Chapter 8: Unseen Characters

Chapter 8: Unseen Characters

Chapter 8:

Unseen Characters

M Y TURN AT THE CULTURAL FESTIVAL had come to an end at three o’clock in the afternoon. Now that our hidden gem had made its exciting appearance, I exited the classroom, leaving things to Ayanokouji-kun to handle.

“At any rate… I never imagined that we’d really, honestly turn Chabashira-sensei into a maid,” I thought aloud.

Ayanokouji-kun and I had discussed all of the preparations for the festival in advance. He told me that Chabashira-sensei was going to be featured in the final hour, but I was only half-convinced that it would actually happen. But he had just shown me that it was actually playing out, and he was working to get incredible results out of it. When I walked out into the hallway, I clearly witnessed when talk about Chabashira-sensei dressed in a maid outfit began to spread like wildfire.

At any rate, Chabashira-sensei’s involvement was a favorable event for me, personally. The large amount of attention that was drawing people to the special building would inevitably pull people away from other exhibits.

After sending a message to a certain someone on my phone and making sure that it had been read, I decided to head to the student council office. I wanted to check the meeting minutes once more. I could ask Yagami-kun to let me see on the day of the student council meeting, but he wouldn’t just let me calmly observe him writing.

The culprit behind this was someone indirectly working at getting Ayanokouji-kun expelled. This person seemed to have some connection to Amasawa-san too. They also were extremely dangerous and had a very high level of physical ability. If Yagami-kun was the culprit, and if I asked him to show me the meeting minutes again, he’d realize that I was suspicious of him. Well, actually… If I was operating on the assumption that Yagami-kun was the culprit, it would be best for me to also assume that he already realized as much.

Anyway, in order for me to make sure of things without him realizing it, it was necessary for me to choose a time when no one was around. The student council had been shut down for a while thanks to President Nagumo’s circumstances, so while opportunities for me to sneak a peek at Yagami-kun taking meeting minutes were limited, I also didn’t have to bother with clearing people out of the room. That had already been done for me, and I figured that my chance had come with the arrival of the Cultural Festival.

I had told Chabashira-sensei that I had most likely forgotten my notebook in the student council office this morning, and she gave me permission to go to the faculty office during my break to get the key and pick it up. Even if someone were to see me entering the student council office, I had a just cause for being there. After quickly changing out of the maid outfit and into my school uniform, I strode over to the faculty office, alone.

“About fifty minutes left…” I muttered to myself.

As I walked to the student council office, I looked up at the clock in the hallway and exhaled. At any rate, today had certainly been busy. It wasn’t over quite yet, but I was finished with my role. Right now, I needed to take my hour-long break, but as soon as my break was over, the Cultural Festival would be over too. I had really been busy ever since I put on my maid outfit in the morning, and I worked without stopping since then. Now, dressed in my regular uniform, I walked up to the student council office and quietly inserted the key into the lock on the door.

Everyone was busy with the Cultural Festival, so no one was in the student council office. It wouldn’t be difficult for me to review the meeting minutes again and to take pictures with my phone. Or that’s what I had thought, anyway.

Just then, my phone started vibrating in my pocket, and I realized I was receiving a call. My heart practically jumped out of my chest when I saw the caller ID: Yagami Takuya.

Why am I getting a call from him now…?

Even though I felt like this was a terrifying coincidence, I answered the call anyway.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Horikita-senpai.”

I was expecting to hear Yagami-kun’s voice from over the phone, but the voice I heard also came from just a short distance away. He was right here. The very last person I wanted to see right now was facing me, waving to me with a smile on his face. I felt chills all throughout my body, as if someone had dumped ice cold water directly onto my heart.

“Did I startle you?” He hung up his phone and took a step toward me.

“Why are you here, Yagami-kun?”

“Why am I here…?” he repeated. “That’s what you’re asking? Are you not bothered by the fact I called you when I was standing nearby?”

I was so focused on other things that I completely forgot to point that out. It was as if Yagami-kun was trying to determine just how upset and panicked I was.

“By the way, why are you here, senpai? This is such a deserted place,” Yagami-kun asked. “Isn’t this the time to be making the final push for the Cultural Festival, as the event enters its climax?”

“I’m on my break now, so my role in the Cultural Festival is over,” I responded. “I just wanted to be alone for a little while.”

“You took your break starting at three in the afternoon? That’s a rather unusual choice, isn’t it?”

Was it that unusual? I didn’t have any criteria to make a judgment like that because I had never experienced a festival like this before. However, since the rules stated that all participants were required to take an hour-long break, there must have been at least a certain percentage of students who chose to take their break starting at three like I did. But as soon as my train of thought led me to that answer, I fell silent for a few seconds. Then, I realized something.

What Yagami-kun had just said, about it being unusual, was neither the truth nor a lie. It was nothing more than a statement that he made to try to find out whether I simply chose three o’clock as my break time unintentionally, or if I had chosen this time with a specific purpose in mind.

The fact was, I wasn’t able to answer him immediately because what he was doing was rattling me. No matter how I responded to him now, I might have already fallen into his trap. Since I was already late in commenting on what he said, I had the option of ignoring it and moving on. I had no other choice but to just let his off-putting choice of words slide off me for the time being.

“Why are you here, Yagami-kun?” I asked.

“I saw you with this rather grim look on your face, Horikita-senpai,” he said. “I got curious, so I followed you.”

“From when? Whatever your reason, following a girl around isn’t very admirable behavior.”

“Well, I tried to call out to you, but I suppose you didn’t hear me over all of the hustle and bustle.”

It was certainly true that I had been lost in thought as I was walking here, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t have noticed if he had called out to me. I couldn’t help but feel that he was trying to fluster me, like before. But maybe there was some kind of real meaning to this sequence of events. Besides, he could have called out to me any number of times before I had gotten here. Or perhaps he hadn’t been following me at all, but rather had been waiting in this area from the beginning…?

All of that was based on the assumption that Yagami-kun was indeed the person I had been trying to track down—the person with the neat handwriting. If he had nothing to do with that after all, then I supposed I was being suspicious of him enough to the point where I would need to earnestly and profusely apologize to him later.

“Is it okay for you to be away from the festival?” I asked.

“I’m in the same position as you,” he said. “I’ve finished what I needed to do; my role is finished. It’s not my ‘break,’ technically, but more like free time, I suppose. There is no rule that states that you cannot be on break for more than an hour.”

So it was really a simple coincidence after all, then? No, I shouldn’t operate on that assumption now. If I found out later that this was all a coincidence, then it wouldn’t be a problem. But if it wasn’t actually a coincidence, and I assumed it was, I’d be in trouble.

“Do you have business in the student council office? I believe it’s locked, and I don’t think anyone is in either,” he added, looking over at the door, almost as though he anticipated what was going on.

“I’m looking for something,” I replied. “I borrowed the key from the faculty office, so there isn’t any problem.”

“You’re looking for something, hm? In that case, I’ll give you a hand.”

Feelings of calmness and impatience were fighting with one another in my mind, competing for dominance. I couldn’t make a clear judgment as to whether his statement was made simply out of good intentions or if there was some malicious intent behind it.

“It’s not something I really need help with though,” I told him.

“But it’s something important enough that you’d go through the trouble of searching for it while the Cultural Festival is going on, isn’t it?” he asked.

With that remark, it was like he had stripped my thoughts bare and could see right through me. There wasn’t any point in wasting any more time standing here. I figured I’d just go ahead and tell Yagami-kun the same lie that I told the teachers.

“It’s my notebook,” I said. “I bought it a little while ago, but I can’t find it anywhere. I worry that someone might have picked it up and read it, which isn’t good for my mental health. I was about to give up on finding it, but it was still bothering me. The student council office is pretty much the only place I haven’t looked.”

“In that case, I’ll help you search. I’m sure that things will be hectic once the festival is over. And besides, simply put, it would be twice as efficient to search with two people rather than one.”

“Y-yes, you’re right,” I replied.

I slowly unlocked the door and opened it. Yagami-kun was standing directly next to me. I took a step ahead of him, moving to enter the room, but I suddenly stopped.

“Horikita-senpai?”

“Do we really need two people to search for a missing item in the student council office?” I asked. “Or is there something else you’re after?”

“Huh…?”

Under these circumstances, I made the deliberate choice to fight back.

“I refused your offer to help before because honestly, I felt a little scared,” I said.

“You’re scared of me…? Why?”

“You don’t know?”

“Nothing comes to mind…” he said.

“There’s no one in the student council room right now. You said that you called out to me, but I didn’t notice you. From what you said, you followed me here, and now we’d be all alone, just the two of us. Do you know what that means for a girl?”

I was attacking him not from my personal position as Horikita Suzune, but instead, I was using the angle of gender differences in society. Regardless of whether his intentions were good or bad, this would surely get him to go away.

“I-I see. I’m sorry, I hadn’t considered that at all… I see…”

And with that, he wouldn’t be able to thoughtlessly come into the student council office. He would have no other choice but to wait outside in the hall. If he did come into the office now, then it would be considered creepy.

“I’m terribly sorry. I acted incorrectly.” Yagami-kun bowed deeply. “However, might I ask you just one more thing, at the risk of sounding rude?”

“What is it?”

He still had his head down. I wondered what he was going to say to me now, at this stage.

He began talking, lifting his face up. “Horikita-senpai, is your real intention in coming to the student council office—”

In that same instant, he suddenly collapsed right in front of my eyes, as though his upper body suddenly broke and bent. A second later, I realized that someone else was responsible for that.

“Caught you!”

That voice belonged to none other than Ibuki-san, still dressed in her Japanese-style outfit.

“W-wait, what are you doing, Ibuki-san?!” I gasped.

“Don’t just stand around like an idiot!” she hissed. “Quick, let us in, Horikita! It’ll be bad news if someone sees!”

It certainly would be a big problem if we were seen, because what she was doing would appear to be an obvious act of violence to anyone. I opened the door to the student council office and Ibuki-san forcefully pushed Yagami-kun inside.

The first person to speak was, of course, Yagami-kun, the victim in this.

“Wh-what are you doing…?” he asked.

I could see Ibuki-san standing behind Yagami-kun. By detaining him, she was making a mess of the situation.

“Well, well, you’ve been saved again thanks to my handiwork, eh, Horikita?” she said.

“You saved me? He wasn’t doing anything, though…”

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to pay close attention to this guy. And besides, he was hounding you. Anyone would think that there was something going on.”

She blurted out all sorts of things that didn’t need to be said all at once. Her single-minded behavior rendered the entire conversation I had with Yagami-kun up until that point totally useless. Seriously, her declaring that outright in front of the person I had told her to be wary of was complete and utter nonsense.

“Um, excuse me, but why are you paying close attention to me, exactly?” asked Yagami-kun. It was an entirely natural question to ask as he remained in Ibuki-san’s grasp, unable to move.

Now that things had come to this, I figured that I had no other choice but to just tell him everything.

“…I apologize for Ibuki-san assaulting you like this,” I said. “However, there has been something bothering me about you. I wonder if you remember when you showed me your meeting minutes the other day.”

“You’re referring to the remarks that Student Council President made, yes?” he replied.

“Yes. I wanted to see what you wrote back then one more time.”

“What I wrote? I don’t quite understand, but are you saying that what you’re really looking for is the meeting minutes notebook?” Yagami-kun looked puzzled, but he continued speaking. “You say that you wanted to see what I wrote, but what’s your true purpose in doing so?”

Though I was still wondering what Yagami-kun was about to say before Ibuki-san appeared, I continued my own explanation. I told him how a piece of paper had been slipped inside my tent during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, and about how I was trying to find out who the sender of that note was.

Yagami-kun, still restrained, listened silently for a while. “And that’s because my handwriting, which you saw in the meeting minutes, is similar to the handwriting on that note, then? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“If what you say is true, then I can certainly understand your wariness of me,” he said. “And I suppose that, yes, it might have been best that you elected to come here now, at this time of day, if you were trying to secretly confirm your suspicions.”

In the days leading up to the festival, everyone had been busily preparing for it, so people were constantly coming and going on Saturdays and Sundays. Students were constantly walking all over campus looking for stall locations, so I couldn’t come to the student council office to confirm my suspicions then.

“However, I’m not the one who sent you that letter,” stated Yagami-kun. He denied it categorically. Part of me wanted to believe him…but I noticed that in his response, when he was unable to come out and admit that it was him, he started speaking a little more emphatically. “Do you have any reason to doubt me, perchance?” he asked.

“No, I’m afraid I don’t have any grounds for doubting you,” I said. “But I suppose it’s not like I’d expect you’d honestly admit to it either.”

“Would you mind letting me take a look at the piece of paper in question?” he asked. “That way, we could compare the writing on the paper to my meeting minutes, and I should be able to prove my innocence.”

“I’m afraid that it’s impossible, unfortunately. There was a little incident, and I ended up losing the paper.”

It had actually been torn to shreds by Amasawa-san, whom Ibuki-san and I fought with on the island.

“Well, that’s certainly a pickle,” said Yagami-kun. “Does that mean that there’s no way I can prove my innocence?”

“That’s why I wanted to double-check the meeting minutes,” I told him.

“But when you say that, you’d still just be seeing if it’s consistent with what you picture in your memory, right? If anything, I’d say that you suspect me rather strongly right now, Horikita-senpai. That being the case, I would think that there’s a not insignificant possibility of you misremembering it to better suit your case and deem me the culprit. This is clearly a very disadvantageous situation for me.”

“…You might be right about that, yes,” I admitted.

I didn’t want Yagami-kun to be the one, but I had to admit that my desire to identify a culprit was very strong. I could understand why he’d be concerned about what was going to happen next.

“While it is upsetting and regrettable that you suspect me, could I at least ask that you let go of my arm for now?” he said. “In any case, I can’t imagine that you two carrying on in this position would be a very welcome development. How would you excuse your behavior if Student Council President Nagumo saw this situation?”

As it stood, we were restraining a first-year boy for no reason. It was certainly true that this wouldn’t look good for us at all. It would’ve been a different matter had he assaulted me or something, but he truly hadn’t done anything here.

“Ibuki-san, let go of his arm,” I ordered.

Even so, her expression remained stern as she kept a firm grip on him. She didn’t show any signs of relaxing her hold.

“Sorry, but I’m not gonna do that,” she replied.

“Why not?” asked Yagami-kun.

“Because my intuition’s telling me that harmless-looking guys like you are actually more dangerous.”

That was something she had learned from dealing with Ayanokouji-kun in the past, but it was clear from Ibuki-san’s behavior that her issue here wasn’t simply a matter of Yagami-kun’s physical appearance.

“Do you have some basis for thinking so?” he asked.

“I mean, yeah, at just a glance, most people will think you look like a thin, gangly little guy. There’s just this whole crazy vibe coming off of you, though. You’re not just some scrawny punk who does nothing but study all the time, are you?”

I wondered if that was something that wasn’t conveyed visually, and instead something that Ibuki-san could sense because she was touching him directly. There was that part about the high possibility that the person we were looking for was very skilled. If Yagami-kun really was a talented fighter, that would naturally make him even more of a suspect.

“Your handwriting is exceptionally similar to the writing on the message I received, Yagami-kun,” I said. “In addition to that, there are your hidden physical abilities. And on top of that, there’s the fact that you suddenly appeared here and now.”

“It’s true that I’m not averse to working out. I do have some degree of confidence in my physicality, but…” He sighed in exasperation and then raised his gaze slightly, looking over at me. “I’m getting a little angry over here, you know? This situation is far too one-sided.”

I wouldn’t have been shocked if Yagami-kun did possess a high level of physical ability as Ibuki-san had surmised. His OAA score was originally C, which was average. It was possible that he wasn’t a fast runner, and he wasn’t good at sports, but he could still be skilled in martial arts.

So—was he innocent? Or was he guilty?

Just then, as I was being pressed to make a decision, the silence was broken in an unexpected manner. The door to the student council room opened without warning.

“Oh, hey… Now this is a pretty unusual situation.”

President Nagumo entered the room that were all in, the student council room that should have been empty. Yagami-kun was the only one who didn’t react when he showed up. Ibuki-san and I, however, were both terribly shocked, as we were doing something that made us look and feel rather guilty.

“Student Council President…why are you here…?” I stammered.

“I think the more important question is: What’s going on here?” he said. He was mainly referring to the fact that Ibuki-san was restraining Yagami-kun, obviously. “If you two are bullying a younger student, you’re going to have a big problem on your hands.”

Ibuki-san obviously couldn’t keep holding the first-year in place after hearing that, so she quickly released him and pulled both of her arms back.

“Thank you. You saved me, President Nagumo,” said Yagami-kun. He appeared completely relaxed as he rubbed his arm where Ibuki-san had been gripping him.

What’s with this calm demeanor? It was almost as though he had expected the president to come…

“Okay, so, let’s hear what you’re doing here—and without permission, I might add,” said President Nagumo.

If I told him that I lost my notebook, Yagami-kun might point out that it was a lie. On the other hand, if I brought up the story about the meeting minutes, that would mean telling President Nagumo about what was going on.

“Horikita-senpai lost her notebook,” Yagami said, speaking up for me. “So, I thought I’d offer to help her search. However, Ibuki-senpai seemed to have misread the situation and thought that I was attacking Horikita-senpai, so she intervened with the intention of righting a wrong.”

Instead of trying to drive me into a corner, Yagami-kun supported my lie.

“I see. So that’s why she was holding you in a lock like that, huh?” said President Nagumo.

“I believe that we’ve cleared up any misunderstanding here,” Yagami-kun added, “and I don’t really intend on making an issue of this.”

“Okay then. In that case, there’s no need for us to talk about it any further,” President Nagumo said. “So, did ya find the notebook?”

“No, I couldn’t find it.” If Yagami-kun was willing to go along with my narrative, then I was going to gratefully play along. “This was my last lead, too… It’s possible that it was mistaken for trash and thrown away. I think I have to give up on it.”

Although he asked, President Nagumo probably didn’t actually care about the whereabouts of my notebook. The student council president looked away, disinterested, and then sat down in his usual seat.

“Whatever the reason, this isn’t the sort of thing to be doing when we’re in the middle of the Cultural Festival,” he said. “Head on back immediately.”

There was no point persisting in my quest for the meeting minutes now, so I didn’t have any other choice but to quietly back off for the time being. That’s what I was thinking, anyway, but just as I was about to leave the room together with Ibuki-san…

“How did you know that we were here, anyway, President Nagumo?” asked Yagami-kun as he stood beside Ibuki-san and me.

“Does that bother you?” asked President Nagumo.

“It’s just that the door to the student council office was supposed to be locked. However, you came into the office without delay, so I was just a little curious.”

It certainly was unnatural. I didn’t know if the president had a spare key, but even if he did, he should have tried unlocking the door first before opening it. It was understandable that Yagami-kun would be suspicious when President Nagumo just walked naturally into the room. It was almost as though President Nagumo had known there was someone inside from the very beginning…

Were President Nagumo and Yagami-kun planning on meeting here? If so, it would make sense that Yagami-kun predicted the president would come. But…the conversation they were having right now seemed to suggest otherwise.

“I’d be more than happy to tell you, but actually, there’s a little something I wanna ask you first, Yagami,” said President Nagumo.

“Me?” he replied.

“You remember what we talked about in the student council office the other day, right? About those rumors that I put up a lot of money to get some students expelled?”

“Of course I do. I have been looking into the matter, but I haven’t been able to ascertain the origin of the rumor.”

They suddenly brought up the topic that we discussed the other day, but I wasn’t able to keep up.

“You know the truth, though, don’t you?” President Nagumo said. “About where that talk came from.”

“…What are you saying?” asked Yagami-kun hesitantly.

President Nagumo lightly kicked the underside of his desk in irritation. “I’m saying that maybe you’re the one who started those rumors.”

“Please hold on a moment,” Yagami-kun protested. “What in the world are you talking about all of a sudden? Why would I do something like that?”

Ibuki-san and I suspected Yagami-kun of something, and now he was under suspicion by President Nagumo too. And it was regarding a completely different matter than the one we were focused on.

“Like hell you don’t know. There was a special exam offered to first-year students where they were asked to get a certain student expelled in exchange for a big prize. And you were one of the few who participated.”

Yagami-kun’s expression darkened ever so slightly. It now contained traces of irritation, just like President Nagumo’s. “What do you mean, President Nagumo? What on earth are you talking about?”

“I denied it at the student council meeting, but the rumors are based on some degree of truth,” admitted President Nagumo.

“Wait,” I cut in. “Does that mean you really…?”

“I didn’t technically break any rules, you know. It was just school policy. I was in charge of helping maintain fairness as student council president, alongside Acting Director Tsukishiro.” President Nagumo turned back to Yagami-kun. “Isn’t that right, Yagami?”

There certainly had been some vicious special exams held at this school, but I had never imagined that there was one like that.

“I thought it was decided that we wouldn’t talk about that special exam and would refrain from mentioning it to anyone not involved?” said Yagami-kun.

“You’re the one who broke that rule first,” said President Nagumo.

“It wasn’t me. There’s no benefit for me in causing trouble for you, President Nagumo. Besides, weren’t there several other first-year students who received the same explanation I did?”

“Well, yeah, sure. But you showed up here. It makes me want to suspect you.”

“But it’s simply a coincidence,” Yagami-kun insisted.

President Nagumo was facing Yagami-kun, but his eyes shifted over to Ibuki-san and me. “You two head on back. I’m going to be talking to Yagami for a while.”

“I wasn’t aware of this matter before, but I would like to ask for your permission to speak,” I said.

“What do you intend to say, Horikita-senpai?” asked Yagami-kun, trying to keep me in check with a look. Hey, you covered for me just minutes ago, I thought to myself . I’m going to ignore that kind of pressure from you, thank you very much .

“Out with it,” said President Nagumo.

“I don’t know if Yagami-kun was the one who started the rumors about that special exam, but I can’t imagine that it was a coincidence that he showed up here,” I said. “Yagami-kun was following me. Or rather, I have a strong feeling that he’s been waiting around the student council office and watching from the very beginning.”

“You hear what Suzune said?” said President Nagumo, turning back to Yagami-kun.

Now that he was being hit from both sides, Yagami-kun’s expression hardened. But then, he let out an exasperated sigh.

“…I see,” he began. “I understand very clearly. So, you two have been working together from the beginning. You had already decided to join forces and back me into a corner when you had me hand over that thing before that was disguised to look like a love letter. Didn’t you?”

“Wait… disguised to look like a love letter?” I asked.

“You mean this?” asked President Nagumo, taking something out from his pocket. It certainly was the love letter that I’d been given by Ichihashi.

Actually, wait, hold on—what did he mean by disguised to look like a love letter?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s just a simple love letter from an unknown sender. They wrote their feelings for me on it,” answered President Nagumo.

“No, that’s not true,” argued Yagami-kun. “It certainly looks like a love letter at first glance, but it has ‘Cultural Festival, 3 p.m., Student Council Office,’ written on it. Also, other words, such as important , expulsion , and secret can be found throughout. Or am I wrong?”

President Nagumo opened the once-sealed letter and was now looking it over. “Where’s all that written? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He then proceeded to hand the love letter…I mean the letter…over to me.

“Thank you,” I replied, taking it into my hands.

I took a look at the contents. However, the words Yagami-kun mentioned were nowhere to be found. Ibuki-san was curious too and took a peek, and her reaction was similar to mine. The letter basically read, “ I hope you’ll forgive me for imparting my feelings to you but not giving you my name or anything, but I’ve had a crush on you for a long time. xo xo :3”

“Please stop this farce,” said Yagami-kun. “If you just parse out the anagram, you’ll find the truth.”

“Anagram… What?” asked Ibuki-san.

Ignoring Ibuki-san, who apparently didn’t understand what an anagram even was—was Yagami-kun saying that the letter contained one? An anagram was a hidden message where letters had been rearranged to mean something else. A sort of word game. Even if you read it over several times and tried lots of different combinations, you wouldn’t be able to find the answer right away. It might have been possible to find the answer with time, but it would’ve been impossible to figure it out in just a few short moments.

“You sure are clever, Yagami,” President Nagumo said. “I guess neither Suzune nor I can analyze anagrams in a flash, eh?”

Yagami-kun was becoming increasingly wary of us as our suspicions of him deepened. “Could one of you two have written the message then?” he said. “Or was it written by someone that you both know?”

“Someone in common?” asked President Nagumo. “Who are you talking about?”

“Well…no, I suppose I don’t know who. But please believe me when I say that I followed the anagram, and that’s why I came here.”

If what he was saying was true, then… Well, no, even if it wasn’t true, he was spouting off crazy talk right now.

“I couldn’t care less about whether there’s an anagram in the message or not,” President Nagumo said. “The issue here is how you knew what the letter said. You read it before you handed it to me, didn’t you?”

That was right. There was no other way Yagami-kun could have known its contents.

“It was just by chance,” he said. “When I dropped the letter, the sticker came off and the letter came out. I knew I shouldn’t have taken a look, but I just couldn’t help it.”

“That’s not what I’d consider morally acceptable behavior for a member of the student council,” replied President Nagumo.

I could understand the temptation to take a peek, but normally, you would restrain yourself from doing so. And even more so if it was a letter between people who you had no connection to. Would Yagami-kun really take the risk of checking the contents of such a letter? While it was certainly true that not knowing the sender’s name piqued my curiosity, whether I’d actually go through with reading the contents was another matter.

“You looked at the letter precisely because you’re the sort of person who’s usually up to no good, aren’t you? I had a hunch that I was being set up for some kind of trap,” added President Nagumo.

“Even if I were to say that’s not true, I get the sense that you wouldn’t believe me anyway,” said Yagami-kun.

I felt a strange sense of unease in the repeated back-and-forth they were having right now. There was the world as I saw it, the world as Yagami-kun saw it, and the world as President Nagumo saw it. I couldn’t help but feel like there were slight differences in all three of our perspectives. While we seemed to be on the same wavelength, we actually weren’t. There was a feeling of discomfort here, like when you had something stuck in your back teeth.

It was bad enough that Yagami-kun read the letter without permission. But there was still the matter of spreading that rumor about President Nagumo, as well as the issue of the meeting minutes, and those were still unclear at the moment. Nor could I clearly determine whether Yagami-kun’s appearance outside of the student council office was intentional or coincidental. Nothing was going to come from accusing him any further right here, though…

Yagami-kun looked at me and President Nagumo in turn, and then flashed a small smile.

“Don’t you think it’s about time we sort out the answers here? You all know the truth already, don’t you?” Perhaps Yagami-kun had been working out the situation in his mind, because there was a brief silence. Then he opened his mouth to speak once more. “Horikita-senpai, you saw the meeting minutes, and you associated the writing there with a piece of paper you saw during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam. That made you think that I was the culprit. Then, you gave a letter to Student Council President Nagumo that was disguised to look like a love letter to secretly deliver a message to him.”

For some reason, Yagami-kun brought up the note and meeting minutes himself, although they hadn’t been mentioned up until this point.

“Why would we have needed to go through all of that hassle?” answered President Nagumo. “A phone call or text message would’ve been faster.”

“Wasn’t that so you wouldn’t leave any traces that suggested you suspected me?” Yagami-kun suggested. “With a message disguised to look like a love letter, you could talk yourselves out of the situation any number of ways. And furthermore, I was willing to review the meeting minutes of the day in question together with Horikita-senpai. That was to determine whether I was the person that Horikita-senpai was searching for.”

“Wait a moment. The island? Meeting minutes? The person Suzune is searching for? What are you talking about?”

“Are you still intending to keep up this act, President Nagumo? I already know that both you and Horikita-senpai are acting under instructions given to you by a certain someone. Ayanokouji-senpai is the one giving all the orders, isn’t he? He’s the one who made the anagram in this letter. You’re a bad person, aren’t you? You didn’t even need to show Horikita-senpai the meeting minutes—you already knew the answer, didn’t you?” pressed Yagami-kun.

“Why are you bringing up Ayanokouji-kun…?” I asked.

“He’s really doing things in such a roundabout way, isn’t he?” Yagami-kun continued. “I figured he strongly disliked being in the public eye, but I never imagined that he would’ve made contact with me like this…”

He chuckled in amusement. Yagami-kun was clearly acting differently than he was before.

“So, what happens now? Am I finally going to come face-to-face with Ayanokouji-senpai?” He looked through the doorway excitedly, like a child who was just presented with a box full of toys as a gift. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Could you please tell me what you’ve heard about me before he arrives? I’d especially love to hear it coming from your own mouth, Horikita-senpai.”

“Wait, hold on,” I said. “I really don’t understand what you’re talking about. Yes, I suspected that you were the one who came to my tent and slipped that paper in there, but Ibuki-san is the only one I’ve talked to about it.”

Even though I was telling the truth, Yagami-kun didn’t look like he believed me.

“Explain this to me in a way that I can understand, Yagami,” President Nagumo said.

“Hmph. I’m really getting tired of this, President Nagumo. You were planning to meet up with Ayanokouji-senpai here, along with Horikita-senpai. That letter arranged it. And, you were going to talk with me. I’m sure that he must have felt it would’ve been dangerous to meet me alone. Yes, that was a wise decision on his part…”

“Sorry to interrupt you when you’re getting all carried away there by yourself, Yagami, but let me tell you why I’m here at the student council office,” began President Nagumo. He took out his phone and held it so the screen was facing us. I figured that someone was calling him, because a number flashed on the screen.

“Seems like you’ve arrived. Come on in,” said President Nagumo to the person on the other end of the line.

“Ah ha ha!” Yagami-kun let out an uproarious laugh, holding out his arms wide as if to welcome whoever came through the door as it opened slowly. “Ayanokouji-senpai has come after all! I’m so happy!”

“I’m here.” A certain someone appeared in the doorway, and it was someone I absolutely did not expect at all.

But the first person to react to this arrival wasn’t me or President Nagumo, nor was it even Yagami-kun. It was Ibuki-san.

“Huh? Ryuuen ? ” she said. “What’re you doing here?”

Ryuuen-kun wasn’t the only one who had come, actually. Two of his classmates were with him.

“Heh, that outfit looks pretty good on you after all, Ibuki. Don’t ya think so, Kinoshita?” said Komiya-san.

“It really does. She’s kinda tiny and cute,” Kinoshita-san agreed.

“Huh? W-wait, Komiya? And you too, Kinoshita…?” wailed Ibuki-san.

And not only that, but Sakagami-sensei and Mashima-sensei joined us in the student council office shortly after.

“…What is this?” Yagami-kun was the most flabbergasted of any of us and blurted out that he didn’t understand what was going on.

“I came to the student council office today to talk with Ryuuen and these other folks.” President Nagumo turned to Ryuuen-kun. “Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, that was the plan. But it looks like you’re already in the middle o’ something?”

Yagami-kun had a stern look on his face as he looked at the new arrivals, seemingly unable to understand what was happening. Student Council President Nagumo then stood back up and thrust the letter toward Yagami-kun’s chest.

“All this talk about a message disguised to look like a love letter, anagrams, meeting minutes… It’s not adding up, Yagami,” he said.

“But it can’t be…” whispered Yagami-kun, unable to hide his confusion. “What is this supposed to…?”

Ryuuen-kun approached Yagami-kun and pointed at him. “This is the guy you were talkin’ about, right?” he asked Komiya-kun and Kinoshita-san.

The two of them stood behind Ryuuen-kun meekly and nodded emphatically. They both had nervous looks on their faces.

“Yes. Without a doubt,” said Kinoshita-san.

“Yeah, it’s him all right,” agreed Komiya-kun.

Upon hearing this, Ryuuen-kun came even closer to Yagami-kun, wearing his usual thin smile. He was close enough that he would’ve been able to touch Yagami-kun if he simply reached for him.

“Looks like you and me are gonna need to have a nice, long chat,” he snarled.

“What about?” asked Yagami-kun.

Ryuuen-kun chuckled, and suddenly extended his right arm, grabbing hold of Yagami-kun’s bangs and lifting up his head.

“Ryuuen!” Mashima-sensei scolded Ryuuen for his violent actions, but Yagami-kun seemed to show no signs of concern.

“What’s your name again?” asked Ryuuen-kun.

“…It’s Yagami. Yagami Takuya, Ryuuen-senpai.”

Ryuuen-kun lifted Yagami-kun up by his hair, and the first-year’s face twisted in pain. “Yagami, huh. So, I hear you’re the one who took such good care of Komiya and Kinoshita.”

“Huh…? I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Don’t play dumb. Komiya and Kinoshita finally remembered just the other day. They got seriously hurt during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam. They told me that it was alllll because of what you did.”

They were seriously hurt on the island? I knew that they suffered serious injuries, broken or fractured bones, but I thought that was the result of carelessness…

“You surely don’t believe that I did it, do you?” Yagami-kun said. “What in the world is this all about?”

“They forgot what happened because of the shock of their injuries, so they neatly filed it away as an accident,” Ryuuen-kun said. “But eventually, they remembered. They remembered that you were the one who did it.”

Then, as if in response to that statement, President Nagumo spoke up as well, acknowledging Ryuuen-kun’s words. “That was just yesterday that they could finally recall. By the way, the plan was that it was just going to be the four of us meeting today, Ryuuen. You, me, Komiya, and Kinoshita… Why are there teachers here with you?”

“I called them ’cause I figured it’d save us time and hassle,” Ryuuen-kun said. “Sakagami was the one who rushed over when they got hurt.”

“Speaking of Yagami-kun… I’m fairly certain we have our answer, Mashima-sensei.”

Sakagami-sensei must have remembered something, because after saying that, he turned to Mashima-sensei for confirmation.

“Yes. I don’t want to suspect a student, but…I can’t deny that there’s a possibility,” replied Mashima-sensei.

“Wh-what are you saying? I didn’t do anything!” cried Yagami-kun.

It was no wonder that he was in a total panic now. Even I wasn’t able to wrap my head around what was going on here.

“Yagami,” said Mashima-sensei. “We know that the GPS function on your watch wasn’t working at the time that their alerts went off that day. There were several other students whose watches were broken during the special exam, but there were only two people, one being you, who would have been close enough to come into contact with Komiya and Kinoshita from the point where your GPS signal dropped. Of course, at the time, neither Komiya nor Kinoshita, or even Shinohara, could tell us your name. They could only say that someone had hurt them. So, we had no other choice but to mark down what happened as an accident, but—”

“And yet despite the fact that they couldn’t remember before, now they both suddenly mention my name, at the same time?” Yagami-kun protested, cutting Mashima-sensei off. “That’s impossible! They must have discussed the matter in secret ahead of time to get their stories straight and chosen my name!”

“Gotten their stories straight?” repeated Ryuuen-kun. “The fact that your watch was broken wasn’t something an average student would know, though.”

There were more than four hundred students on the uninhabited island during that exam. Only two of them were wearing watches with broken GPS functions at the time that Komiya-kun and Kinoshita-san were injured. The odds of all that happening on its own were far too low to call it mere coincidence, for sure.

“They remembered seeing the culprit. What’s your basis for doubting that , huh, Yagami? Tell me,” hissed Ryuuen-kun. He tightened his grip on Yagami-kun’s hair and pulled once more.

“Gr…! Th-that’s—”

“I bet you’re thinkin’ somethin’ like ‘There’s no way anyone would have seen me. I should have done it perfectly.’ Right?”

“P-please wait just a moment,” Yagami-kun insisted. “I haven’t done anything. Do you really think I would be capable of such a dangerous thing?”

Yagami-kun certainly didn’t have a large build by any means. To the casual observer, the idea he could cause that much harm might seem strange. However, Ryuuen-kun didn’t seem to trust what Yagami-kun was saying at all.

“I’ve learned from past experience that it’s harmless-lookin’ guys like you who are the most dangerous,” Ryuuen-kun said. “Ain’t that right, Ibuki?”

“No doubt about it, this guy is tough,” Ibuki-san agreed. “He could have seriously hurt Komiya and Kinoshita before they knew what was going on.”

“Normally, I would’ve wanted you to suffer a bit, for you to get roughed up at least as bad as my guys, in retaliation. But unfortunately, we’ve got the teachers here, so I’ll cut you a li’l break. Because the fact is, all that’s waitin’ for you now is expulsion.”

If these allegations were true, and it was proven that Yagami-kun had caused Komiya-kun and Kinoshita-san serious harm, then it was unlikely that he’d only receive a suspension. Expulsion was inevitable here, even when taking extenuating circumstances into account.

Ryuuen-kun let go of Yagami-kun’s hair, and the first-year looked down at the ground.

“Anyway, why are you here, Suzune?” asked Ryuuen-kun.

“I… I was also investigating something about Yagami-kun,” I replied.

“Eh? What about?”

Now that we had reached this point, I had no other choice but to tell everyone everything. I explained to them what happened on the uninhabited island, and about how I had been searching for a student with exceptionally neat handwriting. I told them that I came here today because I wanted to double-check the meeting minutes, since Yagami-kun’s handwriting looked so similar to what I had seen on the note.

I pulled out the meeting minutes notebook and opened it to one of the pages Yagami-kun had written. “Yagami-kun’s handwriting and the handwriting on that note are almost identical. It matches what I remember.”

“We’d like to hear an explanation for all this, Yagami.” President Nagumo looked at Yagami-kun for answers, even though he himself wasn’t fully aware of everything that had been going on either.

The only thing that was certain right now was that something completely unfathomably strange was going on. Everyone gathered here had a connection to Yagami-kun, but there wasn’t a definitive tie linking everyone. There wasn’t anyone here who seemed to hold the all-too-important key to tie this together.

But could…something like that even be possible?

Supposing this all started with that love letter…

Did that mean that someone had calculated that I would end up entrusting it to Yagami-kun, and that he would take a peek inside? Then, Yagami-kun would solve the anagram and come to this place, as if he was drawn in… But that certain someone couldn’t have known that I had my own suspicions after I saw Yagami-kun’s meeting minutes.

No, wait…perhaps that didn’t have anything to do with this. I was an outsider here, and so was Ibuki-san. Even if the two of us hadn’t been here, this sequence of events still would have played out. Yagami-kun would have come to the student council office because he would’ve been drawn in by the letter, and he would have been questioned by President Nagumo.

But would something like that even be possible? And even if it was possible, who? When? Where? No, hold on. Asking myself these kinds of questions might be wrong in and of itself. Even if Ayanokouji-kun was behind what was happening here…I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Ryuuen-kun, Komiya-kun, and Kinoshita-san had also shown up, rather unnaturally. Then, there were the teachers. Yagami-kun was slippery and good at talking his way out of things. This was done carefully, to surround him from all sides.

Perhaps Ryuuen-kun had the same feeling that I did. He let out a small chuckle. “ Ku ku , can’t help but be surprised by this whole thing myself, actually. Looks like you got a little too close when you played with fire.”

“Why…? Why? Why would such a stupid…” huffed Yagami-kun.

“I’ve got no clue what your deal is and I don’t care, but you’ve been caught in a web, man,” said Ryuuen-kun.

“I… I still haven’t fought him, and yet… No, this is happening before I even got to that point? Is this where things are going to end? This is ridiculous—it can’t end like this!!!” His entire body was trembling now, and Yagami-kun’s voice sounded nothing like before. “Are you saying that…you don’t even need to face me directly? Is that it? Ha ha…ha… Ha…ha! You’ve got to be kidding me! You have GOT to be kidding me!!!”

“Shut the hell up,” hissed Ryuuen-kun in exasperation, plugging his right ear with his pinky finger. “Don’t cry like a little baby when you’re standin’ right next to me.”

Perhaps he hadn’t heard what Ryuuen-kun said, because Yagami-kun wasn’t calming down at all.

“It’s fine,” Yagami-kun continued. “I just have to do it now. I just have to kill him with my bare hands right now! If I do that, then I can go back to where I belong! I’ll drag him back there with me!!!”

There were two faculty members present, but Yagami-kun was acting like it was of no concern to him at all. He had completely changed—he was now seething with anger. Just as Yagami-kun was about to move in on Ryuuen-kun, Ibuki-san attempted to land a jump kick on Yagami-kun from behind. Without even turning around to look, Yagami-kun dodged her attack and drove his elbow into her abdomen.

“Ack!”

One single hit. It was just one blow, but Ibuki-san collapsed into a heap on the spot, unable to stand back up.

“Stop, Yagami!!!” shouted Mashima.

But as the teachers were about to rush over to put a stop to this, Ryuuen-kun stopped them instead.

“Step back. He’s really tryin’ to throw down right now. In that case, we’re gonna have to take him on, y’know?” Ryuuen-kun clenched his fist tight, not caring at all that we were still in the student council office.

“There’s no way someone like you can stop me,” said Yagami-kun. “You know that, right? I won’t show any mercy to anyone who stands in my way right now, and I don’t care if it’s a girl or a teacher either. If you don’t want to see anyone get hurt the way Komiya and Kinoshita were, shut up and back off.”

“ Ku ku . So that’s what you’re really like. Now ain’t that interestin’.” Without hesitation, Ryuuen-kun took a step forward and spread his arms out wide, as if trying to provoke him. “I’ll gladly stand in your way, so come at me.”

“You’re just a worthless punk…” hissed Yagami-kun.

Just like with Ayanokouji-kun and Amasawa-san, the feeling that emanated from Yagami-kun’s small frame wasn’t that of an ordinary student. Even though Ryuuen-kun was willing to step in, I couldn’t possibly imagine that he could stop Yagami-kun. But even so, we had to do something to try. The first-year was filled with the urge to destroy everything in his path, without regard to the other students present.

If we let him go right now, there was no guarantee that anyone would be able to quell his rampage. And his target was none other than Ayanokouji-kun. If something were to happen here, right when we were in the middle of the Cultural Festival, there was no way the people involved would get off with just a warning.

“Stop this, Yagami,” said Mashima-sensei. “You too, Ryuuen. There will be serious penalties if you start a fight here.”

“My expulsion is 100 percent inevitable anyway. In that case, there’s no reason for me to stop, is there, Mashima?” spat Yagami-kun, purposefully omitting “-sensei.”

Even so, Mashima-sensei stepped in between Yagami-kun and Ryuuen-kun, acting as a teacher.

“Get out of my sight,” Yagami-kun snarled.

There was an overwhelming difference in their builds, but that didn’t faze Yagami-kun one bit. Mashima-sensei keeled over with one kick from Yagami-kun, and after he fell to his knees, the first-year slammed his fist into the teacher’s face. Sakagami-sensei witnessed this all happen from up close and backed away, terrified.

Ryuuen-kun was elated now that an actual fight had started, but just when he was about to pounce on Yagami-kun—

“Just stop already, Takuya.”

The door to the student council office opened again, and there stood Amasawa-san, her eyes red and swollen.

Even though it seemed like no one’s words could reach him, Yagami-kun stopped moving at that. “Huh? Why are you…? When did you get here…?”

“What do you think’s going to happen next if you cause more chaos?” Amasawa-san asked him. “Do you think that you’ll get their approval? Do you think that they’ll accept you? It’s… It’s already over.”

“It’s not over!” he yelled back. “The instructors are waiting! I… I’m going to become the best!!!”

Instructors? Who is he talking about? At the very least, I could guess that he wasn’t referring to any teachers at this school.

“I was only trying to make him give up on the Cultural Festival today in a funny way, by exposing…” started Yagami-kun. “Well, he went and did something crazy instead…”

“So, that’s what you were planning after all, Takuya…” said Amasawa-san.

“Move,” Yagami-kun demanded. “I’ll make Ayanokouji regret this. I’ll make it so hilarious that he won’t even know what to do!!!”

“If you’re going to insist on getting to Ayanokouji-senpai no matter what, then I’ll stop you before you get to him,” Amasawa-san told him.

“You? You’ve never beaten me before, not even once. Don’t make me laugh.”

“Maybe I can’t beat you by force,” she said. “But…I’ll just have to try.”

“Pft,” Yagami-kun scoffed. “I knew you were devoted to Ayanokouji, but I didn’t realize it was to such a stupid degree.”

“I just realized something,” Amasawa-san said. “There’s a proverb that goes, ‘The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean.’ This is just like the saying.”

“In that case, just die already,” he retorted. “There’s no point in you being alive any longer.”

However, just as Amasawa-san readied herself for a fight, the footsteps of multiple people could be heard in the hallway. Five adults strode into the student council office, blank expressions on their faces. I didn’t recognize all of them, but I did notice that two of the five were guests of the Cultural Festival who came to our maid café earlier.

Despite being completely out of control just moments prior, Yagami-kun suddenly started shivering. “Wh-why are you here…? Why…?” he sputtered.

“We received a call to come and pick you up at the student council office,” one of the newcomers said. “Even though things are a little different than we had planned.”

Yagami-kun was on a total killing spree just minutes ago, but now, before we even realized what was happening, he shriveled back like a child. To me, it looked like someone terrified of being found and chastised by his parents. Surrounded by the adults, Yagami-kun was taken away without resistance. Amasawa-san walked with them, as though she were accompanying them.

As they left, Mashima-sensei stood back up, bearing the pain he was in.

“You people,” he began, looking to them for confirmation. “You’re…”

“We are people with a connection to Yagami and Amasawa,” said one of them. “We will settle matters here, so please, go ahead and seek medical attention for your injuries. Also, please do not tell anyone—not other teachers, not students—about what transpired here. Rest assured that we will discuss everything with Chairman Sakayanagi.”

“…I understand,” replied Mashima-sensei.

With Sakagami-sensei’s help, Mashima-sensei left the student council office. The room, which had seen such chaos, was suddenly enveloped in silence.

“Talk about a letdown,” Ryuuen-kun sighed. “Just when it was gettin’ fun too. Get up, Ibuki. We’re leavin’.”

“Ugh… Give me a hand, at least,” she huffed.

Ibuki-san still couldn’t stand up on her own. Ryuuen-kun gestured with his chin to Komiya-kun, instructing him to help Ibuki-san up, and they all left the room.

Finally, it was just President Nagumo and me alone in the student council office.

“Well, there we have it,” said President Nagumo. “A lot of things went totally sideways there, but I guess the issue’s been settled for the time being.”

“How much did you know about what happened today?” I asked him. “Ayanokouji-kun was involved, wasn’t he?”

“What are you talking about? I already told you earlier that I only came to the office because I was supposed to talk to Ryuuen.”

“But if that was true, it wouldn’t have been necessary for you to bring that letter.”

The love letter sat crumpled on the floor.

“To echo what Yagami said earlier, it was just a coincidence. It just so happened to be in my pocket still.”

That was an obvious lie. This was essentially President Nagumo’s way of telling me that there was nothing further to say on the matter—an order from him as student council president.

“And this crazy Cultural Festival is over too,” he added. “Leave now.”

“…All right.”

Four o’clock would come soon, and the Cultural Festival, which triggered this completely unexpected event, was going to officially be over.