"I don't know why my father arranged for you to be in Class D. But if he did, he must have had his reasons." Itayanagi walked alongside Takahashi as she spoke. "To be honest, I'm looking forward to the day I get to face you. I'm even more eager to see you face him someday."
"Him?" Takahashi glanced at Itayanagi.
"A remarkable person, a genius from the White Room."
"I know about the White Room. Artificial geniuses, huh? That sounds interesting. But I think my life is pretty good as it is. Unless I have no other choice, I don't really want things to change."
"But at this school, you'll have plenty of moments when you have no other choice." Itayanagi stopped walking. "All right, this is where we part."
"Takahashi, I want to help Kushida and the others."
After watching Itayanagi leave, Takahashi received a message from Sakura.
It was too late, Airi. If you'd come forward from the start, the photos on your camera could still have served as evidence. But the school had given Sudo until the day after tomorrow, and his hearing was fast approaching. Not only was the camera still at the repair shop, but even if a Class D student came forward to testify on behalf of another Class D student, it would be hard to accept them as a witness. The school wouldn't believe that a Class D student just happened to witness an act of violence involving another Class D student in an isolated, unmonitored classroom. If she came forward now, the school would only think she was some so-called eyewitness they'd dragged out because the hearing was near.
"If you've decided what to do, then do it. I told you, I'll always be there for you."
Thinking of what Itayanagi had said, Takahashi decided to agree to Sakura coming forward. At this school, he might have plenty of moments when he had no other choice, so Sakura needed to change. Coming forward now wouldn't help, but at least this could help her fit in with the class.
"Hello, Ayanokouji." He took out his phone and called Ayanokouji.
"Mm... What is it, Takahashi?"
"Hey, Sakura's camera broke a while ago, so she took it to an electronics repair shop. I wanted you to come with me today and see if it was ready."
On the other end, Ayanokouji thought, Takahashi wouldn't ask me to come along out of the blue, especially after bringing up Sakura. This probably has something to do with Sudo's situation. Either way, I should go and see.
"Sure. When?"
"I'm almost at the dorm. If you're there, wait for me downstairs."
Luckily, the repair shop had more than one employee, not just that stalker. Otherwise, there'd have been nowhere else to get the camera fixed.
"It'll still be a few days before it's ready? That's so slow." Takahashi looked at Ayanokouji. "Since we're already here, why don't we look around?"
"Sure."
"Wow, this surveillance camera looks like the ones at school. Do you think it's the same model?" Takahashi asked Ayanokouji, looking at one of the cameras.
"Mm... It really does."
"Ah..."
"What's wrong?" Ayanokouji asked when Takahashi suddenly sighed.
"If only the surveillance cameras had recorded those three from Class C talking in private about how to provoke Sudo. Then Sudo wouldn't be facing suspension and disciplinary action."
"Mm, that's true."
As he watched Ayanokouji start to ponder, Takahashi thought, Ayanokouji, let me use this to test how capable you really are.
After returning to his dorm, Ayanokouji lay on his bed, thinking over Takahashi's words. Then the door opened, and Sudo and the other two came straight in.
"Hey, why'd you just barge in? I'm entitled to some privacy, you know."
"Heh heh, Little Kushida asked us to come. She said she'd found something really important." Ike chuckled.
"Besides, this is our hangout spot."
"It's not right to keep someone else's dorm key without permission." Horikita's voice came from behind them. "Give Ayanokouji his key back."
"But... Ayanokouji said it was okay before."
Ike was about to argue, but Sudo had already handed the key to Ayanokouji. What a loyal dog. In the end, the three of them had no choice but to return the key.
"Sorry, everyone. I'm late." Kushida made her entrance last.
"Haha, it's fine, Little Kushida. We just got here too," the loyal dog Ike hurried to say.
Everyone sat around the table, and Kushida took out her phone.
"Everyone, I found something really important. Look, who's this?" She showed them the screen.
"Who is she? She's so pretty." Ike spoke first.
"Look at this. It says she's Shizuku, a popular idol. But why does she look so familiar?"
"Sakura, isn't this Sakura? That bust size—it's Sakura!" Ike suddenly shouted.
"That's right. Sakura is the popular idol Shizuku," Kushida said.
"I can't believe there's such a popular idol right beside me," Yamauchi said in disbelief.
"Hey, Yamauchi, didn't you say Sakura confessed to you? What a shame you turned her down," Ike said sarcastically.
"There's something else. Look at the pinned post on Sakura's blog." Kushida scrolled up on her phone.
"Huh? Sakura has a boyfriend?" Yamauchi said in disbelief again.
"That bracelet... It belongs to Takahashi." Horikita spoke up. Sitting to Takahashi's left, she knew he wore a light blue bracelet on his left wrist.
"What? Takahashi!"
"Damn it. No wonder Sakura wouldn't come forward to testify for me. It's all because of that Takahashi guy," Sudo said angrily.
"Sudo, calm down."
At Horikita's words, the loyal dog calmed down.
"Takahashi may have stayed out of this for some reason he couldn't explain, but he gave me a hint and I didn't understand it."
"What hint?" Ayanokouji asked.
"He said that instead of making Sudo the center of everything, we should choose a different focal point. For example, those three from Class C."
Hearing Horikita, Kushida chimed in, "I remember now. Takahashi said something similar to me before. He said we were all treating Sudo's fight as the center of the whole situation."
After hearing Horikita and Kushida, Ayanokouji thought for a moment, then decided to tell them what had happened that afternoon.
"Takahashi asked me to meet him this afternoon."
"Did he say anything to you?" Horikita asked.
"He took me to the electronics shop where Sakura's camera was being repaired. It wasn't ready yet, so he took me to look at surveillance cameras. He also said, 'If only the cameras had recorded those three from Class C talking in private about how to provoke Sudo. Then Sudo wouldn't be facing suspension and disciplinary action.'"
Everyone fell silent.
"Why did Takahashi do that? If he has a way to help me, why can't he just do it directly?" Sudo spoke first.
"Is Takahashi Sakura's boyfriend?" Yamauchi chimed in.
"Why don't we go ask Takahashi? He's in Room 403 anyway," Ike suggested.
"Let's call it a day. Go back and think it over. We can talk about it tomorrow," Horikita said.
After everyone split up and returned to their own dorms, Horikita doubled back and went to Takahashi's door.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
At the sound of knocking, Sakura tensed up at once.
Takahashi patted Sakura's hand to signal that she shouldn't be nervous. "Sorry, my fortune today is Great Misfortune. It's not a good day to see anyone."
Hearing Takahashi's words, Horikita didn't insist. "Then add my contact information back." After that, she left.
When they heard Horikita's footsteps fade away, Sakura, who had been sitting behind Takahashi and massaging his shoulders, breathed a sigh of relief.
Before you continue