That Was Me, Wasn't It?

"That's not funny." Kamuro, who'd been called a paparazzo, immediately wanted to quit.

"I'm serious, Kamuro. Look, you're so inconspicuous in a crowd. Even with that serious expression, you blend right in, and nobody pays you any attention. Wouldn't it be a waste of your talents if you didn't become a paparazzo?"

"Get lost!" Kamuro Masumi snapped irritably.

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled and dropped the subject. She'd intended to put Kamuro Masumi to work like this from the start.

"What if he draws the curtains?" Kamuro asked.

"Normal people don't draw their curtains. If they do, it's usually at night, when they go to bed." Even Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't certain.

That was what she did, so she assumed everyone else did the same. But plenty of students actually drew their curtains.

They turned on the lights during the day, too, and didn't give much thought to ventilation.

Fortunately, Yagami Shizuka didn't have a habit of turning on the lights during the day. He kept his curtains half open, which was convenient whether he was sleeping or letting in the light.

That made it even easier for Sakayanagi Arisu to spy on him.

"Don't rush. I know adolescent boys too well. As soon as they're alone, they're bound to get up to something. And if he doesn't, I'll leave him a few photos during swimming class. Then... hehehehe!"

Kamuro Masumi rolled her eyes. Sakayanagi looked incredibly devious at that moment.

"You're so despicable! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"Ashamed?" Sakayanagi Arisu rested her chin on her hand. She didn't seem to be, and she smiled. "If you're evenly matched with your opponent, and you can win with a simple feint, why fight fair?

"If sacrificing a few people can turn the tide of a battle, why lead tens of thousands to their deaths?

"In my eyes, being despicable has never been an insult. It's a compliment!"

Kamuro Masumi was at a loss for words.

That was true. If a few sacrifices and a clever scheme could win a battle, why lead tens of thousands to their deaths?

War was all about deception.

As long as you won, who cared what methods you used?

"Something's happening. Hurry, turn on the camera and film it," Sakayanagi Arisu urged.

Kamuro Masumi did so, though very reluctantly.

"It's the tablet he just bought for next to nothing." Sakayanagi Arisu could clearly see the tablet on the desk by the window where Yagami Shizuka had left it.

Since he'd placed it right on the desk, she could make out some of what was on the screen.

The view from her end wasn't very clear, but Kamuro Masumi was getting a much better shot.

Since it had belonged to a girl, the decorations and desktop theme were very feminine.

When he opened the photo album, they could also see lots of indecent pictures of girls.

"I see. That saves us a lot of trouble." Sakayanagi Arisu thought she'd soon have a breakthrough, but she couldn't bring herself to feel happy. Instead, she was inexplicably furious.

"Shizuka definitely isn't that kind of person." Kamuro Masumi still didn't want to believe it. She prayed to herself that Sakayanagi Arisu wouldn't find anything to use against him. Otherwise, he'd end up like her.

"He's deleting the photos." Kamuro Masumi secretly rejoiced.

Sakayanagi Arisu was also taken aback. She realized she'd underestimated him.

Next, they saw Yagami Shizuka find the factory reset option and restart the tablet.

Sakayanagi Arisu and Kamuro Masumi exchanged a glance without saying a word.

At this rate, there was no point in staying there until tomorrow.

Through the telescope, Sakayanagi Arisu also saw the books Yagami Shizuka had borrowed from the library.

Calling them bizarre would be an understatement.

He'd borrowed a book on architectural engineering, a famous book on Jeet Kune Do that had been passed down by Bruce Lee, and a collection of books on herbal medicine.

She couldn't see how those three books went together.

What kind of person wanted to learn a little bit about everything?

She remembered Yagami Shizuka telling her that he knew a little about everything, which meant he wasn't an expert in anything.

Why did he have to study a bit of everything? Was there no reason, and he just liked it?

If he tried to learn everything, there was no way he'd master anything.

A while later, the computer restarted. She saw Yagami Shizuka transfer something from his phone.

"Study materials? Classes are over and he's still studying? What a bore."

The moment she saw Yagami Shizuka create a folder called "Study Materials," she lost interest and wanted to leave the rest of the job to Kamuro Masumi.

"Wait! Something's wrong! Sakayanagi, come look!" Kamuro Masumi's eyes were wide with alarm. She'd clearly been startled.

"What? What is it?" Sakayanagi Arisu was curious, so she went over to the large telescope.

What was there to see in study materials?

She could clearly see the image on the camera's screen.

"This is... Wait, what...?"

At a glance, Sakayanagi Arisu burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! I don't know where he got these pictures, but he's done for. Hahaha! Tomorrow, I'll show him what I can do. I'll make him..."

For the moment, the only low-level torment she could think of was making him scrub toilets.

"No, look more carefully," Kamuro Masumi urged anxiously.

Only then did Sakayanagi Arisu take a closer look.

"Wait, that hat, the silver hair, the white stockings... Th-this is me, isn't it?" Sakayanagi Arisu stared in shock, her expression changing abruptly. "Where did he get these pictures?!"

Yagami Shizuka was still retouching and editing the pictures, making them clearer and clearer. The software he was using could quickly generate more images from a single photo, and even create videos that looked like composites.

The software was astonishingly convenient.

"Don't film it! Delete it, quick!"

Sakayanagi Arisu snatched the camera and deleted the footage, then checked it over and over again.

She picked up the telescope once more and looked. She'd never expected Yagami Shizuka to have something like this, with her as the model.

Kamuro Masumi seemed to remember something and said, "When I was in middle school, I saw people making face-swapped photos of celebrities. This should be similar technology."

"No, it even has my white underwear! There's a limit to how much you can splice together, isn't there? How could there possibly be someone who looks and dresses so much like me? No matter how you look at it, the resemblance is way too close!"

"Then could it be..." Kamuro Masumi looked at Sakayanagi Arisu. Could she have taken the pictures herself without realizing it?

"Impossible!" Sakayanagi Arisu stamped her foot, her anger making her lose some of her composure.

She'd never lost her temper like that before.

When she looked through the telescope again, she saw that Yagami Shizuka had drawn the curtains.

Did she even need to guess? He was definitely up to no good.

But could she tell a teacher? Could she tell anyone?

She couldn't!

Even if she really wanted to go down with him, it would be pointless. With his foresight, Yagami Shizuka could destroy the evidence in advance.

The only option was to take pictures of the evidence herself and hand them in.

But she'd never do something that would cost her ten thousand to hurt the enemy by only eight hundred.

At most, Yagami Shizuka would be suspended, and it wouldn't affect his reputation at all.

Just imagine what might happen if this got out.

The boys would say, "Bro, can I talk to you for a sec?"

The girls would say, "Shizuka really does like Sakayanagi Arisu!"

Even her homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya, might secretly approach him and say, "Private photos of Hoshinomiya-sensei and Chabashira-sensei. Name your price!"

It wasn't out of the question. She was 99% sure that was how those people would react.

And she'd become a laughingstock among the students.

So forget reporting him; she couldn't even threaten him. She had no choice but to give up on spying on him.

What surprised her most was that he'd managed to get those pictures in such a short time. It was as if he'd even planned ahead to buy the tablet.

"Did he know I was watching him? No, impossible!" Sakayanagi Arisu immediately rejected the idea. If that were true, it would be terrifying.

She was certain it had to be a coincidence.

"I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing," Kamuro Masumi analyzed. "He deleted all the other people's photos and then found pictures of you. Doesn't that prove he really likes you?"