The next morning, Horikita slipped back into her room.
As Kiyotaka walked along, he noticed information posted by Ichinose on the school bulletin board.
"If you have any leads on the fight incident, please contact Class B's Honami Ichinose..."
"Oh, what a coincidence, Ayanokoji-kun." You really can't speak of the devil during the day; just as he thought of her, Ichinose appeared, greeting Kiyotaka with a sweet smile.
"Hello, is this...?" Kiyotaka asked, his gaze fixed on the bulletin board.
"Oh, this? I thought that if anyone knew anything, they could tell me through this. I've also posted information on forums and other places."
Just as she finished speaking, Ichinose's terminal rang.
"Huh, there's a lead so soon?"
"Let me see... It's said that among the three injured, one of them had a bad reputation in junior high. He was a bully in that area and had many previous fighting offenses. Hmm... this information is useful. I'll give him the bounty."
Ichinose tapped the sender, but found it was anonymous.
"Ah, how am I supposed to give an anonymous sender the money?" Ichinose fretted.
"I can do that. Hand me your terminal."
"Oh, okay." With that, Ichinose handed her terminal to Kiyotaka. Because she wanted to know how to operate it, she leaned close to Kiyotaka, her large "mountains" rubbing against him with her movements.
She trusts me too much... Kiyotaka thought to himself. With a quick series of actions, he transferred the bounty to the person and caught a fleeting glimpse of Ichinose's balance.
"Alright~ I'll tell you if there are any more leads, bye-bye."
"Hmm, bye-bye."
After Ichinose left, Kiyotaka couldn't help but fall into deep thought. It had only been two months since school started, so why did Ichinose have over two million in her balance? How did she do it?
Days passed, and the Sudou incident made no effective progress. For Kiyotaka, it didn't matter, but Horikita was worried. After all, Sudou dropping out didn't matter to her personally, but his expulsion would affect the class's promotion, which, in turn, would hinder her own progress.
Kiyotaka saw this and called Kikyo during class break.
Since that day, Kiyotaka hadn't contacted Kikyo again. This time, seeking her out again brought a hint of anticipation to her eyes.
"Kiyotaka, is there something you need?"
"Yes, Airi Sakura, you know her, right?"
"Airi? I guess so. She's usually quiet. I've approached her a few times, but she never seemed very enthusiastic."
"For the Sudou incident, there might be a witness, and that's Airi Sakura. Go ask her if she's willing to testify."
"Okay, I'll give it a try. It would be great if I could help Sudou."
After school, Kikyo found Airi Sakura.
"Airi!"
Airi Sakura froze at the sound, looking at Kikyo with a flustered expression and asking, "What is it, Kikyo-chan?"
"It's like this, I wanted to ask, do you have any evidence regarding Sudou-kun's incident? If you do, could you help him?"
Airi Sakura replied very nervously, "I don't know, I don't know anything. Please don't look for me."
With that, she tried to run away. Unfortunately, she was too flustered while escaping, causing Airi Sakura to fall directly, and her camera flew out of her hand.
Airi was startled, immediately got up to pick up the camera, but pressing the power button several times yielded no response.
"How could this happen...?"
"I'm sorry, Airi-chan. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have broken your camera."
"No, it's my own fault. I'll go now."
Watching Airi walk away, Kikyo turned back to look at Kiyotaka in the dark corner and shook her head.
Failure was expected; otherwise, there would be no need for Kikyo to find her, she would have come forward to help herself. Now, the key was to figure out how to dig out her secret and use it.
Having figured it out, Kiyotaka left directly, leaving Kikyo looking despondent.
Online, there had always been a somewhat famous casual model. Aside from her hair color being the same as Airi Sakura's, her style was completely different in all other respects.
But her true identity was Airi Sakura. At this moment, Airi Sakura was in her dark room, enjoying her beautiful photos while Browse fan comments. One fan was particularly fervent, leaving comments under almost every photo.
"Airi-chan, you're becoming more and more beautiful."
"Airi-chan, you finally updated. Without seeing you, I feel like my life has lost its meaning."
"Airi-chan, I think I know where you are. I'm breathing the same air as you right now. I'm so happy."
"Airi-chan, I can't help but want to find you. Wait for me, I know who you are."
As she read further, his words became increasingly crazed, frightening Airi Sakura so much that she immediately shut down her computer, daring not to look anymore. The room then plunged into darkness.
On the weekend, because Airi Sakura's camera was broken, she went to an electronics store at the mall for repairs.
"Hello, I'd like to have my camera repaired."
"Okay, coming right up."
The reply came from a greasy-looking man who, upon seeing Airi, hurried over as if he had discovered something.
"What's wrong with it? Let me see."
Airi handed over the camera. The greasy clerk pretended to examine it for a moment and then said, "The internal parts are broken. It will take two or three days to fix. Go register your information, and I'll notify you then."
Airi Sakura woodenly picked up a pen and asked, "What information do I need to register?"
The greasy clerk looked up at Airi Sakura and said, "Name, phone number, and... address." As he spoke the last word, a vulgar and eerie smile crept onto his lips.
Airi Sakura looked at the clerk in extreme fear. She wanted to run, but her camera was in his hands, leaving her at a loss for what to do.
"Oh, okay, filling these out should be enough."
Just as Airi was feeling completely bewildered, a cold voice spoke up, then took her pen and quickly filled in his own information.
"It's done. You can contact me when it's repaired."
The greasy clerk saw a sudden obstacle appear, and he subtly "tsk"-ed. Unfortunately, in broad daylight, he dared not cause trouble, so he reluctantly put away the registration form and left.
"Ayanokoji-kun... what are you doing here?"
Only then did Airi Sakura, still shaken, look at Kiyotaka and ask.
"Ah... just passing by. I saw you were in trouble, so I came to help."
Was that really the truth? No, it couldn't be. When Airi Sakura broke her camera, Kiyotaka knew from her anxious expression that the camera was very important to her, and this electronics store was the only one in the area. Kiyotaka had long been staking out this place, looking for an opportunity to approach Airi Sakura.
"Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun. If you don't mind, I'd like to treat you to a drink."
Airi Sakura said, head bowed, timidly.
"Sure, I'd be delighted."
Kiyotaka still looked directly at Airi, his eyes showing no emotional fluctuations. Yet, this emptiness in his gaze inexplicably made Airi relax, her entire body no longer so tense.
At the beverage shop on the first floor of the mall, Kiyotaka took a piece of paper, wrote down a number, and handed it to Airi Sakura, saying, "This is my terminal number. When your camera is fixed, or if you have any questions, you can contact me."
Airi was stunned for a moment, her cheeks slightly flushed as she hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, I was negligent. I should have given you my contact information instead."
Amidst a flurry of fumbling, the two finally exchanged contact information.
After a few sips of coffee, Kiyotaka looked at Airi Sakura, who had relaxed considerably, and asked, "I want to ask you a question: do you have any evidence that proves Sudou's innocence?"
Airi Sakura's previously relaxed expression instantly tensed up, and she unconsciously tore at the slip of paper with the number on it.
Kiyotaka saw Airi's reaction and knew it wasn't the right time. He said, "But it's okay, just pretend I didn't ask. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now."
Airi Sakura watched Kiyotaka's retreating figure, her expression incredibly conflicted.