"Look, you've got to believe us. We don't have anything to do with Yamasaki or Sagawa."
Looking at the chat logs, there certainly didn't seem to be any evidence that they were involved in the photo incident, but...
That didn't change the fact that they had tried to blackmail me.
"Hayato, sorry, but let me handle the talking from here. Is that okay?"
"Got it. I'll leave them to you."
Hayato stepped aside readily, so I took over the conversation.
"You say Yamasaki isn't involved, but you guys were blackmailing me on his instructions, weren't you?"
I spoke forcefully, making sure they understood that the tables had turned.
"Huh? No, he... well, he just told us to spread some rumors..."
Come to think of it, the RAIN messages from earlier hadn't said much more than that, even regarding the stuff about me.
If that was the case, did that mean the attempt to blackmail me was something they had decided to do on their own initiative?
I suppose a group of people who only think of their own interests would end up like this.
Even Yamasaki likely never imagined that such a trivial order to spread rumors might lead to him being tripped up.
"I see. So this was your own decision. Regardless, given both the photo incident and your attempt to blackmail me, I should probably hand you over to the police—"
"We'll do anything! Just please, not the police!!"
"Yamasaki is the one to blame! The photo, this setup... everything is all Yamasaki's fault!"
They were clearly intent on pinning everything on him.
But that worked out for me. Yamasaki was a much higher priority than small fry like these two.
This incident had made it clear that he was targeting me again, and there was a high possibility he might escalate and go after Sara-san or the people around me.
There was also a chance that Yamasaki still had other acquaintances at this school. More than anything, I wanted to ensure Sara-san never became a target.
In that case... I had no choice but to crush him completely, to settle the debt from our past.
And Yuzuha too... If she was the one who had instigated Yamasaki to do this, I couldn't just ignore it.
If she intended to mess with my life again, I no longer felt any lingering sentiment for her just because she was my childhood friend.
"So, you're saying it's all Yamasaki's fault?"
When I reacted that way, they nodded desperately, latching onto the hope of an out.
"Fine. I'll defer the police until the Yamasaki matter is settled. In exchange, tell me everything you know about him. If you aren't involved, you don't have a reason to stay quiet, right? By the way, I've recorded this entire conversation."
"U-Understood. We really aren't involved with Yamasaki's business. We have no reason to protect a guy like him."
They were the type to abandon their comrades the moment it benefited them.
People like this were truly scum.
Besides, I had only said I would defer the report; I never said a word about letting them off scot-free.
However, even if I turned them over to the police now, they probably weren't directly involved in the photo incident. If Yamasaki found out too early, he might take countermeasures that would make things more difficult later.
"Sorry, Hayato. I went ahead and made that call on my own..."
"No, it's fine. Based on what they're saying, it's ambiguous if they're directly involved in the crime anyway. I'll leave it to you, Kazunari."
It seemed Hayato was on the same page.
I extracted everything they knew, but there wasn't much significant information beyond the photo incident.
The two of them had met Yamasaki through that guy named Sagawa. In exchange for being introduced to girls occasionally, they had a relationship where they would help him out if he had a request.
That said, it had only happened a few times. Apparently, Yamasaki had become cautious after Sagawa caused that incident, and he hadn't introduced them to anyone since.
Despite that, he still made patronizing requests of them. They had resented being treated like errand boys, which was why they had acted on their own initiative to blackmail me.
Incidentally, they knew Sagawa had caused some kind of incident, but since Yamasaki had insisted they stay quiet while claiming he wasn't involved, they had always found it suspicious.
When they saw the photo of Sagawa and realized Yamasaki was in it too, they had become convinced that he was involved after all.
For the time being, since they had told me everything they could, I was prepared to leave it at a deferment on the condition that they would cooperate in the future... or so I thought.
"Kazunari-san, even if the police are deferred, I believe they should still face school disciplinary action."
Sara-san was right.
Even as a bargaining chip, complete leniency would be far too soft.
"You're right. At the very least, that much is necessary."
"Yes. Dealing with fools like this is a hassle, so I will report all three of them as accomplices to blackmail to ensure they are punished by the school."
"P-Princess, I was tricked—"
"Wait a minute, you said you'd defer it—"
"Be quiet."
She didn't raise her voice, but a sharp, cold pressure silenced the three of them instantly.
"The report to the police was the only thing deferred. Are your simple brains incapable of understanding even that much?"
As expected, even though she said she would leave the handling to me, Sara-san was still furious. Her tone had become incredibly aggressive.
"In consideration of Kazunari-san, I shall report this as attempted blackmail. You should spend your time coming up with excuses for your teachers and parents. You're good at that, aren't you? People like you only have brains for those sorts of things... How amusing."
It seemed she was being somewhat restrained for the sake of what was to come... I think?
"However, if it is discovered later that you were more deeply involved... be prepared."
"""......"""
In the end, several teachers took the three of them away. By framing it as "attempted" blackmail based on rumors they had happened to hear about me, I managed to put them in my debt for the time being.
Incidentally, a few days later, the two of them came to apologize to me along with their respective parents. Seeing their own parents break down in tears seemed to be a massive shock to them; they both wailed as they apologized.
The next day, they had transformed into plain, unremarkable students you could find anywhere.
As for Yamasaki, they swore they had no further involvement with him and told me to ask them anything if I needed more information. They had become quite submissive.
Tagami, the guy I never quite understood, apparently had something happen at home and suddenly transferred schools.
I wonder what that guy was all about in the end...
After the trouble on the rooftop was over, we headed to the Student Council Room since there was no meeting scheduled for the day.
I needed to explain the situation properly, and Todo-san said she had something to discuss.
I'm sure everyone already understood the gist of it, but I laid out the same explanation I had given Sara-san the other day.
I was grateful that they all accepted the truth much more smoothly than I had anticipated.