After Saiki finished speaking, both Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune turned their gazes toward him simultaneously.
"Saiki, you didn't express your stance earlier. What are your thoughts?"
Horikita Suzune looked at Saiki very seriously, waiting for his response.
"Horikita, your goal is to rise to Class A, right? The gap between us and Class C has been gradually widening. They don't pose much of a threat to us right now. Forming an alliance with Class C to take down Class A first is the best option, isn't it?"
Saiki said.
'Yare yare, after all, I promised Shiina I'd help a little, and Ichinose is one of the few normal people in this school.'
He thought to himself.
[Saiki has taken a stance?]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Saiki. This seemed to be the first time their responses had diverged on a particular matter.
"What Saiki said makes sense..."
Horikita Suzune rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, then looked up and said,
"But what you said, Ayanokoji, also makes sense. I need to think about this carefully. Let's end it here for today."
"Okay."
Soon after, Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka left Saiki's room.
'Ayanokoji seemed a bit off today... but then again, he's always like that, isn't he?'
Saiki thought to himself but didn't plan to delve deeper. He simply took out his phone and sent a message to Shiina Hiyori.
Saiki: I found out who posted it. It's Hashimoto from Class A.
Given what had happened with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the fact that Hashimoto Masayoshi was the poster wasn't much of a secret anymore. This way, Shiina Hiyori should be able to deduce that the mastermind behind all this was Sakayanagi Arisu.
Just as he sent the message, he received another one.
Ichinose Honami: Saiki-kun, are you free right now?
Saiki: What's up?
Ichinose Honami: There's something I want to talk to you about. Is it okay? I'll wait for you on the first floor of the dorm.
Saiki looked at the message from Ichinose Honami, sighed, and decided to leave his room to meet her at the designated spot.
"Over here."
At the edge of the entrance, Ichinose Honami called out softly to Saiki, who then walked over.
"Are we going out?"
"Yeah... just for a bit."
Saiki followed Ichinose Honami out of the building to a secluded corner of the school.
"I thought the weather would be cold... but I didn't want to draw attention."
Ichinose Honami asked, shivering slightly.
[It's so cold... so cold...]
'Don't push yourself too hard...'
Saiki looked at the girl who was forcing herself to appear unaffected by the cold and spoke up.
"I know, but what about you? Are you okay...?"
"I'm fine... How should I put it... I'm really sorry."
Ichinose Honami said.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Probably because I'm causing trouble for you, Horikita, and the rest of Class B... I've made you all worry unnecessarily because of the rumors. I'm really sorry."
"It's nothing."
"That's the best answer. Until the rumors disappear, I won't change my stance. I'll also talk to Kanzaki and the others."
Ichinose Honami looked at Saiki with unwavering determination as she spoke.
Saiki looked at her, realizing that Ichinose Honami didn't want others to know about her past and didn't want to drag Saiki into it.
Although she claimed to be handling it calmly, Ichinose Honami was clearly affected by the rumors.
However, Saiki didn't plan to ask about her past. If Ichinose Honami wasn't ready to talk about it, he wouldn't pry.
"It's too cold out here, Saiki. You should head back and rest."
"Okay."
After a brief exchange, Saiki left the area and returned to the dorm.
Meanwhile, in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's room.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was sitting at his desk, rapidly analyzing the current situation.
[Theoretically, Saiki shouldn't have actively helped Ichinose, as it doesn't benefit him in any way.]
[My plan was to push Ichinose into a desperate situation and then offer her help, turning her into my pawn. However, from the perspective of a class leader, I wouldn't help Ichinose because she's a potential enemy, and helping her wouldn't benefit our class.]
[Saiki and I have always been on the same page before, but when Horikita asked, he gave a positive response. Why... Wait, if Saiki's way of thinking is similar to mine, does that mean he also sees Ichinose as a potential pawn?]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's brow twitched slightly, and a hypothesis immediately formed in his mind.
[No, it's probably more than that. Given Saiki's abilities, could he have anticipated that I might try to recruit Ichinose as a potential tool to use against him in the future?]
For the first time, a strange feeling welled up in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's heart. He couldn't quite describe it, but it was something he had never felt before.
Fear? Surprise? Excitement?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't sure, but one thing was certain: Saiki was someone he had to pay close attention to.
[I don't know what this feeling is... but I've never experienced it before, not even in the White Room.]
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Meanwhile, in the Class A dormitory.
"Sakayanagi, it seems like the forum is having issues."
Hashimoto Masayoshi, sitting at his computer, turned to look at Sakayanagi Arisu.
"The forum is having issues?"
Sakayanagi Arisu frowned slightly, a look of confusion on her face.
"This has never happened before."
She had never encountered this situation before, nor had she heard of it happening.
"This is strange..."
Just as Hashimoto Masayoshi was puzzled, the computer screen flickered, and the forum interface popped up.
"It's back! But... all the posts I made earlier are gone?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi's face showed confusion.
"All the posts are gone? What's going on?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi immediately tried posting a few more times, but none of the posts went through—all thanks to Saiki's psychic interference.
"What's happening...?"
"Stop posting for now, Hashimoto."
At that moment, Sakayanagi Arisu stopped Hashimoto Masayoshi from continuing.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure, but we can't rule out the possibility that the school deliberately blocked the messages and deleted the previous posts. After all, if the rumors get too severe, it could damage the school's reputation. Deleting the posts would make sense. If we keep posting, we might get punished by the school."
"There's no such rule in the school regulations."
"They could always add one."
Sakayanagi Arisu said this while rhythmically tapping her fingers on the table.
"But there's another possibility..."
"What?"
"Someone might have hacked the school's website and remotely deleted those posts."
Sakayanagi Arisu said with a smile.
"Hacked the school's website? That's impossible, right?"
"Haha, who knows? Maybe there's a genius among the students who's skilled in that area—but I'm just joking. The likelihood of that is less than one percent, maybe even one in a thousand."
Although Sakayanagi Arisu said this, she didn't take it seriously, as it was practically impossible.
"What should we do next? If we don't keep spreading the rumors, they might just fade away."
"Don't worry, we still have a backup plan."
At that moment, Sakayanagi Arisu narrowed her eyes, revealing a meaningful gaze.
Unbeknownst to everyone, several days had passed.
The rumors about Ichinose Honami gradually died down.
Although some people had complained about not being able to access the school forum one night, the school quickly used "system maintenance" as an excuse to explain it away.
Almost no one noticed anything unusual.
As the rumors cooled, voices supporting Ichinose Honami began to rise.
"Ichinose was definitely framed!"
"That's right! Ichinose would never do something like that!"
"Ichinose isn't that kind of person!"
Ichinose Honami's reputation gradually recovered.
At this time, Saiki had just finished school. After enjoying a delicious dessert at the school's sweets shop, he was about to return to his dorm when he noticed a crowd gathered in the lobby.
"What's going on?"
Saiki was puzzled. He could hear the thoughts of the people around him, which were chaotic but vaguely centered around the same topic.
It was about Ichinose Honami.
"Saiki, you're back?"
At that moment, Yukimura Teruhiko noticed Saiki and quickly walked over.
"What's with all these people?"
"Everyone's personal mailbox received a certain letter."
"Oh?"
Saiki turned to look at his own mailbox. Aside from online shopping magazines, he rarely used it.
His gaze pierced through the mailbox, and sure enough, a letter was inside.
"Saiki, aren't you going to check it?"
Seeing Saiki standing still, Yukimura Teruhiko asked curiously.
"If you all have one, I probably do too. But what does it say?"
"Take a look for yourself."
Yukimura Teruhiko handed the note in his hand to Saiki.
"Ichinose Honami is a criminal."
That was the only sentence written on it, with no additional information.
"It seems like every student in the grade received this letter. This is getting out of hand."
Yukimura Teruhiko's expression grew serious.
"If this continues, the situation at school will only get worse."
"That's true."
Saiki nodded, sighing inwardly.
He had thought Sakayanagi Arisu's actions would calm down a bit, but it seemed they had only intensified.
"We can't just tolerate this anymore. Let's talk to the teachers! This is unforgivable!"
"Yeah, the teachers will definitely find the culprit!"
Saiki heard a voice filled with anger, coming from some of the girls in Class C.
They stood beside Ichinose Honami, speaking indignantly.
Ichinose Honami, however, lowered her head and stared at the letter in her hand. She remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"It's fine. I... I won't let something like this bother me."
Although she said this, Saiki could detect a slight tremble in her voice.
[No, I can't report this to the teachers... because it's not slander... and it might let more people know about my past...]
At this moment, Ichinose Honami's heart was in turmoil.
"No, no! If we don't do something, the negative rumors about Honami-chan will spread even more!"
The people around her immediately spoke up, but Ichinose Honami remained silent, standing out from the crowd.
'Although the other students mean well, this could make Ichinose's school life even more difficult.'
"Everyone, I'm sorry for causing you all so much concern because of my issues. But please, don't worry about it! I'm really sorry!"
After a few seconds of silence, Ichinose Honami, standing at the center, bowed deeply to everyone present and then quickly left.
"Saiki-kun, do you have a moment to talk?"
At that moment, a gentle female voice came from behind Saiki.
It was Shiina Hiyori, who had come for Ichinose Honami.
"Sure."
Saiki nodded.
The lobby was crowded, making the thoughts around Saiki too chaotic to discern clearly—
For example, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's.
[The worst-case scenario is that Saiki has already figured out my plan and is working to dismantle it.]
[It seems that my first confrontation with Saiki is about to begin.]
[However, I now have a tool I can use.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka slowly walked out of the crowd, heading in another direction.
[Let's see who can turn Ichinose into their tool first.]
"I didn't expect you to come looking for me!"
Outside the dormitory, in a secluded corner, Sakayanagi Arisu had been waiting for some time.