Classroom of the Elite: The Eroge

by LanceSennin

When Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wished for something that can interest him in his new school, he didn't think it would be something like this. After waking up with some weird texts appearing around him and finding out that he is some kind of 'Protagonist' with the power of raising 'Flags', will he be able to survive what's about to come his way? Inspired by SaintInfernalNeos' fic.

19. Would You Like To Use A Cheat Code?

Hey everyone, it's your Ace back at it again with another update. College has just made me too busy during some days, but I still managed to write and get this update done. I have made a poll that involves which heroine will get to take Kiyotaka out on his first date. To be able to vote, you have to join the Discord server with me and my buddies using the link below. The results should be interesting. With that being said, let us continue on with the chapter!

COTE: The Eroge Playlist: h-t-t-p-s-:-/-/-you-tube-.-com-/-playlist-?-list=PLzapQr6Br4elz3lo7fOkE34DjcBEnJB87

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Disclaimer: I don't own Classroom of the Elite but if I did, there will be MAJOR CHANGES.

---

The next morning, before classes would begin, the various groups who spent the day before searching for a witness were gathered at the back of the classroom. Even those who didn't help in the search had joined and all of them were busily exchanging information with each other.

Hirata stood in the middle of the whole group, his eyes roaming around as he stared at the people who dedicated their time in helping to find their person of interest yesterday. It was really only supposed to be him and his other classmates who were also aware of Miyake's perspective of the incident, but they were fortunate that a few others were willing to help.

"Do we have any leads on the identity of our eyewitness, everyone?" he asked, internally praying that one of his classmates had made some progress on their end.

"Me and Kiyopon walked around the mall area yesterday, but none of the people we talked to was the witness that we're looking for," Hasebe spoke up for herself and Ayanokouji with her arms folded across her chest. She had a frown on her face, indicating that she felt frustrated about not being able to get any leads.

"We asked our teammates and a few other athletes. Got the same results," Onodera spoke with a frown of her own while Sudo nodded along in agreement.

"Me and Horikita-san asked several students around the school, but none of them was the person we're looking for," Kushida said sadly, while Horikita only shook her head.

"Same here," said Matsushita with Wang standing beside her. Both of them bore apologetic looks on their faces for not succeeding in their goal of finding a witness.

"We didn't learn a thing, either. Sorry…" Sato and Shinohara were on the same boat, shifting their gazes to the floor sadly.

"We asked the people who were right by the dormitories yesterday. None of them said they witnessed any fight that took place by the Heaven on Earth bathhouse," Yukimura explained while pushing his glasses up as Sotomura bowed his head.

"We were checking the dorm buildings too. All of the people we asked said the same thing," Ishikura explained as everyone's attention went towards her. Minami shook her head in disappointment as well.

"I see," Hirata sighed at the disappointing results of their search yesterday. However, it didn't really surprise him because he had a feeling that things wouldn't be easy for them. "In our case, Karuizawa-san and I were unable to produce results as well. We went to the bathhouse itself and the areas near it to ask the students passing by. None of them knew anything either."

Karuizawa scoffed, feeling frustrated with this turn of events. She felt that they should have gotten a reliable lead at the very least, with 8 groups working together to search the campus yesterday. "Yeah, we couldn't find anyone…"

"Sorry, Miyacchi. We couldn't find that eyewitness of ours…" The blue-haired girl turned to her friend with a sad look. Haruka couldn't even bring herself to look at him, feeling that she had disappointed Akito.

Kiyotaka stood beside her, staring at the distraught girl in concern. Feeling as if his body was moving on its own, the young man raised his hand and let it rest on his heroine's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. He even waited for a few moments for the system's overpowered skill to activate but strangely, nothing happened.

As she felt a hand touch her shoulder, Haruka turned her head to see Kiyotaka staring at her with that impassive look of his. However, she could tell that his eyes were full of concern despite his expression, and it was enough to calm her down. Haruka took a few deep breaths as she sent him a grateful smile, one that was enough to make Kiyotaka feel something weird in his chest.

[You gained 3 Affection Points with Hasebe Haruka!]

"It's fine. I didn't really expect this to be over in one day," Akito told his friend while shaking his head. He didn't look bothered at his classmate's failure and if anything, he wanted to help them out in the search.

Meanwhile, the other people with them who didn't help in the search were also helping in their own way, to say the least.

Among them were Ike and Yamauchi. Both of them shared a common hatred for ladies' men like Hirata and Ayanokouji (especially the latter) but while Yamauchi only looked interested in this because of his chance to talk to their female classmates, Ike wanted to prevent their class from losing points like everyone else. Plus, his chance of going on that luxury vacation to an island was at stake!

"Can we even prove that those Class C guys were in the wrong?" Ike asked, expressing his doubts about being able to win this case. "I mean, can't you remember who the people who attacked you or something?"

Akito shook his head. "I can't really remember. But if you have a picture of all the students in Class C, I could probably point out who were the ones that did it."

"Then why can't we do that instead?" asked Ike, now wondering why they would even need a witness when they could just point out who the culprits were by taking a simple picture of Class C.

"We've already thought about that, idiot. It won't work. Even if we find out who did it, it won't change anything. Miyake will still be treated as the one who started everything. Those Class C bastards won't admit to anything," Sudo scoffed at his suggestion as he had already heard it before.

"Then how the hell can we even win this if there's no proof that it was those students who started it?!" Ike snapped, with Shinohara quickly telling him to calm down before he could get into an argument.

"As long as we can find a witness, it's not impossible. Let's keep trying our best, Ike-kun." Like the hero that he was, Hirata was quick to defuse the growing tension with his kind words. While Ike didn't look convinced, it got him to stop complaining at least.

"Before we try our best, though, is there even a witness in the first place? Maybe Miyake-kun was just imagining things when it happened," asked Chiaki. It's not that she didn't believe Akito, she was only concerned for her other classmates because they might be looking for someone who doesn't exist all this time, which would render their efforts useless.

This time, it was Suzune who chose to speak. "The more we place doubt on our classmate, the more we'll be unable to focus on the task at hand. None of us knows what truly happened except for Miyake-kun, Matsushita-san. Right now, his words are the only source of information we have, whether he was imagining things or not."

The brunette considered those words for a moment, before shrugging in defeat. "I guess you're probably right about that, Horikita-san…"

"We still have 5 more days before Miyake-kun's trial, right? We still have plenty of time, everyone! As long as we don't give up in our efforts, I'm sure we'll be able to find our witness!" Kikyo exclaimed in an attempt to raise everyone's spirits.

"Furthermore, our class itself is at stake," Hirata said. "If we fail to prove Miyake-kun's innocence, everyone will suffer from the consequences. Our class went from 97 points to 212 points in the span of a month, which puts us right behind Class C. Surely none of you would want our progress to be wasted, correct?"

"Yeah, think about it. If our points as a class gets decreased because of this, then we'll have a huge cut on our monthly allowance. I don't want us to go back to getting only 9,700 points or worse, something lower than that," Karuizawa added, folding her arms across her chest.

Upon hearing those words, something clicked in everyone's minds. Just the mere mention of their points decreasing as a consequence of this incident was enough to motivate them to continue with this. They couldn't let such a thing happen, especially when they had made significant progress in increasing their points in such little time.

Kanji shifted his gaze downwards, now truly understanding how big this issue is and what's at stake. "Alright, point taken. I don't want us to go back to only 9,700 points every month or worse, no points at all. Doesn't stop me from feeling jealous of the people in Class A, though. They got more than 80,000 for this month, right? I wish we could be like them, but we're at the bottom of the barrel."

"If you want that to happen, then you have to be a better student first, moron." Satsuki deadpanned.

As soon as the boy brought up the topic of Class A and the points that their rival class currently possessed, many of them were starting to feel envious as well. Yes, they were known as Class D, the worst out of the four class in their year, but it didn't stop them from imagining how it

"Why couldn't I have been in Class A from the start? If I were in Class A, I'd probably be loving every second of my student life."

"I wish I was in A too. I'd be doing so much fun stuff with my friends and we'd have a lot of points to spend!"

"Chabashira-sensei called us 'defectives', remember? There was no way for us to be Class A with that kind of moniker for us."

"Maybe so, but we can focus on improving our class to get ourselves out of our current dilemma. Getting jealous of other classes instead of raising our own points will only backfire on all of us."

And so, in no time at all, the little meeting that was supposed to be a discussion of Akito's situation had turned into a talk about the various classes and their respective points. Kiyotaka sighed at this turn of events and simply went back to his seat along with Suzune, both having no further interest in the conversation. At the very least, they were updated on everyone's current situation regarding the search for the eyewitness to Akito's altercation with those Class C students the other way.

Besides, they were already aware of the possibility of their class being the new Class A, which required them to improve upon themselves, of course. Imagining a scenario of them being the top class was different than actually accomplishing it was a completely different thing, so they simply stopped listening to the group's conversation from there.

"What if there was some secret trick we could use to turn into Class A in a snap? Heh, imagine how much easier our lives would be if we could be the new Class A without a sweat…"

"Then cheer up, Ike, because there is one way to instantly reach Class A."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, the students of Class D were quick to turn their heads to the door, where they saw Chabashira-sensei walking into the classroom and stopping at her podium. She'd arrived just five minutes before class started.

"Wait, wait. What did you say, sensei?" Ike nearly fell off his chair as he saw their teacher in front of them, while everyone else immediately rushed back to their seats in fear of being scolded by the woman.

Setting her things on top of the podium, Sae folded her arms and gave all of them a serious look. "I said that there's a way to reach Class A without class points."

Suzune's eyes widened for a brief moment, as she began to listen closely to their teacher's next words. No doubt that this had gotten her attention in no time at all.

Ike raised an eyebrow at their teacher, feeling skeptical of her words. If it was true, then why was she only telling them about this now? Why didn't she tell them about this earlier, because it would have helped to motivate them even further!

"Are you being serious, sensei?"

"It's true. At this school, there are certain special methods you can use," answered Chabashira-sensei with a shrug. From her nonchalant voice and unchanging expression, it could be said that she wasn't joking around by any means.

"I don't think Chabashira-sensei would joke about something like this, Ike-kun." Hirata spoke up next, his full attention now directed towards their teacher. The same went for the rest of their classmates, their attention piqued by the prospect of being able to transfer into another class. "What are these special methods, Chabashira-sensei?"

"I told you on the day you arrived at this school, didn't I? I said there's nothing you cannot buy with your points at this school. In other words, you can change classes by using your private points."

Almost everyone in the class widened their eyes in response, even Horikita. The idea had never crossed their minds before and only thought about it now when they were reminded of it. They were too focused on bettering themselves to prevent a decrease in their points to even think of relying on their own point balance to guarantee their future. On the other hand, Kiyotaka's expression remained unchanged but he was equally curious about something else.

"If switching classes is possible by buying the privilege using points, then it's obvious that it'll take a huge amount for even a single student to be able to transfer to another class. If it didn't, then she would have alluded to it even once in the two discussions that I've had with her," he thought, remembering the conversation she had with him in the faculty room with Suzune and the private meeting he had with her at the rooftop. "Doing that for every single one of my classmates would be ridiculous, so she never mentioned that method to me."

"S-Seriously! How many points do we need to save up to do that?!" asked Ike, a sense of excitement filling him up at the possibility of being able to be with a class where he could earn points easily.

"Twenty million. Conserve your points to the best of your abilities. Do that, and you'll be able to transfer to whichever class you like."

After hearing that absurdly high number, Ike almost fell out of his chair. The rest of the class began to groan and voice out their disappointment in a chorus of boos. Their hopes were dashed away as soon as they were beginning to have faith in themselves.

"Did you just say twenty million, sensei? Uh, isn't that kind of impossible?" asked Shinohara, looking just as mortified as everyone else.

"From a normal standpoint, yes, it would be impossible. However, because it is an instant ticket to Class A, of course it would be expensive. Furthermore, if I were to reduce the required number by one digit, there would probably be over 100 people in Class A by the time you graduate from this school. If that happened, then there'd be no point to our system."

"The only viable options are to compete against other classes or pass our exams with flying colors if we want to increase our points," Kiyotaka mentally noted.

Even if they somehow maintained their monthly allowance for the remainder of the three years, that still wouldn't be an easy number to reach. Especially because there were a lot of unknown factors in play, like the chances of his classmates willingly participating in this endeavor.

In fact, it was completely sure that most of them would reject the idea.

"Out of curiosity, has anyone successfully changed their class like this before?" asked Yukimura.

Everyone turned to Sae with a look of hope in their eyes.

That was an obvious question. This school has been running for 10 years and more than a thousand students have struggled to make it through. There must be someone who has accomplished the goal of reaching 20 million points, even if it was just one person. But then again, if someone had managed to reach Class A using that method, it should have been a popular story around here.

"Unfortunately, no. No one has done it before. The reason why is as clear as day. Even if you perfectly maintain your class points upon starting school here, after three years you'd only have 3.6 million. Class A could raise points enough to reach four million. In other words, you simply wouldn't be able to do it."

"Doesn't that just mean it's impossible?" asked Ike, feeling confused at what their teacher was trying to tell them.

"It's almost impossible. However, that does not mean it actually is impossible. There's a big difference, Ike."

Despite that strange assurance from Chabashira-sensei, around half the class had already lost interest in what she was saying. For many of the students in Class D, reaching 20 million was a faraway dream despite having at least 200 class points at the moment. As a class, they would need to have 200,000 points to even reach 20 million and that was way beyond the scope of their imagination.

"May I ask a question, Chabashira-sensei?"

The watchful Horikita raised her hand, looking quite determined. Considering this was a potential road to Class A, the girl saw this as a potential option for her to take if the time comes. Even though she knew that reaching 20 million points for a single student sounded impossible, there's no telling if it really is.

Sae folded her arms across her chest. "Go ahead, Horikita."

"What is the highest number of points that a student has saved since the opening of this school? I am asking for the sake of reference."

The older woman smirked as everyone's eyes were directed towards her once again. "A very good question, Horikita. About three years ago, one student from Class B managed to save nearly 12 million points before graduating."

"T-Twelve million?! A student from Class B?!" Sudo cried out in disbelief.

"...he was expelled before graduation, however, so he was unable to save those 20 million points in the end. He was engaged in a large-scale fraudulent operation to save up points, which led to his expulsion."

"Fraudulent?" asked Suzune whilst raising an eyebrow curiously.

"He took advantage of the newly admitted first-year students that year who didn't yet understand the system. He went to them one by one and scammed points out of them, just so he could reach the 20 million points necessary to move to Class A. There was no way the school could overlook such reckless and cruel actions, however. Personally, I don't think that his goal was particularly bad, but his way of doing so was and people who break the rules must be punished."

For the majority of the Class D students, that was more than a mere anecdote. It made the possibility of success sound truly impossible.

"So you're saying that even if we were to use criminal methods, 12 million points is about the limit?" Suzune muttered.

"Give up on that method. Strive to save up your points responsibly and without relying on underhanded methods. That being said, I don't believe anyone from this class would be able to save up that amount of points to make themselves a Class A student," the woman smirked at the looks of disappointment on her students' faces. "Nor do I see this class becoming the new Class A, at least not with the amount of points you have at the moment."

Sae gave a subtle glance at Kiyotaka as she said those words, which was something that he noticed. He knew what it meant even without the woman saying it to his face.

"She doesn't believe I can get our class to the top, huh?" The young man sighed to himself in disappointment but on the inside, he felt very amused. "I just hope she can take the shock when we become the new Class A. I wonder if she'll back out of our little wager when that happens."

Feeling a bit disappointed, Suzune remained quiet in her seat. She shouldn't have bothered raising her hand.

"Oh, that reminds me. None of you have gotten any points yet from club activities, have you?" remarked Chabashira-sensei, with the air of suddenly remembering.

"What do you mean, sensei?" asked Ike.

"There are cases where individuals may earn points based on their efforts in club activities, or their degree of participation. For example, if someone in a calligraphy club were to win a contest, they could receive corresponding points for that award."

This new information took everyone aback, even though it seemed like they had lost hope just moments earlier.

"Y-You mean we can get points for participating in clubs?!"

Chabashira-sensei nodded. "Yes. The other classes should have already been well informed of this."

"Wh-What the hell? That's so mean! Why didn't you tell us earlier, sensei?!" Ike demanded, looking annoyed for not being made aware of this information beforehand.

"I simply forgot, sorry. However, extracurricular activities aren't there just as a way to earn points. So it shouldn't have made any difference when you learn this information," said Chabashira-sensei without a hint of timidity.

"No, no, no! That's not true at all! If you'd told us before, I—"

"Are you saying you would have participated in extracurricular activities, Ike? Do you really think you would've been able to see any results after joining a club, results like winning prizes or being in games, with such shallow feelings?"

The boy almost choked on his words thinking of what to say. "Well… you might be right about that, but… it was possible! You never know that someone might be good at whatever they join in!"

Kiyotaka stared at the scene, listening to both his teacher and his classmate's arguments. Despite the conflict between the two, their viewpoints made sense.

For instance, If someone were to join a club simply for the sake of earning points, he or she probably wouldn't see great results. If anything, joining a club for such a lazy, indifferent reason would probably make that student a nuisance for the other people who were serious about it.

On the other hand, there's also a chance that someone who joined the club for the sake of points might discover that they possessed a talent for it.

"At any rate, Chabashira-sensei is either doing this to mock us or to push us to be better, and she's doing this because of what happened between Miyake and those Class C students," he concluded in his thoughts. "Though I wonder if she truly believes that her own student was the one who started that fight."

"You know, if you think back on it now, it was obvious from the start."

"What do you mean, Hirata-kun?" asked one of the girls.

"Think about it. Remember what our P.E. instructor Miyajima-sensei said when we went to the pool for our first swimming class? He said the student who got the best time would get 5000 points. That was a stepping stone to prepare us for other opportunities. I can bet that doing exceptionally well in club activities would give our class some extra points."

Ike scratched his head and slumped, unable to remember what Hirata was trying to point out. "I don't really remember," he said.

"If I got points for it, I probably would've joined calligraphy club, or some other kind of art club…" Hondo mumbled to himself.

Despite most of them not being part of a club of any sort, it did make the students of Class D relieved that club activities are a way to earn points. Perhaps during the next club fair or when a club is trying to recruit more members, they could try their luck in joining one. If it was a way for them to earn points, then it's the best option for them to take this opportunity.

"Then this just means we have to do better in saving Miyacchi," said Haruka.

"We should save him because he's in a club?"

"He's a part of a club? What exactly?" asked Shinohara.

"Archery," said Miyake.

Yamauchi secretly threw a dirty look at the magenta-haired boy. "I bet he's not even good…" he muttered to himself.

Hirata chose to speak up and explain things for his classmates. "Since he's part of a club, Miyake-kun can earn points for our class. The same goes for Sudo-kun and Onodera-san who are also members of a sports club, and every other person who joined one or several clubs during the fair. All of them can earn points to help our class even further."

"That's why we need to work harder to find that witness! Especially when we need more points if we want to become the new Class A, right?" Haruka added.

Somehow, her words were beginning to get through to several people in the classroom. Those who were involved in helping Akito were feeling reinvigorated about helping their classmate while those who weren't were starting to be convinced that putting in some effort to save their classmate would be worth it.

"That's enough. We're not here to talk about what to do with your classmate. We're here to learn, now I believe we've wasted enough time already."

The whole class had become temporarily excited and pumped after realizing that there are other ways to earn points, but were immediately pulled back to reality by their teacher who began their class.

Today was surely going to be an interesting day for everyone…

---

After morning classes ended, it was time for the students' lunch break.

Before he could leave for the cafeteria, Kiyotaka was invited by Ken to join him, Kayano, and Akito for lunch. The young man agreed and went with their little group, since he was completely free this time and none of his heroines were dragging him around in an attempt to make him spend lunch with them.

After settling at an empty table with their respective food trays, Kiyotaka observed his companions for a moment as they all began to eat. There's definitely a reason why they wanted him to join them for lunch and since Akito was here, it's obvious what that reason was.

"So, I assume the reason why you wanted me to join you three for lunch is because of Miyake's case, correct?" he asked while eating a bowl of soba.

"Mostly," Sudo shrugged while sipping on a can of juice.

Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why only me? Shouldn't we include more from our classmates in this discussion?"

Kayano waved her hands as if to say no. "Uh, bad idea. If Kushida-san, Karuizawa-san and Horikita-san were here with us, then we wouldn't be able to have a sensible discussion because they would be too busy either hugging you or arguing over you."

The young man stared at her for a moment as he thought of that scenario in his mind, before he found himself agreeing with her.

Yeah, she's probably right… and considering how clingy Kushida and Karuizawa had become ever since they kissed him in front of everyone, they'd likely spend the entirety of their lunch break staking their claim on him.

Honestly, he didn't even want to think about it.

"Good point. I can definitely see that happening," he agreed while shaking his head.

"Plus, you were the only one with us yesterday aside from them."

Kiyotaka nodded in agreement, before noticing that a certain someone wasn't by Akito's side right now. "Where's Hasebe, by the way?" he asked, wondering why the bluenette wasn't around.

Akito scratched his cheek. "Oh, uh… she told me that she'll keep on searching for that person who might have seen the whole incident."

"She's very dedicated, huh?" the 'Masterpiece' remarked. "Even willing to skip her lunch break if it meant helping you."

"She bought a sandwich and a bottle of grape juice before leaving," Akito added before letting out a sigh. "I actually tried to stop her, but she didn't want to."

"So Hasebe's willing to go that far for her friend… I wonder where it will take her," Kiyotaka stared at his classmate as he said those words.

He could definitely respect the girl's dedication to prove her friend's innocence right off the bat but deep down, he had a feeling that all she would find is disappointment. During the meeting earlier, none of them had valuable information on the identity of their supposed eyewitness and going around the campus asking people on her own wouldn't really do anything.

It would have been easier if she had someone to accompany her too.

"I wonder why she didn't ask me to go with her then. Yesterday, we were searching for our eyewitness together."

Akito shrugged. "Probably because she didn't want to bother you during lunch."

"In any case, what do you three want to talk about that has something to do with Miyake?" asked Kiyotaka, wanting to get things going while they still have time for lunch.

"How did your search go yesterday, Ayanokouji-kun? Anything else that you'd like to share with us?" asked Kayano.

The young man raised an eyebrow curiously. "Hasebe already said it earlier, didn't she? We were by the mall yesterday when we tried to ask the people around, but ended up with nothing."

Kayano sighed. "Looks like none of us really had any luck yesterday, huh?"

"Why were you asking the same question from earlier?"

"Well, I don't think we really talked about everything that happened yesterday, did we? We figured we could talk about this now when we have all the time we need."

"I see. But since I have nothing to add to Hasebe's explanation, do you two have anything to share, then?"

The girl opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't get anything out. Like Hasebe, she already said everything she needed to say earlier about their current situation regarding their possible eyewitness and couldn't think of anything right now. However, Sudo seemed to have other plans when he opened his mouth to speak.

"Like what Onodera said, we tried asking around our clubs if they saw something. I didn't ask the Class C students who were at the basketball club with me, though."

Kayano looked at him in confusion. It seemed like she didn't know about that part. "Wait, why didn't you? It could have been them who attacked Miyake-kun but if not, then maybe they saw what happened to him?"

"Maybe, but I couldn't risk it. If Kondo and Komiya were the ones who did it, then they could do the same against me. I'm pretty sure I can take on them both, but I'd rather not give our class another problem by starting another fight. If they're not the ones who attacked him, then it's still risky because they could warn their classmates that someone's on to their tails."

Both Akito and Kayano turned to him in complete surprise after he said those words.

"Well, that's a surprise. Two days ago, you were preaching about wanting to get your hands on them for beating Miyake-kun up," Kayano remarked.

Sudo scoffed. "Trust me, I still want to beat those guys up if they were the ones responsible for this whole thing. But I'd just be accused of starting a fight and assaulting those two."

Kiyotaka gave a nod of acknowledgement at Ken's decision. So far, so good. The man was learning how to be more mature and composed with his decisions, even though he can still get annoyed pretty easily. A big change from how he was on the first day that they met, and it's all because of the person beside him.

Who knows what would have happened to Sudo if Onodera wasn't around?

"Good choice, Sudo. Even if they're the ones who were responsible for the attack on Miyake, it would have been a worse move to go after them. But why didn't you tell everyone about this earlier?" Kiyotaka asked, causing their two other companions to turn towards the red-haired athlete.

To be fair, it was a good question and if he has mentioned it earlier, it could have helped in the discussion and encouraged their classmates to put even more effort in finding their person of interest.

Ken rubbed the back of his head and looked to the side, feeling embarrassed.

"I… forgot about it, sorry."

Kiyotaka, Kayano, and Akito all sweat-dropped upon hearing that answer.

…okay, he still needs work, but the guy is getting there. Maybe a little more time?

"What are their names, Sudo?" asked Akito right after, turning towards his red-haired classmate.

"It's, uh… Komiya and Kondo, I think. I just hear their names when roll calls happen."

"Can you take a picture of them the next time you see them? If they're the ones who went after me, then I can tell it's them if I see a picture."

"Sure," Sudo nodded in agreement, only to facepalm so hard upon having a moment of realization. "Damn it, I should have done that when I had the chance earlier! I'm such an idiot…"

As Sudo sulked in despair and frustration towards himself, Onodera began patting his shoulder to comfort him. It was honestly cute to watch.

"What about you, Onodera?" Kiyotaka spoke, returning the question she asked him earlier.

The girl turned to face him with a look of disappointment. "Like I said earlier, nothing. Unlike me though, there are a couple of Class C students in the basketball club like Sudo-kun so he has a lead. Can't say the same for the swimming club, there are no Class C students who are part of it… from the first year students, that is."

"Yeah, no Class C students in the swimming club," Sudo confirmed.

"So, Sudo's the only one out of everyone with a possible lead on our person of interest. If nothing else, we'll have to rely on those Class C students in the same club as him for information… or Shiina, if she's willing to tell us something about her classmates," Kiyotaka thought as he looked down at his food.

Hiyori's 'heroine summary' showed that the girl didn't like violence, so she could be a valuable source of information if she chooses to help them. However, there's also a chance of her not knowing anything because of that very reason.

For now, though, he'd leave that up to Horikita. She was the one who suggested that they ask for Shiina, so it's up to his classmate to figure out if she could help them.

"Miyake, are you sure there was a witness?" asked Sudo, looking at their other companion. "We're busting our asses looking for whoever that is but what if there was no one who saw what happened that day?"

"That's kind of rude, Sudo-kun. We only just started searching for a day, at least give it a few more days before complaining," Onodera frowned at him.

Sudo immediately looked like he was regretting what he said and only rubbed the back of his head afterwards. "I guess…"

However, it didn't seem like Akito was offended. If anything, he looked doubtful as well, as though he was starting to think the same.

"I could definitely be wrong about someone being there because technically, I didn't see anyone. It just felt like someone was."

"Hm. Is that so?" muttered Kiyotaka.

"We're never gonna find that witness if we can't even get results with all the people who are searching with us," Onodera wanted to groan, but she knew that getting frustrated won't get them anywhere.

"You're right, Onodera. Why don't we change our methods a little, then? For example, let's look for someone who might have found a witness."

Kiyotaka's suggestion quickly got his classmates' attention but they were completely confused by what he meant.

"Look for someone who found a witness? I don't get it," Sudo remarked while raising an eyebrow.

"Are you going to look for people who went to the bathhouse when it happened?" asked Onodera.

"That would be an easier question than asking people if they've witnessed a fight between students, wouldn't it? Plus, I'm sure that there weren't a lot of people around the bathhouse last Sunday," Kiyotaka explained before turning towards Akito. "You said that you were going for a jog around the area when you were attacked, right? I'm certain that there weren't many people around that time, but there could still be someone who saw either you or those Class C students at the bathhouse."

"...which means that all we need to do is ask people if they've been to the bathhouse or not," Akito continued as he now understood the whole picture.

Kiyotaka nodded. "That's right. For Sudo, since there's a chance that his clubmates were the ones who went after Miyake, all he needs to do is ask around if someone saw those Class C students go to the bathhouse that day, or if they were anywhere near that place."

It was far from being a completely foolproof idea. On one side, it would lessen the number of people that they would have to question, perhaps not even more than twenty. However, at the same time, it would give them a more reliable answer because not many people would go to the bathhouse very early in the morning. Plus, it would also prevent the chances of the actual culprits knowing about their plan to prove Akito's innocence because if they did, they could cover up their tracks even more and make it harder for the students of Class D to find out who they are.

In other words, if someone testified to seeing another person near the bathhouse, Class D would be much closer to finding the witness and the culprits all at once.

Sudo and Onodera's eyes widened in realization, as they too realized the point that their classmate was trying to make.

"That sounds great, Ayanokouji-kun! I'm gonna start asking when today's classes are over," Kayano exclaimed, completely reinvigorated in her desire to search for the witness.

Ken was on the same boat, a huge grin breaking out on his face in excitement. "Yeah, I'll do that right after classes today. You're a genius, Ayanokouji!"

Kiyotaka shook his head and sighed. He just gave a small suggestion, and his classmates praise him for it as if he was a genius of some sort.

"I'm not, the idea just hit me right now."

"Well, whatever you call it, that's a pretty solid move, Ayanokouji. You should tell everyone about it. They're gonna be glad that their jobs will be much easier," Akito commented.

"I'm sure they will."

There's no doubt that a lot of his classmates will be pleased when they hear his suggestion, especially Yamauchi and Ike. However, it doesn't mean that their goal becomes a cakewalk simply because he found an easier way to search for their person of interest.

If they were to find that person who witnessed, the issue of whether he/she would be willing to testify against those Class C students remains to be seen, because that will determine the outcome of this case.

---

After all of their classes ended for the day, Kiyotaka was surprised that Haruka didn't approach him to help continue their search for the missing witness in Akito's case. After taking note of her determination to help her friend during the discussion at lunch earlier, he kind of expected her to invite him to go along with her for another search, but she didn't.

That was when he saw her talking to Akito himself as soon as they were free to leave. He must be telling her about what was discussed during lunch earlier, about changing their tactics and asking people if they had seen someone by the bathhouse on the day of the incident.

It honestly seemed like Hasebe was busy talking to Miyake and she wasn't even paying attention to him, so he assumed that she wasn't planning to continue their search today with him.

With that in mind, Kiyotaka was filled with joy and relief, because he would get a rare instance where he'll have a good sleep for the rest of the day. Honestly, ever since Amasawa arrived in this school last week, there hasn't been an instance where he has been able to get a long and peaceful sleep.

While most of it was because of the fact that someone else was living inside his own dorm room, it's also partly due to Kikyo, Kei, and Chiaki's stunt last week when they kissed him in front of everyone. If that's not enough, Akito's case added to the list of problems but unlike the others, this was on a more serious note as it involved their class as a whole if left unattended.

Sadly though, he wouldn't even get the chance to head home in peace as always. Instead, he had been approached by Suzune and Kikyo who 'demanded' him to go with them to the latter's room for some reason.

There goes his date with Bed-chan for the rest of the day… but, he should have expected this.

Plus, it's not all that bad. Kikyo's room was right next to his, since they were neighbors. Once this is over with, he'll head to his room right away and surrender to the comforting embrace of Bed-chan… unless Amasawa is there, waiting for him and all prepared to bother him as much as she can.

But right now, he was walking with two of his heroines out of the school building, with Suzune to his right and Kikyo to his left. Fortunately, they weren't grabbing his wrists or hugging his arms like they usually would, which made things less stressful for him at the very least because that would have gotten them attention from everyone around. However, he was still curious about why they wanted him to accompany them.

"Why are we heading to Kushida's room again?" he asked, wanting to get some context behind their intentions.

"Because we want to discuss our findings yesterday," Suzune answered him in her usual cold tone, sounding more serious than usual.

"But we already did that earlier," Kiyotaka pointed out.

"In more detail. We were not able to talk more because Chabashira-sensei had arrived while we were in the midst of it."

Kiyotaka sighed. "Basically, the same thing that Sudo and Onodera wanted to do earlier during lunch."

He already talked about this with some of his other classmates earlier, and he didn't really want a repeat of that. Maybe he could tell them about the change in strategy that he told Sudo, Onodera, and Miyake earlier, but that's it. He didn't have anything to discuss with them regarding his search with Hasebe yesterday and he was pretty sure that these two didn't have any leads either, because they would have told everyone about it earlier.

"Well, I'll tell you now. I don't have anything else to tell you two. Hasebe already said everything that needs to be said about what happened in our search yesterday,"

"In that case, we'll simply discuss what we know about this case so far and see if we can find another clue," Suzune said bluntly, continuing to walk as if she heard nothing from him.

Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow. "Do we have to? None of us have any leads on who the witness is, anyway. Let's just talk when someone actually discovers something significant that will lead to us resolving this whole case."

A tick mark appeared on Suzune's head as she pulled on his cheek, hard. "That's why I said we'll be discussing what we know so far, idiot."

"Ow," he said after she let go of him. Massaging his cheek, he gave a curious look towards his neighbor. "It feels like you're grumpier than usual today… what's your problem?"

"You," she snapped, giving him a glare. "You're insufferable."

"What's wrong with what I said?" he asked, feeling hurt from those words.

Kikyo chose to speak up this time, turning her head to give the young man a sad look. "Well, it almost seems like you don't want to talk to us about this, Ayanokouji-kun. Are you giving up on helping Miyake-kun?"

"What are you talking about? I simply don't want to waste anyone's time with information that's already known," he replied, throwing a look of confusion at Kushida for that question. Where exactly did she get that notion?

"Any discussion that involves resolving Miyake-kun's incident would be productive, so stop complaining."

Kiyotaka simply sighed and rolled his eyes internally, yielding to his fate at the moment. No matter what he says, these two won't allow him to leave and he was sure the system won't let him either.

If only the system was kind enough to give him a skill that can help him regain his energy and get a whole day worth of sleep just by closing his eyes for a few hours… if that happened, then he could tolerate the amount of mind-breaking moments that this eroge superpower gives him on an almost-regular basis but alas, things didn't work that way.

"Hey, Kyo-chan! Hori-chan! Kiyopon!"

Hearing a familiar voice from behind them, the three turned around to see four other students in their class approaching them.

Haruka greeted the three with a big smile on her face while waving her arm happily, with Akito standing beside her while donning a neutral look on his face. However, the boy wasn't alone. Standing on either side of him were Kokoro and Nene, and they also had smiles on their faces like Haruka.

While Kikyo greeted their classmates with a smile on her face in return, Kiyotaka and Suzune had their attention on something else entirely.

The name that Haruka used to call her rang inside Suzune's ears like it was a blaring fire alarm, and she frowned at the bluenette as a result. On the other hand, Kiyotaka was more focused on the sight behind Haruka, which was the sight of Akito with two girls hugging each of his arms as if he was their boyfriend or something…

It kind of reminded him of his own situation, and it piqued his curiosity.

"Is there something you need, Hasebe-san?"

"Can we come along too?" asked Haruka.

Before Kikyo could answer her question, Suzune took over and almost immediately, she sent an icy glare at her blue-haired classmate.

"What did you just call me, Hasebe-san?"

Haruka was slightly taken aback at the cold look that Suzune was giving her, but she managed to give an answer.

"Uh, I called you 'Hori-chan'. Is… something wrong with that?"

"That is not my name," Suzune said coldly.

"Ehehe, it's just a nickname, Horikita-san…" Haruka chuckled nervously as she took a step back.

Kiyotaka quickly noticed Suzune's growing anger and prepared himself to step in if needed, while their other classmates watched on with growing anxiety because this wasn't going to end well.

"Why would you give me a nickname?"

"I was planning to call you 'Su-chan' instead, but I figured I shouldn't because you might be angry that I used your first name."

Suzune's frown deepened. "No. I mean why would you call me in such an intimate manner? We are not friends, nor are we close to one another."

Haruka raised her hands in surrender, wondering what exactly she did to make her classmate angry.

"It's just how I am with the people I'm comfortable with, Horikita-san. And, well… you, Kiyopon, Kei-chin, and Kyo-chan have helped me and Miyacchi a lot ever since we told you about what happened to him."

"Never call me that again. Are we clear?" Suzune asserted her intentions with clear venom in her tone.

"I-I don't mean anything bad by it, Horikita-san…"

"Are. We. Clear?"

Having had enough of Suzune's pointless temper, Kikyo decided to speak up on behalf of Haruka.

She rolled her eyes to herself. Honestly, after weeks of being 'friends' with that bitch, you'd think she had learned about being more tolerant of others by now, but no… Horikita was still as stubborn and stuck-up as ever.

"Uh, Horikita-san… don't you think you're being too rude?" she asked, managing to get Horikita's attention with her question.

Suzune turned around and directed her frown towards Kikyo. "Elaborate it for me then, Kushida-san. How exactly am I being rude when I was simply stating facts? My relationship with Hasebe-san doesn't go past classmates and acquaintances."

"I mean, is being given a nickname the end of the world for you, Horikita-san? Hasebe-san was just trying to show her appreciation for what we've done to help Miyake-kun. Nothing more," she explained.

Suzune continued to frown in displeasure. "And as I said, we are not friends for her to call me in such an intimate manner."

"Hasebe-san wasn't trying to imply that you two were. She just said that she's comfortable being around you, that's why she gave you a nickname. And she didn't even use your given name. If she did, then I can understand why you'd be angry, Horikita-san."

"What is it that you want to happen, Kushida-san?" Suzune folded her arms and rolled her eyes, unable to understand what her friend was trying to say right now.

"If you don't want someone calling you with a nickname, then you can tell Hasebe-san that. But you could have been nicer about it, you know?" Kikyo pointed out. "You don't have to be so angry all the time, Horikita-san…"

That got Horikita to stop talking at the very least, as she began to consider Kushida's explanation. It was very fortunate that those words came from someone whom she considered as a friend, otherwise she wouldn't have listened to anything that was said.

Kiyotaka silently praised Kikyo for her quick and smart response to Suzune's cold words, before shifting his attention to the younger Horikita.

It seemed like she was thinking deeply about what Kushida just said, but how exactly would she respond? Would she listen to Kushida? Or would she continue to act cold towards Hasebe?

"Now, how will Horikita answer?" he thought to himself, curious about what the girl currently had in mind right now.

After a few moments of silence, Suzune shook her head and finally gave her answer.

"Very well, Hasebe-san, I will allow you to use that name when referring to me. However…" she let out an exasperated sigh, before flashing her icy glare once more. "You can only do so either in private or when in the presence of everyone else here. You are not, under any circumstances, allowed to call me by that name in any other scenario."

"F-Fair enough, Horikita-san…" Haruka chuckled nervously, while feeling relieved that things didn't escalate into something bad.

"Thank you for being considerate, Horikita-san," Kikyo smiled at her friend, who only folded her arms and turned away. It's apparent that Suzune still felt somewhat annoyed, but at least she wasn't vocal about it anymore. "Now, what were you saying earlier, Hasebe-san?"

Haruka took a deep breath to recompose herself, before continuing to speak. "As I was saying a while ago, can we go with you three? I did some more searching around for our witness during lunch earlier, and I'd like to talk about everything we found out together."

"When you say 'we', are you including Inogashira and Mori too?" asked Kiyotaka, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.

A hearty laugh came out of the blue-haired girl. "Ahaha, yeah. Before we could catch up to you three, the two of them stopped us for a moment and asked if they could help too. Of course, I couldn't ignore Ne-chan and Koko-chan if they wanted to help Miyacchi."

"Right, but that doesn't explain why they're grabbing his arms like that…" the young man pointed out, glancing at the other boy who looked uncomfortable right now in his current situation.

"Don't ask," was all that Akito could say with the red hue on his face, most likely because of the two girls hugging his arms. The worst part is that both Inogashira and Mori didn't seem like they cared about the possible implications of their actions.

"Alright, I won't."

Despite his words, Kiyotaka continued to keep an eye on Akito and found himself feeling amused at his classmate's situation.

It's just like seeing Sudo struggle with keeping his composure around Onodera but unlike him, Miyake here was currently trying to deal with two girls. To be able to watch someone else having to handle a couple of girls like what he has done felt cathartic.

Heh.

Now he's beginning to wonder if the system is responsible for Miyake being in this situation.

"So, can we go with you three?" asked Haruka, repeating her question from earlier.

Suzune turned towards her and shook her head. "It's not my decision to make, since we were planning to head to Kushida-san's room."

Upon hearing that, Haruka quickly turned towards Kikyo with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Kikyo merely gave her a smile. "You can come with us if you want, Hasebe-san. I'd like to hear about what you found out during your little search earlier."

"Awesome!" Haruka exclaimed and, in a short burst of excitement, gave her classmate a quick hug. "Thanks, Kyo-chan!"

Kikyo was a little surprised at the sudden hug, but returned it after a few moments. "You're welcome, Hasebe-san. Come on, let's go so we don't waste any more time!"

With that, the whole group headed to the dorms. The journey to get there was a little quiet but after reaching their classmate's dorm room, it became louder, particularly between Haruka, Nene, Kokoro, and Kikyo.

Once they were there, Kikyo waited for all of her classmates to get in before closing the door. She then joined everyone else at the center of her room before Suzune began to speak.

"Well, Hasebe-san? What would you like to share with everyone?" she asked.

Haruka looked at everyone for a second, before responding. "Kiyopon told Miyacchi about another way that we can find the witness, and Miyacchi told me about it earlier. I thought it was a really great plan and I want to get into it right away."

"Kiyopon…?" Suzune frowned in confusion.

"I think it's her nickname for Ayanokouji-kun," Kikyo told her friend, who took a moment to consider those words in her mind. "What did Ayanokouji-kun come up with, Hasebe-san?"

Haruka adopted a thinking pose before she spoke. "Instead of asking people if they've seen the incident with their own eyes, we should ask if they've seen anyone near the bathhouse on the day that it happened. That way, we wouldn't have a harder time looking for our witness because instead of looking for the person who saw the whole thing, we'll be searching for people who saw someone near that place… or at least, that's what Miyacchi told me."

Kikyo, Nene, and Kokoro's eyes widened slowly as they thought about that idea carefully in their minds.

It made sense, the more they thought about it. Instead of wasting time and energy searching for the person who saw the incident happen, they would just have to ask other people around if they've seen someone near the bathhouse that day!

"Ayanokouji-kun came up with that?" asked Kikyo, feeling amazed at the idea and how much more effective it sounded than their initial plan.

Yesterday, Suzune told her that Kiyotaka was actually a very intelligent student underneath the 'average student' image that he was putting up and while she simply accepted that for what it is, only now was she seeing a glimpse of what the young man was capable of.

Akito nodded, confirming Kikyo's question. "Yeah. He told me, Sudo, and Onodera at lunch about it."

"I think it's a reasonable strategy," Suzune spoke up, causing everyone to turn to her. "Instead of finding the root of our evidence, we'll be looking for clues that lead to that exact root. It would also prevent the students of Class C from finding out that we're catching on to their scheme. Is this what you had in mind, Ayanokouji-kun?"

As Suzune shifted her gaze towards Kiyotaka, everyone else also turned their heads towards him. With the attention now on him, Kiyotaka stared at all of them for a brief moment, before shrugging nonchalantly.

"Pretty much. It was just an idea I made up on the fly, though. It's nothing special."

The raven-haired girl shook her head. Even when she was trying to say that his plan had merit, he brushes it off like it was just something that wasn't thought about deeply? Is he just that adamant about sticking to the shadows that he would downplay his own idea even though it was interesting and was worth giving a shot?

Well, at least he was helping out. That's still what matters in the end.

After a few moments of silence between classmates, Kokoro raised her hand to make everyone turn to her, before speaking in a determined voice.

"I'll walk around tomorrow and ask people right away!"

"Same here!" Nene agreed with a nod, flashing a serious look. "If this can help prove Miyake-kun's innocence a lot sooner, then I'll help as much as I can!"

Akito wisely chose to turn away as he heard those words, otherwise everyone would have seen a twinge of red in his cheeks from embarrassment… but he couldn't hide it from Kiyotaka himself.

The 'Masterpiece' smirked internally from amusement. It was clear that these two girls were strangely determined to help Akito for some reason, and it was enough to make the magenta-haired teen feel flustered as a result.

"Me and Kiyopon will do the same. Hopefully, it'll be easier to get a lead this way, because we're down to only four days before Miyacchi's trial. We have to work even harder to find out who saw the fight!"

Suzune stared at them with an impassive look on her face, before letting out a sigh.

"If the four of you are going for that tactic, then I suppose Kushida-san and I will proceed with our plan to ask Shiina-san if she knows anything. Perhaps even take a photo of Class C so that Miyake-kun can point out the people who attacked him."

Kiyotaka nodded at her words, knowing what she was talking about while the rest of them looked confused, since they weren't part of the conversation that they had two days ago with Kikyo and Kei.

"Wait, who's Shiina?" asked Haruka with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, she's just a friend of ours from Class C, Hasebe-san. Don't worry, though! She's not a bad person, and I don't think she's involved in what happened to Miyake-kun," Kikyo explained.

"Oh, so you three have a friend from Class C? Nice!" the bluenette exclaimed, now overcome with excitement and glee upon learning of someone who could be their ally. "I hope she can help us then!"

Inogashira and Mori shared the same sentiment and smiled as well, both pleased with the turn of events because things seemed to be favoring them now. If this continues, then they'll be able to prove Miyake's innocence very soon!

"If she can't, then a picture of Class C is all Miyake needs to point out who are the students that ganged up on him," Kiyotaka added.

"And from there, we can find out how to turn the case around if we are not able to find our eyewitness in time, assuming there even was a witness in the first place," Suzune continued.

That stopped the little moment of celebration that Mori and Inogashira had and caused them to look worried once more.

"Horikita-san, you don't believe that there's someone who could have seen what happened?"

"I am only speaking from a realistic standpoint, Inogashira-san. Because Miyake-kun is unsure about the possibility of there being a witness to the incident, we must be prepared for the instance where we'll have to work without a witness to testify for us."

The two girls seemed doubtful of Horikita's words, mostly because they wanted to believe that someone was there to see their classmate being beaten down helplessly. They didn't want to believe that he was completely alone at that time…

"She's right. I could be wrong about what I said and that there was no one around when I fought those Class C guys," Akito agreed. "There's nothing wrong with thinking about the worst thing that could happen."

"Then what do we do if that's the case, Miyacchi? What if no one was there when it happened?"

As Haruka asked that question, the whole group was left silent. They tried to think of something that they could try in case that scenario happens, but nothing was coming up in mind.

In the specific scenario where Shiina had no clue regarding the incident and where there wasn't any witness at all, the only option left for them would be using a photo of Class C and have Miyake identify his attackers. However, that would only give them the identity of those people. It wouldn't lead to proving his innocence at all because there was no proof.

As of now, their hopes of winning the upcoming hearing rests upon the chances of a girl possibly knowing something about her classmates' misdeeds, and the chances of a person seeing what happened on that day.

"I'll get you all something to drink then," Kikyo giggled as she stood up to fetch some glasses for her classmates. She noticed that they had been silent for a few minutes now, and everyone was still thinking deeply about this situation they were in. "I think we're gonna be here for a while, hehe…"

---

After sticking around for another discussion with his classmates (this time about the possible ways that they have in winning this case), Akito stood up from his seat and walked out onto the balcony, under the excuse of needing some fresh air.

The moment they noticed him walking away, Kokoro and Nene were quick to show their worry for him, but Akito reassured them that he was fine and that he simply needed to be alone for a while.

As he stood outside, Akito took in the warm breeze of the open air and looked at the entirety of the school campus before him. Including today, he only had five days left before the trial where he would have to prove his innocence and so far, they weren't making any significant breakthroughs.

For some reason though, this knowledge didn't really bother him. While other people would most likely be in a state of panic because of the helplessness they'd feel, Akito felt calm about it all.

No, he wasn't giving up. By no means was he thinking of letting all of their progress be put to waste. It's more like, whatever the outcome would be, Akito felt like he could accept it. If he gets judged as 'guilty', he would simply accept it and a possible expulsion without any complaint. If he gets deemed 'innocent', then he would be grateful and accept his victory and nothing more.

The magenta-haired teen was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a foreign presence from behind him, and it caused him to almost jump in surprise when someone else spoke.

"Do you really think it's wise for you to be out here?"

Akito turned around in an instant with a look of alarm on his face, only to see that it was only Kiyotaka, who had also stepped out to join him at the balcony.

"Ayanokouji."

The 'Masterpiece' of the White Room gave a little wave in response, as he leaned against the railing. He sent a curious look towards his classmate, as though he was trying to read Miyake's mind. "Are you blaming yourself or something?" he asked.

Akito raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Two of our classmates are worried about you inside, thinking that you're wallowing in anger and self-pity," Kiyotaka explained while pointing to two particular girls inside the unit who were in the midst of a discussion with the others.

"Where the hell did that come from? I just went here to get some fresh air, what's wrong with that?"

Kiyotaka shrugged. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's Inogashira and Mori who are worried about you. In fact, Hasebe is currently giving them reassurance that you're fine."

Akito shifted his gaze towards the two aforementioned girls and saw that they were indeed worried from the looks on their faces, and Haruka was trying to make them feel better. He then leaned against the railing behind him and sighed.

"I have no idea why those two feel that way. In fact, I have no idea why they're so worked up about this. They could be doing something else instead of worrying about me."

"That's a bit rude, don't you think? Those two are willing to help you to the point that they willingly dedicate the time of their day into helping you, when they could indeed be doing something else. Instead, they choose to do the former. The least you could do is be grateful to them instead of wondering why they're helping you."

Akito was silent for a few moments, as he considered those words in his mind. Almost immediately, he felt regret at saying such words because Kiyotaka was right. He never asked for Mori and Inogashira's help in this matter yet all of a sudden, they showed an overwhelming amount of support for him when the incident was made public knowledge for his classmates. He also didn't ask for them to sacrifice their time to help him when they could be doing literally anything else instead of helping him, but here they were, lending their assistance in the matter.

And it wasn't only those two. Even Ayanokouji himself, along with Kushida, Horikita, Karuizawa, Sudo, and Onodera, all of them lent their assistance in this matter.

"...you're right," he sighed once again, turning his gaze to the ground. "Thanks for helping out, Ayanokouji. You and… everyone else. It really means a lot that I have people supporting me, not just Haruka. All of you didn't have to do this for my sake, but you still did."

"You don't need to thank me. Like what I told Hasebe, we're classmates. That's enough of a reason for me to help out with this," Kiyotaka told him before folding his arms across his chest. "I find it more interesting that you seem used to Hasebe being like this, being determined and all. From what you told me, Sudo, and Onodera during lunch earlier, she's going so far as to help in solving this case."

"I guess you can say that," Akito shrugged. "She's always been like this, willing to go far for the people she cares about. The people she's close to, and she's not even the type of person to make friends with just anyone."

Kiyotaka turned to his classmate with genuine interest in his eyes. Even though it couldn't be seen on his face, the young man was surprised at what he just heard. "You gotta be joking. The first time I saw Hasebe, I thought of her as someone like Kushida, someone who likes to be friends with everyone."

"I'm not. Have you even noticed her hanging out with our classmates?"

The brown-haired teen considered that question for a few moments, as he tried to think of an instance in the past where Haruka talked or hung out with anyone in the classroom. Unfortunately, Kiyotaka was unable to recall one moment where such a thing happened because of two reasons. One, he barely paid any attention to her in the past and two, it didn't seem like she was close to their other classmates when she spoke up on behalf of Akito when Chabashira-sensei revealed his incident to everyone else.

Haruka also stated that she gives other people nicknames if she's comfortable with them and so far, she has only called so few of them with a particular nickname, including him. If she was close to a lot of their classmates, she would have nicknames ready for them, but she didn't.

Kiyotaka shook his head. "I still find it hard to believe."

"Well, believe it or not, she's not like Kushida. She's not the social type to go out and befriend everyone. Even in our old schools, she'd only have about two or three people she'd call friends and that's it."

"I wonder why."

"She doesn't like being around a lot of people. I know that much," Akito revealed as he stared at Haruka, who was still talking with the rest of the girls inside the unit.

"How did you end up being friends with her then?"

Akito gave him a look of confusion. "Huh. I'm surprised Haruka hasn't told you yet, since you two were together in searching for the person who saw what happened that day. Didn't she tell you anything yesterday?"

"She hasn't told me anything about your relationship with her. All she told me is how you got yourself into a lot of fights in the past because people seem to misunderstand you most of the time," Kiyotaka explained.

The magenta-haired teen stared at him for a moment, before shrugging in defeat. "There's not much to tell, honestly. Both of us weren't sociable people even back then, so while everyone else was busy making friends with everyone, we were on our own. And since we were both loners, we were around each other for most of our time as classmates, and it didn't take long before we became actual friends. I guess you can say we stuck together like glue after that."

Kiyotaka gave a nod of acknowledgement. "You're lucky to have a friend like her, Miyake. Not many people would go so far for another person like she does."

"You're right. I'm lucky to have her by my side," Akito let a tiny smile grace his lips upon thinking about his friend. "When I woke up at the clinic after I got beaten up, she was sitting by my bed, looking terribly worried about me. I think she was also about to cry that time, and I remember being angry with myself for making her feel that way."

"What happened to you wasn't your fault," Kiyotaka asserted.

"I know, but I still made her worry about me. After all the times I got into a fight when we were in middle school, Haruka would always take care of me and treat my injuries even though she didn't have to. I promised myself that I wouldn't get into any fights anymore because I'm done making her worry about me. I didn't want her to see me get in trouble again, but I still did."

"And like I said, it wasn't your fault. Hasebe knows it's not your fault either, and that's what's important. Has she ever blamed you for starting a fight throughout the years you've known each other?"

Akito shook his head.

"So she hasn't," Kiyotaka gave his classmate another nod of acknowledgement. "Do you know why? Because she knows you would never start a fight willingly. It's all we talked about yesterday and if I had to be honest, you have something a lot of people lack. A friend like Hasebe."

"Thanks…" Akito muttered, releasing a deep sigh to himself. He even sent a grateful look towards Kiyotaka, feeling reassured by those words because it came from someone who has helped him ever since he was simply asked to. "It's just that… Haruka's important to me, and every time I see her pushing herself like this for my sake, it makes me frustrated that I can't do anything to repay her for it."

"I may have just known her very recently, but I'm sure she's not the type of person to accept something in return for all the good things that she's done," the 'Masterpiece' commented. He could actually see Haruka yelling in anger if Akito even tries to give her something in return for what she's done for him.

"Yeah… she'll probably give me a scolding if I even try giving her something." Akito shook his head in amusement and let out a little chuckle afterwards, definitely seeing that scenario within the range of possibility given the girl's personality.

As things gradually became more quiet between them, both boys shifted their attention to the girls inside the dorm, and it seemed like everyone was still engaged in a serious discussion until now.

While Akito's gaze was glued towards Haruka, Kiyotaka stared at the two girls who have been a welcome addition so far to their investigation in this case.

Two girls who were also interested in Miyake for some reason and after spending months living with a superpower that turned his life into a dating simulator, it was quite obvious what that reason was.

Kind of ironic for someone who was trained in a facility that robbed him of his ability to show emotions, isn't it?

"I wonder… is the system making them interested in Miyake because Hasebe is one of my heroines? Or are they just naturally sttracted to him?" he asked himself, shifting his attention from Nene and Kokoro to Akito alternately. "I mean, it would explain why they're so determined to help him and why they keep on clinging to him. If it's just the system, then this whole thing is just showing off what it's capable of doing. If they're naturally attracted to him, then it just means that Miyake's popular with the girls. Sounds more believable than the first, honestly."

Looking back at it, Miyake was indeed a fairly popular boy within their class. He could remember the time when they were having their first swimming class, he had also garnered some cheers from the girls and about two of them were even squealing in excitement at seeing him compete with the other boys.

It wouldn't be crazy to think that Akito was just that charismatic and handsome in the eyes of their female classmates.

"However, if this dating sim superpower is indeed behind this, then it also implies that Miyake has feelings for Hasebe. If this is truly what's happening, then the system must be making these girls attracted to him because Hasebe is my heroine, and there'd be no chance of her developing feelings for him."

On the other hand, it could just be that his superpower was letting Miyake have Mori and Inogashira as some sort of consolation prize because Hasebe was one of his heroines.

A bit of a cruel move on the system's part, but it's not like he could do anything about it.

"There's a high possibility that Miyake likes Hasebe and the system is giving him two of our classmates as his own 'heroines', but would he even admit it? Perhaps I could ask him, but is that even wise?"

After a minute of thinking it over in his mind, Kiyotaka shrugged to himself and decided to get this over with.

What's the worst that could happen?

"I'm sorry if I'm assuming things, but are you perhaps interested in Hasebe as more than a friend, Miyake?" he asked.

Snapping out of his inner thoughts, Akito turned to his classmate in confusion.

"Huh?"

"You like Hasebe, don't you? That would explain why you seem to think highly of her and why you're beating yourself up for a mistake that you weren't even responsible for."

To Kiyotaka's surprise, it took Akito a good while to properly formulate a response, which was strange. If he was going to deny it and be annoyed with Kiyotaka for asking such a 'ridiculous' question, then he should have answered right away, but he didn't.

It only made the answer even more obvious at this point.

"...I don't know what you're talking about," Akito tried to deny, but failed to conceal the red hue that was starting to cover his face.

"I didn't hear a 'no'. Am I perhaps correct?" Kiyotaka continued while observing his classmate's reactions closely. "It makes sense, now that I think about it…"

"Shut it…"

"...she's the only girl in our class that you're close with, and you've also known her for years. You're comfortable with her around, you're thankful that she's there to help you, and you said that you didn't want her to see you in trouble. If I could give my opinion on your relationship with her, I wouldn't be surprised if you two started dating because it's entirely within the realm of possi—"

"Alright, shut up!" Akito snapped, sending a deep frown at Kiyotaka which caused the latter to stop in his rambling. After a few moments of glaring at his classmate, Akito let out a huge sigh of defeat and palmed his face in both frustration and embarrassment. "Fine. I do like her. Satisfied?"

Kiyotaka quirked an eyebrow. "If you like her, then why haven't you told her? You two have been friends for years, haven't you? I'd assume you two would be a couple by now."

Akito looked at him as if he was crazy. "Are you kidding? If I tell her that, then things will just be awkward between us. We practically grew up together since we ended up in the same schools every time."

"I'm not saying you should. It was only a question because I'm curious."

"Well, I'm telling you right now. I have no plans of telling her. I don't even want to think of what might happen if I do," he groaned. "But how the hell did you know that I liked her, though? I never thought you're the type of guy to pay attention to other people's relationships, Ayanokouji…"

"I had a lucky guess," Kiyotaka shrugged, feigning innocence. "And it's just a classic scenario that I've seen many times in anime and games."

"Huh…?" Akito frowned in confusion.

"You know, the trope where two people, a boy and a girl, who are childhood friends and grow up together end up as a couple in the end. It's actually present in a lot of fictional works," the young man explained, remembering several of the fictional works introduced to him by Eiichiro when he was still living with him and his father. "You and Hasebe are close to being prime examples of that."

"Of course I know that stereotype," Akito rolled his eyes and shook his head. "But our relationship is completely far from what you just said. We aren't even childhood friends, man. We just happened to end up in the same schools, that's it."

Kiyotaka nodded. "True, but it's close enough."

Akito gave him a weird look again, as he began to think of what his classmate was thinking right now. Seriously, why does it seem like Kiyotaka was pushing for him to confess to Haruka?

"I don't know where you're getting this from, but things aren't like that between me and Haruka. And honestly, I'm pretty fine with what our relationship is right now. I'm not that crazy over her to think of asking her out all of a sudden."

"Of course, it's your decision if you don't want to do anything, Miyake. I was merely commenting on what I think of your relationship with her."

Akito stared blankly at him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'm gonna say you were trying to bring us together, which won't work. Relationships don't work that way. Just because I confess to her, it doesn't mean we'll start dating right away."

The magenta-haired teen brought his gaze back towards the girls inside the dorm unit, particularly at his blue-haired friend whom he secretly harbored feelings for.

"Plus, a confession from me is the last thing she needs right now… when she's already doing her best to help me with my problem…" he mumbled.

While Akito descended into a mindless ramble of why confessing to Haruka would be a bad move, Kiyotaka only shook his head silently.

"He's gonna be so disappointed when Hasebe falls for me instead," he thought to himself.

Kiyotaka knew that it was only a matter of time before he gained even more Affection Points with Haruka and eventually, she would end up just like Kei, Kikyo, Chiaki, and Arisu who were all very open regarding their feelings towards him. Even if she's not the type of person to open up to everyone, he could still get the feeling that she would be really clingy and overly affectionate like most of his heroines.

He could only imagine what would be Akito's reaction to that, and it's obvious that it wouldn't be anything pretty.

"You'll have to forgive me for what will happen in the future, Miyake. But hey, it's not like it's the end of the world for you…"

The young man turned his attention back to the two girls who were still inside with the others, the two girls who were undoubtedly harboring feelings for him without his knowledge.

At least, it's what he was showing. Kiyotaka had no real idea if Akito knew that Nene and Kokoro are romantically interested in him or if he was dense but regardless, there is one truth in all this.

"There are two girls who are obviously into you, Miyake. You just haven't noticed it, yet. You're gonna have a harem of your own as well…"

---

After an hour and a half of discussing Miyake's situation in Kushida's dorm room, everyone finally decided to head back to their respective homes to retire for the day. Haruka actually wanted to spend the rest of her day putting their new plan in motion, but everyone else had convinced her to take a rest and that they will continue their search tomorrow.

Ayanokouji was the first to leave under the excuse of wanting to sleep as soon as he gets home, and nobody really had any problem with that. But everything almost went to ruin before he could step out of the door.

While everyone else bid him farewell in a casual manner, Kikyo went up to him and gave him a sweet peck on the cheek, which surprised everyone including him. He couldn't believe that she would do something so bold in front of everyone who was there but then again, she did kiss him in front of the whole class. Afterwards, the girl just gave him a cute smile and then a wink which could only mean that she was doing this on purpose.

Almost immediately, Kiyotaka left the room before anyone could make any comments about what happened. If he stayed any longer, then he would have been dragged back in with everyone and who knows what would have happened from there?

He wasn't lying about wanting to sleep right away. He really did want to get an early sleep after another tiring day as always but unfortunately, like every other day ever since last Friday, it was impossible for him to get what he wanted.

In fact, the moment he stepped inside his room, a pair of arms immediately wrapped around his waist and a pair of, erhm… assets were pressing against his back. This was a familiar sensation that he has been experiencing for the past few days now, but it was still enough to make him feel somewhat embarrassed because the person doing it seemingly had no sense of shame even if he sees her in the nude or something…

"Senpai~" came the sweet and sensual voice of his roommate. "Did you miss me?"

"I saw you earlier this morning," he said flatly while locking the door.

Ichika hugged him tighter, pressing her face and chest onto his back even more. "But isn't it always a good thing to see your cute and lovely kouhai~?"

"If we're talking about you, then I'd say it's a good thing whenever you're not being annoying," Kiyotaka sighed and removed her arms from around his waist and walked towards his bed.

"Aww, but I'm just showing you how much I love being around you, senpai…" Ichika walked after him while giggling in amusement. "I've dreamed of meeting you for years, you know? And now, I'm finally living that dream~"

"I hope the novelty wears off soon so I can go back to living like how I used to," he replied, taking off his shoes and then sitting on his bed, about to let himself fall into the warm confines of his mattress.

"You're going to sleep right away, aren't you? You should think about yourself, senpai. You almost didn't get to eat dinner last night if it wasn't for me reminding you to eat," Ichika pouted, speaking in a tone that made her sound like a disappointed wife more than anything.

The young man took off his blazer and loosened his tie a bit, before sending an unamused look towards his kouhai. "I'll take any amount of sleep I can get without you annoying me to the point that I can't even close my eyes. And don't worry about me, it's not like I'm neglecting my appetite completely."

The girl then smirked, before flashing him a grin. "Really? Even though I've got some information that you might find interesting, senpai? You're going to sleep without even hearing me out?"

That made the young man stop, just as he was about to surrender himself to the warm, comforting feeling of his bed.

Kiyotaka observed the girl for a moment, as he tried to get a good read on what might be in Ichika's mind right now. From the teasing grin that appeared on her face, he could easily dismiss her claim as a lie to get his attention but at the same time, he didn't think Ichika would kid around with a topic like this. Sure, this girl gets on his nerves quite often but that's simply because of her personality which is too much for him to handle along with his other heroines on a day-to-day basis.

Underneath that exterior she puts up, this girl was a subject of the White Room like him, and her prowess and abilities are no doubt useful. If she has 'information', then it's surely something that would be useful to him in the long run.

"I'll be the judge of that," he sighed in defeat, deciding to hear her out at the very least as he faced her. "What kind of information?"

The grin on Ichika's face grew wider as she approached her senpai and sat on his lap, before letting her arms rest on his shoulders, and her legs wrapping around his waist. Other boys would have been extremely embarrassed or had a nosebleed at this position by now, but not Kiyotaka. Not when this might lead to information that can be vital to him.

"I've been looking into Class C like what you told me to do, and I found out about a little incident that happened a few days ago involving some of them. I'm sure you already know what that is, don't you?"

"The same thing as what our whole class is dealing with at the moment, you know that. What do you know about Miyake's case?" Kiyotaka asked.

Ever since the day that Miyake got attacked, Ichika has never talked to him about it nor has she mentioned it in any of their conversations, even during the times when she was annoying him. The fact that she's mentioning this to him now, it must mean that she know something that none of his classmates know, not even him.

"Everything, senpai~" she smirked. "I know who were the people who attacked him, why they did it, and who ordered it! I even recorded the whole thing on my phone."

"You recorded the whole incident?" the young man asked, now fully intrigued with what his roommate knew.

"I did~! Aren't you proud of me?"

Before he could utter a response to her, the world around him stopped and lost color, and Kiyotaka could only roll his eyes in growing frustration. Of all the times that the system could activate and do something, it chooses this particular moment? Right when he was about to have an interesting conversation with Ichika for once? Right when he she had some information that is very important to their whole class at this point?

The deity that gave him this superpower must not want him to get any sleep tonight. Either that or the deity was just bored. Whichever works.

A. [I still think you're annoying, but eh. You did fine, I suppose.]

B. [That was a smart move, Amasawa. You did great.]

C. [I'm very proud of you, Ichika-chan. Now, what do you say to having a reward from your—]

Unwilling to make the same mistake he made yesterday, Kiyotaka immediately pushed the second screen before the third screen could even finish typing out the full sentence. What happened yesterday was completely embarrassing for someone like him, even if the choice he accidentally picked didn't lead to anything bad.

Furthermore, the last thing he needed right now was a horny Amasawa vying for his continuous affection, especially considering her… demeanor most of the time.

"That was a smart move, Amasawa. You did great," he told the girl while giving her a headpat, making Ichika beam in happiness as she let out a purr at the feeling of his hand running through her hair.

[You're becoming quicker in the choices you make! You gained +1 in Wisdom!]

[You have gained 10 Affection Points with Amasawa Ichika!]

[Well done trying to prevent the same mistake you made before too! Keep it up and I won't have to constantly intervene in your escapades.]

Kiyotaka blinked for a few moments, before he shook his head in an effort to forget the three notifications he just saw, especially that third one. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Or did he just see this eroge system talking to him straight up…?

…yeah, he's not even gonna make a comment on that first notification he got… not unless he wanted to go through a moment of existential crisis by wondering if he was truly in control of his life or if he was just a puppet in the palm of some deity…

Kind of ironic if that was the case.

"Your praise means very much to me, senpai~" Ichika giggled, sending a wink at her beloved senpai.

The girl's voice was at least enough to get his mind back on track, shifting his attention back to the topic of their conversation. "Now, you said that you know who were the people that attacked Miyake?" he asked, hoping to forget what he just saw by continuing this discussion.

"Yep~ It was Kondo-senpai, Komiya-senpai, and Ishizaki-senpai. All of them seemed really eager to beat up Miyake-senpai, even though it was the first time they've seen him," she revealed with a devilish look on her face.

"How did you know who they were?" he asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Well, that would be my secret, senpai~"

Kiyotaka ignored her remark since it wasn't really important and immediately thought about this piece of information that he got from her.

"Ishizaki… he's one of the names that Sudo mentioned when Miyake told us about the incident. Kondo and Komiya, he mentioned those names to us earlier," he thought to himself. "Sudo didn't ask them because he didn't want to risk them catching on to him and our class, but it turns out that they were the ones behind it anyway."

He thought about Horikita's plan to ask Shiina if she knew anything about the incident since she was a part of Class C and if she would be willing to say anything regarding it. Considering how Class C covered up its tracks well after what happened to the point that Miyake had no idea who his attackers were, he doubted that Shiina had any vital information but if she did, then it would be a great help to their class.

"If her plan to ask Shiina doesn't work out, then she'll go with her second plan. If she and Kushida manage to get a photo of Class C, then Miyake will be able to point out these three students as his attackers."

Okay, that answers the question of who were the people that attacked his classmate, but there's still one other question that's been bothering them ever since it was brought up, and it was the most important piece of this puzzle. The piece that can lead them to their victory in this case.

"Amasawa, was there someone else there?"

Ichika's eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh, there was~ she was so scared that I thought she was going to run away! But surprisingly, she didn't and she just stood where she was, hidden from Miyake-senpai and his attackers…"

Kiyotaka considered those words carefully in his mind. "Do you know who it is?"

She nodded. "Of course, senpai."

"Would you mind telling me?"

"I would, but could you brush my hair while I'm at it, senpai? It feels really lonely that I have to do this alone when you're here with me~" she asked, shifting her position so that she was facing away from him instead, before undoing her ribbons and letting her hair fall down.

Kiyotaka stared blankly at this girl after that demand she made. Of course she would ask him to do something for her in exchange for something she gives him, just like what happened last week during her arrival in this school, when he asked her to keep a close watch on Class C. And come to think of it, she hasn't really said anything about what she wanted him to do for her, but that's a story for another day.

Anyway, it's not like brushing his kouhai's hair was anything crazy. She could have asked him to do something else, but Ichika wanted this for some reason. Might as well let her have this instead of waiting for the possibility of her asking something else, and he didn't want to do such a thing.

"Fine," he sighed in defeat again, as he reached out for the hairbrush on top of his drawer and grabbed the girl's scarlet locks gently.

"Hehe, thank you, senpai~"

"So who was it that saw the whole thing?" he asked again while brushing Ichika's hair.

"Oh, well it was none other than your own classmate, Sakura-senpai~! She even recorded the whole incident with a terrified look on her face, it was so funny to watch!"

Kiyotaka's eyebrows rose in clear interest. That was a name that he wasn't expecting to hear.

"Sakura, huh? That explains why she didn't say anything when Chabashira-sensei asked if someone witnessed the fight. Actually no, it explains why she's been distant this whole time, like she's pretending that this issue doesn't exist."

Ichika turned her head slightly to look at him. "Isn't that a bad thing, senpai? I remember that Sakura-senpai didn't say anything when Chabashira-sensei asked if someone saw what happened to Miyake-senpai… at least that's what I saw while watching what was happening from my seat."

"I can somewhat understand the position she's in," Kiyotaka shrugged. "She's the only one who witnessed the incident first-hand, thus it falls upon her to bear the responsibility of knowing what truly happened that day. And knowing Sakura, she's too timid and shy to even think of confessing that she saw the incident with her own eyes. I do believe she wants to help, regardless."

"Well then, what do you want to do with her, senpai? Are you just going to wait and see what she does?"

"I'll leave Sakura alone for the time being. Now that I know she's the witness we were looking for, our victory is pretty much guaranteed. For now, I want to see what she does with the knowledge she possesses. Will she step up and tell everyone what she knows to help Miyake, or will she keep the information to herself because she's too scared?"

"What an interesting move, senpai. I like your attitude! Now I'm curious about what Sakura-senpai will do now too!" Ichika applauded her senpai's thought process with a big smile on her face. "What about Horikita-senpai and your other classmates?"

"I'll continue to help them as if I don't know anything," he replied. "It's because I'm curious to see if Horikita's plan will be a success. She mentioned the possibility of Shiina knowing something about the incident, and I'm curious about that as well."

"And what if Shiina-senpai doesn't know anything?" the girl asked, knowing who her senpai was referring to.

Kiyotaka shrugged again, as he brushed the girl's hair one more time before stopping. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see if that's the case. In the meantime, you said that you recorded the whole fight? I'd like to watch what happened."

"Sure thing, senpai! Let me just get my phone…"

With that, Ichika stood up from the young man's lap and grabbed her phone by the table, before walking back to the young man. While she was trying to find the video that she took of the incident between Miyake and the students of Class C, a sudden memory sprouted in her mind and caused her to snap her fingers upon remembering it.

"Oh, that's right! Senpai, I need to tell you about something else," she said, earning a raised eyebrow from Kiyotaka who was now wondering what this was about. "It has something to do with Horikita-senpai and Kushida-senpai~"

"What about them?"

"Oh, you're gonna love what I found out while I was watching them yesterday~!" she exclaimed, making the young man even more curious about what Ichika was talking about. "But that can wait for later. In the meantime, here you go! You wanted to watch what happened, right?"

With a devilish grin on her face, Ichika handed her phone over to her senpai who took it from her with a thankful nod. As he began to play the video of the incident with Ichika beside him, he noticed that the video was taken from behind Sakura while also keeping the boys' scuffle a part of the video so he could see what really went down.

"I wonder what Sakura will do, when there's only a few days left before Miyake's trial. Will she step forward with what she knows along with the video she took, or will she continue to remain silent until the end?"

Even though he couldn't see the redhead's face from this perspective, Kiyotaka could tell that she was completely nervous despite recording the whole incident on her own phone and the fact that the boys couldn't even notice her presence.

"I hope you don't disappoint me, Sakura," the young man thought as he watched Airi try to help Akito right after the Class C students left the scene.

[A Special Event has been Triggered!]

"What the fu—"

Number of days left before Akito's trial: 4

---

MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*

-Lance