The Love Letter

"Of course you can, as long as you don't mind." Mikage Touji smiled as he picked up a piece of beef, then taunted Morishita Ran. "Yamamura really is different from stingy Miss Morishita."

"I-I certainly don't mind."

"Looks like you managed to escape this time, Mikage Touji." Morishita Ran had breathed a sigh of relief, but she was still putting on a brave face.

"Likewise, Miss Morishita."

The beef entered his mouth, and its rich, meaty aroma spread across his tongue. It paired perfectly with the smooth, springy texture of the udon noodles.

Mm... No wonder. This was the spoils he'd worked so hard to snatch back from Katsuragi-san. It was delicious.

After quickly finishing his dinner, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

[Ping! 200,000 points received!]

Having once again drained Horikita Manabu's wallet, Mikage Touji gazed contentedly at his ever-growing digital balance.

Horikita-imouto had suddenly come to borrow points from him, and he could more or less guess why. Otherwise, why would he have lent her only eighty thousand?

Besides, if her brother could pay back his debts, would the mighty Minister of Revenue of Class A really be unable to provide the funds?

Horikita-imouto!

It's a shame I wasn't able to help you much this time. If you run into trouble again, please be sure to seek help from your one and only friend—Mikage Touji!

Even though you've lost your points, and your brother has lost his points too, you still have me!

As your one and only friend, I can offer you every kind of support except actual help. And while I'm at it, I can keep up the good work and squeeze your brother's wallet dry—

Just as Mikage Touji was about to put his phone away, a small, grubby hand with a dab of curry sauce snatched it from him the moment a smile spread across his face.

"You're smiling pretty happily..."

Morishita Ran, who had just taken a major loss, gave Mikage Touji a suspicious look. After muttering a couple of words, she turned her gaze to the phone screen.

Then she saw a long list of transfers from Horikita Manabu.

"..."

The air around them seemed to freeze.

Two seconds later, Morishita Ran jerked her head around to look at Katsuragi Kōhei, who had just become the Student Council's general affairs officer, then at Mikage Touji, who had received a huge sum of money. She wore an expression that said, So you've finally gone and done it. After letting out a long sigh, she shook her head in disappointment.

Then she shoved the phone back into Mikage Touji's hand, whipped out her own phone with lightning speed, and dialed—

"Hey!"

Mikage Touji grabbed Morishita Ran's hand, blurting out a protest.

"It's not what you think!"

"Save it. Turn yourself in, Mikage Touji!"

The situation had instantly turned on its head. Morishita Ran regarded him with pity. "I was wondering why you'd been so generous lately. You even order double chashu toppings with your ramen. Turns out you've been doing something as evil as human trafficking."

"I never would've guessed that Student Council President Horikita Manabu was this kind of person, either. You two must have a huge, complicated web of mutual interests behind the scenes. It's all right. Today, I, Morishita Ran, will do the right thing and bring justice to my own family!"

"Aren't you the one who orders the most extra toppings? No, that's not the point right now!" Mikage Touji pulled at Morishita Ran's hand. "Anyway, I can explain!"

"No need to explain." Morishita Ran said with unwavering resolve. "I'll visit you every year and bring you magazines."

"After you get out, if you can't find a job because you've been to prison..."

A vein bulged on Mikage Touji's forehead.

"If people discriminate against you..."

His fist clenched involuntarily.

"If you can't get a girlfriend..."

His teeth ground together.

"And you end up homeless."

Fury blazed in his eyes.

"Come to the Morishita Family. Miss Morishita will graciously give you a job."

"Then I'm ever so grateful to you, Miss Morishita," Mikage Touji said through gritted teeth.

"No need to thank me. I've always been generous." Morishita Ran tossed her head, sending the ponytail over her chest swinging, and spoke with proud confidence.

"I'd like to appeal this! I'll take my case to a higher court and explain how I've been wronged!" Mikage Touji pounded the table with both hands as he cried out.

"In that case..."

Morishita Ran pulled her hand back and sat down again. She also brought along Yamamura Miki, who had been quietly watching the show nearby. The two of them sat across from Mikage Touji, one on each side of the table, and squinted at him like a police officer interrogating a suspect in a detention center.

"Suspect Mikage Touji, you have ten minutes to explain why you and Student Council President Horikita Manabu have been exchanging such large sums of money so frequently."

Mikage Touji crossed his hands and rested his chin on them, smiling confidently. "Of course, it's because—"

The words he'd been about to say caught in his throat. A bead of cold sweat slid down Mikage Touji's forehead.

Because why?

He'd run into Horikita-imouto while going to feed the pigeons, brought her to the infirmary, and settled a minor disagreement between her and Horikita Manabu. Then, every time Horikita-imouto came to him for help, he'd played both sides and raked in a fortune?

"Well? Where's your statement, Mikage Touji? Go on..."

Beneath Morishita Ran's breezy tone was a small, cold expression.

"Because... because..."

Mikage Touji stood there sweating and mumbling for a while. Suddenly, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He crossed his hands sharply and declared, "That's right! Horikita Manabu and I have indeed been involved in the transfer of huge amounts of money. I sold Katsuragi to Horikita Manabu like a piglet and received a bounty of five hundred thousand points!"

"There really is a huge, complicated web of mutual interests behind the Student Council. At its head are the Student Council President and Vice President, Horikita Manabu and Miyabi Nagumo. And there's something suspicious going on between the two of them. I'm willing to earn credit by exposing their crimes!"

Faced with this impossible-to-defend topic, Mikage Touji decided to cover it with an even more explosive one.

"Listen, actually, those two..."

Ohhh!

The Class A students gathered around the three of them, eating and sneaking a listen to the gossip, nodded as if they understood.

That's a lot...

So the two Student Council Presidents had that kind of relationship? No wonder they'd always thought those two acted strangely around each other.

A few weeks later, a strange rumor began circulating in secret on various school forums. After being passed from student to student for many years, it became one of the Seven School Mysteries of Advanced Nurturing.

Chapter 59: Love Letter

On a June morning, before the sun had properly risen over the hills, a cicada's call rang out. Soon, the calls of cicadas rose all across Advanced Nurturing like a torrential downpour, desperately proclaiming their desire to find mates.

Woken by the cicadas, Mikage Touji entered the school building early in the morning, brimming with resentment. Then he spotted Morishita Ran, whose expression was cold.

At the shoe lockers, Morishita Ran opened hers and took out her indoor shoes.

When Morishita Ran saw Mikage Touji, she paused without saying a word and quietly changed her shoes.

Looks like she'd been tormented by the cicadas this morning, too.

Feeling a bit gleeful, Mikage Touji opened his shoe locker.

"Creak—"

"Bang—"

The locker door snapped shut at an incredible speed, making a slightly shrill sound.

Something that didn't belong in that shoe locker had just appeared!

Could it be?!

Mikage Touji took a deep breath without changing his expression, then slowly opened the locker door a crack.

A ray of light shone through the gap and fell on the square interior of the locker.

The letter paper looked expensive. It had been folded into a small, delicate rectangle, and a cute heart-shaped sticker was affixed right in the middle. The handwriting was obviously not a boy's.

There was no mistaking it—this was a love letter!

Was this manga-like development finally happening to me?

Filled with excitement, Mikage Touji reached out with his wicked hand, trembling.

"What are you—"

"Bang—!"

The locker door slammed shut again.

Mikage Touji turned around and pressed his body against the lockers behind him. Calmly, he said, "It's nothing. There was a dead cockroach in my locker, and it startled me."

He absolutely couldn't let her find out! Otherwise, she'd drag the entire class into the gossip, one hundred percent!

Morishita Ran stared at him with wide, suspicious eyes as a bead of sweat slid down Mikage Touji's forehead.

"You're acting weird."

After dropping that remark, Morishita Ran turned and walked toward the classroom.

"Please hurry up, Mikage Touji."

"Okay!"

Mikage Touji let out a long breath, opened his locker again, quickly slipped the love letter into his pocket, and hurried to catch up with Morishita Ran.

"Morishita Ran, what time did you get up today?"

"The same time as you, Mikage Touji."

All morning, Mikage Touji sat restlessly, itching with anticipation. But to keep Morishita Ran behind him from ruining his plan, he had to patiently wait until class ended.

The great clock rang out in a leisurely, low tone, and the morning classes at Advanced Nurturing finally came to an end. The students of Class A filed out of the classroom to eat in the cafeteria or elsewhere. A few had made their own bento or bought a quick meal at a convenience store and stayed in the classroom to eat.

"Mikage-san, want to go eat together?" Hashimoto Masayoshi was the first to invite him.

"No, I've got something else to do."

"Going as a group of three again?" Hashimoto Masayoshi rubbed his chin and glanced at Morishita Ran and Yamamura Miki, teasing him. "You're really inseparable."

"Heh heh." Mikage Touji folded his arms and smiled confidently. "We're the Class A Weirdo group. Of course we have to be different and stick together!"

"Okay." Hashimoto Masayoshi shrugged and headed for the other corner of the classroom. "I'll go find Kito."

After dealing with Hashimoto Masayoshi, Mikage Touji glanced around at the remaining students. There were about a dozen still in the classroom.

Mikage Touji turned his head and asked Morishita Ran, who was focused on assembling her new gear.

"What are you having for lunch later?"

"A bento from the convenience store."

"I've got something to do in a bit. Could you pick one up for me while you're at it?"

"Sure."

Plan successful!

Mikage Touji grinned smugly. Once Morishita had left, nobody would interrupt him while he read the love letter.

Ten minutes later.

Morishita Ran sat in her seat without moving.

"Um... Morishita, shouldn't you go buy the bento soon?"

Morishita Ran nodded and carried on with what she was doing, unhurried. "Sure."

Another ten minutes passed.

"Morishita-san, we're running out of time."

Morishita Ran nodded again. "Sure."

Another ten minutes passed.

Realizing something was wrong, Mikage Touji quietly stood up from his seat. "I'm getting hungry. Why don't I go buy the bento?"

"Sure."