The Hidden Client (1)

"Hey! Did you find anything?"

"Quit rushing me... I'm looking, aren't I?"

"I really don't get it. Why do I have to work with you?"

Akane Tachibana had been given the day off and planned to take the chance to get some proper rest. She hadn't expected this shameless junior to come looking for her again.

The most shameless part was that he'd actually used the student council president as an excuse!

"Senpai, you wouldn't want to disappoint Horikita-senpai, would you?"

That was unbelievably shameless!!!

Shinjo, who was flipping through the documents, suddenly paused. "Well, it can't be helped, can it? You want me to investigate a certain employee at the shopping district, but I can't access their hiring records with my personal privileges. The only one to blame is that client of yours for not leaving behind any useful information."

"Hah, don't take this the wrong way, but every school employee has to pass several rounds of screening before they can get hired. How could there be someone like the person you described? If you ask me, someone's probably just messing with you."

"Maybe. I didn't want to get involved either, but I didn't have much choice..."

Before long, Shinjo found a list of all the employees at the electronics store, along with their information. Since the person had bad intentions toward girls, the culprit was probably a man.

After gathering information on all the male employees, Shinjo left the archive room.

According to the description on the request form, the employee's behavior went beyond simply giving girls leering looks. He was supposedly the sort of person who might make a move on them at any moment.

But if that were true, word would've spread among the students by now.

Besides, the person had only been described as having a suspicious gaze. He hadn't verbally harassed anyone or done anything perverted, so that alone wasn't enough to convict him, was it?

The electronics store.

The students at this school had plenty of spending power, and people in their teens were especially fond of gadgets, so the store had no shortage of customers.

But as time went by, Shinjo still hadn't noticed anything unusual about the employees behind the counter.

Was I wrong, or was the culprit a cautious expert?

Another half hour passed, and Shinjo still hadn't spotted anything strange.

"Um, you've been looking around for a while. Is there anything that caught your eye?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm planning to buy a camera for my girlfriend. But I have a really bad case of decision paralysis. I'm also extremely stubborn, so I have a hard time listening to other people's opinions."

"Oh? You're buying it for your girlfriend! I bet she's a really cute girl."

Unconditionally praising customers without making them feel uncomfortable was one of the essential skills of a Sales Champion.

"Well... hehehe... She's the cutest girl I've ever met."

Shinjo deliberately gave a few creepy chuckles, but this time, he was being sincere.

Karuizawa really was cute!!

"I see! I'd be happy to make a recommendation, but since it's for your girlfriend, I think she'll be happy as long as you put thought into it."

"Mm-hmm... You make a good point! I'll bring her in tomorrow. It's just too hard to decide on my own."

"That works! We're always happy to welcome you both."

And so, Shinjo's investigation came up empty. He hadn't narrowed down the suspects or uncovered any key information.

The next morning, in Class D.

"So you didn't find out anything yesterday?"

"I'm afraid not. There's just too little information, and the description is so subjective. Even the young detective from the theater next door couldn't catch someone under those circumstances, could he?"

Karuizawa nodded helplessly. "So what do we do today?"

"We'll go back at lunchtime and take another look. But before that, I want to ask Sakura if she has any leads."

Sakura had a pretty good-looking camera, and that electronics store was the only place at the school that sold cameras.

She'd been a customer there before, so she might know something.

While the two of them were talking, another heated argument broke out between Sudo and the others.

"Say one more word, I dare you!"

"Heh heh. And what if I do? Your presence is unbecoming of this class—no, downright ugly. I suggest you withdraw from school like a good boy."

Koenji casually took a jab at Sudo.

"You really have no idea what it means to respect other people, do you?!"

"Hahahaha! What an amusing thing to say. Red-haired Boy, you've given me no reason whatsoever to respect you. On the other hand, I could spend all day listing reasons to despise you."

Already furious, Sudo swung his fist at Koenji. The latter wasn't the least bit afraid; he was ready to strike at any moment. If Sudo threw the first punch, he'd immediately hit back.

But then Hirata, who was usually mild-mannered, forcefully stepped between them:

"Both of you, calm down!!"

"Sudo! Do you still not understand what's at stake? If you start a fight now, not even a miracle can save you!"

"And you, Koenji! Why do you keep attacking Sudo? What you're doing is unquestionably wrong!"

But who was Koenji?

The eldest son of the illustrious Koenji Family—would he really be shaken by a commoner's criticism?

Of course not.

"I don't think I've done anything wrong. Still, let me offer you all a sincere warning. If we expel this Red-haired Boy now, we'll only lose a mere 87 points. But what will we lose if we wait until we have more points before expelling someone?"

"Koenji!!"

Hirata was nearly beside himself with anger. He was doing everything he could to keep the class united, but someone was always there to tear it apart.

"Fine, fine. Do whatever you want. I have an important date, so I'll be off."

Only after the dust settled did Karuizawa slowly lower her hands from her ears.

"Honestly, those guys do nothing but argue all day."

"You'll get used to it. Most people can't stay calm around Koenji. Sometimes what he says makes a lot of sense, but the way he says it makes it impossible to accept."

"By the way, are you close with that Koenji guy? He acts like he's the center of the universe every day."

"Well... I'll tell you about it later."

Because Shinjo had finally spotted Sakura returning from outside.