Bonus Story: Arisu's Birthday and a New Problem
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A month has passed since the secret agreement with Sakayanagi. It's now Arisu-chan's birthday. It's the first time I've been invited to her birthday party since we met, and my whole family was invited along. I was happy, but my parents were also worried about "what to do for Tsugumi's birthday party," which was embarrassing.
"…We don't have to make such a big deal out of it."
It seems I wasn't the only one who felt that way. When you're the one being celebrated, you get this weird mix of happiness and embarrassment. But I've also prepared a gift, so I'm going to celebrate grandly. Just as I was thinking that, the room's lights went out, and everything was covered in darkness.
"Happy birthday to you~♪ Happy birthday to you~♪"
At the same time, a huge three-tiered cake with eight candles was wheeled in on a cart. The person pushing the cart was a servant from the house, and Arisu-chan's parents walked alongside it, singing. I decided to sing along too.
"Happy birthday, dear Arisu-chan~♪ Happy birthday to you~♪"
"Now, blow out the candles!"
"...I suppose I must. ...Phew."
Arisu-chan reluctantly blew out the candles. "No, no," I thought. "Even if you're embarrassed, you have to do it properly." But maybe everyone was already expecting that. She had to blow a few times before all the candles were finally out.
"Happy Birthday!"
"...Oh, thank you."
Wow, this is Arisu-chan being genuinely shy, a rare sight! She clasped her hands together and looked down shyly. Yep, that's a perfect 100 on the embarrassment scale.
"This is the first time we've celebrated so grandly. It's really nice that your friend celebrated with you, isn't it, Arisu?"
"F-Father, please don't say things like that..."
Wow, Sakayanagi-san has quite the personality herself. Arisu-chan protested, but everyone in the room, including my parents, just watched with a gentle smile. At this point, I gave a knowing look to a servant, who nodded and brought in gifts of various sizes from the back of the room.
"So now, it's time to give you your birthday presents!"
"We have three gifts: one from my parents, one from your parents, and one from me. Which one do you want?"
I asked her, and Arisu-chan hesitated for a moment before muttering shyly in a small voice, "...Tsugumi's."
Yes! I won. I gave a thumbs-up to the disappointed parents in the back, who were clutching their heads. Then I placed a gift box about 50x50 cm in front of Arisu-chan.
"May I open it?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
She carefully untied the red ribbon, and from inside the styrofoam peanuts came...
"...Is this... a stuffed animal?"
Yes. My present was a cat plushie with a cute, deformed design.
"You said you wanted to get a cat, right? I know this is no substitute, but... just take it!"
I was quite proud of my creation. I was sure I'd cry if she didn't accept it. Arisu-chan stared at the plushie intently. She then flipped it over and let out a little gasp as she noticed something.
"Oh... this part is unstitched."
"Haha... it's handmade, so please forgive the little details."
I've been working on this for a month since Sakayanagi-san asked me to. For a complete beginner to make something this well-formed in that amount of time, I wanted a little praise.
"Tsugumi has been practicing so hard! He wouldn't even answer me when I called out to him, so I was a little lonely!"
"Don't say unnecessary things."
It's supposed to be cool to give a gift like this without a fuss. It's so embarrassing to have people know I was practicing so desperately.
"Hmm... hehe, it's not very well made, is it?"
See? I knew it. She's teasing me, and she looks like she's having so much fun.
"Haha... not compared to the ones you have."
Those plushies she owns cost tens of thousands of yen for a normal-sized one! You can't compare mine to something handmade by an artisan!
"...But I'm happy. I'll treasure it forever."
She said that, burying her face in the clumsy-looking plushie and looking up at me. "What was that? That's not fair!"
"Oh, really? Then... I'm glad I made it."
Crap, even I'm getting flustered by this much pure sincerity. That was the only blunt response I could muster.
"Oh my... our son is being shy, isn't he, Sakayanagi-san!"
"Let's leave them be. It's unseemly for adults to interfere."
"That's true. Hehe, Tsugumi."
Shut up, you parents! You were so dejected a moment ago! And so, our first birthday celebration since we met came to a successful conclusion.
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"Expulsion... so this is what was put in the flyers?"
"Yeah. Not just in Class D, but in all the classes, it seems."
What the hell... this is annoying. It would be fine if it were completely untrue, but that's not the case. Where in the world did this information come from? Chairman Horikita? ...No, that's unlikely. There's no reason for him to deliberately leak it to Ryuuen-kun.
"We could have dealt with it before the rumors spread, but it's already a big deal throughout the grade. Don't you think you need to explain yourself?"
"Yeah. I wonder what he's thinking..."
Is he trying to sow discord in Class C right before the exam? But it feels a little too early for that.
"Let's go back for now. We'll look suspicious if we stay out here."
"Okay."
I suggested this to Kiyotaka-kun, who was looking at me with concern, and we headed back to the lobby. When we opened the automatic doors and went into the crowd, we saw two familiar people arguing.
"What's the meaning of this letter, Ryuuen-kun? I can't imagine the school would overlook something like this."
"It's none of your business. Stay out of it, Ichinose."
It was Ichinose-san and Ryuuen-kun. Ichinose-san was questioning him with a firm attitude, but Ryuuen-kun didn't lose his confident smirk. As we walked toward them, Ryuuen-kun noticed our footsteps and turned to us.
"Look who it is, Mr. Moocher. You're late."
"I have a lot to say, but what is this?"
I held up the paper Kiyotaka-kun had given me, and Ryuuen-kun shrugged, as if to show off. "It's exactly what it says, isn't it? We've got solid information. It's no use lying."
"Whose information is it? I'm busy with exam prep, and it's a huge pain to have a rumor like this spread."
"The source of the information isn't the problem. The only thing that matters is that I hold your secret. Proving the truth is impossible right here, isn't it?"
"Tch."
Unfortunately, he's right. Even though Ryuuen-kun has a bad reputation, when he acts so brazenly, it adds credibility. Especially since this is a rumor about me, who's always involved in some kind of social drama, this situation is not good at all.
"Saito-kun..."
I looked closer and saw some students from Class C scattered in the crowd.
"It's okay. I'll report this to the teacher tomorrow and prove that the content of this letter is just a misunderstanding on Ryuuen-kun's part."
"What? You can't prove it right now, Saito?"
"You won't believe anything I say, will you? I don't want to waste my energy on pointless things."
"Hah, you've got a point. Well, I'm heading back. It seems pointless to stay here."
With that, Ryuuen-kun cut through the crowd and left.
"...Haa."
"You okay?"
Kiyotaka-kun spoke to me, as if to console me, after I let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It'll all blow over by tomorrow."
"You're right. It must be some kind of interference from Ryuuen. The proof is that he never revealed his source."
"I hope so."
I can't help but be bothered by the timing. I decided to drop out in August, a few days after the uninhabited island exam. I first mentioned it publicly in October, after the relay at the sports festival. And now, two months later, this comes out. It's a strangely perfect timing.
"Well, anyway, let's go back and send a reply. Everyone might be worried."
"...Yeah."
Kiyotaka-kun's eyes weren't their usual listless self; they contained a clear, firm resolve. And I never noticed that slight difference until the very end.
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In the end, this whole thing was dismissed as a misunderstanding on Ryuuen-kun's part. Even so, the curious stares directed at me didn't stop for a while. I was a little dissatisfied that Ryuuen-kun only received a minor penalty in private points.
"That's a shame."
Suzune-chan, who was walking next to me, gave me a look of sympathy.
"It really is."
With the exam less than a week away, I didn't want to use my brain on unnecessary things.
"How are the questions? Did you do well?"
"Yes. We've divided the work, so all that's left is to submit it."
"That's good."
This is an exam we should be able to win. Suzune-chan wouldn't fail at something like this.
"Well, we've got one more week to study hard... It's going to be a busy time."
For the final week before the exam, I was also participating as a supervisor for the whole class. I had already made mock problems during the prep period, so we were fully prepared.
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Time passed, and the day of the exam arrived. The test was held over two days, but it was no exaggeration to say that everything depended on this first day.
"I'm counting on you, Saito! My fate is in your hands!"
"Just do your best on the parts you studied..."
Yamauchi-kun was bowing to me with his hands together. He's such a fair-weather friend. But I have no intention of getting expelled here, so I'll take the test seriously. The first subject is modern Japanese. I'm not bad at this subject, so I'll aim for a high score.
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The second day of the exam. The questions, probably made by Kaneda-kun, were quite difficult, but we should be fine as long as we studied the material thoroughly. The test ended with the sound of the bell. After the answer sheets were collected, we were dismissed.
"Good work, Yamauchi-kun. How was the test?"
"...It might be bad. Saito! You got a good score, right?"
See? I knew it. He's completely letting his guard down because I'm his partner.
"Well, I think you'll be fine. But after this, make sure you study properly, okay?"
"Y-Yes..."
Good. And with that, we successfully passed the exam.
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Then, a few days later, one afternoon after school...
"Huh...? Arisu-chan isn't answering her phone."
The exams were over, and I was allowed to hang out with Arisu-chan as usual (though Suzune-chan scolded me about interacting with students from other classes too much). I wanted to ask her what she wanted for dinner, but she wouldn't answer her phone.
"That's strange..."
She's usually free at this time. Did a classmate get a hold of her? Kiyotaka-kun was also absent today due to a fever, so with two people I know suddenly becoming unreachable, I was worried I might have given them a cold. I decided to send her a chat message instead. When I opened my phone, I saw a missed call from around the time I had called her.
"Kamuro-san? That's unusual."
Kamuro-san and I usually only text each other. There's nothing urgent we need to talk about. It might be a mistake, but I called her back anyway.
"Hello? What's up? It's rare to get a call- 'Thank goodness!'..."
The voice that answered was Kamuro-san's, sounding unusually panicked. She also sounded a little out of breath.
"W-What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"It's terrible! I just got a picture sent to my address..."
"A picture?"
The chat notification chimed. I checked it, and it seemed Kamuro-san had sent a picture. I tapped my phone to view the image.
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And in that instant, a shocking scene was displayed before my eyes.
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"What... is this?"
"She hasn't been back since noon. I thought maybe she went home sick, but then this... I don't know what to do!"
"Forward me that email right now. And go to the library and borrow the map of the school grounds, take a picture of the page, and send it to me."
I gave instructions to the panicked Kamuro-san. I knew I was being too brief, but I didn't have the time to explain everything.
"O-Okay. ...What are you going to do?"
Kamuro-san replied, still flustered. I realized my voice was terrifyingly cold when I answered her question.
"...There's only one thing I can do, isn't there?"
I could feel my hand tightening around my phone.
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The picture showed Arisu-chan lying on the floor, her hands tied behind her back and a blindfold over her eyes.
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