"We all know that light travels faster than sound. That's why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak."
-Albert Einstein
~~~~~~
Thinking quickly, I hid the uniform somewhere safe.
After that, I picked the airfone perched on the wall and summoned my personal butler.
Charles came to my room just a minute—his service was fast and consistent.
He was standing right by the open door as we discussed the matter.
"Let's get straight to the point, someone snuck into my room and left a PE uniform on the table, was it you?" I asked him.
"No, sir."
"Then, did you see anyone do it?"
"Yes, I did see someone."
"Who was it?"
"That's an information I'm not allowed to leak. My role is to provide you with proper service, neither to pry nor meddle with the test."
That's reasonable—this is a test after all, asking for help with the crew is like having a cheat code.
But based on what I observed so far, the clues are quite recognizable.
First and foremost, the imposter was a third-year student, which means she also faced this test before when she was in her first-year. It only led up to the fact that she planned this from the very beginning; she used a PE uniform to frame me up as it was unisex. Furthermore, she left the door open before she ran away from the scene, so if someone happens to pass by my room, they'll see it and there's no way for me to defend myself from the false evidence.
The question that lingers is who is the culprit?
Though it would be difficult to pinpoint the person behind this, I can at least narrow down the suspects.
The PE uniform wasn't there before I went to the meeting earlier and I was one of the last students to arrive. That basically indicates that the culprit executed her attempt after the meeting.
I was with Ann during the culprit's attempt, so she's out of the picture.
Although there are many possible suspects, Stephanie is a primary one since she coerced me to accompany Ann. Nevertheless, it could also be Audrey, Lyn, Ella, or any of Ella's friends; even those NPC's from the other class could be the sneaky imposter.
Anyone can't be trusted until they have proven their loyalty—even Jillian may be the imposter.
As I was forecasting like a mastermind in an anime, a chattering of students resounded from across the hallway.
Without second thoughts, I dragged Charles inside my room and locked the door.
The two students passed by as their conversation was audible from inside my room.
"~Yea, the pitch of her voice ticks me off. It's really getting under my skin." she groaned.
"I'm totally with you—Jillian is just an introvert wannabe… deep inside, she's a true masochist." the other student replied.
"Yea, what a slut."
I recognized those voices—they're the two students from class-A. They're affronting Jillian behind her back. Aren't they classmates?
Perhaps, they're not friends to begin with.
"And have you noticed? She's been fidgeting too much… It's very sus."
"Yea, I bet she's the imposter."
The two passive-aggressive students chortled. Their laughter gets weaker as they passed over to my room.
I waited for a moment to make sure they're completely gone.
Charles is standing upright, hovering next to me as he waited for my next command.
I got a strong feeling that something horrible is about to commence—mainly to Jillian, her low self-esteem is getting taken advantage of. At this rate, she's going to be an easy target for the imposter.
~I have some plans in mind to halt the forthcoming disaster. However, I'm not certain yet if I could trust Jillian.
Even so, I at least have to act as early as possible.
But firstly, I must solve the PE uniform issue.
"Charles, before you could go, may you tell me where's the room of those class-A students who just passed by." I inquired.
"Yes—you can find their room right by the end of the aisle. Class-A students' rooms are oriented on that section," he answered.
"You've done enough, you may go now."
"As you wish, sir." Charles bowed down and left my room.
Now that he's gone, I can move forward to my plan.
I took out the PE uniform on its hiding spot and held it under my blazer.
I then went out to the ghost-silent walkway and tiptoed down the aisle with both hands tucked under my uniform.
I'm taking the full-risky mode—I tread softly right past the other rooms where the other students were chilling, and if someone were to come out of their room, I would be in inescapable trouble.
~Who would even be walking in a hallway with hands under his blazer. I honestly look like a kid who just stole a candy from a store.
I eventually made it to the furthest part of the aisle. There are several doors. I can't just open any of them without taking precautions. If I opened the wrong room, then the person inside would see the uniform on my hands and I would get caught red-handed.
The room I was after was any of those two class-A students' rooms. The rooms can only be locked from the inside, so when no one is inside the room, then it's probably unlocked. With that being the case, I should check the door first if it's locked.
I inserted my fingers into the door handle and gently slid it to check if it's lock or not.
The door isn't opening. I applied a little more force into it, but it still won't budge.
Perhaps this is Jillian's room. Even at the dorms, she always keep her room locked.
I went to the next door with confidence that this is the room I was looking for.
Once again, I plucked my fingers inside the door handle. I haven't even used 0.01% of my power and it smoothly slides open.
I have no clue who's allotted to this room, but that's not important at the moment. Anyone's room would work.
I slip inside the room and take out my hands from under my shirt. I then laid down the PE uniform on the table.
This is the only solution I could do. I'm being framed up as the imposter, and the thing I must do was to hide the fake evidence.
When you think outside the box, you'll come up with the brightest solution.
Where is the best hiding spot for an item that can be used against you?
~Of course, at someone else's place.
With this approach, I can escape the possible allegation against me and at the same time, it will also divert the imposter's attack.
The imposter is probably thinking that I'm in a panic mode right now, hence she might look for the PE uniform and pretend she knew nothing about it. But when she does, that simply indicates that she revealed herself.
She would be clueless on how the uniform ended in another's possession.
With my plans being laid out, I exited the room and closed the door, the same as before I entered.
~To whoever is allocated to the room I just perpetrated, I hope she's prepared as she is about to get doomed.
As I was getting out of the room, the door on the other side of the aisle slid open.
"Le-Le-Leo…" she mumbled, stuttering.
It was Jillian. Fortunately, she opened the door of her room by the time I already exited, so I suppose she didn't see me coming out of someone's room.
~But even so, that's close—I nearly got caught right on the spot.
"I- uhm… Say, Leo, may I stay in your room?"
She gaped at me with her hazel eyes mixed with a pleading expression on her face—I felt like I'm obliged to grant her wants. That look on her face is just irresistible.
That said, she's acting quite unusual. Jillian is the kind of girl who's better off alone, so it's out of her character to act this way. She avoided me all this time, but now, she's asking if she could stay in my room.
~Did she got possessed by an evil spirit?
"I wouldn't mind you staying in my room… but why? Is there something bothering you?"
Her hands were subtly brushing against each other. She turned her head to the right and nervously murmured, "I-I'm just scared."
Scared? She mentioned earlier that she's afraid of dying, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Girls are usually creeped out by insects, maybe there's a roach crawling around her room—or even a rat, spider, or perhaps a nuke.
She pressed her palm against the side of her neck as her head was slightly tilted to the right.
"Umm… If you don't want me in your room, that's fine." she murmured.
As her left hand was resting on her neck, her sleeve rolled down below her wrist.
On that instant, I caught a fleeting glimpse of layer upon layer of healed cuts scarred on her pulse.
~Had she gone through that kind of suffering?
I pretended to see nothing and kept a straight face.
"As I already said, you can stay in my room as you please. There's enough space to fit two people in a single room, so you wouldn't be a hindrance." I said.
After I said those words, a shallow hole formed on both sides of her cheeks, right beside the corner of her lips.
This is the first time I saw her dimples. In fact, this is the first time I saw her smile.
Well, she's not fully committed to expressing a smile with visible teeth. Her lips didn't even reach its full stretch. Nevertheless, I can distinguish that the tiny smile she's wearing right now was authentic.
"Thank y-"
"Hold on..." I remarked.
Abruptly, I leaned closer and gently encircle my hands around her collar.
Flustered and petrified for my sudden remarks, her mouth folded and cheeks tinted to red.
She shielded her bosom using her arms. Our face was a few inches close, and her eyelids slowly folded down.
"Your collar is a bit wrinkled." I added. "Stay still."
I subtly flapped her collar until it's fixed.
After that, I took a single step backwards and said, "Done."
She opened her eyes, "So-sorry."
She was about to say "thank you" moments ago, but now it turned into a "sorry". It simply emphasizes her inferiority and indicates that I control dominance over her.
"If you apologize even in irrelevancy, you might get abused." I said.
"I'm sorry, I-I'll try not to."
"Never mind… Anyways, if you wanna go, you may come along."
I turned around and began walking at a slow pace.
She then waddled, following my trail.