Affection 70

The afternoon classes passed without incident.

When the dismissal bell rang, Kanzaki Toru packed up to leave and noticed a folded note tucked beneath the notebook on his desk. It wasn't Sakura's handwriting—hers was lighter and more delicate. This writing was more forceful, with a hint of impatience in every stroke.

"Tomorrow at two in the afternoon, the café on the third floor of Keyaki Mall. Please come. There's something I'd like to discuss with you. —Horikita Suzune"

Horikita Suzune. The girl who had silenced the entire class on the first day of school. She was looking for him.

Kanzaki Toru folded the note and slipped it into his pocket, then slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and left the classroom. He didn't head straight back to the dorms, but took a detour to the Library. The school's Library was ridiculously large, spanning three floors. He made a circuit between the shelves, then found what he was looking for in a far corner: old club newsletters and activity records left behind by previous students, neatly stacked on the lowest shelf and covered in a thin layer of dust.

He crouched down and pulled out last year's Student Council report. As he flipped through the table of contents, several headings caught his eye: "Special Exam Assistance Records," "Class Points Changes Summary," and "List of Expelled Students."

"Kanzaki."

He closed the report and looked up. Sakura Airi stood on the other side of the bookshelf, holding a thick photography book. Her hat brim was pulled low, but her violet eyes were fixed on him through her glasses.

"Are you looking something up?" she asked. Her voice was very soft, but just audible in the quiet Library.

"Just browsing." Kanzaki Toru returned the report to the shelf. "What about you?"

Sakura glanced down at the photography book in her hands but didn't answer. She didn't leave, either.

They stood across from each other on either side of the bookshelf for a while. The Library was quiet, save for the occasional sound of pages turning in the distance and the air conditioner's low hum. The setting sun streamed through the high windows at an angle, casting golden beams between the shelves.

"At noon today," Sakura suddenly said, "Kanzaki left. Sudo was really worried in the classroom."

"Yeah."

"Then you came back. There was dirt on your clothes. But you weren't hurt."

Kanzaki Toru watched her. She was stating facts, not questioning him. She wasn't asking where he'd been; she was using her observations to confirm something.

"Yoshida had a bit of a run-in with some second-years. I went over to help buy some time. It wasn't anything serious."

Sakura was silent for a few seconds, then nodded gently. It was a firm nod, as if she'd just confirmed an answer she had already guessed.

Then she lowered her head and walked deeper into the Library, still holding the photography book.

Kanzaki Toru watched her disappear between the shelves. Just as he was about to look away—

Something stirred in his mind.

The Illustrated Guide flipped open. Sakura Airi's page was still where it had been, but now it bore a new mark. A faint point of light flickered at the edge of the page, and then the number changed.

Affection: 68→70.

Reward two unlocked.

New information surfaced directly in his awareness: Affection 70 reward: Enhanced Observation. Unlocked.

Enhanced Observation.

Kanzaki Toru stood still, feeling the change spread through the depths of his consciousness. His eyes hadn't improved; his vision was the same as before. But the precision with which he perceived his surroundings had leapt forward in an instant. Details within his peripheral vision sharpened: a slight crease on the spine of the report on the bottom shelf, which he hadn't noticed before; the girl by the window in the distance turning a page, her faint sigh mingling with the rustle of the paper; one blade in the ceiling vent rotating about a quarter beat slower than the others. Those details had always been there, but his brain had filtered them out. Now that filter had been dialed back.

More importantly—he looked in the direction Sakura had gone. From her stride, the angle of her shoulders, and the way she held the book, he could tell what she was feeling. Not nervousness or fear, but a rare sense of calm. While she'd been talking with him by the bookshelf, her heart rate had been steadier than usual.

She wasn't as afraid around him anymore.

So that was 70.

Kanzaki Toru leaned against the bookshelf, slowly absorbing the two abilities. Disguise let him hide more effectively, while Enhanced Observation let him see more clearly. One concealed, the other revealed—a perfect complement. The rewards from the Illustrated Guide weren't random. They aligned with the way his relationship with the target was developing. Sakura Airi was observant, so he'd received Enhanced Observation in response to her talent. Disguise came from the trust she placed in him—she believed he could protect her secret, so the Illustrated Guide had given him a more perfect disguise.

The logic made sense. He just didn't yet know why the Illustrated Guide existed in the first place.

He returned to the shelf he'd been at earlier, pulled out the report again, and turned to the page titled "Class Points Changes Summary."

The data was more straightforward than he'd expected. Last year, Class D had started with 1,000 points. After the first Special Exam, they'd dropped to 600. After the second, they were down to 300. The third entry read "Records Terminated," with a small note in the remarks column: "Fewer than the required number of students remain in Class D; they will not participate in subsequent Special Exams."

He turned to the next page. Last year, Class D had started with forty students. By the time of the third Special Exam, only twenty-eight remained. Twelve students had been expelled. In a single term.

He closed the report and returned it to its place.

By the time he left the Library, it was already dark. The streetlights had come on, and the people on the sports field were gradually dispersing. Sakura Airi sat on a bench beside the field, still holding the photography book. Her face was tilted slightly upward beneath her hat brim as she gazed at the distant gray-white wall. The last light of sunset was fading from the barbed wire along its top.

Kanzaki Toru glanced at her from a distance but didn't go over.

The Illustrated Guide opened in his mind, her page glowing quietly. Affection: 70. Next threshold: 85. The name of the third reward was still gray, but beneath the gray box was a line of minuscule text:

"Trust will become power in the midst of a true crisis."

He closed the Illustrated Guide and turned toward the dormitory.

Every girl recorded in the guide represented a possibility. His job was to turn those possibilities into cards in his hand before a crisis struck.