Misaki
Advanced Nurturing High School; Keyaki Mall
As I arrived at the meeting spot, I saw Tsukamoto and Furukawa, as well as Karuizawa-all three sitting down at a table. This meeting was originally for three, but seeing that I didn't get a chance to hear from Karuizawa in the past few days, I invited her as well.
"Good morning, Horikita-san," Karuizawa greeted me.
"Good morning." I grabbed a chair and sat next to her. "So? How was your search?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't get much of anything. But there was a paper on there that was asking for information about the fight."
"A paper?" I repeated. "Do you know who posted it?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't. I looked around and tried to find who it was, but I didn't manage to find anyone."
"I see. Either way, thank you for helping."
She smiled. "It's no problem."
I turned to look at Tsukamoto, who was nervously shaking to himself with a frustrated look on his face. "You need to calm yourself, Tsukamoto-kun."
"C-Calm myself? How am I supposed to calm down?!" he shouted. "We got nothing! No evidence! No witnesses! And the meeting...!"
I glared at him and he froze. As I stared at him, he slowly relaxed himself, then turned away and went quiet. "I understand how angry you are, but know that we are all doing what we can. Karuizawa-san, Kurino-san, and Kasai-kun. Even Furukawa-kun here. We are all doing our best to help you."
"I-I know that! It's just..." Tsukamoto clenches his fists. "It just all seems hopeless at this point..."
Certainly, everything he said was true. And it all seems as if it's leading up to a dead end. However, I have a feeling that we're overlooking something. There was something or someone out there that could help us, and all of us just can't find them. If only we were pointed in the right direction, then maybe...
"Oh, Horikita-san, Furukawa-san." We turned and saw two familiar figures standing next to us. "What a surprise. I never thought we'd meet you here."
It was Hasegawa and Seong from Class B. They were both dressed in their casual clothes, and each of them was holding a small bag in their hands.
"Hasegawa-kun, Seong-san. What are you two doing here?" I asked.
"Ji-Young-san and I were shopping around the mall when we happened to come by and heard you talking. The investigation is still going, is it?"
"Why the hell do you wanna know?" Tsukamoto asked in an irritated tone.
"Hey!" Seong tried to confront him, but Hasegawa raised his hand, gesturing to her to stop. She looked at him and he shook his head, then Seong pouted and backed away.
"I apologize if we caught you on a bad day, Tsukamoto-san. But to answer your question, it's because I've been interested in this case myself for a while now."
"Interested?" Tsukamoto repeated.
"I see. So I take it you're here now because you want to offer us a hand?" He nodded at me and I stared at him with eyes of suspicion. "But why help us? This is only between our class and their class. What is it that you want to gain from this?"
"Nothing. All I want to do is help you end this before it gets any worse. No more, no less." I remained silent, continuing to stare at him. "Horikita-san, I understand that you're cautious of Ji-Young-san and I. After all, we're rival classes, and we just showed up out of nowhere. But I truly mean what I said."
After listening to his explanation, I remained silent and thought to myself as I continued to stare at him. On one hand, it would be good to gain more help. People like Hasegawa and Seong may be able to find something that we can't. However, on the other hand, there were risks when allying with another class. There was the chance of betrayal, sabotage, and much worse.
"Horikita-san, what do you think?" asked Karuizawa.
"...Before I say anymore, there is one question I'd like to ask."
"What is it?" he said.
"If you're interested in this case, what do you think about it? I would like to hear from an outsider's perspective," I said.
Hasegawa placed his hand to his chin. "Well, from what I've heard, Tsukamoto had allegedly fought and beat three students from Class C, injuring them. But in my opinion, I don't believe the whole story. The complaint filed by Class C was weak-it had far too many holes in it. The injuries, the number of people, and how the location of the fight was in a secluded part of the special building. It doesn't make much sense."
"I see..." I placed my hand to my chin and thought about it for a moment. Hasegawa-kun and Seong-san, and Class B. I suppose they can be trusted... I sighed. "Alright. But if you're willing to help, I want to know that we're almost out of time, and we have nothing right now."
"There's no need to worry about that," he said.
"While you were conducting your investigation, our class conducted our own investigation on the case," said Seong.
"You did?" I said, surprised.
Seong nodded. "Like you, we searched for information regarding the fight. We started off by placing papers near the bulletin board, asking for anyone who could offer to share information with us in exchange for Private Points."
"It was you?" asked Karuizawa.
She nodded. "It was Hasegawa-kun's idea. Seeing that many people would do so much for Private Points, he offered to pay it if anyone could give him information about the fight."
"Did you manage to find anything?" I asked.
"We did."
"Really?!" Tsukamoto leaped out of his chair with his face lit up.
"According to the informant, besides Tsukamoto-san and the three Class C students, there was someone else inside the special building. The informant told me they saw them inside around the same time the fight started. And shortly after, they came running out with a panicked look on their face."
"Which means..."
Hasegawa and Seong nodded. "There was a witness."
A witness. After all this time, after so many futile attempts with our searches, we had finally found a witness. And it was all thanks to Hasegawa and Seong from Class B.
"T-This is good, right?" Tsukamoto said, talking directly to me.
"Yes, it is," I said. "Hasegawa-kun, if I may ask, who is it?"
"You may be surprised." Hasegawa pulled out his phone and showed it to me. On the screen, it showed the OAA app, which showed the picture of said witness.
"It's them...?" I muttered to myself.
"It seems so."
Hasegawa pulled his phone away from us and I sighed. "A witness. And one who was so close to us. I have to thank you, Hasegawa-kun, Seong-san. If it weren't for you, I don't know how else we would've figured it out."
"It's no problem." Seong nodded, agreeing with Hasegawa. "Well, that's all we wanted to talk about. I hope it goes well for you, Horikita-san. Ji-Young-san and I will be leaving now. Later." Hasegawa and Seong both left, waving goodbye.
"Horikita," Furukawa called my name.
"Yes. It's time to talk to our witness."