"Ryuen, you can rest assured. Once I deal with Nagumo and take over as Student Council President, I'll appoint you as Vice President. When I graduate, you can take my place as president!"
After informing Sima Zhenglong of the fake plan, Kiriyama announced the end of the meeting.
However, they simply moved to a more secluded location to begin the second half of the meeting. That had nothing to do with me, though. The rest was Ryuen's job.
After leaving the Palette Cafe, I started walking back.
As I passed down a fairly secluded path, I collided with a girl who was charging along with her head down, a camera in her hand.
"What is this, some cliché novel scene?"
"S-sorry, I..."
Only after I got back to my feet did I realize that the girl I'd run into was a little unusual.
I couldn't think of anyone at this school whose appearance matched hers, but the things she was carrying gave me a clue as to who she was.
A digital camera, makeup supplies, and that hair color. She could only be Sakura Airi.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?"
Sakura was struggling to get up but couldn't manage it, so I held out my hand.
"If you keep hesitating, the guy hiding behind those bushes with a camera, secretly taking pictures of you, might make a move."
While Sakura hesitated over whether to take my hand, I crouched down and whispered the news in her ear.
"T-thank you, Sima."
"You know who I am?"
Sakura thanked me shyly after I helped her to her feet. I felt like I could hear a heart breaking from the bushes.
I rather enjoyed the feeling of having stolen someone's girl, and I was also curious about how Sakura knew my name.
Although Class C and Class D had that unpleasant incident this month, I hadn't walked straight into the sights of Class D's students like Ryuen had.
Sakura hadn't come to the apology, either. Otherwise, I would have noticed her already, so I didn't know how she recognized me.
"W-well, Sima is ranked first, and Sudo has been badmouthing you in class ever since that incident. That's how I knew who you were."
"You don't have to be nervous, Sakura—or should I call you 'Shizuku'? I'm not bothered that you know who I am. I'm just curious."
If Hiyori were here with me, she'd probably tease me for being mean, then help me win Sakura over.
I could feel Sakura's body tense up and grow stiff when I revealed her online identity.
It was as if I'd caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. I had a feeling that, at this point, she'd agree without a second thought to anything I asked.
Was this one of those mandatory scenes in an erotic manga? This was great!
"Like I said just now, there's no need to be nervous. I know what you want to ask me. Don't worry. Come with me somewhere safer, and I'll help you."
I picked up the digital camera Sakura had dropped when she collided with me.
From the dull thud I'd heard when we collided, and the fact that neither Sakura nor I had been hit by a blunt object, the only explanation was that her camera had struck the stone that was being used as a seat as it fell.
I tried turning it on. It powered up, but there was no display. After adjusting the camera and making sure the blank screen wasn't caused by an operating error, I reached my conclusion: the camera was dead.
"U-um, Sima, is he still watching me?"
Sakura asked in a barely audible voice whether the stalker was still following them.
"Judging by the reflection off his lens, I think he's still there. Hold tightly to my arm. I'm going to speed up."
Since Sakura had sprained her ankle, our pace was badly affected. Holding her hand wouldn't let me get away from that disgusting store clerk fast enough, so I told Sakura to change how she was holding on to me.
As for what Sakura would think, I didn't care. As for how much the clerk would hate me, I was very interested.
After walking around the school buildings for a while, I finally brought Sakura to the Activity Room.
For efficiency's sake, I could have taken her straight here along the main route. But considering the benefits, I couldn't let Class D's students discover that she and I were connected. The fewer people who knew, the better, so I chose the longer way around.
Weekend club activities only involved studying in the morning. In the afternoon, members were free to enjoy the school, so the only people still in the Activity Room were Ichinose and Hiyori.
When I opened the door and led Sakura inside, I saw Hiyori teaching Ichinose something while Ichinose took notes with complete concentration.
After I helped Sakura sit down, Hiyori went into the next room to get the first-aid kit, while Ichinose poured Sakura a drink.
"Masaryu, what happened?"
Once all three of them had finished getting things ready, Ichinose finally asked me.
"This is Sakura Airi from Class 1-D. I accidentally bumped into her on my way back, and she sprained her ankle. Since we have a first-aid kit and some medicine here, I thought I'd bring her over to apply some and ease the pain.
"Also, after I collided with Sakura, I discovered another incident of wrongdoing connected to her. Since she's the victim, I should report it to the school.
"But the perpetrator's identity is a little unusual, and I'm worried that handling it could put Sakura at greater risk, so I haven't acted rashly."
Winning Sakura's complete trust would be incredibly easy. All I had to do was report that store clerk and solve the problem for her. But the payoff would be too small.
I had evidence that could get the clerk taken down. Back when we were setting Sudo up, Ryuen applied for funds to buy equipment, and I specifically told him to try to get a photo of the evidence on the clerk's computer at that store.
Ryuen went to buy the equipment with several people. Since there were so many of them and they acted unpleasantly, they drove the clerk away from the computer and got the evidence directly. That gave me another card to play.
Getting Sakura Airi alone on my side wouldn't do much, but I could use her as a go-between to improve Ichinose's impression of me.
Just as I'd used Sudo to attack Ichinose, I could use Sakura to attack her too.
"By the way, why haven't I seen Sakayanagi today?"
It was great that Sakayanagi wasn't here right now. Information passed through many points along the way, and what I needed to do was strengthen the information at each point before it reached Sakayanagi, then use her to set things off.
"She came by once around noon, but left when she saw you weren't here."
Hiyori looked at me reproachfully, as if asking whether I really didn't know. After all, the only reason Sakayanagi would come to the Activity Room was if I was here.
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