Mysterious Phone Call

Looking at Horikita Suzune before her, the image of Sakurako surfaced in Yuki's mind.

In the corners where she couldn't see, had Sakurako also once denied herself, doubted herself, or even resented the sister who stole away their parents' affection?

"Horikita Suzune, what is it that you actually want to do?"

Tsubaki Yuki paused, pulled a pack of tissues from her pocket, and handed them to Horikita Suzune.

Horikita Suzune took the tissues; she hadn't even noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You really love your sister."

"Yes. That's why I won't allow anyone to speak ill of her. Including herself."

"Tsubaki-san," she said, head lowered, her voice still thick with nasal congestion, "thank you."

"Don't thank me." Tsubaki Yuki leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest again. "I just thought you looked pathetic just now. At least in the classroom, you can manage an expression that looks down on everyone; that's much easier on the eyes."

Horikita Suzune looked up, her red, swollen eyes glaring at Tsubaki Yuki, but deep within them, something was beginning to grow again.

"Tsubaki-san, I want to reach Class A. But this time, it's not to gain my brother's approval. It's for self-transcendence. I will make reaching Class A my goal for these three years, and I will spend these three years in a way that I won't regret!"

"Well... good luck then." Seeing that her mental state had largely recovered, Tsubaki Yuki was finally surprised that she had just said so much.

"It was truly lucky to run into Tsubaki-san tonight." Horikita Suzune smiled.

It was the first time Yuki had seen her smile, and she couldn't help but show an expression of surprise, as if she were looking at a rare animal in a zoo.

"Tsubaki-san, would you like to work hard together? Let's reach Class A together."

"I'll pass. But I will be watching your efforts. If there's anything that isn't too much trouble, maybe I'll lend a hand."

Tsubaki Yuki didn't want to get involved in the business of moving up classes. Rather than considering how to lead Class D to Class A, it was more realistic to think about saving up 20 million points for herself.

Besides, Amasawa Yuto was in Class A. No matter how she looked at it, she didn't feel like she could win. Even if she participated with all her might, she couldn't sense a single possibility of beating Amasawa Yuto.

"Anyway, seeing as you're fine, I'll be heading back." Yuki had just received a message from Amasawa Yuto telling her to go back on her own, as he had some things to take care of.

Because she had just been reminiscing about Sakurako, Yuki felt a bit agitated; she might need to take an extra dose of her medication today.

Night fell.

By the artificial lake near the dormitory building, a breeze carried a hint of chill.

Amasawa Yuto stood alone by the lakeside.

He had just confirmed that there was no one else around; after all, it was already 23:58.

Amasawa Yuto recalled his brief exchange with Horikita Manabu.

Horikita Manabu was definitely a trained fighter, but his skill level was still a notch below the martial arts instructors Amasawa Yuto had grown tired of beating back in the White Room.

However, there was the matter of the phone that had fallen to the ground during their scuffle.

When Amasawa Yuto picked his phone up off the floor, his attention wasn't on the cracks in the screen.

It was on the notification displayed there.

One was, of course, a transfer notification from Horikita Manabu.

But instead of the one million he had mentioned, he had transferred the two million Amasawa Yuto had demanded.

Amasawa Yuto immediately understood his intent; the matter he wanted to discuss was not something suitable for Morishita Ran to overhear.

Thus, Amasawa Yuto agreed to Horikita Manabu's proposal, and he was quite curious as to what that proposal might be.

The other email was the reason Amasawa Yuto was currently standing here.

"00:00"

It was just that simple string of characters.

The sender was an anonymous mailbox, impossible to trace.

While it looked like a time at first glance, it could just as easily be a scoreboard for a match.

And if it were a time, midnight of which day?

What was the meaning of a time without a specified location?

Amasawa Yuto couldn't confirm the sender's intentions, which was why he had come outside the dormitory—so that if things went south and escalated into a second fight tonight, he wouldn't involve anyone else.

However, Yuto suspected the answer might be unexpectedly simple.

Sending a time prompt via phone could mean: I am going to call you at 00:00.

It might be that simple; after all, if they wanted to send a message, they could have just included it in the email.

As for the date, it had to be tonight.

The answer would be revealed soon enough.

When the time on his phone turned to 00:00, a call came through.

Amasawa Yuto looked at the unfamiliar number; it was a number he had no memory of.

He pressed answer: "Hello?"

Although the person on the other end of the line was the one who initiated the call, there was not a sound.

Amasawa Yuto did not speak either, remaining in a silent standoff with the caller.

After about half a minute of silence, the person on the other end seemed finally convinced that there was no one else with Amasawa Yuto, and some static finally came through.

It sounded like the friction of fabric; the person on the other end must have shifted their body.

"Amasawa Yuto." A voice finally came from the other side.

It was the deep, mature voice of a man, but it felt deliberately disguised. Not much information could be gleaned from the tone alone.

Amasawa Yuto did not reply, listening silently.

The fact that the other party only stated his name revealed very little.

The voice continued: "Let me tell you something interesting. It's about Professor Suzukake."

This name caused Amasawa Yuto's vigilance to spike. Few people knew this name, and anyone who knew both him and Professor Suzukake was definitely an insider from the White Room.

"What do you want to say?" Amasawa Yuto asked calmly. It was necessary to play along with the other party's intentions; otherwise, they might intentionally dangle the information to bait his curiosity.

The moment Professor Suzukake was mentioned, he understood the significance of the caller choosing this specific time today.

"Professor Suzukake committed suicide at this exact time one year ago today. However, before he took his own life, he mailed something out."

"What was it?"

"I can't tell you that. It's something Professor Suzukake didn't want anyone to find, even after his death."

Amasawa Yuto gauged the authenticity of the information: "Who was it mailed to?"

"It was sent abroad. I don't know where it's circulating now. Maybe Canada? Maybe China?"

"Why tell me?"

"Just pitying you, so I decided to leak a little information."

"I suspect you don't know what was in the package, which is why you're trying to fish for information from me, aren't you?"

After Amasawa Yuto finished this sentence, the other side fell silent for a few seconds.

"It seems I underestimated you." The voice spoke again: "But Amasawa Yuto, don't think everything is under your control. I will continue to keep an eye on you."

With that, the caller hung up.

The entire call lasted less than two minutes. Even satellite tracking wouldn't have been able to pinpoint it, and Amasawa Yuto didn't have access to such means anyway.

Amasawa Yuto stared at the phone screen, committing the unfamiliar number to memory.

He would investigate it when he had the time.

It was just past midnight, and Amasawa Yuto prepared to head back.

However, at that very moment, he caught a sense of dissonance.

At this hour, someone was here?