A phone is important to a person; for modern people, going two days without using a phone would be like death.
So Kei expressed great dissatisfaction with Houtarou's decision.
"Are you so unwilling because there are compromising photos on your phone?" Houtarou asked.
"Of course not!"
"Then do you have any selfies?" Houtarou asked again.
"I wouldn't take those carelessly!" Kei said, "Because my phone might get checked."
Why would she consider the possibility of her phone being checked? He's not that unreasonable.
"Anyway..." Houtarou directly confiscated her phone, "First, remove the lock screen password."
"Why?" Kei was confused, "Don't you have your own phone?"
"No, I lost my phone." Houtarou told a white lie, "So it'll take some time to replace it, which is why I need to borrow your phone for two days."
"Why not ask Horikita?" Kei brought up a name.
Although Houtarou always said he didn't have romantic feelings for Suzune — just a partner in collaboration — previously, he had instructed Kei to help the girl. So she was a bit confused now.
"I haven't seen her lately." Houtarou lied to reassure her, "And she probably wouldn't lend me her phone directly anyway."
"Oh." Seemingly pleased that the lone girl hadn't agreed to help him, Kei took back her phone and obediently began to remove her lock screen password.
But her fingers quickly slid across the keys, and then…
Ring! Ring!
Houtarou's phone rang. It was a missed call, and the caller was Kei.
"So your phone is on you after all. You said you lost it." She looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he was doing something confusing.
"..."
Houtarou revised his assessment of her. She's actually quite clever, isn't she?
"Fine." He said, "The truth is, I need to borrow your phone for something. But I can't tell you the reason yet."
With his lie exposed, Houtarou didn't continue. After all, covering up one lie requires more lies. It's better to just state the purpose directly.
Kei doesn't have much sense of security, and if she found out she was being targeted by Kakeru, she might blame herself — thinking that she's brought him too much trouble.
So let's leave it at that. Deal with that guy alone.
From the Class A students, he learned two things: first, Kakeru had surrounded Rokusuke, but they didn't end up fighting. Instead, he arranged for people to follow him, seemingly to harass him.
Second, the day before, Kakeru had destroyed the camera in the physics lab. That building only had one camera on the first floor, which was quite unique. Destroying it means he wants to do something while avoiding surveillance.
In other words... breaking the rules.
Also…
| Masayoshi Hashimoto |
| Oreki, I've checked the school's student borrowing records for the past two days. Ryūen himself borrowed 3 books. |
| Since when did he become interested in psychology? |
| Psychology: From Introduction to Autism |
| Medical Psychology |
Masayoshi from his class sent a message.
Kakeru is well-prepared this time. He wants to breakthrough via Kei, and then obtain Houtarou's weakness.
But this guy… Is targeting a girl something a man should do?
Beep!
Meanwhile, Kei had unlocked her screen and handed over the phone.
"I've unlocked it." She said as she gave him the phone.
"Then I'll keep the phone with me." Houtarou said.
"Understood."
Since Houtarou looked like he was heading back to the dormitory, Kei didn't misread the atmosphere; she answered him softly and then headed upstairs.
Well then… she is quite obedient, not asking too many questions. From this perspective, she has a big advantage.
Houtarou has recently found that Arisu can be quite clingy. But Kei isn't like that. This kind of interaction feels comfortable.
But why would she be the losing dog in the race for him?
Thinking this, Houtarou returned to his dormitory and placed both phones on the table.
One was his, and one was Kei's. He picked up the latter.
Based on his understanding of Kakeru, that guy worships violence, but he's also skilled at controlling people. Otherwise, after so many failures and being heavily in debt, his class would have rebelled long ago.
And now he has borrowed psychology-related books. This means he wants to attack psychologically.
In other words, he wants to exert psychological pressure on Kei, then obtain Houtarou's weaknesses through her.
So how to contact her?
She usually goes around with a bunch of gyarus, making it difficult to approach her alone, so obviously the only way is to send her private messages.
That's why Houtarou asked for her phone. He'll be the one to face the battle.
But just as he was thinking this—
Beep! Beep!
Kei's phone vibrated.
That was fast, wasn't it?
Sliding the screen, the phone showed a message from a classmate.
| Kayoko Ishikura |
| Karuizawa, I need your help. I got a boyfriend during summer vacation, and the expenses are quite high, so I hope you can lend me some more points. |
| Please come alone to the special physics teaching building at 3 PM tomorrow! |
| Also, I can tell you about Kushida's secret. |
Houtarou recalled the information about first-year students provided by Masayoshi and quickly found this Kayoko.
She's an ordinary girl in the "back to the throne" Class C (Suzune's).
Kei herself had mentioned that she had lent money to some of the gyarus who needed it — a way of gathering people's hearts.
This Kayoko should be a marginal figure in the class, but after borrowing money from Kei once, they had established some contact. And now she wants to borrow again?
Without warning, Kei might actually be attracted by this message and go to the physics teaching building tomorrow.
After all, the other party even mentioned telling her about Kikyō's secret. That would make anyone curious — what kind of secrets would a little angel like her have?
But for a special message like this to arrive at such a time... it suggests that Kayoko probably isn't actually short of money, since Kakeru would provide it.
In other words, just like before, Class C leaks like a sieve. This girl has probably already become a spy for "down to hell" Class D (Kakeru's).
If Kakeru doesn't want to alert his prey, then he'll lure them in. And since Houtarou likes efficiency, with him already prepared to act, this is the perfect opportunity.
So…
| Kei Karuizawa |
| I can't lend you too much money, but did you say Kikyō has a secret? |
Although Kikyō is basically an open book to him, Houtarou still replied this way using Kei's phone, acting interested.
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The time was 2:40 PM the next day. The location was the library.
Beep!
During this time, two students entered the library but only one swiped their student ID.
The beautiful girl with silver-white hair sitting in the first-floor lobby tilted her head. She seemed curious. Very curious, indeed.
Hiyori found it strange. Kakeru had already arranged for C Class spy Kayoko, whom he had bought with a large sum, to send information to lure Kei. And the girl herself had expressed curiosity. So logically, she would keep the appointment.
But now, as the appointment time approached, Hiyori discovered that Kei was acting as if nothing was happening, coming to the library with her friend. She looked like she was planning to stay for quite a while.
"Satō, I never thought you'd want to borrow books." Kei said.
"After all, our class's chances of advancing to Class A seem pretty slim now. So I need to take responsibility for myself." Maya said, "Plus, the school's special exams vary in type, but I'm worried there might be more written tests coming up, so I need to make my studies more secure."
She used to do quite well in elementary school, even scoring 100 points, but when she got to middle school, she started hanging out with friends, and before she knew it, she was often failing.
Rokusuke's tutoring sessions would be held for a few more days. She hadn't attended the first time because she was focused on pursuing Houtarou. But later she discovered that both Airi and Kei's academic abilities had improved.
Does that mean she missed out on studying because of romance?
In the end, her romance fizzled out too. So she quickly started studying as well.
"Karuizawa, you should go borrow some books too." Maya said kindly, "Didn't your grades improve?"
"No, no, my improvement wasn't very obvious. Kōenji said I need to accumulate knowledge, then wait for it to suddenly pay off, like having a moment of clarity. I asked Sakura about it, and she said something like she suddenly got a feeling, and then things just clicked. It's very mysterious.But she couldn't really explain it either. So now I'm reading books every day, waiting for that mysterious moment when my brain suddenly gets it. So I keep reading and reading until I feel sick." Kei said, waving her hands as if traumatized.
'Ah. I see.' Hiyori eavesdropped on their conversation.
She had experienced that feeling of sudden clarity too. But that was when she was very young.
"Reading books all day long — isn't that like Horikita? I could never be a bookworm like her! Ten hours a day, I couldn't stand it." Kei said.
This comment sounded a bit like badmouthing Suzune, but…
"Ah... I understand. Horikita is quite extreme. Do you think she has no friends because she spends all day studying?"
Even though Kei was badmouthing Suzune, Maya didn't like her either, so the two of them started badmouthing the girl together.
Hiyori: "..."
She was also alone in her class. But she didn't want to be completely friendless. So she was constantly in friend-recruitment mode. She just hadn't realized that friends would badmouth others together.
And that talking about someone they mutually dislike would immediately bring two people closer?
She felt this kind of friendship approach was stressful for her.
'Ah…' Suddenly, Hiyori, sitting by the window, covered half her face with an open book.
Because she noticed that the central figure of Kei and her friend's conversation — the badmouthed Suzune — had arrived.
Although they were in different classes, Hiyori knew her. Not because she was often with Houtarou, but because she seemed to enjoy borrowing books; she had seen her coming to the library many times.
Suzune was said to have excellent grades.
But Hiyori also noticed that she seemed completely uninterested in making friends. Once, she had deliberately sat on the edge of Suzune's seat and intentionally dropped her eraser near her, but the other girl had completely ignored her.
This made Hiyori feel a bit disappointed.
And now, Kei and her friend were badmouthing Suzune. She must have heard them.
"It's my business if I study ten hours a day. I believe it's necessary. And I certainly don't fail exams. In the end, why do you fail? Don't you ever think about it?" Suzune stood directly behind Kei and Maya.
"Ah—"
"…"
Maya and Kei's hair stood on end.
But Suzune ignored them and headed straight for the second floor.
"Phew—"
After a while, the two finally sighed in relief.
"Horikita is really intimidating." Maya complained, but she didn't dare continue the topic, "By the way, Karuizawa, aren't you using your phone today? Just now, I swiped my student ID, and you quickly followed behind me to enter."
The library has an entrance gate that requires swiping a student ID to enter. Maya had unexpectedly discovered a blind spot.
'Phone?' Hiyori's attention was caught.
⍟⍟⍟
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