Nee-chan couldn't come that night because she had an appointment to have dinner together in one of her friends' room. That night, Teiichi and I spent time together watching a movie. Teiichi is a person who likes to wake up early so he said his farewell before the night got too late. After that, I spent some time alone contemplating what happened that day, even when I went to school I couldn't stop thinking about it either.
Regarding that incident, I suspect someone. Of course, I have no proof but I don't think anyone could be more suspicious. Before class started, I decided to text someone to meet me on the rooftop for lunch. The person in question did not answer but I was sure they would meet me.
Lunchtime arrived and I headed straight for the roof. I sat leaning against the handrail while eating the simple lunch I had prepared this morning. This place is perfect for people who want to be alone. After a few minutes, I saw the roof door open and a girl appeared behind it. The girl walked to me in a relaxed manner without any burden at all. She also brought a lunch box just like me.
"I hope you didn't wait too long," Kasai said while sitting beside me. "Oh, you also brought lunch? What a coincidence. You made it yourself?"
"Yes," I answered briefly.
"I didn't know you could cook."
"Not really. I just followed the recipe on the internet."
Kasai opened her lunch box. Her menu looks a bit fancier than mine, maybe she's good at cooking? Because I don't remember anything like that being sold at the convenience store. The lunch seemed to taste pretty good because Kasai seemed to be enjoying it.
"We look like a couple on a date," Kasai muttered.
Boy and girl eating together on the roof of the school. There's nobody here but us. If someone came to the roof and saw us, they would surely think we were dating. Me...dating Kasai? To be honest, I cringe a little at the thought. Kasai was far from my type, in fact, she scares me a little.
"So, what do you want with me?" she asked.
"I'll get straight to the point," I said. "I have a friend in the student council. He told me that currently several second and third-year students are carrying out some kind of scam. Did you know about that?"
"Yeah, I know..."
"Okay, that makes things easier. In short, the student council suspects the involvement of the first-year students..."
"I see, well they're right about that..."
"So they started investigating...huh? What did you say?"
"I said...they're right. Those people were indeed assisted by a first-year student."
"And you know who it is?"
"Of course. I know that person more than anyone. The person...is me." Kasai said while pointing at her own face. It's much easier than what I expected. Even though I've already thought of several arguments to make her confess.
"I know you suspect me," she added. "That's why you called me here, right?"
"Well, yes, but why did you just admit it?"
"Because I have no reason to hide it from you," she said casually. I didn't mean to complain but still, this girl is pretty weird.
"Why did you do it?"
"Why? Isn't it obvious? The senpais wanted points so I helped them. Of course, they share the profits with me."
She didn't say it directly. But I'm sure she's not only offering help but also inciting those poor seniors. This girl was more greedy than I thought. "Why do you want so many points? I know that our points might decrease in the next month, but a few days ago you also received points from Kumoi-senpai. That should be enough to live on for the next two months."
"Don't you remember what sensei said? In this school, there's nothing that points can't buy. That means the points we have aren't just for buying food, clothes, or games. With enough points, you might be able to get something you normally couldn't. So...it would be better if we have a lot of points just in case."
"Something,...we normally couldn't buy? What do you mean by that?"
"The thing is, our points have more uses than you think, later, you will find out for yourself." It seemed like she didn't want to explain further, so I immediately changed the topic.
"So, what do you want to do now? The student council seems to be hunting you, you know."
"Don't worry. They will find nothing."
"So you're pretty sure you won't get caught."
"Of course. The seniors I worked with would never mention my name because that would be tantamount to admitting they were carrying out some kind of fraud. Even if the student council caught me, I could evade it by saying that I was just teaching them how to play properly. As long as they don't know the trick behind it, they can't do anything to me."
She has a point. Teiichi had told me that they found no signs of cheating but somehow they remained convinced that this was all a scam. This belief is based on the assumption that the perpetrators are not bright students. But just as Kasai said, all of that was nothing more than an assumption if they couldn't prove it.
"But, are you sure that your 'minions' won't do anything wrong? I don't know what kind of tricks you taught them, but if you keep doing this, there will come a time when someone will eventually see through it."
"I know, and my 'minions' knows too. That's why I had been warning them to stop doing it immediately ever since they started being sniffed out by the student council. We've already earned enough money after all."
"So they stopped? Well, that's good."
"Looks like you got into a bit of trouble because of us."
I looked up at her with a bit of annoyance. "Of course. Thanks to you I was made the prime suspect. Yesterday Satonaka had to check my phone."
"You let them do that? That's actually a breach of privacy. You can refuse them you know. It's not like the Student Council is above the law."
"But if I refuse. I will look even more suspicious."
"Well, you're right. Forgive me for troubling you."
She didn't look the least bit apologetic. I wanted to say something about that but I couldn't. I'm not in the mood to argue, after all, they've stopped so there's probably no point bringing this up any longer.
"There is one more thing I want to ask you," I said as I closed my empty lunch box and placed it beside me.
"What's that?"
I took a sip of my drink before continuing to speak. "It's about our bet."
"Okay, what's with that?"
"I should have asked this earlier. You're using our classmates as a betting tool. As if you were so sure that something would come out."
"Of course, I'm sure. Because that is what happened with our seniors."
"Really?"
"Yes, the current third-year students are only 144 people, while the second-year students are around 153 people."
Kasai was in contact with several seniors so it was only natural that she would know about such things. It seems that this school is not half-hearted in carrying out its rules. The students could have been expelled for violations or for failing an exam. Whatever it was, the information convinced me that we were indeed at great risk.
"You understand now? How does this school work?" asked Kasai.
"For the most part, yes," I replied. "I understand that you wanted someone to be a competent leader, so let's say I won our bet, or for some other reason I can't step up as a leader. If that happens what will you do?"
Kasai was silent for a few seconds before finally answering. "When that happens then I'm just using what's available."
"So you're saying you're going to allow someone else to be the leader?"
"Yes. There's no reason for me to be concerned with people who don't want to cooperate."
Can I trust her words? Will she leave me alone if I win this bet? If she spoke the truth then that meant she would find someone else to work with, but who? Satonaka? She didn't seem to think highly of Satonaka's abilities so...Ah, why am I thinking this? I shouldn't care about that.
"This place is pretty good," Kasai added. "You often eat lunch here?"
"No, only this time. I just don't want other people eavesdropping on our conversation."
"We can talk on the phone."
"For a topic like this, I think it's better to be discussed directly."
"Well, I don't mind seeing you once in a while, but people will start gossiping about us."
"I don't care about gossip. They can say whatever they like."
"No, Kurose-kun. Gossip and rumors can be quite troublesome. You always have to be careful with what people talk about when you're not around," Kasai who had finished her food earlier stood up. "Lunchtime is almost over. If there's nothing else you want to talk about, I'll head back first."
I have nothing more to say so I let her walk off the roof. Meanwhile, I still want to spend my time here to reflect. The month of May is getting closer and I'm feeling a little nervous. I'm also still a little worried about Kasai. She did say that she had stopped scamming people for now, but there was no guarantee that she would not return to doing something like that in the future. Of course, it's up to her what she wants to do, but I hope she doesn't involve me or anyone else in her shenanigans.
***
That afternoon I walked home with Minami, Iwa, and Gilang. We intend to play games together in my room until the evening. The three of them were happily discussing some of the games that had just come out.
"Do you prefer Tekken, Mortal Kombat, or Street Fighter?" asked Iwa while sipping on his boxed juice.
"I spent my childhood playing Tekken 5 on PS2, so I chose Tekken," Gilang replied.
"Mortal Kombat," I said. "But Tekken is also quite fun."
"I've only ever played Street Fighter," said Minami.
"You should try MK and Tekken, Minami," I suggested. "I think both are much better than Street Fighter."
"You have it on your laptop?"
"Only Mortal Kombat, unfortunately, I only have one controller."
"Don't worry, I have one," Iwa said. "After this, I'll go back to my room to get it."
This has become a routine for us. When Gilang and Iwa are not busy with their club, we often spend time together, whether playing games, watching movies, or eating. I'm quite enjoying this peaceful school life, if it weren't for something I know will come up in the next month. The moment when our peaceful life will change. No, if we did well, we might still be able to go through our normal school life.
As we were walking we bumped into a boy. At that time the street was a little crowded with some students who were walking back to the dormitory. As he passed, a man walked close enough to me that our shoulders almost touched, but I didn't care. We just kept walking past him while talking all the time. After we were a few meters away from him, I heard his voice calling us.
"Excuse me, four people over there."
My friends and I turned towards him. Minami was the very first to speak. "You talk to us?"
"Yeah, looks like one of you just dropped this." The man showed a phone in his hand. We immediately checked our pockets. I was a little stunned when I realized that it was I who had lost my phone.
"Ah, yes. That is mine." I said before walking over to him. I had a weird feeling because the road we were walking on was made of concrete, so if my phone actually fell, I should be able to hear it. Maybe because I'm too preoccupied chatting with my friends?
"Thank you very much" I took my phone from his hand.
"What's your name?" he asked. I stared at him absentmindedly. I didn't understand why he was suddenly interested in my name. Anyway, I just answered him.
"Kurose Yukiharu."
"From which class?"
"Class C, first year. Why do you ask?"
"Class C, huh? My name is Ishikawa...Ishikawa Sousuke. I'm also a first year. I'm from class D. You better not forget that name."
'Don't forget that name' he said. What a way to introduce yourself. He spoke as if he would become someone important, or maybe he is? I looked back at the man in front of me carefully. He's a bit short, maybe around 165 cm or 5'4". His black hair was parted down the middle and his body was quite thin. Even so, he didn't look weak at all. On the contrary. It seems he often exercises. His eyes are dark just like his hair, probably even darker.
"It seems you're not the one that I seek," he muttered.
"What?"
This guy just said something weird. The one you seek? Who? Before I get the chance to hear his answer, I realized that Minami just suddenly appeared beside me. He also gave Ishikawa a suspicious look. "I'm sorry, do you still have business with us? We are in a hurry"
That's an obvious lie. We were on our way home so not in a hurry. Even, so Minami doesn't seem to want to linger with this person.
"Ah, did I disturb you guys? I'm sorry, I just wanted to get acquainted."
"And you already did. Come on, Yukiharu, the others are waiting."
"Wow, how rude. Your friend doesn't seem very friendly. You with the beanie hat, you won't get many friends if you act like that."
"Mind your own business. Come on Yuki."
I hesitated a bit, but in the ,end I complied with Minami. Minami was a bit impolite but Ishikawa didn't look offended at all. I took one last glance at the boy, and saw him walk away.
"What happened Minami?" asked Gilang. "You're not usually rude like that."
"I'm also not really sure, but I have a bad feeling about that guy."
"He's a bit odd," I said. "But I don't think you need to be so rude. In the ,end he was kind enough to pick up my dropped phone."
Minami sighed. "You are right. That was out of the line. It's just I've seen a lot of bad people, and to be honest, that guy just gave them the same impression."
"I think you're exaggerating. There's no way this school would accept someone with a troubled background."
"But...we have Kazami in our class?" Gilang raises a good point.
"Well, you're right. But, come on, Kazami doesn't look that bad."
I wouldn't jump to conclusions like that if I were them. This is indeed is a prestigious school, but in my opinion, based on the way they did the entrance exam, anyone can enter this school. After all, if we look at history, there are many great people whose pasts were a quite dark. For a unique school like this it would be a shame if they didn't give opportunities to promising students simply because of their background.
Even so the fact that students like that could cause trouble also couldn't be ignored especially after seeing what happened to Nanahara. Minami's worries weren't without basis either. Ishikawa did give off a strange impression. His empty eyes looked like a bottomless abyss. As if he had experience something very bad. I got curious so I took out my phone and saw Ishikawa's profile on OAA.
Ishikawa Sousuke
Academic : A+
Physical : A+
Adaptability : C
Social Contribution : D
Overall : B
A+ in academic and physical ed? Apparently he was not an ordinary student. So he was in class D. Based on what Kumoi-senpai explained to me, class D should be the lowest class in terms f quality. Even so they had students like Ishikawa who excelled both academically and physically. But he is quite low on Adaptability and Social Contribution. I think I've started to understand the class distribution system. Now I'm starting to feel curious about the Class D students. Not to mention something that he just said back then. Maybe I should ask Kasai about this.
***
Next chapter will immidiately jump to May 1st. This is where everything begins. I actually had a little difficulty in writing Ishikawa introduction. After spending days of thinking, I decided to keep it brief because this arc will be about Class C, and not the time for an actual competition yet.