Kamishiro Masumi was completely speechless. She hadn't expected Saiki to outright express his trust in her, which completely derailed the plan she and Sakayanagi Arisu had prepared.
[This guy... is he serious?]
Kamishiro Masumi's face was filled with confusion. Although the conversation had progressed faster than expected, it had completely thrown off her plans.
'I'm being very serious.'
Saiki answered her in his mind.
Right now, he just wanted to get her out of his hair as quickly as possible and not waste any more of his time.
"Don't you doubt..."
"I trust you."
Saiki immediately replied.
[What is this guy thinking...? I had already prepared all sorts of responses, but now they're completely useless...]
"Fine... Sakayanagi said that Ichinose and I have similar pasts, so you should be able to understand what happened to her, right?"
"Yeah."
"If this continues, Ichinose will be defeated—not physically, but mentally. Not only that, but you'll be next. So, we need to work together to thwart Sakayanagi's plans. After that, you'll be free..."
"So, what should I do?"
[You're asking me what to do? How should I know? Is this guy really someone worth paying attention to?]
Kamishiro Masumi sighed, but eventually spoke up.
"Just act freely from now on. I trust your judgment."
Kamishiro Masumi seemed eager to leave, and she quickly exited the room.
'Yare yare, she's finally gone.'
Saiki looked around, making sure Kamishiro Masumi hadn't left any listening devices behind, then finally let out a sigh of relief.
'Sakayanagi has shifted her attention to me... But it's strange. Earlier, Sakayanagi only seemed to suspect me. Why would she suddenly take such action? Something must have happened.'
Saiki thought to himself, then used his powers to conceal his presence and followed Kamishiro Masumi.
At that moment, Kamishiro Masumi had left Saiki's dorm building and headed to a seemingly deserted corner.
Sakayanagi Arisu was sitting on a bench, having waited for Kamishiro Masumi for quite some time.
"You're finally here. You're slower than I expected."
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled, pulling out a can of beer from beside her.
"I've got the props ready. Next..."
"No need."
"Huh?"
Kamishiro Masumi then told Sakayanagi Arisu about her conversation with Saiki, causing the latter to frown slightly.
"...This guy doesn't even have anything in his room. Seriously."
Kamishiro Masumi complained.
"And he didn't seem to doubt me at all? Is this guy really special? He seems so... ordinary, even boring?"
'That's right. Keep thinking of me that way. It should help avoid causing me more trouble.'
Saiki, of course, hoped that Sakayanagi Arisu and the others would continue to see him as an unremarkable presence.
[Is the plan going smoothly? No, probably not. Saiki has probably seen through Kamishiro's intentions and is pretending to be this way on purpose.]
Sakayanagi Arisu thought to herself, then looked up and said,
"Not necessarily. He might just be trying to placate you. He could still doubt you, or he might have already seen through your intentions, knowing you were trying to test him, which is why he's pretending to be so ordinary."
"But Sakayanagi, everything about Saiki came from Ayanokoji, right? Could he be lying to you..."
Kamishiro Masumi asked with some concern.
Nearby, Saiki's eyebrow twitched slightly.
'Ayanokoji?'
Saiki now realized that Sakayanagi Arisu's sudden interest in him was due to something Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had done.
"No, Ayanokoji has no reason to lie to me."
"Really?"
Kamishiro Masumi found it hard to believe, but she eventually nodded.
"What do we do next?"
"Let's make the situation even more intense. In the meantime, we'll wait and see how Ayanokoji acts."
Sakayanagi Arisu said this, then left with Kamishiro Masumi.
'Ayanokoji? What did he say to Sakayanagi?'
Saiki sensed something was off and, after Sakayanagi Arisu left, quickly returned to the dorm.
Meanwhile, in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's room.
A soft knock sounded at the door, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood up to open it.
"Good evening, Ayanokoji-kun!"
Standing at the door was Kushida Kikyo.
"Sorry for coming at this hour. If it's okay, please come in."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said slowly.
"Is it really okay?"
"It's cold in the doorway."
"Okay, thank you."
Kushida Kikyo didn't hesitate and stepped inside.
'Kushida?'
Unbeknownst to them, someone else had also entered the room.
Saiki.
The moment Kushida Kikyo entered, Saiki, still invisible, slipped in as well.
"Ayanokoji-kun, it's a bit early, but here you go."
Kushida Kikyo said, pulling out a box of chocolates tied with a pink ribbon.
"Is this okay?"
"I have a lot to give out on the 14th, so if someone can take them early, I'll give them out first."
Kushida Kikyo said slowly.
'The 14th... Valentine's Day?'
Saiki suddenly remembered that February had such a holiday.
Couples or people with crushes would give chocolates to each other, but there were also chocolates symbolizing gratitude or friendship, with no romantic implications.
The chocolates Kushida Kikyo was giving out were likely friendship chocolates.
'The 14th...'
Saiki couldn't help but think about what might happen on Valentine's Day, but that was still a few days away. For now, he decided to focus on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kushida Kikyo.
"So, what did you want to talk about? It's unusual to call someone out at this hour."
"I have something I want to discuss with you."
"Oh?"
Kushida Kikyo's face showed a meaningful smile.
"But before that, I need to confirm something. Kushida, do you really not see me as an enemy anymore?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked.
"Not at all, as long as you don't interfere with my plans regarding Yamauchi. The same goes for you, Horikita, and Saiki."
Kushida Kikyo's expression didn't change.
[She doesn't seem to be lying. And given Kushida's personality, she wouldn't lie to me in this situation.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself, then continued.
"Why did you suddenly change your perspective?"
"Because I've thought it through. I know that if you revealed my secrets, it wouldn't benefit you at all. You wouldn't do something like that—and can we end this topic? If we keep going, I might change my mind."
Kushida Kikyo said this.
In reality, it was Saiki's mental control that had made Kushida Kikyo believe that these people wouldn't leak her secrets.
[Can someone's mindset really change so easily? Did Saiki do something? It's hard to imagine what methods he used.]
'It's psychic powers.'
After some thought, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka continued.
"I understand. There's something I can only ask you for."
"I'm not sure if I can help, but hearing it won't hurt. So, what is it that only I can help with?"
"I want you to tell me the personal information of students in the first year that, if leaked, would cause trouble—basically, their secrets."
"...What's this about?"
Kushida Kikyo's expression grew serious, her smile disappearing.
"You've said before that you have enough information to dismantle a class. That's not just limited to our Class B, right? It includes students from other classes too."
"Why do you want to know that?"
"You know Ichinose is suffering because of the rumors being spread about her, right?"
"Yeah, like the nasty things written in that letter today..."
"I want to stop that."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said slowly.
'Yare yare.'
Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly.
If Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was really thinking this way, it would save him a lot of time.
But Saiki could clearly hear Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thoughts.
[Using rumors to force the school to intervene and stop this—but there's no rush. Let the situation escalate until Ichinose is almost at her breaking point, then offer her help. That way, I can turn her into a tool.]
'As expected.'
Saiki wasn't surprised by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thoughts.
His plan was almost identical to Shiina Hiyori's, with the only difference being that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could use Kushida Kikyo, while Shiina Hiyori didn't have access to such information.
[This way, I'll have a chance to win against Saiki in this duel.]
'Wait, duel? What duel?'
Saiki's face showed a hint of confusion.
"How does knowing other people's personal information help stop those rumors?"
"It does."
"I don't really understand. If more harmful rumors spread, wouldn't the atmosphere just become more troublesome than it already is?"
Kushida Kikyo said slowly.
"Ichinose and I are close, so if there's any way I can help, I'd like to. I've indeed heard more secrets than most, but I can't just casually reveal them. Those things aren't meant to be shared lightly. I can't betray my friends, and even if I helped Ichinose, it might come out that I was the one spreading those rumors."
"Of course, to avoid that, I'd have to carefully select the content."
"Do you think I'd help with a plan that requires betraying friends and is hard to understand?"
"It's not simple."
[If I didn't know about Kushida's other side, there would be no room for negotiation. The angelic Kushida would never help with something that harms others. But because I know her other side, there's room for negotiation.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself, then continued.
"If you're willing to give me the right information, I'll prepare a reward."
"A reward?"
"I plan to respond in a way that suits your wishes."
"Before that, tell me how knowing others' personal information will help stop the rumors about Ichinose. I'm curious."
"It's about dragging the school, which has been silently observing, into this. Right now, Ichinose is staying silent about the rumors and hasn't taken any action, so the school isn't doing anything either."
"Can you really say that? The school might act for Ichinose's sake, right?"
"Both scenarios are similar. If the homeroom teacher or other staff hear about this but do nothing, it means Ichinose hasn't sought help. So, we need to escalate the situation to a more serious level, forcing the school to step in."
"Not everyone can stay silent like Ichinose, so that means some students will ask the school to intervene, right?"
Kushida Kikyo seemed to understand Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's plan.
"Exactly. Even if no students come forward, it's almost finals season. The rumors will create a tense atmosphere and might even cause more disturbances."
"But how do you spread so many rumors? That's not easy."
"How do you spread rumors? The rumors about Ichinose started on the school forum, right? Are you planning to use that?"
"No, not that."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head.
"Originally, I planned to use the forum, but didn't you notice? One night, the school forum was down for maintenance for a long time."
"I didn't notice that."
"After the forum came back, all the posts about Ichinose were gone, but the others remained. I think there might be something like a moderator who deleted the posts to prevent the situation from escalating. But I can't confirm that. If the school intervened, it could be troublesome, so I'm planning to use other methods, like the letters from today."
[There's also the possibility that Saiki did something, like getting the moderator to delete the posts or even launching a cyber attack, but that's unlikely.]
'Don't associate everything with me.'
Saiki thought to himself.
"But to prevent any mishaps, I need to carefully select the content of the rumors."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka continued.
"I see. I understand your goal now. I'll consider it, but I have a condition."
"Go ahead."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked.
"Yamauchi Haruki's expulsion."