Chereads / Classroom Of The Elite / Chapter 16 - Chapter 4: An Unexpected Witness

Chapter 16 - Chapter 4: An Unexpected Witness

The next morning, students busily exchanged information with each other. Those from Hirata's group and those with Kushida had spent yesterday searching for the witness. Ike and Yamauchi hated ladies' men like Hirata, but seemed excited about all of the girls who hung around him. They happily tried to chat them up. As I listened in, though, I heard that Hirata and his group hadn't obtained any valuable information. They'd recorded the names of the people to whom they'd spoken, and occasionally taken notes on their cell phones.

Meanwhile, I was alone, like always. I could talk to Kushida, but felt disadvantaged when it came to a big group. I couldn't really talk, so I asked Kushida to fill in me later. Meanwhile, my neighbor—who continued to reject Kushida's invitations, no matter what—sat with a nonchalant expression as she prepared for class. Sudou, the person of interest, still hadn't arrived.

"Man, can we even prove that those Class C guys were in the wrong?" Ike asked.

"As long as we can find a witness, it's not impossible. Let's keep trying our best, Ike-kun."

"Before we try our best, though, is there even a witness in the first place? Didn't Sudou only say that he thought someone might've been there? Wasn't that just a lie? I mean, he is violent, and he does provoke people."

"If we keep doubting him, we won't make any progress. Am I wrong?" "I guess, you're probably right about that, but…if Sudou is in the

wrong, then our hard-earned points are all going be stripped away, right?

We'll be at zero. Zero! We'll be back to having no pocket money at all. Our dreams of screwing around to our hearts' content will remain unrealized!"

"Then it would be a good idea for everyone to start saving up again," Hirata said. "It's only been three months since we started here."

Our classroom hero didn't waver as he delivered his magnificent

speech. The girls immediately blushed in response. Karuizawa wore a particularly proud expression, perhaps because she was the one he'd chosen to be his girlfriend.

"I do think our points are important. They're tied to our motivation, right? So, I will defend our class points to my last breath. Even if it's only 87 points."

"I understand how you feel. However, it can be dangerous to cling to our points and lose sight of reality. The most important thing is to treasure our friends as much as possible."

Ike, who considered Hirata a goody two shoes, eyed him suspiciously. "Even if Sudou was at fault?"

Being punished when you'd done nothing wrong was horrible. That much was obvious. However, Hirata nodded without a moment's hesitation. It was as though he believed self-sacrifice was unimportant. Ike immediately looked downward, as if pressed under the weight of Hirata's noble intentions.

"I think what you're saying is reasonable, Hirata-kun, but I still want my points. The students in Class A get nearly 100,000 points every month. I'm super envious of them. There are girls in their class who buy lots of stylish clothes and accessories. Aren't we just the bottom of the barrel compared to them?"

Karuizawa's legs dangled over her desk. People looked bitter when she pointed out the stark difference between our classes.

"Why couldn't I have been in Class A from the start? If I were in Class A, I'd probably be loving every second of my student life."

"I wish I was in A, too. I'd be doing so much fun stuff with my friends."

Before I knew it, the meeting to save Sudou had transformed into a grievance session, with students pleading for a way out of the class. Horikita spontaneously broke into derisive laughter in response to Ike and Karuizawa's delusions. As her neighbor, I was the only one who noticed. She seemed to be implying that they couldn't have started in Class A if they'd wanted to. Horikita immediately took out a library book and began reading, almost as if she was trying not to be distracted by the noise. At a glance, I saw she was reading Dostoevsky's Demons. A good choice.

"It would be awesome if there was some secret trick we could use to switch Class A in an instant. Saving up class points is way too hard."

There was a 1000-point difference between Class A and us. An absurdly huge difference.

"Then cheer up, Ike, because there is one way to instantly reach Class

A."

Chabashira-sensei spoke from the classroom entranceway. She'd

arrived just five minutes before class started.

"Wait. What did you say, sensei?" Ike nearly fell off his chair before recomposing himself.

"I said that there's a way to reach Class A without class points." Horikita looked up from her book, probably trying to gauge whether

Chabashira-sensei was lying.

"Come on, now. Don't tease us, Sae-chan-sensei!" Usually, Ike would've sunk his teeth into that information. This time, he laughed it off, as if saying he wouldn't be fooled.

"It's true. At this school, there are certain special methods you can use," answered Chabashira-sensei. Judging from her answer, she didn't appear to be joking.

"I don't think she's saying that just to confuse us."

Chabashira-sensei sometimes withheld information, but she didn't lie.

Ike's guffaws gradually stopped.

"Sensei, what are these special methods?" Ike inquired politely, as if not to offend her.

All of the students fixed their eyes on Chabashira-sensei. Even those who didn't see a substantial benefit to reaching Class A appeared curious.

"I told you on the day you arrived. I said there's nothing you cannot buy with your points at this school. In other words, you can change classes by using your personal points."

Chabashira-sensei shot a quick glance over at Horikita and me. We had tested out that very method ourselves by buying a test point from the school. That supported the truth of her claim.

Class points and private points were linked. If we didn't have any class points, then we wouldn't get the private points, either. However, it wasn't a perfect one-to-one correlation. Based on what we'd heard, you didn't necessarily have to lose out on points. Because students could transfer points, it was theoretically possible to collect private points even if your class points were at zero.

"S-seriously! How many points do we need to save up to do that?!" "Twenty million. Do your best to conserve points. Do that, and you can

enter whichever class you like."

After hearing that absurdly high number, Ike tumbled out of his chair.

"Did you just say twenty million? That's impossible, though!"

Everyone in the class started booing. Their disappointment was to be expected.

"Normally yes, it would be impossible. However, as it's an avenue to Class A, it's naturally expensive. If I were reduce the number by one digit, there would probably be over 100 people in Class A come graduation. Then there'd be no point to our system."

Even by maintaining our monthly allotment of 100,000 points, that still wouldn't be an easy number to reach.

"Just out of curiosity, has anyone successfully changed their class like this before?"

That was an obvious question. The Advanced Nurturing High School had been in operation for about 10 years. A thousand and some students had struggled to make it through. If anyone had managed to achieve success by that method, there would've been talk about it.

"Unfortunately, no. No one has done it before. The reason why is as clear as day. Even if you perfectly maintain your class points upon starting school here, after three years you'd only have 3.6 million. Class A could raise points enough to reach four million. Normally, you simply wouldn't be able to do it."

"So, doesn't that just mean it's impossible?"

"It's almost impossible. However, that does not mean it actually is

impossible. There's a big difference, Ike."

However, around half the class had already lost interest in what she was saying. For students in Class D, who dreamed of a mere 100 or 200 private points, reaching 20 million was a faraway dream. It was beyond the scope of our imagination.

"May I ask one question, please?"

The watchful Horikita raised her hand. She looked quite determined, considering this was a potential road to Class A.

"What is the highest number of points that a student has saved since the opening of this school? I'm just asking for the sake of reference."

"A very good question, Horikita. About three years ago, one student from Class B saved nearly 12 million points before graduating."

"T-twelve million?! A student from Class B?!"

"He was expelled before graduation, however, so he was unable to save those 20 million points in the end. He was engaged in a large-scale fraudulent operation to save up points."

"Fraudulent?"

"He took advantage of the newly admitted first-year students who didn't yet understand the system. He went to them one by one and scammed points out of them, so he could reach the 20 million points necessary to move to Class A. There was no way the school could overlook such reckless actions, however. I don't think that his goal was particularly bad, but people who break the rules must be punished."

That was more than a mere anecdote. That story made the possibility of success sound truly impossible.

"So, you're saying that even if we were to use criminal methods, 12 million points is about the limit?" Horikita muttered.

"Give up on that method. Strive to save up your points responsibly."

Horikita returned to reading, likely feeling idiotic for bothering to raise her hand at all. In this world, stories that seemed too good to be true were just that.

"Oh, that reminds me. None of you have gotten any points yet from club activities, have you?" remarked Chabashira-sensei, with the air of

suddenly remembering. "What do you mean?"

"There are cases where individuals may win points based on their efforts in club activities, or their degree of participation. For example, if someone in a calligraphy club were to win a contest, they could receive corresponding points for that award."

This new information took everyone aback.

"Y-you mean we can get points for participating in clubs?!"

"Yes. The other classes should have already been well informed of

this."

"Wh-what the hell? That's so mean! Why didn't you tell us earlier?!" "I simply forgot, sorry. However, extracurricular activities aren't there

just as a way to earn points. So it shouldn't make any difference when you learned this information," said Chabashira-sensei without a hint of timidity.

"No, no, no! That's not true at all! If you'd told me before, I—" "Are you saying you would have participated in extracurricular

activities? Do you really think you would've been able to see any results after

joining a club, results like winning prizes or being in games, with such shallow feelings?"

"Well…you might be right about that, but… It was possible!"

I understood both Chabashira-sensei and Ike's viewpoints. If someone were to join a club simply for the sake of earning points, he or she probably wouldn't see great results. If anything, joining a club for such a lazy, indifferent reason would probably make you a nuisance for the students who were serious about it. On the other hand, someone who joined the club for the sake of points might discover that they possessed a talent for it.

At any rate, I deduced that our homeroom teacher was being extremely and deliberately mean.

"You know, if you think back on it now, it was obvious from the start." "What do you mean, Hirata-kun?"

"Think back. Remember what our P.E. instructor Higashiyama-sensei said when we went to the pool? He said the student who got the best time

during our first class would get 5000 points. That was a stepping stone to prepare us for other opportunities. It seems plausible, right?"

Ike scratched his head and slumped. "I don't remember," he said.

"If I got points for it, I probably would've joined calligraphy club, or some other kind of art club."

It seemed like Ike could only see the positive side of things. I thought there naturally must be a downside.

There might be cases where if someone didn't participate in their club seriously, he or she would be penalized. The easy route would probably destroy you. However, learning that our points would reflect the efforts we made in club activities was encouraging.

"Horikita. Doesn't this mean there's some value in saving Sudou?" I asked.

"We should save him because he's in a club?"

"Sudou told us that he may be picked as a regular on the team even though he's a first year, right?

Horikita gave a small nod.

"If he was telling the truth…" She sounded somewhat doubtful.

"It's better to have a lot of private points, right? He can supplement his own grade if he fails, and he can save others."

"I have a hard time imagining that he'd use his points altruistically, though."

"I'm saying that it's better to have points saved up, just in case.

Right?"

Whether class points or private points, it was better to have a lot of them. There were absolutely no negatives to that. Also, we knew very little about how else to earn points at this stage. If our chances improved with Sudou in the class, then that was reason enough to make an effort. Horikita fell silent. Even she didn't have the ability to create any points for us right now.

"I won't say that I'll help, but I suppose I ought to acknowledge

Sudou's existence, at least a little."

Horikita's language was harsh, but she acknowledged the connection to her own interests. I considered it unnecessary to say more, so I stopped talking. Horikita pondered the issue in silence.

4.1

Our class became temporarily excited by that fairy tale, but we were soon pulled back to reality. After school we resumed the search for a witness. I hung behind Kushida, Ike, and the others, trailing them like a ghost. I was impressed, surprised, and in awe of their natural conversation skills. It was clear as day that I, someone who couldn't even converse with my fellow classmates, was not well suited to this task. How could they talk with people they'd never met before and behave like old friends? Monsters.

In this investigation, we sought not just names, but also contact information. Perhaps they felt compelled to give Kushida their information because of her personality. What a wonderful talent…

Though Kushida and the others spent a good amount of time going to the second-year classrooms and talking to upperclassmen, they didn't turn up any good leads. As time passed, the number of students who remained after class was dwindling. With a lack of new students to speak with, we decided to stop our investigation for the day.

"Looks like we didn't have any luck today, either."

Everyone went back to my room to reevaluate our strategy. Sudou came by shortly afterward and joined our discussion.

"What happened today? Did you make any progress?" he asked. "None at all. Sudou, are you sure there was a witness?"

I understood Ike's doubts. Even though the school had said that's what

happened, there wasn't any new information.

"Huh? I never said there was someone there. I said that it felt like someone was there."

"Huh. Is that so?"

"It's certainly true that Sudou-kun didn't say he saw anyone. He said that he had a feeling that someone was there."

"Maybe Sudou was hallucinating? He must be taking some pretty potent drugs or something."

Man, that was going a bit too far. Sudou put Ike into a headlock. "Gyahh! I give, I give!" Ike cried.

While the two of them messed around, Kushida and Yamauchi were wracking their brains. After discussing the matter for about 10 minutes, Kushida spoke up.

"We might want to change our methods a little. For example, let's look for someone who might have found a witness."

"Look for someone who found a witness? I don't get what you mean." "Are you going to look for the people who went to the special building

on the day of the incident?" "Yeah. What do you think?"

That wasn't a bad idea. Not many students went to the special building, but the entrance was well within eyeshot. In other words, if someone testified to seeing another person enter the special building, we'd be much closer to finding the witness.

"That sounds great! Let's start asking right away."

I noticed then that the person of interest, Sudou, was completely engrossed in some kind of digital basketball game on his phone. It was completely draining his battery. I think the game was called Generation of Miracles or something, but I still didn't quite understand. After he won the match, he struck a victory pose.

Even though Sudou couldn't really help, Ike and Yamauchi still appeared disgruntled at the sight of him. However, they concealed their dissatisfaction, probably because they were scared of Sudou's counterattack. They both chose to ignore him instead.

Tomorrow was Friday. Ferreting out information would be no easier when Saturday came around. That meant we actually had less time than we thought. Just then, my doorbell rang and a visitor appeared. The small group of normal visitors was mostly accounted for already. While I considered who this new visitor might be, she peered through the door.

"Have you made any progress finding the witness?" asked Horikita, looking as if she already knew the response.

"No. Not yet."

"I'm only telling you this because it's you, but I may have found out something—"

While she was talking, Horikita noticed that there were several pairs of shoes lined up by my door. She stopped and made a hard heel turn, apparently ready to run. Kushida peered over at the entrance, probably concerned that Horikita wouldn't return.

"Ah, Horikita-san!" Kushida said.

Kushida smiled and waved to Horikita. Horikita, upon noticing Kushida, naturally let out a sigh.

"Looks like your only choice is to come in, huh?" "Looks that way," Horikita grumped.

Looking exasperated, she entered my room. "Oh, Horikita!"

Of course, Sudou was happiest to see her. He paused his game and

stood.

"Did you decide to help out? I'm super glad you're here."

"I didn't particularly plan on helping. You don't appear to have found

the witness yet, right?"

Kushida nodded despondently. "If you didn't come here to help, then why did you come?" she asked.

"I was wondering what kind of plan you'd come up with."

"Well, I'm happy if you just want to listen to us talk. I hoped you could give some advice."

Kushida then relayed her plan to Horikita, whose expression remained neutral from start to finish.

"I wouldn't say it's a bad plan. Provided you have sufficient time, your labors may actually bear fruit."

Time was indeed the issue here. Considering we had a mere few days left, it was doubtful we'd see any results.

"Well. Now that I'm abreast of the current situation, I'll be leaving."

In the end, Horikita was going to leave without ever having sat down.

She was no lingerer.

"Did you come up with something? Like information about the witness?" I asked.

When Horikita had shown up at my door, it seemed like she'd wanted to say something. She wasn't exactly the friendly type, certainly not the sort who'd come to my room for casual conversation.

"I'll give you just one piece of advice, to help your pathetic odds," she said. "It's hard to see what's right in front of you. If someone actually witnessed Sudou's incident, then that person is close by."

Horikita's information was much more significant than I'd imagined.

She spoke as if she had already found the hypothetical witness.

"What do you mean, Horikita? Are you seriously implying that you found this person?"

Sudou appeared more shocked and doubtful than joyous. That was understandable. No one, myself included, really believed her…until we heard her next words.

"Sakura-san."

Horikita spoke a most unexpected name. "Sakura-san? From our class?"

Yamauchi and Sudou exchanged looks. They didn't seem to know who Sakura even was. That was probably to be expected, though. To be honest, I had to wrack my own memory for a moment.

"She's the witness. She saw the incident." "Why do you say that?"

"When Kushida-san said that she was looking for a witness in class, Sakura looked down. A lot of students were staring at Kushida-san. Sakura was the only one who didn't appear interested. She wouldn't have acted that way without some connection to the incident."

I hadn't noticed that at all. I was genuinely impressed by Horikita's observational prowess. She'd noticed a classmate's very minor gesture.

"Since you were one of the people who also stares at Kushida-san, it's not surprising you didn't notice," Horikita said to me, her tone heavily sarcastic.

"So you're saying that there's a high probability that this Sakura, or Kokura, or whoever is the witness?" inquired Sudou. A sharp observation, something a fool would be unlikely to say.

"No, Sakura-san is undoubtedly the witness. Her actions confirmed it.

Although she may not admit to it, she is definitely the one."

While we'd been paralyzed by uncertainty, Horikita had stepped up and taken control. That Horikita had done so for our class's sake was particularly moving.

"Did you really do this for me, after all?!" Sudou looked especially moved.

"Don't misunderstand. I just didn't want to waste more time looking for the witness, and letting other classes see us in such a shameful light.

That's all."

"Umm. But still, the point is that you saved us, right?"

"You are free to interpret things however you wish, but I'm telling you that you're wrong."

"Come on, don't lie! You're a tsundere, Horikita!"

Ike went to hit Horikita's shoulders playfully, as if teasing her. Horikita grabbed his arm and tossed him to the ground.

"Oww!" he cried.

"Don't touch me. This is your one warning. The next time you try it, I'll despise you all the way to graduation."

"I-I won't touch you. Not even if I wanted to…ow, owww!"

She put him in a headlock. It was unfortunate for Ike, but you reap what you sow. Anyway, those weren't the defensive moves of a normal girl. Since I knew that her older brother practiced karate and aikido, she might have learned something, too?

"Ooh. My arm!"

"Ike-kun," said Horikita as Ike writhed on the floor in agony.

I thought she was taking things too far.

"Should I amend my previous statement, and say 'I shall continue to despise you long past our graduation'?"

"Ohh! So mean!"

After delivering what seemed to be his last words on the matter, Ike's energy was exhausted.

Sakura, though. Of all people, the witness was from Class D. It was difficult to know whether this was good news or not.

"Isn't this great, Sudou? If the student's from Class D, then we can definitely get her to testify!"

"Yeah. I'm happy there's a witness, but who's Sakura? Do you know

her?"

Sudou didn't seem to have any idea. Yamauchi appeared quite

surprised.

"Are you serious? She sits behind you, Sudou!"

"No, that's not it. She sits diagonally ahead of you and to the left, I thought?"

"No, you're both wrong. She sits diagonally ahead of Sudou-kun to the

right." Kushida corrected them, a slightly pouty look on her face.

"Diagonally ahead to the right? I can't remember at all. I'm sure there's someone there, though."

That was obvious. A permanently empty seat would have been bizarre. Sakura certainly didn't stand out very much. The fact we didn't really know her was a problem.

"I probably know her. I feel like I've heard her name somewhere before," I offered.

I felt like I almost had something, but not quite. "Can you tell us about her?"

"Well, I suppose there's one thing. Would it help if I said she has the

biggest boobs in class? Her boobs are insanely huge." Ike, having returned to the land of the living, discussed one of Sakura's chief physical

characteristics. Personally, I couldn't identify her based on that information alone.

"Oh, she's that plain girl with glasses, right?"

How did you jump to that? I was a little stunned.

"It's not good to remember people based on something like that, Ike- kun! That's pathetic," Kushida cried.

"N-no, no, it's not like that, Kushida-chan. It's just, you know. I wasn't trying to say anything indecent or anything. You know, it's like how you can remember a tall guy because of his height, right? It's the same kind of thing, but I'm just remembering her based on another physical characteristic!"

Kushida was rapidly losing faith as Ike frantically tried to smooth things over. It seemed like it was too late.

"Damn it! No, it's not like that, it's not! I absolutely do not like plain girls like her! Don't get the wrong idea!"

I doubted anyone had the wrong idea. While Ike broke down in tears, the rest of us started talking about Sakura.

"Then we should see how much Sakura-san knows. Any ideas?" "None. We just have to confirm with her directly."

"Can't we just go to Sakura's room right now? We don't have much

time."

I thought that Yamauchi's proposal seemed innocuous, but it all came

down to Sakura's personality and behavior. Sakura was an unusually shy girl. It wasn't difficult to imagine that if unfamiliar people suddenly showed up, she'd be perplexed.

"Okay, so should we try calling her?"

I recalled that Kushida already knew everyone's information, including Horikita's. She listened to her phone ring for about 20 seconds, but then she shook her head and hung up.

"No luck. The call didn't go through. I can try again later, but this may be a delicate matter."

"What do you mean by delicate?"

"She gave me her contact information, but she doesn't know me very well. She might be confused if I tried to call her. Also, she might not even have been there to answer the phone."

Sakura might just be pretending to be out, too. "So she's kind of like Horikita?" Ike said.

Why would you say something like that when the person you're talking

about was standing right in front of you, Ike? Horikita probably didn't care, though. Really, she seemed pretty uninterested in what Ike said at all.

"Goodbye."

"Ah, Horikita-san!"

Horikita stood quickly and headed for the door. By the time I managed to get up, the door had clicked shut.

"What a tsundere."

Sudou wore a happy smile, chuckling and scratching his nose with his finger. She wasn't tsun and she wasn't dere. She wasn't anything, I thought. She was a non-tsun, non-dere. Since we couldn't prevent Horikita from leaving, we resumed our conversation.

"I get the feeling that Sakura-san's just a shy person. That was my first impression of her."

It was strange to discuss someone you'd never talked to.

"She's plain, that's it. Talk about a waste, man. Like pearls before swine." While Yamauchi spoke, he gestured with his hands near his chest, to represent Sakura's breasts.

"Yeah, for sure. Her boobs are huge, though. It's really cute!"

Ike seemed to have already forgotten the shame of his earlier remarks, and was now excited again. Kushida gave him another bitter smile. After noticing Kushida's expression, Ike's regret returned. He was the type of hapless creature that made the same mistake over and over.

Even though I hadn't said anything, I felt like I was being lumped into the same category as Ike and Yamauchi. Kushida's bitter smile seemed to say, You're also fixated on boobs, aren't you? You disgusting pervert.

Granted, that was my persecution complex speaking.

"What about Sakura's face, though? It's no use, I just can't remember anything."

I could barely match Sakura's name to a face. I recalled seeing her back when we were making bets. The bet had been about boobs, though. I guess we were birds of a feather after all.

My image of Sakura was of her quietly sitting by herself, hunched over her desk.

"I don't know if Sakura talks to anyone. Yamauchi? Wait, hold on… Yamauchi, you said you confessed your feelings to her before, right? If you did, then you can talk to her easily, yeah?"

Oh, Ike was right. Yamauchi had said that. They'd mentioned it before. "Uh, ahh…well, I may or may not have said something like that."

Yamauchi feigned ignorance. "So you were lying?"

"N-no, I wasn't. I wasn't lying. It was just a misunderstanding. It wasn't Sakura; it was a girl from the next class over. Not a gloomy and ugly girl like Sakura. Err, hold on. Sorry, I got a message."

Yamauchi dodged the question by whipping out his phone. It's certainly true that Sakura was plain, but she wasn't ugly. I'd never gotten a good look at her face before, but she seemed to have very nice features. Even so, I couldn't say that with complete confidence, probably because Sakura had so little presence.

"Well, I'll try to talk to her myself tomorrow. I think she might be on her guard if a lot of people approach her," Kushida said.

"That sounds good."

If Kushida couldn't manage it, then I doubted anyone else would be able to get through to Sakura.

"It's hot."

4.2

Our school didn't change uniforms with the seasons, so we had to wear blazers throughout the year. The reason was simple: every building came equipped with heating and cooling systems. The heat was only an issue going to and from school. The morning commute. Sweat had begun to trickle down my back in the few minutes that it took to get from the dorms to school.

I took refuge from the heat inside, where the nice, cool air greeted me. It must have been hell for the students with morning practice. Those boys and girls all gathered around the classroom's source of the cool air. From an outsider's perspective, it was like bugs flitting about a light bulb. Perhaps that was kind of a bad example.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun."

Hirata called to me, his expression as fresh and friendly as usual. The sweet yet subtle fragrance of flowers always emanated from him. If I were a girl, I'd probably unintentionally shriek, "Hold me!"

"Kushida-san told me about it yesterday. She said that you found the witness. Sakura-san."

Hirata looked over at Sakura's seat. She hadn't yet arrived. "Are you going to talk to Sakura?" I asked.

"Me? No. I'm going to greet her, that's all. I've wanted to talk to her since she's always by herself, but as a guy I don't want to come off as forceful or anything. Also, if I asked Karuizawa-san to talk with her, that might cause a few problems."

A conversation between the super assertive Karuizawa and Sakura-san was difficult to imagine.

"I think that for the time being, we'll just wait for more information from Kushida-san."

"That sounds great, but why are you talking to me? Talking to Ike or Yamauchi would be better," I said.

There was no real reason for him to tell me any of this. I wasn't really part of the team.

"Not for any particular reason. I guess it's because you have a connection to Horikita-san. She doesn't talk to anyone except for you, so I thought you'd pass it along."

"I see."

Was that my only area of expertise? Hirata smiled, agreeably. If I were a girl, I would have gone from zero to 100 right there, and my heart would have been beating out of my chest.

"Oh, that reminds me. If you're up for it, we should hang out sometime soon. What do you think?"

Hey, hey, don't tell me that you're not satisfied with girls anymore and are looking to make my heart throb. If I, a known recluse, accepted the hero's invitation without due consideration, that would be a big problem.

"Sure. It should be fine, I guess."

Ahh, I said the exact opposite of what I'd been thinking. Damn, curse my terrible mouth. I definitely hadn't been waiting for Hirata to invite me to hang out or anything. Yeah, that's right. This is what's wrong with the Japanese people: we are incapable of saying 'no,' so we have to respond in a roundabout way when invited out.

"I'm sorry. Do you not really want to?" Hirata sensed my unease. "No, no, I'll go. I definitely want to," I answered, feeling a little

disgusted with myself. I tried to act like a proud guy, but I couldn't help

actually wanting to go.

"Are you fine with my girlfriend coming, too?" "Hmm? Oh, Karuizawa-san? That's okay."

My response was surprisingly quick. Well, there was a wide variety of "types" of couples. Since they still called each other by their surnames, they probably weren't that close yet. I reluctantly parted from Hirata, and fiddled with my cell phone while I waited for homeroom to begin. Then, I noticed that Sakura was in her seat.

She wasn't doing anything. She just seemed to be sitting at her desk,

killing time. I wondered just what kind of student Sakura was. In the three months that I'd been at this school, I knew nothing about her apart from her surname. It probably wasn't just me, either. The rest of the class probably had no clue.

Kushida and Hirata were proactive and able to open up to just about anyone. Horikita didn't feel the agony of solitude. So what about Sakura? Did she like being alone, like Horikita? Or was she suffering because she didn't know how to connect with people, like me? Those were the mysteries that Kushida was supposedly going to unravel for us.

4.3

Class was over. Kushida stood up right as homeroom ended and walked over towards Sakura, who was quietly preparing to leave. Kushida seemed oddly nervous. Ike, Yamauchi, and even Sudou appeared interested in what was going on, and directed their attention over to the girls.

"Sakura-san?"

"Wh-what?"

The bespectacled girl with the hunched back peered up with a timid expression. Apparently she hadn't expected someone to talk to her, and was flustered.

"I wanted to ask you something, Sakura-san. Do you have a moment?

It's about Sudou's case."

"S-sorry. I…I have plans, so…"

Sakura was obviously uncomfortable. She averted her eyes. She probably wasn't good at talking with others. Or rather, she gave off the impression that she didn't like talking to them.

"Can you please make some time? This is important, so I'd like to talk to you. When Sudou-kun was involved in the incident, were you perhaps somewhere nearby?"

"I-I don't know. I already told Horikita-san. I really don't know anything…"

Her words were weak, yet she vehemently denied it. Kushida could clearly see how unpleasant Sakura found this, so she probably didn't want to press her much more. Although Kushida appeared slightly perplexed at first, her concerned expression quickly melted into a pleasant smile. Even so, she couldn't withdraw just like that, because Sakura might have tremendous influence over Sudou's fate.

"So…is it okay? If I go back…" Sakura whispered.

Something seemed strange, however. She wasn't simply bad at talking with people. It looked as though she was hiding something. You could see that from her behavior. Sakura concealed her dominant hand while also avoiding eye contact. Even if she weren't comfortable meeting someone's eyes, people generally looked in the direction of those to whom they were speaking. Sakura didn't look at Kushida's face at all.

If Ike or I were talking to her, I could have understood that reaction.

Though it was mostly out of formal obligation, Sakura had exchanged numbers with Kushida. Kushida's behavior in a one on one conversation was different, though. I don't think Horikita was wrong to feel some discomfort when speaking with Kushida. I'd found something a bit off-putting about it myself.

"Can't you please spare just a few minutes now?" Kushida asked. "Wh-why, though? I-I don't know anything…"

If Kushida failed, we'd gain nothing from their conversation. Of

course, the longer this awkwardness dragged on, the more attention they'd attract. This seemed like a complete miscalculation on Kushida's part. Since they were already acquainted and had exchanged contact information, Kushida probably had expected this conversation to go more smoothly, and had gone into this situation thinking she wasn't going to be rejected. That explained why this was currently falling apart.

Horikita carefully monitored the situation. She looked over at me with

a somewhat smug expression. It was as though she were saying I know that your powers of observation are incredible.

"I'm really bad at being social. I'm sorry…" Sakura muttered. She spoke in an unnatural, strained way, and didn't seem to want

Kushida to get any closer. When discussing Sakura earlier, Kushida had

described her as a shy but ordinary girl. Judging from her current behavior, though, she clearly wasn't normal. Kushida must have felt the same, because she couldn't hide her confusion. Kushida was normally very good at getting others to open up to her, but here she was failing. Horikita also understood what was happening. As she watched the conversation, she came to a conclusion.

"My, how unfortunate. Kushida failed to persuade her."

Horikita was correct. If Kushida couldn't do it, then I didn't think that anyone else in our class would be able to. Kushida was good at creating an informal atmosphere, one in which socially awkward people could converse naturally. However, everyone has what they consider their own personal space. An off-limits area, in other words.

Cultural anthropologist Edward Hall further divided the idea of personal space into four parts. One such zone is the so-called "intimate space." In this particular space, you'd be near enough to hug someone. If an outsider tries to step into this space, people naturally exhibit strong signs of rejection. However, if that person is a lover or a best friend, then he or she won't find it uncomfortable. Even if someone were only a casual acquaintance, Kushida probably wouldn't mind letting that person into her "intimate space." That is, she didn't seem to put high value on the idea of personal space.

However, Sakura had clearly rejected Kushida. No…rather, it looked like she was running away. When Sakura was first asked, she'd said that she "had plans." If she really did have plans, she'd have repeated that when asked again. Sakura collected her bag and stood, seemingly putting distance between herself and Kushida.

"G-goodbye."

Sakura had apparently decided to run because she couldn't find a skillful way to end the conversation. She snatched a digital camera off her

desk, and started to walk away. Just then, she ran into Hondou's shoulder. Focused on texting a friend, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going.

"Ah!"

Sakura's digital camera tumbled to the floor with a loud clack.

Hondou simply kept walking, attention still focused on his phone. He apologized as he left. "My bad," he called.

Sakura, flustered, rushed to pick up her camera. "No way. There's nothing on the screen…"

Sakura put her hand over her mouth in total shock. The camera seemed to have broken on impact. She pushed the power button over and over, tried taking out the batteries and putting them back in, but the power indicator never came on.

"I-I'm sorry. It's because I came up and talked to you so suddenly, that…" Kushida began.

"No, that's not it. I was just careless, that's all… Anyway, goodbye."

Kushida, unable to stop the despondent Sakura, could only watch her leave with regret.

"Why is a gloomy girl like her my witness? This sucks. She doesn't want to help me at all."

Sudou crossed his legs and leaned against the chair, sighing in exasperation.

"I'm sure there's something to learn there. Besides, we didn't ask Sakura-san directly what she saw. Maybe she just can't say it herself?"

"I know. If she were planning to say something, she would have. She restrained herself, because she's an adult."

"It might be better this way, Sudou-kun. Better that she's the witness, that is."

"What do you mean?"

"She won't testify on your behalf. They'll determine you caused the incident. In the end, Class D will be affected by your actions, but we'll be

okay. We have testimony that they lied about the violence. It's hard to imagine that the school would penalize us by more than 100 or 200 points for being involved in this incident. That way we'll only lose 87 points, and you won't face expulsion. However, we'll shoulder more of the blame than Class C will." Horikita relentlessly spoke her thoughts out loud, as if she'd been hiding them deep inside her all this time.

"Don't make jokes. I'm innocent. Innocent! I hit them, but it was out of self-defense."

"I don't think self-defense is all that helpful in this case." Ah, I'd accidentally said that aloud.

"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun."

I tried to act aloof as I turned, but found that Kushida's face was super close to mine. Man, Kushida looked super cute up close. Rather than feeling uncomfortable about this invasion of my personal space, I wanted her to come even closer.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you're Sudou-kun's ally, aren't you?" she asked.

"Well… Yeah, I am. Why are you asking me that again, though?" "Well, it's just that things seem to a bit tense. Everyone's desire to save

Sudou is fading."

I looked around the classroom.

"It does seem that way. They probably think that whatever happens, happens. That there's nothing to be done."

If even Sakura, the key witness, denied Sudou her help, then we'd made no progress.

"I can't imagine that we'll find a perfect out for Sudou. Let's just give up on him," muttered Ike, half-heartedly.

"What the hell, you guys? Didn't you say that you'd help me?" Sudou

cried.

"Well, it's just…you know?"

Sudou appealed to our remaining classmates, looking for approval. "Even your friends don't wish to help you. How unfortunate," Horikita

muttered.

The other students didn't try to deny what Ike and Horikita had said.

"Why do I have to suffer like this? You bunch of useless jerks!" "What an interesting thing to say, Sudou-kun. Haven't you noticed that

everyone is turning on you?" "What do you mean by that?"

Our class often got very tense, but today was worse than usual.

However, since Sudou was talking to Horikita, he seemed to be trying his best to restrain himself. However, the attack came at him from an unexpected direction.

"Don't you think it would've been better if you'd been expelled? Your existence is far from beautiful. No, in fact, I could say your life is an ugly one, Red Hair-kun."

The voice came from a boy checking his reflection in a hand mirror to fix his hair. It was Kouenji Rokusuke, an especially odd guy even amongst the remarkably strange people of our class.

"What the hell? Say that one more time, I dare you!"

"It would be inefficient for me to tell you, no matter how many times I did. If I know that you're dim-witted, then it doesn't matter how many times I try to lecture you, does it?"

Kouenji didn't even look at Sudou as he spoke. It was as if this were a soliloquy. Suddenly, there was a huge crashing sound. A desk flew through the air and splintered on the ground after being kicked. Everyone froze.

Sudou, silent and intense, walked over to Kouenji.

"All right, that's enough. Calm down, you two," Hirata said. He was the only boy able to move in this awful situation. My heart pounded in my chest. "Sudou-kun. You certainly are part of the problem here. But Kouenji- kun, you're in the wrong, too."

"Puh. I don't think I've experienced being wrong since I was born. You must be mistaken."

"Bring it on. I'll smash your face in and take you down a peg," Sudou snapped.

"Stop it."

Hirata grabbed Sudou's arm, sternly attempting to stop him, but Sudou showed no signs of being swayed. He looked like he wanted to vent all of his frustrations—including what Horikita had said—by hitting Kouenji.

"Stop it already. I don't want to see my friends fight…"

"It's just like Kushida says. I don't know about Kouenji-kun, but I'm your ally, Sudou-kun."

Hirata was way too cool. It would've been fitting if he changed his name to "Hero." That would have been awesome.

"I'm going to stop this. Sudou-kun, you should act more mature. If you cause another huge disturbance, the school's evaluation of you will only worsen. Right?"

"Tch."

Sudou glared at Kouenji and left the classroom, slamming the door on his way out. Afterward, a loud voice could be heard in the hall.

"Kouenji-kun. I don't intend to compel you to help. But you were wrong to blame him."

"Unfortunately, I've never experienced being wrong. Not once in my entire life. Oh, looks like it's about time for my date. Well, if you'll excuse me."

Watching their bizarre interaction unfold, I realized that our class lacked unity.

"Sudou-kun really hasn't grown up, has he?" "Couldn't you have been a little kinder, Horikita-san?"

"I don't show mercy to people who don't attempt to better themselves.

He's caused us nothing but harm, and has no redeeming features."

Well, you don't exactly show any mercy even to people who do attempt such things.

"What?"

"Ooh!"

While I shrank away, a sharp knife (well, a sharp look) was thrust into

me. I made a small rebuttal.

"There's a popular expression in this world: Great talents mature late. Sudou could probably become a professional player in the NBA, right? I think there's a possibility that he'll make a great contribution to society. The power of youth is infinite." I uttered a catchphrase that sounded about as original as a television commercial.

"I don't intend to deny that it could happen in 10 years' time, but I'm looking for things to help me reach Class A right now. If he can't help us right now, then he's worthless to me."

"I guess so."

Well, Horikita's opinion was consistent, which was nice. I was more worried about Ike and the others. Their moods changed frequently, so I wasn't really able to relax.

"You get along with Sudou, don't you? You eat together with him." "I don't think we're on bad terms, but I do kind of feel like he's a

burden. Sudou cuts class more than anyone else. He also fights the most. I have to draw the line there."

I could see what he meant. Ike appeared to have his own thoughts. "I'll try to persuade Sakura-san. Once I do, things should turn around."

"I just wonder about that. Considering the circumstances, even if we get Sakura-san's testimony, I believe it'll have minimal impact. The school will probably have doubts about a witness just suddenly appearing from Class D."

"Doubts? You mean they'd think we were lying about the witness?" "Of course. They'll consider the witness's testimony along with her

possible intentions. They won't take her word as absolute proof."

"No way. You mean even that evidence wouldn't be perfectly sound?" "Well, the best and most miraculous situation would be if there was a

trusted witness from another class or grade who saw the entire incident from start to finish. There isn't anyone who fits that description, though," said Horikita with confidence.

I thought the same.

"Then no matter how hard we try to prove Sudou's innocence, we…"

"Had the incident happened in a classroom, however, it would be a different story."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there are cameras that record what goes on in the classrooms, right? Therefore, if anything did happen, there'd be evidence of it. Those recordings would blow the Class C guys' lies away."

I pointed at the two or so cameras affixed to the ceiling near the corners of the classroom. They were small enough that they wouldn't be a distraction, and they blended in well with their surroundings, but they were undeniably security cameras.

"The school checks those cameras to see if we talk or fall asleep during class. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to accurately assess our monthly performance."

"Seriously?! I never knew that!" Ike looked utterly shocked.

"I just learned about the cameras."

"They're not easily spotted. I also didn't notice until they talked about points for the first time."

"Well, ordinary people don't typically concern themselves with hidden cameras. I mean, most wouldn't be able to directly point out the cameras in a convenience store, even if they went there all the time, right?"

If that person did know, they probably had a guilty conscience or were extremely nervous. Or they might have accidentally spotted them. Well, considering we didn't need to search for a witness anymore, I thought it was time to head home then. Kushida and the others might discuss looking for another witness. It would be a pain in the butt to get sucked into that.

"Ayanokouji-kun, do you want to head back together?" Horikita asked. "… "

After hearing that invitation, I reflexively placed my hand against her forehead. It felt nice and cool, but I noticed the softness of her skin.

"You do know I don't have a fever? I only wanted to talk to you about

something," she deadpanned. "Ah, okay. That's fine."

It was rare for Horikita to invite me anywhere. With the world going so topsy-turvy, I wondered if it would rain tomorrow.

"You two really have gotten close, huh? I mean, you looked like you were going to murder me after I just touched your shoulder yesterday, and now…"

Ike looked at my hand on Horikita's forehead with seeming discontent. Horikita, having noticed this, didn't change her expression as she spoke

to me.

"Do you mind? Your hand." "Oh, sorry, sorry."

While I was relieved that Horikita offered no counterattack, I drew my

hand away. I was on autopilot as the two of us stood in the hallway. I could roughly guess what Horikita wanted, but I didn't know exactly what she was going to say.

"That reminds me. I want to make a stop before we return to the dorms.

Is that okay?"

"I don't mind, as long as it doesn't take too long." "Of course. It should only take about 10 minutes."

4.4

It was hot and humid after class. I made my way over the special building, where the incident had taken place. It wasn't like a murder case where the area needed to be taped off to prevent people from contaminating the crime scene. It didn't really look any different than usual. I didn't see any indication that this building's facilities were used frequently, like the special classrooms, the home economics room, the AV room, etc. This would have been an ideal place to call Sudou out.

"It's so hot…"

This heat was abnormal. This was probably how summer at school should feel, but I had at least imagined that inside the building would be somewhat comfortable, the cool air balancing out the heat. I guess I'd gotten too used to air-conditioned buildings. I felt even hotter because of that gap in expectation. The air conditioning was probably on during class time in the special building, but it certainly wasn't right now.

"Sorry for bringing you here."

Horikita, who was standing next to me, simply looked around the hallway. She didn't appear to be sweating at all.

"You've really changed, haven't you? It's odd that you stuck your neck out in this case. The witness has already been found, and we've confirmed that there's nothing left to be done. What are you even trying to do?" she asked.

"Sudou was the first friend that I made here. I want to help him." "Do you think that there's a way to prove his innocence?"

"I'm not so sure. I can't really say yet. I decided to take some initiative by myself, since I'm not very good at interacting with Hirata, Kushida, or large groups of people. Being social's definitely not my forte. I thought everyone would make me run around the school or the classroom today, so I decided to bolt instead. I like to avoid trouble, remember?"

"That's certainly true. But then, you're as contradictory as ever, since you're helping out a friend."

"Well, human beings are, for better or worse, creatures of convenience."

I'd touched on this subject before with Horikita, but she did seem relatively open to my ideas. She usually acted alone, so as long as something didn't harm her, she tended not to mind. She wasn't the type to empathize with someone else's pain, though.

"Well, your way of thinking isn't relevant to me, Ayanokouji-kun, so you're free to think whatever you like. Also, I appreciate that you say those two are hard to deal with."

"Well, that's just because you hate them, isn't it?" "Having a common enemy tends to lead to cooperation."

"No. Just because I'm bad at dealing with them doesn't mean I hate

them. Please don't think I'm like you."

I really did want to get closer to Kushida and Hirata. But Horikita's interpretation of my stance was rather broad, and she seemed to think that we had similar thoughts on the matter. Muttering, I walked to the end of the hallway and scanned the corners, making sure not to miss any nooks or crannies. Horikita seemed to notice something, and began looking around.

She started to ponder.

"Looks like there aren't any here. Too bad." "Huh? What?" I asked.

"Cameras, like the ones in the classrooms. If there were cameras here, we'd have solid evidence. I can't find any."

"Ah, yes. The security cameras. You're certainly right about it. If they were here, this matter would be settled."

There were electrical outlets by the ceiling, but no signs they were being used. There was nothing in the hallway to obstruct a camera's view, so if one were installed the whole incident would have been recorded from start to finish.

"Well, did the school have hallway cameras in the first place?"

It probably wasn't just the special building. The hallways in the main school buildings probably didn't have cameras, either.

"If I had to think of places where they wouldn't be installed, I'd probably say the bathrooms and the locker rooms. Right?"

"Yeah. Most likely."

"If there were security cameras here, the school would have checked them first and we wouldn't have any problems with this case."

I shook my head, embarrassed to have gotten my hopes up for even a moment. For a short while, we loitered around, wasting time and not really achieving anything.

"So, have you come up with a plan to save Sudou-kun?" Horikita asked.

"Of course I haven't. It's your job to come up with plans, Horikita. I won't ask you to save Sudou, but it'd be nice for you to point Class D in the right direction."

Horikita shrugged in exasperation. She was probably thinking up a response. However, she was the one who'd found Sakura, so it wasn't like she didn't want to help at all.

"You're asking for my help? To use me? Me? Here and now?" "Having Sakura as our witness hurts us more than it helps. I think it'd

be better if we looked for something else."

Horikita likely understood. However, she was acting aloof, cut off from the world, like she was too cool to care about anything.

"Sudou has many qualities I can't stomach. However, I want to lessen the blame they're placing upon him. The best possible outcome is we'll still have some points, even if Class D's image worsens."

She sounded honest. Normally, she wasn't quite so candid. That wasn't an especially bad thing. However, most people aren't suited for loneliness.

Therefore, they sometimes behave hypocritically, like saving someone out of feigned altruism in order to make other people adore them. That didn't seem to be Horikita's style, though. Also, unlike Kushida and the others, she'd completely given up on proving Sudou's innocence.

"Like I said, unless a perfect witness appears, proving Sudou-kun's innocence will be impossible. If those Class C students admitted that they lied, I suppose things might turn out fine. Do you think that's likely?"

"No way. They would never admit it."

The lie would stand, especially because the other class also lacked any evidence. That was what I thought, anyway. Our only proof was Sudou's word. We were completely in the dark.

"There's no one here after class."

"Well, that's obvious. They only use the special building for club activities."

One party, either Sudou or the Class C students, had summoned the other to the special building. After that, as if by destiny, the two enemies started brawling. In the end, Sudou had injured the others, and they'd complained about it. That was the whole case.

I definitely wouldn't come to a hot place like this unless someone had brought me. The humidity was suffocating. I felt like if I stayed even a few more minutes, my head would to explode.

"Aren't you hot, Horikita?"

While the severe heat destroyed me, Horikita looked around with a cool expression.

"I'm fairly resilient when it comes to temperature. Ayanokouji-kun, you…don't seem okay."

The heat was making me dizzy. I moved towards the window, hoping for some cool air. I opened the window…and then immediately slammed it shut.

"That was dangerous."

Opening the window had only let more hot air into the room. Leaving it ajar would've resulted in tragedy, I was sure of it. When I thought about how it would keep getting hotter all the way through August, I became depressed. However, coming here today had given us results. Things weren't impossible…

"What are you thinking about right now?" Horikita asked. "Oh, nothing really. Just that it's hot. I've reached my limit."

It looked as though we'd done all we could, so we started back. "Ah."

"Oops!"

Turning the hallway corner, I bumped into another student. "Sorry, are you okay?" I asked.

The impact of our collision wasn't very hard. At the very least, neither

of us fell over.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I was careless," she said. "Oh no, I'm sorry. Wait…Sakura?"

Mid apology, I realized just whom I'd run into. "Ah, um?"

Judging from her troubled response, she didn't know who I was. After

staring for a moment, she seemed to recognize me as one of her classmates. It's kind of pointless if you can only recognize somebody after a bout of intense staring, though.

"Ah, oh. Well, you see… My hobby is taking pictures, so…"

She showed me her phone's screen. I hadn't really planned on asking for details. Besides, it wasn't particularly unnatural to use your phone. Sakura had probably thought we were returning to the dorms, and now she was undoubtedly wondering why we were here.

"You said it's your hobby? What kind of pictures?" I asked.

"Things like the hallway…and the view outside the window. Stuff like that, I guess."

Just as Sakura finished her brief explanation, she noticed Horikita and lowered her gaze.

"Ah, um…"

"I have something I'd like to ask you, Sakura-san," Horikita said.

Sakura appeared uncomfortable, but Horikita, never one to pass up on opportunity, stepped closer to her. Sakura backed away, seemingly frightened. I tried to gently restrain Horikita, gesturing for her for stop chasing Sakura.

"G-goodbye."

"Sakura." I called as she tried to hasten away. "You don't have to force yourself."

I'd spoken up without thinking. Sakura stopped, but didn't turn around. "You shouldn't feel obligated to appear as the witness, Sakura. It'd be

pointless to force you to testify. But if someone scary is trying to intimidate

you or something, please talk to us. I have no idea how much I can help, but I'll try."

"Are you talking about me?" Horikita muttered.

Ignoring the existence of such a scary monster, I decided to let Sakura

go.

"I didn't see anything. You've got the wrong person…"

She kept insisting she wasn't the witness. So far, we'd been operating

based purely on Horikita's dogmatism and prejudices. It was quite possible that Sakura wasn't the witness, like she said.

"Then that's fine. However, if someone else tries to hound you about it, please tell me."

Sakura went meekly down the stairs.

"That was probably our one big shot, you know? She probably came here because she was still thinking about the incident."

"Since she's denied it, we can't force her to do anything. Besides, you do understand, Horikita? A Class D witness wouldn't help our case much."

"Yeah, I suppose."

She would act according to her logic. However, I didn't know what in the world she was thinking. That was why our investigation was at a standstill.

"Hey, you two. What are you doing?"

We turned in response to the unexpected voice. A beautiful girl with strawberry-blonde hair stood behind us. I recognized her, though I hadn't ever spoken to her before. She was a student from Class B, Ichinose. Rumor had it she was a superb student.

"Sorry to interrupt you like that. Do you have a moment? Oh, if you happen to be in the middle of a so-so date, though, I'd like you to break it up

right away."

"It's nothing like that."

Horikita denied it immediately. She was only quick to respond to suggestions like that.

"Ha ha, I see. This place is a little too hot to be a date spot."

I had no connection with Ichinose. I couldn't be sure, but she probably didn't even know my name. I was only one of many students to her. Perhaps she was an acquaintance of Horikita's? Or a friend? No. There was no way. If they suddenly said something like, "Oh wow, it's been too long! How are you?" and "I'm good, I'm good!" and embraced each other, I'd probably start foaming at the mouth and then faint.

"Do you have some business with us?" Horikita asked.

Horikita was on guard after Ichinose's sudden appearance. She probably didn't think that it was a coincidence Ichinose was trying to talk to us.

"Business, huh? Well, it's more like 'What are you doing here?'" "Nothing. We're wandering around for no reason."

I would've liked to answer honestly, but the pressure of Horikita's gaze made me fib.

"For no reason, huh? You're from Class D, aren't you?" "Do you know us?"

"I've met you twice before. We didn't talk directly, though. I remember seeing you in the library once, too."

It seemed that she somehow remembered me. Perhaps I was kind of

cool.

"I have a very good memory, you know."

Did she mean that if her memory weren't good, I wouldn't have much

an impression? I'd been a little happy, but my levity died at the backhanded comment.

"I thought that surely there'd be something here related to the brawl. I wasn't here yesterday when Class B heard about the witness. Later, I heard

that Class D was looking for evidence of Sudou's innocence."

"If we did happen to be here because of an investigation, what's your connection?"

"Hmm, a connection? Well, I'm not connected. When I heard about what happened, I had some doubts. So I thought I'd come here myself to take a look. Would you mind filling me in?"

Was she really just simply interested? After a brief period of silence, Ichinose sheepishly spoke.

"Guess not, huh? Well, if the other classes were interested…" "No, we're not saying no, but…"

"I can't help but think there's an ulterior motive," Horikita snapped.

I'd tried to handle this situation peacefully, but Horikita had promptly obliterated that plan. Ichinose, clearly sensing the hostility behind Horikita's words, tilted her neck and smiled.

"Ulterior motive? You think we're working in the shadows to undermine both C and Class D?"

Ichinose wore a baffled expression. "Do you need to be that on guard?

I'm really just curious, that's all."

"I don't want to talk with someone who is 'just curious.' Do what you want."

Horikita tried to put some distance between them. She peered out the window.

"Please tell me something. All my teacher and friends say is that there was some kind of fight."

I hesitated briefly, but since there wasn't much information to be gained anyway, it may not have been worth keeping quiet. So I explained the situation. I told her that three people from Class C had called Sudou over, and there was a fistfight. However, Sudou turned the tables on his would-be attackers, and beat them up. I also told her that after the fight, the Class C kids filed a false report with the school. Ichinose listened to the story intently.

"So that's what happened. This story hasn't made its way to Class B yet. Hey, isn't this a pretty big problem, though? It doesn't really matter who

lied since it's an issue about violence, right? Shouldn't you be hurrying to uncover the truth?"

"That's why we came here to look. But we haven't really found much."

This wasn't anything like a murder case, so I'd doubted there'd be many clear hints left for us to find. However, contrary to our expectations, we did get some results.

"So you believe Sudou-kun because he's your classmate. And your friend, of course, that much is obvious. So Class D is in an uproar because Sudou is being falsely charged, right?"

It'd be difficult to convince a third party like Ichinose that we weren't doing this out of friendship or class loyalty. I wasn't going to try explaining it.

"What would you do if Sudou-kun was the liar? Suppose evidence came out that proved his guilt. What then?"

"I'd report on it honestly. After all, covering for a lie would only come back to haunt us later."

"Yeah, okay. I think so, too."

Even so, it wasn't like our struggles were really going to have any impact on Ichinose.

"Are you finished? You heard what you wanted." Horikita spoke sharply and with a sigh, trying to drive Ichinose away.

"Hmm. Yeah, how about I help you out? To look for the witness, or whatever. You're bound to get further with more people, right?"

Obviously more people would have been better. That was true.

However, it wasn't as though we'd gone up and said to her, "Please help us, we're in trouble!"

"Why would a student from Class B offer to help?"

"Are Classes D and B completely unrelated to each other? We don't know when these cases will spring up, or whom they'll involve. Since the classes are in constant competition, there's always the chance that this will happen. This was the merely the first case. If the party that lied wins, that'd set a bad precedent. Also, I personally can't turn away now that I know what

happened."

I couldn't tell whether Ichinose was being serious or joking.

"If Class B works with you, wouldn't that dramatically improve your credibility? Though I suppose the opposite could be true, too. Class D may suffer greater consequences if the truth's uncovered…"

In other words, if Sudou lied, then that'd prove Class C's assertion. In that case, Sudou would unquestionably be suspended, and Class D might suffer fatal damages.

"What do you think? I don't believe it's a bad suggestion."

I glanced over to see what Horikita thought. However, she still had her back to me. She was still looking out the window, unmoving. I wondered what she thought about Ichinose's offer. Of course, we were worried about what effect this would have. If Class D tried to prove Sudou's innocence by themselves, our credibility would be low unless we managed to find evidence that absolutely, 100 percent confirmed Sudou's innocence.

If a student from Class B got involved, there might be tremendous implications.

I decided to weigh the offer's positives and negatives, even though it was rude. Obviously, I couldn't trust Ichinose yet. She was a student from Class B, and she gained nothing by involving herself. If helping others out of sheer goodwill was reflected in class or private points, then I could understand her motivation. It wouldn't be easy to ask, but she might have important information. The only way to be certain was to ask.

"Let's accept her help, Ayanokouji-kun."

Horikita had made a decision, probably determining that the benefits outweighed the risks. I was grateful that she'd reached a decision so quickly. I didn't really have the power to decide in the first place; that was Horikita's job. Ichinose smiled, showing off her white teeth.

"Then it's decided! Umm…" "Horikita."

Horikita gave her name candidly, as if doing so approved our cooperative relationship.

"It's nice to meet you, Horikita-san. And you too, Ayanokouji-kun."

We had unexpectedly made Ichinose of Class B's acquaintance and accepted her as an ally. There was still the risk that this could lead to bad things. No matter what, things were going to change.

"We already found a witness. Unfortunately, it's a student from Class

D."

Ichinose let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, that means there isn't another witness. I mean, I guess someone

from another class might have witnessed it, but it isn't likely." Chances were certainly slim. But there was still a chance.

"Anyway, about your friend. He's a first year, but he might become a regular on the basketball team, right? That's amazing. Even if he's holding you guys back right now, he might become a great asset later. I mean, the school evaluates club and philanthropic activities, right? So if he enters a tournament and does well, Sudou-kun could earn points. Those'll be tied to your class points, too. Wait… Did you guys not know that? Did your teacher not tell you?"

We'd only heard that it would influence our private points.

"This is the first I'm hearing about it affecting our class points. I'll have to complain to Chabashira-sensei later," mumbled Horikita, a little disgruntled.

This was yet another oversight, another instance where Chabashira- sensei had failed to disclose something important. I wondered if Class B had heard about this from their teacher…

A usual, our teacher didn't even pretend to give us equal treatment. I felt discriminated against.

"Your homeroom teacher is kind of weird," said Ichinose.

"She doesn't seem motivated to tell us anything. She's completely apathetic. Some teachers are like that."

I didn't think that it was particularly concerning, but Ichinose recoiled. "Did you know that the school evaluates homeroom teachers when

their class graduates?"

"This is the first I've heard of it. Are you sure?"

I wasn't interested so much as I had no choice but to be interested. That was a crucial distinction.

"Our homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei, says it like it's her motto. She says she wants to do her best because the homeroom teacher for Class A gets a special bonus. Looks like it's pretty different for you guys."

"I'm envious of your relationship with your homeroom teacher. And your class environment."

Our teacher appeared to lack ambition, or even an interest in money. It felt like even if we collapsed into failure, she'd just say it was great.

"I think it would probably be good for us to meet up and discuss things."

"I never thought I'd receive aid from the enemy."

"This seems like a problem we need to address before we can fight.

We're not really on equal footing, are we?"

Other classes pitied us. If anything, this showed how little interest Chabashira-sensei felt for her own students.

"I want to switch homeroom teachers with Class B." "Well, I think that'd be difficult to manage."

I thought back to my first meeting with Hoshinomiya-sensei. She seemed to come with her own inherent difficulties as a teacher.

"Ah, it's so hot in here!" Ichinose took out a cute handkerchief covered in panda illustrations, and used it to gently wipe sweat from her forehead.

Our thick uniforms really trapped the heat.

"A school that constantly runs air conditioning in empty buildings and is unkind to the environment is the worst," Horikita said.

"Ha ha ha, that's probably true. You're pretty interesting." Ichinose laughed, even though that wasn't really a joke.

"I don't think there was anything funny in what I just said…"

"How about we exchange contact information, so things can progress smoothly?"

Horikita shot me a look that seemed to say, I don't want to do it. Give her yours.

"If you're okay with having my info, here you go," I said. "Sure, got it."

After we'd exchanged information, I suddenly realized I had an

unexpected number of girls' contacts. Though it was only the beginning of July, I already had seven names and phone numbers in my address book, three of them girls. Perhaps…I had plunged deeply into the joys of youth without even realizing it. Also, I learned that Ichinose's first name was Honami—an unnecessary bit of information.