Chapter 7. And then, the culprit was exposed.
Chapter 7. And then, the culprit was exposed.
Chapter 7. And then, the culprit was exposed. CHAPTER 7 And then, the culprit was exposed.
“I mean, seriously, what is that?”
“…”
From the classroom entrance, Masachika’s face twitched as he witnessed the overwhelming presence by the window. In front of him, Alisa stood utterly speechless as well. Their eyes were fixed on what appeared to be a mountain of presents—easily more than twenty—stacked on Alisa’s desk by the window. “Appeared to be” because some of them lacked any wrapping or ribbons whatsoever.
“Oh, crap.”
“She’s already here.”
“Looks like we ran out of time.”
The voices quickly drew their gazes to three students at the blackboard using colorful chalk to draw party poppers, ribbons, what looked like was going to be cake, and large letters that read, Happy Birth .
“Wait. Is this for me?” Alisa mumbled inadvertently, seeing the presents on her desk along with the drawings and letters on the blackboard.
“Awww.” Her classmates chuckled immediately, including the three at the blackboard.
“When we got here this morning, we saw all those presents on your desk and noticed they said ‘Happy Birthday’ on them, so we thought we should at least do something…”
“Yeah… We didn’t finish in time, though…”
After two students at the blackboard explained what was going on, the third student set down his chalk and suddenly burst into applause.
“Happy birthday, Alisa!!”
Although it was obviously an attempt to bulldoze through the issue with pure enthusiasm, other classmates soon began to join in, until the entire class was clapping.
“Happy birthday!”
“Congratulations!”
“Happy b-day!”
“Happy birthday!”
“Happy birthday! Not sure today’s even your birthday, though!”
“How does a single one of you not know?! Her birthday was two days ago!” Masachika said jokingly, and noticed Alisa seemed torn—as if she didn’t know whether to be happy or to point out that today wasn’t her birthday.
“Congratulations! Happy belated birthday!”
“Don’t pretend like you knew, Maruyama! Your enthusiasm isn’t fooling anyone,” Masachika quipped once more as the boy who started the applause began clapping even louder. Their banter sparked laughter throughout the room while the applause only grew louder, some students even beginning to whistle with their fingers.
“Happy two-days-ago birthday!”
“Yeah, happy birthday!”
“Congrats, girl!”
Suddenly, a flurry of congratulations erupted in the classroom while Alisa, looking utterly bewildered, wore an uncertain yet unmistakably pleased smile.
“Thank you… Thank you all so much … ,” she muttered, covering her mouth slightly with her hand.
“““ … !!”””
The usually composed, extraordinarily beautiful girl was obviously trying to hide her embarrassment, and her expression pierced the hearts of both male and female classmates. The applause and finger-whistling continued to swell in volume until students from nearby classes began peeking in from the hallway, drawn by the noise.
“What the … ? It’s her birthday today?”
“Whoa! Look at all those presents.”
“She have a fan club or something … ?”
“I have no idea what’s going on, but happy birthday!”
“Again, it was two days ago!”
The excitement was escalating, so Masachika attempted to defuse the situation with a few humorous comments, but the classroom was clearly never going to settle down with Alisa bashfully blushing behind him. The circle of applause and well wishes continued to explode, drawing in even more people who had no idea what was happening when—
“What is going on in here?”
However, the commotion subsided somewhat when a disciplinary committee member, attracted by the noise, made her appearance. It was none other than Sayaka Taniyama, the first-year rising star of the disciplinary committee. Her glasses glinted beneath a set of blunt bangs as her piercing, unperturbed gaze forced the overly excited students to cower and lower their hands.
“Alisa … ? Good morning. What’s going on?”
“Hey, Sayaka. I’m actually not sure myself… It was like this when I got here.”
Sayaka pushed up her glasses, noticing the writing on the blackboard and the presents on the desk.
“Are those birthday gifts … ? I thought your birthday was two days ago. Why now?”
“Probably because we didn’t have school. I’m guessing one or two people must have brought her a birthday present today, and when others started noticing the pile, they quickly went out and bought something as well…and here we are,” Masachika presumed, before suddenly furrowing his brow.
“…Hold up. Who was the first person to leave a present?”
He turned his attention back to the pile of presents. While they were calling it a pile of gifts, it wasn’t like the towering pyramids of enormous gift boxes you would see in anime or manga. There was only one large box. The other gifts were thinly wrapped packages or small, palm-sized gift boxes. Scattered across the desk were snacks, drinks, and stationery that had obviously been purchased at the school shop as well.
“I mean, it’s obvious the stationery and drinks here are presents from people in our class.”
As Masachika’s eyes swept across the room, his classmates suddenly all wore identical sheepish expressions as if to say, “Guilty as charged.”
“Yeah, we couldn’t just sit here and get her nothing.”
“Like, I feel bad we couldn’t get her something better, but we figured it was better than nothing…”
“Oh, don’t feel bad. You have no idea how happy I am. If anything, I feel bad for not getting you all anything for your birthdays. Thank you so much. That said…I can’t help but notice all the cans of sweet red bean soup…”
A quick glance revealed over five cans of sweet red bean soup, drawing a somewhat conflicted look from Alisa. Without missing a beat, the entire class shifted their eyes toward Masachika, as if he were to blame. Feeling uncomfortable at suddenly being in the spotlight, he cleared his throat awkwardly and muttered:
“Yeah, well, uh… Let’s organize this stuff… How about we put all of it on my desk for now?”
Masachika then slid his desk alongside Alisa’s, and together they organized the non-wrapped presents: snacks, juice, and stationery. What remained were numerous carefully wrapped presents, presumably placed there by someone other than their classmates. They examined each one, checking the back and sides, but there weren’t any cards or really anything to identify who the gifts were from. There was only a single ribboned sticker with Happy Birthday!! written on it, which at least made it clear they were birthday gifts. However…
“None of the presents say who they’re from…”
“And now that I think about it, there aren’t really that many people who even know when your birthday is, right? Any idea who knows other than the people that went to your party?”
“…No.”
A stack of mysterious gifts, all from anonymous senders, without a single clue as to their origins… Both Masachika and Alisa were naturally hesitating about touching the increasingly suspicious pile…when Sayaka suddenly broke her silence.
“Hmm… This is starting to feel a little suspicious. I—the disciplinary committee—should hold on to these for now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because bringing non-school related items to school is a violation of the rules, and said rule is subject to enforcement by the disciplinary committee. Besides…”
Sayaka, after subtly glancing around herself, then stepped a little closer to Alisa and Masachika and whispered:
“There’s also the possibility that these were left here by one of your rival’s fans in order to sabotage your chances in the election, so it’d be better if we opened them together alongside the rest of the disciplinary committee.”
“ … !!”
Her observation snapped Masachika back to reality. The high school hadn’t seen any sort of scummy election interference since the incident at the school festival, so he had grown completely complacent. However, Sayaka was absolutely right.
Yeah… This could easily be some kind of bad prank related to the election…
Finding needles or thumbtacks in the gifts would be downright charming compared to what some lowlifes might try. Nevertheless, this was Seirei Academy’s election—this was war. It was entirely within the realm of possibility that someone might have hidden a microphone or a camera inside the gifts, which they could easily exploit to expose their opponent’s secrets or weaknesses.
I wouldn’t put it past some motivated scumbag like Yuushou to do something like that…
After Masachika’s expression twisted slightly at the thought, he gave Sayaka a small nod of gratitude.
“Thanks, Sayaka. Things have been so peaceful lately that I let my guard down,” he said softly.
He thereupon turned toward Alisa and deliberately spoke in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
“We should do as Sayaka says. Who knows? Some sick fan of yours might have gotten you something really weird.”
“Good point. Thanks, Sayaka.”
“Not at all. Anyway, I’ll call for help.”
No sooner had she said that than Sayaka pulled a transceiver from her pocket.
“Is that…a two-way radio?”
But despite Alisa’s bewilderment, Sayaka just pressed a button and began speaking into the transceiver.
“This is Taniyama, year one. I need three first-year students to come to classroom 1-B to transport around ten suspicious items to the disciplinary committee room. Over.”
A few moments passed after she released the button before several voices began responding one after another through the transceiver.
“This is Fukunaga, year one. I’ll be there in ten seconds. Over.”
“Why even respond if you’re going to be here in ten seconds?”
“This is Fox. Be there in a minute. Over.”
“Uh… Why does he have a code name?”
“This is Maesawa, year one. I still have to finish my homework for first period, but I’ll be there. Over.”
“No! Finish your homework!”
Though Masachika couldn’t keep his mouth shut, nobody on the other end could hear him since it was a simplex transceiver. Regardless, it wasn’t long before the three reinforcements arrived one by one and helped cart the gifts out the door.
“You’ve become quite popular,” Sayaka remarked while they gathered the gifts.
“Huh?”
“All the birthday wishes you got earlier. The old you would have never been wished happy birthday so casually by your peers.”
Alisa pondered this detached observation for a moment before slowly nodding.
“Yeah… I do think it’s definitely something I should be grateful for. I mean, being wished happy birthday by everyone today…”
Alisa, though slightly embarrassed, smiled genuinely and with heartfelt joy as if she were finally starting to realize it herself.
“…made me so happy.”
“…I’m glad,” replied Sayaka, her expression remaining unchanged as she glanced at Alisa out of the corner of her eye. She then faced forward and added, “But be careful. The more attention you get and the more popular you become, the more people start to resent you.”
“…Yeah. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Alisa smiled gently at Sayaka’s seemingly nonchalant yet sound advice, then, as if suddenly remembering something, asked:
“By the way, Sayaka… Do disciplinary committee members always carry two-way radios on them?”
“Yes. Smartphones—unless it’s an emergency—are prohibited, after all. Besides, these are more convenient if you want to give orders to multiple people at once.”
“Oh, come on. Half of it is basically you just wanting to pretend like you’re a member of the special forces. I mean, why even call for backup? We could have just stuffed all these gifts into a plastic bag and brought them to the disciplinary committee room ourselves.”
Sayaka raised an eyebrow at Masachika’s retort as she stared up into his eyes.
“So you’re willing to throw someone else’s presents into a plastic bag like garbage? Where are your manners?”
“Oh, uh… Still, couldn’t we have just gotten everyone here to help?”
“As long as there’s a possibility of danger, then we cannot ask for non-committee members to help.”
“…All good points, but admit it: you just wanted to play with your two-way radio, right?”
“Not at all.”
Masachika gazed intently at Sayaka’s prim, unamused expression, then—
“By the way, do you have a code name, too?”
“ … ! N-no, of course not…”
“Uh-huh…”
“What?”
“You stuttered.”
“Because you asked something incredibly bizarre.” She huffed, turning away with irritation and peevishly marching into the disciplinary committee room. But after everyone had placed their presents on the long table, a male student, who had introduced himself as Fox earlier, shifted his gaze toward Sayaka with a grin and declared:
“Mission complete. Need anything else, Noir?”
“I knew it!”
“All right, let’s start opening the gifts.”
“““Roger!”””
Sharp, strong voices responded in unison to Chisaki’s call.
After school, Masachika and Alisa made their way to the disciplinary committee room to find it already packed with members, including both its president and vice president.
“Uh… I really appreciate that everyone came to help…but isn’t this a little much? There aren’t even enough presents for everyone to open one.” Masachika smirked in a troubled manner, taken aback by how many people were there. The president, Chisaki, however, shot him a quizzical look.
“What are you talking about? I’m the only one that’s going to be opening anything today,” she replied.
“What … ? Why?”
“Because I can handle it if it ends up being something dangerous.”
“Are you being serious?”
“What do you mean by ‘handle’?”
But despite Masachika’s and Alisa’s skepticism, Chisaki nodded with complete seriousness, then gestured behind them with a subtle glance.
“I’m dead serious. Now, go stand behind the shields.”
Masachika’s eye twitched as he turned to discover three individuals equipped with transparent, reinforced, plastic shields—the kind he had only ever seen police carrying on TV.
“Come on, you’re not defusing a bomb. Why does the disciplinary committee room even have shields?”
“For riot control, obviously.”
“You’re never going to need these—oh, wait.”
Masachika grimaced as he recalled the recent chaos from the school festival, then glanced around at the others and tilted his head.
“Hold up. Why did you need this many people if you’re the only one who gets to open presents?”
“‘Why’? Because there’s no telling what’s in these boxes. We need all the fighting power we can get.”
“‘Fighting power’? What are you expecting to find?”
“…Worst case scenario: a child-snatching box.”
“Seriously, what do you think this is?!”
“Anyway, the Renyouhou Renheki Gaiju isn’t reacting, so I think we’re okay.”
“There it is: the ultimate weapon from the final dungeon.”
Masachika’s eyes went slightly vacant the moment he spotted the black prayer beads wound around Chisaki’s right wrist. But upon closer inspection, he realized that Sumire, along with the Sisters of the Four Seasons, were also equipped with the same replica swords they had wielded at the school festival. Other members of the committee brandished brass knuckles, special batons, and even talismans. Meanwhile, Sayaka…seemed to be holding an iron fan.
“…Is the disciplinary committee secretly fighting monsters from another dimension after school or something?” Masachika asked with a note of exasperation, prompting Chisaki and the other disciplinary committee members to simultaneously furrow their brows, casting their gazes toward the ceiling.
“Hey?! Come on?! Say something! Why is everyone looking around like I’m onto something?!”
“What is going on at our school? I’m starting to worry that I’m not fit to lead the entire student body…”
“Nah, I mean, Touya can do it, so…”
But Masachika fell silent before he even finished his sentence, suddenly realizing that Touya had the vice president to take care of the shadows of Seirei Academy.
“…Then again, I guess he has a professional to handle stuff like this.”
“Yeah…”
Sensing it was best not to pry, Masachika and Alisa quietly slipped behind the shields, pressing themselves against the wall. Meanwhile, Chisaki, having made sure they were safe, shifted her attention back to the presents on the desk.
“All right, I’m going to open the gifts.”
“““Roger!”””
Masachika and Alisa recoiled slightly at the committee members’ overly enthusiastic reply as they watched Chisaki immediately reach for the largest box.
“I’m going to start with the biggest one, okay?”
“Oh, sure. Go ahead.”
Once she received the recipient’s approval, Chisaki meticulously peeled away the tape, opening the package without tearing a single piece of the wrapping paper.
“Oh, wow. That’s actually pretty difficult to do.”
“Yeah, no matter how careful you are, the tape usually ends up ripping some of the print off the wrapping paper when you peel it off.”
“Right? And sometimes you want to save the wrapping paper so you can use it again someday, but you have to throw it away because it ripped.”
While they found themselves oddly captivated by her expertise, which was entirely irrelevant to the matter at hand, Chisaki began folding the wrapping paper and mentioned:
“By the way, of course, I’m being careful because these presents don’t belong to me, but it’s not only that; I’m being cautious just in case there are razor blades glued to the back of the wrapping paper.”
“…Oh. Right.”
“Of course, I’ve already conquered razor blades.”
“‘Conquered’?”
While Masachika’s expression went vacant at the utterly bleak reality of her logic, Chisaki finally placed her hands on the box itself.
“All right, I’m opening the box.”
“““ … !!”””
The surrounding disciplinary committee members collectively braced themselves, prompting Masachika and Alisa to recoil again.
“One, two, three!”
“““ … !!”””
Do they have to react to every little thing she says?!
But Masachika kept that thought to himself, afraid to voice it aloud for some reason. Without delay, Chisaki opened the box with a satisfying pop, gazed inside, then slowly reached in before pulling out what appeared to be a homemade plush toy—white, fluffy, and…
“Is that…a goat? Or is it a sheep? Or a cat?”
“Beats me…”
Masachika tilted his head in curiosity alongside Alisa. From a distance, it seemed to bear no horns or ears, and its face was a furry mess, making it hard to identify. It was so goofy-looking, however, that some people might have found it cute. Then again, most people would probably just find it unsettling, especially with its red eyes.
“…It’s a plushie. A homemade one, too, I think.”
After flipping it over in her hands and thoroughly examining it, Chisaki decided to rummage deeper inside the box.
“There’s no letter. No name, either.”
“““ … !!”””
“Seriously? Overreact much?” Masachika pointed out, as if he couldn’t help himself. The disciplinary committee members were either being good sports and playing along, or these were conditioned responses from some sort of absurd training.
Meanwhile, Chisaki, who had been re-examining the plushie, suddenly froze for a moment before gripping it tightly in her hand, prodding it with her fingers while furrowing her brow.
“There’s something inside.”
“““!!”””
Even Masachika and Alisa were visibly taken aback this time. As the tension in the room noticeably rose, Chisaki continued to feel around the plush toy with her fingers.
“It’s hard… It’s shaped…like a rectangular box? No, the corners are round… Size-wise, it’d fit in the palm of my hand…”
She placed the plushie down for a moment and shifted her eyes toward Alisa.
“What do you want to do, Alya? I could tear it open and check, but…”
Alisa pondered for a few seconds with a slightly stiff expression…then shook her head.
“No, we’ll save that as a last resort. Let’s first check the other gifts and see if we can find a name.”
“All right.” Chisaki nodded seriously as she reached for the next present. Meanwhile, Masachika watched intently while lightly touching Alisa’s arm.
“…You okay?”
“…Yeah, I’m fine.”
Inside the handmade plush toy from an anonymous sender was a mysterious, rigid object—something that would stir unease in just about anyone, yet Alisa bravely nodded. As Masachika silently admired her courage, she gently placed her hand over his and softly whispered:
“ < …Because you’re here with me. > ”
“ … !”
Masachika, for once, didn’t blush at her trust in him. Instead, he simply made a resolute vow in his heart to protect her, and without a word, their hands found each other, clasping tightly as they watched the remaining gifts being unwrapped…
“…It’s perfume. No signs of tampering.”
Despite the palpable tension filling the room, the remaining gifts were relatively benign and standard feminine fare: handkerchiefs, jewelry, cosmetics. The only “handmade” item in the bunch was a handkerchief embroidered with Alisa’s initials.
It was a tiny bit concerning that there weren’t any easy, go-to gifts like food, and instead were things you would wear or use for personal care. However, food would frankly be more disturbing given the circumstance, so this was probably a blessing in disguise. The real issue was…
“No name or letter.”
“““ … !!”””
Not a single sender could be identified thus far. The complete anonymity of it all strongly suggested that these gifts came from either a coordinated group with a unified purpose, or from a single individual.
This is starting to get really suspicious… I hope we don’t have to, but we might need to throw everything away, just to be on the safe side…
But as that thought crossed Masachika’s mind, Alisa’s left hand suddenly began to squirm seemingly uncomfortably in his hand.
Hmm? Am I holding her hand too tight?
After he eased his grip slightly, Alisa readjusted her hand in his, then began gently caressing his palm with her thumb.
Oh? Ah…
He quickly recognized that she was writing on his palm with her finger using the technique he taught her, his brain semi-automatically registering what she was trying to convey.
“Hold me.”
In an instant, an image flashed through Masachika’s mind of Alisa whispering with tears in her eyes, “I’m scared… Hold me.” Yet when he glanced to his side, he noticed her lips were pressed tightly together, faintly wiggling, prompting him to inwardly roar.
Youuu little…!! A surprise attack?! You really thought you wouldn’t get caught, huh? Don’t you dare underestimate me!
Though internally heavily breathing, Masachika managed to write on her palm with his stiff, tense fingers.
“What was that?”
He immediately saw Alisa grinning out of the corner of his eye, but pretended not to notice as she traced his palm once more.
“Hold my.”
You really think you can fool me? Oh, I was one letter off? It felt like an E , but it was actually a Y ?
Masachika promptly wrote her back.
“Hold your what?”
“Ribbon.”
Ribbon?
He then immediately looked at the ribbon tied in her hair.
What? Does she want me to hold her ribbon? Does that mean she wants me to untie it for her, too? But…
Masachika inadvertently glanced at the other ribbon—her school uniform’s ribbon tie adorning her neck, only to be met with her chilling glare.
“What are you looking at?”
“Wh-what? Nothing…”
“Perv,” she whispered under her breath before sharply facing forward once more.
Oh, come on. That wasn’t fair at all.
But he still couldn’t help but shrug it off and let it go when he saw her laughing.
…Eh, whatever. At least, it got her thinking about something else.
But right as he shifted his eyes forward as well, Alisa glanced up at his profile, her fingers lightly brushing her ribbon tie as she mischievously whispered:
“ < Do you want to untie my ribbon? > ” The seductive whisper made his eardrums tremble, leaving him frozen in place. Then, still peering at his profile, Alisa continued in an inviting, alluring tone, “ < I don’t mind if it’s you. > ”
Don’t you dare tempt me!
The devastating power forced Masachika to seriously reevaluate his life, all while maintaining a straight face. Had they been alone at home, he might have actually lost control and pushed her onto his bed. Meanwhile, entirely unaware of the storm she had stirred within him, Alisa faced forward once more, wearing her usual smug expression—the one she would make when she was so giddy he had no idea what she was saying.
You’re the one who’s clueless. Do I need to show you how terrifying a guy going through puberty can be?
While his cheek twitched on the side Alisa couldn’t see, Masachika directed a strained smile at her in his mind…then exhaled to calm himself. Now wasn’t the time to be flustered by his partner exposing herself through her affectionate Russian whispers.
Hmph! You’re lucky I’m a gentleman!
But he kept that irritated remark to himself while he directed his attention back to Chisaki.
The birthday gift unboxing was at last in its final stages, with only two thin packages remaining. Chisaki promptly opened one of them, revealing some clothes when—
“ … !”
With a soft rustle, an envelope sealed with a flower sticker fell to the floor, making Chisaki’s eyebrow twitch. Immediately, Masachika, Alisa, and all the disciplinary committee members held their breath, for a letter—or something resembling one—had finally appeared. However…
“Whoa!” Chisaki suddenly exclaimed, instantly drawing everyone’s gaze away from the envelope on the floor…and to the bright red negligee in her hands. And not just any negligee—one with absurdly thin fabric that was so transparent you could practically see the other side, leaving little to the imagination. But as all eyes were locked on the R-rated attire, Chisaki, mute in disbelief, suddenly muttered:
“…I wonder if Touya likes lingerie like this?”
“““Milady?””” muttered the Sisters of the Four Seasons in unison, their faces unusually solemn, prompting Chisaki to clear her throat, give the negligee a quick once-over, then swiftly set it back down on the table.
“Ah! Uh … ! Nothing out of the ordinary here.”
She then reached for the envelope with a sharp, piercing gaze, her expression tightening.
“I’m going to open it.”
That single utterance put everyone on edge. They wondered what a letter from someone bold enough to send such an indecent garment could possibly contain. As every eye locked on her with bated breath, Chisaki opened the envelope and drew out what looked to be a multi-page letter…
“ … ! This…”
“Sisters of the Four Seasons, unsheathe your blades!”
“““Hyah!”””
“Calm down!” shouted Masachika as they revealed their blades, but they paid no heed to his cries, readying their replica swords…until Chisaki raised a hand to stop them. She thereupon approached Masachika and Alisa.
“…Alya—no—Kuze, come here.”