"The boys are planning to spy on the girls' changing room."
I had been standing there, trying to stretch my back after landing on it earlier, when Ayanokouji suddenly dropped that piece of information on me without any warning. He didn't even change his calm tone, as if he had just announced the most ordinary news I would hear all day.
I felt my body freeze in place as I stared at Ayanokouji, my hands behind my back as I bent forward to stretch.
"Huh...?"
After a brief pause, my mind finally processed his words.
Those damn boys.
I quickly looked around, trying to locate them, until I spotted Sudou's group standing suspiciously off to the side, whispering among themselves.
"Uh... how did you find out about this?" I quickly turned back to Ayanokouji and asked.
The whole thing could still be a misunderstanding. I needed to make sure.
"Well, they asked me to help them..." Ayanokouji replied with an expressionless face.
"Huh...? And you agreed?"
"If I hadn't, they would've carried out their plan without my knowledge."
He had a point. If he had tried to stop them, they would've ignored him and done things their own way.
But why tell me specifically?
Maybe he had a plan.
"So... what should I do now?"
"I want you to ask Yukinoshita to destroy the cameras before the boys recover them," Ayanokouji said.
It seemed he had already come up with a solution, but Yukinoshita...
She would never let this slide. She wouldn't settle for anything less than the harshest punishment possible.
Even I couldn't accept something like this. There were lines that simply shouldn't be crossed.
But...
"Ayanokouji..."
"What?"
"Tell me honestly... did they manage to sneak in, or are they still trying?" I looked directly into his eyes as I waited for his answer.
That would determine my stance on this matter.
I wouldn't forgive anyone who had already gone through with it...
Just imagining some guys sneaking into the room where Komachi—or even...
No. This wasn't the time to think about that.
"No. They ran into some problems, so they haven't gone in yet," Ayanokouji answered.
Maybe that was a good thing.
Their failure to get inside might earn them a little forgiveness.
If we stopped them before they entered, everything would be over.
If they didn't succeed, they wouldn't be considered guilty.
Still, even thinking about doing something like this made them guilty in my eyes.
I had to make sure they'd never consider it again.
What could possibly scare them enough?
Suddenly, Chairman Horikita's figure appeared in my mind.
That's right.
The authority of the Student Council.
All I had to do was scare them half to death.
"Ayanokouji... I have another idea."
"What is it?" Ayanokouji asked as he watched me expectantly.
I briefly explained the plan I had in mind to stop their idiotic scheme and teach them a lesson.
"That sounds good... but what if the chairman catches us?" Ayanokouji immediately understood the consequences.
"Don't worry... I'll take all the blame."
I didn't mind getting scolded by the chairman.
"Alright. Then Yukinoshita will be involved too?" Ayanokouji asked.
If she got involved, things might spiral out of control.
There would be no chance left to stop them.
Expelling four students from Class D at once would destroy all our hopes.
"No. Let's rely on someone else."
All we needed was a girl who would agree to help without any complications.
"Do you mean Horikita?" Ayanokouji suggested.
"Hmm... that should work. You tell her."
The person who had managed to convince her to come to the pool shouldn't have much trouble persuading her again.
Ayanokouji didn't seem happy with this task, but he reluctantly agreed.
There was still one more thing.
"Ayanokouji, remember this carefully. You have to go in personally. If anyone else goes in, I'll make sure all of you get expelled."
At the very least, I trusted Ayanokouji not to enter with bad intentions.
He had come to inform me, and he had been trying to stop them.
The others, however, I couldn't trust.
"Is that a threat?" Ayanokouji stood still, staring at me as though trying to see through me.
Hmm...
"No. Just a warning."
We stared at each other for several moments before he finally sighed and nodded.
"Fine... let's meet again in a little while."
I cast one last glance toward the group of boys, gritted my teeth slightly, then turned away.
Even if this matter ended here, I would never forgive them.
---
(Narrator)
Ayanokouji watched Hikigaya's back as he walked away from the pool.
He had successfully dragged him into this problem.
Ayanokouji was skilled at reading people as if they were open books, allowing him to understand their intentions and thought processes with ease.
Hikigaya, however, was an anomaly.
A cipher that was difficult to solve.
So Ayanokouji decided to place him in a suitable environment and study his reactions in order to decipher him.
A new test: testing moral boundaries.
From Hikigaya's insistence on confirming whether the boys had actually entered or not, Ayanokouji realized that even Hikigaya had lines he would never overlook if crossed.
Perhaps those lines would simply become obstacles in his path.
Before Hikigaya had arrived that morning, Ayanokouji had already planned to involve Horikita in carrying out his scheme.
However, after seeing Hikigaya that day, all calculations had changed.
That was why he had intentionally disabled the communication device—to create an opportunity to inform him before the plan began.
And now, as a result of what Hikigaya had called a warning, Ayanokouji found himself forced to participate as well.
He sighed inwardly and decided to see this through to the end.
First, however, he needed to inform Horikita.
Turning toward the pool, he spotted Horikita standing alone, still upset over losing the match.
After putting on his short-sleeved shirt, he slipped his phone into the pocket of his swim shorts and headed toward Horikita.
"Horikita..."
After explaining her role in Hikigaya's new plan, Horikita was surprised that Hikigaya had become involved in the situation as well.
Still, after Ayanokouji persuaded her, she agreed to participate.
He then turned toward the group of boys sitting in the shade.
Only one step remained.
Sotomura had also joined the operation.
His role had originally been external surveillance from the adjacent building, but he had come to repair the communication device as well, given his technical expertise.
"I don't understand how you broke it, Ayanokouji," Sotomura shouted as he tinkered with the small device.
"I didn't break it. I tried turning it on, and it stopped working," Ayanokouji replied.
He had merely disconnected a few wires inside.
Once reattached, it would function normally again.
A simple way to delay them.
"I think it must've fallen. Some wires came loose inside," Sotomura declared like a doctor performing surgery.
"Really...? So you can't fix it?" Yamauchi asked anxiously.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Sotomura waved his finger arrogantly before snapping the cover shut.
"I've repaired it, gentlemen. Now we can continue our mission smoothly."
Sighs of relief spread throughout the group.
There were no longer any obstacles standing in the way of their operation.
"Alright, let's begin!"
Ike stood up, encouraging everyone before the start of their secret mission.
"Can I go first?" Ayanokouji volunteered.
The fact that the one who had reluctantly agreed to participate was now volunteering shocked everyone.
"What? Why'd you suddenly change your mind?" Ike jumped in front of him, unable to understand the sudden shift.
"Well... I'm excited about this," Ayanokouji declared flatly.
Even when trying to sound enthusiastic, it simply didn't suit him.
At this point, convincing them would be difficult.
Yamauchi stepped forward and placed a hand on Ayanokouji's shoulder.
"Ayanokouji... that's the spirit! Go crush it, buddy!"
Unexpectedly, Yamauchi accepted it immediately, and the others followed without suspecting Ayanokouji in the slightest.
Sotomura handed him the earpiece and placed it in his ear.
They tested the communication quickly, and everything worked smoothly.
"I won't be able to sneak into the building again. It'll be difficult, so I can't provide outside surveillance. But don't worry—we've already set up the barricade. The chances of someone passing through there are slim," Sotomura explained.
"Come on, Ayanokouji! Our hopes are riding on you!" Ike encouraged him.
"You can do it, man, just like we planned in the group chat last night," Yamauchi added.
They had already created a group chat to coordinate the details.
Ayanokouji had read every step they had agreed upon.
Soon, however, none of it would matter.
"Alright."
Ayanokouji nodded slightly before turning toward the final member—Sudou.
Ever since the plan had been proposed, Sudou had been acting strangely.
Ayanokouji sensed that he was trying to avoid participating, especially after all the recent trouble he had faced.
Still, he couldn't refuse his friends.
"You've got this, man," Sudou said with a forced smile.
Ayanokouji left the group and headed straight toward the changing room.
The others watched silently as he departed.
"Are you guys sure he's suited for this?" Ike asked skeptically.
"What do you mean?" Sudou turned toward him.
"You know... doesn't Ayanokouji seem kind of hopeless?"
"Hahahaha! You're right!"
The group burst into laughter.
Ayanokouji, who stumbled even over simple conversations, with his expressionless face and weak presence, seemed like the perfect failure for a mission like this.
"No time for that now..." Sotomura silenced them as he picked up the communication device connected to Ayanokouji.
"Argus 4, do you copy?"
They had already assigned themselves embarrassingly dramatic code names for the operation.
They were committed to their roles until the very end.
"Yeah... I've reached the room," Ayanokouji replied.
"It's not the room—it's the target!" Sotomura corrected him irritably.
"Ah... right. The target."
Standing taller than the others, Sudou kept watch over the entrance.
He saw Ayanokouji slowly slip inside without attracting any attention.
"I've successfully entered the room... I mean, the target," Ayanokouji reported.
"Good. You know what to do now, right?" Sotomura asked, wanting reassurance about the final stage of the plan.
"I didn't expect things to go this smoothly..."
"Isn't this amazing?" Yamauchi exclaimed.
"This is all thanks to my planning!" Sotomura declared proudly.
"What are you talking about? We planned it together!" Yamauchi protested.
"Hey, cut it out. You're going to attract attention," Sudou warned.
They were still in a public place.
If someone noticed their suspicious behavior, they'd be exposed.
"Argus 4, how are things going over there?" Sotomura asked once again.
Several seconds passed.
No response came.
"What's happening?" Ike asked nervously, sweating from both heat and anxiety.
"Maybe he just didn't hear us. Argus 4, do you copy? I repeat, Argus 4, do you copy?"
Even Sudou abandoned his post to move closer and wait for a response.
"What's going on? Did something happen?" Yamauchi asked, trembling.
"Hmm... no one else has entered the room. Ayanokouji is alone inside," Sudou answered.
"What do you mean? Then why isn't he replying?"
"How should I know?!" Sudou snapped.
"I knew it. Ayanokouji isn't cut out for this," Ike groaned, clutching his head.
"Calm down, guys. Maybe the device malfunctioned again. Ayanokouji will come out soon," Sotomura reassured them.
"Yeah... he's right. Didn't it break earlier too? Hahaha..." Yamauchi forced an awkward laugh.
The four of them gathered near their observation point, eyeing the door suspiciously as they waited.
A few minutes later, Ayanokouji finally emerged.
But his appearance brought them no relief.
He wasn't alone.
Horikita Suzune from their class was dragging him by the collar out of the girls' changing room before leading him toward the school building.
"W-What's happening?" The four boys couldn't comprehend what they were seeing.
"Did... did she catch him?"
"We're finished..."
Ike collapsed onto his knees.
"She's going to report him to the school... and he'll definitely expose us!" Yamauchi cried.
"Guys, no... nothing like that is going to happen. Let's calm down," Sudou said through gritted teeth.
Helplessness was written all over their faces.
Even Sotomura, who had acted as their leader, found himself unable to move.
Then his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He quickly pulled it out as the others crowded around him.
It was a message from Ayanokouji in the group chat they had created.
"Come to the Student Council room... now."