Inexplicable Tacit Understanding

"Ten thousand points just like that, borrowed away. I really am a failure."

Staring at the mere twenty thousand points remaining on his phone, Chiba Yu couldn't help but mutter to himself. He sighed, tucked the phone away, and stood up from his seat.

"I've had enough to eat; it's time to head back."

Seeing Karuizawa Kei still in a state of excitement after receiving the points, Chiba Yu couldn't help but offer a reminder.

"Eh? We're leaving already?"

Chiba Yu gave her a surprised look. "What, were you planning on having another dessert?"

The mere thought of that cloyingly sweet cake he'd just finished made him feel nauseous. Why could girls tolerate such sugary, sickening food? Chiba Yu simply couldn't understand it.

"If you want to stay longer, I'll head back on my own."

With that, Chiba Yu slung his bag over one shoulder, looking ready to walk out the door immediately. Seeing this, Karuizawa Kei scrambled to her feet in a panic.

"Wait! We can go, but why are you in such a rush?"

Chiba Yu ignored her and continued walking toward the exit.

Watching him get further and further away, Karuizawa Kei puffed out her cheeks and chased after him, complaining as she went. "Honestly, slow down!"

Summer—a season you couldn't exactly call good, but couldn't call bad, either.

Even though it was past six in the evening, the scorching afterglow still hung high in the corner of the sky.

Boys and girls walked along the school corridors together, laughing and joking as they passed by. As for me, I was like a leaf forgotten in a corner, quietly watching it all...

"Hey! I said, can't you walk a little slower? Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch up to you!"

Just as Chiba Yu was lost in his sentimental musings, that ill-timed voice shattered his train of thought, pulling him back to reality.

Behind him, Karuizawa Kei stopped, panting and complaining. It was clear that this short distance had been quite a struggle for someone like her, who rarely exercised.

"So, why are you still following me? There shouldn't be anything else to do, right?" Chiba Yu tilted his head, asking with a hint of confusion, though his tone held no trace of annoyance.

"Who said I'm following you? I just happen to be taking this path back to the dorms, don't get ahead of yourself!"

Anyone with eyes could see that Karuizawa Kei's retort was clearly a display of tsundere behavior, yet Chiba Yu didn't suspect a thing. "Oh, I see. Then I guess we're heading the same way."

"..." At this moment, even Karuizawa Kei couldn't tell if Chiba Yu was just pretending or if he was genuinely dense.

"Forget it, let's just go."

Chiba Yu didn't know what he'd said wrong to prompt her resigned tone, but thinking it wasn't a big deal, he continued walking with a calm expression—only this time, he had a golden-haired girl with a ponytail by his side.

"Is that... Kushida and Ayanokoji over there?"

Halfway there, Chiba Yu noticed the familiar backs of a few people ahead. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be his classmates, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kushida Kikyo.

"Eh? It really is them. And the person next to them... is that Ichinose from Class B?"

Seeing them gathered together, Chiba Yu immediately guessed their intent—they were seeking help from Class B to find evidence of Sudo's self-defense.

Just then, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the others ahead noticed the two of them. They turned their heads to look, a gesture that instantly drew everyone else's attention.

"Chiba-kun! And Karuizawa-san!"

Upon seeing them, Kushida smiled and waved. Faced with this situation, even though Chiba Yu didn't want to get involved, he had no choice but to walk over.

"Hello, Chiba-kun. And hello to you too, Karuizawa-san." As they approached, the warm and welcoming Ichinose Honami was the first to greet them.

It would be impossible for Ichinose not to be curious about the person Kanzaki had been keeping a close eye on. They had only exchanged a few hurried words in the library last time, so she hadn't expected to run into him here. As for the girl beside him... she felt she had seen her somewhere before. Was her name... Karuizawa?

Compared to whatever Ichinose was thinking, the two from Class D, including Ike and Yamauchi, were already stunned.

"Chiba! I can't believe you secretly betrayed us!" Ike clutched his chest, acting as if he were in a drama.

"Exactly! You're like a ghost in class, so how did you manage to find a girlfriend before us?"

Heh, sorry for being a ghost, but don't you guys know I've been annoyed to death by those girls lately?

Chiba Yu frowned slightly. "You've got it wrong. Karuizawa isn't my girlfriend; we just happened to go out to buy something together."

"Besides, if we're talking about who's most likely to be together, it would be Karuizawa and Hirata. No matter how you look at it, it wouldn't be me—ow!"

As Chiba Yu was explaining, a sharp pain in his foot forced him to cut his sentence short. He turned to look at Karuizawa with a mix of resentment and confusion.

"I said, what's wrong with you now?"

"Heh, don't you know you shouldn't talk about a girl's love life so casually in front of her?"

"Wow! I didn't realize Chiba-kun and Karuizawa-san were so close!"

Kushida, who had been watching their interaction, suddenly remarked, causing both of them to look back at her.

"Huh? Where on earth did you get that idea?"

"Huh? Where on earth did you get that idea?"

For a moment, the two widened their eyes and stared at each other.

"Why are you copying me?"

"Why are you copying me?"

The entire group fell into a dead silence, which was only broken when Ichinose covered her mouth and let out a cheerful laugh.

"The two of you really have a close relationship, don't you?" Ichinose remarked with a cheerful smile.

"Chiba-kun, are you and Hirata-kun also looking for witnesses?" Kushida asked, tilting her head with a hand pressed against her chin.

"No, we were just—"

"Yeah, though we haven't found any leads yet."

Chiba Yu's intended words were cut off by Karuizawa, and as the others heard that they hadn't gained any ground either, their expressions darkened noticeably.

"However, our Class B can help look for some clues."

"Eh! Really? That would be—thank you so much..."

"Eek!"

Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the others were discussing the matter, Chiba Yu leaned in close to Karuizawa's ear and whispered, confused, "Hey, why did you have to go and say that? This sounds like a huge hassle, doesn't it?"

"Well, it's not like we could say we spent two hours at a cafe, could we?"

Fair enough. Compared to the backlash they would face if they told the truth, Chiba Yu wisely chose to say no more.

Afterward, Ichinose promised that once she returned, she would mobilize the strength of Class B to help. Although Chiba Yu had no idea what kind of method she had in mind, he couldn't help but wonder—would things really be that easy?