Dealing with Yamamoto

Yamamoto vanished as if he were a stain wiped away by an eraser.

A few days later, the Precision Electronics Workshop quietly got a new employee: a cheerful, middle-aged woman. The bustle of Commercial Street carried on as usual, as though the greasy clerk with the feverish gaze had never existed. Only Sakura Airi knew that the fear that had clung to her like a shadow had finally eased a little.

Toudou Shizuka received a text from an unfamiliar number. It was so brief that it contained only two words:

"Taken care of."

The sender was unknown, but he knew exactly who it was. Teacher Chabashira had kept her promise—coldly and efficiently.

That evening, the day he received the text, a fine drizzle began to fall. Toudou Shizuka had just finished training at the Sanda Club and was leaving the gym with an umbrella when he spotted a familiar figure. Like a little animal with nowhere to go after getting soaked, she stood uneasily beneath the eaves outside the gym, clutching a familiar waterproof paper bag printed with cartoon rabbits.

It was Sakura Airi. The rain had dampened her bangs, which clung to her oversized black-rimmed glasses, and a small patch near the hem of her loose sweatshirt had darkened with moisture. She kept her head down, her body trembling slightly, whether from the cold or nervousness, he couldn't tell.

When she saw Toudou Shizuka come out, she jerked her head up as if startled. Behind her huge glasses, her eyes, usually filled with unease, now held a faint but genuine brightness he had never seen before.

Summoning all her courage, she shuffled one small step forward. Her voice carried the dampness of the rain and a hint of excitement she could barely contain.

"F-Fuj... Toudou!"

Toudou Shizuka stopped. He tilted his umbrella slightly, shielding her from the rain drifting past the edge of the eaves. Looking at the girl before him, damp all over but with sparkling eyes, he felt the tension in him—the tension from their rooftop confrontation and that suspicious reflection—ease for some inexplicable reason.

"Sakura, what are you doing here in the rain?" His voice was gentler than usual.

"I... I heard that the... the clerk... got fired!" Sakura Airi's voice held a little burst of joy, as though a burden of a thousand pounds had finally been lifted. "Teacher Chabashira... she... she must have found the evidence! I'm so glad!"

She had clearly credited her homeroom teacher's "diligent investigation" and hadn't considered that there might be another reason. After all, teachers were supposed to help students, so it made sense that the problem of a student being harassed had been resolved so quickly.

Looking at her, relieved and sincerely happy, Toudou Shizuka let the words "I did it" turn over once in his throat, but in the end, he didn't say them.

It might be better to let her keep her trust in her teacher and her simple joy. He merely nodded, a gentle smile on his face. "Yeah, I heard too. You can relax now."

"Mm!" Sakura Airi nodded hard. A faint blush appeared on her face, from both excitement and shyness. Carefully, she held out the waterproof paper bag she had been clutching. Her voice trembled with gratitude and a touch of hopeful eagerness. "Th-this... these are some new cookies... and... and this too..."

A little flustered, she took something else out of the bag, carefully tucked inside a clear document sleeve—not cookies, but a printed photograph.

Toudou Shizuka took it. The photo showed a corner of the campus, where an unidentified Wild Grass grew in a crack in an old brick wall against a backdrop of unbroken rain.

Rain washed over its slender stems and leaves, yet at the tip of one blade, a tiny white flower bloomed stubbornly, so small it could easily have been overlooked. The light had been captured beautifully. The gloomy curtain of rain and that fragile yet tenacious sign of life formed a striking contrast, and the composition was simple but filled with a quiet strength.

[Target: Sakura Airi (Status Refreshed)]

Photography (Composition and Light Capture): A-rank (Core Skill, Temporarily Activated!)

Observational Skill (Detail Capture): B-rank (Core Skill, Temporarily Activated!)

Severe Social Phobia: A-rank (Activated, but temporarily suppressed by joy)

Extreme Inferiority Complex: A-rank (Activated)

[Affection: 25 (Grateful) → 35 (Deeply Grateful and Beginning to Trust)] - Deep gratitude for resolving the crisis and joy at being able to share her happiness.

"I... I took it..." Sakura Airi's voice was as quiet as a mosquito's, thick with shyness, as though she were showing him her deepest secret. "I thought... I thought it looked a lot like..." She didn't finish, but Toudou Shizuka understood what she meant. Like her, like that glimmer of light buried beneath fear but still alive.

Toudou Shizuka looked at the photo, then at the girl before him, who had summoned the courage to share her own "glimmer" in the rain. The hard corner of his heart, wrapped in calculation, seemed to crack open a little more. After a few seconds of silence, he carefully put the photo back in its sleeve and accepted the paper bag along with it.

"You took a great photo, Sakura."

His voice was a little lower than usual, carrying a rare note of sincerity. "It really feels alive." It wasn't just politeness; he genuinely admired her A-rank ability to capture details.

Sakura Airi's face grew even redder, and even her oversized glasses couldn't hide the sudden brightness in her eyes. As though she had received the most precious affirmation in the world, she nodded emphatically, the corners of her mouth rising into a shy but utterly genuine smile.

"Th-then I'll go!" It seemed she had used up all her courage. Unable to look at Toudou Shizuka any longer, she turned as if to run out into the rain.

"Wait."

Toudou Shizuka called after her.

He took out his Personal Device, opened a new contact, and held it out. His tone was a little awkward, though he tried not to show it, and he turned his gaze slightly aside. "It's raining pretty hard.

"Let's exchange contact information. Next time... if you want to share a photo, or... well... if something happens again, you can come straight to me."

The gesture was a little "out of character" for him, at odds with the low-profile, invisible persona of "Toudou Shizuka." But when he saw her slight figure turning to dash into the rain, the words "come straight to me" had slipped out before he could stop them.

Sakura Airi froze. She stared blankly at the screen held out to her, then at Toudou Shizuka's face, turned slightly away. Overwhelming delight and disbelief washed over her. Toudou wanted her contact information of his own accord? This... this was like a dream!

Her hand trembling, she practically tapped the screen with her fingertip as she entered her number. Then, as if presenting a treasure, she brought up the QR Code on her own device and let Toudou Shizuka scan it.

[Sakura Airi Affection +10 (A huge increase in trust from proactively establishing a way to stay in touch and offering sincere praise). Current: 45 (Deeply Grateful and Trusting) → Target: 60 (High Trust).]

After they exchanged contact information, Sakura Airi was like a startled but overjoyed little rabbit. She quickly said, "Thank you, Toudou! Goodbye!" and then turned and hurried into the fine curtain of rain, her steps almost light. Toudou Shizuka watched her disappear into the rainy dusk, then lowered his gaze to the newly saved name "Sakura Airi" on his device. He adjusted his glasses, hiding a moment of awkwardness.