3.8
When I returned to the dorm lobby, Katsuragi was sitting there, looking depressed. He immediately noticed me coming and stood.
“I’m sorry for involving you in such a strange errand,” he said.
“Ah, don’t worry. I insisted on tagging along. Sorry I couldn’t help,” I replied.
“Oh no, not at all. It was hopeless, anyway,” said Katsuragi.
It seemed Katsuragi had given up. He’d wanted to get the present to his sister, no matter what, but the school regulations deterred him.
“Here. Eat these with your friends. I don’t really care for sweets,” he said, handing over the present. However, I didn’t take it.
“It’s wasted on me.”
“I see. I suppose you wouldn’t be happy with a secondhand gift.” Katsuragi bowed slightly and began to head back to his room.
“Katsuragi.”
I stopped him in his tracks.
“What’s the matter?”
“Maybe I can help. I’ve thought of a way to deliver the present to your sister.”
“But the student council rejected me. I can’t imagine there’s a solution.”
“That’s because you don’t want to break the rules,” I replied.
“I’m not going to do something that risky,” answered Katsuragi flatly.
I supposed that was too much for someone like Katsuragi, the Class A leader, to accept. Especially if it were coming from someone like me.
“I think it’s worth hearing me out. Especially if giving your sister that present is important.” Katsuragi had gone repeatedly to the student council room during summer vacation to get permission. This clearly wasn’t trivial to him.
“Is this something we should be discussing in public?” Katsuragi looked around at the people and security cameras.
“I suppose you’re right. Want to come to my room?”
People waltzed in and out of my room all the time, anyway. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any students as we made our way there. I opened the door and turned on the lights.
“Come on in.”
“You have quite a clean room. Or, rather, I should say it’s spartan. It looks the same as when we first arrived at the school,” mused Katsuragi.
“I get that a lot.”
After he sat, I turned on the air conditioner and poured some tea.
“Earlier, you said something about the school rules?” asked Katsuragi.
“Let’s say that you wanted to send a package from school. Since that’s generally prohibited, it’s not a simple thing to do. You probably wouldn’t be able to go through the post office, either.” There was a post office on campus, but it was mainly for teacher use. Students didn’t go there.
“But then, there’s nothing I can do. Or are you saying that there’s another means of delivery?”
“There is. If you just carry the present off campus, you’ll be fine.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Who could do something like that? You’re not thinking about a campus employee, are you?” asked Katsuragi. Only employees at the various campus shops were allowed to freely come and go. “The people who work here are employed under strict regulations. They wouldn’t take a risk like that for a mere student. They might report us to the school.”
If they did, Katsuragi would be punished severely.
“That’s not going to happen. I don’t think there’s anyone we could trust to act as a go-between.”
“Wait. You’re not saying we should leave the school grounds without permission, are you?”
“Of course not. The punishment would be incredibly severe.” The entrances and exits were rigorously monitored. We’d be expelled if discovered. “You’re right that we can’t use an employee. However, a student is a different story. There are several we can trust.”
“A student? That’s even more unlikely, though. Students aren’t allowed to leave without a compelling reason.”
“Aren’t there exceptions related to those ‘compelling reasons’?”
“Exceptions? If the student could leave the campus, then… No, it couldn’t be!” Katsuragi quickly arrived at the conclusion I’d been leading him toward. “Club tournaments, hmm?”
“That’s right.”
During club tournaments, the school had to allow certain students to leave the school grounds and travel to outside venues.
“You’re certainly right. In a situation like that, it would be possible. However, the school would definitely anticipate that kind of thing. There will be bag inspections,” reasoned Katsuragi.
“Of course. But there are ways to get past those, aren’t there? It’s not like the Olympics testing athletes for steroids. They wouldn’t search every square inch of your body.”
“That’s true, but…”
Katsuragi appeared to be seriously considering the idea.
“That would be a huge risk for the student. However, judging by what you’ve said, Ayanokouji, you have a talented, trustworthy individual in mind. Yes?”
“Yep, that’s right. However, you need to trust me if we want this to work.”
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