Investigation Complete

"President Horikita, I request an immediate, in-depth investigation into the clerk at the camera counter in the electronics store!" As soon as he entered the Student Council room, Hoshino walked straight up to President Horikita.

"Eh?" Secretary Tachibana, who had just returned from reporting the situation, looked completely stunned. "You've already figured it out?"

"No."

"Then you..." Secretary Tachibana looked over, confused.

"I went to do a quick investigation just now, and I can basically confirm it."

"But..." Secretary Tachibana seemed to want to say something more.

"Hoshino, do you have any evidence?" President Horikita sat at his desk, his expression unchanged as he looked up and stared into Hoshino's eyes.

"No." Hoshino shrugged. "...Therefore, if the investigation proves that the clerk is truly not the perpetrator, I will accept any punishment!"

"..." President Horikita looked at Hoshino with immense pressure, his eyes seemingly emitting a "cold glare."

Hoshino remained calm, meeting President Horikita's gaze, while Secretary Tachibana stood to the side, looking like she wanted to speak but held back.

"...Fine, I approve. Secretary Tachibana, prepare the relevant materials and take a few security guards with you." After a long silence, President Horikita looked away.

"...Eh? ...Alright..."

"Hi, Mr. Clerk, we meet again!" Hoshino wore a mischievous grin.

"Eh? This customer..." Looking at the purple-haired girl in a bun behind Hoshino and the several men in security uniforms, the clerk's face turned panicked.

"This is authorized by the Student Council and the school. We need to conduct an investigation on you, please cooperate!"

A burly security guard stepped forward. The clerk's face turned deathly pale; he seemed to want to say something, but he collapsed into his chair...

After half an hour of investigation, they indeed found a large number of candid photos and unsent letters at his residence.

"Wait! Let me go, I'm innocent! I'm a fan of Shizuku, we are destined to be together, if you don't believe me, go ask her..." The clerk shouted and struggled, but he was still taken away by the security guards.

"...You really dared to gamble on that!" Secretary Tachibana, who had come along, walked out of the store slowly afterward.

"...Gamble? There was just no need to look for evidence. With this level of stalking, there's no way he wouldn't keep those photos himself. Instead of wasting energy, it's better to intervene directly. The evidence is right there, why be sneaky? This isn't a spy movie!" Hoshino let out a long sigh of relief.

"...I suppose that's true."

It was past nine in the evening by the time Hoshino returned to his dormitory.

He took out his phone, intending to tell Sakura that the matter had been resolved, but it was only then that Hoshino suddenly realized he didn't seem to have Sakura's contact information!

Sheepishly putting his phone away, Hoshino flopped onto his bed.

The Student Council, and even the faculty, had held repeated meetings to discuss the communication, and it had dragged on until just now.

Why did it feel like meetings were more painful than anything else? Hoshino couldn't even remember what had been said.

The final result should have been to involve the police.

Even the Chairman had personally attended the meeting for this matter; it was truly a serious affair! I think I heard President Horikita call him "Chairman Sakayanagi." Could he be related to Sakayanagi...

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

"Seems like it was a staff member from the mall?..."

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

Come to think of it, he had intended to tell Sakura to put her mind at ease, but with so many people around, Hoshino thought about it and decided to let it go for now.

Back at his seat, before he could settle down, Hirata approached him.

"Hirata-kun, is something the matter?" Glancing at Hirata, Hoshino began to take the books out of his bag on his own.

"Um, Hoshino-kun... could we talk about Sudo?"

That actually piqued Hoshino's interest. Talk? Talk about what?

"Talk about what?"

"Is there any way to help Sudo-kun?"

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

"Sakura-san, please wait a moment." After school, Hoshino called out to Sakura as she was about to leave. "Last night, that clerk was taken away. You can rest easy now."

"Thank you..." Sakura was clearly relieved, her entire demeanor relaxing at once.

"That said, if you still receive letters like that, or if there are any other strange occurrences, please don't hesitate—tell me immediately or send an email to the Student Council's public inbox." Hoshino raised his voice to emphasize the point.

"Okay..." Sakura slowly raised her head, the panic in her eyes having dissipated significantly.

"Then that's all for now. I have things to do, so I'll be going."

"Yes!"

"Eh? I actually missed such an interesting event?" Before even entering the Student Council room, Hoshino heard a familiar voice.

"Good afternoon, Vice President Nagumo." Pushing open the Gate of Opening, a head of yellow hair came into view.

"Good afternoon! Hoshino, we were just talking about you!" Vice President Nagumo turned around, his face full of excitement.

"Eh? Could it be... is Vice President Nagumo speaking ill of me?" Putting on an innocent expression, Hoshino looked at Vice President Nagumo, who wore a look of "watching the show."

"Hahaha... of course not! I actually think you're quite impressive! You dared to go straight to someone's door to catch them without any evidence!"

"Vice President Nagumo, you're exaggerating too much." Hoshino rolled his eyes inwardly; Vice President Nagumo was mocking him, wasn't he?

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

"...Then if it were you, Vice President, how would you handle it?" Hoshino returned to his seat.

"...Me? Hmm—I suppose I would catch them in the act! He will definitely do it again, right..." Vice President Nagumo seemed not to have expected Hoshino to turn the question back on him; he paused for a moment before giving his answer.

Indeed, that should be considered a safer and better method!

Even if someone were wronged, they would never know. Lesson learned!

However, even knowing this approach, if it happened again, Hoshino would likely still not use such a method.

Once suspicion arises, the guilt is already established.

Only if there were no suspects at all would one probably do such a thing!

Whether someone is wronged or not, in Hoshino's view, such things have no meaning.