Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Saotome Meari's dinner thus ended with a harmonious beginning and an awkward conclusion.
After the meal, neither of them mentioned going to see a movie or going on a date, and they simply parted ways.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had thought about the words he said to Saotome for a long time, but in the end, he decided to say them so mercilessly.
He had already covered for Saotome enough. If he continued to indulge her this time, letting her believe that even if she lost a gamble, there would be a way to salvage it.
Then Saotome would become even more reckless, heading into the gambling abyss never to return.
At that time, what she put on the gambling table might be more than just one night.
Saotome Meari had only been at this school for a few days; she didn't have a clear understanding of gambling. In this regard, she was even less clear-headed than Hanatemari Kazura.
In this school, it was very difficult to completely avoid gambling, but at least one needed a clear mind to know what could be gambled and what could not…
As stated above, this was actually just an excuse Ayanokoji Kiyotaka found.
The real reason was that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could no longer return a "complete" Hanatemari Kazura to Saotome.
After returning to the hotel in the afternoon, Ayanokoji called room service to clean up, tidying away the traces of last night.
He, meanwhile, sat in front of the computer, thought for a moment, and then deleted the surveillance video on it.
…Last night, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's "guest" was none other than Hanatemari Kazura.
Presumably, many people are curious about what happened last night… So, let's recreate what happened last night.
The story begins with the text message Hanatemari Kazura received.
She received not a message from her family, but a text message from Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
The content of the message was simple—it told her to go to the school hotel, where Ayanokoji was waiting for her in room 306, saying he had something to ask her.
Kurume Laiwei had been pestering Ayanokoji since leaving the banquet hall, constantly saying she wanted to find a hotel to fulfill their agreement. Ayanokoji had to put in a great deal of effort to persuade her to leave.
Then, he returned to his room to wait for his guest.
After waiting for about half an hour, his room door was finally knocked.
Opening the door, standing there was Hanatemari Kazura, her head lowered and her face pale.
"You're here. I thought you wouldn't come…"
Ayanokoji poked his head out the door and looked around, not seeing Saotome or Togakushi, somewhat surprised: "Did you come alone?"
"Yes, I told them I was going home tonight, and they don't know I came here," Hanatemari Kazura nodded, stating lightly, "This is convenient for you too, isn't it?"
"It is indeed more convenient with the two of them not here." Ayanokoji nodded and led Hanatemari Kazura inside, "Come in, I've been waiting for you for a while."
Hanatemari walked in, surveyed the room's setup, and entered the bedroom. Looking at the large bed that could accommodate three or four people, she couldn't help but let out a sneer.
"Ayanokoji-kun… You're really too impatient, aren't you? As soon as the match ended, you booked a luxurious king-sized bed. Are you expecting to sleep under the same covers with two girls tonight?"
"Where is Kurume-san? Is she in the bathroom showering right now? Call her out. Anyway, I'm already prepared."
Hanatemari Kazura took out a string of condoms from her pocket, her expression becoming resolute: "I'm ready. No matter what you want to do tonight, I accept my loss."
No wonder Hanatemari was late; it turns out she went to buy these…
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was speechless for a moment, sitting on the sofa and shaking his head in exasperation: "Hanatemari, did you misunderstand something? I called you here today not for you to fulfill the agreement. I just have something to ask you."
"…It's not?" Hanatemari was startled.
"My family situation is a bit special, and I don't really like staying at home, and home is a bit far from school, so I just rented this room long-term. I've been living in this room for several days now, and I'll continue to live here.
So please don't misunderstand, this room wasn't opened for you. Moreover, Kurume isn't here either; I've already sent her home."
So that's how it is… Hanatemari Kazura's face instantly flushed.
She even made a special trip to the supermarket to buy an umbrella, stayed downstairs at the hotel for a long time, and prepared herself mentally before coming up, but she didn't expect Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to have no such intention.
"Even if I were to collect a 'betting fee' from you, it wouldn't be now; there's something I absolutely must confirm with you."
"What is it?" Hanatemari Kazura breathed a sigh of relief.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't speak directly, only motioned to her from beside the computer: "Come over and see for yourself."
What could it be...?
Hanatemari Kazura walked to the computer with curiosity and sat down.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't deliberately keep her in suspense and directly opened the surveillance video.
At first, Hanatemari Kazura was somewhat confused, but when she saw that the surveillance footage was of the entrance hall in front of the Teaching Building, her face instantly turned pale.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't speak at this moment either; he simply sat back on the sofa and leisurely drank the black tea he had brewed while waiting for Hanatemari, giving her time to process.
After a long while, Hanatemari slowly spoke: "...Ayanokoji-kun, what do you mean by this?"
"I should be the one asking you that."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at Hanatemari playfully: "You're bolder than I imagined. I really find it hard to believe that you would have the resolve to put razor blades in your own shoes."
The surveillance footage showed that no one had touched Hanatemari's shoe cabinet between yesterday evening and early this morning.
So the conclusion was obvious, and there was only one—the razor blades inside the shoes were placed there by Hanatemari Kazura herself, and they had been there for a long time.
Every girl's shoe cabinet contained more than one pair of shoes. Hanatemari Kazura had placed the pair of shoes containing the razor blades in the shoe cabinet at some unknown time.
Then, that morning, she deliberately waited for Saotome at the school gate. When they arrived at the entrance to change shoes together, she pretended to casually take out the shoes with the razor blades from the shoe cabinet...
Hanatemari knew that since Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was able to get the surveillance footage, any explanation she gave would likely be useless.
"Yes, I put the razor blades in the shoes," Hanatemari admitted.
"Can you tell me why?" Ayanokoji asked.
Ayanokoji was truly curious why she would put razor blades in her own shoes, creating a scene where she was a Stray Cat, being "persecuted" by other female students in the school.
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