It was late at night.
Not long ago, Tennoji Kaede had personally devised a plan and easily obtained hard evidence of Kamiki Ansei's crimes.
After drawing him away, Hiyori had also searched the Digital Store where Kamiki worked and uncovered the tools he'd used in his other illegal activities.
Next, Kaede had forced Kamiki Ansei to sign an unfair agreement requiring him to compensate her for every last point. Kaede's casual notion of earning a million points each month had unexpectedly come true once again.
Finally, Ibuki and Hiyori had contacted someone from the Student Council to handle the aftermath.
Some of the evidence was real and some was fake, but there was so much real evidence that it was more than enough to get Kamiki kicked out of the school and sent to prison.
At a small plaza in a park, Kaede spun a voice recorder around his fingers and waited quietly.
It was the recorder he'd taken from Kushida. It also contained a collection of the apologies she'd made afterward, when Kaede and Ryuen had run into Sakura last time.
Kaede had lent it to Ibuki earlier, so she could use it as a disguise.
The recorder that had been sent for repairs, meanwhile, was one Kaede had bought on the spot after receiving a mission from Hiyori, the Queen.
Kaede had deliberately broken it, making it one of the pieces of evidence in this little drama.
He'd already handed it over to the Student Council. Just as he'd expected, a tracking device had been installed inside.
"Phew... Um, Tennoji, sorry to keep you waiting!"
Kaede stopped spinning the recorder. The person he'd been waiting for had arrived.
Sakura Airi looked as though she'd run all the way here. She was now panting for breath.
Her cheeks were flushed, and she wore a light summer outfit. Her bust was as ample as ever, but Kaede didn't let his gaze linger there impolitely.
"Thank you for your help, Tennoji. And you too, Hiyori and Mio."
Sakura already knew that the obsessive fan who'd been harassing her ever since she enrolled had been caught by the students from Class C standing before her.
She still didn't know the specific details, but there were a few streaks of bright red in Tennoji's hair.
Sakura, who paid attention to her appearance, knew those couldn't have been put there just for decoration...
"Before I came here, I went to the Student Council to see him..." Sakura said with a shamefaced look.
"Hmm?" Kaede was genuinely surprised. "I don't remember asking Ibuki to tell you to go."
"...You wanted to see him yourself?" Could it have been Little Hiyori?
"Yeah, I suppose you could say that." Sakura nodded, then shook her head.
After receiving Hiyori's message, she'd been unable to shake the urge to look at that scumbag one more time.
So she went. The result had left her sad, disappointed, and furious...
"Shizuku, you shouldn't have gone to see that." Kaede started spinning the recorder again.
This was something he truly hadn't expected.
Kaede's original intention had been to resolve this insignificant little incident quietly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have secretly recorded Sakura's voice in advance as part of his disguise plan, just in case.
Sakura smiled, her expression hard to read. "So you recognized me back then, didn't you, Tennoji?"
Kaede nodded, then turned and bowed to her, leaving her stunned and confused.
"I'm sorry."
"Actually, I recognized that Sakura was 'Shizuku' even before I checked the cameras."
"Not only that, when Ryuen suddenly invited me to meet him that day, I brought a voice recorder for protection."
"When I realized Shizuku had been eavesdropping on our conversation, I recorded all your screams and cries in advance and kept a backup, in case I needed them someday."
"I also told Hiyori and Mio Shizuku's real identity before meeting them at the KTV that day."
"But I think they chose to befriend you only after they'd genuinely gotten to know who Sakura Airi was. That had nothing to do with me."
"And today, I solved the problem of the person harassing you with their help, but I'd planned to keep it a secret from you."
"I'm sorry."
After finishing his confession, Kaede waited for Sakura's response.
To him, the reasons for everything he'd done for Sakura were actually quite simple.
Sakura Airi looked up at Kaede and asked in a trembling voice, "Why... have you done so much for me?"
"Because... you're the idol I support, Sakura Airi."
Huh? Me? An idol?
Kaede shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed himself. "Those pictures Shizuku took were pretty good, after all."
"And aren't all the things I did just little things a normal friend and a normal fan should do?"
A night breeze lifted Sakura's hair, revealing the full beauty that made her a perfect model.
Even with the seal of her glasses still in place, what difference did it make?
Sakura Airi was speechless.
Friend... Fan...
Were Hiyori and Mio her friends?
She thought they were.
Were Kamiki Ansei and Tennoji Kaede her fans?
She thought they were too.
Their actions had some things in common, but the feelings they'd put into them were completely different.
Then... could Shizuku be her friend and fan?
Could Shizuku be Sakura Airi's friend and fan?
Maybe... she could...
Sakura Airi's tangled thoughts began to churn...
"Sakura, it's time to reward me with some merch for being such a loyal fan~"
A... reward?
"Eh? But I don't have anything on me right now..." She looked a little flustered.
Kaede pointed to the bridge of his nose, then held out his hand.
"Those decorative glasses would be perfect. But just so you know, if you give them to me, I'm not giving them back~"
A smile appeared on Sakura Airi's face. For the first time in front of someone else, she took off her pink glasses.
She placed them in Tennoji Kaede's hand.
Stars shone in Sakura Airi's eyes, set in her youthful, pale face.
"Thank you, Tennoji Kaede."
This time, Airi bowed to him.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me. I've figured it out."
"I'm neither Shizuku nor that shy Sakura."
"From now on, I'm Sakura Airi!"
"I'm going to become a School Idol!"
Kaede thought, That could really work...
From now on, Shizuku and Sakura would become one.
Tennoji Kaede raised his other hand. "I'm looking forward to that day. If you don't mind, you can join my group, the Tennoji Group."
Sakura Airi gave his hand a light shake, then let go.
"A group named after you, Tennoji? Then what about the other members...?"
Just as Sakura was about to agree, Kaede pointed behind her.
"They're already here."
Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio ran over. They'd probably finished handling things with the Student Council.
Ibuki said, "You two seem kind of suspicious~"
Hiyori said, "I think Airi looks great without her glasses. No wonder she's such a top model."
"No, I'm not really a top model..."
Kaede mused to himself nearby. She really is big... Very big, right?
As they chatted afterward, Kaede showed off his fan gift to Ibuki.
"Huh? That's not fair! I nearly sacrificed myself for Airi today! And Tennoji just lay there sleeping, didn't he?"
Ibuki complained, "Airi, give me one too!"
Hiyori raised a slender, pale arm. "Honestly, Airi, I want one too~"
Sakura found being an idol surprisingly difficult, but an idea struck her based on what had just happened.
She tilted her head and gave it a flick, undoing the hair ties that held her twin tails in place. Her long black hair fell like a waterfall.
"This is all I have right now. If you don't mind... Hiyori, Mio, would one each be okay?"
Ibuki and Hiyori happily accepted the hair ties. Then the three of them giggled and started playing with each other's hair.
Tennoji Kaede watched silently from behind them, moved by the sight...
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