Be careful with the laid-back beauty who took a liking to me. Otherwise, it will be too late! - Chapter 46: Are There Two Culprits?

Chapter 46: Are There Two Culprits?

“Wait, why…?”

I had walked home with Asahi yesterday. Plus, this was my first time entering the art room during the festival preparation period.

“Sayaka…”

“It’s okay, Hinata. I don’t think you’re the culprit.”

Just as I was about to deny it, Sayaka gently squeezed my hand.

“It’s the worst for someone to use your name… This isn’t something that can just be overlooked. Hinata, is it okay if we stop by the staff room after we borrow the brushes and paint?”

“The staff room? Sure, but…”

Since Sayaka seemed confident about knowing who the culprit was, she didn’t show any signs of believing I was the culprit, even with my name written on the list of people who borrowed supplies.

“Thank you. Oh, I’ll write my name down too.”

Sayaka wrote down the time and her name to borrow the paint and then erased “Kawai Hinata,” replacing it with “Hagiwara Ryota.”

“Hagiwara…?”

“Yeah, Hagiwara-kun. We need to make sure we have the right names here.”

She said this, set down the pen, and went to speak with the art teacher about borrowing the brushes and paint.

In the meantime, I slowly processed what Sayaka had just said. I see, Hagiwara borrowed the paint. But wait, why would he go and mess up our class’s sign like that?

While Sayaka believed Hagiwara was the culprit, I wondered if she had some reasoning behind that belief.

“Excuse us!”

After borrowing the brushes and paint, we left the art room and headed toward the staff room as Sayaka wanted.

This floor was quiet, with not many people around, so I thought it might be a good time to ask my question.

“Sayaka, do you really think Hagiwara is the culprit?”

“Yeah, he’s one of them.”

“One of them? So there’s another?”

“Yeah, I think there are two culprits. But I need to confirm the second one, so I’m heading to the staff room for that.”

So, apparently, the second culprit could be confirmed at the staff room.

“But why would Hagiwara do something like that…?”

“I’m not sure… Maybe he wanted to do something together with the other person… or he could have been coerced into doing it.”

They collaborated to mess up the sign for some reason. But why? What was the motive? So many questions swirled in my mind, but there was still too little information to piece together anything.

We descended the stairs and arrived at the staff room. Sayaka set the paint she was carrying on the desk at the entrance before stepping inside.

After waiting outside for a few minutes, Sayaka emerged with a bright smile on her face.

“Bingo, Hinata.”

“Bingo…?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The one who messed up the sign was Hagiwara-kun. As for how the second person is involved, I’m not sure yet, but it’s Kousaka-kun.”

Sayaka said this while clapping her hands together in delight.

“So, the suspicious person you saw yesterday was…?”

“The only one who was acting suspiciously was Hagiwara-kun. I think Kousaka-kun only borrowed the key.”

While talking, Sayaka picked up the brushes and paint from the desk and started walking, so I followed her.

When we arrived back in the classroom, we followed the instructions from the sign team and began painting the sign.

With everyone’s cooperation, we managed to finish the sign by the end of the morning.

When lunch break came, I wanted to eat with Sayaka, but she was nowhere to be found in the classroom.

“Hey, Koga, what’s up?”

During lunch break, Sayaka had called Kousaka to a secluded spot.

“Sorry, Kousaka. About the sign, do you think Akari-chan did it?”

“There’s no way I’d think that. Akari isn’t the type to do something like that. Wait, are you implying that—”

“I don’t think so either. The culprit who did that isn’t Akari-chan.”

Since Sayaka clearly stated that Akari wasn’t the culprit, Kousaka started to wonder if she knew who really was.

“I said it in front of everyone, but yesterday I promised to walk home with Akari. When we locked the classroom and returned the key to the staff room, I was with her the entire time. That’s proof that it wasn’t Akari.”

While observing Kousaka’s reaction, Sayaka contemplated two possibilities.

“Hey, Kousaka. Did you run into Hagiwara-kun yesterday after school?”

“Hagiwara? Oh, yeah, I saw him. After the festival prep finished, we had a club meeting, and I saw him in the hallway on the way back. It was probably about ten minutes before dismissal.”

Sayaka noted that she and Shiina had locked the classroom twenty minutes before dismissal, which meant something might have happened after we left.

“What did Hagiwara say to you?”

“He mentioned needing cardboard, so I told him we had some spare in our class.”

“Who borrowed the key?”

“That would be me. It was locked, so I went to borrow it from the staff room.”

“And after that? Did you go with Hagiwara to our classroom?”

“I went to show him where the cardboard was. Hagiwara said he would return the key, so I wasn’t with him until the end.”

“Okay… you really don’t give up easily, do you?”

Though surprised by the number of questions from Sayaka, Kousaka suddenly had an epiphany.

“Wait, are you suggesting that Hagiwara is the one who messed up the sign?”

“Yeah, that’s what I think. Kousaka, could you help me out a bit?”

“Oh, Sayaka!”

“Oh, Hinata…”

When Sayaka returned to the classroom, I rushed over to her, but she hugged me in front of several classmates.

As I did, I overheard some classmates discussing me and Sayaka while they were eating.

“I knew it, they were dating! I had a feeling.”

“Right? I thought it seemed suspicious since around April.”

“They look good together. Sayaka’s so cute when she’s being spoiled.”

“I agree. If I did that, it wouldn’t be as cute, but with Sayaka, it’s just adorable.”

Hearing their words made Sayaka smile happily.

“Fufu, now that everyone knows, I guess we can be lovey-dovey at school from now on…”

“Preferably in places where there aren’t too many people.”