stern expression didn't change. I'd heard he was a cautious man, but to be this paranoid seemed like a unique kind of illness. He checked the key card again and again.

Katsuragi: I'll be heading back now. I don't want to risk things by lingering for too long.

Then, Katsuragi returned the card to me, and disappeared into the darkness.

I then asked Ryuen.

Ibuki: What about the negotiation? What was discussed? What are we getting in return?

A flash of white lightning crackled through the air. Thunder came crashing down immediately afterward, a roaring sound coming from the sea. Ryuen didn't even twitch an eyebrow. He told me the details of the contract with a creepy smile on his face. The details weren't really complex, but they weren't simple, either.

Even with our problems piling up one after the other, making it really difficult to achieve anything, there was the promise of a huge return. Everything was going according to Ryuen's plan, including the fact that most of our students had retired. None of us had imagined this situation before the test had begun, when we were enjoying our holiday on the boat. I hated him so much that I wanted to die, but I supposed he was probably the man with abilities closest to those of Class A, after all. I had to acknowledge it.

Ibuki: But...is there any guarantee Katsuragi will keep his promise? He might renege.

Ryuen: I have that covered, of course. He will have no choice but to honor his promise.

I walked toward Horikita and, after carefully wiping my fingerprints from the keycard, stuck it back in her hand. There was nothing this girl could have done. All she could do now was endure and keep silent until the end of the test, all while knowing that Class C had discovered she was the leader.

This girl didn't trust anyone. Even after she knew the keycard had been stolen, she hadn't reported it to her classmates. Even though she'd opened up her heart to (L/N) alone, he was a loner, too. If we factored in her current incompetence, she wasn't any threat.

Besides, if she had the keycard, then her mistake might not have been leaked to Class D yet. I understood her nature, to a certain extent. She was patient and stubborn, the type of person who didn't listen to other people's opinions. In other words, no matter how painful something was, she would endure it silently.

Then we disappeared quietly into the dark woods.

...

(Y/N)'s POV

I kicked off from the wet ground and chased Ibuki. The weather was a bothersome problem. If it got much worse, I might get stuck or have an accident. Also, the fact that the sun was going down earlier than I'd anticipated made it difficult to push forward without a flashlight. The passing showers grew even stronger, and the winds started to howl more violently. The weather was just negative all around, no favorable points at all.