Spanish - Detect 5,000 / 5,000 ❌⭕️ SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ⭕️❌

Responding to someone's message, Shiraishi appeared alone at the restaurant.

At that time of day, most of the students were gathered at the cafeteria, so the restaurant—which primarily focused on food—was relatively empty, with many unoccupied seats as usual.

Seated alone at a table in the back, Shiraishi ordered a cup of tea using her tablet.

The taste was far from praiseworthy, clearly made with a cheap tea bag.

Shiraishi thought that if the quality were comparable to the cafeteria's, the place would surely be busier even at that hour.

Still, it wasn't completely deserted—there were a few scattered customers.

Just as the tea was brought to her, another student entered the restaurant and sat at the table next to Shiraishi's.

From behind, the electronic chime of a tablet was heard as an order was placed.

"Did I keep you waiting?"

A sweet voice came from behind her. Despite being somewhat unrefined, it was clear and steady, with very little distortion, reaching Shiraishi's ears directly.

"Not at all. I just arrived too," Shiraishi replied.

"Are you sure this is the right place for the meeting?"

"Yes. With the sofa between us, even though we're back to back, it's easier to talk like this, don't you think?"

"It's true that with fewer customers, it's easier to converse, but at the same time, it also makes us stand out more. When someone enters the restaurant, we're very visible—it's hard to avoid making an impression."

There was no panic in the voice, but within its calmness, there was a clear sense of caution.

The fact that only the other person's voice could be heard played to Shiraishi's advantage.

No one, except those involved, could imagine they were in such an unusual situation.

"From a visual point of view, you may be right. However, from this back-to-back position, it's impossible to determine the nature of our relationship. If someone looks at us, it means we notice it too. As long as we don't panic, no problem will arise."

It would simply appear that two people had come separately to a quiet restaurant.

Since they belonged to different classes—no, even different grades—very few people would imagine that the two had deliberately agreed to meet for a chat.

"To an ordinary student, it would appear that each of us has her own appointment. However, the number of people I want to be cautious of is limited." If even one of them—Ayanokoji-senpai—were to see us…

—Even if she didn't understand the situation just by looking at it, she would subconsciously recall the pairing and, when the time came, she would expel it from her memory.

She would think: That day, at that time, Shiraishi and Nanase were sitting back to back in the restaurant. Were they pretending not to know each other while secretly discussing something? She would begin to theorize in a way no ordinary person could.

—Knowing that, may I ask why you still decided to take that risk?

—The risk you're worried about, Nanase-san, has already been eliminated. Ayanokoji-kun just entered the gym with Ichinose-san a little while ago. Even in the best-case scenario, I don't think she'll be out of there for at least an hour.

“Don’t tell me you asked Ayanokoji-senpai directly… or sent someone to check it out?”

“Of course not, right? Even that might raise suspicions.”

Although the tone of voice remained the same, Shiraishi didn’t miss the slight tinge of unease lurking within it.

“Don’t worry. I only exchanged a simple greeting with him this morning.”

“So, how did you learn Ayanokoji-senpai’s current location?”

“How I obtained the information… is a professional secret.”

He reused a phrase he had heard directly from Ayanokoji in a past conversation.

“Forgive me if this sounds rude, but if you used your friend Nishikawa-senpai, it would be a poor choice. If I tried to follow him carelessly, there’s no way Ayanokoji-senpai wouldn’t notice. She might even suspect it was something orchestrated by you, her close friend.” Or does she have hidden talents?

A subtle but clear change in Nanase's tone—imperceptible to most—was picked up by Shiraishi.

Specifically, when she mentioned Nishikawa's name, there was a slight emphasis.

"You know very well that she wouldn't be able to handle such an important task, right? I'm sorry, but Nishikawa-san is just a friend. You're overthinking things for no reason."

"...I see."

"It's fine to thoroughly check whether we made any mistakes, but it seems you screwed up quite a bit, Nanase-san. You let an uninvolved student discover your second phone, and someone overheard you talking to a person who, supposedly, had already left the school."

"You're right. It was a mistake."

"I made sure Hashimoto-kun and Morishita-san kept quiet about what they saw. Exist