After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

Ayakoji Chiyoko briskly descended the stairs and found the landlady on the first floor.

"Ah, you're up early," the landlady, who was arranging a vase of flowers, turned her head and said with some surprise.

Ayakoji Chiyoko had no interest in such cheap pleasantries and eyed her with suspicion, stepping forward to ask, "Last night or this morning, did anyone come to look at the room records?"

"Are you referring to the ledger, guest? I always put it away after closing; I wouldn't show it to others."

"Really?"

"Of course, we would never expose our guests' privacy."

The landlady's words didn't seem false, so Ayakoji Chiyoko could only frown and turn to leave.

After she left, the landlady's little daughter came out from behind the curtain, carrying sake and small cups.

"Mom, did a guest come to see you?"

"It was just a trifle, don't mind it, go ahead."

"Uh, which room was I supposed to take this sake to again?"

"Look at your memory, Room 102, go quickly, don't keep the guests waiting."

"Okay~"

The little girl passed by the stairs, casting a curious glance at Ayakoji Chiyoko as she ascended, then hurried on.

At that moment, Ayakoji Chiyoko was still absorbed in her own thoughts, completely unaware of what was happening behind her.

The record of her and Kagura Hikaru's room had been posted on the school forum, an indisputable fact; the record had only just been made last night, so it could only have been leaked by someone at Ryusongan.

In fact, even if they found the person responsible, it wouldn't matter; the incident had already happened, and finding the truth wouldn't solve the problem. Ayakoji Chiyoko was only instinctively seeking to get to the bottom of it.

Back in her room, Kagura Hikaru was earnestly looking at her phone.

Leaning over, she saw that he was observing the photo posted on the thread.

Seeing her return, Kagura Hikaru pointed to the screen and said, "This photo seems to have been taken at night or in the wee hours, shot on the counter, with the reflection of the orange light from the entrance. If it were day, it should be brighter. Also, the angle of the photo is a bit skewed, it even captures the names of other guests. I guess that the photographer must be quite short and, since they had access to the lodging records, they must be with Ryusongan."

At this point, the identity of the 'culprit' was quite apparent.

Short in stature, someone who could access lodging records, at Ryusongan, there was only one person.

The two fell silent.

The landlady's daughter hadn't interacted much with them and had no reason to harm them, let alone inexplicably connect with Yuqiu High School's forum.

It seemed someone shamelessly took advantage of her innocence.

This person, who could access Ryusongan and had the opportunity to steal the phone, causing them to be stranded in the Capital City, was among them all the time.

Among the teams who came to the Capital City, Teacher Yamazaki, Minister Uchida, the boys from the Kendo Club, Hosaka Yui, Miyamoto Shi, the Gorilla Vice President—the real culprit was hidden among these six people.

"Let's put this aside for now," Ayakoji Chiyoko retracted her phone from his hand, glanced at the mocking and insulting comments in the thread, and emotionlessly turned it off, "Pack up, we're heading back to Tokyo right now."

Half an hour later, they left Ryusongan and took the bullet train home.

Although Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko sat together on the return journey, neither were in the mood for conversation.

Ayakoji Chiyoko was preoccupied with her phone, bombarded with a flood of unread messages, which were likely reports about the incident.

Kagura Hikaru was recalling the content of their conversation from the previous night.

The more he remembered, the more he was scared by his own boldness, thankful that at the time, Ayakoji Chiyoko hadn't punched him to death.

But he would have preferred to be killed with a punch rather than have to remember it as a social death later.

Kagura Hikaru didn't understand what had gotten into him, daring to flirt with Ayakoji Chiyoko! It must have been because he was too sleepy and not thinking clearly.

Well, now that the scandal had broken out, they had truly become a couple, in rumor at least.

Kagura Hikaru was worried sick.

The schemer who devised this lowly trick was obvious without even having to think.

The two-hour train ride passed in the blink of an eye.

After getting off the train, they went home to drop off their luggage, then met up at the station and headed to school. By this time, it was already after 10 a.m.

Upon reaching the entrance, they were received by a Discipline Committee member, the Gorilla Vice President.

"President, Teacher," he said, trailing beside Ayakoji Chiyoko and speaking with a tense expression, "We've already questioned the News Department member who posted the exposé. He claims that the picture was sent to him from an unknown email account at 11 p.m. last night. He didn't see it until he woke up this morning, and when he tried to reply to confirm, he found that the email account had been deactivated."

"Stop the investigation, there's no need to waste effort. If they've gone to these lengths, they don't want to be tracked down," Ayakoji Chiyoko declared.

"But President..."

"I understand, don't worry about us."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The figures of Ayakoji Chiyoko and Kagura Hikaru crossing the courtyard were clearly visible to the students above, with many curious onlookers casting their gaze upon them.

They seemed to be the center of attention, like monkeys in a zoo, as people pointed, talked, and laughed.

"This matter won't have any substantial impact, for now," Ayakoji Chiyoko said coldly, glancing at the onlookers above as if locking eyes with each of them and scoffing, "That woman, she couldn't possibly believe such a prank could hurt me."

"That woman?" The Gorilla Vice President was momentarily perplexed but, seeing no intention of explanation from Ayakoji Chiyoko, quickly followed up, "Also, President, this morning, two anonymous envelopes were delivered to the Discipline Committee."

He pulled out white envelopes from his pocket, on which 'Kagura Hikaru' and 'Ayakoji Chiyoko' were printed in typed letters, but there were no sender's names.

They each took the envelope with their name and opened it to find a stack of banknotes.

A careful count would reveal that the amount of money was exactly the same as the sum stolen from their wallets the night before.

Without a doubt, this was from the perpetrator.

Ayakoji Chiyoko crumpled the envelope in her hand, making a crackling sound, and flung it into the arms of the Gorilla Vice President, "Use this money for the society's funds, and don't let me see it again."

Intimidated by that murderous expression, the Gorilla Vice President instantly stood up straight, "Yes, President!"

"Calm down," Kagura Hikaru said quietly, slipping the envelope into his pocket.

Ayakoji Chiyoko's piercing gaze shifted toward him, her look one of discontent as she watched his movements, "You know this is a provocation."

"Yes, but my money is innocent," Kagura Hikaru retorted, staring back.

How could students who had never worked understand the hardships of labor!

She was at a loss for words and turned her head away in annoyance.

Ever since they spent the night together, their relationship seemed to gradually revert back to how it used to be.

Ayakoji Chiyoko thought she would resist this change, but in reality, she didn't at all, feeling nothing more than helplessness.

Could it be that she was actually a very magnanimous person?

Or was it just that she felt this way towards Kagura Hikaru?

Instead of going to the classrooms, the two headed directly to the old school building to the Discipline Committee office.

Kagura Hikaru didn't seem very anxious, casually pouring himself a cup of oolong tea. Experience more on empire

As Ayakoji Chiyoko had said, this incident was at best a well-planned prank.

Leaving aside the fact that the school wouldn't expel them over something like this, even if the students mocked them for a few days, it could hardly be called a loss.

At most, it was a blow to their faces, probably just to this extent.

But for someone with an excess of pride like Ayakoji Chiyoko, it seemed to be a provocation ample enough.

She sat in the office, calmly instructing the Gorilla Vice President to conduct emergency public relations, to suppress public opinion, and to lower the incident's profile. The specific action was similar to suppressing hot searches on microblogs, asking the Society Discussion Meeting to divert the students' attention with bigger news.

Beyond that, she didn't seem to expend any effort in tracking down the person who leaked the information.

But Kagura Hikaru wasn't surprised.

He trusted Ayakoji Chiyoko's intellect; if he could think of something, then she surely could as well.

The suspect had actually been determined long ago.

A while later, the bell signaling the end of class rang, ushering in the lunch break.

Kagura Hikaru left his luggage behind and stepped out for a while, texting Kiryu Hina and heading straight for the Student Council.