White Anemone Petals

Chapter 9

Ayano looked at the footage Info-chan had sent to her earlier that morning. The video showed Amai selling some brownies. Info-chan claimed they were pot brownies, filled with drugs, but she didn't have any proof. At least the location the video was taken in made it look suspicious. All Ayano had to do was turn it in to the guidance counsellor and pray that she would believe her.

Ayano waited outside the guidance counsellor's office that day after school waiting to find out what would happen to Amai. The counsellor had taken Ayano's claim seriously, much to her surprise.
"Your 'after-school activities' are absolutely unacceptable. You should not be conducting yourself in such a manner. This kind of behavior could cause a scandal! You could run the school's reputation into the ground!" The guidance counsellor scolded Amai. Ayano giggled silently.
"It... it's not what you think... I was just... um..." Amai protested, knowing she was innocent. She'd seen the video also, knowing there was a slim chance the guidance counsellor would believe her. Ayano made sure she was hidden as Amai walked out of the office a few minutes later in defeat.

She went into her club room, expecting her club members to be in the room. She sighed when she saw the only person in the room was Cupa.
"Hey Amai, what's wrong?" Cupa asked, giving her friend a hug. Amai shrugged her shoulders a little as she hugged back.
"Someone's framing me for stupid stuff." Amai told her as the stopped hugging and sat down at the table in the cooking club room. "On Monday, someone put cigarettes in my bag and told the guidance counsellor on me. Yesterday, they put Sakyu Basu's ring in my bag and framed me for stealing it, and today someone told the teacher I'd been selling pot brownies outside of school. Why would someone do that to me?" She cried frustratedly. Cupa sat next to her and rubbed her back comfortingly. She knew who was doing this, and why. She couldn't tell Amai, or make it stop, because Ayano would never let her. All of this was so Cupa could cure her Hanahaki disease.

The next day, Ayano could see Amai and her class leaving the changing rooms wearing their gym clothes. This was perfect for Ayano. That meant she could easily steal Amai's phone for the next sabotage event. She waited until everyone had left before entering herself. She searched the lockers looking for Amai's belongings. Eventually, she found what she was looking for. She took the phone and turned it on. She opened the camera app, a little disgusted by what she had to do. She took a panty shot of her own panties on Amai's phone before putting it back exactly as she found it. She quickly left before she got caught and went straight to the guidance counsellor. She was going to claim she'd caught Amai taking a panty shot of her so she would get into trouble.

"May I see your phone for a moment? ... ...what is THIS?! Would you care to explain why something like this is on your phone?" Ayano could hear the guidance counsellor scold Amai after school.
"What?! I've never taken any pictures like that! How did this get on my phone?!" She defended herself with tears in her eyes.
"I'm getting sick of seeing you in my office. Once more, and I'll had no choice to expel you!" The counsellor told her angrily as she left. Ayano smiled to herself as she headed out of the school. All she had to do was get Amai into trouble for one more thing.

With help from Info-chan, Ayano had decided how she would get Amai expelled. This was the most complicated, but Ayano would do whatever it took. She was now outside the faculty room with an audio system in her hand. It was currently class time, which meant a few different things for her. The faculty room would be empty except for the one teacher who didn't have a lesson to teach, which in this case was Kyoshi Taiso the gym teacher. This also meant she would get into trouble for being late for class, but that wouldn't matter as long as it cured the Hanahaki disease. She waited outside the door for the perfect opportunity. She activated the audio system before hiding near the room for the teacher to come out. As soon as Kyoshi left the faculty room, Ayano sprinted in. She searched around the room for the answer sheet for Amai's class. She found it just as the teacher turned off the audio system. She snuck out of the room as Kyoshi came back in. She thankfully wasn't caught.

She stood outside the Info club holding the answer sheet in her hand. The adrenaline of not being caught filled her body. She tapped on Info-chan's door twice before sliding the answer sheet under the info club door.
"This one's free, don't get used to it." Info told her, sliding the original answer sheet and the copy back under the door to Ayano. She picked them up, putting the copy into her bag and carrying the original back to the faculty room so she could put it back before it was noticed missing.

Ayano smiled as she stood outside the guidance counsellor's office, knowing this would be the time Amai was expelled from school. She'd already told the guidance counsellor that 'Amai had told her she was cheating' and the counsellor believed her.
"That's it! I've given you enough second chances. You have repeatedly broken school rules and ignored every warning that I have given you. You have left me with no choice but to permanently expel you!" The guidance counsellor yelled at her.
"No! Please! Don't do this!" Amai begged sadly. She already knew it was useless, but it was worth a try. Ayano walked away, knowing she had heard enough. Now she had one more rival out of the way.