I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

"What we just mentioned was nothing more than from the perspective of Yukinoshita-senpai or Isshiki," Kiyori finally spoke, putting away her phone and looking seriously at Yuihama and the others, "that is, from our own perspective."

"Since this path is blocked, we can try another one."

"What do you mean?"

Yui blinked, clearly not following her train of thought.

“This matter involves more than just Yukinoshita and Isshiki,” Hikigaya added, “it also involves the person who deliberately leaked false information.”

“What’s the use of just defending when the enemy attacks?” A ruthless glint flashed in Kiyoyori’s eyes. “Offense is the best defense. I think that’s the perfect statement right now.”

"What do you think, Minister?"

Three gazes simultaneously converged on the other silent person.

"Then let's do it this way."

Chapter 27 Inquiring about Yukinoshita

There are many ways to deal with people who spread rumors without basis and blindly believe them. Besides clarifying the situation directly, there are many other indirect methods, such as:

This diverts the focus of most onlookers.

When most people's attention is focused on something more attractive, the original thing naturally gets sidelined.

For example, while this rumor was circulating under the snow, an equally explosive piece of news was released.

—The incredibly masculine teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, is already married!

some type of……

Such impractical yet thought-provoking topics always capture attention.

However, while this approach can reduce the impact of the original rumor most quickly, it cannot prove that it was a rumor and not the truth. In other words, the original harm caused by the rumor has not been reduced.

But what if the whistleblower is the one who gets exposed? This creates a crisis of trust among the audience, and the original rumor is naturally put on questionable terms. When the onlookers realize they've been deceived, the misunderstanding is easily resolved, even without a direct clarification.

However, while the plan looks simple, its actual implementation is not so simple.

First, identifying the person who leaked the information is difficult enough, and then digging up useful dirt on them makes it even more difficult.

Therefore, the plan was not progressing quickly. The Service Department was gathering information while simultaneously counterattacking in the original post. However, the counterattack work was mainly handled by Hihama. In her words:

"I can't calm myself down if I don't do something."

Although such a counterattack only kept the incident in the spotlight, neither Kiyoyori nor Hikigaya stopped Yuihama.

Once the response method has been decided, the higher the initial popularity of the event, the more exciting the reversal will be.

....................................................................................

"Is Yukino just going to let others belittle her like this?"

Eriri, leaning on her easel, quickly sketched something on the paper while chatting with Kiyoyori, who was striking the pose she wanted.

"Don't even mention Soubu High School, even students at our school are talking about this. If it's not resolved properly, it won't be good for Soubu High School's reputation, will it?"

Toyonosaki and Sobu High are almost separated by only a wall. Although one is private and the other is public, there is still a competitive relationship between the two schools, especially among the top students in the school. Their exam results are compared with each other every time.

Among them, the most famous are Kasumigaoka Utaha and Tanaka Asuka, who are about to graduate, as well as Yukino Yukinoshita and Eriri Sawamura, who are both second-year students.

However, most people are more interested in their looks than their talent.

This is why Eriri, whose grades are only average, is also included in the comparison.

"Kiyoshi, are you listening to me?"

The model was clearly daydreaming. Although she maintained the required pose meticulously, her listless eyes already revealed her wandering thoughts.

"A model should at least be more responsible, shouldn't she?!" Eriri walked over with a disgruntled expression and mercilessly tugged at Kiyori's cheek. "Eiko is much more dedicated than you!"

Kiyoyori then came to his senses, "What did you just say?"

"I said—!" Eriri took a deep breath, "Is it really okay to just let this happen like this? I can understand dealing with this kind of scoundrel by ignoring it, but it seems like this approach isn't working at all!"

“It’s your decision, Senpai,” Kiyoyori replied expressionlessly. She took the opportunity to relax and shake her slightly sore arm when she saw Eriri stop writing. “I don’t have the right to interfere with Yukinoshita-senpai’s choice, do I? Besides, it’s her decision how to be the student council president.”

The methods the Service Club is about to use will certainly be things that Yukinoshita dislikes, so they will all keep quiet in front of Yukinoshita.

Eriri silently held her coffee cup, and through the white steam rising from the rim, Kiyori's figure in the distance became somewhat blurry. "That's exactly what Kiyori would say. But I thought Kiyori would treat Yukinoshita a little differently."

Kiyotomi paused for a moment as she swung her arm, then naturally picked up the water glass, not letting Eriri notice her slightly odd movement. "Why do you say that?"

“Because, the other person is Yukino Yukinoshita.” Eriri said with a matter-of-fact expression. “Kiyori asked me about Yukinoshita before, and later he even visited Soubu High School. To be honest, I thought Kiyori was applying to Soubu High School just for Yukinoshita.”

Eriri's tone was so natural that Kiyorai froze as if struck by lightning.

"When did I ask Eriri about Yukinoshita-senpai?"

She felt her throat was dry, so dry it felt like it was on fire.

"Not last year?" Eriri looked puzzled. "Wasn't Kiyori about to enter high school at that time? But I only found out later that Kiyori went to Soubu High School because of Asuka-senpai."

Looking at the other person's overly matter-of-fact expression, Kiyoyori suddenly felt that there was something wrong with his memory. "Why? Why did I ask about Yukinoshita-senpai last year?"

"How would I know such a thing!"

Eriri looked away. She really didn't know why Kiyori would bring up Yukinoshita, but at the time she guessed it might be related to Yukinoshita Haruno.

"Is that so..."

Seeing Kiyori's thoughtful expression, Eriri wondered if she had said something wrong. "Anyway, since Kiyori is a member of the Service Club, and Yukinoshita was the previous head of the Service Club, I think Kiyori should be more careful."

Why is Eriri so concerned about this?

Kiyoyori rarely talks about the Service Club with Eriri, let alone Yukinoshita.

"Kiyoshi doesn't know?" Eriri blinked, reached into her bag from the other end of the sofa, and took out her phone. "This is our school's bulletin board. It says that the Toyosaki Student Council is participating in the community Christmas event."

"Community Christmas activities?"

"In short, it is an event organized by the school's student union, but it is not aimed at students. Instead, it is an event for other non-school personnel in the community, mainly to let people outside the school or students who intend to apply to the school know more about the school's activities."

Eriri explained.

"Eri knows very well."

"Of course!" Eriri seemed a little annoyed when the topic came up, and even rolled her eyes in a very unladylike way. "Last year, the event was supported by the mini hand-drawn films made by our art club!"

"So, what is your relationship with this Yukinoshita-senpai?"

"Here!" Eriri tapped the screen forcefully. "This year's event will be organized by Toyonosaki and Soubu High School together!"

Kiyoshi frowned.

"Let me make this clear from the start," Eriri said, her expression somewhat complicated.

“The current student council members at our school cannot be described simply as ‘rotten’.”

Chapter 28 Wasted Time in Collaboration

Kiyoshiro didn't take Eriri's warning to heart. Firstly, it was a student council matter, and as an outsider, she had no reason to interfere. Secondly, she believed that Yukinoshita was just a festival event co-organized with another school, and it wasn't even as grand as the previous cultural festival. Of course, the workload was also far less than that of the cultural festival.

I only sent a token message of condolence to that senior colleague, and as expected, I didn't receive a reply until quite a while later. It was just a brief "thank you for your concern" and an expression of reassurance that I could handle the matter and that there was no need to worry.

The buzz generated by those unfounded rumors has not subsided, because more and more idle and mindless onlookers have begun to vent their dissatisfaction with the "rights" obtained by top students. Some people have even brought up what happened at the previous cultural festival, claiming that Yukinoshita was originally intended to "fictionalize" Sagami.

What a "coincidence"! Yukinoshita's participation in the cultural festival was also due to Sagami's request.

Kiyoshi was very puzzled as to why someone would still do such a pointless thing in high school.

Even the Service Club, which was originally quite inconspicuous and whose club activities were handled by Hiratsuka-sensei, has now become the focus of everyone's attention. Although everyone is more curious about the Service Club, the number of requests has increased recently, ranging from helping to write love letters to following the weekend schedules of people they like.

Kiyoyori even suspected that if things continued like this, the Service Club could be renamed the Detective Club.

The search for the whistleblower has made little substantial progress.

As members of the Service Club who were forced into the election, they all knew that it was originally an election with no competition whatsoever, not only because of Yukinoshita's abilities, but also because of the lack of enthusiasm of others. Even Isshiki, who was originally the only one to sign up, was only persuaded by his "friends".

It's truly unexpected that the person who leaked the information would be involved in the election.

They also wanted to start by looking at Yukinoshita's interpersonal relationships. Perhaps she was among those who particularly disliked her, since Yukinoshita's personality was not exactly friendly to most classmates and she could easily make enemies. However, after Kiyoshiro did some research on Class 2-J, she found that Yukinoshita was actually quite popular in the class. Both boys and girls generally had a good impression of her.

Some girls even think that Yukinoshita is actually quite cute, especially when she's shy.

Kiyoshi agreed with this.

Although there seems to be no substantial progress, it has effectively narrowed down the scope. Perhaps the whistleblower's intention is not what it seems.

Kiyoshi crumpled up the relationship diagram he had casually drawn and stared blankly at the chat interface on his phone, which had become silent.

..............................................................................

When Yukinoshita received Kiyoyori's LINE message, she was preparing to go to the meeting room for the Christmas event co-hosted with Toyonosaki.

That was probably a couple of days ago. As the student council president, she received an invitation from the Toyonosaki student council president. The invitation was polite, but the purpose was simple and clear: he wanted to collaborate with Soubu High School to hold an event that would surpass all previous ones.

Originally, Yukinoshita had just taken over the student council and was a new member. The new members of the student council had not yet gotten to know each other. Therefore, external activities should be put on hold, and the focus should be on the student council itself and school affairs.

However, the words "surpassing all previous ones" successfully aroused Yukinoshita's competitive spirit, and this incident just happened. Believing that strength can explain everything, she accepted the other party's invitation without much hesitation.

"The event held by Toyonosaki last year was also very successful. Most of the student council members at that time were only first-year students. I imagine that Toyonosaki will be more experienced this year. Working with such a team might help the current student council members to get along better with each other!"

Cheng Hui's words were undoubtedly a shot in the arm.

So when she first went to the meeting, Yukinoshita had no idea what a terrible situation she would face. It wasn't until she arrived at the meeting room and had time to reply to Kiyori's message that she confidently replied:

"Thank you for your concern, don't worry."

The LINE interface quickly showed that the message had been read, and the other end simply replied with a short message: "That's good."

Just then, the representatives from Toyonosaki arrived, and Yukinoshita did not reply.

"I am Koji Sakura, nice to meet you. Yukinoshita-kun, I've heard so much about you."

Sakura, clearly the student council president of Toyonosaki, reached out her hand to Yukinoshita with a cheerful smile.

Yukino, who dislikes physical contact, hesitated for a moment before extending her hand, but quickly touched the other's palm with her fingertip before withdrawing it.

Sakura wasn't annoyed; she simply continued introducing her members with that smile. But Yukinoshita felt a sense of unease; that smile seemed to conceal more meanings than just a smile.

The Toyonosaki student council, led by Sakura, is mostly made up of boys, and they are boys who dress in a slightly flamboyant way. Because they are already handsome, they manage to make their school uniforms look like they are on a runway, which is in stark contrast to the Soubu High School student council, who wear their school uniforms meticulously according to the school rules.

What suddenly worsened Yukinoshita's mood was that she saw a very familiar face among the other student council representatives.