Ring ring! Ring ring!
As the bell rang for the end of class, Chinatsu, who was sitting in the corner by the window, got up decisively and walked out. The students watching this were already used to it.
"Chinatsu-san ran off again~"
The students sighed with some regret. Although the three Espers in the school now all exuded an aura that warned others not to approach, they were different overall.
Because Shokuhou Misaki was a mental-type Ability User who could easily brainwash and hypnotize people, it was only natural and understandable for people to fear being peeked at or manipulated by her.
Mikoto, on the other hand, couldn't stand the frequent curious, envious, and jealous looks from those around her. She would respond to the owners of those gazes very bluntly, which made those peeking feel ashamed and thus alienated Mikoto.
However, as time passed, both became stars of Tokiwadai through their personal charisma. Shokuhou became the queen of Tokiwadai's largest faction, and Mikoto could run into little fangirls who admired her just by walking a few steps in school.
As for Chinatsu...
[Hey, hey, hey, who's going to go talk to Chinatsu?]
[She's so cold and aloof, there's even a sense of holiness...]
[What a pity, I wanted to go talk to her just now...]
Chinatsu's 'do not approach' aura wasn't born of fear. Abstractly speaking, she was like a distant beauty to be admired but not touched; more simply put, Chinatsu was so cold and aloof that she actually hit the specific preferences of these Tokiwadai young ladies.
Chinatsu herself was completely unaware of her classmates' little thoughts, because what they called 'aloof' was, in her eyes, simply 'energy saving.'
If someone took the initiative to talk to Chinatsu, she would naturally converse with them, but as for making her take the initiative to chat with others, she felt she'd rather turn her head to look out the window and let her mind wander.
At this moment, Chinatsu was walking slowly through the hallways of Tokiwadai when she happened to run into Sekikura Rei. Almost at the same time, the phones in their respective pockets buzzed.
"Hmm?"
Five minutes later, in the Tokiwadai courtyard.
Chinatsu and Sashikura walked there together, only to see the dark-skinned gyaru Senior Ruri with one hand on her hip and the other waving rapidly at them.
"You got here fast! And you came together?"
Senior Ruri said with a grin. Chinatsu and Sashikura turned to look at each other, then wore expressions that said 'you're still as in-sync as ever.'
It turned out that after the Menggefei Company incident, both had privately asked Senior Ruri to investigate news regarding Sha Danshan. This had made Ruri very happy, since she got two commissions for one job.
"Hehe, want to hear about some progress?"
"Stop wasting time and just tell us."
Facing Ruri's grinning face, Sashikura, as an old friend, waved her hand dismissively, telling her to get to the point.
"Okay, okay~ then I'll say it!"
Ruri cleared her throat loudly and quickly entered her presentation mode. She raised a finger and stated the results of her investigation with utmost seriousness.
[eternal princess]
This is the most prestigious honor within Tokiwadai. It is a title bestowed only upon someone who leads the largest faction within the school for more than a year before graduation.
One must realize that Tokiwadai is less a school and more a collective of capital from various industries. On this basis, the status of an eternal princess—someone loved and supported by the daughters of so many capitalists—is easily imaginable.
In order to conduct direct trade business with Academy City, the Takebayashi Family chose a human-wave tactic, constantly taking in excellent adopted daughters and sending them to Tokiwadai to challenge for the position of eternal princess.
Because as long as one person secured the position of eternal princess, the Takebayashi Family could use it as a springboard to open the doors to the Academy City Board of Directors.
Under the pressure of this continuous human-wave tactic, a girl named 'Takebayashi' was almost about to ascend to the position of eternal princess when an accident occurred at the most critical moment, and her hands were stained with a life.
At that time, society was filled with public opinion unfavorable to Tokiwadai. To reverse the tide of public opinion, Tokiwadai decisively cut ties with Takebayashi, not only revoking her status as eternal princess but also expelling her and sending her to a Juvenile Detention Center for education.
The Takebayashi Family went bankrupt and perished.
Takebayashi passed away quietly.
The adopted daughters originally taken in by the Takebayashi Family were then adopted by branch families, and Sha Danshan is suspected to be one of those original adopted daughters.
During the investigation, Senior Ruri also discovered that Sha Danshan isn't the only Takebayashi Family adopted daughter in the school. After finding this other adopted daughter and questioning her, she found it couldn't be ruled out that other daughters might be seeking revenge for their elder sister, Takebayashi.
As Senior Ruri finished speaking, Sekikura Rei also spoke up to supplement some things she knew. Weaving the information provided by the two together, the previously blurred truth seemed to have its mists peeled away.
"But in the end, there's still no evidence. Sha Danshan is quite the schemer; any evidence we might think to collect has surely been cleaned up."
Sekikura Rei raised a hand to scratch her hair. From the beginning, she felt that Sha Danshan's sweet and innocent appearance hid something terrifying. She hadn't expected it to be related to the Takebayashi Family from three years ago.
One must know that this incident involved the Dark Side of Academy City, which specializes in cleaning up messes. Tokiwadai paid a heavy price to reverse public opinion, and after cutting ties with Takebayashi, Tokiwadai's reputation actually rose instead of falling.
Sashikura and Ruri were already third-year students. After this winter, they would leave this school as graduates. It was no longer realistic for them to lead students to investigate this matter and confront Sha Danshan.
Ultimately, the gazes of Sashikura and Ruri both fell upon Chinatsu. Those two pairs of expectant eyes made Chinatsu immediately shrug her shoulders.
"Chinatsu, it's up to you now!" Sekikura Rei said earnestly, placing a hand heavily on Chinatsu's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, after we graduate, we're counting on little Chinatsu to stop her. I don't want my graduation certificate to become a piece of scrap paper just after I leave Tokiwadai~" Senior Ruri said with a grin, also reaching out a hand to pat Chinatsu's other shoulder.
In terms of 'firepower' alone, Chinatsu definitely had the advantage. Therefore, the key lay in stopping Sha Danshan's revenge plan with the smallest scope of impact, or even through legal means.
"I'm fine if you want me to fight, but if you want me to reason with someone..."
Chinatsu shrugged and let out a series of helpless, bitter laughs, feeling a hint of desolation in her heart regarding her future life at Tokiwadai.
How did that saying go?
This city really never lets one get bored.