The Hidden Client (3)

"Got it... Then, do you still remember what he looked like?"

Sakura nodded. She didn't dare look at other people's faces, but that man had left such a deep impression on her.

"That makes things easier."

As he spoke, Shinjo took a sheet of paper from his backpack. It showed portraits and information for all the suspects, and Sakura immediately picked out the perverted fan.

"It has to be him..."

"Okay, thanks for your cooperation. Don't worry, I promise I won't tell anyone about your situation. By the way, your camera should still be with him, right? If you're planning to get it back yourself, you'd better bring someone along. Or I can go get it for you."

"N-no... I can get it myself..."

"Alright, then."

Shinjo put the paper away. Now that they'd identified their target, the rest should be easy, though there was still one big question.

"Um... Shinjo... could I ask you to come with me... to get my camera?"

Sakura didn't want to trouble him, but when she thought about it carefully, that man really was scary. Besides, she didn't seem to have anyone she could trust right now.

"Of course. When do you want to go?"

"After school today... That's what the clerk said."

Shinjo figured the guy probably had never intended to let Sakura get her camera back, so going now or in the afternoon made no difference.

But... it didn't matter.

"Alright. Sorry I took up so much of your lunch break, but we can still grab lunch if we go downstairs now."

With that, Shinjo left the classroom.

At the stairwell landing, the human guard he'd sent out early was staring at him with a wounded expression.

"Alright, alright... What do you want for lunch? It's on me."

"You said it."

"Just don't ask for anything too outrageous..."

After successfully making Shinjo pay for a meal, the satisfied Karuizawa took his arm of her own accord.

"Come on. Weren't we supposed to go to the electronics store?"

"No. We're going back to the Yorozuya now. There's something I need to think through. We can go to the electronics store this afternoon."

"What kind of crazy idea have you come up with now?"

What a blunt little brat!

"What do you mean, 'crazy idea'? There's something I don't quite understand..."

First of all, they could confirm that the contents of the request letter were true.

But from Sakura's reaction, the client wasn't her. And if that clerk had been targeting Sakura all along, then whoever wrote the letter should have known about it too.

But Sakura didn't have many friends, and she probably wouldn't have told anyone about this so casually.

Then... how did that person find out?

That afternoon, after school.

Once everyone had left the classroom, Shinjo went over to Sakura.

"Let's go. We'll get your camera back."

"P-please..."

Without the note, it seemed Sakura still spoke hesitantly.

Karuizawa had wanted to come along, but Shinjo had given her another task at the last minute. It was partly to help Sakura keep her secret, and partly to stop that guy from getting the wrong idea.

To avoid drawing the attention of their classmates, the two of them made their way to the electronics store one after the other.

"Hello. How can I help... Ah! You're the guy from yesterday! Huh? Is this... your girlfriend?"

The clerk had obviously noticed Sakura hiding half a step behind Shinjo. His face turned slightly unnatural.

Although the perverted fan wasn't this man, Shinjo still studied his expression out of habit.

"No... That's not important."

"Uh... Right... Hahahaha..."

At Shinjo's words, a strange look appeared on the clerk's face. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"We're here to pick up a camera. She brought it in for repairs, and the clerk said she could collect it today."

"Ah! I see. If it's about after-sales service, please come this way."

The clerk at the entrance pointed them in the right direction. After the two disappeared from his sight, his smile slowly faded...

"Thank you."

The two arrived at the service counter. The perverted fan was there, fiddling with his phone, unaware that anyone had come.

As soon as Sakura saw him, she recoiled in fright.

"Ah..."

"Huh?!"

The sudden sound startled the perverted fan, but what came next was even more shocking to him—literally.

He completely ignored Shinjo standing right in front of him and immediately spotted Sakura behind him.

"Excuse me, sir. We're here to pick up the camera. Could you hand it over now?"

Shinjo knew exactly what he was thinking. He stepped forward and blocked Sakura from view.

"W-who are you?"

"Her name is Sakura. I'm her friend."

"I'm sorry, but for the safety of the merchandise, we only hand it over to the owner in person."

In other words, he wanted Sakura to come stand in front of him.

"What kind of strange rule is that? The owner's right here. Do you have to hand it to her personally?"

"Exactly! Our store puts service first and people first!"

Shinjo narrowed his eyes. He really couldn't understand where a clerk got that kind of nerve...

"Heh... You claim to put people first, yet you don't respect the customer's wishes. And your service hardly seems to be all that great. If you're deliberately refusing to give us the camera, why don't you get the manager?"

"You!"

He couldn't understand it. Wasn't this a perfectly ordinary request? All he had to do was get Shizuku to come over! Why wouldn't they even give him that chance...? And Shizuku... did she still not understand how hard he was trying?!

[No! That's not it! This pretty boy is just someone you brought in to test me... Only the two of us are tied together by the red string of fate! The fact that I ran into you again at this school is irrefutable proof of our love!!]

"Fine... Here's your camera... Take good care of it."

He quickly picked up the camera from beside him and handed it over. He must have been unable to put it down all this time.

Shinjo took it with some distaste, then immediately passed it to Sakura, as if afraid there was something dirty on it.

"Couldn't you have done that from the start? Let's go."

When they returned to the entrance, the sales clerk who had greeted them was nowhere to be seen. A female clerk they hadn't seen before was waiting there instead.

"Have a nice day."