After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

Under the maple tree in the courtyard, the relaxed atmosphere of the lunch break vanished instantly.

A serious conversation was underway.

"Ruzaki Mami, it's about time you told us the truth," Kagura Hikaru said calmly as he packed up his lunchbox and chopsticks. "Even if we want to help you, we at least need to know where to start."

"I, I understand..."

Ruzaki Mami also put down her chopsticks, "But, you must keep it a secret."

"I've said before, I can't guarantee that," Kagura Hikaru replied.

"If you can't keep it a secret, then I won't tell you!" Ruzaki Mami mustered her courage and met his gaze.

Ai Cheng Hua Lian glanced at the two of them, hesitated for a moment, then spoke up, "Mami, just tell us what happened. If it really is something that can't be leaked, we'll help cover it up."

"...All right, since Karen-chan says so..."

Ruzaki Mami pouted, "Karen-chan, you should remember, right? I told you before that I got a boyfriend."

"Yes, of course, but you never wanted to tell me who he was," Ai Cheng Hua Lian nodded and then realized something, "Wait, are those hoodlums pestering you because of him? Damn it, so he really is a jerk!"

"Not at all!!" Ruzaki Mami shouted, one-third louder than before, then her spirit shrank back, and she sulkily lowered her head to play with her fingers, "That, that person has a bit of a sensitive identity, he shouldn't have gotten involved in a romantic relationship with me... and then, those people just happened to see us."

"So they blackmailed you?" Ai Cheng Hua Lian furrowed her brows.

"...Yeah." Ruzaki Mami nodded uneasily.

"Mami, you're too careless."

"This..."

"And so what if they saw you? Why would you be blackmailed over something like this?"

"Because her boyfriend is a teacher at the school," Kagura Hikaru suddenly interjected with a startling revelation.

Ai Cheng Hua Lian sharply turned to look at him, then at her best friend. Seeing her gaping at Kagura Hikaru as if she'd seen a ghost confirmed that he had guessed correctly.

Ruzaki Mami visibly faltered, at a loss, "How, how, how did you know?!"

"Simple deduction," Kagura Hikaru said calmly, "It's not unusual for high school girls to fall for older men. Plus, you mentioned the man's identity was sensitive, shouldn't have been involved in a romantic relationship with you, seen by fellow students - it's easy to guess it's a teacher."

"How could this happen…" a whimpering Ruzaki Mami buried her face in her hands, her complexion flushed.

It was indeed a simple deduction, not even requiring mind-reading.

High school girls in the bloom of youth typically have only a few types of things on their minds.

"Your insistence on keeping it a secret must be because you don't want that teacher to be fired," Kagura Hikaru surmised, "Although in my view, a man who preys on the underage is committing a crime and should be reported without hesitation."

Seeing Ruzaki Mami's dramatically changed expression, he sighed again, "But I'll turn a blind eye just this once."

"Thank you... no, thank you very much, Mr. Kagura!" Ruzaki Mami's eyes brightened as she spoke sincerely.

"Hehe, who would have thought, Mami, you'd quietly be dating a teacher."

Making a deliberate attempt to ease the tension, Ai Cheng Hua Lian teased her with a giggling elbow nudge, "Is it Teacher Yamazaki, the P.E. teacher? Or Teacher Sato, who teaches national language? Hmm, knowing Mami's taste, it must be…"

"Karen-chan!"

"Hahaha~"

However, this was indeed a complex case.

Kagura Hikaru watched the two girls joking around, his gaze slightly downcast in thought.

Blackmailed by fellow students over a teacher-student romance, afraid to seek help from others for fear of her boyfriend losing his job if exposed – he understood the logic that compelled Ruzaki Mami's heart, he could understand her choice.

If they chose not to pursue the teacher's actions, in plain terms, all they needed to do was to deal with those hoodlums – teach them a lesson they would not forget, ensuring they would not dare to lay a hand on Ruzaki Mami again. If they persisted, the matter could be escalated to get them expelled.

But the real trouble may still lie ahead.

Kagura Hikaru sighed inwardly and asked Ruzaki Mami, "Those people, they have evidence, don't they? Is it photos or something else?"

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If there were no evidence, she could simply say they were slandering her and deny everything.

But since it had escalated to extortion, the other party must have had direct evidence of Ruzaki Mami's romantic relationship with the teacher.

"Yeah," Ruzaki Mami turned away, nodding her head and stuttering, "They sneakily took photos of me and the teacher in the classroom, inside... "

Ai Cheng Karen cocked her head, "Inside?"

"...kissing."

"You actually did such a thing at school?!"

"...Yeah..." Ruzaki Mami covered her face with her hands, the skin that showed was as red as an apple.

Ai Cheng Karen opened her mouth wide: "Mami... you're unexpectedly bold."

"..."

"A photo, huh..." Kagura Hikaru's eyes flickered, "It was taken with a cellphone, right?"

Ruzaki Mami nodded: "Yes."

"This is a bit troublesome, if it were just about getting their cellphones, that would be simple, but the key is we don't know how many copies they've made."

Digital photos are just a bunch of data after all; they can be copied endlessly, and if they've made backups and hidden them away, completely deleting them is almost impossible.

Hearing Kagura Hikaru say this, Ruzaki Mami immediately turned pale, and Ai Cheng Karen also scratched her head, looking troubled.

"I'll figure something out for this, let's catch those people first," said Kagura Hikaru.

"Really? Kagura, do you have a method?" Ai Cheng Karen asked curiously.

Kagura Hikaru nodded.

As long as no one has amnesia, it's very difficult to hide anything from him, as he does, after all, have the cheating supernatural power of mind-reading.

How many backups there are and where each one is placed—with mind-reading, he could interrogate it out.

Secrets have no meaning in front of him.

If the detectives knew about his ability, they might be bitterly envious.

"Then I'm relying on you, Mr. Kagura!" Ruzaki Mami stood up, bowing deeply at ninety degrees to Kagura Hikaru.

"Thanks for your trouble, Kagura." Ai Cheng Karen also pleaded, blinking cutely, "I'll give you a reward afterward."

"I'll pay the money!"

Ruzaki Mami raised her right hand high, her face expressing 'finally into my familiar territory'.

Kagura Hikaru and Ai Cheng Karen looked at her, exchanged a glance, and then sighed in unison.

It's because of that naive face that she was blackmailed in the first place.

"Forget about the money," Kagura Hikaru shook his head, "I'm helping you because you are Ai Cheng's friend. If you want to thank someone, thank Ai Cheng."

"Huh?"

Ruzaki Mami covered her mouth in surprise, turned to look at Ai Cheng Karen, her gaze complicated, and whispered softly, "Karen-chan, could it be that you and Mr. Kagura... "

"Wha-what are you talking about!" Ai Cheng Karen hurriedly covered her best friend's mouth, blushing and saying hastily, "We're just ordinary friends, just ordinary friends! And besides, Kagura already has someone he likes..."

Seeing a flicker of sadness cross Ai Cheng Karen's face, Ruzaki Mami immediately sensed something, pursed her lips, and dared not speak anymore.

Karen-chan...

The atmosphere became very weird after that; after finishing lunch, Ruzaki Mami and Ai Cheng Karen hurriedly left.

Kagura Hikaru remained on the courtyard bench, watching them walk away, then took out his cellphone, opened LINE, and found the contact named 'Ayakoji Chiyoko'.

Kagura: [I have a favor to ask of you.]

Ayakoji: [Speak.]

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