Chapter 029: How Nice—Sakayanagi Has Found Her Loyal Puppy!

Kamuro Masumi kept a stern face, but deep down, she was annoyed. 

Was Sakayanagi Arisu staring at her just because she was opposing her? 

What a strange person. 

But knowing just how odd Sakayanagi was only made Kamuro more determined not to give in. 

She had already made up her mind—she would never obey her. 

But Sakayanagi continued speaking. 

"You're quite stubborn, but not very smart, Kamuro. You must be thinking that since I never stepped inside the store and you're skilled at stealing, as long as you avoided the cameras, there'd be no way to prove you took anything, right?" 

"But have you considered this? Stores take inventory every day." 

"So if I report it, they can quickly check and find out exactly what's missing." 

"And since you just left the store, you haven't had time to get rid of the stolen item yet. So where is it now? Your jacket pocket? Or your skirt pocket, perhaps?" Sakayanagi Arisu smiled after she finished speaking. 

She looked like a little devil who had everything under control. 

And Kamuro finally understood. 

So that was why Sakayanagi had been standing at the entrance of the store. 

She was waiting to catch her red-handed. 

— ¶ ————————————————————— 

But. 

"It's impossible to check the inventory every single day," Kamuro said, refusing to back down. "So you're just trying to trick me." 

"Of course. There's no way I'd fall for it, and I didn't steal anything." 

That's what she said, but Kamuro knew she had secretly taken a red pen. 

Usually, she would return anything she took the next day… but right now, she had the pen with her. If they searched her, she'd be in trouble. 

Still. 

Even if they searched her, they couldn't prove this red pen was the one that had gone missing just now. She could have bought it earlier. 

It was the start of a new semester, so a lot of students had been buying supplies, including red pens. 

There was no way the school could check every single purchase. 

Even if they tried, it would be a huge workload. 

So, in the end, this was just Sakayanagi trying to bluff her. Realizing this made Kamuro feel a lot better. 

"What if I paid the store staff to do daily checks?" Sakayanagi Arisu continued. "Normally, they only check every three days. But since I covered the cost, they've started checking every day. As for what it cost me… heh." She smirked. "You should know, you're working for free right now. The money I would have used to hire you can now be spent elsewhere." 

"..." 

Kamuro fell silent. 

But one thing was clear to her. 

Her already stressful school life was about to get even worse. 

… 

"The two girls up ahead seem to be from Class A." 

"And the one leading the way—she might be the Sakayanagi you mentioned, Shirogane." 

At an outdoor café, Shiina Hiyori held a cup of coffee in her left hand. As she looked outside, she suddenly spoke up. 

She was waiting for Shirogane to finish buying his coffee. 

She had no choice—after spending time with him these past few days, she had confirmed that Shirogane was an incredibly hardworking person. 

He really studied every single day, sometimes late into the night. 

It was kind of scary. 

But because of that, he often looked exhausted during the day and needed coffee to keep himself going. 

Earlier, as soon as they stepped outside, Shirogane had started feeling drowsy. So, following Hiyori's suggestion, they stopped by for some coffee. 

Hiyori preferred milk tea, but she didn't mind having coffee once in a while. 

"Sakayanagi?" 

Shirogane had just finished buying his drink and stepped outside. He noticed the two girls walking down the street—one was a super cute silver-haired girl holding a cane, while behind her was a tall, purple-haired girl with a blank expression, carrying two shopping bags. 

She had two hair clips and a refined, elegant look, but her face was stiff, as if she were in a bad mood. 

She looked completely expressionless. 

"But that purple-haired girl—" Shiina's eyes landed on the girl walking behind Sakayanagi. 

"She's also from Class A. Her name is Kamuro Masumi," Shirogane said. 

He could have added that Kamuro was the same girl who had reported dishonest store clerks before. 

But Shirogane had already figured out that Kamuro might have a habit of stealing things and didn't want to expose her. 

But judging from Kamuro's completely blank expression, there was no way to tell that Sakayanagi had already gotten a hold of something against her. 

And knowing how smart Sakayanagi was, now that she had this leverage, she obviously wouldn't let Kamuro continue stealing. 

If a thief stops stealing, they won't get caught. So, in theory, Kamuro could stay in school without any trouble. 

However, this also meant that Sakayanagi had sealed away Kamuro's biggest weakness. 

Which meant there was no way to control her anymore. 

Unless Kamuro had some other weakness. 

"But the way Sakayanagi and Kamuro interact…" Hiyori still hadn't looked away. "It doesn't seem like a friendship. It's more like… hmm, this might sound rude, but it's kind of like a master and pet." 

That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it? 

Shirogane glanced over again. Sakayanagi had bought some snacks and handed them to Kamuro. 

Just like a master feeding their pet. 

But Kamuro refused outright. 

"I'm only helping you because I have no choice. I'm not your pet." 

For some reason, Shirogane had a feeling that people who said things like that often ended up proving themselves wrong. 

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