Sakura Wakes Up

"Mm~ What am I..."

Sakura opened her eyes groggily and stared at the white ceiling, feeling dazed.

The last thing she could remember was seeing An Xiao, hugging him, and then...

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

Remembering what she had done earlier, Sakura's face flushed. She clutched the blanket covering her and muttered to herself in a panic.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

The boy's somewhat muffled voice sounded in Sakura's ear. Following it, she saw An Xiao sitting nearby with his chin propped on one hand, chewing on something and speaking to her with an exasperated look.

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

"I carried you to the Infirmary. You got so worked up that you passed out, so I brought you here to get you checked out."

When she heard that An Xiao had carried her, Sakura's face turned even redder. She pulled the blanket up to cover most of her face, but after thinking about what had happened, she hesitated before asking,

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

"Hmph. How do you think?" An Xiao sneered. "He's probably being interrogated by the school."

"Given what he did, he'd be in jail if this had happened outside school."

As he spoke, An Xiao paused, moved his chair a little closer, and said to Sakura,

"The important thing now is what you want to do about this, Sakura."

"...You're asking me?"

"Of course I'm asking you." An Xiao rolled his eyes. "You're the one involved."

"But I should tell you first: that guy still hasn't admitted to anything. He's still arguing about it."

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

Sakura lowered her head. Her pink hair fell across her face, making her expression hard to read.

"That depends on what you really want."

Looking at Sakura, An Xiao sighed, his voice softening.

"If you insist on filing a complaint, more people will definitely find out about your past."

"Both your work as a gravure idol and... what almost happened to you."

After saying this, An Xiao saw Sakura's body begin to tremble again. He shook his head helplessly, then continued.

"But if you drop it, fewer people will find out. Still, that person might keep following you."

"So... what do you choose, Sakura?"

An Xiao fell silent and watched Sakura, still huddled beneath the blanket.

After a while, the girl finally poked her head out from beneath it. She looked at An Xiao, clutched the blanket tightly, took a deep breath, and said,

"If... if I choose the first option, would you come with me, An Xiao?"

"So you're choosing the first option, then?" An Xiao raised an eyebrow.

Sakura didn't answer. It was as if those words had taken all her strength. She only gave a slight nod.

"Tsk, tsk. I can go with you, but there's really no need."

Only after confirming Sakura's answer did An Xiao smile and speak.

"Huh?"

"I mean, Ichinose has already gone to the school to handle this."

Seeing that Sakura was completely confused, An Xiao explained impatiently, "After something like this happened, did you really think everyone could just pretend it never did?"

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

"Then why did you ask me...?"

"I just wanted to make sure."

As he spoke, An Xiao tossed the orange he had already peeled to Sakura.

"Here. A reward for being brave."

"Still, there's a difference between being brave and being reckless. Don't go looking into something like this alone again."

Sakura hurriedly caught the orange he tossed her. By then, An Xiao had already stood up.

"An Xiao, are you...?"

"It's getting late, so I should go. I'll also get the Infirmary teacher for you."

An Xiao waved and started for the door, but he had barely taken a few steps when Sakura's voice called after him.

"If... if I'd chosen the other option, what would you have done, An Xiao?"

"If you'd chosen the other option..." An Xiao looked back at the girl and smiled.

"Take a guess."

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

With that, he left the Infirmary.

Sakura watched An Xiao's retreating figure and unconsciously touched her cheek. At some point, the corners of her mouth had curled into a smile.

She looked at the orange in her hand and popped a segment into her mouth.

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

"Ah~ At last, all this is over."

Thinking back on everything that had happened lately, An Xiao stretched his arms high above his head, looking thoroughly relaxed.

Thinking of the points he was about to receive from the Student Council lifted his spirits even more.

But An Xiao's good mood didn't last long. As he rounded a corner, he ran into Horikita and Ayanokoji walking toward him.

"Hey. Goodbye." An Xiao glanced at the two of them, turned to leave, but hadn't taken more than a few steps before someone grabbed him.

"Today's hearing is over," Horikita said to An Xiao in a calm voice.

"Class C withdrew its complaint."

"They withdrew it? Good, they withdrew it..."

An Xiao had answered rather dismissively, but when he heard that the final outcome was due to Class C withdrawing its complaint, he was completely dumbfounded.

Wasn't Ryuen from Class C pretty smart when An Xiao had seen him last time? How had he ended up withdrawing?

Then why had he bought An Xiao's evidence?

Was he trying to throw his money away?

An Xiao had considered all sorts of possibilities, but he had never imagined that things would end with Class C withdrawing its complaint.

No matter how you looked at it, the three students from Class C had clearly been more seriously injured. Even with the evidence An Xiao had given Class D, the best possible result would have been for both sides to share the blame.

But given the outcome now... Class C seemed to have taken a ridiculous loss.

An Xiao still remembered what Kanzaki had told him earlier. That had been when Class C was expected to win, but now Class C had lost...

"How did you manage that?"

"Did you give Sudo internal injuries?"

"What does Sudo have to do with this?" Horikita frowned, clearly confused.

"Or is that your method?"

"...Tell me your method first. Then I'll tell you mine."

An Xiao scratched his head.

"Um, I think..."

Ayanokoji didn't get to finish. Horikita glared him into silence, then turned to An Xiao and began explaining their method.