Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could predict how people would act and how situations would develop based on the school's environment and the personalities of those involved.
However, the current situation had completely exceeded Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expectations.
[Yesterday, Hashimoto definitely stuffed the letters into every first-year student's mailbox, including his own. There's no doubt about that because I saw it with my own eyes. Hashimoto didn't pull any tricks, nor did he have any reason to.]
[So, there's only one possibility: after we left, someone took out all those letters... But how did they do it?]
[Although the locks on the mailboxes look simple, it's impossible to pick all of them overnight without leaving a trace—unless the person who did it had a spare key... The only ones who could do that are probably the school staff.]
"What exactly happened? Why are all the letters gone?"
At this moment, Sakayanagi Arisu frowned deeply. She hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
"And today, the teachers specifically came to warn us about this. According to your plan, the school should only take action after the rumors have escalated, right? But the teachers intervened early... This means someone must have done something in advance."
[What exactly happened? Did Ayanokoji do something? No, that's highly unlikely. It wouldn't benefit him at all... Could it be that guy, Saiki? But what exactly did he do?]
Even Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't fully understand the current situation.
"I think it's possible that Saiki did something. At this point, that's the most likely explanation."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said slowly.
"The only explanation for the letters disappearing is that the school staff or teachers did something. After all, only they could clear out all the letters in one night. If it were just students, there's no way they could've done it."
'Yare yare, even Ayanokoji and Sakayanagi would never guess that I used psychic powers to do this.'
Unbeknownst to them, Saiki had been nearby the whole time, using his psychic abilities to conceal his presence.
'My goal in doing this was to avoid drawing their attention to me. Even if they suspect something, they'll never be able to confirm it was me.'
Saiki nodded in satisfaction.
"Did the teachers notice?"
"After all, the school forum was taken down and posts were deleted earlier, right? It's probably because the situation had already become too damaging for the school, so they took the initiative to stop it. The letter incident you planned yesterday had a similar impact, so the school must've checked the mailboxes that night."
"Isn't that a violation of students' privacy?"
"This isn't an ordinary school, after all. No ordinary school would have so many expulsion policies."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said, then looked in a certain direction.
"But there's another possibility: Saiki did all this."
'Yare yare, you're still able to steer the conversation back to me, huh?'
Saiki sighed helplessly.
"Saiki? Kamishiro only approached him yesterday and told him about Ichinose..."
"Maybe Saiki had already taken action. Even if your subordinate was monitoring him, he probably noticed."
"What method did he use?"
"I don't know. I'm just speculating. I can't be sure what he did, but there's no doubt that we didn't win this round."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said.
[Is this a loss? Not really, because I didn't lose anything in this duel. Both Sakayanagi and Ichinose are just insurance for me—but this is indeed the first time I've 'failed to achieve victory.' Saiki, what exactly did you do? I'm looking forward to our next encounter.]
'Sigh, he claims to have no emotions, but now he's like this...'
Saiki shook his head. It seemed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's obsession with him had grown stronger.
But overall, the situation had been resolved satisfactorily. At most, only Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Sakayanagi Arisu would be suspicious of him. No one else would connect today's events to him, so this outcome was acceptable.
'That's it for now. At least spreading rumors is now strictly prohibited, and Sakayanagi doesn't seem to be targeting Ichinose anymore. This matter is settled. Time to relax at the café.'
Saiki thought to himself, then left the area.
Meanwhile, in the girls' dormitory.
Ichinose Honami was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees, her face gloomy. Her phone was placed to the side.
Recently, Ichinose Honami had been under immense pressure due to the rumors. Her mood had been terrible these past few days, and she couldn't even sleep at night. Her physical condition had also deteriorated, and she had caught a cold. Today, she had to take a sick day and stay in her dorm instead of going to school.
"What should I do..."
Although she kept saying she wouldn't pay attention to the rumors, Ichinose Honami was deeply tormented inside. She didn't want her past to be known by others.
Just then, a soft knock sounded at the door.
"Ichinose, are you there?"
The voice belonged to Shiina Hiyori.
"Hiyori? What are you doing here?"
Ichinose Honami asked in surprise.
She had planned to be alone for a while, but she hadn't expected Shiina Hiyori to come. She quickly got up from the bed and opened the door.
"What's the matter, Hiyori?"
Ichinose Honami asked curiously.
"I heard you were sick, so I came to check on you."
Shiina Hiyori said with a smile.
"It's just a cold. You didn't have to trouble yourself..."
Ichinose Honami said quickly.
"There's one more thing. Did you know that spreading rumors has been strictly prohibited by the school?"
Shiina Hiyori said immediately.
"What?"
Ichinose Honami asked in surprise.
[I didn't go to the teachers for help, so why did the school intervene?]
Ichinose Honami was filled with confusion.
She had avoided seeking help from the teachers to prevent the situation from escalating.
But Ichinose Honami never expected the school to take the initiative.
"It's true. Starting today, the school has banned the spread of rumors in all forms, not just on the forum but also through emails and other means."
Shiina Hiyori smiled.
"I guess Sakayanagi and the others from Class A won't be able to do anything to you now."
"Sakayanagi? Hiyori, you already knew..."
"It's not exactly a secret that Sakayanagi was targeting you. If you paid a little attention, you could've figured it out."
"I guess..."
Ichinose Honami then picked up her phone and saw messages from her classmates, realizing that the situation had truly been resolved.
"Ichinose, we've always believed in you!"
"You don't have to be troubled by these false rumors anymore!"
"That's great!"
...
Ichinose Honami looked at the encouraging messages from her classmates but didn't feel particularly happy.
After all, she knew very well that she had done something wrong in the past.
But Ichinose still couldn't understand why the school had chosen to help her.
"I don't really get it..."
"Ichinose, you must be wondering why the school helped you, right?"
Shiina Hiyori saw through Ichinose Honami's thoughts and continued.
"Yeah..."
"Ichinose, I consider you one of my few friends at school. There's something I want to say to you face-to-face, but I'm not sure if you can accept it... I know that once I say this, we might not even be friends anymore, but for the sake of our relationship moving forward, I have to say it."
Shiina Hiyori leaned forward slightly, her expression becoming very serious.
"And for me, this isn't the first time something like this has happened."
Shiina Hiyori had had a similar conversation with Saiki before.
Ichinose Honami pursed her lips, thought for a moment, then finally nodded and let out a long sigh.
"Okay, I understand. I've prepared myself."
"Good. In that case, I'll get straight to the point... Ichinose, the reason you didn't deny the rumors is because some of them were true, right?"
"Yeah..."
Ichinose Honami lowered her head.
"I... stole something before... My family is a single-parent household. It's just me, my mom, and my younger sister, who's two years younger than me... Although we weren't well-off, I never felt unlucky. My mom worked hard to raise two children while holding down a job..."
"At the time, I learned that even if we didn't have money, I could still study hard and use the tuition-free student system. So, I studied like crazy and became the top student in my school... But then, in the summer of my third year of middle school... my mom overworked herself and fell ill."
"It was around my sister's birthday. She never asked me or my mom for any birthday presents. Even though she could've been more spoiled, she always held back... But for the first time, my sister wanted something—a hair clip that had been popular the previous year... So, I stole it from a store..."
Ichinose Honami's face showed a self-deprecating smile.
Back then, she had simply stolen a small hair clip for her sister.
"...Later, my mom found out. She slapped me hard and took the gift from my sister. My sister, who was crying, probably had no idea what was going on. Then, my mom, who was still in the hospital, took me to the store to apologize and beg for forgiveness. Although the store didn't call the police, the incident quickly spread... I remember how it felt. I can't forget it..."
Ichinose Honami's voice trembled slightly, but after saying this, she felt a little relieved.
"Everyone makes mistakes, but don't let your past mistakes define you."
Shiina Hiyori patted Ichinose Honami's back and spoke in a gentle voice.
"Hiyori, you're so smart. You must've already guessed, right..."
"Yeah, I had an idea earlier, but I didn't feel it was appropriate to ask you at the time. I'm not great at interpersonal relationships, but I felt you needed some time alone. So, our plan was to stop the rumors first."
"I'm really sorry, Hiyori... Even though we're not in the same class, you've gone through so much trouble for me."
"It's okay. I also don't want the atmosphere between the classes to be ruined. You're one of my few friends at school."
"But... you said 'our' earlier? Are there others?"
Ichinose Honami finally noticed the odd wording Shiina Hiyori had used.
"That's right. It's not just me. Saiki-kun also helped. In fact, he did much more than I did."
Shiina Hiyori smiled.
"It was Saiki-kun who remotely deleted the posts on the forum and stopped the rumors from spreading further."
"Saiki? Saiki-kun?"
Ichinose Honami's face showed a look of surprise.
Meanwhile, at the school café.
Saiki ordered a milk tea and a few small cakes, sitting in his usual corner spot, enjoying the most important part of his day.
"This incident is over. At least for a while, I can finally have some peace."
He thought to himself.