Thanks...

Kazehara Tetsu had just closed his eyes, ready to enjoy the morning hot spring, when he heard a voice beside him.

"You came for a soak too."

Kazehara Tetsu opened his eyes and turned his head.

Across from him, a boy in a gray yukata was soaking in the water.

His black hair clung wetly to his forehead. Leaning against the edge of the pool, he looked at him with an indifferent expression.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"You're here too."

"I came early today."

"..."

The two fell silent for a while.

At some point, the guests taking an early bath in the other pools had already left. The entire outdoor bath was now occupied by only the two of them.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was the first to speak.

"You were the one pulling strings behind the Cultural Festival incident."

It was not a question, but a statement.

Kazehara Tetsu leaned against another rock not far from him. Hearing that, he did not even lift his eyelids.

"Why are you dragging me into this again? You were the one who tricked Yagami Takuya into going to the Student Council Office, weren't you? You made him think he had a chance to force your Expulsion, gave him a time, then gave him a path and let him walk it himself. You made that move from beginning to end."

"Don't pretend you don't know."

Ayanokoji turned his head and glanced at him. "If you really didn't want Yagami Takuya expelled, you wouldn't have given me that lead."

"What lead?"

"The lead that let me contact Nagumo Miyabi."

Ayanokoji said, "Give someone like Yagami an opportunity, and he'll think he seized it himself. Once I passed him the message, he was bound to run over there on his own. You know that better than I do."