'Wait, what's going on? A girl?'
Saiki Kusuo's gaze fell on Chihiro Shiranami, and he immediately guessed that she was the one who had written the love letter to Ichinose Honami. However, he hadn't expected things to turn out like this.
'I don't know what's going on in their minds... Seriously, I don't want to get dragged into this bizarre situation. If some baseless rumors start spreading about me, my dream of living a peaceful school life will be completely ruined.'
At this point, Saiki Kusuo had no choice but to secretly remove the ring from his finger.
The moment he took off the ring, the world, which had been quiet, immediately became noisy again.
[I like her! I really like Ichinose! I want to be with Ichinose forever! Like, like, like!]
[But... who is this guy? Why is there a guy here?]
[Could it be... Is this guy Ichinose's...?]
'Hey, hey, hey, it feels like I've already become someone's enemy before this even started.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself. Only now did he truly feel the benefits of his telepathy.
'Now there's only one problem left: how to get out of this situation unscathed.'
"His name is Saiki... He's... He's..."
Ichinose Honami wanted to say something, but she couldn't get the words out.
[I've always thought of Shiranami-san as a good friend... But being confessed to by a classmate... This has never happened before... I don't have any such intentions...]
Hearing Ichinose Honami's thoughts, Saiki Kusuo suddenly had an idea.
In the next moment, Saiki Kusuo used his telepathy to project Ichinose Honami's inner thoughts outward.
"I'm really sorry, Shiranami-san. I don't want to hurt you... But I don't feel that way..."
Ichinose Honami's eyes widened in shock, a look of surprise on her face.
[Did I... Did I accidentally say that out loud?]
'Sorry, I projected your inner thoughts directly.'
Saiki Kusuo replied in his mind.
'On one hand, I don't want to get involved in these things. On the other hand, in this situation, directly expressing your true feelings is probably the best solution. Responding with lies might cause even more harm... I should probably step back now. I really want to leave, but it's clearly not the right time.'
As he thought this, Saiki Kusuo silently stepped aside, waiting for the inevitable outcome.
"...Is that so... I see... But thank you so much!"
After hearing Ichinose Honami's words, Chihiro Shiranami's eyes welled up with tears, which soon overflowed. She quickly ran away from the scene.
'A failed confession isn't uncommon during adolescence, right? Although it's not a perfect resolution, the matter is settled. It's getting late, and the movie theater will close soon. If I don't go now...'
"Saiki-kun, could you stay and talk with me for a bit?"
Seeing that Chihiro Shiranami had already left, Ichinose Honami looked somewhat listless, as if deep in thought, and slowly walked over to Saiki Kusuo.
'Now I really can't leave, can I?'
Saiki Kusuo felt a bit helpless, but in this situation, he couldn't just walk away.
"I understand why you rejected me so directly earlier."
Ichinose Honami first lowered her head, then raised it again, her gaze focusing on Saiki Kusuo's face.
'Good, you understand. Don't just casually dump troublesome things on others. This could seriously affect someone's safety for a while.'
Saiki Kusuo replied in his mind. If the idiot trio misunderstood something, he'd probably be dealing with constant trouble.
"Saiki-kun, you wanted me to know that I should respond to this seriously, right?"
'If you put it that way, you're not wrong. But the main reason was to avoid bringing trouble to myself.'
"Confessing to someone shouldn't be taken so lightly... She must have gathered a lot of courage to come here. If I just brushed it off, it would only lead to regret for both of us. I hadn't thought about this before, but after accidentally speaking my mind in front of Shiranami, I realized it."
'...'
"I was wrong. I didn't try to understand Shiranami's feelings and just tried to come up with ways to avoid hurting her. That was a mistake."
Ichinose Honami shook her head, but her expression brightened slightly.
"Thank you so much, Saiki-kun! If it weren't for you, I might have felt guilty about her forever. Thank you for today, even though I made you do something strange."
"It's fine."
Saiki Kusuo could only nod, hoping Ichinose Honami would quickly wrap up the conversation.
"By the way, Saiki-kun, I'm sorry, but our class hasn't found any evidence about the witness. However, we did find information about the three guys who fought with Sudo-kun. One of them is named Daichi Ishizaki. I heard he was a delinquent at his previous school, getting into fights almost every day. He's pretty infamous. The other two are also members of the school basketball team... I don't believe Sudo-kun could have beaten them all by himself."
"Thank you."
Saiki Kusuo nodded. Although he already knew most of this, the name Daichi Ishizaki would save him some trouble in the future.
"Also, has your teacher mentioned anything about a summer trip?"
"Not at all."
Saiki Kusuo shook his head. Whether it was true or not, he had no intention of participating.
Ichinose Honami then chatted with Saiki Kusuo about various topics, and by the time the conversation was winding down, it was already dark.
"It's so late already! I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time!"
"It's fine. Goodbye."
Saiki Kusuo then hurried to the movie theater as fast as he could, but what greeted him was a sign with bold letters:
"Closed for maintenance today."