Chapter 135 – I owe you a year of thanks

Sakayanagi's information was incredibly valuable, but the question remained: since the S System is essential to the operation of the school, it's surely one of the most critical aspects guarded by the school authorities, unknown to average students and even staff.

Given this, how could Sakayanagi know such detailed information?

Such a guarded rule, even for Yukio, who actively sought to uncover the school's regulations, was unheard of until now. Yet, Sakayanagi could discuss it as if she were familiar with it, as though she had seen it many times before.

This made Yukio recall something from five months ago, during the opening ceremony. The speaker had been called Chairman Sakayanagi.

"Was it Chairman Sakayanagi who told you?" Yukio mentioned, recalling the individual he had seen just once at the beginning of the school year, his memory always sharp.

Sakayanagi showed no sign of surprise, seemingly expecting that Yukio would deduce this after revealing such crucial information. She bowed gracefully, in a manner befitting a noble lady: "That is my father."

With those simple words, all of Yukio's questions were answered. No wonder Sakayanagi seemed to know so much about the secrets of the school; the chairman was her father!

That meant, Yukio thought quickly, the chairman of the school could bring people to see the S System? Even if not, at the very least, he could freely share information about it?

In that case, if Yukio wanted to gain control over the S System and complete the analysis and acquisition of all its data, he would need to win over— the chairman?

The final piece of the puzzle in Yukio's mind was thus placed by Sakayanagi, clearing the fog gradually, and he could now see the finish line in the distance.

Unaware of what Yukio was pondering, Sakayanagi expected a give-and-take in their conversation. She had answered a question and naturally hoped Yukio would respond to her significant inquiry.

With her hands crossed and resting on top of her cane, lightly tapping the ground like a medieval knight with a sheathed sword, she asked: "Yukio-kun, do you prefer to carry a pack of tissues, a handkerchief, or nothing at all when you go out?"

"Huh?" Yukio was momentarily taken aback; on the surface, he was discussing the sports festival class competition and whether or not to collaborate against Nagumo with Sakayanagi, but his mind was strategizing over the entire Advanced Nurturing High School.

Then, suddenly she threw out a question about preferring tissues or handkerchiefs, which understandably left anyone puzzled.

After a moment of confusion, Yukio realized something. A smart person like Sakayanagi wouldn't ask a question without purpose. There must be a corresponding significance to her inquiry.

He didn't believe someone like Sakayanagi would waste time on meaningless chatter. Tissues, handkerchiefs? Wait, handkerchiefs? Sakayanagi?

"I remember, last year, I attended a banquet and received a handkerchief as a gift from a prominent figure on Japan, which I then gave away to a stranger."

"Thinking about it, it seems..." Yukio said, his gaze intensifying on Sakayanagi, as the answer seemed imminent. No wonder he found Sakayanagi familiar upon seeing her.

No matter how good his memory was, forgetting was inevitable for a girl he had only seen once a year ago, even if she was beautiful, because there wasn't a particularly deep impression.

He remembered Chairman Sakayanagi but not Sakayanagi Arisu because the former's status within the Advanced Nurturing High School required his attention.

Sakayanagi's originally elegant expression turned into a slight smile upon hearing Yukio's words, as if countless silvery spirits were slowly blooming behind her because of this smile: "That was during the summer vacation of my third year in junior high."

"Because I was going to enter the Advanced Nurturing High School and might not see the sea for three years, I might have felt some kind of loss, so I sneakily ran to the seaside alone."

Yukio, following her story, also became immersed in it: "Last year, my family wanted to introduce me to connections in Japan, so they took me on a trip."

"The adult's cocktail party was dreadfully boring, so I too ended up at the seaside to clear my mind."

Both were sharing their stories, seemingly unrelated and parallel, never intersecting.

However, when Sakayanagi took out an old, tea-colored handkerchief from her pleated skirt's pocket, the two parallel lines twisted and merged, creating an intersection.

Sakayanagi lifted the handkerchief between them, facing Yukio, and shared her memory: "Perhaps the sea breeze doesn't like naughty children; it blew away my hat."

"That hat was a gift from my father, and I didn't want to lose it. There was no one around, so I had to chase after it, but I was so weak physically that I got heatstroke after running just a few steps."

Yukio found the story intriguing, recalling a small incident: "I went to the seaside to clear my mind and saw a girl clumsily chasing after her flying hat, only to collapse onto a beach chair halfway."

"For the sake of being helpful, I caught the hat that the wind had blown towards me. When I approached, I found the girl had already fallen into a semi-conscious state."

At this point, Sakayanagi wasn't looking at Yukio but was gazing down at the handkerchief, tenderly touching it as if reminiscing or recalling: "After I fainted from heatstroke, I felt a slight coolness."

"When I woke up, I found half a bottle of mineral water pressing down on the hat beside me, and this handkerchief, dampened with mineral water, covering my forehead. Someone must have attended to me for heatstroke, right?"

"I wanted to thank him, but I only saw the tall silhouette of someone my age walking away."

"That person..." Sakayanagi continued, lifting her gaze directly into Yukio's eyes: "I've found him now."

"Just by following behind you, I felt that your silhouette was about five centimeters taller than the one in my memory, but in the end, the two silhouettes merged together slowly."

Yukio glanced at the handkerchief, marveling at how fate could be so wondrous. A small, tea-colored handkerchief could lead to such an unexpected discovery.

No wonder Sakayanagi shared such significant information about the S System with him. If not for this shared past, she might have spoken about other rules and concealed this information, right?

"I went to return the hat and, upon seeing the girl unconscious, didn't think much of it." Sakayanagi's story had come to an end, and Yukio also prepared to conclude: "I poured mineral water from the party onto the handkerchief and placed it on the girl's forehead."

"Then I just walked away. The handkerchief was a gift from someone else and hadn't been in my possession for even an hour. The mineral water was readily available at the party, and the hat was brought by the sea breeze. Actually, it all had little to do with me."

"But," Sakayanagi elegantly took over, "the handkerchief for cooling down, the mineral water for dehydration, the hat blown away by the sea breeze and then brought to you, which you then returned to me."

"No matter what, this thank you I've owed for more than a year, I still need to say it."

***

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