After some questioning, Kaoru Mitoma finally figured it out.

From the moment the exam officially started, Miki Yamamura had been reporting the situation of the Snake Group to Arisu Sakayanagi, but following him was something she did today.

Kaoru Mitoma had considered the possibility of being followed, but he thought Arisu Sakayanagi would still have Masumi Kamuro tailing him.

He didn't expect her to switch to Miki Yamamura this time.

Thinking carefully, with Miki Yamamura's presence, she might indeed be the best choice for stalking.

"What did you report to her?" Kaoru Mitoma looked at Miki Yamamura's hands, which had been clutching her phone the entire time.

When he caught her earlier, she was pretending to be playing with her phone.

Miki Yamamura hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Your meeting with Ryuen-kun, and your conversation with this classmate just now."

Mako Amikura looked at her in surprise and hurriedly said.

"Why did you have to mention me? Do you think there's some secret between him and me?"

"Sakayanagi-san told me to record his every move," Miki Yamamura confessed honestly.

Mako Amikura was even more surprised and couldn't help but blurt out.

"Do you guys in Class A usually play spy games?"

Following a classmate and reporting their every move at any time, isn't that something out of a TV drama?

"No, the only one who likes to play these games is Sakayanagi-san. Although she looks petite and cute, everyone has their own peculiar hobbies."

Hearing Kaoru Mitoma's response, Mako Amikura couldn't tell if he was joking or not, unable to imagine that a seemingly harmless little girl could be a stalker in private.

"Can I see the messages you sent?" Kaoru Mitoma reached out to Miki Yamamura, "Don't worry, I won't look at anything else, I'll return it to you in a moment."

Miki Yamamura showed hesitation, then took out a handkerchief, wiped her phone and carefully handed it to Kaoru Mitoma.

This small action made Kaoru Mitoma feel a bit puzzled, but he thought it might just be her being particular about cleanliness and didn't dwell on it.

Kaoru Mitoma looked at it for a while but didn't find anything particularly noteworthy.

Even the conversation between him and Kakeru Ryuen wasn't recorded by Miki Yamamura, possibly because she couldn't hear it clearly.

After all, the conversation took place in the hallway, where everyone could be seen at a glance, making it impossible for her to eavesdrop.

The only thing she could do was to peek from the corner of the staircase, watching from a distance.

Thinking of this, Kaoru Mitoma returned the phone to Miki Yamamura.

"Are you going to continue following me?"

"R-really, you won't tell Sakayanagi-san?"

"Exposing you would only cause trouble, and you wouldn't want to tell her that your mission failed, right?"

"..."

Miki Yamamura silently averted her gaze, feeling uneasy under Kaoru Mitoma's stare.

However, to her surprise, Kaoru Mitoma spoke up first, "If you're tired, I'll head back to my room to rest, and you can go back too."

As if she had heard something unbelievable, Miki Yamamura widened her eyes, her face filled with confusion, thinking she must have misheard him.

"W-why?"

"Because we're classmates. Even though we have a small disagreement now, we'll definitely fight side by side in the future. It's fine to look out for each other in advance."

Miki Yamamura seemed to have never expected to hear such words, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"If you think this is too simple, we can go somewhere else," Kaoru Mitoma said. "I was planning to spend some time in the library. Do you want to come along?"

For some reason, Mako Amikura felt that this scene was familiar, especially when she saw Miki Yamamura's expression and a faint sense of discomfort arose in her heart.

She had already made up her mind, but seeing Kaoru Mitoma invite another girl made her feel as if something was slipping away from her heart, as if she had to reach out and grab it quickly or it would be gone forever.

Mako Amikura regretted it.

She regretted standing here and watching their conversation.

She should have left earlier.

Her thoughts were simple.

While she had someone she truly liked, getting entangled with Kaoru Mitoma would be disrespectful to both of them.

However, Mako Amikura didn't show any emotion and instead tried hard to recall the face of the person she liked, attempting to find that once-familiar feeling in her blurred memories.

"You really don't have to worry about me... Following someone is already a bad thing. I'm just glad you didn't tell Sakayanagi-san," Miki Yamamura said was feeling uneasy.

It was rare for someone to treat her this way, leaving her utterly confused.

"You're still going to keep following, right?" Kaoru Mitoma said nonchalantly. He had initially thought it would be Masumi Kamuro and was planning to play along.

"Since that's the case, why don't you come with me?"

At this point, Miki Yamamura couldn't refuse and nodded in agreement.

Arisu Sakayanagi probably didn't expect to lose another spy.

By the time she found out, she'd likely be stunned.

"By the way, should I keep this a secret too?" Mako Amikura suddenly asked.

As a student from Class B, she had been listening for a while, which was awkward no matter how you looked at it.

"Let's keep it a secret for today. But I'm glad you were here, otherwise I wouldn't have known Yamamura-san was following me," Kaoru Mitoma complimented her.

Mako Amikura smiled, silently watching him, as if waiting for some kind of invitation.

"We'll head to the library now. See you later, Amikura-san."

In an instant, Mako Amikura's smile stiffened.

There was no invitation as she had imagined, only his farewell.

Within that farewell, there was a faint trace of politeness and distance.

Despite her efforts to control her expression, Mako still felt uncomfortable.

It wasn't out of regret, but rather a sense of disappointment, as if she had expected to be included but was skipped over, leaving a faint sense of loss in her heart.

Soon after, this emotion made her feel embarrassed.

Why would she care so much?

"Alright, see you later!"

Mako forced a casual tone as she bid him farewell, watching as Miki Yamamura gave her a slight bow before quickly following after him.

Come to think of it, in his eyes, her earlier words must have sounded like a rejection of a confession.

Mako patted her cheeks, trying to cheer herself up, but her thoughts were in turmoil.

Fragments of memories flashed before her eyes like seabirds skimming the surface of the ocean, the sparkling waves scattering beneath the slightly pungent spray.

She suddenly realized she was on a cruise ship, not back in school.

She pursed her lips tightly.

Her decision shouldn't be wrong, but the more she thought about it, the more her chest felt as if it were being tightly gripped.

And so, Mako did what every girl her age would do.

"Hey, Honami-chan, I think I have a problem…"

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