#63 Chapter 63 (Too lazy)
Sakura sat down on the chair, making a bit more space for Yuichi to bring another chair right next to her.
"Um...Can you please do it in my stead, Iwamura-kun? I don't have enough courage to open the folder myself." Sakura asked letting go of the mouse.
"I said that I will be your pillar...Let's do it together, you keep your hand on the mouse and I will push your finger down to do the clicking." Yuichi suggested.
"Huh? I- all right." She said in a low voice while closing her eyes.
Yuichi directed her with his hand towards the right folder and then he opened it by pushing Sakura's fingers down.
This caused Sakura to tightly close her eyes as if she was trying to disappear from her room. She also let go of the mouse and just held her hands near her heart.
'Huh?' When she heard to verbal reaction to more than hundreds of her photos there, she was a bit confused and after a few seconds, she found some courage to peek with her one eye at Yuichi's expression.
She was confused by his focused and composed expression as she could hear him scrolling through the folder full of the pictures of "Shizuku".
"Ah! Is this is it, Sakura-san?!" Yuichi asked with a slightly excited tone as he opened one of many pictures.
"Eh? ...Y-yes" She was startled by his tone so she quickly looked towards the display and saw the selfie she took right before the brawl happened that day.
'Why isn't he saying anything? Why is he still looking at me the same way as before?' Sakura was at a completely confused state of mind.
"That actually might help..." 'however there isn't any evidence that claims that Sudo wasn't the one who started it...still it is visible that the guys from Class C are provoking him and are standing quite close to him.' Yuichi muttered with a faint smile however he thought the otherwise. He just didn't want to discourage Sakura for doing her best to open up to him with her most likely biggest secret.
While he was scrolling down to find that one particular picture, he saw many others that even showed a lot of skin...and he had to admit that Sakura's second persona was truly top model material. Still, he wondered, how can she form such a bright friendly smile that might even rival Ichinose or Kushida when she can't even properly form eye contact. Her second persona "Shizuku" must be really strong for her to be able to form such smiles.
"I am happy..." Sakura muttered in low voice with a relieved expression.
"Thank you for showing this to me, Sakura-san. Now the question is...Do you want to show this in front of everyone as evidence?" Yuichi asked.
"Eh? I mean...you still would let me back out of this despite knowing that I have such evidence?" Sakura asked with a disbelieving expression.
"Remember, I am your pillar, I will support your decision no matter what." Yuichi smiled and replied.
"...I am really delighted to hear you say that but...could you please replace the word pillar with a friend? It's a bit weird, thinking about Iwamura-kun as a pillar, hehe" Sakura released an honest smile and requested while looking sideways.
"Alright, I am your friend and since we just became friends recently, let me give you a "gift". No matter what will you choose, testify for Sudo-kun's innocence or to just keep quiet, I ensure you that Sudo-kun won't be punished." Yuichi said with a brief wink.
"??? ...Does Iwamura-kun trust Horikita-san that much?" Sakura asked with a surprised expression and maybe a slightly jealous tone.
Yuichi just smiled at her but he didn't nod his head nor did he answer her question however it seemed as Sakura took his smile as an answer.
'Is he just trying to ease the pressure on me? Or is he truly so confident in Horikita?' Sakura thought while looking downward with a faint happy smile.
"Anyway, if that's all you wanted to show me...I might as well take my leave now, it's quite late already." Yuichi said with a faint smile.
"Uh, well, I guess that's everything..." Sakura replied, still with a bit disbelieving expression. She couldn't believe how small the reaction Yuichi has shown upon seeing her selfies. She was relieved but at the same time, she felt like something was missing...
'Is it perhaps possible that I am a bit disappointed with his reaction?' Sakura thought with a confused expression before she shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.
Yuichi said farewell to her before going back to his room. He immediately checked Shizuku's blog for any new comments and was quite startled when he saw 5 new comments from the same creep.
'Alright, this isn't just an internet troll, it really is serious. I can't imagine how much pressure Sakura must feel when reading this...' Yuichi thought and waited for more than 5 minutes before he looked at the video he recorded when Ayanokoji was attacked by Manabu.
'I didn't want to get too much involved in this but Ayanokoji is definitely hiding a lot...If he can help me keep an eye on Sakura...it's worth the risk.' Yuichi thought before he made up his mind.
[Ayanokoji-kun, could you please come to my room? I have something to discuss with you.] Yuichi sent the message and prayed that Ayanokoji will decide to bother with it and come here to see what's going on.
[It's quite late already, does it have to be right now?] (A) The reply arrived after a few minutes.
[It's quite serious] Yuichi just sent him this short message, not trying to convince him with facts or whatever. He knew that this is the best way how to catch someone's interest...saying that it's serious without revealing details.
[Will be there in a minute] The reply came instantly and after another minute, he heard someone knocking on his door. Since both were living on the same floor, he was here quite fast.
Yuichi opened the door and let Ayanokoji step inside before closing them behind his back.
"Eh, so...Why did you call me here?" He asked with a slightly confused expression.
"Do you remember Sakura from our class?" Yuichi asked as both of the sat down on the floor.
"Hmm, we have exchanged a few words but that's all. If you mean to ask if I know how she looks then yes, I remember her." Ayanokoji nodded his head.
"Good, I would like to ask you to help me keep an eye on her."
"Huh?" Ayanokoji seemed to not understand Yuichi's intentions
"Let's just say that there might be some kind of creep who is after her..." Yuichi himself didn't know how to explain the situation to Ayanokoji.
"Hm? Some kind of creep, you say? But why me of all people? Wouldn't some girls be more suitable or perhaps Hirata?" Ayanokoji questioned with a slight interest in his eyes.
"Because I am confident that you are able to make level-headed decisions and your physical prowess is also great in case he would be armed...I don't want to involve anyone who can't hold his own in...delicate situations." Yuichi explained with a serious expression.
'Meaning that Sudo is not a possible choice'
"...I think you overestimate my abilities plus I am just average in P.E. classes" Ayanokoji seemed to consider Yuichi's words for a second before he replied.
"I was there...When the student council president attacked you, Ayanokoji-kun. I know you are more than you let be seen on the surface. I hope you can help with this problem." Yuichi resigned to reveal what he knew about him. He was sure that by letting him know that he suspects him for hiding his abilities, he might become enemies with him since he doesn't know Ayanokoji's personality and why is he hiding.
Hearing Yuichi's words, Ayanokoji closed his eyes as if he understood the matter.
'So that's why I felt as if someone was watching us...it wasn't just a feeling.'
"I understand your confidence in those terms but we don't know each other that much...it can't be that you are putting blind trust in me, right?" Ayanokoji opened his eyes and asked.
"*sigh*...Look, Ayanokoji-kun...I don't want to dig deeper into your reasons why you are hiding your abilities and as long as you are just trying to avoid trouble as you always state so, I might even help you with it. Still, this isn't about some stupid points and ranking nor about Horikita's pride of wanting to get to Class A, this is a serious problem that might even escalate to a life-and-death situation if not handled properly. Will you please help me?" Yuichi said with a serious expression.
He still had leverage over Ayanokoji by having that recording but by showing it to others, he would make both Manabe and Ayanokoji his enemies.
"...I have never said that I won't help, I just wanted to know the reasons behind your choice. What can I do to help?" Ayanokoji closed his eyes for a bit before he opened them and explained himself with a calm expression.
"Nothing much...In case I receive SOS from Sakura, I will notify you of her position. I can't affect where I will be at that time and I don't really want to limit myself just because of some kind of creep that can strike at any time, that's where you will come into play. You don't have any club activities so you usually go back to the dorms after classes, right? The dorms are located much closer to things such as parks and the mall. Simply said, in case I am too far away, it will be your job to step forward. Can you do that? If you think you won't be able to do that, it would be better to refuse since I can't risk relying just on anyone." Yuichi explained.
"...Well, I understand the gist of it. I will keep my eyes out for any of your messages so I can react to it as fast as possible." Ayanokoji slightly nodded his head.