June 1.
All four first-year classes passed their midterm exams without a single student being expelled.
The school also updated the Class Points today and distributed Personal Points to the students.
Class A: 980 CP → 1080 CP Class B: 880 CP → 980 CP Class C: 770 CP → 870 CP Class D: 0 CP → 100 CP
There wasn't much difference between the points of Classes A, B, and C.
Only Class D, with its 100 points, lagged far behind.
As a result, each Class D student could only receive 10,000 Personal Points—enough to buy a small side dish with a meal, at best.
If they were even more frugal, they could buy a bottle of sauce to mix into their rice.
With such a huge gap between their class and the other three, the students of Class D couldn't exactly smile.
By now, most of the students in Class D didn't dare hope they could surpass the other three classes.
All they wanted was for their Class Points to increase in the exams to come, so they could receive more Personal Points and live a little more comfortably.
As for Class D's current situation, Chihaya Rei naturally didn't care.
The smiles hadn't disappeared; they'd simply moved to his face.
That was because he wasn't among Class D's impoverished students.
Just yesterday, Hoshinomiya Chie had repaid the one million points she owed him, bringing the balance in his anonymous account to a whopping 4.15 million.
As for his personal account, he still had over 100,000 points from Sakayanagi Arisu.
So, in effect, he was using Sakayanagi's money to cover his living expenses.
Thinking of it that way made spending it even more enjoyable.
At this rate, Chihaya Rei felt he was really going to become a pleasure-seeking maniac.
But that was all because there were too many weirdos around him.
"Airi, you seem a little uneasy. Is something bothering you?"
Chihaya Rei turned to his right, fixing his gaze on a fan of his band as he asked.
After spending two months together, he and Sakura Airi had become close enough to call each other by name.
"Eh, Chihaya-kun."
Sakura Airi looked startled. She quickly glanced sideways at Chihaya Rei, and a nervous voice came from her cherry-red lips.
"Is it that obvious?"
Chihaya Rei nodded and smiled.
"Want to tell me about it? You're my fan, after all. Maybe I can help."
At Chihaya Rei's friendly words, Sakura Airi's eyes brightened a little.
If it was Chihaya-kun, she could tell him about this.
That thought came to her mind.
So Sakura Airi looked around and, after confirming that no one was paying attention to her conversation with Chihaya Rei,
carefully opened her schoolbag and showed him what was inside.
There were several letters.
Some had been opened, but Sakura Airi hadn't opened most of them.
"I suddenly started getting these harassing letters recently, so I'm a little scared. I don't know what I should do..."
Sakura Airi's voice grew more fragile, and her lovely face showed clear anxiety and worry.
"I see. Airi, we need to take this seriously."
Chihaya Rei replied, his expression turning more serious.
The moment he saw the letters, he understood.
That perverted shop assistant had discovered Sakura Airi's identity as an idol and started targeting her.
If he hadn't asked today, Sakura Airi, who was so afraid of socializing, probably wouldn't have dared to tell anyone.
"Do you have anyone in mind?"
Chihaya Rei asked curiously, deciding to test Sakura Airi.
Surely Airi wasn't so oblivious that she'd been targeted without noticing any clues at all.
"Well... I do."
At the question, Sakura Airi bit her lip, her expression clearly conflicted for a moment, but in the end, she nodded.
"It's the sales clerk at the store where I bought my camera. He's strange..."
Sakura Airi told Chihaya Rei what she thought.
She didn't want to suspect a stranger without any evidence.
But the sales clerk at that camera store really was strange.
The first time she went there to buy a camera, the clerk asked to exchange contact information, saying it would make it easier to get in touch if the camera broke and needed repairs.
But Sakura Airi had thought that a new camera wouldn't break easily, so she turned him down.
A few days ago, when she went back to buy some camera accessories, the clerk asked for her contact information again. She refused once more and left right away.
It felt as if he was determined to get her contact information.
Not only that, but whenever she bought something, he kept probing into her private life, asking all sorts of questions.
His unsettling stare made her feel uncomfortable all over.
Then, starting a few days ago, she began receiving these harassing letters several days in a row.
She also felt as if someone was following her, as if a pair of eyes were always watching her from behind...
It had left her on edge for days.
Chihaya Rei nodded in satisfaction. Sakura Airi had suspected the right person.
"How about this, Airi? After school today, let's go together to investigate the camera store you mentioned."
Chihaya Rei suggested, "What do you think?"
To bring the clerk to justice, they still needed concrete evidence that he'd been secretly photographing students.
The harassing letters Sakura Airi had with her probably wouldn't be enough on their own.
So Chihaya Rei planned to go straight to the store and see if he could find evidence of the clerk's crimes.
Go together?
Sakura Airi blinked, her lips parting slightly, then quickly nodded. "Okay. Thank you for being willing to help me, Chihaya-kun."
Sakura Airi naturally wasn't afraid of going to the store with Chihaya Rei.
Instead, the thought that going to the mall together felt a little like a date made her nervous and excited...
"Then it's settled."
After speaking with Sakura Airi, Chihaya Rei raised his head and looked thoughtfully toward the front of the classroom.
Going with just Sakura Airi wouldn't be enough for this.
He also needed someone who was good with people and could act, someone who could keep the clerk occupied alongside Sakura Airi.
Otherwise, Sakura Airi probably wouldn't be able to handle the perverted clerk on her own.
Meanwhile, he would take the opportunity to find evidence of the clerk's crimes.
Chihaya Rei's gaze lingered for a moment on Karuizawa Kei, Kushida Kikyo, and Matsushita Chiaki—the three people who fit the bill and were willing to help.
In the end, he made his choice.
You're the one.
Matsushita Chiaki, who played dumb while quietly gathering information.
As for Karuizawa Kei, Chihaya Rei decided to give her the day off. Constant training could easily overwork her muscles, after all.
So he took out his phone and messaged Karuizawa Kei to cancel their training after school that day and tell her to rest.
He messaged Matsushita Chiaki to ask if she had time after school to help him with something at Keyaki Mall.
Matsushita Chiaki agreed.
Before you continue