166. The Trap (1)

"You're j-joking, right? Me?" Minato stuttered in disbelief.

His face had gone completely pale, and his eyes even darted towards the cafe's exit, as if he was considering making a run for it.

"If not you, who else? You're the only one who can do this. And don't tell me you thought you could wash your hands free from being involved, especially after what you did."

Reiji's icy tone was like throwing a bucket of cold water over Minato, who promptly shrank in size once again.

Seeing his defeated expression, Reiji knew that relying simply on fear wouldn't be very effective and might even lead to mistakes.

"Don't worry," he reassured. "If you do this, not only will I forget about you writing that post, but I'll make sure you don't get into any trouble regarding this entire situation. Of course, that's only if you do well."

"R-Really? You're not messing with me, right?"

"I promise."

He didn't want to let Minato just get away with it scot-free, but he needed to prioritize going after Kahawara Sensei.

And that would be significantly more troublesome without Minato's help.

".....Fine. I'll do it."

Reiji nodded with a satisfied smile and took out his phone.

He opened up Chatly and navigated to Noa's account to get an update, and she responded within a minute.

***

[~Prez~]

Chefalicious: Hey, any update abt the announcement from the Principal?

FujikawaNoa: We have reached an agreement.

FujikawaNoa: She will make an announcement tomorrow morning

Chefalicious: Cool. Wanted to let you know that I have some leads on who did this

Chefalicious: Will definitely gather enough evidence tmr ( •̀ ω •́ )y

FujikawaNoa: Noted.

***

Her curt responses made him chuckle for a second before he shifted his focus back to ironing out the plan for tomorrow.

The Principal's announcement would be vital for the trap they were going to set, so they couldn't do much before that.

He turned to Arata to ask him a few questions for clarification, only to see his seat empty.

"Um.....He went to buy a few more slices of cake," Minato said with a sheepish smile when he saw Reiji looking around.

".....How is that man so fucking thin??"

***

(Riku POV)

"Wait.....I don't understand? Why are you so interested in this?" Tooro asked.

I just rolled my eyes and shoved him lightly.

"Just tell me if you're going to do it or not?"

"I-I don't know, man! You're talking about the student council here! I could get into serious trouble if things go wrong, more than I already am!"

"Don't be a pussy!" I snapped. "Didn't you always say that you wanted to be a spy? But now that you have the chance to do something similar, and for an honorable cause at that, you're chickening out?"

I got off my bed and pointed at the movie poster on my wall, which depicted a very cool scene from our favorite action movie where the hero was riding a horse and wielding a sniper rifle aimed at the viewer.

'Such a GOATED scene....'

"Don't you want to be like him?" I pushed.

This was sure to move him.

"...Calling this an honorable cause is stretching it a little far, but fine. I'll do it," Tooro sighed, finally giving in, just as expected.

"Hehe, it's just setting a trap, we're not doing anything insane," I laughed, patting him on the back.

"Yeah, but it might not even work. How would he even believe you?"

After thinking long and hard about how I could find out who made that post, I finally figured out a method that was almost foolproof.

It was obvious that whoever wrote the rumors had an agenda against the President or Yagami, and my best option was to use that knowledge against them.

When I checked, I realized that even though the account of the poster was anonymous, their private DMs were open.

1+1=2

All we had to do was send him a message saying that we also had problems with Yagami and wanted to help bring him down, claiming that we had obtained more proof that would guarantee his expulsion.

"Simple. We use our punishment as the reason. Since we have to go to the Student Council for supervised study, we can say that we found something in the President's desk when she went to the washroom. Then he'd have to believe us, since it would be very helpful with whatever he wants to do!"

Tooro seemed to be a little more convinced, but he still had his brows furrowed.

"But.....What if he refuses to meet in person? He can just say that we should send it to him online, right?"

"True, but that won't be a problem, since he'll get desperate," I smirked.

"Desperate? Why?"

"Didn't you get the email? The school sent out a notice an hour ago, saying that there would be an emergency assembly tomorrow. My guess is that the Principal will take the President's side, and unless the poster has more evidence, the gossip will slowly be suppressed."

"...Riku, my man? You're a fucking genius! If he thinks his plan failed, he'll have no leverage to refuse an in-person meeting! Even if he does think it's a trap and won't come, there's a good chance he'll not be able to push the rumors further, and that'll shut the whole momentum down!"

"Tooro, my son, I didn't realize you were so smart! I thought I'd have to explain it a bit more!"

"Fuck you! You called me Daddy this afternoon, so when did I become your son?!"

"Semantics. We'll send the poster a message right after the assembly tomorrow, when he's at the height of his despair! And when we meet, you hide in a corner and record the whole thing as evidence."

"....Not gonna lie, I'm a little excited."

"Yep. Let's get that fucker!"

***

Reiji stepped into the assembly hall with a yawn, loosening his tie further because he disliked the stuffy feeling.

He hadn't slept very well last night.

The thoughts of how the plan could turn out and how it might fail kept running through his mind, preventing him from relaxing until exhaustion took over.

But there wasn't much he could do now, with everything already in place.

All that was left was the execution.

"Reiji-tan, are you doing okay?"

He turned around to see both Haruna and Hina standing behind him with worried expressions, though the former's still hoarse voice didn't do a great job at conveying that.

"I'm fine, don't worry. It'll be resolved before school ends today."

".....Really?"

"You'll see."

Hina didn't really say much, aside from giving him a 'fighting' pose.

They walked over to the same seats they used during the awards ceremony, but this time they were the first to arrive.

Not for long, though, since Airi, Greeny, and Ren joined them one after the other.

"Is the assembly today regarding that post?" Airi asked with a tense look.

For once, she wasn't really joking around, which actually made Reiji a little amused. But it also showed just how worried everyone was, and that was something he wouldn't take for granted.

"Yeah, the Principal is going to clear a few things up. And you all don't have to worry about the post, I already know who's behind it, and it's only a matter of time before I expose them," he replied.

"Huh? You know who did it? Tell us!" Haruna exclaimed.

"Not yet. I need to get proper evidence first. Without that, it's just going to be a claim without much backbone. And who knows, I might even be wrong."

After the shock of Kahawara Sensei being the Mastermind, Reiji knew how important it was to be cautious.

Until he was absolutely sure, he wouldn't get ahead of himself.

Also, he didn't just want to catch the Mastermind.

He wanted much more than that.

The group obviously complained about the secrecy, but after seeing his refusal to budge, they gave up.

Reiji himself was a little distracted because he noticed something when talking to them.

There were far more eyes on him than ever before.

Usually, people either avoided his gaze or looked at him with resentment.

But now, he could see that a large majority of the hall was looking his way while whispering something to their friends, including the upper-year students who were previously unaware of his existence.

'.....Tch, I hate this.'

He didn't care much about what they were gossiping about; it was the mere fact that he was the center of attention.

Thankfully, he didn't have to bear with it for long as the Principal walked onto the stage, followed by the President trailing behind her.

The loud, chattering hall instantly quieted down, and this time they did so out of curiosity instead of the respect they had for the Principal.

Everyone knew what the assembly was about, but what they wanted to know was what side the Principal would take.

The narrow-eyed woman had the same perpetual smile on her face as she adjusted the microphone on the podium.

She took her time before speaking, choosing to scan the crowd in front of her first.

After a full 15 seconds of studying the mass of people, just when they were starting to get uncomfortable...

She finally spoke.

"Just how much free time do you guys have?"

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what she was trying to say.

"I mean....The students should realistically be busy with studying, club sessions, hanging out with friends, and living a fulfilling life. The teachers have an even bigger workload, and should be focusing on their lesson plans, grading, spending time with their families, and embracing the joy of teaching."

The Principal tilted her head slightly, her smile fading away for the first time.

"And yet, there is someone out there who is bored enough to spout complete bullshit on online forums, and others who are perpetuating it with baseless opinions. They are misusing the gift of anonymity and invading privacy at the same time, for a reason I cannot fathom for the life of me. So...I ask you all once again. Just how much free time do you guys have?"

Reiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

'.....Well, damn!'