Misaki
Advanced Nurturing High School; Class 1-D
The next day, I arrived and entered the classroom, sitting down at my desk as usual. Like everyone else, I patiently waited in my seat and as time passed, the bell eventually rang. Matsubara-sensei stepped into the classroom and everyone turned their attention towards her.
"Good morning, everyone," she greeted us.
"Sensei!" Kawasaki raised his hand. "We still haven't got our Points yet! When are we going to get them?!"
"Yeah! How long are we going to have to wait?" Everybody else began to talk out loud, complaining about the deposit of our Private Points again.
"I assure you, everything will return back to normal and you will get your Points as soon as possible. It's not going to change overnight, so for now, please be patient." After hearing her words, everyone quieted down, but they still had frowns on their faces. "Now then, I have an important announcement I must give to the entire class."
"S-Something important?" repeated Azuma.
"I-It's not a test or anything, is it?!" asked Kawasaki.
"No, it's not. I would like to tell you all that two days ago, there was an incident involving our class and Class C. To be more accurate, there was a fight between students. And it involved your classmate, Tsukamoto Tamotsu."
The entire class erupted and all turned their attention towards him. Furukawa and I, who had already been told of this by Tsukamoto, didn't faze in the slightest. As for Matsubara-sensei, instead of the smug look she usually has, there was a more professional and serious look on her face. This was a problem for Class D, which also means it was a problem for her as the teacher. She didn't seem quite happy about it.
"Tsukamoto, what the hell?!" said Kawasaki.
Tsukamoto jumped out of his seat. "I did it out of self-defense! Self-defense! That's all!" he shouted.
"I bet that's the reason why we aren't getting any Points! It's your fault!" said Yoshinaga.
"Yeah!" A part of the class-mostly girls-began following Yoshinaga, blaming Tsukamoto for the mess they were in.
"Huh?! My fault?! Like hell it is!"
*clap* With a loud clap echoing through the room, the entire class went silent and turned their attention towards our teacher. "I understand you're all frustrated, but please remember that we're still in class. If you wish to vent your anger to Tsukamoto or anyone else, do it later."
"W-We apologize, Matsubara-sensei..." Tsukamoto and everybody else calmed down, sitting down back in their seats.
Kasai raised his hand and Matsubara-sensei nodded to him. "Sensei, if I may ask, why hasn't the incident been resolved yet?"
"That's because the two sides-our class and Class C-both have different stories. One claims it's the other's fault, and the other says it's the opposite. Therefore, until we have further evidence for which side is telling the truth, this issue will not yet be resolved."
"So...it's all pretty much like an investigation then, right?" asked Kurino.
Matsubara-sensei nodded. "In simple terms, yes. Besides me, the other classes have been informed of this issue. At this moment, we are asking anyone if they saw the fight and if they are willing to step up as a witness. So?"
Everybody began looking around the room, seeing if anyone was going to stand up. However, no one did. It seems like there was no one from our class who saw the fight besides Tsukamoto himself.
"Dammit!" Tsukamoto shouted. "Come on! If you guys know something, stand up!" Such anger and fear. Quite a horrible and illogical way to get the witness to reveal themselves.
Matsubara-sensei sighed. "It looks like there are no witnesses in this class. No matter. Next week on Wednesday, we'll have a trial, so we'll be open to any witnesses or evidence. Now then, let us begin class."
Hours later...
After multiple class periods, the day finally ended. Once the teacher stepped out of the classroom and left, everybody began staring at Tsukamoto.
"I can't believe you, Tsukamoto-kun! Getting into a fight and all that!" said Yoshinaga.
"Did you not think about what would happen?" asked Kumagai.
"Oh just shut up!" he shouted, pissed at them. "I can't believe you're all blaming me for this when you can't even blame yourself! Honestly, how do you not even think for a second that any of this could've been because of you?!"
"Huh?!"
"All we did was be late to class! What you did is far worse than that! It's obviously your fault!"
"What was that...?!" Tsukamoto stepped towards them, but Azuma and Kawasaki held him back.
"C-Calm down, Tsukamoto!" said Kawasaki.
"C'mon man...! You know if we piss them off, we're all going to die...!" said Azuma.
"Everyone! Please, let's all calm down just for a moment," said Kurino, standing in the middle between them. "I know you're all mad, but please, don't fight each other. Alright?"
"Kurino-san is right." Kasai stepped in as well. "This won't go away if we argue with one another. Instead, let's all work together to help Tsukamoto-san. If we do, we can possibly get our Points back and everything can return back to normal." They all looked at each other and frowned.
"S-Sorry...we kind of got carried away with it..."
"I-I'm sorry too..." Tsukamoto and everyone else apologized to one another, and the tension in the classroom suddenly disappeared.
Kasai smiled, then turned towards me. "Horikita-san, you have a plan, right?"
"What makes you think that?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Well, I noticed how you weren't surprised when Matsubara-sensei announced Tsukamoto's fight. I assume you already heard word of this before and you've been thinking of a way to save Tsukamoto. Am I right?"
Everybody began turning their attention towards me, gazing at me with curiosity in their eyes. "That's right."
"Wow! That's Horikita-san for you!" said Kurino. "So? What should we do?"
"At the moment, the only thing we have is Tsukamoto's story, which basically means nothing since we have no evidence to prove it."
"H-Hey!" said Tsukamoto.
"So first, what we need is information. I want you all to talk to as many students as you can. Ask them if they know anything about the fight or if they know anything about the students involved. Whatever you can get that can help us."
"Understood."
"Everyone~! Let's do this~!" said Kurino.
"Right!" They all began grabbing their belongings, leaving the classroom and walking off to find people.
"Kurino-san, Kasai-kun. If you don't mind, I want you to go along with them. I have a feeling if neither of you are there, they'll just easily give up and walk away."
"Got it," said Kasai.
"Okay~!" said Kurino.
"I'm counting on you two!" said Tsukamoto. They both nodded and waved goodbye, leaving and following behind the rest of our classmates. Now, it was only me, Furukawa, Tsukamoto, and Karuizawa in the room. Or so we thought...
"Hm hm hm hm..." Suddenly, we heard a chuckle from the middle of the room and looked to see Shirogawa sitting in his seat with his legs on his desk.
"W-Woah! H-How long have you been here?!" asked Tsukamoto.
"Since the start of class," Shirogawa answered. "Honestly, if you can't see me, I suggest you get your eyes checked at the doctor."
"What...?!"
I stared at him and saw the smile he had on his face. "Shirogawa-kun. You're still here because you want to say something, don't you?"
"My my, how perceptive of you, Horikita-girl!" said Shirogawa. "Yes, I do have something I like to say."
"What is it?"
"This plan of yours to save Tsukamoto-boy...it's quite foolish in my opinion."
"Huh?!" shouted Tsukamoto.
"Why do you say that?" I asked him to elaborate.
"Because he is a troublemaker. Those who have a history of making trouble often tend to repeat it again and again. Tsukamoto-boy can hardly control his anger, yet alone hold himself back. He is nothing more than a burden on all of us."
"Shirogawa...! You...!" Tsukamoto was about to rush him, but I raised my hand, gesturing to him to stop.
"Enough."
"But..." I glared at him and he immediately backed away. "Tch..."
"It's true that Tsukamoto-kun has anger issues, and that this fight will always be a part of him. However, I don't believe he's a burden."
"Oh...?" Shirogawa stared at me with a smug look on his face.
"H-Horikita..."
"Out of everyone here, he is by far the most athletic. You can even look it up on the OAA app if you wish. Although he is lacking in the area of academics, his skills in athletics makes him a valuable asset to our class. If anything, losing him would make everything worse for us than it is now."
Shirogawa continued to stare at me with a smile, then he chuckled. "Hm hm hm. How interesting..." He stood up from his seat and headed towards the door. "I will agree that he is athletic. However, if you want to easily get rid of this problem, just throw him out. There's no need to bother using all your energy and time to save him." With that, Shirogawa left the classroom.
"That damn jerk...!" Tsukamoto said, clenching his fists.
"Tsukamoto-kun," said Karuizawa. "He's right about one thing. If you keep being angry all the time, you're going to end up in another fight. And you want to fight him, don't you?"
"Well, of course I do..." Tsukamoto started walking around the room, cooling down steam and trying to calm down.
"Horikita-san, is there anything you want me to do?" she asked.
I shook my head. "There's really not much else besides going around and searching for clues and information. But...I suppose you can try looking at the school bulletin board. Maybe there's something there."
She nodded. "I got it." Karuizawa stood up from her seat and with her bag in hand, she left.
I turned towards Tsukamoto. "You should leave too."
"Huh?"
"You're obviously the most stressed about this. Since there's nothing you can do, just go to Track or back to your dorm room."
"R-Right..." Tsukamoto grabbed his bag. "T-Then, in that case, see ya." He waved goodbye, then left the classroom.
"You've been awfully quiet this entire time, Furukawa-kun."
"I speak when I want to speak," he said. "So? What's our next move?"
"While Kasai-kun and Kurino-san are going around with the others, we should go look at the scene where the fight took place."