Just Like That, Kamuro Masumi Made Her Decision

"No... This can't be... I was framed!"

Yamauchi Haruki's despairing wail still echoed through the room, but two Student Council members soon came in and escorted him out.

Kazehara Tetsu picked up his phone. "All things considered, I should thank you, President."

"Think nothing of it. I was merely carrying out my duties impartially."

"Well... there's no need to pretend. You clearly saw that something was wrong. Otherwise, you wouldn't have given Kamuro Masumi another chance."

The air in the Student Council Office seemed to freeze.

"Given Kamuro a chance?" Horikita Manabu finally spoke.

"Kagihara, your powers of observation are sharp, but your conclusion is rather subjective. The Student Council's duty is to ascertain the facts and uphold the School Rules. Until a final decision is reached, every party has the right to defend themselves. That isn't a 'chance'; it's due process."

"As for Yamauchi Haruki's punishment,"

He paused, fixing his gaze on Kazehara Tetsu. "He was expelled because his actions struck at the very foundations of This School. Making a false accusation through fabricated evidence is, at its core, an attack on the school system. This is far more serious than simple violence or theft. It must be stamped out with the harshest measures to serve as a warning to others."

His words were logically sound and utterly unassailable. He cast himself as an absolutely impartial arbiter, explaining everything that had happened as a necessary consequence of due process.

The smile never left Kazehara Tetsu's face. He even gave a light round of applause.

"I see. No wonder you're the Student Council President; you really have thought everything through. By elevating the incident to a matter of protecting the school system and responding with an iron fist, you've eliminated an unstable element while establishing the Student Council's authority in front of everyone. Brilliant."

His praise sounded utterly sincere, but every word seemed to expose the true intentions behind Horikita Manabu's lofty speech.

Tachibana Akane looked up and stared at Kazehara Tetsu in surprise.

No one at This School had ever dared to speak to Horikita Manabu in such a teasing tone.

"Perhaps you're more than just a student skilled at debate."

Horikita Manabu's voice remained calm. "Having someone like you in Class A may make things more troublesome than I expected."

"I'm honored to have earned the President's expectations."

Kazehara Tetsu straightened up. "Well, now that this matter has been settled, I won't keep you from your work."

With that, he turned toward the door. Just as his hand reached the doorknob, he paused.

"By the way, if you ever need someone to 'carry out their duties impartially' again, I'd be happy to help. After all, for the honor of Class A, it's only right that an ordinary Class A student like me does his part, don't you think?"

Before Horikita Manabu could answer, he opened the door and walked out, gently closing it behind him.

Silence once again settled over the office.

After a long while, Tachibana Akane finally asked softly, "President, that Kagihara..."

Horikita Manabu leaned back in his chair, his long fingers tapping unconsciously against the desk.

"Tachibana, keep a closer eye on his movements from now on."

At the end of the corridor, a window stood wide open. The cold evening wind poured in, making Kamuro Masumi shiver.

It was all over.

She was safe.

But...

"I thought you'd go find somewhere to hide and cry."

Kamuro Masumi slowly raised her head, fixing her beautiful grayish-purple eyes on Kazehara Tetsu before her.

"...Why... Why couldn't the school find anything on your phone? That video..."

She wasn't stupid.

A seemingly flawless frame-up couldn't possibly have convinced someone like Horikita Manabu to make a final decision to expel Yamauchi just through a few arguments about "signs of editing."

What had finally brought Yamauchi Haruki down was the Technical Department's investigation of Kazehara Tetsu's phone—the astonishingly clean report.

"Kamuro, are you interrogating your savior? That hurts." Kazehara Tetsu dramatically clutched his chest, though his face showed no sign of hurt.

Kamuro Masumi seemed to realize she'd spoken out of turn. She fumbled with her hands in a panic, not knowing what to say.

"Fine. I don't mind telling you."

Seeing Kamuro Masumi's expression, he dropped the joking tone and shrugged.

There was no way he could tell Kamuro Masumi about the hidden account he'd bought from the System Store, but there was a perfectly reasonable way to explain it.

"Remember what Majima-sensei said? At this school, Points can buy anything, as long as you don't damage the school's reputation."

He paused, then continued, "I know someone who works in the Technical Department. We used to go to the same school, so we happen to be in touch. It's not hard to make part of someone's Phone Data 'reasonably' disappear from an official investigation."

"But... do you know how many Points it took to convince my senior to take the risk and do it?"

"Two hundred thousand. I had to beg all sorts of people before I could scrape that together."

"T-two hundred thousand Points?!" Kamuro Masumi cried out.

That was the number of Points the school gave an ordinary student over two months.

For someone he barely knew, someone who'd even been caught stealing?

He was willing to pay such a huge price?

"Are... are you crazy? You spent two hundred thousand Points for me?"

"Who said it was for you?"

A hint of mischief glimmered in Kazehara Tetsu's eyes. "I just spent two hundred thousand Points to bribe a technician who could take care of a problem. What happened to you was just a coincidence."

He paused, then leaned forward, moving closer to Kamuro Masumi until they were less than half a meter apart.

His voice lowered, his warm breath almost brushing against her ear.

"And besides... Kamuro, don't you think some things are more interesting than the Points I spent?"

Kamuro Masumi's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively held her breath.

"After Yamauchi Haruki gave me the video, I watched it over and over and noticed something interesting. His editing was clumsy, and the signs of editing were obvious, but..."

His voice trailed off for a moment.

"...It didn't look like you were acting. Those slight, nervous movements of your hands, the instant your expression relaxed after you'd succeeded... It all looked far too real."

Kamuro Masumi's mind went blank.

He'd known from the very beginning!

He hadn't concluded she was innocent by analyzing the editing in the video.

On the contrary, he'd seen the truth of her crime through that clumsy editing!

"No... I didn't..." She instinctively tried to deny it, but her voice was so faint she could barely hear it herself.

"See? You're getting nervous again."

Kazehara Tetsu reached out and lightly tapped Kamuro Masumi's forehead with his index finger. "I have a bad memory, especially when it comes to trivial things. All I remember is that a Class D student named Yamauchi Haruki was expelled for maliciously framing our Class A classmate."

"As for whether anyone really stole something... who cares? At least in the school's records, you're innocent, aren't you?"

"Now, you're free."

Kazehara Tetsu said no more and turned to leave.

Kamuro Masumi's body stopped trembling.

She lifted her head and looked in the direction Kazehara Tetsu had disappeared. Something in her eyes, once filled with confusion, had quietly changed.

Because from that day on, it seemed her life had found a place to belong.