Incident Resolved

Upon learning of Wu Qiao's request, Ichinose Honami was naturally duty-bound to assist. Leveraging her position as a member of the student council, she quickly acted as a bridge, cleverly packaging this thorny issue as a "campus safety investigation" and submitting it to Horikita Manabu as a matter of course.

To ensure Sakura Airi's privacy remained uncompromised, Wu Qiao decisively paid fifty thousand private points to have the matter handled anonymously.

With everything arranged, Ichinose Honami had to remain in the office to handle routine student council business, while Wu Qiao, being an outsider, naturally took his leave first.

Not long after, following the chat messages sent by Wang Meiyu, Wu Qiao arrived at the lounge at the end of the corridor.

Sure enough, at a single glance, he saw Sakura Airi, who was being tightly hemmed in by Wang Meiyu and Hasebe Haruka, unable to leave like a bird in a cage.

Seeing Wu Qiao's familiar figure approaching, the previously anxious Sakura Airi finally stopped struggling. Her expression gradually calmed, as if she had resigned herself to fate, and she let out a long sigh.

Hasebe Haruka, watching the three of them and the strange atmosphere between them, couldn't help but frown. Crossing her arms, she demanded in a serious tone, "What exactly is going on? What are you all hiding from me? You can tell me now, right?"

Since the matter had been settled, Wu Qiao no longer kept it a secret. In a flat tone, he recounted the whole story of how Sakura Airi had been harassed by a perverted stalker who sent her disturbing letters and even took candid photos of her.

As soon as his voice fell, the air seemed to freeze.

Not to mention Hasebe, even Wang Meiyu, who had been informed, wore a look of shock and uncertainty, her eyes wide.

"Wait a minute! Why is Wu Qiao the one stepping up for this? If a student like Sakura encounters something this disgusting, shouldn't she go to a teacher or call the police?"

Hasebe instinctively turned to look at Sakura Airi, only to see her head bowed, wishing she could shrink into a crack in the floor. Her desperate attempt to lower her presence and avoid causing any ripples made Hasebe understand everything in an instant.

Fine, that made sense. With Sakura's timid personality, she certainly wouldn't dare to make a scene.

But immediately, a huge question surfaced in Hasebe's mind: Wait? They were told to stop Sakura? Does that mean Sakura actually wanted to stop Wu Qiao, wanting to handle this quietly?!

"Are you crazy?!" Hasebe leaned forward abruptly, looking at Sakura Airi in disbelief. "Facing something like this, you actually wanted to handle it quietly? What if that pervert escalates his behavior?"

Sakura Airi bit her lower lip, her body trembling slightly, her voice as thin as a thread. "Because... because if it becomes a big deal, everyone will focus on me... I don't want to lose the life I have now..."

Wu Qiao watched this quietly without interrupting. He knew that for Sakura Airi, the identity of an ordinary high school student hiding in the dark corners was a light she had struggled to grasp. She would rather endure the fear alone than let that light be extinguished.

"That is why I had them stop you." Wu Qiao finally spoke, his tone as calm as if he were discussing a trivial matter. "I have already had someone handle it; this kind of thing won't happen again."

Hasebe stared blankly at Wu Qiao, then at the teary-eyed Sakura Airi, unable to speak for a long time.

The afterglow of the sunset painted the tree-lined path to the cafeteria in a layer of orange-red. The two walked side by side, and while students occasionally passed by in groups, Sakura Airi habitually kept her head down, trying to minimize her presence as much as possible.

"Um... I'm sorry." Sakura Airi's voice was very soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing the surrounding air. Her eyes darted away, not daring to meet Wu Qiao's gaze, and her hands nervously twisted the hem of her skirt. "I made you spend money this time... fifty thousand private points, I will find a way to pay you back."

Hearing this, Wu Qiao stopped in his tracks. He turned his head with a touch of helplessness to look at the girl who always hid herself in the shadows.

"It's not about the money." His tone was not harsh, but it carried an undeniable weight.

Sakura Airi froze for a moment, looking up to meet Wu Qiao's gaze.

"The main thing is that you put yourself in danger." Wu Qiao looked at her, saying each word clearly. "If something really happened, like those photos being made public, or that person committing a more extreme act... then it wouldn't be a problem that could be solved with a little money."

Sakura Airi's pupils contracted slightly. She knew Wu Qiao was stating the truth, but the fear that had seeped into her bones made it impossible for her to make a rational judgment.

"I know you are afraid of losing your current life," Wu Qiao's voice softened slightly, "but have you ever thought that if you keep facing things by running away, those hidden dangers will be like time bombs buried beside you? Instead of living in fear every day wondering when the other party will act, it is better to nip the danger in the bud."

Sakura Airi was silent for a long time. The evening breeze blew her bangs, revealing eyes that still held a hint of panic.

"...Thank you." She finally said only these three words, her voice slightly steadier than before.

Wu Qiao said nothing more, simply nodding slightly before continuing his stride toward the cafeteria. He knew that for Sakura Airi, what happened today might take a long time to process. But at least, the Sword of Damocles hanging over her head had been removed.

The two walked into the cafeteria one after the other, the evening air filled with the scent of food. Sakura Airi found a seat in a corner, and Wu Qiao went to get her dinner.

When the tray was placed on the table, Sakura Airi looked at the steaming food in front of her, then at Wu Qiao sitting opposite, and a faint smile finally appeared at the corners of her mouth.

"Wu-kun..." she whispered. "In the future, if I run into trouble, can I ask you for help?"

Wu Qiao picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of food, and chewed a few times before answering calmly, "As long as you don't do anything stupid, you can anytime."

Sakura Airi nodded vigorously and lowered her head to eat. This time, the stiffness in her movements had vanished; she had clearly relaxed.

The sunset's afterglow, like melted gold, cast a warm orange-red hue over the quiet lawn outside the student council building. Taking advantage of the brief interval before the study session began, Wu Qiao sat leisurely on a bench outside the building, holding two cold drinks.

Before long, the heavy glass doors were pushed open, and Ichinose Honami stepped out with a light gait, having finished her heavy student council work for the day. When she saw Wu Qiao sitting on the bench, a flash of obvious surprise crossed her eyes; she clearly hadn't expected him to be waiting for her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Wu-kun." Ichinose Honami walked over to the bench and sat down, her signature sweet smile blooming on her face. She tapped her chin lightly with one hand, took the drink Wu Qiao handed her, and after a moment of thought, spoke in a soft yet firm tone: "That girl... is Sakura Airi, right?"

As the class representative of Class B, Ichinose Honami's observational skills had always been sharp. Furthermore, she still remembered the nightmarish simulation she had experienced before.

In that ending titled "Abyss of the Infatuated," one of the methods the "Blackened Ichinose" in the simulation used to completely control Wu Qiao involved maliciously spreading photos of Sakura Airi.

Combining this with the current incident and thinking of the beautiful girls around Wu Qiao, it wasn't difficult to make the connection.

Wu Qiao nodded slightly at her words, frankly admitting, "Yes, she is too timid and afraid that making a scene will affect her current peaceful life. Thank you for your help with this matter."

Hearing this thanks, Ichinose Honami shook her head gently, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepening. "It's nothing, I'm just glad I could help."

However, as she lowered her head to unscrew the bottle cap, a flicker of imperceptible disappointment crossed her eyes.

She couldn't help but ponder in her heart: Why was it that in the previous simulation, if she were the one in trouble and let Wu Qiao intervene early, he would have chosen the coldest, most efficient methods without any regard for her feelings? Was she really just an object to be sacrificed at will in that twisted world?

Seeming to notice the subtle melancholy in the girl's mood, Wu Qiao felt that Ichinose Honami's next words were somewhat inexplicable.

"Actually, Wu-kun's way of handling this surprised me a bit." Ichinose Honami looked up, her eyes clear as she gazed at him. "To go to such great lengths to consider a girl's feelings, even going so far as to spend fifty thousand private points to use an anonymous channel."

Faced with this confusion, Wu Qiao simply leaned back against the bench, answering in a tone that sounded like he was stating an objective fact: "I have always considered other people's feelings."

Watching the slightly stunned look in Ichinose Honami's eyes, Wu Qiao paused before adding, "Uh, that's assuming it's within my capabilities, and the cost difference between the optimal solution and the next best one isn't too large. If the optimal solution can be solved by just lifting a finger, then the most I'll accept for the next best one is running a lap."

He turned his head, facing the sunset's afterglow as he looked at Ichinose Honami, his eyes clear and rational. "Besides, many things cannot be delayed. Rather than regretting it later when a hidden danger erupts into a major problem, it's better for me to create a few small problems in advance to help her patch the loopholes. To me, that is the most secure approach."

Listening to these words, Ichinose Honami was stunned. She had originally thought that Wu Qiao was being so gentle because he held some special feelings for Sakura Airi, but now it seemed this was merely a product of his impeccable "logic and calculations."

Wu Qiao did not allow uncontrollable risks to exist, so he chose to eliminate potential hazards in a relatively gentle manner.

After a brief silence, Ichinose Honami suddenly couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. The sense of loss that had been lingering in her heart vanished in an instant, replaced by an indescribable sense of relief and sweetness.

So, it wasn't that he didn't care about other people's feelings; he was just accustomed to expressing his protective instincts in the most rational way possible.

"Wu-kun, you really are..." Ichinose Honami shook her head with a smile and raised the drink bottle in her hand, gently clinking it against the bottle in Wu Qiao's hand. "But, the way you are, it's truly very reassuring."