Ryosuke and Kira Yoshikage locked eyes, a small marble in Ryosuke's hand spinning slowly.
Kira's smug expression quietly faded away.
Caution appeared in his eyes.
'Really a sharp guy.'
Ryosuke thought as he stopped the golden rotation, putting the marble back into his pocket.
He couldn't make a move yet.
This body was far too frail. Without the aid of Ripple, even if Ryosuke used the method of Lesson-2, Golden Spin to throw the marble and hit Kira Yoshikage's most fragile eyeball dead-on, it still wouldn't be enough to kill him instantly.
The catgrass upstairs was the same principle.
Once Kira Yoshikage sensed a threat to his life, he would inevitably cancel Bites the Dust and summon Killer Queen to attack Ryosuke.
If that happened, then sure, the protagonist group of the original story would have it easy, just come over and beat him up.
But Ryosuke's current trial would end in failure.
In his current state, it was impossible to defeat Killer Queen.
Ryosuke walked to the dining table. The breakfast wasn't anything fancy, bread and fried eggs, a Western-style meal, bland in taste, but he still ate it seriously, one bite at a time.
No matter what he wanted to do, he needed enough stamina to support it.
'What if I think from another angle?'
'The trial didn't specify a time limit. With my experience in Ripple techniques, if I retrain Ripple until I can kill Kira Yoshikage… is that possible?'
Ryosuke thought it over, then slowly shook his head.
'No. First, this body is too small. To train until I can kill Kira Yoshikage would take at least several months.'
'But today, in the original story, the protagonist group will come. If all of them die, then with Kira Yoshikage's nature, he'll never let me go. He'll immediately undo Bites the Dust and kill me.'
'Hide somewhere, wait until training is complete, then return?'
Ryosuke considered it, then denied it again.
With Kira Yoshikage's insidiousness, if he discovered Ryosuke couldn't help him get rid of the protagonist group, he would definitely come up with some other crooked idea.
Killer Queen was hidden within Ryosuke's body. Even if he fled to the ends of the earth, that smug bastard could still come after him.
Ring ring ring~
The phone rang.
Kawajiri Shinobu (Hayato's mother) walked out of the kitchen carrying a teapot. "Hayato, go pick up the phone."
Still lost in thought, Ryosuke didn't react for a moment that "Hayato" meant him.
Kawajiri Shinobu hurried her pace, stumbled, and the teapot in her hands flew forward, about to smash onto the table.
Ryosuke stretched out his hand. The teapot spun once in his palm, then he gently placed it onto the table.
"Don't rush, take it slow." Ryosuke softly reassured her.
Kawajiri Shinobu, who was about to lose her temper, for some reason felt her mood calm at those words. She let out an "Oh" and went back into the kitchen.
On the other side, Kira Yoshikage picked up the phone. After listening for a couple of sentences, he hung up again. His eyes never once left Ryosuke, and his face no longer carried a smile.
———
Ryosuke walked out the door carrying his small school bag.
A large hand dropped from behind, pressing a little yellow hat onto his head.
Kira Yoshikage stared at the side of Ryosuke's face, expecting to see fear, panic, or confusion.
But there was nothing.
Ryosuke just glanced at him and said softly, "Thank you."
"Tha… thank you?"
Kira Yoshikage's smugness disappeared like smoke after hearing that thanks.
Following one step behind Ryosuke, he gently bit his nails.
This "Hayato" was abnormal.
Kira Yoshikage couldn't say exactly where the abnormality lay.
Was it that "thank you" just now? The agility with which he caught the teapot?
'No. Neither.'
Kira Yoshikage thought back.
It was that moment Hayato pushed open the door and walked out of the bedroom.
He remembered the brief exchange of glances between them.
That was absolutely not the gaze a grade-schooler should be able to have.
It wasn't just the calmness and steadiness in the eyes, but what they represented behind them, an overwhelming inner strength pressing down on him.
Kira Yoshikage looked at Hayato's back.
Clearly, just moving a finger would be enough to take the child's life. Yet for some reason, Kira felt that he himself was the one in danger. As if the "Hayato" before him was a demon wearing human skin.
Ryosuke stopped walking.
"We've walked this far. Don't you plan to say something?"
Kira Yoshikage, "..."
Last night before sleeping, he had indeed thought it through, today, when talking to Hayato, he would vent his despair, he would be arrogant and domineering, full of self-importance. But…
Facing the "Hayato" before him now, Kira Yoshikage didn't want to say a single word.
'I knew it wouldn't be that simple. This is what 'extreme' difficulty means.'
Ryosuke let out a faint sigh.
Events that occurred in a Bites the Dust loop would inevitably occur in the next one as well.
In the original story, it was exactly because of this point that in the first loop, Kira arrogantly revealed his ability and name to Hayato.
And then, in the third loop, the same thing happened again, and Josuke and Okuyasu overheard it, thus breaking Bites the Dust.
But this time, Kira Yoshikage didn't want to speak.
"Do I look to you like someone cross-dressing as Tequila Girl, ridiculous?"
"Huh?"
Kira Yoshikage was confused, not understanding what Ryosuke meant.
Ryosuke shook his head, pointing toward a direction.
"You don't need to understand. Do you see that?"
Kira followed Ryosuke's finger.
A red sports car was parked by the roadside. Inside sat a man in a green trench coat, stylish hair and trendy fashion, resting his chin on one hand as he observed passersby, occasionally checking his watch.
'Rohan Kishibe!'
Kira recognized him.
A troublesome, perverted manga artist who loved to sneak photos and peer into people's hearts.
"In my life, there are two things I hate most. One is gambling. The other is drugs."
Ryosuke's calm voice came steadily, neither rushed nor slow.
For no reason, Kira Yoshikage felt his heart stir with unease. Instinctively, he stepped back half a pace.
Ryosuke continued, "But today, I'm going to gamble with you. Gamble on whose 'luck' is stronger."
"And the stakes..."
A spinning marble appeared in Ryosuke's palm.
"Are you, me, and his lives."
This was Ryosuke's "Plan A."
It was already known that Kira Yoshikage had lost Killer Queen's protection. That meant he couldn't defend against attacks from the Golden Spin, only take hits passively.
And once Ryosuke forced Kira into a desperate corner, he would undo Bites the Dust to protect himself.
Thus, the gamble was this,
How long would it take Rohan Kishibe to connect "seeing Hayato attack Kawajiri Kosaku" with investigating Kira Yoshikage, thereby triggering Bites the Dust?
If Rohan's reasoning was too slow, Kira Yoshikage wouldn't be able to withstand Ryosuke's attacks and would undo Bites the Dust first, summoning Killer Queen, then Ryosuke would win.
As long as Killer Queen appeared, Rohan would automatically recognize Ryosuke as an ally and help him, giving Ryosuke a very high chance of survival.
On the other hand, if Bites the Dust succeeded, Rohan Kishibe would die, and time would reset.
Ryosuke said, "So, let's gamble and see whose 'luck' is stronger."
Kira Yoshikage looked at the spinning marble, his face changing in shock, "What?! You're also a Stand user!"
Before the words finished, the marble shot out, hitting Kira Yoshikage squarely in the mouth.
With Ryosuke's own body, that strike would have blown Kira's head apart.
But with Hayato's frail strength, it only shattered half of Kira's front tooth.
He let out a cry of pain.
The tooth, along with his scream, flew out and clattered onto the ground, catching the attention of Rohan Kishibe.
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