The after-school crowd surged like a tide towards the dormitory area.
Sakamoto-kun and Kamuro Masumi walked side by side among them, yet it was as if they were in an invisible bubble of silence.
Kamuro Masumi's head was slightly bowed, her purple hair falling to cover most of her face.
Her fingers twisted her school bag strap, and her steps seemed a bit stiff.
Along the way, she several times secretly turned her head to look at Sakamoto-kun beside her, her lips moving, as if she wanted to say something,
But the words reached her lips, only to be swallowed back down.
The secret that had been accumulating for a week was like a heavy boulder pressing on her heart, yet she didn't know how to begin.
Sakamoto-kun's steps were composed, his gaze behind his black-rimmed glasses calmly looking straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to Kamuro Masumi's hesitations,
Or perhaps, he had already seen through everything and was just patiently waiting.
Sakayanagi Arisu, following not far behind, experienced another kind of torment.
Leaning on her cane, she had to maintain distance to avoid being discovered, yet also keep a close eye on her target to prevent losing them.
Her body was not as strong as an ordinary person's, and the prolonged trailing and fast walking made her breathing slightly rapid, with fine beads of sweat even appearing on her temples.
Her cane tapping on the slightly uneven ground required extra care to maintain stability.
This physical exertion and mental tension made her somewhat irritable.
Trailing... was indeed not something she was good at.
Finally, the three entered the relatively quiet dormitory area, one after another.
The surrounding students had noticeably thinned out, and the road was lined with lush trees and neat dormitory buildings.
Sakamoto-kun, walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
He turned around, facing Kamuro Masumi, who was still looking down beside him, and broke the long silence:
"Kamuro-san, you said earlier that you had something you wanted to discuss with me?"
His gaze calmly fell upon Kamuro Masumi,
Without urging, without impatience, just a calm inquiry.
Kamuro Masumi's body trembled suddenly, as if startled awake by these words.
She abruptly looked up, quickly scanned her surroundings to confirm that no other students nearby were paying attention to them, and then took a deep breath.
"Sakamoto-kun,"
Her tone was unusually firm,
"There's something I absolutely must tell you. I'm sorry for keeping it for a week."
She took another deep breath, as if to suppress the nervousness in her heart,
And then rapidly poured out the words she had been holding in:
"Just last week. Probably the afternoon of the second day of school! I overheard a conversation between Sakayanagi Arisu from our class and Ryuuen Kakeru from Class C in a rarely used corridor."
Her voice was very low, but clear:
"Sakayanagi-san exchanged core information about 'class points' that our Class A possessed, for Ryuuen Kakeru to gather information on you. To target you, they... they seem to be teaming up against you."
"I overheard their plan. But I didn't know what to do at the time, or whether to believe it... so I've delayed telling you until now. I'm really sorry, I apologize, Sakamoto-kun!"
She finished speaking, her purple eyes fixed on Sakamoto-kun's face, her chest rising and falling slightly,
As if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted, yet she was even more nervously awaiting his reaction.
A week of concealment, at this moment, transformed into an instant of confession.
Sakayanagi Arisu, hiding behind a thick tree trunk nearby, her pupils contracted the moment she heard Kamuro Masumi's words, and her hand gripping her cane tightened sharply.
Not because of Kamuro Masumi's betrayal, but because—Kamuro Masumi was actually present.
That afternoon... she was also near that corridor.
She had heard her transaction with Ryuuen Kakeru.
She had believed that the meeting was discreet enough, but she hadn't expected walls to have ears,
And this "ear" was Kamuro Masumi, a classmate who usually seemed quiet.
Sakayanagi-san instantly understood many things—Kamuro Masumi's recent abnormal actions, her unusual attention to Sakamoto-kun... it wasn't about being "trained as a subordinate" at all, but because she had overheard that transaction, and her heart was filled with fear, guilt, and unease.
She was worried about Sakamoto-kun, trying to "remind" or "compensate" in her own way.
So, this also proved that:
Ryuuen Kakeru.
The information he provided was completely false.
He was using this information to sow discord and mislead her.
A surge of anger at being fooled rose in Sakayanagi-san's heart, but even more, it was a sense of relief—
Fortunately, she hadn't been completely misled.
However, just as Sakayanagi-san's thoughts raced, and her mind was slightly shaken by this sudden truth—
Sakamoto-kun's reaction to Kamuro Masumi's astonishing confession was unexpectedly calm.
He neither showed a shocked expression nor displayed anger or gratitude,
He merely nodded slightly:
"I see. Thank you for informing me, Kamuro-san."
His reaction was too bland, as if he had known everything all along, or as if this matter was trivial.
This extraordinary calmness, on the contrary, made both Kamuro Masumi and Sakayanagi Arisu in the shadows feel a hint of bewilderment.
However, the next second, Sakamoto-kun's action was completely unexpected by everyone!
He didn't say anything more to Kamuro Masumi, but suddenly turned around, his steps composed yet purposefully, walking directly towards where Sakayanagi Arisu was hiding.
Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly snapped back to reality, horrified to find that, at some point, Sakamoto-kun had already left Kamuro Masumi's side, his gaze seemingly precisely fixed on her position.
She instinctively wanted to retreat, to hide herself better.
But perhaps it was her shaken mind, or perhaps her foot happened to step on a slippery fallen leaf, or perhaps the prolonged trailing had exhausted her stamina too much,
The tip of her cane suddenly slipped the moment she hurriedly moved her feet to retreat.
"Ugh!"
Sakayanagi-san let out a short gasp,
Her body instantly lost balance, stumbling sideways and falling.
She could feel the ground rapidly enlarging before her eyes.
The embarrassment of falling and being discovered intertwined.
However, the expected pain of falling to the ground did not come.
Just as her body tilted and she was about to lose her center of gravity, in a flash of lightning,
A slender, strong hand, as if its trajectory had been calculated in advance,
Precisely and steadily grasped the shaft of her cane, which was about to fly out of her hand.
At the same time, his other hand, extremely swiftly, through the sleeve of her school uniform,
Gently supported her elbow on the other side!
A perfectly balanced, steady force came through,
Instantly stopping her fall and steadily righting her stumbling figure.
The entire process was as fast as lightning, incredibly fluid, without any unnecessary delay,
And without any unnecessary physical contact.
Sakayanagi Arisu stood steady, still shaken, her breathing a little ragged.
She looked up, meeting a pair of calm, unruffled black eyes just inches away.
Sakamoto-kun had, at some point, already stood before her, one hand steadily supporting her cane that had almost caused trouble, his other hand already politely withdrawn.
His gaze, calm behind his black-framed glasses, looked at her: "Sakayanagi-san, please watch your step."
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly sweeping over the spot where Sakayanagi Arisu had just been standing there, a dead branch hung precariously.
The very next second after Sakayanagi Arisu was steadied by Sakamoto, a soft 'snap' sound was heard, and the branch broke off, falling exactly where she had almost stumbled.
"Furthermore," Sakamoto continued calmly, his gaze returning to Sakayanagi Arisu's shocked face, "dead branches often fall from above here, making it not very safe. I suggest you leave as soon as possible."
He released his grip on her cane, his movements natural and fluid, as if he had just performed a most ordinary act of kindness.