Chapter 260: Class Text Message Defamation Incident
Time passed quickly, and the end of the school day approached. Hachiman opened the clubroom door to find Yui and Yukino already waiting inside.
Upon his entrance, Yui eagerly asked, "How did it go, Hikki? Did Hiratsuka-sensei agree?"
Not only Yui but also Yukino's heart held some anticipation.
"There's no problem; I've taken care of it with Hiratsuka-sensei," Hachiman said with a confident smile.
Upon hearing his words, Yui cheered excitedly. "Wow, Hikki, you're amazing!" She hugged Yukino once again in her joy.
"This is great, Yukinon. We can go to the workplace visit together," she exclaimed.
This time, Yukino didn't express any disdain; instead, she wore a smile and said, "Thank you, Hikigaya-kun."
In response to the girl's gratitude, Hachiman just smiled faintly. "Aren't we friends in the same club? Helping each other is only natural."
"Friends..." Yukino murmured to herself, and a ripple of emotions surfaced within her. She realized that she hadn't really had friends from childhood until now.
But now...
She looked at Yui, who was hugging her, and then at Hachiman on the other side. A gentle smile appeared on her face.
Just as Yui's phone rang, she pulled it out and received a text message. However, as she opened it, a subtle change in her expression caught Yukino's attention.
"What's wrong, Yui?"
"It's nothing, just received a strange message." Yui shook her head, indicating that everything was fine.
Hearing this, Yukino turned her gaze to Hachiman, who was nearby.
"Hikigaya-kun, don't send weird messages to Yui," Yukino conveyed her understanding of the situation.
This left Hachiman bewildered. Why am I taking the blame? I didn't do anything.
"Hey, I didn't even take out my phone just now. How could I send a message to Yui?"
"It must be a timed message," Yukino said, adopting an investigative tone. "This kind of criminal technique is common in movies."
Seeing the two about to argue, Yui quickly intervened.
"No, no, Yukinon. Hikki wouldn't do something like that."
"Don't be fooled by this guy, Yui," Yukino warned. "He's actually quite dangerous."
Upon hearing this, Hachiman raised an eyebrow.
Hey, where did this dangerous reputation come from? I haven't done anything, have I?
"Haha, it really wasn't Hikki," Yui laughed, scratching her head. "The content of the message was mainly about our small group in the class. Hikki never cares about that stuff."
"I see." Yukino nodded and didn't say anything more.
At that moment, a knock resonated on the clubroom door.
"Come in."
With Yukino's voice, the clubroom door opened, revealing an unexpected visitor.
Yellow hair, a handsome face—it was Hayama Hayato, Hachiman and Yui's classmate.
"Sorry for the interruption."
As Hayama walked in, he spoke.
"I heard from Hiratsuka-sensei that if anyone has troubles and needs someone to talk to, they can come here."
"Sorry, if the club has activities, and everyone has been reluctant to let me go..."
Before he could finish, Yukino coldly interrupted.
"No need for self-praise. If you have something to discuss, just say it, Hayama Hayato."
Seeing the girl's attitude, Hayama smiled faintly and stated the purpose of his visit.
"Sorry, actually, I received a message like this."
Saying that, he took out his phone and showed the message content to everyone.
"Ah, this message..."
Seeing the message content, Yui exclaimed, pulling out her phone as well.
Because this message was exactly the same as the one she had received just now.
Yukino also read the contents of the message.
[Tobe is a troublemaker from Inamo District, getting into fights in the game center...]
[Yamato is a scumbag playing three girls at once...]
[Ooka brutally defeated the ace of the opponent's school...]
The messages contained many malicious words tarnishing others.
"It's a series of messages."
Observing these defamatory messages, Yukino nodded with indifference.
After putting away her phone, Hayama sighed, "Yes, due to receiving messages like these, the class atmosphere has deteriorated."
"They are all my friends, and I'm genuinely upset about being smeared like this."
"So, I came to seek your help. Not necessarily to find the culprit, but to resolve this matter."
"Your goal is to calm the situation, correct?" Yukino stated.
"Exactly," Hayama nodded.
"So, as long as we find the culprit..." Yukino's tone turned cold.
"Huh?" Hayama was momentarily stunned.
Ignoring him, the girl continued, "I won't let go of these despicable acts trampling on others' dignity, individuals who hide behind emails to defame others. I will absolutely not let them off."
"And once we catch the culprit, everything will calm down."
"I'll take on this task. I'll find the culprit, and as for how to handle it, it's up to you."
At this moment, Yukino became serious, clearly indicating that this behavior brought back some unpleasant memories.
"Fine... alright."
Pressured by the girl's determination, Hayama reluctantly agreed.
In truth, he didn't want to expose the culprit. Perhaps, he already had a speculation about the identity of the culprit. The person who could write such detailed content must be someone from the small group in the class. However, if they truly exposed that person, he wouldn't be able to stay in the class anymore, and that was not something he wanted to see.
Just as Hayama was about to speak, Hachiman, who had been silent, spoke up.
"There's no need to make it so complicated."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing this, the other three turned their gaze towards Hachiman.
"Hikigaya, do you have a solution?" Hayama asked.
Even Yukino and Yui looked at him with curiosity.
"Hey, Hayama, these messages appeared right after the teacher announced the workplace visit, didn't they?" Hachiman said calmly.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, that's true," after a brief moment of thought, Hayama nodded.
"That's right. Hayama, your class group consists of four people, but the workplace visit is organized in groups of three. So, someone, in order not to be left out, decided to kick another person out first," Hachiman analyzed with a serious expression.
"But I don't think they would do something like that. Our relationships are usually good," Hayama tried to defend the three, but it only made Hachiman laugh.
"You're too naive, Hayama."