Copycat Mode Activated

She suddenly looked up, her watery eyes filled with an unusual determination, "But if Tanaka-kun thinks it should be handed over, I... I will!"

Tanaka Yukishin gazed at the girl's slightly flushed cheeks and her sparkling yet determined eyes, a barely perceptible smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

He shook his head slightly.

"No need. Keep these photos safe for yourself. Horikita and Ayanokōji are handling this in Class D."

Sakura Airi's eyes lit up instantly, as if she had received tremendous affirmation.

"Okay! I'll listen to Tanaka-kun!"

Her voice was filled with undisguised joy, as if to say, "I believe whatever decision you make."

Looking at her innocent friend, Karuizawa Kei couldn't help but feel grateful that Tanaka Yukishin and she were looking after her.

Because she understood the rules of survival on campus better than the introverted Sakura Airi.

With a simple personality like Sakura Airi's, she could easily encounter unspeakable things if she didn't have someone to rely on.

Seeing the joyful Sakura Airi, Tanaka Yukishin thought for a moment and suddenly asked.

Did you bring the memory card?

"Ah! Right, right!" Sakura Airi frantically pulled the memory card from the camera, nearly dropping it in her nervousness. She quickly said, "I brought..."

Tanaka Yukishin caught it steadily and, to the astonishment of the two, crushed it into crumbs.

"Tanaka-kun!"

Sakura Airi gasped in surprise.

Karuizawa Kei's eyes widened. "This is important evidence!"

Tanaka Yukishin threw the shards into the trash can and patted the debris off her hands.

"Let's pretend this never happened." He looked at Sakura Airi's panicked expression and added, "Delete the original documents from the camera as well."

"Um!"

Sakura Airi paused for a few seconds, then suddenly broke into a bright smile.

Her movements as she operated the camera to delete photos were swift and decisive, a stark contrast to her usual timidity.

"You..."

Karuizawa Kei shook her head helplessly, but then saw a happy smile on her friend's face that she had never seen before.

But she's really a coward.

As Tanaka Yukishin's girlfriend, I was the one encouraging you to confess your feelings. Didn't you ever consider why I was doing that?

Class C.

With classes A, B, and D working together, such a significant event was naturally easily noticed by the students in Class C.

Ishizaki Daichi, Komiya Yogo, Kondo Suzune.

The three stood in front of Ryuen Kakeru with some worry.

"Ryuen, with so many people, what if they actually discover something?"

"Just do as I tell you, what's there to be afraid of?"

Ryuen Kakeru doesn't have many capable people at his disposal.

Therefore, he couldn't bear to waste manpower on Ken Sudō, that red-haired baboon.

They not only assigned three people to scout and screen locations, but also repeatedly reviewed surveillance footage.

Even the script was meticulously prepared.

The three locations—the club, the journey, and the special teaching building—correspond to three stages.

First, seduction.

Second, plant mines.

Third, stimulate.

Even if someone is actually at the scene, and (2) Qiaoqi Pipit and Yim Mountain Pipit are recorded on video.

There's only one possible outcome: a fight.

Unless all three stages are consciously recorded.

Otherwise, we might only look at one or two stages.

That would only lead to one conclusion—ambiguity.

Given this conclusion, let's now look at the result: all three were covered in injuries.

The responsibility, of course, lies entirely with Ken Sudō.

After all, Ishizaki is a delinquent, while Komiya and Kondo are both members of the Basketball Club.

With such fighting strength, how could they possibly lose if they were truly determined to fight?

"Remember, what we need is for everyone to see— Class C is the victim."

Chapter 102: The Elite Scholar Arrives

As the setting sun painted the sky orange-red, the students gradually left to attend to their own matters.

After all, Sudo is Sudo, and an ally is an ally; they still need to eat.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka leaned against the window, watching the figures leaving the playground in twos and threes.

Yamauchi Haruki had his arm around Hondo Ryotaro's shoulder, muttering, "Since we can't find any witnesses anyway, let's go to the convenience store."

The girls, meanwhile, gathered together, discussing which restaurant to go to later.

He glanced down at his phone; the screen showed 18:05.

After nearly two hours of work, I achieved nothing.

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the classroom through the gaps in the curtains, and the air was filled with the faint scent of coffee and shampoo.

The students in the department were busy exchanging and sharing intelligence information with each other.

However, in the eyes of bystanders such as Tanaka Yukishin, Koenji, and Hasebe Haruka...

The students' behavior suggested they were treating the task of finding witnesses as a team-building activity.

Few people actually do their jobs seriously; they're just there to read the room, join the crowd, and take the opportunity to do things that are difficult to do alone.

"Hey, I heard there's been some activity over in Hirata?"

"Who knows? We haven't found anything on our end."

Several boys gathered together, verbally discussing the investigation, but their hands were constantly scrolling through social media.

In the center of the classroom, Hirata Yosuke was surrounded by girls checking information.

He lowered his head slightly, his golden-brown hair shimmering softly in the sunlight, and the collar of his shirt was slightly open, revealing his collarbone.

Kushida Kikyo stood beside him, her slender fingers flying across her notebook, her honey-colored hair falling smoothly over her shoulders, the curls at the ends perfectly placed.

"Tsk tsk."

Yamauchi Haruki smacked his lips.

Despite his resentment towards the popular Hirata Yosuke, he couldn't help but approach the girls surrounding him and strike up a conversation with them.

"It seems no one has found the key clue... Indeed, finding witnesses isn't so easy."

Ayanokōji observed the activity in the classroom, noticing that many people were looking down at their phones taking notes.

As for what kind of record it is, that remains unknown.

"How is the situation?"

Horikita Suzune walked towards Hirata Yosuke and asked briefly.

After exchanging words for a while, she turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Let's go and find out about the progress of the surveys in the other classes."

Do I have to run errands again...?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sighed inwardly, but maintained a calm expression.

"Why not just ask on the terminal? Besides, class is about to start."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the clock.

Horikita Suzune frowned slightly.

"Didn't you see that I just spoke with Hirata?"

"So?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka deliberately feigned a confused expression while quickly analyzing the situation in his mind.

Her expression... suggests there's something unusual going on.

"He said Class B did send someone to investigate," Horikita Suzune in a low voice, "But he felt it was inconvenient to follow along, so he and Kushida went to look for witnesses on their own."

I see...

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's gaze shifted between Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo, noticing that Kushida Kikyo was focused on organizing her notes, seemingly oblivious to the conversation.

"I see."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded. "Then why not send Hirata and Kushida? They're in charge of Class B. I don't think it's appropriate to change the contact person without a reason."

"What you said makes sense." Horikita Suzune thought for a moment, then turned to Hirata Yosuke and gave him a few instructions.

"Knew."

Hirata Yosuke responded, glanced at Kushida Kikyo was still taking notes, and left the classroom alone to go to Class B.

As soon as Hirata Yosuke left, the girls who had been surrounding him showed expressions of dissatisfaction.

But Horikita Suzune disagreed.

They're just girls who've lost their minds due to hormones.

As long as she holds the card of Hirata Yosuke, she will always be invincible.

A few minutes later, Hirata Yosuke returned.

"No results."

"This is really a headache."

Horikita Suzune rubbed her temples.

Apart from the students, the entire campus only has faculty and staff members, and the total number of students is less than 500.

They mobilized 60 or 70 people to search for two hours, but found nothing.

"Let's start class first, lunchtime... never mind, we'll continue this afternoon."

Horikita Suzune had intended to continue the search at noon, but decided against it due to the scorching sun.

She didn't think anyone in Class D was worth the effort of having other students search for them under the scorching sun, sweating profusely.

Ken Sudō is not worth everyone's attention.

If it were Hirata Yosuke or Kushida Kikyo, their friends or admirers might be willing.

As the school bell rang, she glanced at Sakura Airi without making a sound.

Afterwards, I focused on attending class.

After school in the afternoon, Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka arrived at Class A as assigned yesterday.

Ichinose Honami and her friends had already completed their group assignments.

The reason why Kanzaki Ryuji readily agreed to the alliance yesterday was not only to help Ichinose Honami adapt to cooperation and competition, but also because of deeper considerations.

As one of the actual decision-makers of Class A, Kanzaki Ryuji has been looking for opportunities to test Class A's latest decisions.

Did the five groups, which were divided a second time, achieve the expected level of collaboration?

This also provides an opportunity to observe the reactions of other classes.

More importantly, he hoped that through this collaboration, Ichinose, an overly idealistic leader, would realize the harsh reality.