Investigation Complete

"President Horikita, I request permission to immediately conduct an in-depth investigation of the employee at the camera counter in the electronics store!" As soon as Hoshino entered the Student Council Room, he went straight to President Horikita.

"Huh?" Secretary Tachibana, who had just returned and finished reporting, looked surprised. "You already figured it out?"

"No."

"Then..." Secretary Tachibana looked at him in confusion.

"I did a quick investigation just now. I can basically confirm it already."

"But..." Secretary Tachibana seemed about to say something else.

"Hoshino, do you have evidence?" President Horikita sat beside her desk, her expression unchanged as she looked up and stared into Hoshino's eyes.

"No." Hoshino shrugged. "...So, if the investigation shows that the employee really wasn't involved in this, I'll accept any punishment!"

"..." President Horikita fixed Hoshino with an imposing stare, her eyes seeming to gleam with a "chill."

Hoshino remained calm as he met President Horikita's gaze. Secretary Tachibana stood to the side, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"...All right. I approve. Secretary Tachibana, prepare the necessary paperwork and take a few security staff with you."

After a long pause, President Horikita looked away.

"...Huh?... All right..."

"Hey, shop clerk, fancy seeing you again!..." Hoshino wore a wicked grin.

"Huh? You're the customer from before..." Seeing the purple-haired girl with her hair in a bun and several security staff in uniform behind Hoshino, the clerk looked flustered.

"This investigation has been approved by the Student Council and the school. We need to question you. Please cooperate!"

A burly security guard stepped forward. The clerk's face turned deathly pale. He seemed about to say something, then slumped down onto a chair...

After half an hour of questioning, they found a large number of secretly taken photos and unsent letters at his residence, just as expected.

"Wait! Let me go! I'm innocent! I'm Shizuku's fan! We're destined to be together! If you don't believe me, ask her..." the clerk shouted and struggled, but the security staff still led him away.

"...You really were willing to take a gamble!" Secretary Tachibana, who had come along, slowly emerged from the store.

"...A gamble? There was no need to look for evidence. Someone who'd taken that many photos without permission wouldn't have thrown them away, would he? Rather than waste our time, we could just intervene directly. The evidence was right there. Why sneak around? This isn't some spy movie!" Hoshino let out a long breath.

"...That's true."

By the time Hoshino returned to his dorm, it was already past nine in the evening.

He pulled out his phone, intending to tell Sakura that everything had been taken care of. But only then did he suddenly realize he didn't seem to have her contact information!

Awkwardly putting his phone away, Hoshino collapsed onto his bed.

The Student Council and even the faculty had repeatedly held meetings to discuss and coordinate. They'd been at it until just now.

Why did meetings feel more painful than anything else? Hoshino could barely remember what they'd talked about.

The final decision was probably to report the matter to the police.

It had been serious enough that even the chairman had attended the meeting in person! Hoshino seemed to remember President Horikita calling her "Chairman Sakayanagi." Could she have been Sakayanagi's...

"Hey, did you hear? Someone was apparently taken away by the police yesterday?"

"I heard it was a worker from the shopping mall..."

The next day, as soon as he entered the classroom, Hoshino heard Yamauchi and Ike talking loudly.

Come to think of it, he'd meant to tell Sakura everything was okay and put her mind at ease. But there were so many people around now, so after thinking it over, Hoshino decided to wait.

He returned to his seat, but before he could settle in, Hirata came over.

"Hirata, what is it?" Hoshino glanced at Hirata beside him, then pulled a book out of his bag and started reading.

"Um, Hoshino... Could I talk to you about Sudo?"

That caught Hoshino's interest. Talk? About what?

"About what?"

"Whether there's any way we can help Sudo."

"..." Hoshino really didn't know how to respond. Wasn't it a little too late for that now?

"Sakura, could you wait a moment?" After school, Hoshino called out to Sakura, who was about to leave. "The employee was taken away last night. You can relax now."

"Thank you..." Sakura was clearly relieved. Her whole body relaxed at once.

"That said, if you receive any more letters like that, or anything else seems off, don't hesitate. Tell me right away, or send a message to the Student Council's shared email account."

"All right..." Sakura slowly lifted her head. The panic in her eyes had faded.

"Well, I'll leave it there. I have something to take care of, so I'll be going."

"Okay!"

"Huh? I missed something this interesting?" Before Hoshino even entered the Student Council Room, he heard a familiar voice.

"Good afternoon, Vice President Nagumo." He pushed the door open, and a head of blond hair came into view.

"Good afternoon, Hoshino! We were just talking about you!" Vice President Nagumo turned around, looking excited.

"Huh? Don't tell me... you were badmouthing me, Vice President Nagumo?" Hoshino put on an innocent expression and looked at Vice President Nagumo, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

"Hahaha... Of course not! I think you're amazing! You went straight to arrest the guy without even having evidence!"

"Vice President Nagumo, you're exaggerating." Hoshino silently rolled his eyes. Was Vice President Nagumo making fun of him?

"Not at all! I really do think you're impressive!"

"...If you were in my shoes, Vice President, what would you have done?" Hoshino returned to his seat.

"...Me? Hmm—I'd probably have waited to catch him in the act! He'd definitely do it again, right?..." Vice President Nagumo seemed surprised that Hoshino had turned the question back on him. After a moment, he gave his answer.

That really was the safer, better way to handle it!

Even if he'd accused the wrong person, that person wouldn't know. Good to know!

Still, even knowing about this approach, Hoshino probably wouldn't use it if he had to do it all over again.

Once suspicion arose, the person was already guilty.

He'd probably only do it that way if there weren't any other suspects!

Whether the person was being wrongly accused didn't mean much to Hoshino.