"If it was school bullying and the victim's father came for revenge... but why would the girl pushed off the building be an unrelated person?"
Sora frowned slightly.
He felt the situation had suddenly become confusing.
"Sora-kun, it's getting late."
Angel-sama softly reminded him, looking up:
"We need to hurry to the general building."
"Alright, let's go right away."
Sora gathered his thoughts and turned to the gyaru senpai beside him:
"Yumeko-senpai, Mahiru and I have things to do, so we'll be going ahead. Are you okay going to the general building by yourself?"
Shikiya Yumeko tilted her head, her face expressionless:
"I... have a problem..."
"..."
Even if you have a problem, we can't take care of you right now!
There are people coming and going in the school right now. Even if you collapse, you don't have to worry about being snatched away!
"Mahiru, let's go."
Sora turned and prepared to leave.
The gyaru senpai's usefulness has been squeezed dry; there's no need to bother with her anymore.
Unfortunately, Angel-sama was kind-hearted and couldn't bring herself to abandon a companion. She gently pursed her beautiful lips:
"It's not far. I'll support Shikiya-senpai to the general building."
"Thank you..."
The gyaru senpai wasn't polite at all. She looked at Sora and dropped a bombshell:
"Sora... is more... comfortable to hug..."
Stare—
Angel-sama's gaze sharpened, silently looking at Sora.
"I didn't, I don't."
Sora quickly raised his hands to prove his innocence:
"Yumeko-senpai faints at the drop of a hat. I encountered it twice before and carried her to the student council, that's all! Mahiru, don't be jealous!"
"I-I'm not jealous..."
Mahiru's pretty face quickly flushed red. She reached out to support the gyaru senpai, denying it in a small voice:
"Shikiya-senpai, let's go."
The journey was silent.
The three of them hurried and finally arrived at the general building before the time rewind point.
Having memories from before the time rewind, the three went directly to the third floor, preparing to enter the club room where the girl who fell was.
As they passed by the window, Mahiru suddenly stopped in her tracks:
"Sora-kun... look inside."
"Has it already started?"
Sora looked inside through a gap in the curtains. A middle-aged man with stubble and a disheveled appearance came into view.
It was exactly the man who had pushed the student off the building.
At this moment.
The man in the club room was emotionally agitated and irritable.
Opposite the man, a girl with short black hair was leaning against the window, her face pale, trembling uncontrollably.
Naturally, there were other girls in the club room, but they were all keeping their distance, acting as if it didn't concern them. Some were even holding up their phones to take pictures.
Sora's gaze narrowed, landing on the black-haired girl by the window.
"...It's the girl who was pushed off the building."
His gaze swept over the others. In a corner, two girls with their arms crossed over their chests, watching the drama unfold, caught his eye. They were the two delinquent girls who appeared in the surveillance footage during lunch break.
Based on what he overheard during lunch break, those two delinquent girls were the true culprits behind the bullying. Why were they completely fine?
"She's a friend..."
The gyaru senpai's slow voice suddenly rang in his ear.
"Hmm?"
Sora's ears twitched slightly, and he turned to look at Shikiya Yumeko:
"That black-haired girl is Yumeko-senpai's friend?"
"No..."
Shikiya Yumeko shook her head, her voice intermittent:
"She's Misaki's... friend... I've seen... them go... to the restroom together..."
Girls who go to the restroom together definitely have a very good relationship.
But the question was.
Since she was Misaki's good friend, why was she bearing the brunt of her friend's father's anger, while the delinquent girls nearby were staying out of it?
While they were talking, the argument in the club room escalated again.
The middle-aged man suddenly reached out both arms and grabbed the short-haired girl's shoulders. The short-haired girl was crying and begging for mercy, but unfortunately, due to the soundproofing, they couldn't hear clearly what was being said.
As the situation escalated, the girls inside began to realize something was wrong and started to retreat one after another. Absolutely no one stepped forward to help.
If the situation continued to evolve, the black-haired girl would soon be pushed out the window by the out-of-control man, her life blossoming into a flower of fresh blood...
"Sora-kun, the door is locked, it won't open."
Mahiru's voice was anxious. She tried to push the door open, but unfortunately, it wouldn't budge at all.
"I-I'll go get the key..."
The gyaru senpai's voice finally lost its slowness, becoming equally anxious.
As a member of the student council, she naturally wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
"There's no time."
Sora took a deep breath and said straightforwardly:
"Mahiru, step aside."
"Okay."
Angel-sama quickly stepped aside.
Sora quickly took a half-step back, then abruptly leaped and delivered a front kick.
Boom!
The wooden door burst open directly, falling inward. The loud noise instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Sora's expression remained normal. He strode into the club room with his head held high, completely uncaring about the consequences.
This time loop clearly couldn't solve the problem; they needed at least one more cycle. So it didn't matter how much damage he caused.
It's a good thing Mahiru is kind-hearted and won't use her abilities for evil. If her moral standards were slightly lower, she'd probably turn into a Homelander who doesn't eat beef.
"A boy broke in!"
"It's that boy who ran the race holding hands with two girls at the Sports Festival."
"I think his name is Izumi-kun."
"Why didn't I notice before, our underclassman is surprisingly handsome."
"..."
The girls in the club room weren't clear on what was about to happen. They all looked at Sora curiously, their faces full of eager gossip expressions.
The middle-aged man, however, paid no mind to Sora's intrusion. He merely glanced back before withdrawing his gaze, continuing to glare viciously at the black-haired girl in front of him.
"Tell me right now, why is your name all over Misaki's diary!?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
The short-haired girl's eyes were full of tears, only apologizing incessantly.
"Is he drunk?"
Sora slightly frowned.
The middle-aged man's eyes were bloodshot, and he reeked of alcohol. He was clearly drunk, and his state was quite frantic.
In this situation, ordinary comforting words definitely wouldn't work. He had to attract the man's attention as quickly as possible, otherwise he might still push the black-haired girl out the window.
Sora's mind raced, quickly devising a solution. He exhaled, spoke up, and directly dropped a bombshell:
"The child in Misaki-senpai's belly is mine!"
"..."
The air instantly fell silent.
Then, like cold water dripping into hot oil, it exploded with a boom.
"What?"
"Misaki-san is actually pregnant?"
"No wonder she refused to come to school. Could she have secretly had surgery at the hospital?"
"..."
Such explosive news instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Even Mahiru subconsciously widened her beautiful eyes, staring blankly at him.
"C-Child?"
The middle-aged man was dumbfounded, his expression blank. He subconsciously released his grip on the black-haired girl.
Thump.
The black-haired girl slumped to the ground, clutching her neck and coughing.
"What did you say?!"
The middle-aged man snapped back to reality. Like an enraged lion, his face flushed red, he charged towards Sora:
"The child in Misaki's belly is yours?!"
With quick reflexes, Sora grabbed the middle-aged man's wrist.
Over the recent period, with constant night runs with Mahiru, his character level had steadily increased. Now, his physical fitness was approaching the human limit, making handling the middle-aged man in front of him a piece of cake.
But there was no need for that.
The most important thing right now was to gather as much information as possible before the time loop ended, aiming to resolve everything in the next loop.
"Mahiru, go question that girl."
Sora quickly turned his head, gesturing to Mahiru with his eyes.
"Okay..."
Shiina Mahiru immediately understood and quickly walked towards the black-haired girl sitting on the floor.
Sora, meanwhile, restrained the middle-aged man with both hands and took the offensive:
"Misaki-senpai has been avoiding me lately. She doesn't reply to messages, doesn't answer phone calls... Is Misaki-senpai cheating on me?"
"You're spouting nonsense!"
The middle-aged man angrily retorted:
"My daughter is not that kind of person!"
Sora took the opportunity to press further:
"Where is Misaki-senpai? Why hasn't she been coming to school?"
"Misaki is in the hospital..."
The middle-aged man's expression quickly darkened, his voice trembling:
"She... she slit her wrists at home... Fortunately, I found her in time and took her to the hospital..."
"It must be that girl!"
The middle-aged man suddenly turned his head, glaring viciously at the black-haired girl:
"I found Misaki's diary. I finally cracked the password, and it was full of her name, followed by pages and pages of 'why'!"
"It must be her!"
"She bullied Misaki, otherwise my daughter would never have self-harmed!"
"..."
Hearing the middle-aged man's furious roar, the black-haired girl trembled all over, tears streaming down like a waterfall.
Sora hurried to ask for details, preparing for the next rewind:
"Which hospital is Misaki-senpai at?"
"What is the room number?"
"What is the password to the diary?"
"..."
With his daughter 'pregnant' with the boy's child in front of him, and having been drinking, the middle-aged man's head was groggy, and he subconsciously answered each question.
Sora then asked a few more questions, and time quietly reached its end.
"That's about enough asking." Sora let go of his hands. "See you later."
"What?"
The next second.
The entire world's pause button was abruptly pressed.
Then, countless streaks of light flew backward.
The deafening cheers reached his ears once more.
Sora opened his eyes. Without any surprise, time had rewound again to the moment the Sports Festival concluded.
"Sora-kun~"
Angel-sama's soft call rang in his ear.
Sora gave a slight nod. The two quietly moved to a corner and began exchanging information in low voices.
"I asked earlier. That black-haired girl is named Kayo, and she is indeed Misaki-senpai's friend. Those two girls who appeared in the surveillance footage often bully them."
"The night before the exam, they went to the office together. But Kayo-senpai absolutely refused to say what exactly happened; she just kept crying."
Shiina Mahiru softly shared the information she had obtained.
"The middle-aged man is Misaki-senpai's father. The father and daughter depend on each other." Sora nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "The man's job is in sales, he travels for business often and is rarely home."
"After Misaki-senpai was caught stealing the exam papers, she locked herself in her room."
"Yesterday, she even chose to commit suicide by slitting her wrists. Fortunately, she was taken to the hospital in time and is not in life-threatening danger."
"After taking Misaki-senpai to the hospital, the middle-aged man returned home and found Misaki-senpai's diary. The password is her mother's birthday."
"After unlocking the diary, it recorded the facts of the bullying, and the last few pages of the diary were entirely filled with Kayo-senpai's name, along with pages and pages of 'why'."
"Because of this, the man impulsively came to the school, furiously demanding the truth."
"..."
Shiina Mahiru gently furrowed her delicate eyebrows, looking up in confusion:
"Kayo-senpai and Misaki-senpai are friends. Why is the diary filled with Kayo-senpai's name?"
"If we want to know the truth, we can only ask her face-to-face." Sora's expression was calm as he laid out his plan. "Let's go to the general building first and get the diary from Misaki's father... He must have already hidden in the general building."
As they spoke, Anna curiously leaned in:
"Sora, Mahiru, hurry up and go change clothes."
"Coming."
Sora replied, heading towards the general building with the girls.
Since they already had the information they needed, there was no need to trouble Tia and the gyaru senpai this time.
A moment later.
The two arrived at the club room where the incident took place. Looking inside, there were only girls; there was no sign of the middle-aged man.
"That man isn't inside." Shiina Mahiru gently furrowed her delicate eyebrows. "He must be hiding somewhere."
"He's highly likely in the men's restroom." Sora said softly. "I can go in and look for him, but the problem is, once I stop observing you, the other Mahiru will appear."
Shiina Mahiru hesitated for half a second, her gaze quickly becoming resolute:
"Go ahead, Sora-kun. Find his hiding spot first. It will save time in the next loop."
"Okay, I'll go in and take a look."
Sora agreed and walked into the men's restroom at the end of the hallway.
Sweeping his gaze around, he didn't see the middle-aged man. Sora's gaze fell on the stalls, and he spoke up:
"I know Misaki-senpai's secret."
Bang!
The door of the last stall was quickly pushed open, and the stubbled middle-aged man rushed out:
"What did you just say?"
Sora was unhurried: "Uncle Suzuki, good afternoon."
"You... know me?"
The middle-aged man hesitantly stopped in his tracks.
"Misaki-senpai and I are friends."
Sora lied with ease, his face unchanging, his heart not skipping a beat:
"I only found out today that Misaki-senpai was being bullied. So please give me the diary, I will avenge Misaki-senpai."
"You..."
"The password to the diary is her mother's birthday, right?"
"How do you know?!"
"Of course Misaki-senpai told me." Sora's expression was natural. "It couldn't possibly be that you told me, right?"
"..."
A moment later.
Sora walked out of the restroom holding a pink girl's diary.
Knowing the name of the hospital Misaki was at, the room number, and the password to the diary, the middle-aged man quickly believed Sora's identity. He handed over the diary, and under Sora's persuasion, temporarily remained in the restroom.
"Got it."
Sora returned to Mahiru's side and held up the notebook in his hand:
"Now we can call Kayo-senpai out."
"Leave it to me."
Angel-sama nodded gently, walked into the club room, and called the second-year black-haired girl out.
"Excuse me, what do you need me for?"
Kayo-senpai's expression was confused.
"This is Misaki-senpai's diary. Take a look at it first, Kayo-senpai."
Sora didn't waste words, directly presenting the diary. He opened with a finishing move.
The black-haired girl's expression changed slightly. She hesitantly took the diary and bit her lip as she began flipping through it.
After reading the contents of the last few pages, the black-haired girl's defenses completely broke. She fell to her knees on the ground, covering her face with her hands, sobbing softly.
"Kayo-senpai, please tell us the truth."
Angel-sama crouched down halfway, softly comforting her:
"Misaki-senpai slit her wrists yesterday. Fortunately, she was rescued in time and is currently in the hospital. If we want to save Misaki-senpai, we can only help seek justice."
"H-How could this happen..."
The black-haired girl's shoulders trembled as she finally revealed the truth.
Both she and Misaki had gloomy personalities and were often bullied. Over time, they actually became good friends.
During the midterm exams a while back, the two delinquent girls who bullied them wanted to go to the office to steal exam papers and dragged them along.
Things did not go smoothly.
They made too much noise and were discovered by patrolling security guards.
Fortunately, the office was on the first floor, so they could escape through the window.
The two delinquent girls naturally climbed out the window first, but one of them sprained her ankle while jumping out and couldn't run at all.
To avoid being caught by the pursuing security guards, the two delinquent girls blocked the window. Then they forced Kayo and Misaki to make a choice: one person had to stay behind as a scapegoat to buy time for the others.
"T-The security guards were already outside the door at the time. My mind was completely chaotic..."
Kayo spoke of that night's events through her tears.
"Being caught stealing exam papers, the teachers would definitely tell our parents."
"My mom and dad are super strict. I didn't want them to know."
"So... so... in my panic, I pushed Kayo down, and then I escaped myself..."
"..."
Sora and Mahiru remained silent.
So that was the truth.
No wonder the last few pages of the diary were filled entirely with Kayo's name and 'why'.
Clearly, in Misaki-senpai's heart, the despair of being betrayed by her best friend was far more painful than being bullied.
"So this is the truth..."
Shiina Mahiru exhaled softly. She looked up at Sora, her gaze resolute:
"Sora-kun, we must clear Misaki-senpai's name and ensure the guilty are punished accordingly."
Although she had never met Misaki, Angel-sama still stepped forward without hesitation.
"It's been a long time, and with the surveillance cameras broken, there's no physical evidence. If we want to clear Misaki-senpai's name, we can only make those two bullying girls 'confess' their crimes themselves..."
Sora's mind raced, quickly devising a countermeasure.
"Just the two of us isn't enough. We need Elf's help."
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
The door of a classroom not far away was pushed open, and several girls walked out together.
Elf, Mahiru, Anna, and Kuroneko—not a single one was missing.
"Wait... why are there two Mahirus?"
Anna widened her beautiful eyes in shock:
"Could it be that imposters have invaded the campus?!"