Sudo Ken's Crisis

That night, Yi Chen exchanged a few brief words with Ichinose via email.

Yi Chen felt extremely hot and stuffy, so he took a cold shower in the bathroom that day.

That night passed by comfortably.

The next day, Yi Chen woke up feeling especially weak, with a sharp pain in his throat.

Yi Chen muttered weakly to himself:

"Heatstroke? Come on, I exercise regularly. Whatever, I'll just go to class and pick up some medicine afterward."

Yi Chen dragged himself to class.

When he arrived, Kushida noticed him and came over to greet him.

Yi Chen responded briefly. Seeing that he didn't seem to be feeling well, Kushida came closer to ask.

Yi Chen told Kushida:

"It's just a cold."

Kushida immediately placed one hand on her own forehead while standing on tiptoe to touch Yi Chen's forehead.

With a worried expression, she said:

"Ah? You're really hot, huh? Have you taken any medicine yet? I have some fever medication with me."

Yi Chen:

"No thanks, I'll buy my own after class. Yours might not work for me."

Kushida looked concerned:

"You're really burning up. Maybe you should rest instead. I'll let Chabashira-sensei know."

Yi Chen:

"It's fine. A cold always starts with a high fever. Thanks, Kushida."

Kushida hesitated:

"Alright, but if it gets too much, come find me."

The classmates around them couldn't help but let out teasing "oohs" at the intimate interaction between Yi Chen and Kushida.

Yi Chen returned to his seat.

The Angel's voice rang out again:

"Ohhh, the feeble man~ I'm here to give you a mission again~"

Mission:

"Help Sudo Ken."

Reward:

"One Silver Card"

Failure: Elimination

Yi Chen asked weakly:

"Okay, got it."

The Angel disappeared. Yi Chen glanced at Sudo Ken not far away, but didn't notice anything unusual about him.

Just as Yi Chen was about to go ask, Chabashira-sensei entered the classroom.

Chabashira stood in the center and said sternly:

"Class C has filed a complaint that Sudo Ken from our class assaulted someone."

Sudo Ken stood up to explain, but it was useless.

Yi Chen thought to himself that this must be the trouble the Angel mentioned Sudo Ken was facing.

The students in the class began complaining about Sudo Ken's behavior.

Yi Chen quietly watched Sudo Ken, thinking, why didn't this guy tell me he hit someone?

Surrounded by murmurs, Sudo Ken looked helplessly toward Yi Chen.

Yi Chen met his gaze and gave him a thumbs up.

Sudo Ken let out a helpless smile.

After class that day, everyone left one by one.

Kushida came over, worried about Yi Chen.

But because of a friend's invitation, and Yi Chen insisting he was fine, she left.

Yi Chen went to ask Sudo Ken why he hit someone and how he ended up being reported.

Sudo Ken scratched his head, his face full of frustration, and said:

"Yi Chen, I've got the worst luck. The day before yesterday, I was playing basketball with some Class C guys. They had terrible sportsmanship and kept messing with me."

"I was so pissed I cursed them out, and they ended up calling me somewhere to throw hands, but I'm tougher—those three couldn't even beat me."

Yi Chen gave a thumbs up, his voice a little hoarse as he said:

"Nice, winning a fight is pretty badass, especially since they started it."

Sudo Ken:

"Badass doesn't help, Yi Chen. They turned around and reported me for hitting them, called it school bullying."

Yi Chen:

"So, is there anyone who can prove it? Did you actually hit them?"

Sudo Ken:

"No, but at the time I said I did."

Yi Chen sighed helplessly:

"You dumb kid. If you used that basketball brain of yours for thinking, you wouldn't be in this mess."

"Well, is there any other evidence that they hit you?"

Sudo Ken said helplessly:

"No..."

Yi Chen:

"Then that's bad. You're telling me you admitted to hitting them for no reason? And they didn't admit to hitting you?"

Sudo Ken was speechless.

Yi Chen said flatly:

"Shinji no kaeru, zutto mune o naderu."

"In that case, we need to see if anyone saw the Class C guys hitting you."

"We have to gather more evidence."

Sudo Ken was a little moved:

"Thanks, Yi Chen. I didn't expect you to trust me right away when I told you this. Everyone else wants me expelled."

Yi Chen smiled:

"No problem, I'll help you. Go ahead and handle your stuff."

After they parted ways, Yi Chen first went to the pharmacy to get some medicine and took it.

Then Yi Chen went to look for a red-haired girl wearing glasses.

Yi Chen:

"As far as I remember, she was there at the scene, but I don't remember her name. Damn."

"I never bother remembering things that don't seem important."

"This red-haired girl doesn't seem to stand out much."

Yi Chen was outside now, with no way to find her.

Yi Chen thought to himself:

"If I randomly ask someone about a red-haired girl at this critical moment, won't it look like I already know something?"

"Forget it, I'll deal with it tomorrow."

Yi Chen went to the place where Sudo Ken said they fought. He arrived there and quietly observed everything.

Every floor had surveillance cameras.

Yi Chen:

"Huh? If there are cameras, isn't that a sure win? Why do we even need evidence?"

Yi Chen went to the spot where they fought, the fourth floor.

Yi Chen observed the camera:

"This camera? Why is it facing away from the stairwell? Is that right? Does that make sense?"

Yi Chen tested it from every angle in the stairwell, moving like a maniac, and no matter how he looked, the camera was always facing away from that viewpoint.

Yi Chen couldn't help but cough.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit. Yi Chen brought over a large utility ladder and slowly, with his hands, forcibly twisted the camera around.

Yi Chen let out a sigh of relief, looking at the camera now aimed at the stairwell.

He said with a sense of closure:

"Now that's right. Why film a pitch-black hallway instead of the people passing by here? This is what makes sense."

Yi Chen:

"So what am I supposed to do now? I could go scare them, but if they actually check the footage, that won't work either."

"After all, I just set up this angle."

"Whatever, I'll take it one step at a time."

Yi Chen finished his thoughts, packed up, and headed to the dormitory.

Meanwhile, deep in the pitch-black corridor, Sakura Airi slowly emerged from behind a large box.

She stared in shock at the direction Yi Chen had just gone.

Sakura Airi:

"What the hell? That classmate just now was Angela from our class... Yi Chen, right?"

"Why was he messing with the surveillance?"

"Forget it, I'll just get out of here first."

Sakura Airi came downstairs and saw Angela sitting by the roadside, sighing repeatedly. Yi Chen was sitting on the curb.

Sakura Airi looked at him, wanting to ask what he had been doing, but shyness made her hesitate, her words caught in her throat.

Though Yi Chen's nose was stuffy from a cold, he caught a faint, pleasant scent.

He turned around—it was the red-haired girl he'd been looking for.

Unable to hide his excitement, he took the initiative to greet her:

"Hi, we're in the same class, right? I'm Yi Chen."

Sakura Airi spoke shyly, her voice slow:

"Hello, I'm Sakura Airi. We're in the same class."

Yi Chen patted the step beside him, signaling for Sakura Airi to sit down.

Sakura Airi slowly sat down, her hands unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

Yi Chen cleared his throat and said:

"Hey, what are you doing here, Airi?"

Sakura Airi stammered:

"I just came to look around... what about you?"

Yi Chen looked incredulous:

"You saw me?"

Sakura Airi nodded:

"I saw you... you were..."

Yi Chen quickly raised his hand near her and made a "shush" gesture.

Sakura Airi felt her cheeks heat up at Yi Chen being so close.

Yi Chen said calmly:

"Airi, keep it down. Do you know about Sudo Ken's situation? I'm helping him out."

Sakura Airi lowered her head:

"I know... actually... actually..."

Suddenly, a light rain began to fall from the sky.

Yi Chen:

"Did you bring an umbrella, Airi?"

Airi shook her head. The two of them originally planned to head back to the dormitory, but the rain grew heavier.

Yi Chen quickly led Airi to a pavilion to take shelter.

Outside the pavilion, the heavy rain pattered down steadily.

Yi Chen looked at Airi, who was soaked, took off his jacket, and draped it over her shoulders.

Sakura Airi shyly thanked him.

Yi Chen teased:

"We really are fated, aren't we? The first time we chat, and heaven blesses us with a long talk here."

"Who knows when the rain will stop."

Sakura Airi let out a soft laugh at that and said quietly:

"Yi Chen, you're really funny, and you're gentle too—totally different from what I imagined."

Yi Chen sneezed and looked at Sakura Airi:

"What's wrong, Airi? What was I like in your mind before?"

Sakura Airi said nervously:

"Nothing much. It's been pretty good, actually."

Yi Chen:

"It's okay, just say it. We're fated to meet, after all."

Sakura Airi spoke slowly:

"It's just... during your self-introduction at the start of the semester, I thought you were really scary. Saying you'd dominate us and all that—it was so silly."

Yi Chen stared at Airi, dumbfounded.

Sakura Airi looked at Yi Chen's stunned face and quickly explained:

"No, no, I was just messing around. You've always been great."

"You even helped Yamauchi before, and your grades are good too. And also..."

Sakura Airi slowly turned her gaze to Yi Chen's face.

Yi Chen, upon hearing this:

"It's fine. I went a little crazy during my self-introduction. Sorry about that, but I'm not that kind of person."

Sakura Airi:

"It's okay. Everyone knows you're a good person."

Sakura Airi adjusted Yi Chen's jacket draped over her.

Yi Chen thought to himself:

"Feels kind of weird? A 'good person' card?"

And so, the two chatted about all sorts of things in the rain. They both really liked anime and such, and they had a great time talking.

Gradually, the rain lightened, and eventually stopped.

After the rain stopped, Yi Chen, worried that Airi might catch a cold from getting wet, exchanged contact info with her, and they quickly parted ways.

Yi Chen also took back his jacket and put it on.

Back in his dorm, Yi Chen coughed nonstop, and snot started flowing.

Yi Chen took a hot shower, lay down in bed, took his medicine, and immediately rested. His body temperature gradually rose.

Tonight, Yi Chen didn't rest well.