The Hidden Client (Part 3)

"I see... In that case, do you remember what he looked like?"

Sakura nodded. Although she wasn't very comfortable looking people in the face, the impression that person had left on her was far too deep.

"That makes things easier."

As he spoke, Shinjo took a sheet of paper out of his bag. It was printed with portraits and information for all the suspects, and Sakura immediately pointed to the perverted fan.

"It's definitely him..."

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation. Please rest assured, I promise I won't tell anyone about your situation. By the way, your camera should still be with him, right? If you plan on retrieving it yourself, it would be better to have someone go with you. Or, I could just bring it back for you."

"No... that's alright... I can go get it myself..."

"Very well then."

Shinjo put the paper away. Now that the target was locked, the rest would be much easier to handle, though there was still one significant question lingering in his mind.

"Um... Shinjo-san... could I... ask you to accompany me... to get the camera?"

Sakura didn't want to trouble him, but when she thought about it carefully, that person was truly terrifying, and on top of that, she didn't seem to have anyone she could trust right now.

"Of course. When do you plan on going?"

"After school today... that's when the clerk said it would be ready."

Although Shinjo felt that the guy probably never intended for Sakura to get her camera back at all, so there was no difference between going now or in the afternoon.

But... it didn't really matter.

"Alright then. Sorry for taking up so much of your lunch break, but if you go down now, you can still grab some lunch."

With that, Shinjo walked out of the classroom.

Right at the corner of the staircase, the "gatekeeper" he had sent out earlier was staring at him with a grievance-filled expression.

"Fine, fine... what do you want to eat for lunch? My treat."

"You said it yourself."

"As long as it's not something too outrageous..."

After successfully fleecing Shinjo for a meal, a satisfied Karuizawa took the initiative to link her arm with his:

"Let's go. Didn't we agree to go to the digital store?"

"No. We're heading back to the Odd Jobs Agency now. There's a problem that needs to be thought through. As for the digital store, we'll go in the afternoon."

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

What a blunt little girl!

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

First of all, the content of the request letter could be confirmed as authentic.

But judging by Sakura's reaction, she wasn't the one who sent the request. Furthermore, if the clerk's target had been Sakura from the very beginning, the person who wrote the letter should have known about it too.

However, Sakura didn't have many friends, and she shouldn't have told anyone else about this matter casually.

Then... how did that person know?

In the afternoon, after school.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone else had left the classroom, Shinjo took the initiative to approach Sakura:

"Let's go, let's get your camera back."

"P-please, I'm counting on you."

It seemed that without the note, Sakura was still very reserved when she spoke.

Karuizawa had originally wanted to come along, but Shinjo had given her a different task at the last minute—partly to help keep Sakura's secret, and partly to prevent that guy from letting his imagination run wild.

To avoid the attention of their classmates, the two of them arrived at the digital store one after the other.

"Hello. How can I help... ah! It's the young man from yesterday! Oh? And this... wouldn't happen to be your girlfriend, would it?"

The clerk clearly noticed Sakura, who was hiding half a step behind Shinjo. A trace of unnaturalness appeared on his face.

Although the perverted fan wasn't the person in front of him, Shinjo observed the clerk's expression out of habit:

"No... that's not important."

"Uh... I suppose so... hahahaha..."

Hearing Shinjo say that, a strange look crossed the clerk's face; it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"We're here to pick up a camera. She dropped one off for repairs earlier, and the clerk said we could pick it up today."

"Ah! I see. If it's a service pickup, please head this way."

As he spoke, the clerk at the entrance pointed the way for Shinjo. After the two of them disappeared from his field of vision, the smile on his face slowly faded...

"Thanks."

The two of them arrived at the service reception desk, and the person who was fiddling with his phone and hadn't noticed anyone approaching was none other than that perverted fan.

Sakura took two steps back in fright the moment she saw the person.

"Ah..."

"Huh?!"

The perverted fan was startled by the sudden voice, but clearly, an even bigger surprise was waiting for him (physically).

He completely ignored Shinjo standing directly in front of him, his eyes locking onto Sakura behind Shinjo instead.

"Hey, mister. We're here to retrieve the camera, so could you hand it over to us now?"

Shinjo naturally understood what he was thinking and stepped forward, blocking Sakura completely from view.

"You... who are you?"

"Her name is Sakura, and I am her friend."

"I'm sorry, but to ensure the safety of the merchandise, we only accept handovers with the person in question."

To put it bluntly, he wanted Sakura to stand in front of him right now.

"What kind of strange rule is that? Isn't the person in question standing right here? Or does it have to be a hand-to-hand exchange?"

"Exactly! This shop prioritizes service and puts people first!"

Shinjo narrowed his eyes; he truly couldn't understand where a shop clerk found this kind of courage...

"Heh... 'putting people first' while ignoring a customer's request. 'Prioritizing service'... I don't think your service is all that great either. Since you clearly don't intend to give us the item, why not call the manager over?"

"You!"

He couldn't understand it at all—wasn't it just a perfectly normal request? All he had to do was let Shizuku come over! To think he wouldn't even give him that small chance... And Shizuku... do you really still not understand my good intentions?!

[No! That's not it! This pretty boy is just someone you found to test me... Only the two of us are tightly bound by the red thread of fate! The fact that I could meet you again at this school is ironclad proof of love!!]

"Fine... here is your camera... please take it."

The camera was snatched from the side by him in an instant; it seemed he had been unable to keep his hands off it during this time, hadn't he?

Shinjo took it with a look of disgust and immediately handed it to Sakura, as if he were afraid there might be something unclean on it.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just do 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, and a female clerk they hadn't met before was standing guard.

"You two, please take care."