Refer to Plants by Their Names While Working

Ichinose remained silent for a long time.

Hiyori just watched Ichinose with a beaming smile, while Sakura buried her head like a hamster, not daring to look at anyone. I sipped the tea Hiyori had brewed for me in small, measured mouthfuls.

"I understand. Thank you, Masaryu-kun. I will help Sakura-san make a change."

Struggling to suppress her emotions and keeping the tears from spilling out of the corners of her eyes, Ichinose finally managed to steady herself.

With Ichinose having agreed to help, Hiyori gave me a timely wink, signaling that Sakayanagi was about to arrive.

"Masaryu-kun, I have one last question."

"Please, go ahead."

"Isn't Hiyori-san better suited to be Sakura-san's guide?"

It wasn't until Ichinose had walked out of the activity room and saw that Hiyori hadn't stood up to see her off that she finally asked me this.

"Do you want to hear the truth or the lie?"

I said that, but regardless of which one Ichinose chose, I wasn't about to tell her the truth anyway.

"The... the lie, please. Just tell me the lie, Masaryu-kun."

Ichinose instinctively wanted to hear the truth, but she was also terrified of hearing it from my lips; she feared that the truth would cause her suppressed emotions to erupt once again.

"Hiyori-san is currently shouldering too many specific tasks within the class. I believe Ichinose-san has gained a sufficient understanding of Class C's academic level through these many days of tutoring. Our manpower needs to be fully dedicated to preparing for the midterm exams; we simply can't spare anyone to help Sakura-san right now. Furthermore, because the relationship between Class C and Class D is rather strained, if the students of Class D found out that we in Class C were getting close to Sakura-san, she would undoubtedly be ostracized by the entire class."

Naturally, I crafted the lie to be as full of holes as possible. It would be easy for Class C to pass the midterms normally, and not being able to spare hands now didn't mean we wouldn't be able to after the exams.

"Thank you, Masaryu-kun. See you tomorrow."

"Have a safe trip."

Having heard the answer she wanted, Ichinose regained her usual vibrant energy and left the club building.

"So, what about the truth?"

After seeing Ichinose off, Hiyori walked to my side and continued the topic.

"I couldn't bear to part with her."

I wouldn't have told Ichinose the truth, but when Hiyori asked me the same question, I gave her the real answer.

Upon arriving at the activity room, Sakayanagi first had Kamuro change her shoes, then ordered her to stand guard outside the door.

"How truly regrettable. I arrived late and missed the chance to see Ichinose-san crying."

Sakayanagi spoke words of disappointment with a cheerful tone. If I hadn't seen her encounter Ichinose downstairs and chat for a few moments from the hallway window, I might have actually believed she was just gloating.

"You already saw the happy part on your way here, so the matter we are about to discuss won't be quite as pleasant, future Chairperson, Sakayanagi Arisu."

I clasped my hands together, resting them on the table to prop up my head, while Hiyori took a pair of frames with only one lens from a drawer and put them on me.

"Why has the atmosphere suddenly become so serious—and ridiculous?"

Sakayanagi, who had been cheerful just a moment ago, was actually taken aback by our performance.

"You can be as playful as you like during downtime, but when discussing work, one must respect the position."

I pulled up the evidence from Sakura's phone and displayed it for Sakayanagi to see.

"This is... sexual harassment? Are you suggesting there is improper cross-gender interaction occurring within the school?"

Sakayanagi couldn't grasp the abstract artistic nature of the messages that clerk had sent to Sakura; as a high-and-mighty young lady, she likely lacked an understanding of creatures like stalkers and obsessive fans.

"If it were just a matter of students interacting, I wouldn't have come to you. If I had actually caught someone and secured the evidence, I would have just taken the person and the proof to demand points directly."

If only I could have caught Nagumo; then I could have cashed in on the entire second year later on.

"When you say 'come to you,' do you mean this was sent to a student by a teacher? Mashima-sensei doesn't seem like that type. If it were Sakagami, you certainly wouldn't have come to me. Could it be the work of a male teacher from the second or third year?"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sakayanagi began mentally vetting the school's faculty.

"Sakayanagi, you're still too young; your perspective isn't broad enough. Who said such messages can only be sent by male teachers to female students?"

It's infuriating. If I were to post Sakayanagi's speculation on Western social media, it might give her a small, shocking lesson in gender correctness.

"Are you saying this was sent by a female teacher to a female student!? Who did it? Chabashira or Hoshinomiya?"

Sakayanagi's pupils dilated; this angle was entirely novel to her, a blind spot in her knowledge base.

To this, I could only respond with a shake of my head.

"Then what could it be? Could it be that this Sakura-san registered the wrong gender upon enrollment?"

Once all other possibilities are eliminated, the most impossible option becomes the only one left.

"No, that's not it. I... I am a woman."

Feeling Sakayanagi's sharp gaze, Sakura quickly clarified that she was indeed a biological female.

Immediately after, Sakayanagi turned her gaze back to me, looking as if she would certainly cause me some trouble if the answer I gave next didn't satisfy her.

"Why is your attention entirely focused on the teachers, Sakayanagi? Besides the student body and the faculty, there is someone else in this school, isn't there~"

I wasn't sure if a shop cashier could be counted as a faculty member, so I gave Sakayanagi a fairly broad scope.

"School staff? Their overall quality is indeed a mixed bag. If they've done something like this, then it's certainly up to the school administration to step in and resolve it. Masaryu-kun, you should already know who the suspect is, right?"

Sakayanagi weighed the pros and cons and decided to come down hard on the suspect.

If this kind of mess were to be leaked, the Sakayanagi family's control over the school would suffer a severe blow; compared to that, even a teaching scandal would be considered a minor issue.

"I'm a witness in this matter. I personally saw the suspect at the scene of the crime, and I know their identity. If I recall correctly, there are security cameras around the area where I witnessed it, and the suspect stored the criminal records on the shop's computer."

"If it were just such a simple matter, Masaryu-kun wouldn't have had Hiyori-san invite me here. You're doing this for this Sakura-san, aren't you? What a sentimental man you are~ Hiyori-san's future is going to be so difficult~"

Sakayanagi began her snide remarks toward me. I really couldn't sanction her in public for such childish behavior.

"Well, if the school doesn't intend to consider the students' well-being, then a public arrest would also work. I've seen plenty of female students in Japan jump from rooftops after their photos were exposed."

Stating facts is the sharpest weapon of all.

"How could that be? Of course, our school will look out for its students. As it happens, we can use the midterm exams as a pretext to use a signal jammer to block his connection first, and then apprehend him. During the exams, no one will even know that something like this happened on school grounds."

Sakayanagi is reliable when it counts; with that, the problem was solved.