The Group Chat Disaster and the Library Slap

Back in the classroom, the air was thick with the sound of a physical correction.

SMACK!!!

Shiori palm connected with Ryuuto’s face with the force of a falling piano.

"You! You were just wasting time copying questions?!" she yelled, hands on her hips, fuming like a volcano.

"Ouch! Gomen!" Ryuuto apologized, his face swelling up like a bright red omelet. As he rubbed his burning cheek, he realized the desk next to him was empty. "Huh? Where did Reikou-san go?"

"Sazanami -san is gone too," Shiori noted, her anger turning into curiosity.

"You know, after that viral video, Reikou-san has been getting hit with terrible comments," Ryuuto explained, suddenly serious. "He has a plan to find the culprit and uncover the truth behind Sazanami -san rules at the same time."

"Oooooh!" Shiori leaned in. "So, what's the plan?"

Ryuuto laid out the strategy. Shiori nodded, impressed. "That might actually work! We should help him. Text the group!"

"On it!" Ryuuto chirped, his thumbs flying across the screen. "I’ll send it to the YOYO TEAM group so everyone is on the same page!" He flashed a huge, triumphant smile.

"WHAAAAAAAA?!"

SMACK!!!

Shiori slapped him again, even harder. Ryuuto hit the floor, clutching his face. "What was that for?!"

"You idiot! Did you forget Sazanami-chan is IN that group?!"

Ryuuto’s eyes went wide. "Oh... Shit."

"Delete it! Now!" Shiori hissed.

Ryuuto’s hands trembled. He opened the chat, tapped the message, and saw the options. In his panic, his finger slipped. Instead of "Delete for Everyone," he clicked "DELETE FOR ME."

"Hee-hee-hieee..." Ryuuto let out a strangled, terrified whimper.

"What now?!"

"I... I deleted it from my screen... but it’s still there for everyone else!"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

In the silent library, two phones vibrated simultaneously.

Reikou pulled his phone out, hiding behind the bookshelf. His jaw dropped. His heart stopped. The message in the YOYO TEAM chat laid out his entire "Observation Plan" in plain text.

Meiyu also checked her phone. Her expression remained cold, but her eyes sharpened into emerald blades. ‘So... that’s why he’s here?’ Reikou slowly turned his head to peek through the book gap, but his target was gone. ‘Where is she?! Her phone is on the table, but she—’

"REIKOU-KUN."

The voice came from directly behind him. Reikou felt the blood drain from his limbs. He turned around slowly, his neck creaking like a rusty hinge. Standing there, arms crossed and radiating a terrifying aura, was Meiyu Sazanami.

"Me—Me—Meiyu-san..." Reikou’s brain short-circuited. He immediately dove into his signature "Honor Bow" head on the floor, rear end high in the air, swaying rhythmically. "O-OH GLORIOUS QUEEN! ACCEPT MY HUMBLE SALUTATIONS!"

"So, this was your 'Master Plan'?" Meiyu asked, looking at him as if he were a strange insect.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Reikou muffled into the carpet, his hips still waving left and right. "I am just... admiring the floor texture!"

"UGRRR! FIRST OF ALL, PUT YOUR ASS END DOWN!" Meiyu snapped, her composure shattering again. "I thought you were just a fool... but you're actually a stalker! A sleepy-headed, foolish stalker!"

Reikou didn't respond. Meiyu waited, her foot tapping impatiently. When she leaned over to look, her eyes widened.

Reikou was fast asleep in the bow position. A small mucus bubble was growing and shrinking from his nose as he snored softly. The stress of the test and the stakeout had finally claimed him.

"WHAT THE HELL?! HOW CAN YOU SLEEP NOW?!"

SLAP!!

She delivered a wake-up call to his face. Reikou jolted awake, stumbling backward into a bookshelf. OUCH! He saw Meiyu’s furious face and immediately dove back into the scorpion bow. "FORGIVE ME! DON'T KILL ME!"

"I SAID PUT IT DOWN!" Meiyu swung her hand and delivered a stinging slap directly to his elevated rear end.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Reikou’s scream of agony echoed through the library. Panicked that they would be kicked out, Meiyu lunged forward and clamped her hand over his mouth.

The silence returned instantly, heavy and suffocating.

Suddenly, both of them realized their position. Meiyu was leaning over him, her hand against his lips, their bodies inches apart. The 0.5-meter rule had been completely obliterated. Their eyes locked his wide and startled, hers softened by a sudden, fluttering realization.

[End of Chapter 14]