Sakura Wakes Up

"Hmm... where am I?"

Sakura opened her eyes in a daze, staring at the stark white ceiling, feeling somewhat disoriented.

The last memory lingering in her brain seemed to be of her seeing An Xiao, hugging him, and then...

"How could I... have done something like that!"

Recalling what she had done earlier, Sakura's face flushed red instantly. She gripped the blanket covering her body with both hands, muttering to herself in a panic.

"I'm the one who should be asking you that."

Inside the room, the boy's slightly muffled voice reached Sakura's ears. She followed the sound and saw An Xiao resting his chin on one hand, chewing on something, and speaking to her with a touch of annoyance.

"An-An-An Xiao-kun, why are you here?" Sakura stammered.

"I'm the one who carried you to the Infirmary. You were so emotionally overwhelmed at the end that you fainted, so I brought you here for a quick check-up."

Hearing that An Xiao had carried her here, Sakura's face turned even redder. She pulled the blanket up to cover most of her face, but after hesitating for a moment, she asked about what had happened earlier.

"That person... how is he now?"

"Hmph, how do you think?" An Xiao sneered. "He's probably being interrogated by the school authorities right now."

"Given his behavior, if this were outside, he would have been thrown in jail immediately."

At this, An Xiao paused, moved his chair a little closer, and said to Sakura.

"The key issue now is this: Sakura, how do you want to handle this?"

"...You're asking me?"

"Of course I'm asking you," An Xiao said, rolling his eyes. "After all, you're the one involved."

"But I have to warn you first, that guy isn't admitting to anything yet; he's still trying to talk his way out of it."

"...Then, An Xiao, what do you think I should do?"

Sakura kept her head down, her pinkish-red hair draped in front of her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

"That depends on what you really want."

Seeing Sakura like this, An Xiao sighed, his tone softening significantly.

"If you insist on filing a formal complaint, then your past will definitely be known by more people."

"Whether it's about being a gravure idol or... the attempted assault."

After An Xiao finished saying this, he watched Sakura's body tremble again. He shook his head helplessly and continued.

"But if you give up, the matter won't spread further, though there's a chance that guy might continue to follow you in the future."

"So... Sakura, what is your choice?"

An Xiao stopped talking after that, just watching Sakura, who was huddled under the blanket, in silence.

It was unknown how much time had passed before the girl finally poked her face out from the blanket. She looked at An Xiao, gripped the blanket tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and said.

"If, if I choose the former, An Xiao-kun, will you accompany me?"

"So that means you're choosing the former, then?" An Xiao raised an eyebrow.

Sakura didn't speak, as if those words had exhausted all her strength; she only gave a slight nod.

"Tsk tsk, I can go with you, but there's actually no need for that anymore."

After confirming Sakura's answer, An Xiao finally said with a smile.

"Huh?"

"It means I've already had Ichinose go to the school authorities to handle this."

Seeing the completely bewildered Sakura, An Xiao explained with a huff, "Now that something like this has happened, did you really think you could just pretend nothing happened?"

"The school is definitely going to deal with this."

"Then why did you ask me, An Xiao..."

"I just wanted to confirm it, that's all."

As he spoke, An Xiao tossed the orange he had been peeling to Sakura.

"Here, a reward for the brave."

"Well, being brave and being reckless are two different things. You shouldn't go looking for him alone again in the future."

Sakura caught the orange in a panic, and then she saw An Xiao stand up.

"An Xiao-kun, are you..."

"It's getting late, so I should go. I'll go call the teacher in the Infirmary for you on my way out."

An Xiao waved his hand and started to walk away, but before he had taken more than a few steps, Sakura's voice came from behind him.

"If, if I had chosen the latter earlier, what would you have done, An Xiao-kun?"

"If you had chosen the latter..." An Xiao turned back to look at the girl, smiling as he spoke.

"Guess?"

"Also, you really do look quite pretty without your glasses, so... try to have a little more confidence."

After saying that, he left the Infirmary.

Sakura watched An Xiao's retreating back, her hand instinctively touching her cheek, a faint curve appearing on her lips before she even realized it.

Looking at the orange in her hand, she peeled off a segment and popped it into her mouth.

"It's warm, and... it's so sweet."

"Sigh~ these matters have finally come to an end."

Recalling the series of events that had occurred over this period, An Xiao stretched his body vigorously, feeling incredibly relaxed.

Thinking about the points he was about to receive from the Student Council, An Xiao's mood improved even further.

However, An Xiao's good mood didn't last long; as he rounded a corner, he ran straight into Horikita and Ayanokoji, who were walking toward him.

"Hm, hello, goodbye." An Xiao looked at the two of them and turned to leave, but before he could take a few steps, he was grabbed by someone.

"Today's hearing has already concluded." Horikita looked at An Xiao and said in a flat tone.

"Class C has dropped the charges."

"Dropped the charges? Dropped the charges is good, that's good..."

????!!!

An Xiao had been responding rather perfunctorily at first, but upon hearing that the final outcome was due to Class C dropping the charges, he was completely stunned.

Wasn't that Ryuen from Class C supposed to be quite smart? How could he have dropped the charges?

Then why did he buy the evidence against him?

To play the fool?

An Xiao had considered many possibilities, but he had never imagined that this matter would end with Class C dropping the charges.

Regardless of anything else, the three people from Class C were clearly more severely injured. Even if Class D had the evidence An Xiao provided earlier, the best possible outcome would have been for both sides to receive equal punishment.

But as for the current result... Class C seemed to have lost so much it was idiotic.

An Xiao still remembered what Kanzaki had told him earlier; that was under the assumption that Class C would win, but now that Class C had lost...

"How on earth did you manage that?"

"Did you beat Sudo so hard he sustained internal injuries?"

"What does that have to do with beating Sudo?" Horikita frowned, looking confused.

"Or is this your method?"

"...Let's hear your method first, and then I'll tell you mine."

An Xiao scratched his head and said.

"Um, I think..."

Ayanokoji didn't get to finish his sentence before being glared into silence by Horikita, who then turned to An Xiao and began to explain their method.