'Yare yare.'
Saiki could feel that the atmosphere of the entire room had already become very bad.
Moreover, he could incomparably clearly hear Karuizawa's inner voice.
[That person is called Rika? Earlier, it was for the sake of also shaping my persona outside that I deliberately cut the line... Didn't expect the other person's friend to directly come over...]
[What to do, what to do, what to do? Wait, this person seems to not be very certain, as long as I keep pretending to be unaware, keep denying, maybe I can muddle through!]
At the same time, some memories that she did not want to recall kept flashing back in Karuizawa's mind.
'As expected, was it you who did it?'
Saiki sighed in his heart, 'I think apologizing in time is the best method to resolve this matter.'
Using the ability of telepathy, Saiki came to know about Karuizawa's past.
Karuizawa had suffered extremely inhumane school bullying in the past, and some of the actions had even gone beyond the category of bullying, possibly endangering her life, this was the source of those scars on Karuizawa's body.
No matter who it was, basically no one had been able to notice Karuizawa's past, and Karuizawa also had never told this side of herself to others.
She compared herself to a parasite, searching for a suitable host to 'survive'. Her deliberate cutting in line and other bullying behaviors were not due to a bad personality, but because she believed that this way, others would not want to bully her.
In order to not be bullied, she bullied others, honestly speaking, even inside Saiki's heart, he did not quite approve of this approach.
And next to them, Ayanokoji had always been observing Karuizawa's appearance.
[Karuizawa's is obviously lying. She definitely had a conflict with Rika earlier. But judging by her usual conduct in the class, this should indeed be the state she is in now.]
[Whether in behavior or expression and tone, Karuizawa looks somewhat off.]
Ayanokoji kept thinking, [Earlier, Saiki seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally mentioned Karuizawa's name to me. Could it be that Saiki had already noticed Karuizawa's secret and wanted me to pay attention to it?]
'I just accidentally almost let it slip.'
"It's nothing, I was just confirming. If this matter is true, I hope you apologize. Rika is the type who bears everything alone. We must do something for her."
Manabe Shiho said with extreme seriousness.
Although Manabe Shiho already seemed to have some opinions about Karuizawa, her way of handling things wasn't wrong.
"Can I confirm with Rika? That's okay, right? If it wasn't you, then there's no problem, right?"
While Manabe Shiho spoke, she picked up her phone, preparing to take a photo of Karuizawa to send to that girl named Rika.
But at that moment, Karuizawa suddenly stood up and directly slapped the other person's phone down. The phone fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.
"What are you doing?!"
"That's what I want to say, you have no right to take my photo without permission. Didn't I already say you got the wrong person?"
Karuizawa immediately said, her body leaning forward as if to express her dissatisfaction.
But this undoubtedly further intensified the conflict. Manabe Shiho's displeasure toward Karuizawa rose again.
Not only that, two other girls from Class D also stepped forward to stand beside Manabe Shiho, ready to support their companion.
Ichinose Honami, who was beside them, said nothing, seemingly still judging the rights and wrongs of the matter.
Meanwhile, Ibuki from Class D didn't get up, just looked at everyone coldly and said words that were exactly the same as her thoughts, "You few people, are you idiots?"
"What do you mean, idiots? This has nothing to do with you, Ibuki-san, because you're not friends with Rika."
Manabe Shiho immediately spoke to Ibuki, with a hint of mockery in her tone, it was obvious that her relationship with Ibuki wasn't good.
[Manabe and Ibuki's relationship isn't too good. Ibuki counts as someone from Ryuen's faction, can this be seen as Manabe not submitting to Ryuen?] Ayanokoji thought in his heart.
"Yes, it indeed has nothing to do with me, so I'm only speaking my feelings as an outsider."
Ibuki shrugged, seemingly not wanting to bother with Manabe Shiho's actions.
"Today I will take your photo!"
Although Manabe Shiho also found Ibuki annoying, she still immediately took out her phone and continued to approach Karuizawa in an aggressive manner.
By now, she no longer simply wanted to stand up for her friend, but just wanted to deliberately make things hard for Karuizawa.
'If they start arguing, the meeting's end time will definitely be delayed again…'
Just as Saiki was feeling helpless in his heart, he heard Karuizawa's inner voice, [This won't work like this... I need to rely on others... Only then can I change the current situation.]
At that moment, Karuizawa suddenly turned her head and looked at Saiki, "Saiki-kun, their behavior is wrong, right!"
'???'
Saiki had not expected that Karuizawa would suddenly come to him. But even if he had known in advance, he wouldn't have been able to change anything.
'Damn it, why did she suddenly shift the focus onto me? This matter has nothing to do with me.'
[During the last exam, Saiki even made himself sick just for the class's food issue. He will definitely help me!]
'Though I feel a little guilty, I was actually faking illness.'
Saiki responded in his heart while also feeling that most of the gazes in the room had now landed on him.
'Yare yare, what a lot of extra trouble... Just treat it as compensation for causing a misunderstanding with Ibuki...'
"If you take photos without other people's permission, it certainly causes trouble, doesn't it?"
Saiki followed up Karuizawa's words. If possible, he wanted to end today's meeting quickly and return to his room to rest.
"Hey, your name is Saiki, right?"
Manabe Shiho turned her head to look at Saiki, her gaze containing a hint of disdain.
"What does it have to do with you?"
[This four-eyes guy looks like such a wimp. And he seems to get along pretty well with that loser next to him, gross.]
Manabe Shiho's inner voice was heard crystal clear by Saiki.
'Yare yare, now the nature of the matter has changed.' Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Manabe-san, may I ask you to stop?"
And after Saiki expressed his stance, Ichinose Honami finally voiced her opinion as well, expressing her viewpoint.
Her tone became more serious than before, and the other students from Class C immediately echoed her words.
[Damn it…]
Although Manabe Shiho was a bit unhappy in her heart, she also clearly understood that this was not a good occasion to escalate the matter.
Moreover, the fact that she wanted to forcefully take a photo indeed put her in the wrong, so she could only return to her seat with her classmates.
Although the argument had calmed down, the atmosphere in the entire room had already become tense like drawn swords.
Adding to that, the people from Class A were unwilling to participate in the discussion, which made the rest of the time feel a bit torturous.
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji's attention continued to move among the surrounding people.
[The conflict between Karuizawa and Class D might become a fuse in the future. Just now, even though she pretended to be calm and strong, I still saw a trace of fear, perhaps due to something she experienced in the past? The possibility of having been bullied is quite high.]
'You... if you said you were a psychic, I'd believe it.'
[In her class, she holds considerable influence. Among girls, she's a leader not inferior to Kushida. If I can control her, Karuizawa might become a very useful tool.]
'There you go again, are you a wholesale dealer of tools?'
[Earlier, Saiki deliberately mentioned this name to me, this must be what he meant.]
'That's really not it.'
[Ichinose hadn't spoken up before, but as soon as Saiki said something, Ichinose immediately stood up to take a stance.]
[Plus, Saiki had previously said that he understood Ichinose's personality, seems like he has successfully turned Ichinose into a tool he can use.]
'Can you not treat me as the same type of person as you?'
Saiki was completely helpless. In this room, the number of normal people could be counted on one hand.
["Discussion over. All students may leave the meeting room and proceed with free activities."]
'It's finally over?'
Saiki let out a long breath. This was the first time he felt the school broadcast sounded so pleasant.
"In that case, today's discussion is concluded."
As Ichinose Honami finished speaking, Saiki, without any hesitation, directly left the meeting room.
Just as he stepped out of the room, his phone vibrated.
[Sakura Airi: Saiki-kun... may I ask if you're free now? I have something I want to say to you face-to-face...]
'Huh, more trouble?'
Saiki was a little helpless but still gave a positive reply to Sakura Airi and walked toward the agreed location.
After Saiki left, the others also left one after another.
Ayanokoji, however, stared at Karuizawa's back with a thoughtful look.
A few seconds later, as if understanding something, 'So that's how it is, this is Saiki's plan?'
'As expected, Saiki's thinking is the same as mine. He told me Karuizawa's name to make me notice the details about her, huh.'
'In that case, I'll give it a little push too.'
Ayanokoji narrowed his eyes slightly. No emotion could be seen in his gaze.
———
"Saiki-kun… please, please go out with m, …"
Near the ship's rest area, Saiki heard Sakura Airi talking to herself like she was reciting lines.
Although she stuttered and couldn't say a complete sentence for a long time, Saiki, using his telepathy ability, could understand what she wanted to say.
[Saiki-kun… please go out with me!]
[No way… I just can't say it out loud…]
[Completely… I really don't know how to say it.]
'Yare yare, looks like Sakura-san has some strange affection for me.'
Saiki expressionlessly muttered in his heart, 'I really don't want to be noticed by others too much. Just having Ayanokoji around is more than enough…'
According to his usual style, Saiki would find a way to crush the other party's unrealistic thoughts.
[If not for Saiki-kun… I probably wouldn't even dare to talk to anyone now. Saiki-kun is my only friend at this school.]
'Yare yare, I'll deal with this matter later.'
Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly, and soon arrived in front of Sakura Airi.
"Saiki-kun?! You're already here?"
Seeing Saiki arrive, Sakura Airi couldn't help but show a surprised and delighted smile, though she quickly returned to her usual expression.
"Sakura-san, may I ask what it is you wanted to talk about?" Saiki asked.
Although Sakura Airi had obtained Saiki's permission to call him by his given name, Saiki still used her family name when addressing her.
"Um… Saiki-san, I was wondering if you have time lately?"
"If it's lately, then there shouldn't be anything going on."
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