/
“Aahh, it’s finally gone
”
After finally scrubbing his thumb clean, Kaburagi returned to the small conference room.
“I scrubbed so hard that my skin’s all dry. Kisshouin, do you have any hand cream?”
What a high maintenance young master~
Honestly.
I took my hand cream out of my bag and handed it over.
He rubbed a bunch of it into his hands and looked pretty satisfied.
Curious, he turned it over to look at the brand.
I suppose he liked it.
They don’t sell that in Japan yet, so you can’t have it.
Give it back.
“Anyway, I’d like to talk about what we’re gunna do next.”
Next?
Oh right, I was supposed to help him with Wakaba-chan.
I was happy to just go along with it, all things considered.
For one thing he didn’t believe that I was the bully.
For another he had vowed not to attack my family.
“I see~”
Ah, what the hell.
I put on some hand cream too.
When you moisturised, you had to get right down to the fingernails.
Hm, it was feeling a bit dry, actually.
I made a note to use some nail oil when I got home.
“Oi, sound a bit less uncaring. Come on, I need your help. Your hair is the god of love, isn’t it? You’re supposed to have made a lot of loves bear fruit.”
“I have no recollection of my hair becoming such a thing, but
”
And also, neither Class Rep nor Iwamuro-kun’s crushes had borne any fruit yet.
At least in my opinion.
Speaking of which, I wonder how Sakura-chan and Akizawa-kun’s Valentine’s went.
I should ask her later.
“Oi, Kisshouin. Are you listening?”
“I most certainly am.”
Kaburagi looked at me incredibly suspiciously.
Did I seem that unconcerned?
Oh, was he angry?
Uh oh

I quickly changed gears.
“You wanted to discuss our future plans, yes? Please continue.”
After a few more looks of distrust, Kaburagi sighed in defeat and continued.
“Kisshouin. Do you, uh, know which girl I like
?” he asked hesitantly.
“Takamichi-san, no?” I replied as a matter of course.
I was treated to a look of shock.
“So Kisshouin had noticed
” he muttered.
Hm
?
Kisshouin?
“You know
 It is probably not just me. In fact, the odds are that the entire student body knows.”
“Eh
!?”
I don’t know what he was so surprised about.
I mean, with the way he was behaving anybody would notice.
Don’t tell me he thought he was hiding it!?
“Kaburagi-sama who only ever says the bare minimum to any girl is suddenly talking with fervour to Takamichi-san. How could anybody miss it?”
“You’re right
” he exclaimed with his hand raised to his mouth.
“Please do not tell me that that was your idea of hiding it?”
“No, I mean, I wasn’t really trying to hide it but being told that flat-out was
”
I guess he was embarrassed.
And considering Wakaba-chan’s position, you should have been trying to hide it.
“You know, the major reason Takamichi-san is being harrassed is because other girls are jealous of the attention you give her.”
His expression turned severe.
“So it was my fault
”
“Well, it was not the only reason.”
For one thing, she was a commoner.
For another thing, despite having her own charm, she looked a little dopey, and was a far cry from the image of a capable woman.
And this was the girl who beat out Suiran’s pride and symbol in the exam rankings.
Considering the stock they put Suiran’s image, there were plenty of people who would find Wakaba-chan unacceptable.
“Do you have any idea who the culprit was yesterday?”
“I truly cannot say
”
I had no idea, but I would look into it.
“Do you know how the staff investigation is going?” I asked.
“They won’t bother looking. They’re pushing it under the rug to avoid a fuss,” he spat.
Well, I could understand that.
If the culprit happened to be a big wig they’d really be stuck between a rock and a hard place.
A member of the Pivoine for example.
In the past there was a Pivoine member who bullied somebody into dropping out so it wasn’t impossible.
But denouncing a member of the Pivoine would result in plenty of alumni lashing back.
Since the victim was just a powerless External Student they probably figured it would be better this way

“I’m still looking for them myself, but I’ve got nothing so far.”
“I see.”
Plus, there was no guarantee that the person from yesterday was also responsible for the graffiti on her desk.
Actually, there were still people who suspected me of being the one behind yesterday.
I needed to do something about that.
First of all I needed to spread rumours about Tsuruhana-san and her friends trying to frame me for their own harassment.
Thanks to what Mochida-san said I’m pretty sure people would believe it.
They had history of bullying, after all.
Reika-sama was just a poor girl being blamed for no reason.
Yeah, that sounds good.
Besides that, all that was left was finding the culprit.
“How do you think I can help Takamichi?”
“Considering her situation she would probably be best served with you leaving her alone.”
“Oi!”
Leaving your love for the sake of your love

Yeah, from his expression he’s not buying that, huh.
“Are you telling me to give in to these cowards!?”
“That is not what
”
“Those tactics will never work against me. I’ll protect her. Just watch! I’ll never give up!”
“I see
”
I might have flipped some weird switch in him.
What a bother.
“Hm?”
Kaburagi’s show of passion was interrupted when he suddenly checked his phone.
“Oh, Shuusuke’s asking where I am. Apparently people are talking about how we’re not in the salon today.”
Good timing.
I can finally get the hell out of here.
“Well then, we can continue this next time. I will be heading home now, but I suppose you will be returning the salon, no? I will continue my own investigations with the girls, so rest assured.”
“Yeah? Well that’s one thing, but we still haven’t discussed my love life at all yet. Ah well, it’s getting late I guess. Alright, we’ll continue another day.”
“Quite. Well then, please excuse me.”
I quickly made for the exit before he came up with anything else.
Unfortunately, before I made it, he stopped me again.
“Oh yeah, pass me your email address, Kisshouin.”
Geh!
“I, I do not have a
”
“I know you’ve got a phone, Kisshouin. That play won’t work. Hand it over.”
Geuhhh!
I bitterly handed it over.
I had wanted to avoid this

I wonder if I could ignore his messages by claiming my phone was out of batteries.
Anyhow, just as I left the room he sent me a message to check that it worked.
I ignored it, only to receive another message every five minutes.
I need to change my email!