Reporting

Dongfang Yi finished filling out the form and waited in front of the office, where he happened to run into Sakura Airi, who had just arrived.

The girl had been poking her head around and looking left and right the entire way; she seemed extremely cautious, which was also why she was a bit slow to arrive.

"I don't think there's any need to be this vigilant inside the school building," Dongfang Yi said, helplessly patting the silly girl on the head. "There are so many cameras watching; he wouldn't dare come here."

If it were a month from now, he certainly wouldn't be this reassured.

But this first month of the school year was, in itself, a test of student self-discipline. The school had arranged for a large number of personnel to observe the monitors, deducting class points based on the observation of students' daily behavior, especially their conduct in class.

In such an environment, if that shop assistant dared to pull anything, it wouldn't even be Dongfang Yi's turn to intervene.

The school authorities would have dealt with the shop assistant long before he could.

"U-um, I kn-know," Sakura Airi's tongue tied itself in knots again.

It was clear that she was extremely nervous right now.

After comforting her for a moment, Dongfang Yi stepped into the office once more.

After briefly explaining the situation to Mashima Tomoya, who was sitting at his desk, Dongfang Yi and Sakura were taken to a counseling room by Chabashira Sae.

Because this matter involved student privacy—unlike the application Dongfang Yi had filled out earlier, which anyone could see—it required communication in a private location.

"Speak up. What's the situation?"

Chabashira sat opposite the two, her face ashen, and her tone was naturally far from polite.

Her sternness was clearly a different matter from Mashima Tomoya's poker face.

Mashima Tomoya's sternness was meant to emphasize his authority and establish prestige in the students' minds, yet he was very gentle in private and even willing to crack a few jokes with Dongfang Yi.

He certainly wouldn't put pressure on students in a situation like this.

Chabashira Sae, however, was different; her cold, rigid expression was simply a result of her terrible personality—arrogant and conceited, yet unwilling to take responsibility.

She only hoped for salvation from the strong, yet was unwilling to put in even the slightest bit of effort.

She was like a traveler in the desert who only whips a gaunt camel; though she wants to walk out of the desert, she doesn't even know how to offer a drop of water or food.

Just like now.

"I, I met a stalker yesterday, s-so..."

Sakura Airi stammered; she tended to lose her words whenever she got nervous.

"Have you thought through the sequence of events? Think it through yourself before you speak."

The guidance counselor in front of them ruthlessly issued an Interruption.

"Eh? Oh. S-sorry, teacher."

Chabashira's attitude made Sakura Airi somewhat afraid, which only made her even more nervous.

"Forget it, I'll handle it." Dongfang Yi gently patted the girl on the back, signaling her to calm down.

"Chabashira-sensei, it's like this. I ran into Sakura-san at the electronics store around 3:00 PM yesterday. While shopping, I noticed that the male clerk in the store was looking at Sakura-san with a strange expression. At the same time, we accidentally discovered that the screen on his work computer displayed photos of Sakura-san."

"You can conclude he's a stalker just from that? You two are being far too cautious. Isn't this a bit of a persecution complex?"

Chabashira Sae was dismissive of this.

"N-no, that's not it," Sakura Airi hurriedly retorted.

"Stay calm, Sakura-san." Dongfang Yi patted the girl's back again, signaling her to stay as calm as possible.

He suppressed the displeasure in his heart and continued to patiently explain the situation to Chabashira: "After we finished shopping and left, the clerk followed us the entire time. Even when we headed toward the renovation zone, he pursued us relentlessly. At 3:47 PM, we managed to shake him off in the renovation zone at Keyaki Mall. He may have been injured by the debris in that area."

"We have every reason to suspect that this clerk is a fanatical fan of Sakura-san's from the past and has discovered the fact that she was active as the idol Shizuku-chan. He has an unusual obsession with her. If left unchecked, it could very well pose a threat to Sakura-san's personal safety, so we hope the teacher will report this to the school authorities and handle it in a timely manner."

"This is just your one-sided story, isn't it?"

Chabashira Sae let out a cold snort, having no intention of taking action on the matter.

"I can provide evidence. At the same time, we hope the school will pull the surveillance footage from the mall yesterday. Once the situation is verified, we hope they will take measures to monitor or relocate this individual as soon as possible to ensure Sakura-san's personal safety."

Dongfang Yi's voice was very calm, but in his heart, he began to repeatedly remind himself that he still had use for the person in front of him and couldn't afford to burn bridges with her just yet, and that burning bridges would be detrimental to Sakura-san, and so on.

He used this to restrain his tone.

"And the evidence?" Chabashira Sae still wore that high-and-mighty expression.

Dongfang Yi felt a dark gloom in his heart, but his face remained impassive: "This is a first-person video recorded yesterday. Please take a look."

Chabashira Sae merely took Dongfang Yi's phone, glanced at it casually for a few seconds, and then handed it back.

"I see. You two can go back now, don't worry."

"..."

Dongfang Yi fell silent.

Although he had been mentally prepared for the school's incompetence, he hadn't expected to be stonewalled at the guidance counselor level.

You won't even take a copy of the video, and you're telling me I can go back and "not worry"?

Who are you trying to fool?!

He offered a smile that didn't reach his eyes and said, "Since Chabashira-sensei has accepted our request, we can finally rest easy. We have no other business, so we won't disturb you any further."

Dongfang Yi led Sakura Airi toward the door, but before leaving, he turned back around: "Also, there is one more thing I would like to inform Chabashira-sensei about. Actually, I bought a voice recorder and a portable body camera at an electronics store yesterday. If you're interested, why don't you take a guess?"

"Right now, am I carrying these two devices on me, and did I happen to switch on the recording function just now while we were talking?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the camera on his shoulder and then to the pocket containing a pen.

"What do you mean by that?" Chabashira's expression stiffened.

"Don't misunderstand, I don't mean anything by it. I'm just pondering a question: if Sakura-san were to be harmed by that stalker on some future day, who do you think would be at fault—the school, or me? Furthermore, do you think there is any legitimate school in this world that would allow a teacher with a massive stain on their record to continue teaching?"

"I am, truly, very curious."

Having said that, Dongfang Yi took Sakura Airi's hand and pushed the door open, leaving without a moment's hesitation.

"Wait!"

Chabashira Sae hurriedly chased after them, intercepting Dongfang Yi in the hallway.

"Is there something else you need, Chabashira-sensei?" Dongfang Yi wore a polite smile, but his eyes were as cold as frost.

"I just remembered, I still need a copy of the video as proof."

"Oh? Is that so. You really are quite careless; someone like you makes it very difficult for me to trust you." Dongfang Yi chuckled: "How about this? Before school ends this afternoon, bring a school representative to contact me, and I will hand the evidence over to them, how does that sound?"

"Of course, if you can't bring one, you can just tell me directly. That way, I can quickly find another teacher or contact the school through other channels."

"As a side note, while I'm at it, I will also report everything that happened here today. I'm sure the school will be considerate of your busy schedule and lighten your workload a bit. After all, you're so busy that you can't even report such a small matter to your superiors."

"It really is, quite exhausting, isn't it."

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