After having lunch with Arisu, Houtarou arranged to meet that special person.
It was Honami Ichinose.
Since entering school, that Angel had owed him quite a few favors. Of course, this was reciprocal, as he had consulted her about her love life and asked her for "study materials".
{T/N: The doujinshi from earlier, about the "hand-bra" thing.}
They had a mutually beneficial relationship, making it convenient for them to meet. Honami immediately agreed.
"So... what do you want to tell me?"
This big angel was very punctual. Houtarou had told her to meet at 12:30, and she was already waiting at the agreed place by 12:25 when he arrived.
The great angel wore short socks today, which made her legs even more striking. She placed her hands behind her waist, her beautiful long hair thrown back — from a distance looking like a beautiful painting. Her cheeks had a slightly shy blush.
The meeting place was Kikyō's secret base, though she had already abandoned it because too many people frequented it.
However, Honami was also very familiar with this place because it held an embarrassing memory for her. It was where Chihiro, another girl, had confessed to her.
"Has anything happened to you recently, Ichinose?" Houtarou asked.
"What do you mean?" Honami didn't understand.
This confirmed she hadn't been caught up in the rumors' attacks.
"It's about Suzune Horikita." Houtarou said, "I hope this matter ends here, which means it needs to be wrapped up."
"Ooh… So it's indeed this matter." Honami's eyebrows drooped.
Kikyō was quite skilled at collecting information in the first year. She maintained good relationships with most people, even those difficult to get along with. This meant others were willing to tell her things.
But in this school and grade, there was another person who could rival her — even surpass her.
That was Honami, the school's great angel.
Houtarou had only wanted everyone in the school to know that Suzune was the Student Council President's sister. Now that this goal had been achieved, the rumors were no longer needed.
It needed to be handled immediately.
For normal handling, all that was needed was to make others stop discussing this matter.
While this wouldn't be possible in the outside world, it could be done in the school. The school consisted only of students and faculty, and the faculty didn't care about student affairs.
So as long as students no longer discussed this matter, it could be resolved.
This kind of thing could be handled simply by entrusting Kikyō to assist. There was no need for another person to get involved.
Honami also knew that Houtarou had good relationships with both Suzune and Kikyō. She was probably confused about why he was asking her instead of the other well-connected girl.
But Houtarou wasn't here to ask her for this kind of help.
"Since you understand, things are easy to discuss. So, regarding that rumor, how much do you know?" He asked.
"Ahaha…" Honami immediately became nervous, "Oreki-kun, your expression is a bit scary right now. I didn't participate in spreading the rumors, just so you know…"
She seemed to be having a hard time, worried that Houtarou had called her out to question her involvement in the matter.
"Of course I know that. I'm not suspecting you."
"Is that so? That's a relief." Honami sighed, "I can see you take this matter seriously."
"I want to know the source of the rumors." Houtarou said, "I've consulted Kushida, but she won't tell me which class initially released them."
"I see…" Honami gently played with her hair, "I have many friends... and I don't really like speaking ill of others. But… I've also investigated this matter."
She took out a small notebook from her pocket and opened it.
This showed that she had either cleverly done her homework, or that after discovering this matter, she wanted to return the favor to Houtarou.
Honami was well-prepared.
She flipped through the notebook.
"As far as I know, there are mainly three rumors circulating among the first years now.
First, Suzune Horikita is the sister of the current Student Council President, Manabu Horikita. Second, the Student Council President shared previous exam questions and directions with her. Third, the Student Council President plans to transfer 20 million Private Points to her upon graduation."
"Only these?"
The rumors seemed fairly standard. Yet whether it was the first, second, or third, they all revolved tightly around the sibling relationship between Suzune and Manabu.
"Currently only these. I asked people in my class where they heard these rumors from, traced it back to Horikita's class, but when I dug deeper, the source of information was from Class D — oh no, it's Class C now — so it was from someone in the current Class C.
It was Ryūen who discovered during the break that Horikita had met with the Student Council President privately, and then made the deduction."
Among them, Kikyō was only asked by him to spread rumors to the upper grades, so what Honami was talking about now regarding the first year had nothing to do with Kikyō.
However, Class D had been promoted to Class C, which was Hiyori and Kakeru's class. But Kakeru had already resigned and lacked the energy for such schemes.
So, Hiyori was the only suspicious candidate, right?
She had risen to power after Kakeru's fall. Though she had essentially given up on the class becoming Class A, she didn't want to graduate without accomplishment. There were money-making opportunities at school, so she began desperately pursuing Points.
In other words, she would use any means to gain Points.
It was possible she orchestrated this situation, then planned to offer help resolving the crisis to extract Points from Suzune.
Or perhaps she confirmed that Suzune was the Student Council President's sister to either participate in the Student Council election with Suzune as a trump card, or to sell this valuable information for a good price.
Beep!
At this moment, Houtarou received a message from Karuizawa.
| Kei Karuizawa |
| Satō and I went to the cafeteria to bring food for Horikita, and found Shiina from C class lurking outside her door. |
| Then we drove Shiina away. |
Good. No problem. You're still so fierce.
"It seems that C class's Hiyori Shiina is the mastermind." Houtarou said, "Ryūen has already given up, so there have been changes in their class."
"I see…" Honami nodded slightly, "Then what role did Oreki-kun play in this rumor incident?"
Houtarou: "…"
So Honami's social network was aware that he had arranged for Kikyō to spread rumors to the upper grades. He was indeed involved in this matter.
Meanwhile, the rumors were supposedly spreading from Kakeru's class, but after a month of observation, Honami and others had likely discovered Kakeru's true state.
The claim that Kakeru discovered the relationship between Suzune and Manabu contained obvious falsehoods. He was merely a scapegoat.
This situation clearly required deeper investigation.
"I think it's best you don't know." Houtarou said, "Because this would lower your opinion of me."
"Mm, I understand." The great angel Honami quickly nodded, "So, how can I help now?"
"There is something." Houtarou said, "I hope you can teach Suzune Horikita methods to resolve rumors. This is her greatest weakness being attacked — the situation where she is most at a loss."
"Is that so…" Honami, listening to this, seemed somewhat melancholic, "When one's greatest weakness is attacked… if it were me, I might be even more vulnerable than Horikita…"
"Ichinose?" Houtarou looked over.
Honami seemed to have said something quite troubling.
"Um, nothing." The great angel hurriedly shook her head, as if erasing what she had just said.
Then the two walked toward the girls' dormitory together.
⍟⍟⍟
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