Volume 4| Chapter 11: November (Up) – Part 1
Several unexpected events happened, but somehow the Cultural Festival ended.
During spring vacation, my cousin, Hibiya Kazuto, or Kazu-nii, told me that this world is an otome game’s world. As a result, I started to spy on the game’s heroine. And before I knew it, more than half a year had passed.
Kazu-nii is one of the heroine’s capture targets, and according to him, the otome game ends at Christmas. Until then I, Niimi Shiori, will cooperate with Kazu-nii to make sure he doesn’t get captured by the heroine.
In any case, looking at the yearly schedule of our Seika Maria Secondary Academy, I have to say the most exciting event is the Cultural Festival at the end of October.
I would also think that it was a grand occasion for my classmate Kyouko-jou who is in the reporting club. I mean, the reporting club is entrusted with narrating all the programs held at the auditorium and hosting of the events in the dojo and gymnasium. Kyouko-jou had her own tasks with the reporting club, yet she also participated in our class’ café and the Miss Contest.
I, too, ran left and right busily during the Cultural Festival, so I didn’t know how Kyouko-jou was doing at all back then.
Still, I properly saw the Miss Contest. Kyouko-jou overwhelmed everyone with her model-like figure. Yeah, geez, I seriously wondered why I didn’t go to the pool with Kyouko-jou. I should have tried asking her during summer vacation.
Well, we do have swimming classes here at school, so I have seen her in a swimming suit. I couldn’t see any signs of her beautiful figure breaking down. I’m a hundred percent sure that she exercises every single day. ……Though I wonder what would I do if she tells me that she doesn’t exercise or anything and eats junk food every single day. That will be way too unfair.
“Basically, it was interviews and more interviews after another.”
About a week has passed since the end of the Cultural Festival.
On a certain day in our classroom…
Kyouko-jou spoke about all her exhausting work as she put a news article on the wall. The said news article was a special feature on all the events that happened during the Cultural Festival. It was also included as an extra in our school newspaper, so I already knew what was on the article. However, the article she pasted on the wall was an extra deluxe wall poster size.
“Aikawa-san can be captured beautifully on film anytime,” I couldn’t help but comment.
I think Kyouko-jou prepared this deluxe size for the article that highlighted how Maria-jou won the Miss Contest. Aikawa Maria-jou… She is the heroine of this otome game world and, without a doubt, an extremely beautiful girl.
I couldn’t help but stare at the big news poster. My eyes found a photo of our Year 1, Class B’s Halloween Café in a section featuring what every class did in the festival. We dressed up as monsters in our cafe and were praised.
“Ah~ They used this picture, huh~ It would have been better if he was dressed up as a vampire. I should have taken a picture. Sorry to bring this out of the blue, but did anyone take a picture of Shibuya-kun?” Sasaki Yumi-chan called out from behind me. She is a good friend of mine.
During the day of the festival, Iinchou substituted for an injured classmate of ours and wore a vampire costume. It’s true that Iinchou suited the vampire look quite well.
“Ah! I took a picture of Shibuya-kun!” One of the make-up girls shouted. Yumi-chan cheerfully took out her cell phone and approached her. Right away the two of them started sharing pictures.
As for Iinchou himself…… He mumbled in a somewhat mixed voice, “What are my portrait rights in this situation?”
“I can’t believe you are saying that when you have a picture of me at my part-time job without my permission,” I said to him.
I worked part-time at a cafe called ‘Nyan Nyan Café’ during summer vacation. All the waitresses had to wear cat ears and tail, so I did too. Iinchou has a picture of me in that said outfit.
“…….When you say that, I can’t argue back,” Iinchou said before he tilted his head, looking up at the news poster. “Every section of this special edition has been done carefully.”
“Right? But there won’t be any more events in the school for a while. I mean, there is Christmas in December but it’s hard to interview both people who are dating and people who aren’t. …That’s why I was thinking about finding a scoop at the church again.”
I was surprised at Kyouko-jou’s words. She had tried to sneak into the church located on our school grounds in the past to find a scoop. We learned she went missing for a whole night. Well, we found her sleeping in the church in the end though.
“…You’re going to visit the church?”
Kyouko-jou smiled brightly. I think she was able to tell my worries. “Ahaha, no need to worry. This time, I’ll visit the church properly in the afternoon. I’ll be interviewing Father Michel this time. From the rumours I hear, he listens to students’ worries like a school counsellor,” she said.
“Oh……”
Now, Father Michel is the new priest that came to the church in October. He is very good looking, to the point you could mistake him for an angel or fairy.
Truthfully, he is also one of the capture targets of the game. On top of that, he is French.
“There’s no reason not to interview a beautiful looking person like him,” Kyouko-jou declared, making a fist.
Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve heard how the reporting club wanted to do a special feature on the hottest guys in our school, but it fell flat. They argued about to what level the reporting club should declare a guy as ‘hot’. It was hard to draw a line, so the plan couldn’t be put to place. I mean, everyone does have their own tastes. And that’s especially when it comes to someone’s sense of beauty.
Well, it goes without saying that all of Maria-jou’s capture targets are good looking. Personally, I want to include our ex-student president, Tsukishima-senpai, into the ring of good-looking guys. If Senpai could get interviewed, I would definitely give it a read.
“It’s fine to interview him but you should be careful, okay?” Designer-kun, or Kamura-kun, interjected. He had been staring up at the news poster quietly at the side. “Father Michel is young compared to the previous Father. His faith is very strong… I mean, he won’t look fondly on you if you interview him just for jokes.”
“Thank you. I’ll be careful about the questions I’ll ask him,” Kyouko-jou agreed.
“Really, make sure you do. Don’t ask him something like ‘the type of girl you like’ just because he’s good looking, okay? He isn’t allowed to marry, so questions like that will bother him.”
“No worries, I wasn’t going to ask him that. By the way, how about you, Kamura-kun? What type of girl do you like?”
“Me? I think all girls are cute,” Designer-kun said smoothly.
Kyouko-jou sighed like she was astonished. “There’s no point in interviewing you at all.”
I honestly agree.
Suddenly, it got nosy at our door. I looked over — it turns out that Kazu-nii, my cousin and homeroom teacher, has arrived.
It seems like this fun moment before homeroom starts has come to an end. We didn’t have a choice, so everyone returned to their seats.
Next to my seat was Tsuchiya-shounen, who was currently sleeping on his desk. He is also Maria-jou’s childhood friend and one of her capture targets. However, Tsuchiya-shounen did something during our Cultural Festival preparation period. He actually insulted Maria-jou when she was wearing make-up. While I don’t think those words came from his heart, he hasn’t apologized to her either. Since then, there has been a distance between Maria-jou and Tsuchiya-shounen.
Maria-jou’s grandmother’s health worsened a day after the Cultural Festival, so she has been absent from school since. Kyouko-jou did drag Tsuchiya-shounen to Maria-jou’s house as he’s been moody and hesitant this whole time. However, I don’t know if Tsuchiya-shounen managed to apologize to her in the end. Judging by how Kyouko-jou isn’t angry, I would like to think he has properly apologized this time.
“Tsuchiya-kun, Sensei is here~” I called out.
He showed no signs of waking up. He must be sleeping quite deeply. I wonder if I should say, ‘He’s asleep,’ when Kazu-nii takes roll call. Such thoughts ran into my head as I continued to stare at him. However, that was when Tsuchiya-shounen suddenly sat up straight without warning.
“…! Haa… haaa… haaaa…!” Tsuchiya-shounen panted, breathing heavily again, as he seemed to scratch roughly at his chest. He looked really pale. I noticed how sweat was forming on his forehead. “Kuh……” He grinded his teeth.
“H-Hey… What’s wrong, Tsuchiya-kun?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Shut up! Don’t talk to me!” He raised his voice before grimacing and clawing his chest again.
“Hey!” This is bad. I don’t know what’s happening, but I can tell something was wrong. “Sensei!” I stood up and raised my hand. “Can I take Tsuchiya-kun to the infirmary!?”
But even if I say that, it’ll be tough for me to support Tsuchiya-shounen, who was taller than me, all the way to the infirmary. I called out to Terakado-kun and left Tsuchiya-kun to a number of the guys in our class. Incidentally, Terakado-kun is a member of Neo Candle, a band formed by him and other classmates here. He was also strong looking.
I won’t be helpful at all, so I stayed behind in class. Yup.
After the first period ended, I asked Terakado-kun how Tsuchiya-shounen was doing. According to him, Tsuchiya-shounen fell asleep the moment he laid down on the infirmary’s bed.
Tsuchiya-shounen didn’t come back for the whole morning. As you might expect, it bugged me, so I took a trip to the infirmary during lunchtime. Of course, I didn’t go alone — Kyouko-jou and Yumi-chan also joined.
Maria-jou isn’t here today because of her grandmother’s health. While she did come to school yesterday, she tends to be absent since the Cultural Festival.
“From what I can see, he’s only sleeping,” Suzuki-obaachan sensei said in a confused tone to us when we reached the infirmary.
We had to promise to be quiet before Suzuki-obaachan sensei guided us to Tsuchiya-shounen’s bed.
“I have also informed his club’s advisor,” Sensei informed us. “But I think it’s best if he gets a checkup at the hospital. I noticed how he was scratching his chest earlier… Well, he is in the swimming club, right? This may be a special case.”
I flinched when I heard her words.
I think Tsuchiya-shounen is healthier than an average person since he trains everyday in the water. However, at the same time, an athlete will overwork his body the harsher he trains. I have heard how it’s easier for them to reach their limit and breakdown.
People have high hopes for Tsuchiya-shounen as a swimming athlete…
I started to get anxious. Yet Suzuki-obaachan sensei shocked me even more with her next remark.
“I wonder what’s happening today. Just earlier, Katsuragi-kun from Class C also came…”
“Eh!?” I was on the verge of shouting, so I quickly covered my mouth with my hand.
Suzuki-obaachan sensei opened the curtain a bit and showed how Katsuragi-kun was resting in the next-door bed. He is one of the capture targets and practised martial arts. Frankly, the image of him in poor health didn’t suit him.
He rested his palm on his forehead, exhausted, and shut his eyes tight. I couldn’t help but recall the Sports Festival. At that time, Katsuragi-kun was quite pale and walked unsteadily. Even then he didn’t want to visit the infirmary, so for him to be here, he must be feeling quite terrible.
Kyouko-jou, Yumi-chan, and I observed the two.
“It doesn’t look like they both have the same symptoms,” Kyouko-jou muttered quietly. “For a moment there, I panicked, thinking there’s a weird sickness spreading.”
Yumi-chan lowered her voice as well and asked, “What do you mean by weird sickness?”
“Like a sickness that only good-looking guys would get.”
“If that sickness actually existed, we need to prevent it from spreading for the sake of the world and me,” Yumi-chan replied rather seriously.
Of course, these two weren’t making fun of the situation. From how their faces paled and looked at the two with worry, I could see their concern.
“I’m worried too, but……. There’s nothing we can do even if we say here,” I couldn’t help but say. My words were probably the same feelings Yumi-chan and Kyouko-jou had. We came here cause we couldn’t stop thinking about it. Yet, in the end, the only thing we learned was that ‘we can’t do anything’.
“The three of you, lunch is ending soon. Leave the rest to me,” Suzuki-obaachan sensei said to us.
We didn’t have any choice but to leave.
It was at this time, someone grabbed my arm, making me stop in my tracks. I looked back and saw Katsuragi-kun grabbing my arm with faintly opened eyes.
“…….Niimi?” His eyes were unfocused and vacant as he stared at me. “Is this… a dream…”
“You’re in the infirmary. …Are you feeling okay?”
Katsuragi-kun didn’t answer back immediately. For a while, he gazed at me before shifting his eyes away. “…….Who would have thought I’ll see a shameful dream like this…” His tone coloured with self-deprecation. Katsuragi-kun uttered such words before he closed his eyes again.
His hand lost strength and my arm was released.
“U-Ummm… Hey, Shiori-chan, how about staying behind here?” Yumi-chan proposed timidly. “Since Katsuragi-kun looks like he wants you to stay by his side.”
No, I don’t think he gave a reaction suggesting that. If anything, won’t I be in the way?
Yet, for whatever reason, Kyouko-jou also agreed with Yumi-chan. “You have a point. Shiori, why don’t you stay?”
On the other hand, Suzuki-obaachan sensei was certainly different from the average person. “The three of you, return to your classroom. I won’t accept any behaviour of truancy here.”
Naturally, no one can argue with Suzuki-obaachan sensei.
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Once the Cultural Festival ends, the next event is the school trip. However, only the second year students can participate.
When it comes to our student council members, this would include our student president, Mizusaki-senpai; vice-president, Tanaka-senpai; and the accountant, Kaneshiro-senpai. The top 3 of our school will be absent at once with the school trip.
There are first year students in the student council, but I can’t help but pray there wouldn’t be any troubles.
“Where are you going this year?”
Today, after school, I came to visit the student council room. Of course, I came because I had an important document that needed the student council’s seal.
I took a seat on the guest sofa, drank green tea, and asked about their upcoming school trip. Presently, there were only three members in the student council room right now, who were incidentally the top 3.
Tanaka-senpai offered the green tea to me and also answered my question. “We’re going to Kyoto for five days and four nights.”
“Honestly, it’s a horribly boring choice. At least make our trip overseas… Why do we have to visit some place we can easily get to with the bullet train?” Mizusaki-senpai complained.
“Homare, don’t be selfish,” Kaneshiro-senpai said with a sigh. “Also, you will be busy this trip. I predict your fan club will swarm together at you during our free activity period.”
From what I can see, Tanaka-senpai is the only one genuinely excited about the Kyoto field trip. Mizusaki-senpai and Kaneshiro-senpai both think it’ll be a pain. The two boys were Maria-jou’s capture targets, but I wonder what kind of event would happen for a field trip that first years can’t participate in.
“Since it is a school event, how about not viewing it as some vacation? You will be visiting shrines too, am I right?” I pointed out.
“She’s right. Mizusaki-kun, why don’t you view it like Niimi-san is doing? I think you should learn to love the ancient capital with that empty head of yours,” Tanaka-senpai said.
“Wha….!? In the first place, the only reason why you’re looking forward to it is because a poor person like you doesn’t get to go on trips regularly.”
“Yes, you’re right. And is there something wrong with that? Even if it’s a school event, I’m heading to Kyoto for the first time. I’m looking forward to it~ Niimi-san, I’ll be sure to buy a souvenir for you.”
“Eh! No, I’ll be troubling you. It’s enough you said that to me, so please take pictures for me instead. I want to see Tanaka-senpai at the shrine and other sightseeing spots enjoying the trip.”
“Oh my, fufu. Are you sure that’s all you need? In that case……”
Tanaka-senpai and I chatted happily.
Of course, Mizusaki-senpai butted in with displeasure. “Are you forgetting about me here…!”
“Hey, do you know why Niimi-san is waiting here?” Tanaka-senpai answered back with a frown. “She is waiting for your seal. It’s because you are like this that the amount of documents we need to look over doesn’t decrease by one bit. Why do you think I am here, standing by, after school with the rest of you?”
“Tanaka-san, please calm down,” Kaneshiro-senpai said, trying to pacify the situation.
Recently, Mizusaki-senpai and Tanaka-senpai will argue often like this in the student council room. Kaneshiro-senpai steps in once in a while, but he usually leaves them be. Actually, I think he might be watching them over with lukewarm eyes.
Also, I realized something just now. Kaneshiro-senpai calls Tanaka-senpai with her last name. For whatever reason, Kaneshiro-senpai calls the women he trusts with their last names.
A bunch of things happened and I went from ‘Shiori-san’ to ‘Niimi-san’. However, if I’m remembering correctly, Tanaka-senpai has been ‘Tanaka-san’ from the very start.
This is just my intuition but I think Kaneshiro-senpai doesn’t see any problem with Tanaka-senpai dating Mizusaki-senpai. Still, Mizusaki-senpai is a son of a distinguished, wealthy family. I won’t say the two have different social status, but there is a big difference in their lifestyles. It might be hard for them to date one another, however……
No, well, looking at reality, I can see Tanaka-senpai shows no signs of wanting a romantic relationship with him. Mizusaki-senpai doesn’t look like he views Tanaka-senpai as an object of romantic interest either.
That being said, it’ll be interesting if something happens during the school trip… Err, no, I didn’t think of anything just now. Tanaka-senpai, please forgive me.
Putting that aside, something has changed a little in the school since the Cultural Festival ended.
There were traces of a thief during the Cultural Festival preparation period and at the closing party. The school consulted the police, but as there hasn’t been any damage, the police wouldn’t do a full-fledged search yet.
In any case, there is now a group of people in black suits wandering around in our school grounds. I’ll cut straight to the point — they are Mizusaki-senpai’s bodyguards. Apparently, they have been around before. Still, they have been given orders not to step inside the school grounds in the past. But as the thief also tried to steal from Mizusaki-senpai’s bag, Mizusaki-senpai’s family were worried.
Even now there was a single man in a black suit standing outside the student council room. Hey, hey, isn’t Mizusaki-senpai’s family too overprotective?
“To begin with, I don’t know if we can go on the field trip……” Mizusaki-senpai mumbled.
“We’ll trouble everyone if we bring all your bodyguards with us,” Kaneshiro-senpai commented. “But the president understands the trip is a school event, so it should be fine.”
“Do the two of you want to go on the field trip or not?” I asked boldly, tilting my head in confusion.
Mizusaki-senpai gave a look like he bit on something bitter for a second. Meanwhile, Kaneshiro-senpai smiled.
“…….There wouldn’t be many occasions from now on where we can go out and play with other students,” Mizusaki-senpai answered.
“Truthfully, Homare wants to go on the trip very badly. However, he is faking it in case he can’t after all,” Kaneshiro-senpai added with a small laugh. “Incidentally, I think it’s troublesome, so I wouldn’t mind skipping. Still, going on the field trip will be more fun than skipping and coming to a school where none of my classmates are around.”
“Oh? But I wouldn’t mind if the two of you skip though?” Tanaka-senpai’s so ruthless.
I eventually received the student council president’s seal on my document and left. I walked through the western building.
Seika Maria Secondary Academy has three main school buildings. There is the eastern building where the first years’ classrooms are, the western building where the student council and second, third years’ classrooms are, and the centre building where the staff rooms and special classrooms are.
Come to think of it, I saw Maria-jou wandering in the western building yesterday.
I thought for sure that she was after Mizusaki-senpai or Kaneshiro-senpai. Yet her eyes were chasing after the captain of the Mizusaki Homare Official Fan Club. Maria-jou purposely walked where the captain could see her and glanced again and again.
However, the captain didn’t react at all. Well, she did look annoyed for a second, probably because she lost against Maria-jou in the Cultural Festival’s Miss Contest. Maria-jou repeated this for a number of times before leaving in confusion.
I tried asking Kazu-nii about this last night, and he answered back with this: “Isn’t there probably some main event with Mizusaki involving a fight with his fan club?”
If he’s right then Maria-jou’s scheme fell short.
I continued to walk with such thoughts in my head. That was when I noticed the captain of the Mizusaki Homare Official Fan Club crouching down in a corner of the western building. She sat down in the hallway with her hand against the wall. I wonder if she was hit with sudden dizziness.
“Umm…” I called out to her, before realizing I didn’t know her name.
The captain lost regrettably in a close battle with Maria-jou in the Cultural Festival’s Miss Contest. The captain is gifted in both beauty and intelligence and had her name emphasized again and again in the Miss Contest but… I kept paying attention to Maria-jou and Kyouko-jou that I can’t remember her name.
“Are you alright? How about visiting the infirmary?” I asked.
She looked up with a pale face and answered back hoarsely, “I-I’m…… fine… If I rest a bit… then…”
Anemia? I wondered, and stopped when I saw the colour of her eyes. I had a bad feeling.
Her eyes were vacant and unfocused. It’s like they lost their conscious mind and—
I couldn’t help but try and call out to her again. But before I did, she fell down and collapsed onto the floor.
“Mizusaki-senpai……” She muttered so faintly that her voice could vanish away.
I hurried to call for help. I ran into my seniors’ classroom and cooperated with a number of students to carry the captain to the infirmary.
Suzuki-obaachan sensei’s face twitched when she saw me. It’s probably because I was injured a number of times and made her worried. Well, this time, I wasn’t the one being carried to the infirmary.
“What’s the situation?” Suzuki-obaachan sensei asked.
“I don’t know. She was crouching in the hallway, looking ill. When I called out to her, she said she was fine and then collapsed. …Ah, she said ‘Mizusaki-senpai’ at the end.”
“Call Mizusaki-kun here! Hurry!”
Ah, crap. No matter how I look at it, I didn’t really need to mention the last part.
My seniors were overwhelmed by Suzuki-obaachan sensei’s force and jumped out of the infirmary to run to the western building.
Some time passed and Mizusaki-senpai and Kaneshiro-senpai showed up. They looked at the captain sleeping in the infirmary bed and were surprised.
“It’s Gomi. I thought I hadn’t seen her in the past few days but… What happened?” Mizusaki-senpai asked.
“If I’m remembering correctly, Erika-san was quite angry and said she will find the thief that searched through your bag,” Kaneshiro-senpai said.
It seems the captain’s name is Gomi Erika-san.
Hmmm… So the Mizusaki Homare Official Fan Club would even try to be a detective, huh. Amazing.
“Gomi, hey, get a hold of yourself. Can you recognize me?” Mizusaki-senpai called out.
The captain opened her eyes slightly. She was still in a daze before she smiled quite happily… and fainted once more. Please stop. That’s the kind of reaction someone would make right before they actually die.
“Erika-san, this isn’t the time to be unconscious. Did you find the thief going through Homare’s bag?” Kaneshiro-senpai questioned.
Captain Gomi snapped her eyes wide. “Ah! …Please forgive me. Silly me. I was way too happy that Mizusaki-senpai came to see me that I was on the verge of rising to heaven.”
That’s dangerous.
Captain Gomi stiffened her expression to look serious and somewhat managed to sit up. “More importantly, this is bad, Mizusaki-senpai. I had all the members of Mizusaki Homare Official Fan Club investigate the matter. In the end, we did find one suspected member of the group of thieves… It seems their objective is a jewel belonging to you.”
“Jewel?” Mizusaki-senpai looked puzzled.
“Yes. The colour and shape of this jewel is unclear to us but… The member said they committed theft to locate this jewel. However, after they confessed this, they started to act strange. They splashed some strange perfume in the area before fleeing. On top of that, we can’t remember the culprit’s face anymore. I had certainly seen their face, and so did everyone else with me, yet we can’t recall the culprit’s face anymore.”
Mizusaki-senpai and Kaneshiro-senpai exchanged looks.
It is a really strange story. Nonetheless, the two of them didn’t think Captain Gomi was crazy or that she was lying either.
“The perfume gave off a smell that hurt my chest. Ever since then, I’ve, too……” Captain Gomi pressed her hand against her chest, paling. Her eyes became more and more unfocused with each second.
“Hey… Oi, Gomi. Get a hold of yourself.”
“U-Ugh… N-No, more. Don’t come into my head…” Captain Gomi fainted once more, collapsing on top of the bed.
“Hey!” Mizusaki-senpai made a grave expression, glanced once at Kaneshiro-senpai, before turning to Suzuki-obaachan sensei. “I’m sorry but could you call the ambulance? Her condition isn’t normal.”
“Oh my, you’re not going to take out your cell phone?”
“We’re forbidden to make calls within the school grounds,” Mizusaki-senpai said.
And that’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d hear from him. It looks like Mizusaki-senpai started to obey the school regulations since he became the student president.
Suzuki-obaachan sensei also noticed the strangeness of this matter. “I’m sorry for making a joke. Leave her to me and all of you should head home. Mizusaki-kun, to be on the safe side, do you have any idea as to the cause of her symptoms?”
“No,” he replied clearly.
“Niimi-san, you should head back too.”
“Yes,” I nodded obediently and left with Mizusaki-senpai and Kaneshiro-senpai.
“Also, why were you here, Niimi-san?” Kaneshiro-senpai asked me why I was at the infirmary.
“I found Captain Gomi in the western building looking ill,” I said plainly. “That is it. …I suppose it just happened this way?”
I could have left it to my seniors and call it a day. However, I couldn’t help but wonder about the colour of her eyes before she collapsed. Those eyes were unfocused and blank. When have I started seeing students with those kinds of eyes? The Cultural Festival? Or before then?
“Still, the culprits’ objective is a jewel…? I might be very wealthy but do I look like an idiot who’ll bring expensive objects like jewels inside the school?” Mizusaki-senpai questioned.
“I wonder. The culprit might have said they were looking for a jewel, but it isn’t necessarily one,” Kaneshiro-senpai said to Mizusaki-senpai before glancing at me.
I can guess what Kaneshiro-senpai was thinking. It was probably those [stones].
Mizusaki-senpai and Kaneshiro-senpai were born, holding a stone. Kazu-nii and Katsuragi-kun also have similar stones. As such, Kazu-nii and I suspected that those [stones] were proof they were capture targets in the game. Adding to this, Iinchou said those stones were the materialization of the capture targets’ [hearts]. If someone obtained those stones, they would obtain that person’s heart.
The first person I thought of who would want those stones were Maria-jou. However, Captain Gomi said it was a ‘group of thieves’. If it’s a group then Maria-jou shouldn’t be involved. Maria-jou generally acts alone.
When it comes to obtaining Mizusaki-senpai’s heart, I’m sure there are many people interested. If anything, I feel like you should be suspicious of his official fan club members. However, judging from Captain Gomi’s condition, they don’t seem to be involved either.
Thoughts ran into my head before I nodded.
“Please excuse me,” I said before separating from Mizusaki-senpai and Kaneshiro-senpai halfway.
I hurried back to my classroom.
I ran off in order to capture a certain someone who might still be around——
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TL note: I’m happy to be on the last volume of this story!