Misaki
Advanced Nurturing High School; Hallways
The next day, after classes ended, Furukawa and I immediately left the classroom and walked to our destination. As for the others, they continued the investigation with Kurino and Kasai leading them. And on the other side, Karuizawa continued looking at the school bulletin board for any updates and information.
"Where are we going?" asked Furukawa.
"To visit the class we're against in this case: Class C."
Advanced Nurturing High School; Class 1-C
Upon entering the classroom, we look to see multiple desks empty. I had intended to come here as soon as the day ended, but it seems like all of them left quite quickly.
"Looks like no one's here..." I turned around and began to walk away.
"You're heading somewhere else?" asked Furukawa.
I stopped and turned to him. "Yes. Keyaki Mall. It's the one common place where every student in this school goes to. If we're lucky, we may have a chance of finding them there." He nodded, then with him following behind me, we left the silent and empty classroom.
Advanced Nurturing High School; Keyaki Mall
We arrived at the mall and as always, it was packed with multiple students from all grade levels. They were walking around, talking and smiling, shopping and hanging out with each other. There were quite a lot of people here, which makes it difficult to find any student from Class C. However, with the OAA app on my phone, I'm sure I can narrow the search and easily find them.
As we walked around, I started looking at the faces of everyone around me. Some of them were from Class 1-B and Class 1-A, and others were mostly just upperclassmen. I continued moving forward, carefully and slowly analyzing everyone's face and matching them to their class. In the end, there were no students from Class 1-C.
I sighed. "It's no use..."
"It was logical to choose Keyaki Mall for the location, but it was unwise of you to think you could find a single Class C student here," said Furukawa.
"It was the only thing I could possibly think of if we wanted to speak to them. Unless you want to go to their class everyday, only to find no one there."
As we walked on our way out of the mall, we passed by a fountain and a terrifying male student sitting on the bench. Then...
"Hey," said the student. "You two aren't from Class D, are you?"
Furukawa and I turned around to look at him. He had black hair tied up in a man bun and long hair that came down from the sides of his head, covering his ears. He had dark-amber eyes, along with a ferocious and intimidating expression on his face. He seemed quite muscular, and he looked like a fighter.
"Yes, we are. And you are?"
He chuckled and smiled, standing up from his seat and coming towards us. "I'm Bushida Tetsu. It's nice to meet you. Horikita Misaki, was it?"
My face lit up after he said my full name and I immediately pulled out my phone, opening the OAA app. I searched for the name and on my screen, it showed his class: Class 1-C. He was exactly who we were looking for.
I suddenly started to wonder how long he was sitting here. Furukawa and I had been searching for students from Class C, but...could it be that they've been trying to look for us?
"Class C..." I muttered to myself. "I've actually been wanting to talk to you, Bushida-kun."
"What a coincidence. I've been wanting to talk to you too," Bushida said, confirming my suspicions. "About what happened between our classmates...if I may ask, how's Tsukamoto?" he asked.
I stood silent and stared at him, giving him a menacing glare. It was even more suspicious now that he mentioned Tsukamoto and the fight.
"The silent treatment huh...?" Bushida chuckled. "Ku ku. Well, I suppose I'll get to the point then. As we know, my class filed a complaint on your classmate. Considering the injuries and bruises they received from Tsukamoto, this had to be done. However...if you're willing to get Tsukamoto to apologize to us, we would gladly withdraw it. How does that sound?"
The person in front of me was trying to negotiate. He was asking for Tsukamoto's apology, which was clearly not needed considering he wasn't the one who started the fight. Bushida was merely playing us, trying to make us give in to whatever scheme he was pulling.
"I apologize, but I'm afraid we won't be doing that," I answered him.
"Oh...?" Bushida looked at me with eyes full of curiosity and interest.
"If I remember right, it was Nishida-kun, Hoga-kun, and Sugiyama-kun who were involved, correct? According to Tsukamoto-kun, it was your class who started the fight. The three of them were threatening him to leave the Track Club, but upon his refusal, they attacked him. Thus, leading to the current situation we have now."
Bushida grinned and chuckled. "Ku ku ku. Is that so? Well, my classmates seem to have told me a different story. You see, Tsukamoto was the one who contacted them to meet up at the special building. When they got there, they waited for him and when he arrived, he started threatening them. That's when things got violent and that's how they got injured."
"And you believe them?" I asked.
"Of course. They're my fellow classmates."
I stared at him for a moment, then turned away. "Then it seems like neither of us can come into an agreement. I believe Tsukamoto-kun while you believe your three friends. So unless one of us starts believing the other, it seems like this issue won't be settled until the deliberation meeting."
"It seems so. You're quite a smart girl, you know?" I glared at him, but then he turned and looked at the person next to me, chuckling at him. "Ku ku. You seem quite a scary guy." Furukawa stayed silent, doing nothing but stare at him. "The silent treatment too huh...?"
Just then, we heard footsteps and turned to see two students coming towards us. One was a bulky male student with long rich golden hair and tangerine eyes. The other was a female student with long ochre hair tied in a ponytail and emerald eyes. She seemed to have a blank expression almost similar to Furukawa.
"Hey Bushida, you finished here?" she asked.
"Yeah, almost."
I pulled out my phone, opening the OAA app. I looked them up and on my screen, it showed me their names. The female student was Okada Chiyoko and the male student was a Russian transfer student named Orlov Maksimillian. Both of them were from Class C like Bushida.
"Why are they here...?" I asked.
"Just before our conversation, the three of us came here to the mall to have some fun. We're quite the group of friends."
I stared at Orlov and Okada, analyzing them. Okada didn't seem too threatening, but on the other hand, Orlov was quite muscular and seemed trained. The way they were grouped up, and the way they were here almost surrounding us; it just doesn't seem right.
"Don't be too scared now, Horikita. We're not going to bite," said Bushida, reassuring me.
I suppose I have to believe him. After all, we're at the mall where there were many people and multiple cameras. They wouldn't do anything to us if they wanted to.
Bushida came closer to me with an intimidating look on his face. "Tsukamoto is in quite some trouble, isn't he? Tell me, how are you going to prove he's innocent?" he asked.
Instead of replying, I glared at him, staring into his eyes without any fear or hesitation. And Bushida did the same, staring into mine.
Bushida smiled and laughed. "Ha ha ha ha! You're really quite interesting, aren't you, Horikita...?"
"Hey!" Just then, we all heard a shout and turned to see a girl angrily walking towards us.
My face lit up. "You...!" The girl had long blue hair tied in a ponytail and she had magenta-colored eyes. She was quite fit and she had that serious expression on her face that seemed to be so full of rage.
"Yo, Takemi!" Bushida greeted her.
"Don't call me by my first name like you know me...!" she said.
"Right, right. I apologize, Ryuen," he said with a grin. "So, what brings you here?"
She glared at him, then she calmed down and looked at us. "You're talking to these Class D students, aren't you? What the hell are you thinking? You know both our classes are already in conflict with one another. It's unwise for any of us to be seen so close to each other, especially by the teachers."
Bushida chuckled. "Ku ku. Don't worry. We just had a small and quick talk, that's all. We were about to leave anyway." Bushida turned towards me. "Be seeing ya, Horikita." He turned and walked away with Orlov and Okada following behind him. As they went further away, I continued to stare at the girl in front of me while she glared at them.
She sighed, then turned towards me. "It's been a long time, Misaki."
"It has...Takemi. How's your family?"
She sighed heavily. "...Still the same as ever, last time I saw them. Parents are so busy, they can't stick around. They always have Albert and Ishizaki come over almost every time just to watch over us like kids."
"I see. Is your Otouto doing well?"
"Yeah, I guess..." she said with a frustrated look on her face.
She was Ryuen Takemi, the daughter of Ryuen Kakeru and Ryuen Mio-two former students who used to go to this school with my mother. When I was a little kid, she and I went to the same school together. You could say we were childhood friends, but we weren't exactly quite close. Rather, we only got to know one another because of some sort of competition between our mothers. However, it all stopped by the time I entered junior high and I moved to a different school away from Takemi.
And now here I am, standing in front of her. I never expected to meet her in the same school I went to.
"So, Bushida-kun. You know him?" I asked.
She nodded. "He's a freakin' troublesome classmate. And apparently the leader of our class."
"'Apparently'?" I asked.
Takemi went silent for a moment, then sighed. "During the first few weeks, the two of us have been fighting each other for the position of Class Representative. I volunteered to lead them, but Bushida also wanted to lead as well. Because of that, our class pretty much had a civil war. Most of them follow him now either out of respect or fear."
"So only a few are on your side." Takemi nodded. "I see..."
"Class A. During our first year, there was a dispute in that class where two people were fighting to be the Class Representative. One was Katsuragi Kohei, and the other was Sakayanagi Arisu.
For the most part, Katsuragi-kun was taking the lead, commanding the class. However, due to Sakayanagi-san's actions, as well as the other classes', he eventually fell down and the entire class turned towards her."
The conflict Takemi told me about her class seemed similar to what my mother told me. The only difference was that it took place in another class.
"Takemi, do you perhaps know anything about the fight?" I asked, moving on to the current issue at hand.
"I've heard about it. Apparently, your classmate Tsukamoto and three of my classmates got into a fight. And afterwards, we filed a complaint."
I nodded. "That's about right. If you know about the fight, do you have anything you can tell us? We need it to help Tsukamoto-kun."
Takemi stared at us, then shook her head. "Sorry. I can't."
"Why not?" I asked, confused. "If you tell us, we can help you take down Bushida. You want to be Class Representative, don't you?"
"I do."
"Then why?"
Takemi's face turned serious and she glared at me. "Misaki, we're not friends here at this school. We are merely classmates who are destined to fight each other until one of us falls, that's all." She turned with her back facing me. "Because of that, I'm not telling you anything so I could betray my class."
"Takemi..."
"Sure, I could tell you and you can help me in return. And we can take down Bushida. However..." Takemi turned towards me and I looked into her eyes, seeing such determination and ferocity. "He's my prey, and mine alone. So stay out of it."
Takemi was trying to be Class Representative, but she wants to take Bushida down for herself without having to rely on me or any of the other classes. She was warning us not to get involved with her hunt. And on the other hand, she doesn't want us to get in the crossfire of their civil war.
"...Very well. If that's what you wish, so be it."
"Good." Takemi turned to look at Furukawa. "And who's this? Your boyfriend?"
"Not a chance," I immediately denied it.
She chuckled. "Ku ku. Of course not. I mean, it's so obvious. You hardly have any chances of talking to a boy, yet alone being so close to one."
"Oh? And where's yours?" I said, intimidating her.
She glared at me with a grin on her face. "I don't have one..."
The two of us glared at each other menacingly, not moving a single muscle nor speaking another word. Everything around went quiet, and Furukawa did nothing but watch.
She chuckled. "Ku ku. Ah...it's been a while since I've felt like this," she said, opening and closing her fist. "Looks like I won't be bored here after all."
"It seems like I won't either."
Takemi, with the grin still on her face, turned to leave. "Oh, Misaki."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Seeing that we're enemies at this school, don't go around calling me by my first name." She turned back to look at me. "Call me Ryuen." With that, she left and walked away from us.