Sakura Airi, Who Can Be Regarded as Island Hopping

"Ryuen, please rest assured. Once I have dealt with Nagumo and succeeded as Student Council President, I will appoint you as Vice President. When I graduate, you shall take my place as President!"

After relaying this fabricated plan to Sima Zhenglong, Kiriyama declared the meeting adjourned.

However, they merely relocated to a more secluded spot to begin the second half of their discussion; that, however, was no longer my concern, as the rest was now Ryuen's task.

After leaving Palette Cafe, I walked along the path back to the dorms.

While passing through a rather secluded alleyway, I collided with a girl who was sprinting headlong while clutching a camera.

What is this, some kind of cliché light novel plot?

"S-sorry, u-um..."

After I climbed up from the ground, I realized that the girl I had collided with was somewhat unique.

In my memory, there was no one in this school who matched her appearance, but I could identify who she was based on the items she carried.

Carrying a digital camera and makeup tools, combined with that hair color—it could only be Sakura Airi.

"Are you alright? Can you stand up?"

Seeing Sakura struggling to get back on her feet without success, I reached out a hand.

"If you're still hesitating, the guy hiding behind those bushes over there with a camera might be about to make his move."

As Sakura wavered over whether or not to take my hand, I crouched down and whispered this into her ear.

"Th-thank you, Sima-kun."

"You actually know who I am?"

Sakura, who had stood up with my help, thanked me quite shyly, and I felt as though I could hear the sound of a heart shattering from the direction of the bushes.

This sensation of slightly "stealing someone else's thunder" was quite satisfying, and I was also curious about how Sakura knew my name.

Even though an unpleasant incident had occurred between Class C and Class D this month, I hadn't walked directly into the view of the Class D students like Ryuen had.

Sakura hadn't been at the scene of the apology either, otherwise I would have noticed her earlier, so I had no idea how she recognized me.

"W-well, Sima-kun is ranked first on the leaderboard, and ever since that incident, Sudo-kun has been badmouthing Sima-kun in class, so that's how I know you."

"No need to be nervous, Sakura-san, or should I say 'Shizuku'-san? I'm not offended that you know me; I'm just purely curious."

If Hiyori were by my side right now, she would probably tease me for my malicious intent and then help me handle Sakura.

I could feel her body stiffen and go sluggish the moment I pointed out her online persona.

It was as if I had caught her in a compromising position; I had the feeling that no matter what I asked of her now, she would agree without a second thought.

Is this one of those mandatory segments from a doujinshi? How wonderful!

"As I said before, don't be nervous. I know what you want to ask me. Don't worry, come with me to a safer place, and I will help you."

I picked up the digital camera that Sakura had dropped during our collision.

Judging by the dull thud I heard when we collided, and the fact that neither of us suffered any blunt force injuries, her camera must have struck the rock being used as a seat during its fall.

I tried turning it on; it booted up, but there was no image. After adjusting the settings and confirming the lack of display wasn't due to user error, I reached a conclusion: this camera was toast.

"U-um, Sima-kun, is he still watching me?"

Sakura asked in a voice as thin as a mosquito's, trying to confirm if her stalker was still following us.

"Based on the reflection in the lens, I believe he is still there. Hold onto my arm; I'm going to pick up the pace."

Because Sakura had sprained her ankle, our movement speed was severely hampered. I couldn't shake off that disgusting clerk just by holding her hand, so I had her change her posture.

As for what Sakura might be thinking, or how much that clerk might hate me? I don't care about the former, but I am very interested in the latter.

After walking around the school buildings for a while, I finally brought Sakura to the activity room.

Considering efficiency, I could have taken the direct route, but for the sake of profit, I couldn't let the Class D students discover my connection to her. The fewer people who know, the better, so I chose the long way around.

On weekends, club activities only involve study in the morning; in the afternoon, members are free to enjoy the campus, so the only ones left in the activity room were Ichinose and Hiyori.

As I pushed the door open and led Sakura inside, I saw Hiyori teaching Ichinose something, while Ichinose was recording the knowledge with rapt attention.

After I helped Sakura sit in a chair, Hiyori went to the partition to find a first-aid kit, while Ichinose went to pour a drink for Sakura.

"Zhenglong-kun, this is?"

Once the three of them had finished their preparations, Ichinose finally asked me the question.

"This is Sakura Airi-san from Class 1-D. I accidentally bumped into her on my way back, which caused her to sprain her ankle. Since I have a first-aid kit and medicine, I thought I'd bring her here to apply some treatment and ease the pain.

Furthermore, after colliding with Sakura-san, I discovered another malicious incident related to her. Considering Sakura-san is the victim, I should have reported it to the school.

However, the perpetrator's identity is somewhat special, and I was worried that taking action might cause even greater harm to Sakura-san, so I didn't act rashly."

Gaining Sakura's complete trust was the simplest thing in the world; reporting that clerk and solving her trouble would be enough, but the returns on that would be too low.

I already possessed the evidence to dispose of that clerk. Back when I was baiting Sudo, when Ryuen applied for funds to buy equipment, I specifically instructed him to try and steal evidence from the clerk's computer at that store.

Ryuen had taken several people with him to buy the equipment, and because there were so many of them and they were acting aggressively, they managed to draw the clerk away from the computer and secure the evidence. That was how I gained this card.

Taking down Sakura Airi alone is useless, but I can use her as a medium to strengthen the good impression I have in Ichinose's heart.

Just as I used Sudo to attack Ichinose, I can use Sakura to attack her as well.

"By the way, why haven't I seen Sakayanagi today?"

It's a good thing she isn't here right now. Information transmission has many nodes, and what I need to do now is increase the weight of the nodes before the information reaches Sakayanagi, then use her to detonate it.

"She came by once at noon, but left when she found you weren't here."

Hiyori looked at me with a resentful expression, as if asking how I could possibly not know this—after all, the only reason Sakayanagi would appear in the activity room was if I were here.