Chapter 102 – Karuizawa is in trouble

If the most troublesome thing in summer is a power outage, leading to air conditioners not working and people being trapped in rooms like steam boxes, sweltering and irritable, then what would be the second most troublesome thing? Initially, Yukio had no answer. But now, if someone were to ask him, he could clearly tell them that the second most troublesome thing is water outage.

One day in August, at exactly 6 p.m., when everyone was happily spending their summer vacation, the school suddenly sent out a message that startled all students, making them think another special exam was upon them.

Amidst the panic, upon opening the message, it turned out to be a notification from the school stating that due to an issue with the water supply company's pipeline requiring repair, students would need to endure some inconvenience.

The water supply company informed the school that water would be cut off until midnight, meaning there would be no water supply for six hours starting from 6 p.m.

Of course, trusting the water supply company could be risky because repairs like these tend to get delayed easily. It's hard to predict with these kinds of engineering tasks. There's a small chance that the repair could be finished ahead of schedule, but there's a bigger chance it might extend into the next day.

The school's message asked students to endure, but the school actually provides quite well for the students. In a regular school, a water outage would just be that, with no measures taken and students simply waiting it out. However, the school had reliable arrangements in place, with several cafeterias providing water from tanks, allowing each student to collect two liters of water using their phone at the cafeteria.

To give an idea, two liters is roughly the volume of three and a half standard mineral water bottles. If that might not be enough, the school also prepared a large amount of mineral water for free consumption at the Shopping Center.

However, students were only allowed to drink at the Shopping Center and were prohibited from bringing containers to fill and take back. This would undoubtedly cause congestion and inefficiency in distribution, and could even lead to chaos on site.

Leaving other things aside, the school did an excellent job in handling the details.

Upon receiving the message, Yukio, who was about to brew a cup of tea, put down the electric kettle and opened the fridge. Thankfully, after his recent trip to the supermarket with Ibuki, they were well-stocked with water and beverages.

After ensuring there was an ample water supply, Yukio went back to lying down and playing on his phone, feeling fortunate there wasn't a power outage. However, while he was playing, he suddenly received a call from Kei Karuizawa, which made him somewhat puzzled. 

He had given his contact information to two undercover agents, but they had never called him before; they usually just collected information and reported back through LINE. 

This sudden call from Karuizawa, an unusually proactive communication, made Yukio couldn't help but think there was something wrong. 

Was there an accident? Was the undercover identity discovered by Class D? With a bad premonition, Yukio answered Karuizawa's call but didn't make any sound. 

Who knew if the person on the other end was Karuizawa or someone else? 

Strangely, there was also no sound from the other end of the phone, and the line was silent. Yukio hung up, wondering whether to ask Sakura or Ibuki to check on Karuizawa when the phone rang again, still from Karuizawa. 

Upon answering again, Karuizawa's voice finally came through: "Hello? Was the, was there a bad signal just now?" Her voice was full of anxious emotion. 

Yukio's gaze became slightly sharp: "Who is this? How did you get my phone number?" 

"Wait? Didn't you give..." Karuizawa reacted quickly, smacked her lips obviously, and said: "Don't worry! I'm in my dorm, all by myself!" 

"Why so cautious? Do you think I'm the type to still contact you if someone discovers my undercover identity? I didn't even save your number in my phone contacts; I memorized it. And I'll delete the call log later." 

Seeing Karuizawa's tone so natural, Yukio also let go of his suspicion: "Being cautious is never wrong, but why did you suddenly call? Did you discover some significant information about Class D to report to me?" 

Yukio could only think of this possibility, even speculating if Karuizawa had caught some secret of Ayanokoji and was thus anxious to report. 

"Significant information?" Karuizawa's voice faltered, followed by several seconds of awkward silence before she nervously laughed: "No, no... it's, it's me, I, I'm in trouble."

"Can you..., can you come help me?"

"What's the matter? I'll take care of it if I can." Yukio reassured Karuizawa that he would do his best to help.

On the other end, Karuizawa hesitated for a few seconds before speaking up nervously and embarrassingly: "I, actually, I just thought... since it's so hot, I'd take a shower... but then."

Yukio finally understood, rolling his eyes on his end before finishing Karuizawa's sentence for her: "The water stopped, right? You got trapped in the bathroom."

"Exactly! Exactly! You're so understanding! That's right, can you help me find some water? I've just applied a ton of shampoo to my hair, it's all bubbles, such a hassle! If I can't rinse it off, that'll be troublesome, my hair will turn into straw. And who knows when the water will come back, I'm almost in despair."

When it came to her hair, Karuizawa seemed fearless in front of Yukio, talking a mile a minute, without the stammering she had earlier.

Understanding the situation, Yukio was too lazy to move himself: "For such a small trouble, can't you just ask a friend? You're quite influential in Class D, just have a few girls fetch water for you."

Karuizawa went silent again for some reason, and after a brief wait, Yukio heard Karuizawa's soft voice filled with grievance: "I, I've already said, the water stopped while I was in the middle of showering... Points are so precious, and I didn't buy a bath towel..."

Just as Yukio was about to remind her that he hadn't forgotten about the water outage and didn't need to be reminded again, a sudden realization flashed through his mind, remembering their first encounter.

It was at the side of the cafeteria, where she was confronted by Manabe and others, tangled up until Yukio discovered Karuizawa's most guarded secret— the scar from a knife wound on her left abdomen, leading her to submit to him.

Meaning, Karuizawa, without a bath towel, couldn't comfortably reach out to her female peers, nor could she contact others, except for Yukio, who knew her deepest secret.

Because Karuizawa didn't want anyone else to know about the deeply shameful scar on her left abdomen, the very thing she tried her utmost to bury in her past.

"I understand, wait for me."

***

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