Liar

Forget it, let the Pooper Scooper fend for themselves.

After all, Hotaru didn't want to relive what Sakayanagi Arisu weak, pitiful, and helpless.

The completion condition for the chapter "[Arisu Sakayanagi's Spring Wish]" is. "Find the twisted aspects of Sakayanagi Arisu's personality and correct them."

The first simulation by the Pooper Scooper was a complete failure.

Hotaru licked her paws, tilted her head, and heard Kitagawa Ryo's voice say:

I'm going out.

Then came the sound of the door closing and footsteps fading away.

Hotaru unconsciously recalled the Matoba after Kitagawa Ryo left during the last simulation:

"I really want to see you... Liang."

The silver-haired girl, holding him, muttered this unconsciously.

She lowered her head, her deep purple pupils flashing with a color that made [Liang] tremble slightly.

I really want to see him again with these eyes.

"I want to hear his voice."

I want him to hear my heartbeat.

I want to touch him.

Sakayanagi Arisu stroked [Ryo's] back, instantly closing the distance between herself and the cat, unconsciously uttering her thoughts:

"And then I wanted to—ruin him."

Firefly:Σ(っ°Д °;)っ

"Yo, Kitagawa."

On his way to school, I ran into Ken Sudō. As expected of an athletic star, he looked energetic even in the morning. He quickly walked over to Kitagawa Ryo and patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Have you been sleeping poorly these past few days? You always look incredibly tired."

"I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping, but it's okay."

Kitagawa Ryo pressed his temples, trying to muster his strength to answer:

"How's Sudo? How's his Final Exam preparation going?"

"I shouldn't need to trouble you, Kitagawa, to buy points for me again."

Ken Sudō looked very confident. He knew that he had passed the Midterm Exam because of Kitagawa Ryo's help, and he had been working hard during this time to fulfill his promise to Kitagawa Ryo.

"However, some other things have come up recently."

Slightly annoyed, Ken Sudō scratched the back of his head and carefully chose his words. Although the current apparent Leader of Class D were Ichinose Honami and Horikita Suzune, he still felt that Kitagawa Ryo was more capable, so he always sought out Kitagawa Ryo first when something came up.

"Those people in Class C... I guess it was Ryuen who ordered them. They actually came to cause trouble for me early this morning while I was doing my morning exercise, deliberately harassing me, so I didn't even finish my planned goals this morning."

As if to vent his anger, Ken Sudō couldn't help but kick away a small stone on the road.

"Hmm, but Sudo probably held back by it."

"Of course, I completely ignored them."

"After all, those guys in Class C only ever exchange a few insults, nothing like the harsh words you hurled at me last time, Kitagawa."

Under Kitagawa Ryo's verbal test, Ken Sudō's anger threshold has increased considerably. If this had happened at the start of the school year, he probably would have already lost his temper and started a conflict.

"That's good. If another student conflict breaks out, the atmosphere in Class D will probably explode."

"Huh? Really? I think everyone seems pretty normal."

Ken Sudō looked puzzled, but considering that he was currently juggling tutoring and club activities and had no energy left for networking, it was understandable.

It's said that before dropping out of school, Yamauchi and Ike took their anger out on Ken Sudō, giving him a dressing down. This incident was quite a blow to Sudo, since he had always considered those two guys as friends. But he never expected that their persistent thought was why Ken Sudō hadn't failed the Midterm Exam and dropped out with them...

"Sudo should be going to the Summer Tournament with his club during the summer vacation, right?"

So Kitagawa Ryo didn't bother explaining, casually changing the subject. The moment basketball was mentioned, Ken Sudō's attention was immediately drawn, and he excitedly exclaimed:

"That's right, after all, I'm a full member now, and I can finally leave the school!"

"Then let's do our best and try to earn some Private Points."

"It's not that I'm asking you to return my points."

Fearing that Ken Sudō might misunderstand, Kitagawa Ryo quickly added:

"Sports clubs can't eat vegetable meals every day, can they?"

Upon hearing the words "mountain vegetable set meal," Ken Sudō immediately frowned.

"Yeah, given the current situation in Class D, we might really have to eat that bland, awful meal every day from now on."

"Speaking of which, someone from Class C also mocked me like that, saying I was a defective product that was supposed to eat three years' worth of free meals."

"They're wishing you won't be expelled for three years and will graduate smoothly."

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo's answer, Ken Sudō paused for a moment.

Smack! He slammed his fist into his palm, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"That's right."

"... Anyway, besides you, are there any other people in the class being harassed by Class C?"

"Oh, let me think... in the sports clubs, it seems like those guys from Class C have been clinging to Miyake lately too."

Miyake Akito was the only member of Class 1-D to join the Archery Club. Incidentally, very few students in Class 1-D joined any clubs; most of them just idled around the school after school.

Kitagawa Ryo did have some impression of Miyake Akito, partly because the latter had once represented Class D in a mock competition against Class C in Karuizawa Kei's competition, and partly because the two had met up close at the Club Orientation at the beginning of the school year.

In Kitagawa Ryo's memory, Miyake was a person who was somewhat unbalanced in his studies, a bit like Sudo. He was not academically gifted but had a talent for sports. However, he was much more obedient or rather, more introverted than Sudo. Sudo had two friends, Ike and Yamauchi, while Miyake seemed to have no friends at all and would often go straight to the club for training as soon as class was over.

"I guess they're planning to instigate another so-called violent incident, just like they did when they framed me."

Ken Sudō pursed his lips. Although almost two months had passed, he was still somewhat shaken. After all, he had almost caused a violent incident because of Yagami Takuya's scheme. If Kitagawa Ryo hadn't appeared, his name would be on the list of those expelled from school now.

"Who knows? Nothing's certain right now, but I'll think of a plan first."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head and instructed Sudo:

"In short, don't respond for now, and avoid places without surveillance cameras, such as the Special Building, the fence near the river between the first and second teaching buildings..."

Ken Sudō listened with astonishment as Kitagawa Ryo rattled off a long list of dangerous locations.

This... feels much scarier than Class C.

"Knew."

Swallowing hard, Ken Sudō nodded in agreement.

The two chatted as they walked to the classroom of Class 1-D. The classroom, where six students had dropped out, had six empty desks and chairs removed, making it visibly more spacious.

Good morning, it's chilly.

Ichinose Honami, who was sitting in the front row on the left and chatting with the girls, was the first to raise her hand and greet them.

Good morning, Honami.

With a smile, Kitagawa Ryo responded and walked to his seat, putting down his bag and pulling out a chair to sit down.

As the students from Class D arrived one after another, the classroom gradually came alive. Kitagawa Ryo pretended to hold a book in his hand, but in reality, he was listening intently to all sorts of gossip in the class. For example, some girls had gotten tired of the mountain vegetable set meals and decided to pool their money to buy some ingredients to cook for themselves, and so-and-so was suspected of dating someone from another class.

The slightly noisy tranquility made Kitagawa Ryo feel sleepy, and he lazily yawned.

"Good morning."

Horikita Suzune, who was sitting next to Kitagawa Ryo, entered the classroom. She glanced at Kitagawa Ryo, who looked quite sleepy, and asked:

Didn't sleep well last night?

Good morning, Suzune.

Kitagawa Ryo rubbed his eyes:

"I've been feeling a bit sleepy these past few days."

"Spring drowsiness, summer fatigue, autumn lethargy, and winter hibernation are normal phenomena."

Uncharacteristically, Horikita Suzune chuckled and made a lighthearted remark, then pulled a can of energy drink from her bag.

"I bought this from the vending machine this morning, do you want it?"

Kitagawa Ryo quite unceremoniously grabbed the energy drink, twisted the tab with great flair, and downed it in one gulp.

"Although I feel it's not very useful, it's still a good thing to be able to take advantage of Suzune."

"Are you really willing to take advantage of a mere 220 yen?"

"Could there be an even bigger one?"

"... Arisu not come yet this morning?"

"Suzune's ability to change the subject is too stiff."

Although he said that, Kitagawa Ryo's gaze honestly went over there.

The bell had already rung for class, but Sakayanagi Arisu's seat was still empty.

"He's absent again."

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his eyes and responded softly:

"Hmm, absent again."

Chapter 80: The Liar

Although the class advisor Mashima Tomonari, had mentioned during the morning class that Sakayanagi Arisu had already requested leave for the day, as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class, while the rest of the class was rushing towards the Student Cafeteria, Kitagawa Ryo headed straight for the dormitory building without hesitation.

He tried sending a text message to Sakayanagi Arisu during class to inquire about her situation, but not only did he not receive a reply, the few messages he sent remained unread.

Because there are not many students, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School only has three dormitory buildings, one for each grade, with boys and girls living together. However, considering the convenience of daily life and possible conflicts, the boys' dormitories are arranged on lower floors, while the girls' dormitories are generally on the tenth floor or higher.

Almost no students return to their dormitories immediately during lunch break, so the waiting area in front of the elevator is empty, completely unlike the chaotic scene of students crowding together every morning when going to school or in the afternoon when leaving school.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the thirteenth floor as he remembered it, the elevator doors, which were about to close, sensed someone approaching. A girl quickly walked in, patting her chest as if relieved.

"Phew, I finally made it."

"Eh? Isn't this Senior Ryo?"

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at it and recognized it as Amasawa Ichika from his class. Ichika's identity was suspected to be a spy sent by the White Room, but her stance was strange. Last time, she had even specifically revealed part of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's plan to him.

"So, Liang... what kind of weird title is 'senpai'?"

Amasawa Ichika blinked, revealing a slightly sly smile:

"Because I skipped a grade to get in, I'm a year younger than everyone else. And as a newcomer to the drama club with no experience, Ryo-senpai can be considered my senior."

Kitagawa Ryo asked casually, still thinking about Sakayanagi Arisu, so he just hummed in response and fell silent. However, Amasawa Ichika, as if noticing something strange, suddenly spoke up:

"Are you going to the Girls' Dormitory, senior?"

Because there were only two people in the elevator, Amasawa Ichika could tell at a glance which floor Kitagawa Ryo was heading to. She stared at the lit-up [thirteen] and asked curiously.

Although Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is co-ed, generally speaking, no, in the vast majority of cases, boys do not go to the girls' area on the upper floors. After all, even if they were dating someone and wanted to go to their girlfriend's room, it was easy for them to see strange things in the corridor.

So even though the school didn't explicitly prohibit boys from going to the Girls' Dormitory area, nor did it put up a sign at the elevator entrance saying "[Girls' Dormitory, Boys Keep Out]", cautious boys still wouldn't easily set foot there.

But girls can go into the boys' dormitories whenever they want.

Within a second, his thoughts began to wander in strange directions, so Kitagawa Ryo quickly pulled himself back and calmly replied:

"Yes, we're going to see Classmate Sakayanagi. Didn't she take the day off this morning? I'm a little worried."

"Oh--"

Amasawa Ichika deliberately dragged out her words; this somewhat affected gesture, when made by her, actually had a certain charm. She said with a grin:

"But Ryo-senpai might be disappointed, because Classmate Sakayanagi hasn't come back since she went out last night, and I live right next to her."

"Yeah..."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded, but thinking about it, it made sense. If Sakayanagi Arisu really had some health problem, the infirmary at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School would definitely be useless; she would have been immediately sent to an off-campus medical facility. No wonder the message she sent hadn't been marked as "read."