Saiki did not use his psychic powers to take any action, he merely looked at the other person calmly and followed them to an empty corridor.
"I'm really sorry, I did intend to deceive you earlier, but at this point, the only thing I can do is tell you the truth."
Karuizawa's tone became hurried. Although Saiki knew she was desperately trying to control herself, her words still carried a trace of a sobbing voice.
"I'm really sorry for pretending to be strong at school... actually, it's because I once suffered extremely severe school bullying... my seat was destroyed by others, words were written on my clothes, I was beaten..."
[I've already reached a dead end, I have no other choice... I can only tell all of this... Saiki is currently my only umbrella of protection...]
As she spoke, Karuizawa's eyes gradually became moist; to her, these were unbearably painful memories.
In order not to be hurt again, she could only tear open those wounds that had not yet healed.
Saiki was very clear that everything Karuizawa said was the truth, she indeed had suffered inhumane treatment.
"…Saiki-kun, right now you have very good popularity in the class… so… could I please ask you to pretend to be my boyfriend… like that..."
"I'm sorry, I can't agree to something like that." And almost without any hesitation, Saiki gave a negative answer.
From any angle, Saiki could not agree to Karuizawa's request. Not only would it make him more noticeable, but it would also be irresponsible to others.
The original Saiki would have avoided a situation like this, but since Karuizawa had spoken of her most painful memories, Saiki personally gave her his true thoughts.
"I see? I understand…"
At this moment, Karuizawa fell into absolute despair.
"However, there is one thing I can agree to. From now on, no one in this school will bully you. That, I can guarantee."
But just then, Saiki slowly spoke. "Yare yare, just consider it compensation for treating me to those desserts earlier."
"Ah?"
Hearing Saiki's words, Karuizawa froze, seemingly still not understanding what Saiki meant.
"If something unexpected happens from now on, just contact me directly. But don't go causing trouble on purpose anymore."
Saiki paused slightly, then continued speaking, "As for Manabe's side, I'll handle it. They probably won't bother you anymore."
Saiki knew, with Manabe and the others' vicious personalities, they would likely find another, even more terrifying way to get back at Karuizawa.
However, earlier, Ayanokoji seemed to have recorded the process of them attempting to bully Karuizawa, maybe that could be used to stop Manabe and the others.
"Also, that girl named Rika, I suggest you apologize to her. I can get her contact info for you."
"But..."
"If it's really not possible, just send her an apology message or something." Saiki said.
To Saiki, these two matters should be treated separately. Even if it's Karuizawa, she can't bully others just to protect herself.
Karuizawa still wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't speak for a long time. Eventually, she only pursed her lips and then nodded.
"Then that's it. I'm heading back. Thanks for the treat today."
Saiki said to Karuizawa, then prepared to leave.
But at that moment, Karuizawa spoke again, calling out to Saiki, "Right, Saiki-kun... um... the special person in this group is me..."
"Mm, I got it. Let's discuss strategy for the exam together tonight then."
———
After returning to the dorm, Saiki went to find Ayanokoji again and told him that Karuizawa was the special person.
"So that's how it is, Karuizawa is the special one?"
Ayanokoji wasn't particularly surprised.
"Now that we know who the special person is, what to do next is up to you." Saiki said.
And almost at the same time, Saiki heard Ayanokoji's inner thoughts.
[For now, even though Chabashira-sensei's words are becoming less trustworthy, we still need to take a conservative approach. I'll put in some effort for this exam.]
[Since our leader is Karuizawa, our goal is to guide others into guessing wrong, especially Class A.]
[The best way to confirm who the special person is, is by checking the phone message directly. That's the best way to mislead others.]
[Although each SIM card is bound to a phone, it's possible to unbind them by spending points.]
[Then by switching SIMs and phones with others, we can create a double-layered mislead, plus, the first mislead must be discovered by others, so they'll completely believe what they see, making it harder to notice the second trap.]
'So fast...'
Saiki couldn't help but feel amazed. In less than a few seconds after he revealed who the special person was, Ayanokoji had already come up with a way to pass the exam in his mind.
"Mm, I've roughly come up with a strategy. Tomorrow is the last day of the special exam, and the results will be announced afterward."
"Right, also, Ayanokoji, you recorded the video of Manabe and the others bullying Karuizawa earlier, right?"
"Mm."
"Send me a copy."
"Got it."
Ayanokoji nodded.
[Looks like Saiki is planning to act.]
Ayanokoji thought while sending the video to Saiki.
———
That night, Saiki used the method he had seen in Ayanokoji's thoughts and, through an anonymous account, sent Manabe a message using the earlier video as a threat, demanding that she and the others stop bullying Karuizawa.
In this school, once a bullying incident is exposed, the consequences for the bully will be unimaginable.
However, Karuizawa didn't want to expose it, because once reported to the school, everything she had experienced would be revealed, and the image she had worked hard to build over the semester would be ruined.
So Saiki directly used the earlier video to threaten Manabe.
Because Saiki also appeared at the end of the video, Manabe wouldn't suspect that he wasn't the one who recorded it.
"Who are you?!!"
Manabe sent a string of questions, but Saiki did not respond again. Then, using his clairvoyance ability, he saw Manabe holding her phone with a frightened face.
'Yare yare, looks like it's working.'
Saiki said to himself, but his actions weren't over yet.
Once Manabe had fallen asleep that night, Saiki poured a flood of negative bullying case examples into her mind.
Just like he had once done to Sudo Ken.
'This should finally settle it.'
After resolving all these matters, Saiki could finally take a short rest.
———
The next day, the final meeting for the special exam.
After this meeting ends, the results of the exam will already be determined, though they'll only be announced that evening.
Saiki arrived at the meeting room early. This should be the last exam of the school trip, and after that, he could finally enjoy a bit of free summer break time.
The others arrived one after another, including Karuizawa.
"Morning, Saiki!"
With a bright smile on her face, Karuizawa waved at Saiki, then sat right next to him, seeming a bit close.
'Could you not sit directly next to me?'
Saiki inwardly groaned, because he knew very well that Karuizawa's actions would once again bring him unnecessary attention.
[What's going on? That troublemaker Karuizawa... actually greeted Saiki voluntarily?]
Both Yukimura Keisei and Sotomura Hideo were stunned by the scene before them.
[Has Saiki completely taken control of Karuizawa?]
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji watched Saiki from a distance, [If it were me, I'd need to create an even more dangerous situation to make Karuizawa obey completely, but Saiki already did it, impressive.]
'What even is this...' Saiki sighed in his heart.
At that moment, Manabe and the others also arrived at the meeting room.
[Really hope those three won't start trouble again...]
At the moment they walked into the room, everyone else thought the same thing.
Manabe and the other two girls walked purposefully toward Karuizawa. Her heart started racing, and her body instinctively leaned slightly toward Saiki. A trace of fear flashed in her eyes.
But at that moment, Karuizawa noticed that Manabe had dark circles under her eyes, and her face looked terrible.
"Um, Karuizawa-san… I was a bit too much before… I'm really sorry…"
Manabe and the other two girls bowed and apologized to Karuizawa. It wasn't sarcastic, they sounded truly sincere, even a little humble.
"Ah?"
Karuizawa froze, completely not expecting Manabe to sincerely apologize.
"Um… I was also wrong… I also messaged your friend Rika yesterday..." Karuizawa replied.
"I… I understand. Then let's just put this behind us..."
Manabe's eyes carried a faint trace of fear.
"Mm… let's put it behind us..."
After speaking, Manabe returned to her seat, looking absent-minded.
[Manabe... after doing all that yesterday, she apologized to me today? What's going on?! Could it be...]
Karuizawa turned her head and looked at Saiki beside her, recalling the words he had said to her the day before.
[Could it be… Saiki did something?]
"Then, let's begin today's meeting."
"Mm."
Then, everyone began the final discussion about the exam.
This was the final meeting, so it would determine their group's result in the exam.
And the process of the exam unfolded exactly as Ayanokoji had predicted. The group decided to reveal their phone info together to confirm who the special person was.
Ayanokoji had already swapped phones with Yukimura Keisei, so everyone initially believed Yukimura Keisei was the special one, then, this trap was quickly seen through by Ichinose Honami.
Ichinose Honami exposed the phone swap trick in public.
Just as Ayanokoji predicted, this would lead everyone to believe he was the real special person.
However, Saiki knew that Ichinose Honami not only saw through the first trick, she even saw through the second layer of SIM swapping as well.
But Ichinose Honami didn't expose it either, instead choosing to play along with Ayanokoji, Saiki, and the others.
As long as they revealed the name of the special person at the end of the exam, everyone would gain a large amount of personal points, but if a traitor appeared, the outcome would be completely different.
Although Ichinose Honami had previously said she hoped their group could achieve a win-win result, Saiki found that she didn't actually think that way anymore.
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