Investigation

"...This is just disgusting! How can a person like this even exist?" Secretary Tachibana picked up a letter from the table and started reading it; she couldn't even make it through a minute before she reached her limit.

"Sigh—well, there are all kinds of people in this world." Hoshino sighed, tossed the letter he had been reading back onto the table, and asked, "What do we do now?"

"Sakura, do you have any leads?" Secretary Tachibana turned her gaze toward Sakura, who was curled up in the corner.

"Um... well..." The girl stammered.

It seemed Sakura actually did have some leads!

"That, the electronics store... no, it's... it's nothing!" She seemed to want to say something, but suddenly gave up on it entirely.

She probably lacked hard evidence and was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so she decided to stay silent. Hoshino roughly understood Sakura's mindset, but he didn't really agree with that approach.

Isn't there a saying, "Better to kill an innocent than to let a culprit go"? If you suspect someone, you should just investigate them to the end!

Still, an electronics store? A memory suddenly surfaced in Hoshino's mind of the clerk he met when he bought his camera last time... it couldn't be him, could it!

"Sigh, no suspicious people? This is a bit troublesome." Secretary Tachibana looked troubled as well. "...Anyway, I'll go ask the teacher in charge of the surveillance cameras first. It's best to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible!"

"Okay..." Sakura sat trembling beside the desk.

"...Please be careful lately! Do you have any friends? You must make sure to move around together!" Secretary Tachibana, who had been about to leave the meeting room, seemed to remember something, turned back, and urged her.

"...Okay!"

Secretary Tachibana nodded and left the meeting room.

"...Should I call your friends to come pick you up now?" After watching Secretary Tachibana leave, Hoshino stood up.

"..." The girl stood up, head bowed, looking flustered as she fidgeted with her hands uneasily.

Hoshino turned his head, and seeing Sakura's reaction, he more or less understood.

"...Are you going anywhere right now? Shall I walk you back?" After tidying up the notes from the conversation they had just recorded, Hoshino led Sakura out of the meeting room.

"No... I'm not... thank you!" Sakura looked conflicted, but in the end, she accepted Hoshino's offer.

Once they were out of the Student Council room and walking toward the dorms, Hoshino observed his surroundings with some vigilance.

Since it was still club activity time, there weren't many people on the road, just an occasional passerby!

The Student Council wasn't too far from the dorms—only a five or six-minute walk. It had to be said, the landscaping at this school was truly excellent! It was no wonder that "stalker" had opportunities to take secret photos, and even more advantageous was the fact that there were very few surveillance cameras on this path.

"...Th-that... I might know... who it is..." The girl walking beside him suddenly stopped, looking down in unease as if she had gathered all her courage.

"It's that clerk in charge of the camera counter at the electronics store, right?" Hoshino stopped as well, looking at Sakura with a calm expression, slightly surprised.

"Eh? How... how did you know!" The girl looked up in surprise.

"I've bought some things there too, and I've seen that guy. I guess... I just had a hunch?" Hoshino looked away, scanning the area and observing the surroundings.

"..."

"Don't worry. After I drop you off, I'll go check that place out." Hoshino took the lead, and the girl paused for a moment before jogging to catch up.

"Okay... thank you!" The girl's faint voice reached him.

This must be the place.

Standing outside the store, Hoshino peered through the glass to observe the situation inside.

The same clerk was on duty at the camera counter today; he didn't know if that counted as lucky.

There weren't many people buying camera products, and it seemed empty right now. The man was sitting in front of the counter, holding his phone with an excited look on his face, though it was unclear what he was doing.

How exactly was he supposed to investigate this?

Ever since joining the Student Council, why did it feel like he was having so many "firsts"? Leaning against the door outside, Hoshino suddenly felt like laughing.

"Welcome!" With no plan in mind, Hoshino decided to go in and scout the situation. As soon as he pushed the door open, the sound of his footsteps made the clerk, who had been playing on his phone, snap back to reality. He put his phone down and hurried over with a fawning smile.

"Customer, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'll just look around first."

"Certainly! Please, follow me!" He followed the clerk to the camera section.

"What kind of model are you looking for..."

"..."

Hoshino gave perfunctory replies, his mind already far away from the cameras, contemplating his next move.

In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed, and Hoshino had used every excuse he could think of in his entire life!

This one has good resolution? Sorry, I'm looking for something compact!

This one is lightweight? Sorry, the color is too ugly!

The clerk probably realized Hoshino was just stalling. After walking Hoshino around for a while, he returned to the rest area in front of the counter, calling it a "break!"

Actually, that was perfect, as Hoshino was tired too. Not from standing, though—it had been a long time since he'd had to come up with so many excuses!

"Hey, mister! Since there's no one else here anyway, why don't you sit down and chat for a bit?" Seeing the clerk turn to walk away, Hoshino called out to him immediately.

"...Alright, customer, what would you like to talk about?" Seemingly caught off guard by Hoshino calling out to him, the clerk's body stiffened. He turned around slowly, but showed no intention of sitting down.

"Mister, did you know? This school has quite a lot of surveillance cameras!" Leaning back comfortably in his chair, Hoshino wore a smile that carried a deeper meaning.

"Huh? What are you talking about?... Isn't that perfectly normal?" The clerk looked surprised.

"Haha... would you say this counts as voyeurism?" Hoshino wore a look of "delight."

"...Ensuring your safety certainly doesn't count as that!" The clerk's expression stiffened inadvertently, though he forced himself to relax a moment later.

However, Hoshino had a rough idea; it was highly likely that this was the person.

"Right, you're absolutely correct! I was the one who thought wrong."

"President Horikita, I am requesting an immediate, in-depth investigation into the clerk at the camera counter of the electronics store!"