After we finished investigating the construction site we agreed to go to lunch together. Coincidentally, the place chosen by Fujimori-san was the Greenhouse café. It was the same café where we almost quarreled with Fujimori-san's classmate. Did she bring us here on purpose?
"My friends weren't kidding when they said that the view here is really nice..." Fujimori-san said while looking around. Higashi-kun next to her didn't seem to care that much, perhaps because his mind was busy with the problems we were facing together.
"I agree, this place makes you feel calm," I said. This may not be the right time for small talk but still, I agree with her.
"Do you come here often?" asked the brown-haired girl.
"Only a few times, but if you like it, I can recommend some drinks or cakes for you,"
"Oh, that would be nice," Fujimori-san smiled sweetly. Her smile was very bright and friendly like a mother, and it made me a little envious.
I suggested several menus to Fujimori-san and Higashi-kun. Rika-chan ended up ordering the same thing she always ordered, while Fujimori-san followed my suggestion. Higashi-kun ordered the most standard meal while Yukiharu-kun spent a lot of time looking at it.
"Can't decide yet?" I asked the black-haired boy on my left.
"Hm...yeah. Everything looks delicious..."
"The carbonara here is pretty good too, try that," I suggested and the guy nodded.
"Okay, then I'll order," Yukiharu-kun immediately wrote down all of our orders then took them downstairs and Higashi-kun came with him. Payment is usually made when we leave.
"I've heard about you a lot, Shiraishi-san," Fujimori-san said kindly. "But I still don't know this one very well, Hayashi Rika-san, right? You've been quiet since earlier, why don't you tell me about yourself?"
It seems Fujimori-san seems to want to get to know us better. Was she just being friendly or perhaps she had another intention? Ah, Saki, what are you doing? I shouldn't suspect people for no reason. We're here to talk about something important, so it feels a little strange to see her continue making small talk like this. Hm, she could have waited for Yukiharu-kun to come back so he could listen too. Even if she turns out to be unwilling to talk, we can still ask Higashi-kun.
Meanwhile, Rika-chan becomes a little uneasy when someone shows sudden interest in her like this. She doesn't talk much, and other people don't often talk to her, but that's not because they don't like her. Rika-chan does give the impression of being difficult to approach, but she's actually a good girl.
"Um..." Rika-chan didn't know what to say. It's difficult when a quiet person seems to be spoken to by someone you just met. Maybe I should help her.
"Rika-chan isn't used to talking about herself, how about you start by asking something?" It felt like I was teaching two kindergarten children who were just learning how to get to know each other.
"Okay, then Hayashi-san, what club are you joining?"
"Uhm...orchestra..."
"I like orchestra, what instruments do you play?"
"...Cello..."
"Cello, huh? I prefer the sound of the violin, but the cello is also quite pleasant to listen to...how long have you been practicing?"
"Quite a long time, since I was little..."
"Rika-chan is very talented, you know...even in middle school she was already a main player." I chimed in. Rika-chan has played the cello since childhood. Not only cello, but she can also play violin, harmonica, saxophone, trombone, flute, and clarinet. I myself can only play keyboard and guitar, so I think she's really great. If only she had more confidence.
"You guys are from the same middle school?"
"Yes,"
"Hm..." When she heard my answer the look on her face seemed to say 'I understand'. I don't know why, but she looked at us with a look that...how can I explain it...she seemed a little disappointed? What answer did she expect?
"I just remembered too. Shiraishi-san, you're a musician too, right? I heard you're also a member of the music club."
"Yes, but unlike Rika-chan, I tend to prefer pop music. I play the keyboard."
"Then you know Arai Kenji-kun?"
I didn't expect her to say that name. "Well, yeah. We were in the same club for...a short time...so what happened to him?"
"Some time ago my friends invited him for karaoke. He is a very good singer..."
"Yes...I admit he is very talented, unfortunately, his personality is a bit...problematic."
"I know what you mean..." Fujimori-san chuckled.
Even though he is very talented, unfortunately, Arai-kun is a notorious playboy. He was kicked out of the club because our senpais had enough of him. Personally, I don't mind it very much, because his flirtatious jokes are mostly just for fun. Unfortunately, Rika-chan is different from me. As soon as the man's name was mentioned, she immediately showed a look of disgust. By the way, our two friends have returned.
"Sorry it took a while...some of the meals were out of stock so Yukiharu and I had to look around for a bit..." Teiichi explained as he sat back down in his place.
"What's wrong Hayashi? Do you feel nauseous?" Yukiharu seemed to be aware of the look on Hayashi's face and asked out of concern.
"No," Rika-chan hurriedly answered. "Sorry, we were just... discussing something unpleasant..."
"Is he really that bad?" Fujimori-san asked.
"Never mind, let's talk about the trial, that's what we're here for, right?" Rika-chan hurriedly changed the subject. The two men could only stare at us in confusion. I kind of feel sorry for Arai-kun being treated like a taboo topic for Rika-chan, but in a way, it's his own fault. Now we have more important things to talk about.
"Well, you're right. Sorry, I didn't mean to delay," was what she said, but we found it hard to believe. "It's just that, I warned you from the start that you wouldn't get much information from me."
Higashi-kun groaned. "Fujiimori-san, I told you..."
"It's not that I don't believe them, what I mean is that Tanaka-kun's testimony probably won't help much..."
"We are the ones who will decide whether it will help or not," said Yukiharu-kun. "Just say what you want to say."
"Hm, okay," Fujimori-san then moved her seat a bit closer to the table before continuing. "In the first place, Tanaka-kun never knew what made him faint."
Huh? He does not know? Did he hit his head too hard to cause amnesia? If that's true, it's serious.
"Don't worry, he doesn't have amnesia, his injury is relatively light," Fujimori-san explained as if reading my mind. "Tanaka-kun said that something hit his head and he fell down the stairs until he passed out."
Oh no. This statement fits the assumption that Shimada-kun did it. However, our observations at the crime scene also show that this is not possible. So what hit him?
"So he didn't see what hit him?" I asked and this time Higashi-kun answered.
"Yeah, he didn't see anything. Not the object, nor the perpetrator."
Well, if it was a baseball that hit him, he certainly wouldn't have seen the perpetrator, because they were on the field. I glanced at Yukiharu-kun who currently seemed to be thinking.
"So he tried to hide at the construction site but ended up getting hit by something and fainted," Yukiharu-kun repeated the sequence of events. "Is that all he said? Maybe he heard something before fainting for example?"
"Sadly no, that's all he told us, right? Higashi-kun?"
Higashi-kun nodded. "What is clear is that his head must have been hit quite hard."
"Yes, that's why you have to wait until the trial if you want to find out more,"
"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "You invited us so I thought we'd discuss it here?"
She called us to have some lunch together so I thought there would be a long discussion. It seems Fujimori-san thinks differently. "Well, there's not much to discuss, besides my main goal in inviting you here is because I want to get to know you,"
Get to know us, huh? I would be happy to be friends with her. Even so, I wondered a little, Did she say that out of personal interest in us or because we were representing our class? Well, in the end, there's nothing wrong with adding contacts.
Our food came after that so our conversation stopped for a moment. Yukiharu-kun commented when he saw two waiters coming in with large trays. "Wow, I can already smell something delicious."
Fujimori-san agreed. "Right? I can't wait to taste it."
We ate our lunch together and Fujimori-san seemed to like the food. Meanwhile, Yukiharu-kun looks normal apart from his comments just now. I think this is where the conversation about this case ends, and Rika-chan looks a little disturbed by it. Unexpectedly Yukiharu-kun suddenly changed the topic.
"I was always curious about one thing," he said. "Because you said you wanted to get to know us, I remembered that I had some questions about your class as well."
"Oh really?" Fujimori-san sounded very happy to hear that.
"Yeah, you know, because this school divides students based on how valuable they are. But the way schools determine those values is still quite...ambiguous." I agree. Even now, none of us really understand the class divisions and the teachers also don't provide a complete explanation.
"We've talked about this before, Yukiharu," said Higashi-kun. "I thought everything was clear from the class points we had?"
"I know, class points show that the class assignment may be based on the student's personality and behavior, but that is also not accurate because there are still some students with good attitudes who are placed in lower classes. For example Satonaka and Shiraishi, especially considering that Shiraishi is ranked at the top of the OAA..."
Eh? I didn't expect that Yukiharu-kun would say my name. That made me blush a little. "I was also surprised when I found out my name was in the first place. Honestly, I think I didn't deserve it because I still have a lot of shortcomings..."
Rika-chan rolled her eyes when she heard my words. Her eyes seemed to say 'Look, this girl is being modest again', but I'm speaking the truth. There are still many things I can't do. Class divisions may be not only based on grades, physical abilities, or communication skills. There could be many other variables to consider, for example, track record or psychology. This school can easily carry out background checks on all its students, and psychology can be assessed through interviews. If that's true, then my placement starts to make sense.
Higashi-kun adjusted his glasses which were starting to slide down. "You are right. Satonaka-san is a good student. I can't see why a student like her was placed in class C."
"Me too...that's why I speculated that the placement was based on other factors...of course, I already had my own assumptions. I wanted to be more certain by seeing what the actual class students A were like."
Higashi-kun folded his arms. "Hm...even if you say that, we probably won't be of much help, because in my eyes our class is no different from other classes, besides maybe...we also have our own problems..."
"Yeah, but how many of your class do you think are truly model students? Everyone? Or maybe most of them are just average people? Or maybe there are some troublemakers as well?"
Higashi-kun frowned slightly. "I don't understand why you're asking that much, but I think they're alright...generally."
"Really?" Rika-chan interrupted. "What I saw wasn't like that..."
It looks like Rika-chan will start to mention the incident from the other day. Should I stop her? Hm, no, I think I'll just leave it alone. Besides, I'm also curious whether Higashi-kun will defend his friends' behavior.
"A few days ago we were eating at this café. "At that time your friend Yukie-chan was also here with us, even Minami-kun was here as well," Yukiharu-kun seemed to raise his eyebrows slightly when Minami-kun's name was mentioned but he didn't say anything, I know what was on his mind but now is not the time to discuss that.
"Some girls from class A came to us, and you know what they did? They told us to move to another table," Rika-chan seemed annoyed to hear Higashi-kun describe his friends as 'alright' even though in reality some of them often acted as if they owned this school.
Hearing Rika-chan's—flat but full of annoyance—tone, Higashi-kun couldn't help but sigh. I know that Yukie-chan, has often complained about the same thing to him. Before Higashi-kun could open his mouth to say anything, Fujimori-san interrupted him.
"Is one of them a girl with long black hair?"
"Yes,"
"Then it must be Himura-san and her clique. I'm sorry, I realize that some of us can be a little overbearing, but in the end, they are just a bunch of teenagers who have just received special status. It's normal for them to act a little arrogant, but don't worry. After this Higashi-kun and I will talk directly to them. We ensure this will not happen again. Right? Higashi-kun?"
"...Yeah, right."
I don't know to what extent we can trust her words. Yukie-chan has already asked Higashi-kun to do something and it seems class A still hasn't changed their attitude. This case could also be caused by their arrogance. Indeed, changing people is not easy.
"Well...every class has its own problems..." Yukiharu-kun said in a rather indifferent tone. "My class is also filled with some problematic people so you could say I sympathize with you."
"Yes, and coincidentally this time, we met because our classmates were all causing trouble together," Fujimori-san chuckled. "Gosh, taking care of teenagers is really troublesome. I hope the three classes can get through this all well."
After saying that we continued eating quietly. Higashi-kun occasionally asked us about Nanahara-san and Shimada-kun but Fujimori-san didn't seem to care that much for some reason. In the end, we no longer got anything from the conversation that afternoon.
***
After lunch, we parted ways with the two class A students. Higashi-kun promised again that he would try to improve his classmate's attitude and Fujimori-san waved at us before finally leaving with Higashi-kun. Rika-chan decided to separate herself because she had an appointment with her club, so I was left with Yukiharu-kun who walked towards the dormitory. We walked side by side under the shade of trees.
"It's a shame because it seems like their testimony will incriminate Shimada," said Yukiharu-kun.
"Yes, that's a shame. But it's okay, I'm sure that we can still handle it, we still have information from Masaki-kun and Satonaka-san," I'm still very sure that the baseball couldn't have hit the victim, and we have a pretty good argument to prove it.
"Yeah, I'm sure you guys will be fine, although from your perspective, the problem might be more than that."
I hate to admit it but he's right. Even though Shimada-kun was innocent, he and his friends still used the baseball field without permission, so maybe our class points would still be deducted. But at least we have to minimize the damage.
"You're right, but what about you guys? It seems like your situation isn't that favorable either," I don't mean to be sarcastic but Nanahara-san herself has admitted that she hit Tanaka-kun before playing chase with him. Her situation might be more dire than Shimada-kun's.
"Yeah, but I'm going to do something about it. Like you, my class points will probably still be penalized but at least I can prevent Nanahara from being expelled."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am sure."
"Ooh, I knew you would help your classmate, but you seem so determined to help her, do you have a crush on her or something?" I teased him a little and the look on the boy's face didn't change much. Even so, there was a slight pause before he answered. Don't tell me he really...
"...well...not really, I just wanted to help as a classmate..." he denied, but his pause just now was a little suspicious.
"Yukie-chan often says that you are quite lazy, but this time you seem very enthusiastic about this case. Have you changed your mind and decided to be more active?"
"Enthusiastic? I think that's a bit of an exaggeration, I just did what I had to do."
"It looks like that to me, but back to my question, why are you suddenly taking the initiative in this case? I did invite you to investigate it together but I didn't expect you to agree. I thought you would just observe until the trial."
"I see...that's what you thought I'd do? Well, you're not wrong, but this school and all its complexities have caught my attention."
"So you're just satisfying your curiosity?"
"That's how it is. Besides, apart from Satonaka, there's no one else willing to help Nanahara."
"Hee, so you really have a crush on her,"
"I told you, it's not like that..."
"Hehehe...."
The day's affairs were still unfinished, but the two of us walked while chatting warmly. Every now and then I think about our conversation earlier. Fujimori-san is a good girl, and there was nothing strange about our conversation with her, although my intuition told me that she was hiding something. I don't know whether Yukiharu-kun noticed it or not.
Speaking of Yukiharu-kun, I've been thinking about him a lot lately. One day, class C will be our opponent, and when that happens what will he do? Will he support his class wholeheartedly, or give in for the sake of our friendship? It feels like the second one is almost impossible.
In contrast to his sister, Yukiharu is calm and tends to be rational. But he also has a childish side that is clearly visible when he is with his sister. If one day he really becomes our enemy, what will I do? I don't know, it's too early to think about that. It feels strange when I think about it like this, do I like him? Well, maybe not romantically but it seems like I do like him....and at the same time...somewhere in my heart, I know...that he might also be the type of person I hate the most.
***
Sorry for the long update. I wrote this chapter in a bit of a hurry but I hope you can still enjoyed it. Next chapter will be the last part of the investigation and the beginning of the trial. If there are something with this chapter feel free to critisize and I will try to fix it as much as I can. See you next time.