Chapter Text
Ayanokoji could count the handful of times he’d lost his composure on one hand. As in truly allowing his carefully crafted demeanor to slip or crack. He did not take into account the many times he’d faked an emotion so he got the interaction he wanted. Sure he might’ve hit Ryuuen harder then necessary, he might’ve been crueler to Chabashira-sensei then necessary or colder to Karuizawa then necessary, but it’s not like he cared too much. His point got across either way and as long as he won in the end, nothing or no one in between mattered. Or That’s what Ayanokoji at least assumed he would’ve said before, yet his time in class 1-D had begun to shift his views by a fraction at a time. Members of the Ayanokoji group had started getting to him more then he cared to admit. Although he still did not consider them friends as they thought he did, but as something in between, perhaps the first people to achieve this. His temporary alignment with both Horikita the younger and Karuizawa proved to be an inconvenience for him, and friendship between either parties was inconceivable. Working with Horikita and Karuizawa painted a target on his back for Ryuuen, Kushida and by extension Sakayanagi. It truly was quite the big mess he’d found himself in, but now with Chabashira-sensei off his back, he could afford to let his class fall and return to his ‘normal’ highschool life. In the process he could wipe his presence from the scope of the other classes. Maybe if he was lucky enough he could further befriend everyone inside the Ayanokoji group. Speaking of the Ayanokoji group, he noticed he’d gotten a few messages from their group chat.
Airi: Kiyotaka-kun why did you get called to the faculty office? I-is everything o-ok?
Haruka: Yeah Kiyopon, you been naughty? シ
Ayanokoji thought for a moment before deciding to play the whole thing off as a joke.
Kiyotaka: I was caught smoking.
Airi: w-w-what???
Akito: Wait seriously?
Keisei: Stop joking around Kiyotaka, is there a real reason?
Airi: o-oh, it was a joke…
Keisei: I’m more concerned that you thought it was real, honestly.
Akito: I mean in actuality we don’t know very much on Kiyotaka?
Ayanokoji felt himself tense up at the seemingly harmless observation and waited for further replies before deciding to reply.
Keisei:..
Airi:..
Haruka:..
Kiyotaka: really now? I’m right here.
Keisei: well, whatever, it’s up to him, let’s not bother him about it.
Haruka: Kiypoooooooooon〜! Tell us about yourseeeeeeelf〜!😢
Kiyotaka: I’m leaving.
Ayanokoji did not bother to read the rest of the messages that were sent after that. He continued down the undecorated grey hallway with a few classroom doors to his right side. His interaction with his ‘parental figure’ had taken the whole afternoon and thus he was relieved from attending any other classes. The others should be finishing up as well. Ayanokoji stopped in the middle of the now fully glass filled hallway. He could see the campus from the large windows and he found himself spacing out at the notion.
“Whether you’re allowed to live or die is also for me to decide.” The words spoken by his ‘father’ had angered him more than he thought originally. For the rest of their interaction he’d taken advantage of that weakness Ayanokoji had shown. There was nothing he could hide from his ‘father’, Ayanokoji had known this before entering the forsaken room, but all things considered, the interaction had gone quite well. Ayanokoji had managed to make his ‘father’ lose his temper while remaining mostly calm himself.
“This school has changed you Kiyotaka.” Ayanokoji had almost smiled at that, almost. He knew it angered his ‘father’ to no end how slowly his hard work on making Ayanokoji ‘perfect’ was being wasted. But what use was it being perfect if you weren’t free?
“One way or another you will drop out.” His ‘father’ had threatened. He will try, and he will not win this time. Ayanokoji would make sure of that, he could not afford to not care anymore.
“It’s rare seeing you space out like this Ayanokoji.”
“I don’t think so.” Ayanokoji gave a casual response and turned to face the ever imposing student council president. “Horikita-san.” He added as an afterthought.
“I highly doubt that.” Horikita-san fixed his glasses and the lenses briefly flared blocking eye contact between them. Ayanokoji set his hand into his pocket as he met the icy stare with his own level gaze.
“Did you need something?” Ayanokoji asked in a disinterested tone which did not go unmissed by the older Horikita.
“Not yet.” Horikita-san admitted with a flat tone. “You of all people should know when I do.” Still nothing betrayed in Horikita-san’s tone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ayanokoji shrugged him off and turned to start walking back to his dorm.
“Few do.” Horikita-san paused before adding with a nasty smirk. “Count yourself one of the few who do.” he left at that and Ayanokoji found himself being bothered by the statement. The arrogance his tone had taken was truly irksome. Horikita-san had known that what he had said would frustrate Ayanokoji.
With a longer sigh then he had intended Ayanokoji continued his trek back to his dorm. He needed rest to fix his slipping composure, even when his ‘father’ wasn’t here he still managed to affect Ayanokoji’s life negatively. As he continued his walk while thinking on past events he noticed the younger Horikita now. She was at the bench reading one of her books that she always reads during break times.
“What even is that expression on your face Ayanokoji.” Horikita asked with a hostile and distasteful tone.
“It’s called ‘I don’t want to talk to you right now’, you heard of it?” Ayanokoji replied coldly with an expression of indifference. He really did not want to be roped into doing anything more for Horikita, he would not be responsible for any harm that would come to her if she tried.
“Yes, it’s the one I wear 90% of the time I spend with you.” She remarked but did not close her novel.
“We agree on something for once then.” Ayanokoji continued walking past her and she made no attempt to talk to him further. He was grateful for that, she was the last person he wanted to have to deal with at the moment. Ayanokoji prayed no one else would want to talk to him before tomorrow.
Of course his prayers would not be answered as he saw Keisei leaning against the wall next to his door. It was obvious that he’d been waiting for Ayanokoji to come back.
“Was there something you needed Keisei?” Ayanokoji asked passively and the sound of his voice perked up Keisei as he stood up from his leaning.
“I’ve ignored it long enough now.” Keisei declared with a firm tone as he stared down Ayanokoji.
“Ignored what?” They both knew what he was referring to but Ayanokoji feigned confusion in hopes of getting Keisei to drop his case. Ayanokoji did not want to mend their possibility for a friendship so he’d have to be careful with what he said.
“You.” It sounded quite intimidating when Keisei worded it off that way, Ayanokoji had to get Keisei to drop this somehow.
“What about me?” Ayanokoji asked slowly looking for anything to exploit.
“You’re the mysterious ‘X’ that Ryuuen was looking for, aren’t you?” Keisei sounded very sure of himself, someone had told him and confirmed his suspicions then, Ayanokoji noted. This could be a serious problem, this kind of information in the wrong hands would not do well for Ayanokoji.
“Me?” Ayanokoji gave off a vibe of disbelief to hopefully throw off Keisei. Keisei’s frown deepened as Ayanokoji kept denying the allegations against him.
“Why don’t we go somewhere else.” Keisei gestured to Ayanokoji’s dorm room. “Unless you want to run the risk of me exposing you to someone else as well?” Ayanokoji narrowed his eyes slightly at the veiled threat. It wasn’t a threat per say, but a problem nonetheless. Ayanokoji could get Keisei to leave with a few nasty words about his mother, that would in turn make sure Keisei left him alone for good, it would also sever their friendship. It should be an ideal solution for Ayanokoji but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Losing Keisei’s and possibly the rest of Ayanokoji group’s friendships wasn’t what he wanted. “This school has changed you Kiyotaka.” the words rang through his head as he admitted defeat where he could’ve won.
Ayanokoji opened the uninteresting brown door and gestured with his hand for Keisei to go inside. Keisei seemed surprised by the compliance of Ayanokoji but shuffled inside regardless. Ayanokoji gave both sides of the hallway a glance before closing the door to make sure no one saw anything.
Ayanokoji leaned against his desk while crossing his arms while Keisei took a seat on the floor next to his bed. Now that they were inside Ayanokoji’s room he noticed Keisei had gotten slightly nervous.
“Do keep going.” Ayanokoji told Keisei coolly. When Keisei seemed to be reeling Ayanokoji continued. “About your theories, I would very much like to hear them.” Keisei gathered his courage once more and nodded.
“You revealed your hand to me quite a few times.” Keisei noted. “First time I started noticing was when you ran that race beating Horikita-senpai, then after you practically helped carry me back to our lodge during the camp, then after you helped with tutoring, then you were gone the time Ayanokoji group got together and we’d suddenly won the paper shuffle.” Keisei pointed out the major times Ayanokoji had seemed suspicious. “You always hung around Horikita a lot, and miracles for our class would happen when you did.” There was a pause. “You’ve attracted the attention of Horikita-senpai and other third years.” Another pause for considering his next words. “Your academic ability doesn’t make sense either, you say you’re average, but that problem that I asked you to solve was not solved using average theorems, yet you somehow could not solve the easier one after that?” Keisei gave a pointed look his way. “No, that’s not how academic ability works, it’s the signs of someone holding back.” Ayanokoji shifted to get more comfortable. “Then finally I heard Karuizawa talking to herself about you ‘saving’ her from Ryuuen. I know for a fact that Ryuuen called out X by using Karuizawa, and if you were the one there, then that makes you ‘X’. The mysterious source of Class 1-D’s victories.”
“Why tell me all of this now?” Ayanokoji shifted his gaze away from Keisei and instead faced his window. “As you’d worded it, ‘you couldn’t ignore it anymore’, so why choose now?”
“After my chat with Akito, it started to bother me that I knew practically nothing about you, and I knew why I didn’t as well. You like keeping people at arm's length, don’t you Kiyotaka?” Keisei’s voice was not accusatory.
Ayanokoji hummed in acknowledgement and chanced a brief glance at Keisei, the other’s expression was troubled and awkward.
“I will not stand for that, either we become friends or we cut ties completely.” Don’t act like my mother, went unsaid between the two of them.
“You came here to deal me an ultimatum?” Ayanokoji questioned while buying himself some time to think on it. Ayanokoji really did not want to cut ties after the effort he’d gone through to ensure their friendship.
“Well?” Keisei’s voice was sharp and left no room to bargain.
“Before I do answer, Keisei, what do you consider to be a friend?” Ayanokoji was genuinely curious but he also needed to know what he was getting himself into. Keisei thought for a minute.
“A friend is someone who you can confide in, someone who you trust and support, someone you can be natural with.” Keisei offered a rare smile. “While they may not walk the same path, they’re still with you and later someone who you might have to let go so they can be free but at the same time not forget them or their actions.” It sounded hopelessly idealistic but it tranced Ayanokoji all the same. Someone who could be an asset and at the same time not ruin his freedom?
“Then, in our terms, what would that entail?” Ayanokoji asked hesitantly with a hint of trepidation.
“First of all, I’d rather not keep secrets of this magnitude, between us or the group.” Keisei shrugged.
“You want me to tell everyone else as well?” Ayanokoji hardened his stare, there was no way. Even if it was four people, that was still four people too much.
“It’s not exactly fair to them.” Keisei stated.
“As society stands right now, nothing is truly fair.” Ayanokoji stood up from leaning against the desk. Keisei huffed and straightened his glasses.
“Fine then, is it also too much to ask for you to trust me?”
“That depends on what you intend on doing with anything I tell you.” Ayanokoji took on an intimidating tone. “Although I assure you, blackmailing me is the last thing you want to do.”
“No, I don’t intend on crossing you, not after seeing your...work on people like Ryuuen.” Keisei admitted with a downcast gaze. “I won’t try to force you to do anything you don’t want to either.” Ayanokoji nodded his head in acknowledgement once more. “You won’t catch me saying this again. But I asked for trust merely in the interest of mutual friendship, no strings attached. I’ve come to hold a degree of respect for you.” Keisei shifted awkwardly.
Ayanokoji held out his hand for a handshake and Keisei’s eyes widened a bit before his features settled for a half smile. He accepted the handshake.
“To friendship then, Kiyotaka-kun?” Keisei-kun asked and Ayanokoji nodded in confirmation. Shortly after Keisei-kun left his room and Ayanokoji flopped onto the bed, it had been way too long of a day for him. At least he managed to make a friend or the beginnings of one.
--
The next morning Ayanokoji woke up about five minutes before his alarm clock. He sat up on his small bed and turned off the alarm clock before it could go off. He sat there facing his desk and thinking for a bit before getting ready to put on his uniform for another school day.
Once he finished he picked up the few books from the desk and put them in his bag. He checked his bag once more to make sure everything was there and then changed into his outdoor shoes. Once Ayanokoji closed the door to his room he noticed Keisei was once again leaning to the side.
“You take forever to get ready.” Keisei pointed out with disdain.
“Are you going to make you waiting there a habit?” Ayanokoji ignored the jab Keisei had made on him earlier
“Depends on if you keep taking that long.” He answered. They both started walking towards the elevators to get to the first floor. Ayanokoji’s room was not very far from the elevators, as they only walked down one hallway and then turned one corner. The elevator had others in it and they unfortunately got stuck being with Yamauchi and Ike.
“Heya, did you two see the new update on this?” Ike held out a booklet of the opposite sex shown in more exposing manners. Keisei-kun did not even try to hide his obvious revulsion to such topics.
“What’s the matter Yukimura? Too pansy for these things?” Yamauchi teased and they giggled to each other.
“Oh I’m sorry for not being so repugnant, I actually have standards unlike you two.” Keisei-kun countered still with a great look of distaste. Ayanokoji watched the exchange with little amusement as it looked like things might escalate.
“What did you say?!” Ike glared at Keisei-kun who did not flinch nor make a move to take back what he said.
Just as tensions were running high Ayanokoji heard the ding for them arriving on the right floor. Ike and Yamauchi were about to do something else. Keisei-kun would not fair well in a fight, he was not physically very able.
“That’s our floor.” Ayanokoji cut off all three of them and grabbed a hold of Keisei-kun’s arm before pulling him out of the elevator and into the lobby where he lets go of the arm.
“Thanks.” Keisei-kun says quietly.
“O-oh, Keisei and K-Kiyotaka…” Airi looks surprised to see them and blushes in embarrassment.
“Good morning Airi.” Ayanokoji greets.
“Yes, Good morning Airi.” Keisei-kun echoes. She blushes a bit deeper and also bids them a good morning. They all begin walking towards the school so that none of them would be late. They didn’t talk much during the walk. On the way however, Horikita the younger gave Ayanokoji a questioning look. He offered her no response and they walked past her.
The classes were mostly uneventful except for the math class that was the last one before lunch break. They were learning pre-calculus and some trigonometry, Ike and Yamauchi seemed to be struggling. Sudo had improved greatly and wrote down the notes into his notebook. His effort to try and impress his crush Horikita was truly something admirable. Akito and Haruka wrote down some notes but mostly looked exasperated by the knowledge. Airi was quietly trying to understand all the material but she seemed to be doing fine. Keisei-kun and Horikita also seemed quite fine with all the material.
“I have an announcement to make in terms of your mathematical studies.” Chabashira-sensei got everyone’s attention and she smiled wickedly as if enjoying their internal suffering. “Instead of your usual testing in finals, your math examination will be held next week.” The class exploded into conversation and worried murmurs.
“Sensei!” Ike sounded scandaled. “You’re not serious are you?? What’s even the point in this?”
“I’m so glad you asked Ike.” Her smile widened, it almost looked predatory. “I’m sure you’re all aware of last night cramming? Well, this pop test is to see which ones of you have been listening and which ones of you are relying on cramming at the last second.” She took a glance at the clock on the wall. “The subject material will be on the last five chapters, that will be all, class dismissed.”
“Ayanokoji please help us!” Ike and Yamauchi came to him suddenly as he was packing.
“Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you be talking to Horikita, she’s our class leader after all, not to mention I think she’s holding a study group anyway. Hirata is also holding one like usual.” Ayanokoji looked off to the side feeling just as uncomfortable as he probably looked.
“Horikita-san’s so scary…” Yamauchi shivered as he spoke. “And aren’t you doing a study group of your own?”
“It’s a closed group, no idiots allowed.” Keisei-kun had come up behind him at some point.
“Not to mention, I don’t think my rep can handle having you guys in the same room as me.” Haruka spoke from Ayanokoji’s other side. “I can’t promise Miyatchi wouldn’t beat you guys up either.” She teased Akito who was next to her.
“Normally I’d tell you to stop being annoying Haruka but even I agree with you this time.” Akito looked disdained by Ike and Yamauchi. Ike and Yamauchi cast a hopeful look towards Airi now.
“I...well….” She seemed to be looking for the right words to turn them down without being too rude. Ayanokoji blocked their view from Airi who then clung to him.
“You’ve heard our verdict, now we need to go.” Ayanokoji interjected and starting walking out with Airi still clung to him and the rest following suit. They had to start getting prepared for the test and lunch period was a good place to start.
The lunch room was packed to the brim as usual. With students everywhere and chatting up each other the noise was unbearable. Studying here wouldn’t be very efficient.
“Let’s head to the library.” Keisei-kun suggested and nobody had any objections to the suggestion.
The library was much quieter and they settled for a table in the back. It was generally a rule for first years to have to sit at the back while the third years took up the front. Not to mention D-class students were looked down on as well. Everyone scrambled to get their books out so they could discuss the basics and whatnot. Once everyone had their book on the table a silence settled between them, and before long everyone looked at Keisei-kun.
“Why is everyone looking at me?” He asked after noticing.
“Well...Yukimu you are the smartest person in our class…” Keisei-kun glanced at Ayanokoji who in turned shook his head. “...so we just figured you’d start with something smart…” Haruka said casually and everyone nodded in unison.
“That doesn’t even make any sense.” He declared but caved in after more silence. “We know the chapters are 1-5 and those are trigonometry. We’re only really studying Sine, Cosine and Tangent. So as long as you know those, all you have to do is add algebra to a few of the questions.” He wasn’t very good at teaching but everyone seemed to understand all the same.
Ayanokoji browsed through the questions and none of them seemed particularly challenging. He couldn’t say the same for anyone else except Keisei-kun and maybe Airi. There was a small snap as Keisei accidentally broke his pencil while writing the answers.
“Kiyotaka-kun can I borrow a spare pencil?” He asked afterwards as the only other guy in the group was too far to hand him one. Ayanokoji slid a pencil to him from where he was sitting.
“Oaooooh, when did Kiyopon and Yukimu get to honorifics〜?” Haruka lifted her gaze from the math book to the two of them.
“Shut up and study, that’s what we’re here for.” Keisei-kun glowered in her direction.
“You’re always so mean to me Yukimu ☹️.” She feigned a hurt expression but returned to her book after being ignored. Airi started getting good progress on her work and she looked pleased with herself. Akito and Haruka were a bit slower and talked amongst each other every now and then. At one point they asked Keisei-kun for help and he showed them the correct X-function to pair with the Sine formula.
They had another good fifteen minutes when Ayanokoji noticed Keisei-kun struggling with one of the problems. Ayanokoji took a look at the problem himself and it did look like something that would be difficult to finish. The difficult part was figuring out which function to use and for Ayanokoji that was simple enough to figure out. Ripping out a piece of his notebook he wrote it down and slid it to Keisei-kun. Keisei-Kun gave an inquisitive glance towards Ayanokoji before looking at the note with realization dawning on him. He then started on finishing the problem
“So how come you never really do any of the math problems Kiyotaka?” Akito broke the silence after seemingly finishing with his own work.
“I do, I’m just a bit lazier at it.” Ayanokoji responded evenly.
“You know Miyatchi is right, I never see you do any.” She seemed to realize and also gave him a curious look.
“M-maybe he doesn’t n-need to…” Airi added after finishing one of her problems as well.
“Or maybe he can’t because you guys keep distracting him with all this chatting.” Keisei-kun lifted his own annoyed gaze at being interrupted by them again. “Just like you’re distracting me.”
“Sheesh Yukimu, chill.” Haruka brushed him off. “We still have a week.” Keisei-kun gave up on finishing whatever he was trying to complete when he closed his book at that.
“Ayanokoji!” Came a cheerful voice from somewhere behind him, he turned around and saw Ichinose-san. She happily comes over to them.
“Oh, studying for that math exam next week? Isn’t it just the worst?” Ichinose-san dramaticized.
“I know right!” Haruka exclaimed sounding frustrated. Akito and keisei-kun look very uncomfortable by the sheer amount of girls there.
“So Ayanokoji, finally mustered the courage to ask me out?” Ichinose-san giggles at Ayanokoji when he averts his eyes from her.
“You’re so cruel Ichinose-san.” He closes his eyes to add extra effect.
“Stop teasing Kiyopon Ichinose-san!” Haruka cuts in and a playfight starts between the two.
“Y-yeah…” Airi’s voice goes unheard by the two however.
“Thank you for your help before Ayanokoji.” A quieter voice comes from his left and he turns to meet the student council secretary Tachibana-san. She bows her head in respect and Ayanokoji does the same while accepting her ‘thank you’.
“Oh shoot! The bell’s going to ring soon!” Ichinose-san sees the time and says her goodbyes as she runs out. Akito and Keisei-kun leave as well and Ayanokoji joins them with Airi and Haruka trailing a bit behind.
They all arrive into class a few minutes before the bell and the teacher arrived. The next few classes were Social Studies, History, English and then Japanese for the final period. The classes passed by in a flash as Ayanokoji stared out the window at the birds flying around. As the final bell rang, everyone was ready to go home.
“Kiyotaka-kun!” Came the cheerful voice of Kei-chan as she ran up to him. He wondered what she needed from him this time.
“Hello.” He simply said, which in hindsight sounded really stupid to him. What was with everyone surprising him today anyway? Kei-chan seemed as impatient as always.
“Soooo...how about, you and me, go to a cafe?” She asked and Airi who was two seats behind him flinched. On one hand, Ayanokoji could go and maybe learn something useful, but on the other he could simply go home and get some rest.
“Come on, you know you want to do it.” She insisted and knowing her she wouldn’t let him not come either. Ayanokoji reluctantly agreed to go, and he said bye to the Ayanokoji group. For some reason Airi looked much more distraught than usual.
Kei-chan went on about all the clothing she had bought and frankly Ayanokoji had tuned her out for most of it. Clothing and whatnot did not interest him very much.
“Having someone like you helping me with shopping would be useful.” She remarks and Ayanokoji internally cringes at the mere thought.
“How about I don’t.” He suggested with his ever passive tone despite being so rattled by her.
There was a table available as the two sat down and Kei-chan left to get them drinks from the counter. Just as she did leave Horikita walked up to him.
“Oh look, what a coincidence, you’re here too.” Horikita said with mock surprise and Ayanokoji wanted to practically bang his head against the table for falling for this.
“You really do hold quite the grudge.” He said instead of doing anything rash.
“It’s quite annoying isn’t it?” Ayanokoji could not help but agree with her, now that he was in her shoes. It didn’t make the situation any better though. Not to mention that if she was here to talk with him then it meant nothing good in the first place. He once again considered banging his head on the table, but managed to convince himself not to.
“What do you want?” He might as well get to the point instead of stretching the interaction out. “I have already made it quite clear that I no longer hold any obligations for helping this class rise to a higher one.”
“I really do hope you reconsider that someday.” Horikita sipped her own drink deep in thought. “Fret not, I don’t need you to do anything. I only need the average from your study group.” Ayanokoji wondered why she needed one so soon, the test wasn’t in another week. Nonetheless she pressed the issue saying she needed and after that she’d leave him alone.
“It’s somewhere about 71 points.” He told her and she wrote it down in her notebook which she then excused herself from the table and left.
“Here’s your drink, on my tab since I tricked you.” Kei-chan winked and gave him the beverage and he took it. A small silence was between them as they sipped their drinks.
“Do you know about Yosuke?” She asks after awhile, and oddity of the question causes Ayanokoji to glance at her.
“Yes.” He was in fact aware of Hirata’s past situation. Quite unfortunate as it could’ve been avoided, but Ayanokoji could hardly say anything, he let one of his friends suffer at his own hands, and he felt no remorse either.
“You know at first it made me kinda hate him.” She chuckles bitterly while sipping her drink.
“Not surprising.” He responded after a bit. They stayed silent for the rest of the time at the cafe. The topic had put a damper on her mood which made him wonder why she chose it in the first place. He finished his drink first and bid her goodbye.
The cool evening fresh air was a bit relaxing as he made his way back to his dorm. The trees moved with the wind and one of the streetlamps was flickering. It set a slightly eerie tone to the otherwise quiet walkway. Ayanokoji kept his steady walking pace as the dorm slowly came into view.
Once he made it to the elevator he noticed Kushida coming out of it. She did not even make an effort to try and hide her hatred for him. He paid her no mind as he entered the elevator and pressed the button to get to his floor. The ding for his floor was heard and he got out of the elevator.
The walk to his room was not any longer than last time and he closed his door as he settled in. He left his bag on the floor and pulled out the laptop that he’d purchased for himself at the start of the year. Now all he had to do was figure out everyone’s plans. Just because he didn’t participate in any of them didn’t mean he didn’t need to know what everyone was scheming. It certainly made avoiding them much easier, and Ayanokoji would not be beaten by anyone.