After Ichinose Honami learned of Wu Qiao's request, she naturally agreed without hesitation. Using her position as a member of the Student Council, she quickly made the necessary connections and cleverly presented the troublesome matter as a "campus safety investigation," passing it along to Horikita Manabu through the proper channels.
To ensure Sakura Airi's privacy wouldn't be compromised, Wu Qiao decisively paid fifty thousand personal points to have the matter handled anonymously.
With everything arranged, Ichinose Honami still had to remain in the office to handle the Student Council's daily affairs. Wu Qiao, on the other hand, had no business there, so he left first.
Before long, Wu Qiao followed the chat message Wang Meiyu had sent him to the rest area at the end of the hallway.
Sure enough, he immediately spotted Sakura Airi, trapped between Wang Meiyu and Hasebe, unable to escape like a bird in a cage.
When Sakura Airi saw Wu Qiao approaching, her face—previously full of anxiety—finally relaxed. Her expression gradually calmed, as though she had accepted her fate, and at last she let out a long sigh.
Watching the three of them, surrounded by such a strange atmosphere, Hasebe Haruka couldn't help frowning. She folded her arms and demanded sternly, "What exactly happened? What are you hiding from me? You can tell me now, right?"
Now that the matter had been settled, Wu Qiao no longer kept it from her. In an even tone, he explained exactly how Sakura Airi had received harassing letters from a perverted stalker and even had photos taken of her without her knowledge.
As soon as he finished speaking, the air froze.
It wasn't just Hasebe. Even Wang Meiyu, who had been informed, looked stunned, her eyes wide.
"Wait! Why is Wu Qiao the one stepping in? When Sakura ran into something this disgusting, shouldn't she have gone to a teacher or the police?"
Hasebe instinctively turned to look at Sakura Airi, only to see her head bowed, as if she wished she could sink into the ground. The way she was desperately trying to make herself inconspicuous, afraid of causing any commotion, made Hasebe understand at once.
All right, she could understand. With Sakura's timid personality, she really wouldn't dare speak up.
But then a huge question surfaced in Hasebe's mind. Wait—she'd asked them to stop Sakura? That meant Sakura had actually wanted to stop Wu Qiao and handle the matter quietly?!
"Are you crazy?!" Hasebe rushed forward and stared at Sakura Airi in disbelief. "You want to keep quiet about something like this? What if that pervert gets even worse?"
Sakura Airi bit her lower lip, her body trembling slightly. Her voice was barely audible. "Because... because if this gets blown out of proportion, everyone will focus on me... I don't want to lose the life I have now..."
Wu Qiao watched quietly without interrupting. He knew that, to Sakura Airi, the ordinary high school girl she had managed to become, hidden away in the shadows, was a light she had struggled to grasp. She would rather endure her fear alone than let that light go out.
"That's why I asked them to stop you," Wu Qiao finally said, his tone as calm as if he were discussing something trivial. "I've already found someone to handle it. This won't happen again."
Hasebe stared blankly at Wu Qiao, then at Sakura Airi, whose eyes had reddened. For a long while, she couldn't say a word.
The setting sun cast an orange glow over the tree-lined path leading to the cafeteria. The two walked side by side. Students occasionally passed by in groups, but Sakura Airi still habitually kept her head down, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
"Um... I'm sorry." Sakura Airi's voice was soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing the air around them. Her eyes darted away, unable to meet Wu Qiao's, while her hands anxiously twisted the hem of her clothes. "You had to spend so much this time... I'll find a way to pay you back for the fifty thousand personal points."
At her words, Wu Qiao stopped walking. With a helpless look, he turned to the girl beside him, who was always hiding in the shadows.
"It's not about the money." His tone wasn't harsh, but it carried an undeniable weight.
Sakura Airi froze for a moment, then looked up to meet Wu Qiao's gaze.
"The main thing is that you put yourself in danger." Wu Qiao looked at her and spoke each word clearly. "If something had really happened—if those photos had been made public, or that person had done something even more extreme—then this wouldn't have been something a little money could fix."
Sakura Airi's pupils contracted slightly. She knew Wu Qiao was right, but the fear rooted deep in her bones made it impossible for her to think rationally.
"I know you're afraid of losing the life you have now," Wu Qiao continued, his voice softening. "But have you considered that if you keep running away, those risks will be like time bombs buried beside you? Instead of living in fear every day, wondering when that person will act, it's better to take the initiative and nip the danger in the bud."
Sakura Airi remained silent for a long time. The evening breeze lifted her bangs, revealing eyes that still held a trace of fear.
"...Thank you," she finally said, her voice a little steadier than before.
Wu Qiao said nothing more. He simply nodded, then started walking toward the cafeteria again. He knew Sakura Airi might need a long time to process what had happened today. But at least the sword of Damocles hanging over her head had been removed.
They entered the cafeteria one after the other. The dining hall was full of warmth and bustle that evening. Sakura Airi found a seat in a corner, while Wu Qiao went to get her dinner.
When he set the tray down, Sakura Airi looked at the steaming food, then at Wu Qiao sitting across from her. At last, the faintest hint of a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.
"Wu-kun..." she said softly. "If something happens again, can I ask you for help?"
Wu Qiao picked up his chopsticks and put a bite of food in his mouth. After chewing a few times, he replied calmly, "As long as you don't do anything foolish, you can ask me anytime."
Sakura Airi nodded emphatically and lowered her head to eat. This time, her movements were no longer stiff; she had clearly relaxed.
The setting sun's glow was like molten gold, bathing the quiet lawn outside the Student Council building in warm orange light. During the brief break before the study session began, Wu Qiao sat leisurely on a bench outside the building, holding two bottles of chilled drinks.
Before long, the heavy glass door opened, and Ichinose Honami stepped out after finishing a demanding day of Student Council work. She walked with a light step. When she spotted Wu Qiao sitting on the bench, surprise flashed in her eyes. She clearly hadn't expected him to wait there for her.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Wu-kun." Ichinose Honami walked over and sat beside him, her face blooming with her trademark sweet smile. She lightly tapped her chin with one hand, accepted the drink Wu Qiao offered her, and thought for a moment before speaking in a gentle but certain tone. "That girl... she was Sakura Airi, wasn't she?"
As Class B's class leader, Ichinose Honami had always been observant. Besides, she still remembered the nightmare of a simulation she had experienced before.
In the ending known as "Abyss of the Infatuated," one of the ways the "Blackened Ichinose" in the simulation had tried to gain total control over Wu Qiao was by maliciously spreading Sakura Airi's photos.
Considering this incident and the pretty girls around Wu Qiao, it wasn't difficult to make the connection.
Wu Qiao gave a slight nod, openly admitting it. "Yes. She's too timid and was afraid that making a fuss would disrupt the peaceful life she has now. Thanks for your help with this."
At his thanks, Ichinose Honami gently shook her head, her smile growing warmer. "It's all right. I'm glad I could help."
But as she lowered her head to unscrew the drink bottle, an almost imperceptible flicker of disappointment passed through her eyes.
She couldn't help wondering to herself: Why was it that in the previous simulation, when she was the one in trouble and Wu Qiao intervened early, he had chosen the coldest, most efficient solution without hesitation, completely disregarding her feelings? Did that mean that in that twisted world, she really was nothing more than someone he could sacrifice at will?
Wu Qiao seemed to notice the faint shift in her mood, but Ichinose Honami's next words struck him as rather baffling.
"Still, Wu-kun, I'm a little surprised by how you handled this." Ichinose Honami looked up at him, her gaze clear. "You went to so much trouble to consider a girl's feelings, even spending fifty thousand personal points to handle it anonymously."
Faced with her confusion, Wu Qiao simply leaned back against the bench and replied in a tone that was almost a statement of fact. "I always consider other people's feelings."
Seeing the surprise in Ichinose Honami's eyes, Wu Qiao paused, then added, "Well, as long as it's within my ability and the cost difference between the best and second-best options isn't too great. If the best solution only takes a flick of my finger, then I'll accept running a lap for the second-best one."
He turned toward Ichinose Honami, the evening sunlight on his face and his gaze clear and rational. "Besides, some things can't be put off. Rather than regret it later when a hidden problem blows up into something serious, I'd rather create a small problem myself ahead of time and patch the hole for her. That's the safest way to handle it."
Ichinose Honami was stunned by his words. She had thought Wu Qiao was being so gentle because he felt something special for Sakura Airi, but now it seemed it was simply the result of his flawless "logic and calculation."
Wu Qiao wouldn't allow any uncontrollable risks to exist, so he chose a relatively gentle way to eliminate the danger.
After a brief silence, Ichinose Honami suddenly let out a giggle. The disappointment that had lingered in her heart vanished in an instant, replaced by a sense of reassurance and sweetness she could hardly put into words.
It turned out he did care about other people's feelings. He was just used to expressing his protectiveness in the most rational way.
"Wu-kun, you really are..." Ichinose Honami laughed and shook her head. She raised her drink bottle and gently clinked it against the one in Wu Qiao's hand. "But you really make me feel safe."