Ichika and Tsubaki were setting up something in a peculiar room. Normally, they wouldn't be allowed here, but due to the festival, security was lenient. And Takeda was helping on his side as well. Tsubaki had initially tried to do this alone, but Ichika decided to help no matter what.
Ichika:"I gotta say, I didn't think you were the type to do this sort of stuff."
Tsubaki:"What reporter would I be if I didn't get some super tough jobs?"
Ichika:"Well, you're certainly more brave than I could ever be."
Tsubaki:"How's that? You went after your dream, didn't you?"
Ichika:"That's…"
Tsubaki:"Am I wrong?"
Ichika:"...I guess I ran away more than anything."
Tsubaki:"From…?"
Ichika:"Myself…"
Tsubaki:"Is that so?"
Ichika:"But yesterday changed my view a little. If someone as clueless and stubborn as him can come to an answer, then maybe I can too."
Tsubaki:"He? Oh, is this your crush?"
Tsubaki began to lean on Ichika.
Ichika:"Y-Yeah. But it's not like I have a real chance."
Tsubaki:"That's quitter talk, you just need to show them your love!"
Ichika:"So I assume you've stricken Takeda-kun?"
Tsubaki looks away.
Tsubaki:"W-Well…"
Ichika:"Do as I say, not as I do?"
Tsubaki:"Bleh."
After a couple of minutes, Tsubaki got a text.
Tsubaki:"Eh!? Isn't it too early? Come on, Ichika-chan! We need to go to the next room."
Ichika:"R-Right."
Ichika and Tsubaki quickly packed up and went to the room next door. There, Tsubaki had a laptop ready. She began to connect it to the device they set up in the other room. What they had planted was a camera in the principal's office.
Ichika:"How'd you learn how to do this anyway?"
Tsubaki:"My parents are big on tech, they taught me everything I know. That's why I also like to work on the camera myself."
Just as they finished talking, the man of the hour had walked in. It was the principal and his son, Takeda. They could see their mouths move but no sound was coming in.
Tsubaki:"Ah, crap! We didn't have time to get the mics to work!"
Ichika:"That's bad!"
Tsubaki:"We'll have to go and record the audio ourselves. I don't like the idea, but we're running out of time. We have to be right outside the door. We'll use my phone."
Ichika quickly checked inside her bag.
Ichika:"…" [That's right, I don't have my recorder. We wouldn't need to be so close to the door if we had it. Sorry, Tsubaki-chan!]
…
Meanwhile, in the principal's office. The job that Takeda had was for him to stall his father by guiding other students to ask him questions or by doing it himself. But even so, his father came as quickly as he could. He had to get the dance for the final day ready for potential sponsors. At the same time, he wanted to finish the investigation of the burned stall over quickly so he could shift the blame to the quintuplets.
Takeda:[We made it here fast…]
Takeda glanced at the corner of the room.
Takeda:[But I see Tsubaki-chan finished the job. Now it's my turn.] "Father! I truly believe it is wrong to try expelling the quintuplets!"
At that moment, Takeda's father turned around.
Principal Takeda:"Oh, come now, you don't mean that. Weren't you the one that hated them?"
Takeda:"I never hated the girls, I simply couldn't understand why it seemed they preferred Uesugi-kun!"
Principal Takeda:"Exactly. You couldn't understand their inferior intellect!"
Takeda:"But Uesugi-kun scored higher than me!"
Principal Takeda:"Because you didn't follow my instructions! Had you listened to me, those girls would have survived a little longer."
Takeda:"That's wrong!"
Principal Takeda:"There is no right in the world of adults!"
By this point, Tsubaki and Ichika were already outside listening in, with Tsubaki trying to record what was happening.
Ichika:[I heard about it from Tsubaki-chan, but I didn't want to believe it…]
…
{Ichika:"Couldn't we just have my dad take care of it?"}
{Tsubaki:"Even if we could, we need solid evidence first. Your dad and Takeda-kun's dad have been business partners for years, they could very well just think we were exaggerating."}
{Ichika:"That's…"}
{Tsubaki:"Besides, this is the fun part of being a reporter!"}
…
Ichika:[This reminds me a lot of what happened in middle school. Back then, I used my charm to have that principal's crossdressing kid to tell us if he knew what was happening. Due to him crushing on me, it was more than easy to get all the details, but even then...We still had to move. If dad does know about this, could he have them change schools again? This close to graduation? I don't know…]
Takeda:"I saw what was in your files, father! There was a report about a set of sisters that vandalized a girls only school, claiming that their principal was using one of the girls!"
Ichika:[W-What!?]
Ichika almost shot up. While Tsubaki stopped her before she went too far, she still made a noise.
Principal Takeda:[Hm?]
Takeda:"Those girls in the article were clearly the quints. And you wanted to get rid of them out of fear of the reputation of this school going down despite them being on great behavior."
Principal Takeda:[My, why are you telling me things you already know?]
Takeda quickly looked toward the camera again, but this time his father caught the action.
Principal Takeda:[Ho!] "But my son! Don't you know that it was their negligence that caused the takoyaki stall to burn down?"
Ichika:[...I had heard about that, but my sisters are the ones being blamed?]
Takeda:"But there's no evidence of that!"
Principal Takeda:"And there's more than enough evidence if you truly put your mind to it! One of the sisters got a mediocre grade in her entrance exam and has been seen in the cafeteria all day, she didn't even do her shift in her classroom's stall! Could it be that she was simply planning something behind the scenes? Then there's the one who was supposed to keep track of the safety, she did an absolutely poor job! Not to mention the one that was supposed to be there, reports came in that she was standing near the entrance most of the day, suspicious, no? Of course, who could forget the sister from the pancake side that came out of nowhere, as if to inspect the situation. And lastly, the one that dropped out, it seems she might have also come by in a disguise, maybe she came with malicious intent?"
Ichika:[This guy makes me sick.]
Tsubaki:[He's trying to spin the story.]
Takeda:"That's…"
Principal Takeda:"What's wrong, out of lines to say?"
The principal then quickly paced to the door and opened it, knocking over both Tsubaki and Ichika, who had been practically leaning on it.
Principal Takeda:"In my office, now."
End of Chapter 84