Chapter 123: Another Confession Letter?
Several Class C students had been studying in the library that afternoon, so news of Tokito Hiroya's confrontation with Yuto soon reached Ryuen Kakeru.
"Bastard!"
Ryuen punched the wall, his expression dark and frightening. Ishizaki Daichi remained speechless beside him, while Yamada Albert was as expressionless as ever.
Tokito had provoked Class D's students, only to be mercilessly refuted by Shimizu Yuto...
Ryuen did not care about that at all!
Tokito had always openly opposed him, so Ryuen would have been delighted if Yuto had taught him a harsh lesson.
What infuriated Ryuen was that Yuto had dragged his own humiliation back into the conversation!
'Shimizu Yuto, mock Tokito all you want. Why did you have to bring up what happened a month ago?!'
"Shimizu Yuto, you won't be able to continue acting arrogantly in this school for much longer," Ryuen said through gritted teeth.
The conspiracy he had devised with Nagumo Miyabi would begin ten days before the midterm exam. They needed to ensure Yuto's suspension covered the examination date.
There was still roughly a week before the operation began, so Ryuen would endure Yuto for seven more days.
After swallowing his anger, Ryuen considered whether to include Tokito in the plan. He wanted to use Yuto's hands to give the irritating bastard a thorough beating.
Someone needed to offer themselves up and get beaten for their scheme to frame Yuto. Why couldn't that person be Tokito, whom Ryuen already hated?
"Forget it. That guy is unreliable."
Ryuen abandoned the idea because Tokito opposed him. If Tokito learned of the conspiracy and betrayed him at the last moment, their plan to suspend Yuto would collapse.
The person destined to take the beating needed to be someone Ryuen trusted.
Someone like Ishizaki Daichi...
...
Time quietly passed, and the atmosphere throughout the school grew increasingly tense as the midterm exam approached.
Yuto remained completely unaffected. He continued living his school life in a relaxed and comfortable manner.
He ran with Suzune in the mornings, then spent lunchtime with Kei and Kikyo. After school, he either studied and went on dates with Kei or was dragged to Yuto's dorm room by Kikyo for their secret meetings.
Sometimes he encountered Shiina Hiyori in the library. The light, marshmallow-like girl would discuss mystery novels with him and happily recommend famous books she enjoyed, making them feel like close literary companions.
At night, Yuto would cuddle with the fragrant and soft Airi, showering her with affection before falling into a sweet sleep.
His routine was remarkably regular, and he divided his time efficiently enough that all three girlfriends remained satisfied.
During this period, Ichinose also contacted Yuto through Line. She told him that Shiranami continued treating her exactly as before despite having her confession rejected.
Relieved, Ichinose continued spending time with Shiranami as usual. However, Yuto's name now appeared frequently in their conversations.
Shiranami would secretly criticize him, while Ichinose seriously defended and explained his actions.
Because Ichinose sided with Yuto so strongly, Shiranami remained convinced that she was his girlfriend and had been deceived by that demon into losing her sense of reality!
As for Sudo and the other two, Tokito's mockery appeared to have stimulated them. They became obedient and studied voluntarily, visiting the library every afternoon to receive Suzune's instruction.
Although they were now willing to study, Suzune frequently sighed to Yuto about their terrible foundations. Their progress was far from smooth, but she remained confident she could raise all their subject scores above forty.
"We're fortunate that the passing mark is half the subject average rather than a fixed score of sixty. Otherwise, all three would definitely fail at least one subject and be expelled," Suzune said.
"That truly is fortunate," Yuto agreed.
It was already after school, and because today was Friday, tomorrow marked the beginning of the weekend. Suzune had granted Sudo and the others the rest of today off but ordered them to return to the library tomorrow.
When they heard they needed to study during the weekend, Ike and the others turned pale. Their hatred of studying nearly overwhelmed them, and the three secretly considered inventing an excuse to avoid the library.
They had already studied extremely hard for an entire week. Surely that was enough to pass!
Suzune did not notice their thoughts. Had she known, she would undoubtedly have looked down on them for wanting to escape after fewer than ten days of serious studying.
"If the passing mark is fifty percent of the average, should we deliberately control our scores? That would lower the passing threshold," Suzune suggested.
Yuto looked at her helplessly. "How far are you planning to go to protect them? You're even willing to lower your own score."
"I'm not protecting them! I only considered controlling my score because I want our class to rise to Class A!" Suzune objected unhappily.
"You're being dishonest again."
"You!" Suzune glared at him with her fox-like eyes.
Yuto smiled. "Do you lack confidence in your teaching, or do you lack confidence in Ike and the others? Do you really believe they can't cross the passing line unless you lower it for them?"
"I have no confidence in them whatsoever," Suzune answered immediately.
"Then you should give up now before they disappoint you even more."
"What do you mean, Shimizu?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Yuto asked casually. "They have no desire to study independently. If failing the midterm didn't mean expulsion, they wouldn't bother learning anything."
"Students with no self-discipline like them will eventually fail an exam and be expelled."
"..."
Suzune fell silent because she had considered the same problem.
Even if she taught them enough to avoid failing this midterm, they would soon face the exact same danger again if they refused to study voluntarily.
Then she would have to repeat the same process every time.
Merely teaching Ike and the others treated the symptom rather than the cause. It could not truly save them.
Seeing Suzune fall silent, Yuto smiled. "Don't think too deeply. Perhaps something will suddenly go wrong with their brains, and they'll start loving studying."
"Hmph! As though they could ever enjoy studying. I'm leaving."
The stubborn and dishonest snow fox gave a cold snort, then left the classroom without hesitation.
Yuto departed shortly afterward, but he was alone today. Kikyo had been dragged away by her friends to sing karaoke, while Kei needed to spend time with the girls in her social circle.
Kei had been clinging to Yuto nearly every day, which had greatly reduced the time she spent with her female friends.
Airi had also returned to the detached apartment. Since it was Friday, she wanted to prepare a lavish dinner with Chabashira.
Despite having three girlfriends, Yuto walked alone toward the shoe lockers. When he arrived, he stared strangely into his locker.
"Another confession letter?"
Yuto raised an eyebrow and removed the suspicious pink envelope. After opening it, he unexpectedly discovered that it was supposedly a meeting request from Shiina Hiyori.
The letter explained that Hiyori had not discussed mystery novels with Yuto for several days, so she wanted to use Friday afternoon to sit somewhere quiet and talk with him.
The proposed location was beside the right side of the second-year building. Since it stood near the school wall, few students went there, making it a suitable place for a private conversation.
However...
"This definitely wasn't written by Shiina. She wouldn't send me a letter just to invite me for a conversation," Yuto muttered while examining it.
Although Hiyori enjoyed discussing novels with Yuto and recommending famous books, she never messaged him first or took the initiative to invite him anywhere.
Yuto had also seen Hiyori's handwriting before. The writing on this page looked similar, but closer inspection revealed unnatural strokes that made it obvious someone had imitated her style.
There was one final and most suspicious detail.
The novel Hiyori had recently recommended was not a mystery novel.
It was Stendhal's The Red and the Black, a classic work that pioneered psychological realism and had nothing to do with mystery fiction.
Yet the letter mentioned "discussing the plot of mystery novels" rather than talking about The Red and the Black. Whoever wrote it was clearly not Hiyori.
"This letter was probably arranged by Ryuen," Yuto muttered with a faint, knowing smile.
Hiyori was a Class C student, and her conversations with Yuto in the library were never hidden. The other Class C students had probably noticed their friendship as fellow readers.
Ryuen had therefore used Hiyori's name to lure Yuto toward the right side of the second-year building.
"So his conspiracy with Nagumo is finally beginning. I was getting tired of waiting."
Yuto crumpled the letter and threw it into the trash can beside the shoe lockers.
After changing his shoes, he took out his phone and directly called Hiyori.
The fact that the call would not connect further confirmed that she had not written the letter.
...
At that moment, Hiyori stared at Ibuki Mio with a confused expression.
"Ibuki-san, why did you take my phone and switch it off?" she asked in her soft, sweet voice.
"How should I know? Ryuen told me to do it," Ibuki replied impatiently while holding Hiyori's phone.
"Just sit here quietly. Ryuen said he'll contact me in half an hour. I'll return your phone and let you leave then."
"Mm..."
Hiyori looked at Ibuki, then at the two girls blocking the doorway. With no other choice, she took a famous novel from her school bag and began reading.
Ryuen knew about Hiyori's relationship with Yuto, so he had indeed used her name to summon Yuto to the area behind the second-year building where there were no surveillance cameras.
There, Ryuen intended to carry out the conspiracy he had devised with Nagumo.
To prevent Yuto from contacting Hiyori or finding her directly, Ryuen ordered Ibuki to take her out of the Class C classroom and bring her to an unused clubroom.
Following his instructions, Ibuki confiscated Hiyori's phone and switched it off. Two other girls blocked the clubroom door and prevented Hiyori from leaving.
As long as they successfully lured Yuto to the second-year building, half of Ryuen and Nagumo's plan would already be complete.
Hiyori sat quietly inside the empty clubroom, but her mind remained restless. She could not concentrate on the famous novel in her hands.
She had the persistent feeling that Ryuen's order for Ibuki and the others to guard her was connected to some scheme.
A sudden realization flashed through her mind, and Hiyori's expression changed slightly.
Ryuen might be planning to harm Yuto.
Her suspicion was not baseless.
First, everyone in Class C knew that Yuto had severely beaten Ryuen. Ryuen had previously collected twenty thousand points from every Class C student solely to repay what he owed Yuto.
Therefore, Ryuen held both resentment and hatred toward Yuto.
Second, Hiyori had no friends at this school apart from Yuto.
Why else would Ryuen order Ibuki to confiscate her phone and keep her confined here?
Everything had to be connected to Yuto because Yuto was the only person with whom Hiyori had any meaningful relationship.
Once she realized this, Hiyori could no longer remain seated. For the first time, the usually light and unhurried girl showed visible anxiety as she stood and attempted to retrieve her phone from Ibuki.
However, Ibuki was trained in martial arts, while Hiyori lacked both stamina and physical strength. There was no possibility of her taking the phone back by force.
…
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