Comparar texto

Encontre a diferença entre dois arquivos de texto

Real-time diff

Unified diff

Collapse lines

Highlight change

Syntax highlighting

Ferramentas

Comparing sensitive data, confidential files or internal emails?

Most legal and privacy policies prohibit uploading sensitive data online. Diffchecker Desktop ensures your confidential information never leaves your computer. Work offline and compare documents securely.

Download Diffchecker Desktop Learn more

Classroom of the Elite Vol.7 Chap 2 OLD vs. NEW

Created 4 years agoDiff never expires

57 removals

200 lines

38 additions

174 lines

Chapter 2:

The Sound of Footsteps in the Middle of Winter

WE WERE HALFWAY through December, and it was suddenly freezing cold. More and more students donned scarves, gloves, and long socks. Clouds hung low in the sky. It looked like it was going to snow.

WE WERE HALFWAY THROUGH December, and it was suddenly freezing cold. More and more students donned scarves, gloves, and long socks. Clouds hung low in the sky. It looked like it was going to snow.

Come to think of it, I’d never seen snow before. I’d watched it on television and read about it in books, but never touched it, never felt the sensation of it on my skin. I decided I’d like to experience it.

Yukimura Keisei, Hasebe Haruka, Sakura Airi, and myself—all members of Class D—met up at Keyaki Mall after class. (Keisei’s real name was “Teruhiko,” but we’d started calling him Keisei in accordance with his wishes.) Their faces were becoming a familiar sight to me. We’d grown close of late, and now met regularly just to talk, without any specific purpose in mind.

Sometimes we hung out for over two hours, and other times, we split after only thirty minutes. They were a casual, easygoing group who came and went as they pleased. We did often hang out together after class on Fridays, because our currently absent fifth group member, Miyake Akito, had a situation to contend with.

“I really thought Class C would’ve tried something else by now. Those questions they gave us weren’t easy at all,” said Keisei, just as some Class C girls happened to pass by.

“Class C doesn’t seem any more capable of studying than us,” Haruka answered, eyes on her phone. “Miyacchi says he’ll be here soon. Sounds like he just left his club.”

She was texting the very person we were waiting on. Akito was the only group member who belonged to a club, and couldn’t hang out with us immediately after class.

“But it’s good that we made it through this exam, isn’t it? Besides, I don’t want to see someone expelled, even if they’re from another class,” said Airi. She didn’t have the stomach for cruelty.

“Well, yeah. I get that you want to get along, but that’s kind of hard, with how this school is designed. Rising in the ranks means kicking another class down,” said Haruka.

“Exactly,” said Keisei, sounding impressed. “I understand what you mean, Airi, but it’s eat or be eaten at this school. I don’t want us to be eaten.”

“I suppose,” Airi replied, disheartened.

“Well, wait a minute. What if, after the final exam, all four classes had the exact same number of class points? Then everyone could graduate from Class A… Just kidding. That’ll never happen,” said Haruka.

“I think that’d be wonderful, though,” said Airi.

“Unfortunately, it’s impossible,” said Keisei.

“How can you be sure?”

“I’ve heard the upperclassmen talk about it. If all the classes happened to have equal points after the final exam, the school would hold an additional special exam to determine our rankings,” he said.

“What kind of exam?”

“Who knows? I’ve only heard rumors. Apparently, it’s never happened before.”

“I still think it’s an interesting idea, though,” said Haruka.

“So, only one class can be A in the end, huh?” asked Akito, arriving to join us.

“Hey, Miyacchi. How did practice go today?” asked Haruka.

“How did what go?”

“You know. How did you handle your bow or whatever?”

“Like normal. Not really great, not really bad. You don’t have to pretend to be interested,” said Akito.

“Come on, isn’t it nice to ask? We’re just having a casual conversation between friends, right?”

“Well, do you know anything about archery?” asked Akito. He sat down, looking somewhat suspicious of Haruka.

“You just hit the target with your bow, right?”

“No…but I guess you have the general idea. Just forget about it.”

“Well, how do I put this? It’s not like I have any interest in archery myself. I never have. I just want to know what youthful missteps led you to care about it, you know?” replied Haruka.

“Yeah. Come to think of it, why archery? It’s not like this school’s archery club is legendary or anything, right?” asked Keisei.

“Back in junior high, an upperclassman I was friends with belonged to the archery club. So, I thought I’d give it a shot. That’s all there was to it. No particularly deep reason,” said Akito.

“Ah, so this other student made you want to join?” Airi chimed in more and more often these days. It was a welcome sight, if a surprising one.

“Airi, you have a digital camera, right? That’s a fad these days, huh? I suppose I understand why you prefer something like photography,” said Haruka.

“What, like posting pictures to Instagram and stuff? That’s more of a girls’ hobby, I guess. I don’t quite get it,” said Keisei.

“What, like posting pictures to Instagram and stuff? That’s more of a girls’ hobby, I guess. I don’t quite get it,” said Keisei. He sounded critical.

“Hey, that’s sexist,” said Haruka. “There’re lots of dudes on the ’gram these days, you know.”

“Really? I don’t think it’s a good idea to make your personal information public like that.”

“What about you, Kiyotaka? Are you into photography?”

“No. I don’t know anything about it,” I replied.

After all, at this school, you couldn’t communicate with the outside world at all. The only people who’d see you on social media would be other students.

“Kiyopon doesn’t really look the type. Actually, if he used Instagram, I’d be super surprised. Are you secretly the sort of person who impulsively snaps a photo when you’re out partying, or at the pool at night?” Haruka asked me. “Or when you have an ice cream in hand and make, like, a cute face… You ever do anything like that?”

“No.” I didn’t want her to picture me doing anything of the sort. “Do you use it, then? Instagram?”

“Not at all. It’s a pain, and I don’t like putting myself on display,” she replied.

“I’m with you,” said Keisei.

Airi was quiet, but she looked hurt by their dismissal. Although she was taking a break from it at the moment, her hobby was posing for pictures and uploading them to the internet.

“Well, it’s pretty popular worldwide. It’s not that strange a hobby,” I said. I didn’t want to depress Airi. She probably intended to hide her true feelings, but it was obvious that she cared what I said. She always reacted when I helped her, and Haruka and the others immediately noticed it, too.

“Well, I’m not the person to ask about what’s cool these days. I apologize to anyone who happens to like Instagram and stuff like that,” said Haruka.

“Just because it’s not for me doesn’t mean I should dismiss something other people like out of hand. That’s on me. I didn’t think it through,” Keisei apologized to Airi.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Airi patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sorry to change the topic, but I was wondering about something,” said Akito as the discussion calmed down. He sounded slightly irritated. “Doesn’t Class C seem strange lately?”

“Class C? They’re always strange. What’re you talking about?” Haruka tilted her head to the side.

I knew what Akito referred to. He was describing the people who’d followed us over the past few days. Even now, one watched us from his hiding place: Komiya, a Class C student and one of Ryuuen’s henchmen. He was undoubtedly monitoring our group, but sat just far enough away to be able to deny it. We would risk being labeled the aggressors if we confronted him. Akito understood that we still didn’t have any solid proof.

I knew what Akito referred to. He was describing the people who’d followed us over the past few days. Even now, one watched us from his hiding place: Komiya, a Class C student and one of Ryuuen’s henchmen. He was undoubtedly monitoring our group, but sat just far enough away to be able to deny it as a coincidence. We would risk being labeled the aggressors if we confronted him. Akito understood that we still didn’t have any solid proof.

More importantly, another person was currently watching our group. Someone Akito hadn’t noticed yet.

“During our study sessions, those Class C students came over and messed with us, right?” he asked.

“You mean Ryuuen-kun and Shiina-san? It’s them again?”

“Well, they sent different people this time around. Komiya and Ishizaki showed up today at archery club. They said they came to observe, which the upperclassmen readily accepted. But they just glared at me the entire time,” said Akito.

So, Komiya was following Akito, then? Ishizaki was probably no longer accompanying him to avoid getting too conspicuous. Of all of us, Akito was clearly the most bothered by Ryuuen’s surveillance.

“Maybe they’re interested in the club?” asked Airi, who couldn’t possibly know Ryuuen’s plots.

“That’d be nice if it were true. But it doesn’t seem like it,” said Akito. He rotated his arms, as if his shoulders were stiff.

Ryuuen was continuing to pressure us, and lately, he’d turned up the heat. I could almost hear his bold laughter, hear him say, “Sooner or later, you’ll give way.”

“Did they do anything to you? Like heckle you, or sneeze to distract you when you were shooting? Or throw rocks at you?” asked Haruka.

“They couldn’t do anything of the sort in front of the coaches or senior students, obviously. They left around the time practice ended,” said Akito.

Although nothing had really changed for me personally, Ryuuen and his cronies had clearly marked us since the last exam. I had to assume they marked Karuizawa, too. They’d probably narrowed down their list to a few prime suspects by now—and I was sure that included me. One final piece of decisive evidence would lead them to conclude that I was the one they were after, and Karuizawa Kei could give them that evidence.

The fact that Ryuuen was treading lightly was proof that he thought about this very carefully. How would he go about finding his puzzle’s final pieces?

The fact that Ryuuen was treading lightly was proof that he thought about this very carefully. How would he go about finding his puzzle’s final pieces? If I examined his movements thus far, it wasn’t hard to guess what he might do. It was a matter of “when,” not “if.”

As I pondered that, Akito and the others continued talking. Keisei offered his thoughts about why Class C was bothering us.

“Maybe it has something to do with Class D’s growth. We had zero points shortly after we started school, but now we’re within arm’s reach of Class C. Factor in the Paper Shuffle test’s results, and there’s a chance we might overtake Class C by our third semester. They should be panicking,” he reasoned.

“You’re right. We’re going to overtake them. Us, the same people they’ve been making fun of!”

“But…that shouldn’t be possible, right?” asked Airi, clearly thinking back to when our class point totals were announced.

“Correct,” Keisei said. “When the school announced the class point totals at the start of December, Class D had 262 points, and Class C had 542. There was a 280-point gap.”

Class D had faced off against Class C in the Paper Shuffle, and won decisively. One hundred points were transferred from C to D, letting us close the gap by two hundred points total. The difference between Class D and Class C was now a measly eighty points.

Class C was currently in the lead. However, something unrelated to the exam was brewing in Class C.

“It seems that Class C did something to severely violate the rules. The school’s keeping the details hush-hush, but Class C had a hundred points docked.”

“I wonder what they did? Sounds like a very Class C thing, though.” Haruka seemed amused…not that Class D had any room to talk. We’d managed to lose a thousand class points within a month of starting school.

“Well, whatever the reason, their internal conflict’s doing some real damage. If things continue this way, our class might be promoted after winter vacation,” Keisei said, though he didn’t sound cocky.

“Is that why Class C started messing with Miyacchi?” asked Haruka.

“I think it’s likely.”

“I think it’s likely,” Keisei replied.

From Ryuuen’s perspective as Class C’s leader, being demoted had to suck. He was probably looking for a weakness in Class D that he could exploit to help him maintain his position. At least, that was consistent with his previous actions.

“Classes trading places, disruptive as it may be, is inevitable given the way the school works. But I think it’s also something that doesn’t happen often. Class D’s growth after its initial severe fall has to be making Class C panic. It’s only natural that they want to ascertain the reason for our growth.”

“Ryuuen-kun acts all high and mighty, but he’s still their leader. His reputation’s gonna hit rock-bottom if we overtake them.”

“I suppose I understand his desperation,” said Akito, sounding pleased by the thought.

“I suppose I understand his desperation,” said Akito, sounding pleased by the thought of Ryuuen’s pride taking a hit.

“Still…Class D hasn’t really changed that much, has it? I mean, we closed the gap, but why? Is it because Class C fumbled?”

“We beat all the other classes during the island exam. Ryuuen defeated us on the zodiac test, but we made a comeback in the Paper Shuffle. Meanwhile, Class C have been using their class points willy-nilly, haven’t they?” Keisei pointed out.

It was certainly true that most of the students in our class simply faced the exams they were presented with, oblivious to the battles that went on behind the scenes. It was understandable that they wouldn’t know exactly why the gap between our classes had shrunk.

“So, in other words… C Class is self-destructing?”

“You could see it like that. Their recent rule violation was certainly self-destructive.”

The special exam on the uninhabited island had been conducted right at the start of our summer vacation. Each class had been allocated 300 points for their own use during the exam, and we had to use those points we were given over a period of one week to clear the test. Then, whatever points we had remaining were added to our class point total after the exam ended. Each class, D included, did everything they could to have at least one point remaining, but like Haruka had said, C Class had quickly spent all 300 points they had.

“Is that why D Class was able to close the gap by that much?”

Even though there were certainly many twists and turns along the way for D Class, we had successfully managed to save 225 points.

“That’s probably it. Besides, I have to wonder if Class C even did anything to try and counter us. It did look like they really enjoyed their vacation, though. I might be a little bit jealous that they didn’t really know what we had to endure.”

“Ryuuen’s just reckless. He’s an idiotic child who thinks that doing the unexpected somehow makes him cool. That’s why it doesn’t mean anything to him if his class loses.”

From Keisei’s fiercely logical perspective, spending class points haphazardly must’ve seemed completely incomprehensible. However, Ryuuen hadn’t wasted the points he received. He hadn’t just used all his points, either—he’d also handed all of Class C’s stuff over to Class A during the island challenge, including their toilets, tents, and excess rations. He certainly didn’t do that out of the goodness of his heart. Intangible properties like trust or friendship meant nothing to Ryuuen; if he’d helped Class A, it was because he got something in exchange, most likely private points.

“Ryuuen’s just reckless. He’s an idiotic child who thinks that doing the unexpected somehow makes him cool. That’s why it doesn’t mean anything to him if his class loses.”

There were only a few students who knew the truth. And Keisei seemed like he belonged to the group of people who didn’t know.

“Wow, must be nice to be a boy,” said Haruka. “You guys have it so easy. Don’t you think so, Airi?”

“Y-yeah. A lot of the girls had it real bad on the island during that time of the month. If it had gone on much longer, I think I might’ve been in trouble too,” Airi whispered, her cheeks red.

“Why would you have been in trouble if the test continued?” asked Keisei, who clearly didn’t know the first thing about how women’s bodies worked.

“W-well, that’s…” Airi averted her eyes.

“W-well, that’s…” Airi, unable to tell him anything about the time of the month all girls went through, averted her eyes.

“You know what, Yukimuu? It’s cute how dumb you can be, but you really need to know when to shut up. Get it?” Haruka shot back at Keisei.

“You know what, Yukimuu? It’s cute how dumb you can be, but you really need to know when to shut up. Get it?” Haruka shot back scathingly at Keisei.

“What do you mean?”

Desperate for this to end, Akito gently tapped Keisei on the shoulder. “People have a lot of problems, dude,” he said.

“I don’t have a single clue what you’re getting at. What do you mean, ‘a lot of problems’?” Keisei, ever the dogged pursuer of knowledge, was desperate to uncover what he was missing.

Akito changed the subject. “Class D won because Horikita saw through Ryuuen’s strategy, right?” He looked to me for acknowledgement.

I nodded. “If she hadn’t done that, we would’ve lost.”

“All Class C did was party. They pretended they had to retire, but why did Ryuuen-kun stay on the island? He’s their leader. Shouldn’t they have left someone less conspicuous behind?” Haruka’s reasoning wasn’t totally off-base, but anyone could’ve been nominated as leader for the purposes of that test. There had been no way to rule out the possibility of another, more inconspicuous Class C student hiding in the shadows.

“Hey, Kiyotaka, tell us the information you got from Horikita,” said Keisei, a serious expression on his face.

“What’re you talking about?”

“What’s Ryuuen thinking and planning? After everything that happened during the sports festival and Paper Shuffle, we really need to work together as a class from now on.”

“I agree. It really creeps me out, being followed by Ishizaki and those guys,” said Akito.

It seemed they were starting to realize that cooperation was more important now than ever before. Even Akito and Haruka, who didn’t normally pay much attention to our class’s problems, seemed to be on board.

“I can only tell you what I’ve heard secondhand, but…” I started.

I wanted to suggest calling Horikita, but Keisei spoke up. “That’s fine. Just tell us what you know,” he said.

The four of them stared at me. It was a lot of pressure. “All right. Well, don’t blame me if I get something wrong.”

With that disclaimer out of the way, I explained what had happened on the island, starting from the very beginning. The moves I described were mine, of course, but the official story credited them to Horikita.

I told them how Ryuuen had used a radio to communicate with a spy while he hid somewhere on the island. About how, in addition to Ibuki, other spies had infiltrated the other classes. About how Ryuuen had been obsessed with Horikita ever since the exam on the cruise ship. I told them about the strategy Ryuuen used on the ship, and how he won, but I hid the fact that he’d planned to crush Horikita in the sports festival. I said nothing about Kushida’s betrayal, either.

“That’s generally how it went down. It’s not really any different from what you guys already know, Keisei,” I told them.

Keisei crossed his arms, seemingly deep in thought. “Then, like Haruka said, why did Ryuuen stay behind on the island?” he asked.

“Horikita thinks it’s because Ryuuen doesn’t trust anyone,” I said. “That seems as if it’s the likeliest answer. I mean, gathering intel on other classes while learning their leaders’ identities probably seemed like too important a job for him to trust another student with, right?”

You would’ve had to issue commands to your spy, exercise deductive reasoning, and have the endurance to survive on the island for a few days with only the bare necessities. It wasn’t far-fetched to think that Ryuuen was the only person in Class C capable of pulling it off.

You would’ve had to issue commands to your spy, exercise deductive reasoning, and have the endurance to survive on the island for a few days with only the bare necessities. Though I didn’t say that part aloud, it also had to be someone who had a connection with A Class and could work with them. It wasn’t far-fetched to think that Ryuuen was the only person in Class C capable of pulling it off.

If the leaders had been nominated after everyone had gathered, then Ryuuen would probably have had a different strategy. However, the manual that was distributed out to us on the uninhabited island clearly stated that the nominations would be held immediately after our roll call on the final day. In other words, it was done before each class had assembled. Ryuuen probably went with that strategy he did because he saw that.

Keisei and the others mulled it over.

“Just as I’ve come to expect of Horikita. I could never think that far ahead.”

“We had all that trouble with rations and sanitation, someone burned our manual, and someone’s underwear even got stolen. Class D was in complete shambles. We didn’t have the time or energy to conduct reconnaissance on other classes,” said Akito.

“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?” Keisei agreed.

“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”

“Horikita-san is amazing. To think she figured out all that stuff,” said Airi, sounding genuinely impressed.

“Horikita-san is amazing.”

“She really is. To think she figured out all that stuff,” said Airi, sounding genuinely impressed.

“Considering how she saw through Ryuuen-kun’s strategy, I understand why they have it out for her.”

“But why come spy on me during archery club? That’s not normal, right?” asked Akito.

“In fact, it looks like they’re still trying to get in our way, even now.” Rather than deny it, I decided to just tell them how things were.

“It seemed like there was some kind of dispute between people in the same group during the zodiac test, too.”

“I suppose I can understand what happened on the island and the cruise ship. But why come all the way to spy on me during archery club? That’s not normal, right?” asked Akito.

He had a point. If Horikita was Class C’s main target, why waste time tailing all of us?

“They might be trying to find weak links in Class D,” I said. “After all, it doesn’t seem like Horikita has any weaknesses they can exploit. Maybe their plan is to destroy those around her.”

“I suppose.”

“Wow, Kiyopon’s girlfriend is really incredible,” teased Haruka.

“Don’t call her my girlfriend.”

“Y-yeah. I think that’s rude to Kiyotaka-kun,” said Airi.

“Ah ha ha! Sorry, sorry.”

It was also frankly insulting to Horikita to pair her up with someone like me. Sudou would blow his top if he even heard Haruka joke about it.

“Even if she isn’t your girlfriend, don’t you like her?” asked Haruka. “Or have you already got a girlfriend?”

“I don’t really like her, and I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“I see. Then I guess that settles it. We’re all going to be lonely this year.”

“Lonely?”

“Look around. It’s almost Christmas, isn’t it?” Haruka whispered. She had a point. The mall was so festooned with Christmas decorations that it was hard to believe we were on a school campus. Happy couples walked past where we sat.

“It’s not that special a day, right?” said Keisei. “It’s just like any other.”

“That might be the case for you, Yukimuu, but it’s important to us girls,” Haruka replied.

“R-rumors might go around.”

“Yeah, yeah. Stuff like who’s dating, and who isn’t. Or who spent the night together, and who didn’t. You know? Even if you’re just single because you like being alone, they’ll pity you,” said Haruka.

“We’re first-year high school students. Our priority should be our studies,” Keisei insisted.

“What, so you’ve never, ever thought even a little bit about dating? You’re blushing.”

“Shut up.”

“This mango juice is way too sweet. Whew,” said Akito, handing me the cup while pretending to vomit.

“But it’s so good!” said Haruka, sounding shocked. “Anyway, I think a bunch of stuff is going to happen in Class D over winter break. Just my two cents.”

“You mean like people asking each other out?” Airi inquired.

“Probably. If couples go out, other couples are going to break up. A lot can happen at Christmas, after all.” Haruka nodded sagely, as if she’d spent a lot of time observing the battlefield of relationships.

“Putting aside who might start dating, what about who might break up? The only couple in Class D is Hirata and Karuizawa, right?” Akito clutched his throat while talking, as if the mango juice’s sweetness was throttling him. It was super sweet.

“Love can bloom anywhere, Miyacchi. It’s not as though your only romantic options are the people in our class. If there’s a girl you like, you gotta make a move before someone snatches her up,” said Haruka.

“Sadly, archery is my only love,” said Akito.

“Dude, that’s so lame. You’re not even all that passionate about it. Super uncool.”

“Shut up!” he averted his eyes as if embarrassed. “Anyway, I’m not taking time off from club activities during winter break. I suppose it might be a different story if I had a girlfriend, but I don’t.”

“So, you would like to get a girlfriend?” asked Haruka. She mimed holding a microphone up to Akito’s mouth.

“I mean, I’m not going to broadcast it to the world like Ike and those other guys, but I imagine both guys and girls want the same things, right?”

“Well, if my ideal guy’s out there, I’d love to find him. What’ll you do if a girl says she likes you, Yukimuu?” Haruka pressed.

“What’ll I do? It’d depend on the relationship I had with that girl, I guess.”

“Oh, so you wouldn’t date her just because she was cute? I see, I see. You’re quite the serious little boy,” she teased.

“Knock it off.”

“Kiyotaka-kun, do you have any plans for Ch-Christmas?” asked Airi.

“Whoa, Airi. Does that mean you’re inviting Kiyopon on a date? So bold!” Haruka exclaimed.

“Th-that’s—I mean—that’s not what I mean! I’m not asking that!”

“What else could it be, then? Kiyopon just said that he didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“That’s not what I was getting at. It’s only… I mean… Well, I wanted to know what his plans were. It’s just that I’m curious about what you want to do, when you spend Christmas all alone,” said Airi.

“Hmm, that makes sense. Miyacchi probably has club stuff, but what about you, Yukimuu? What are you up to during Christmas?”

“I’ll be studying,” Keisei answered. “If the school promotes us to Class C in the third semester as planned, we have to switch from climbing the ladder to holding our position. We don’t have all that many academically skilled students in our class, so I’d like to stay ahead.” So, he wanted to contribute his strongest talents to the class. He seemed to have grown more confident after tutoring Haruka and Akito.

“I don’t know how much I can help on the academic front. I’ll leave that to you, Keisei,” Akito said.

“That’s fine, but even if we manage to graduate from Class A, you should try to do better in your studies. Those academic scores will follow you through life.”

“That’s fine, but even if we manage to graduate from Class A, you should try to do better in your studies. Those academic scores will follow you t

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll slide right back down if I start slacking off now.”

“You can’t slack off and graduate from Class A, anyway.”

“What about Airi’s question, Kiyopon? Are you going to be alone on Christmas?” Haruka asked.

“Yep. I’m not doing anything special. I’ll probably spend the day quietly in my room.”

“Heh. Hee hee!” Airi chuckled to herself. She tried frantically to stifle her laughter, but failed.

“Is something funny?” asked Haruka.

“S-sorry. No, it’s just… Well, I’m having fun. I’m having so much fun I started to laugh.”

“You’re laughing because you’re having fun?” Haruka and the others looked as though they couldn’t quite understand. I looked too, noticing tears welling in Airi’s eyes.

“It’s just that I’ve never had such a fun time before. I’m really happy,” she answered, revealing her heart to us.

“Seriously? We’re just talking about stupid stuff.”

“That’s fine with me. I like talking about stupid stuff,” Airi replied.

“Well, I don’t really get it, but I’m glad. I’m having fun too,” Haruka concluded.

Our conversation topic switched again.

“Since we’re all here now, why don’t we grab dinner together before heading back?”

Everyone was down with that. As we started to head out, I spoke up. “Hey, I’m going to use the bathroom quick. You guys mind going on ahead?”

“We’ll just wait here.”

“Nah, it’ll be really crowded at this time of day. It’d probably be faster if you got in line. Save me a seat.”

Convinced, everyone headed toward Keyaki Mall’s restaurant. Komiya followed them. I watched them leave, then headed in the opposite direction from the bathroom, approaching a girl who’d sat by herself while my group chatted.

“Can I have a minute?” I asked.

The girl was Kamuro, from Class A. She messed with her phone as if she hadn’t noticed my presence.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” I said again.

“Huh? Me? What?”

I took a chair next to Kamuro. You could’ve cut the tension in the air with a knife.

“You’ve been following me. What do you want?” I asked.

“Hmm? What’re you talking about?”

“I saw you after class yesterday. Two days ago at Keyaki Mall. Four days ago at Keyaki Mall. Six days ago after class. Seven days ago after class. You were always there. That’s quite a string of coincidences, isn’t it?” I asked. On my phone’s screen, I showed her several pictures I’d taken of her spying.

“That’s… But when…?”

“You were trying to be discreet, so you couldn’t exactly meet my eyes when I looked in your direction. No wonder you didn’t notice me taking pictures of you.”

“Well, so what if I’m following you? Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not especially. It’s not hurting me or anything. I’m not going to tell you to stop, either.”

“Exactly. This is just a coincidence.”

“But I have to wonder…what will your boss think when she finds out about this?” I asked.

“Boss? What’re you talking about? You’ve been watching way too many movies.”

“Then I suppose I’ll report this to Sakayanagi. I’ll tell her you’re not really very good at tailing me.”

“Wait a minute,” said Kamuro, grabbing my arm as I stood up.

“You’re devoted, aren’t you?” I asked. “To Sakayanagi, I mean. She asked you to tail me day after day, and here you are, still doing your job. You must be close to her.”

“Don’t give me that. I’m nobody’s lackey.”

“There’s really no need for you to lie. You’re spending your precious time doing something as boring as tailing me, and you’re doing it precisely because you trust and respect Sakayanagi.”

“Absolutely not. I’d honestly never speak to her again if I could,” Kamuro spat.

“Then why do you follow her orders?”

“Does it matter?”

“If you’re not doing it out of goodwill, then it must be because she’s got s

Diffs salvos

Texto original

Open file

Chapter 2:
The Sound of Footsteps in the Middle of Winter
 
WE WERE HALFWAY through December, and it was suddenly freezing cold. More and more students donned scarves, gloves, and long socks. Clouds hung low in the sky. It looked like it was going to snow.
Come to think of it, I’d never seen snow before. I’d watched it on television and read about it in books, but never touched it, never felt the sensation of it on my skin. I decided I’d like to experience it.
Yukimura Keisei, Hasebe Haruka, Sakura Airi, and myself—all members of Class D—met up at Keyaki Mall after class. (Keisei’s real name was “Teruhiko,” but we’d started calling him Keisei in accordance with his wishes.) Their faces were becoming a familiar sight to me. We’d grown close of late, and now met regularly just to talk, without any specific purpose in mind.
Sometimes we hung out for over two hours, and other times, we split after only thirty minutes. They were a casual, easygoing group who came and went as they pleased. We did often hang out together after class on Fridays, because our currently absent fifth group member, Miyake Akito, had a situation to contend with.
“I really thought Class C would’ve tried something else by now. Those questions they gave us weren’t easy at all,” said Keisei, just as some Class C girls happened to pass by.
“Class C doesn’t seem any more capable of studying than us,” Haruka answered, eyes on her phone. “Miyacchi says he’ll be here soon. Sounds like he just left his club.”
She was texting the very person we were waiting on. Akito was the only group member who belonged to a club, and couldn’t hang out with us immediately after class.
“But it’s good that we made it through this exam, isn’t it? Besides, I don’t want to see someone expelled, even if they’re from another class,” said Airi. She didn’t have the stomach for cruelty.
“Well, yeah. I get that you want to get along, but that’s kind of hard, with how this school is designed. Rising in the ranks means kicking another class down,” said Haruka.
“Exactly,” said Keisei, sounding impressed. “I understand what you mean, Airi, but it’s eat or be eaten at this school. I don’t want us to be eaten.”
“I suppose,” Airi replied, disheartened.
“Well, wait a minute. What if, after the final exam, all four classes had the exact same number of class points? Then everyone could graduate from Class A… Just kidding. That’ll never happen,” said Haruka.
“I think that’d be wonderful, though,” said Airi.
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible,” said Keisei.
“How can you be sure?”
“I’ve heard the upperclassmen talk about it. If all the classes happened to have equal points after the final exam, the school would hold an additional special exam to determine our rankings,” he said.
“What kind of exam?”
“Who knows? I’ve only heard rumors. Apparently, it’s never happened before.”
“I still think it’s an interesting idea, though,” said Haruka.
“So, only one class can be A in the end, huh?” asked Akito, arriving to join us.
“Hey, Miyacchi. How did practice go today?” asked Haruka.
“How did what go?”
“You know. How did you handle your bow or whatever?”
“Like normal. Not really great, not really bad. You don’t have to pretend to be interested,” said Akito.
“Come on, isn’t it nice to ask? We’re just having a casual conversation between friends, right?”
“Well, do you know anything about archery?” asked Akito. He sat down, looking somewhat suspicious of Haruka.
“You just hit the target with your bow, right?”
“No…but I guess you have the general idea. Just forget about it.”
“Well, how do I put this? It’s not like I have any interest in archery myself. I never have. I just want to know what youthful missteps led you to care about it, you know?” replied Haruka.
“Yeah. Come to think of it, why archery? It’s not like this school’s archery club is legendary or anything, right?” asked Keisei.
“Back in junior high, an upperclassman I was friends with belonged to the archery club. So, I thought I’d give it a shot. That’s all there was to it. No particularly deep reason,” said Akito.
“Ah, so this other student made you want to join?” Airi chimed in more and more often these days. It was a welcome sight, if a surprising one.
“Airi, you have a digital camera, right? That’s a fad these days, huh? I suppose I understand why you prefer something like photography,” said Haruka.
“What, like posting pictures to Instagram and stuff? That’s more of a girls’ hobby, I guess. I don’t quite get it,” said Keisei.
“Hey, that’s sexist,” said Haruka. “There’re lots of dudes on the ’gram these days, you know.”
“Really? I don’t think it’s a good idea to make your personal information public like that.”
“What about you, Kiyotaka? Are you into photography?”
“No. I don’t know anything about it,” I replied.
After all, at this school, you couldn’t communicate with the outside world at all. The only people who’d see you on social media would be other students.
“Kiyopon doesn’t really look the type. Actually, if he used Instagram, I’d be super surprised. Are you secretly the sort of person who impulsively snaps a photo when you’re out partying, or at the pool at night?” Haruka asked me. “Or when you have an ice cream in hand and make, like, a cute face… You ever do anything like that?”
“No.” I didn’t want her to picture me doing anything of the sort. “Do you use it, then? Instagram?”
“Not at all. It’s a pain, and I don’t like putting myself on display,” she replied.
“I’m with you,” said Keisei.
Airi was quiet, but she looked hurt by their dismissal. Although she was taking a break from it at the moment, her hobby was posing for pictures and uploading them to the internet.
“Well, it’s pretty popular worldwide. It’s not that strange a hobby,” I said. I didn’t want to depress Airi. She probably intended to hide her true feelings, but it was obvious that she cared what I said. She always reacted when I helped her, and Haruka and the others immediately noticed it, too.
“Well, I’m not the person to ask about what’s cool these days. I apologize to anyone who happens to like Instagram and stuff like that,” said Haruka.
“Just because it’s not for me doesn’t mean I should dismiss something other people like out of hand. That’s on me. I didn’t think it through,” Keisei apologized to Airi.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry to change the topic, but I was wondering about something,” said Akito as the discussion calmed down. He sounded slightly irritated. “Doesn’t Class C seem strange lately?”
“Class C? They’re always strange. What’re you talking about?” Haruka tilted her head to the side.
I knew what Akito referred to. He was describing the people who’d followed us over the past few days. Even now, one watched us from his hiding place: Komiya, a Class C student and one of Ryuuen’s henchmen. He was undoubtedly monitoring our group, but sat just far enough away to be able to deny it. We would risk being labeled the aggressors if we confronted him. Akito understood that we still didn’t have any solid proof.
More importantly, another person was currently watching our group. Someone Akito hadn’t noticed yet.
“During our study sessions, those Class C students came over and messed with us, right?” he asked.
“You mean Ryuuen-kun and Shiina-san? It’s them again?”
“Well, they sent different people this time around. Komiya and Ishizaki showed up today at archery club. They said they came to observe, which the upperclassmen readily accepted. But they just glared at me the entire time,” said Akito.
So, Komiya was following Akito, then? Ishizaki was probably no longer accompanying him to avoid getting too conspicuous. Of all of us, Akito was clearly the most bothered by Ryuuen’s surveillance.
“Maybe they’re interested in the club?” asked Airi, who couldn’t possibly know Ryuuen’s plots.
“That’d be nice if it were true. But it doesn’t seem like it,” said Akito. He rotated his arms, as if his shoulders were stiff.
Ryuuen was continuing to pressure us, and lately, he’d turned up the heat. I could almost hear his bold laughter, hear him say, “Sooner or later, you’ll give way.”
“Did they do anything to you? Like heckle you, or sneeze to distract you when you were shooting? Or throw rocks at you?” asked Haruka.
“They couldn’t do anything of the sort in front of the coaches or senior students, obviously. They left around the time practice ended,” said Akito.
Although nothing had really changed for me personally, Ryuuen and his cronies had clearly marked us since the last exam. I had to assume they marked Karuizawa, too. They’d probably narrowed down their list to a few prime suspects by now—and I was sure that included me. One final piece of decisive evidence would lead them to conclude that I was the one they were after, and Karuizawa Kei could give them that evidence.
The fact that Ryuuen was treading lightly was proof that he thought about this very carefully. How would he go about finding his puzzle’s final pieces?
As I pondered that, Akito and the others continued talking. Keisei offered his thoughts about why Class C was bothering us.
“Maybe it has something to do with Class D’s growth. We had zero points shortly after we started school, but now we’re within arm’s reach of Class C. Factor in the Paper Shuffle test’s results, and there’s a chance we might overtake Class C by our third semester. They should be panicking,” he reasoned.
“You’re right. We’re going to overtake them. Us, the same people they’ve been making fun of!”
“But…that shouldn’t be possible, right?” asked Airi, clearly thinking back to when our class point totals were announced.
“Correct,” Keisei said. “When the school announced the class point totals at the start of December, Class D had 262 points, and Class C had 542. There was a 280-point gap.”
Class D had faced off against Class C in the Paper Shuffle, and won decisively. One hundred points were transferred from C to D, letting us close the gap by two hundred points total. The difference between Class D and Class C was now a measly eighty points.
Class C was currently in the lead. However, something unrelated to the exam was brewing in Class C.
“It seems that Class C did something to severely violate the rules. The school’s keeping the details hush-hush, but Class C had a hundred points docked.”
“I wonder what they did? Sounds like a very Class C thing, though.” Haruka seemed amused…not that Class D had any room to talk. We’d managed to lose a thousand class points within a month of starting school.
“Well, whatever the reason, their internal conflict’s doing some real damage. If things continue this way, our class might be promoted after winter vacation,” Keisei said, though he didn’t sound cocky.
“Is that why Class C started messing with Miyacchi?” asked Haruka.
“I think it’s likely.”
“Ryuuen-kun acts all high and mighty, but he’s still their leader. His reputation’s gonna hit rock-bottom if we overtake them.”
“I suppose I understand his desperation,” said Akito, sounding pleased by the thought.
“Still…Class D hasn’t really changed that much, has it? I mean, we closed the gap, but why? Is it because Class C fumbled?”
“We beat all the other classes during the island exam. Ryuuen defeated us on the zodiac test, but we made a comeback in the Paper Shuffle. Meanwhile, Class C have been using their class points willy-nilly, haven’t they?” Keisei pointed out.
From Keisei’s fiercely logical perspective, spending class points haphazardly must’ve seemed completely incomprehensible. However, Ryuuen hadn’t wasted the points he received. He hadn’t just used all his points, either—he’d also handed all of Class C’s stuff over to Class A during the island challenge, including their toilets, tents, and excess rations. He certainly didn’t do that out of the goodness of his heart. Intangible properties like trust or friendship meant nothing to Ryuuen; if he’d helped Class A, it was because he got something in exchange, most likely private points.
“Ryuuen’s just reckless. He’s an idiotic child who thinks that doing the unexpected somehow makes him cool. That’s why it doesn’t mean anything to him if his class loses.”
“Wow, must be nice to be a boy,” said Haruka. “You guys have it so easy. Don’t you think so, Airi?”
“Y-yeah. A lot of the girls had it real bad on the island during that time of the month. If it had gone on much longer, I think I might’ve been in trouble too,” Airi whispered, her cheeks red.
“Why would you have been in trouble if the test continued?” asked Keisei, who clearly didn’t know the first thing about how women’s bodies worked.
“W-well, that’s…” Airi averted her eyes.
“You know what, Yukimuu? It’s cute how dumb you can be, but you really need to know when to shut up. Get it?” Haruka shot back at Keisei.
“What do you mean?”
Desperate for this to end, Akito gently tapped Keisei on the shoulder. “People have a lot of problems, dude,” he said.
“I don’t have a single clue what you’re getting at. What do you mean, ‘a lot of problems’?” Keisei, ever the dogged pursuer of knowledge, was desperate to uncover what he was missing.
Akito changed the subject. “Class D won because Horikita saw through Ryuuen’s strategy, right?” He looked to me for acknowledgement.
I nodded. “If she hadn’t done that, we would’ve lost.”
“All Class C did was party. They pretended they had to retire, but why did Ryuuen-kun stay on the island? He’s their leader. Shouldn’t they have left someone less conspicuous behind?” Haruka’s reasoning wasn’t totally off-base, but anyone could’ve been nominated as leader for the purposes of that test. There had been no way to rule out the possibility of another, more inconspicuous Class C student hiding in the shadows.
“Hey, Kiyotaka, tell us the information you got from Horikita,” said Keisei, a serious expression on his face.
“What’re you talking about?”
“What’s Ryuuen thinking and planning? After everything that happened during the sports festival and Paper Shuffle, we really need to work together as a class from now on.”
“I agree. It really creeps me out, being followed by Ishizaki and those guys,” said Akito.
“I can only tell you what I’ve heard secondhand, but…” I started.
I wanted to suggest calling Horikita, but Keisei spoke up. “That’s fine. Just tell us what you know,” he said.
The four of them stared at me. It was a lot of pressure. “All right. Well, don’t blame me if I get something wrong.”
With that disclaimer out of the way, I explained what had happened on the island, starting from the very beginning. The moves I described were mine, of course, but the official story credited them to Horikita.
I told them how Ryuuen had used a radio to communicate with a spy while he hid somewhere on the island. About how, in addition to Ibuki, other spies had infiltrated the other classes. About how Ryuuen had been obsessed with Horikita ever since the exam on the cruise ship. I told them about the strategy Ryuuen used on the ship, and how he won, but I hid the fact that he’d planned to crush Horikita in the sports festival. I said nothing about Kushida’s betrayal, either.
Keisei crossed his arms, seemingly deep in thought. “Then, like Haruka said, why did Ryuuen stay behind on the island?” he asked.
“Horikita thinks it’s because Ryuuen doesn’t trust anyone,” I said. “That seems as if it’s the likeliest answer. I mean, gathering intel on other classes while learning their leaders’ identities probably seemed like too important a job for him to trust another student with, right?”
You would’ve had to issue commands to your spy, exercise deductive reasoning, and have the endurance to survive on the island for a few days with only the bare necessities. It wasn’t far-fetched to think that Ryuuen was the only person in Class C capable of pulling it off.
Keisei and the others mulled it over.
“Just as I’ve come to expect of Horikita. I could never think that far ahead.”
“We had all that trouble with rations and sanitation, someone burned our manual, and someone’s underwear even got stolen. Class D was in complete shambles. We didn’t have the time or energy to conduct reconnaissance on other classes,” said Akito.
“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?” Keisei agreed.
“Horikita-san is amazing. To think she figured out all that stuff,” said Airi, sounding genuinely impressed.
“Considering how she saw through Ryuuen-kun’s strategy, I understand why they have it out for her.”
“But why come spy on me during archery club? That’s not normal, right?” asked Akito.
He had a point. If Horikita was Class C’s main target, why waste time tailing all of us?
“They might be trying to find weak links in Class D,” I said. “After all, it doesn’t seem like Horikita has any weaknesses they can exploit. Maybe their plan is to destroy those around her.”
“I suppose.”
“Wow, Kiyopon’s girlfriend is really incredible,” teased Haruka.
“Don’t call her my girlfriend.”
“Y-yeah. I think that’s rude to Kiyotaka-kun,” said Airi.
“Ah ha ha! Sorry, sorry.”
It was also frankly insulting to Horikita to pair her up with someone like me. Sudou would blow his top if he even heard Haruka joke about it.
“Even if she isn’t your girlfriend, don’t you like her?” asked Haruka. “Or have you already got a girlfriend?”
“I don’t really like her, and I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I see. Then I guess that settles it. We’re all going to be lonely this year.”
“Lonely?”
“Look around. It’s almost Christmas, isn’t it?” Haruka whispered. She had a point. The mall was so festooned with Christmas decorations that it was hard to believe we were on a school campus. Happy couples walked past where we sat.
“It’s not that special a day, right?” said Keisei. “It’s just like any other.”
“That might be the case for you, Yukimuu, but it’s important to us girls,” Haruka replied.
“R-rumors might go around.”
“Yeah, yeah. Stuff like who’s dating, and who isn’t. Or who spent the night together, and who didn’t. You know? Even if you’re just single because you like being alone, they’ll pity you,” said Haruka.
“We’re first-year high school students. Our priority should be our studies,” Keisei insisted.
“What, so you’ve never, ever thought even a little bit about dating? You’re blushing.”
“Shut up.”
“This mango juice is way too sweet. Whew,” said Akito, handing me the cup while pretending to vomit.
“But it’s so good!” said Haruka, sounding shocked. “Anyway, I think a bunch of stuff is going to happen in Class D over winter break. Just my two cents.”
“You mean like people asking each other out?” Airi inquired.
“Probably. If couples go out, other couples are going to break up. A lot can happen at Christmas, after all.” Haruka nodded sagely, as if she’d spent a lot of time observing the battlefield of relationships.
“Putting aside who might start dating, what about who might break up? The only couple in Class D is Hirata and Karuizawa, right?” Akito clutched his throat while talking, as if the mango juice’s sweetness was throttling him. It was super sweet.
“Love can bloom anywhere, Miyacchi. It’s not as though your only romantic options are the people in our class. If there’s a girl you like, you gotta make a move before someone snatches her up,” said Haruka.
“Sadly, archery is my only love,” said Akito.
“Dude, that’s so lame. You’re not even all that passionate about it. Super uncool.”
“Shut up!” he averted his eyes as if embarrassed. “Anyway, I’m not taking time off from club activities during winter break. I suppose it might be a different story if I had a girlfriend, but I don’t.”
“So, you would like to get a girlfriend?” asked Haruka. She mimed holding a microphone up to Akito’s mouth.
“I mean, I’m not going to broadcast it to the world like Ike and those other guys, but I imagine both guys and girls want the same things, right?”
“Well, if my ideal guy’s out there, I’d love to find him. What’ll you do if a girl says she likes you, Yukimuu?” Haruka pressed.
“What’ll I do? It’d depend on the relationship I had with that girl, I guess.”
“Oh, so you wouldn’t date her just because she was cute? I see, I see. You’re quite the serious little boy,” she teased.
“Knock it off.”
“Kiyotaka-kun, do you have any plans for Ch-Christmas?” asked Airi.
“Whoa, Airi. Does that mean you’re inviting Kiyopon on a date? So bold!” Haruka exclaimed.
“Th-that’s—I mean—that’s not what I mean! I’m not asking that!”
“What else could it be, then? Kiyopon just said that he didn’t have a girlfriend.”
“That’s not what I was getting at. It’s only… I mean… Well, I wanted to know what his plans were. It’s just that I’m curious about what you want to do, when you spend Christmas all alone,” said Airi.
“Hmm, that makes sense. Miyacchi probably has club stuff, but what about you, Yukimuu? What are you up to during Christmas?”
“I’ll be studying,” Keisei answered. “If the school promotes us to Class C in the third semester as planned, we have to switch from climbing the ladder to holding our position. We don’t have all that many academically skilled students in our class, so I’d like to stay ahead.” So, he wanted to contribute his strongest talents to the class. He seemed to have grown more confident after tutoring Haruka and Akito.
“I don’t know how much I can help on the academic front. I’ll leave that to you, Keisei,” Akito said.
“That’s fine, but even if we manage to graduate from Class A, you should try to do better in your studies. Those academic scores will follow you through life.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll slide right back down if I start slacking off now.”
“You can’t slack off and graduate from Class A, anyway.”
“What about Airi’s question, Kiyopon? Are you going to be alone on Christmas?” Haruka asked.
“Yep. I’m not doing anything special. I’ll probably spend the day quietly in my room.”
“Heh. Hee hee!” Airi chuckled to herself. She tried frantically to stifle her laughter, but failed.
“Is something funny?” asked Haruka.
“S-sorry. No, it’s just… Well, I’m having fun. I’m having so much fun I started to laugh.”
“You’re laughing because you’re having fun?” Haruka and the others looked as though they couldn’t quite understand. I looked too, noticing tears welling in Airi’s eyes.
“It’s just that I’ve never had such a fun time before. I’m really happy,” she answered, revealing her heart to us.
“Seriously? We’re just talking about stupid stuff.”
“That’s fine with me. I like talking about stupid stuff,” Airi replied.
“Well, I don’t really get it, but I’m glad. I’m having fun too,” Haruka concluded.
Our conversation topic switched again.
“Since we’re all here now, why don’t we grab dinner together before heading back?”
Everyone was down with that. As we started to head out, I spoke up. “Hey, I’m going to use the bathroom quick. You guys mind going on ahead?”
“We’ll just wait here.”
“Nah, it’ll be really crowded at this time of day. It’d probably be faster if you got in line. Save me a seat.”
Convinced, everyone headed toward Keyaki Mall’s restaurant. Komiya followed them. I watched them leave, then headed in the opposite direction from the bathroom, approaching a girl who’d sat by herself while my group chatted.
“Can I have a minute?” I asked.
The girl was Kamuro, from Class A. She messed with her phone as if she hadn’t noticed my presence.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” I said again.
“Huh? Me? What?”
I took a chair next to Kamuro. You could’ve cut the tension in the air with a knife.
“You’ve been following me. What do you want?” I asked.
“Hmm? What’re you talking about?”
“I saw you after class yesterday. Two days ago at Keyaki Mall. Four days ago at Keyaki Mall. Six days ago after class. Seven days ago after class. You were always there. That’s quite a string of coincidences, isn’t it?” I asked. On my phone’s screen, I showed her several pictures I’d taken of her spying.
“That’s… But when…?”
“You were trying to be discreet, so you couldn’t exactly meet my eyes when I looked in your direction. No wonder you didn’t notice me taking pictures of you.”
“Well, so what if I’m following you? Do you have a problem with that?”
“Not especially. It’s not hurting me or anything. I’m not going to tell you to stop, either.”
“Exactly. This is just a coincidence.”
“But I have to wonder…what will your boss think when she finds out about this?” I asked.
“Boss? What’re you talking about? You’ve been watching way too many movies.”
“Then I suppose I’ll report this to Sakayanagi. I’ll tell her you’re not really very good at tailing me.”
“Wait a minute,” said Kamuro, grabbing my arm as I stood up.
“You’re devoted, aren’t you?” I asked. “To Sakayanagi, I mean. She asked you to tail me day after day, and here you are, still doing your job. You must be close to her.”
“Don’t give me that. I’m nobody’s lackey.”
“There’s really no need for you to lie. You’re spending your precious time doing something as boring as tailing me, and you’re doing it precisely because you trust and respect Sakayanagi.”
“Absolutely not. I’d honestly never speak to her again if I could,” Kamuro spat.
“Then why do you follow her orders?”
“Does it matter?”
“If you’re not doing it out of goodwill, then it must be because she’s got some dirt on you.”
“What’re you trying to say?”
“I’ll report your clumsy efforts to tail me to Sakayanagi. I’ll expose your inability to act on her behalf. Then that weakness of yours she’s exploiting will probably come back to bite you.”
“So, you’re threatening me, too?”
“Too,” huh? That just about confirmed that Sakayanagi was indeed using some weakness of Kamuro’s. She’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for my ploy.
“So, what’s your deal?” Kamuro demanded. “Why is Sakayanagi targeting you?”
“Who knows? I honestly have no clue,” I said.
“You’re the Class D student that Ryuuen’s looking for, aren’t you? That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“What’re you going to do about it?” I chose not to deny it. If Sakayanagi knew what I was doing, there was no point covering it up.
“You’re trying to threaten me, but I could give Ryuuen some friendly advice, if I felt like it,” Kamuro said.
“So, you’re threatening me in return, huh? In that case, how about this? Feel free to tail me as much as you like. I won’t say a word, and I won’t rat on you to Sakayanagi. In exchange, I want you to keep quiet. Don’t tell anyone other than Sakayanagi what you know about me.”
“So, those are your conditions?”
“I don’t think it’s a bad deal.”
“You’re right. I have no real interest in helping Ryuuen, either.” Kamuro nodded in apparent agreement and stood. “I’m going home now. I’m tired.”
With that, she headed for the exit.
“Whatever Sakayanagi has on her is dynamite, I bet,” I muttered to myself.

Texto alterado

Open file

Chapter 2:
The Sound of Footsteps in the Middle of Winter
 
WE WERE HALFWAY THROUGH December, and it was suddenly freezing cold. More and more students donned scarves, gloves, and long socks. Clouds hung low in the sky. It looked like it was going to snow.
Come to think of it, I’d never seen snow before. I’d watched it on television and read about it in books, but never touched it, never felt the sensation of it on my skin. I decided I’d like to experience it.
Yukimura Keisei, Hasebe Haruka, Sakura Airi, and myself—all members of Class D—met up at Keyaki Mall after class. (Keisei’s real name was “Teruhiko,” but we’d started calling him Keisei in accordance with his wishes.) Their faces were becoming a familiar sight to me. We’d grown close of late, and now met regularly just to talk, without any specific purpose in mind.
Sometimes we hung out for over two hours, and other times, we split after only thirty minutes. They were a casual, easygoing group who came and went as they pleased. We did often hang out together after class on Fridays, because our currently absent fifth group member, Miyake Akito, had a situation to contend with.
“I really thought Class C would’ve tried something else by now. Those questions they gave us weren’t easy at all,” said Keisei, just as some Class C girls happened to pass by.
“Class C doesn’t seem any more capable of studying than us,” Haruka answered, eyes on her phone. “Miyacchi says he’ll be here soon. Sounds like he just left his club.”
She was texting the very person we were waiting on. Akito was the only group member who belonged to a club, and couldn’t hang out with us immediately after class.
“But it’s good that we made it through this exam, isn’t it? Besides, I don’t want to see someone expelled, even if they’re from another class,” said Airi. She didn’t have the stomach for cruelty.
“Well, yeah. I get that you want to get along, but that’s kind of hard, with how this school is designed. Rising in the ranks means kicking another class down,” said Haruka.
“Exactly,” said Keisei, sounding impressed. “I understand what you mean, Airi, but it’s eat or be eaten at this school. I don’t want us to be eaten.”
“I suppose,” Airi replied, disheartened.
“Well, wait a minute. What if, after the final exam, all four classes had the exact same number of class points? Then everyone could graduate from Class A… Just kidding. That’ll never happen,” said Haruka.
“I think that’d be wonderful, though,” said Airi.
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible,” said Keisei.
“How can you be sure?”
“I’ve heard the upperclassmen talk about it. If all the classes happened to have equal points after the final exam, the school would hold an additional special exam to determine our rankings,” he said.
“What kind of exam?”
“Who knows? I’ve only heard rumors. Apparently, it’s never happened before.”
“I still think it’s an interesting idea, though,” said Haruka.
“So, only one class can be A in the end, huh?” asked Akito, arriving to join us.
“Hey, Miyacchi. How did practice go today?” asked Haruka.
“How did what go?”
“You know. How did you handle your bow or whatever?”
“Like normal. Not really great, not really bad. You don’t have to pretend to be interested,” said Akito.
“Come on, isn’t it nice to ask? We’re just having a casual conversation between friends, right?”
“Well, do you know anything about archery?” asked Akito. He sat down, looking somewhat suspicious of Haruka.
“You just hit the target with your bow, right?”
“No…but I guess you have the general idea. Just forget about it.”
“Well, how do I put this? It’s not like I have any interest in archery myself. I never have. I just want to know what youthful missteps led you to care about it, you know?” replied Haruka.
“Yeah. Come to think of it, why archery? It’s not like this school’s archery club is legendary or anything, right?” asked Keisei.
“Back in junior high, an upperclassman I was friends with belonged to the archery club. So, I thought I’d give it a shot. That’s all there was to it. No particularly deep reason,” said Akito.
“Ah, so this other student made you want to join?” Airi chimed in more and more often these days. It was a welcome sight, if a surprising one.
“Airi, you have a digital camera, right? That’s a fad these days, huh? I suppose I understand why you prefer something like photography,” said Haruka.
“What, like posting pictures to Instagram and stuff? That’s more of a girls’ hobby, I guess. I don’t quite get it,” said Keisei. He sounded critical.
“Hey, that’s sexist,” said Haruka. “There’re lots of dudes on the ’gram these days, you know.”
“Really? I don’t think it’s a good idea to make your personal information public like that.”
“What about you, Kiyotaka? Are you into photography?”
“No. I don’t know anything about it,” I replied.
After all, at this school, you couldn’t communicate with the outside world at all. The only people who’d see you on social media would be other students.
“Kiyopon doesn’t really look the type. Actually, if he used Instagram, I’d be super surprised. Are you secretly the sort of person who impulsively snaps a photo when you’re out partying, or at the pool at night?” Haruka asked me. “Or when you have an ice cream in hand and make, like, a cute face… You ever do anything like that?”
“No.” I didn’t want her to picture me doing anything of the sort. “Do you use it, then? Instagram?”
“Not at all. It’s a pain, and I don’t like putting myself on display,” she replied.
“I’m with you,” said Keisei.
Airi was quiet, but she looked hurt by their dismissal. Although she was taking a break from it at the moment, her hobby was posing for pictures and uploading them to the internet.
“Well, it’s pretty popular worldwide. It’s not that strange a hobby,” I said. I didn’t want to depress Airi. She probably intended to hide her true feelings, but it was obvious that she cared what I said. She always reacted when I helped her, and Haruka and the others immediately noticed it, too.
“Well, I’m not the person to ask about what’s cool these days. I apologize to anyone who happens to like Instagram and stuff like that,” said Haruka.
“Just because it’s not for me doesn’t mean I should dismiss something other people like out of hand. That’s on me. I didn’t think it through,” Keisei apologized to Airi.
Airi patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry to change the topic, but I was wondering about something,” said Akito as the discussion calmed down. He sounded slightly irritated. “Doesn’t Class C seem strange lately?”
“Class C? They’re always strange. What’re you talking about?” Haruka tilted her head to the side.
I knew what Akito referred to. He was describing the people who’d followed us over the past few days. Even now, one watched us from his hiding place: Komiya, a Class C student and one of Ryuuen’s henchmen. He was undoubtedly monitoring our group, but sat just far enough away to be able to deny it as a coincidence. We would risk being labeled the aggressors if we confronted him. Akito understood that we still didn’t have any solid proof.
More importantly, another person was currently watching our group. Someone Akito hadn’t noticed yet.
“During our study sessions, those Class C students came over and messed with us, right?” he asked.
“You mean Ryuuen-kun and Shiina-san? It’s them again?”
“Well, they sent different people this time around. Komiya and Ishizaki showed up today at archery club. They said they came to observe, which the upperclassmen readily accepted. But they just glared at me the entire time,” said Akito.
So, Komiya was following Akito, then? Ishizaki was probably no longer accompanying him to avoid getting too conspicuous. Of all of us, Akito was clearly the most bothered by Ryuuen’s surveillance.
“Maybe they’re interested in the club?” asked Airi, who couldn’t possibly know Ryuuen’s plots.
“That’d be nice if it were true. But it doesn’t seem like it,” said Akito. He rotated his arms, as if his shoulders were stiff.
Ryuuen was continuing to pressure us, and lately, he’d turned up the heat. I could almost hear his bold laughter, hear him say, “Sooner or later, you’ll give way.”
“Did they do anything to you? Like heckle you, or sneeze to distract you when you were shooting? Or throw rocks at you?” asked Haruka.
“They couldn’t do anything of the sort in front of the coaches or senior students, obviously. They left around the time practice ended,” said Akito.
Although nothing had really changed for me personally, Ryuuen and his cronies had clearly marked us since the last exam. I had to assume they marked Karuizawa, too. They’d probably narrowed down their list to a few prime suspects by now—and I was sure that included me. One final piece of decisive evidence would lead them to conclude that I was the one they were after, and Karuizawa Kei could give them that evidence.
The fact that Ryuuen was treading lightly was proof that he thought about this very carefully. How would he go about finding his puzzle’s final pieces? If I examined his movements thus far, it wasn’t hard to guess what he might do. It was a matter of “when,” not “if.”
As I pondered that, Akito and the others continued talking. Keisei offered his thoughts about why Class C was bothering us.
“Maybe it has something to do with Class D’s growth. We had zero points shortly after we started school, but now we’re within arm’s reach of Class C. Factor in the Paper Shuffle test’s results, and there’s a chance we might overtake Class C by our third semester. They should be panicking,” he reasoned.
“You’re right. We’re going to overtake them. Us, the same people they’ve been making fun of!”
“But…that shouldn’t be possible, right?” asked Airi, clearly thinking back to when our class point totals were announced.
“Correct,” Keisei said. “When the school announced the class point totals at the start of December, Class D had 262 points, and Class C had 542. There was a 280-point gap.”
Class D had faced off against Class C in the Paper Shuffle, and won decisively. One hundred points were transferred from C to D, letting us close the gap by two hundred points total. The difference between Class D and Class C was now a measly eighty points.
Class C was currently in the lead. However, something unrelated to the exam was brewing in Class C.
“It seems that Class C did something to severely violate the rules. The school’s keeping the details hush-hush, but Class C had a hundred points docked.”
“I wonder what they did? Sounds like a very Class C thing, though.” Haruka seemed amused…not that Class D had any room to talk. We’d managed to lose a thousand class points within a month of starting school.
“Well, whatever the reason, their internal conflict’s doing some real damage. If things continue this way, our class might be promoted after winter vacation,” Keisei said, though he didn’t sound cocky.
“Is that why Class C started messing with Miyacchi?” asked Haruka.
“I think it’s likely,” Keisei replied.
From Ryuuen’s perspective as Class C’s leader, being demoted had to suck. He was probably looking for a weakness in Class D that he could exploit to help him maintain his position. At least, that was consistent with his previous actions.
“Classes trading places, disruptive as it may be, is inevitable given the way the school works. But I think it’s also something that doesn’t happen often. Class D’s growth after its initial severe fall has to be making Class C panic. It’s only natural that they want to ascertain the reason for our growth.”
“Ryuuen-kun acts all high and mighty, but he’s still their leader. His reputation’s gonna hit rock-bottom if we overtake them.”
“I suppose I understand his desperation,” said Akito, sounding pleased by the thought of Ryuuen’s pride taking a hit.
“Still…Class D hasn’t really changed that much, has it? I mean, we closed the gap, but why? Is it because Class C fumbled?”
It was certainly true that most of the students in our class simply faced the exams they were presented with, oblivious to the battles that went on behind the scenes. It was understandable that they wouldn’t know exactly why the gap between our classes had shrunk.
“We beat all the other classes during the island exam. Ryuuen defeated us on the zodiac test, but we made a comeback in the Paper Shuffle. Meanwhile, Class C have been using their class points willy-nilly, haven’t they?” Keisei pointed out. “Even on the uninhabited island test, they quickly used up all the points available to them.”
“So, in other words… C Class is self-destructing?”
“You could see it like that. Their recent rule violation was certainly self-destructive.”
The special exam on the uninhabited island had been conducted right at the start of our summer vacation. Each class had been allocated 300 points for their own use during the exam, and we had to use those points we were given over a period of one week to clear the test. Then, whatever points we had remaining were added to our class point total after the exam ended. Each class, D included, did everything they could to have at least one point remaining, but like Haruka had said, C Class had quickly spent all 300 points they had.
“Is that why D Class was able to close the gap by that much?”
Even though there were certainly many twists and turns along the way for D Class, we had successfully managed to save 225 points.
“That’s probably it. Besides, I have to wonder if Class C even did anything to try and counter us. It did look like they really enjoyed their vacation, though. I might be a little bit jealous that they didn’t really know what we had to endure.”
“Ryuuen’s just reckless. He’s an idiotic child who thinks that doing the unexpected somehow makes him cool. That’s why it doesn’t mean anything to him if his class loses.”
From Keisei’s fiercely logical perspective, spending class points haphazardly must’ve seemed completely incomprehensible. However, Ryuuen hadn’t wasted the points he received. He hadn’t just used all his points, either—he’d also handed all of Class C’s stuff over to Class A during the island challenge, including their toilets, tents, and excess rations. He certainly didn’t do that out of the goodness of his heart. Intangible properties like trust or friendship meant nothing to Ryuuen; if he’d helped Class A, it was because he got something in exchange, most likely private points.
There were only a few students who knew the truth. And Keisei seemed like he belonged to the group of people who didn’t know.
“Wow, must be nice to be a boy,” said Haruka. “You guys have it so easy. Don’t you think so, Airi?”
“Y-yeah. A lot of the girls had it real bad on the island during that time of the month. If it had gone on much longer, I think I might’ve been in trouble too,” Airi whispered, her cheeks red.
“Why would you have been in trouble if the test continued?” asked Keisei, who clearly didn’t know the first thing about how women’s bodies worked.
“W-well, that’s…” Airi, unable to tell him anything about the time of the month all girls went through, averted her eyes.
“You know what, Yukimuu? It’s cute how dumb you can be, but you really need to know when to shut up. Get it?” Haruka shot back scathingly at Keisei.
“What do you mean?”
Desperate for this to end, Akito gently tapped Keisei on the shoulder. “People have a lot of problems, dude,” he said.
“I don’t have a single clue what you’re getting at. What do you mean, ‘a lot of problems’?” Keisei, ever the dogged pursuer of knowledge, was desperate to uncover what he was missing.
Akito changed the subject. “Class D won because Horikita saw through Ryuuen’s strategy, right?” He looked to me for acknowledgement.
I nodded. “If she hadn’t done that, we would’ve lost.”
“All Class C did was party. They pretended they had to retire, but why did Ryuuen-kun stay on the island? He’s their leader. Shouldn’t they have left someone less conspicuous behind?” Haruka’s reasoning wasn’t totally off-base, but anyone could’ve been nominated as leader for the purposes of that test. There had been no way to rule out the possibility of another, more inconspicuous Class C student hiding in the shadows.
“Hey, Kiyotaka, tell us the information you got from Horikita,” said Keisei, a serious expression on his face.
“What’re you talking about?”
“What’s Ryuuen thinking and planning? After everything that happened during the sports festival and Paper Shuffle, we really need to work together as a class from now on.”
“I agree. It really creeps me out, being followed by Ishizaki and those guys,” said Akito.
It seemed they were starting to realize that cooperation was more important now than ever before. Even Akito and Haruka, who didn’t normally pay much attention to our class’s problems, seemed to be on board.
“I can only tell you what I’ve heard secondhand, but…” I started.
I wanted to suggest calling Horikita, but Keisei spoke up. “That’s fine. Just tell us what you know,” he said.
The four of them stared at me. It was a lot of pressure. “All right. Well, don’t blame me if I get something wrong.”
With that disclaimer out of the way, I explained what had happened on the island, starting from the very beginning. The moves I described were mine, of course, but the official story credited them to Horikita.
I told them how Ryuuen had used a radio to communicate with a spy while he hid somewhere on the island. About how, in addition to Ibuki, other spies had infiltrated the other classes. About how Ryuuen had been obsessed with Horikita ever since the exam on the cruise ship. I told them about the strategy Ryuuen used on the ship, and how he won, but I hid the fact that he’d planned to crush Horikita in the sports festival. I said nothing about Kushida’s betrayal, either.
“That’s generally how it went down. It’s not really any different from what you guys already know, Keisei,” I told them.
Keisei crossed his arms, seemingly deep in thought. “Then, like Haruka said, why did Ryuuen stay behind on the island?” he asked.
“Horikita thinks it’s because Ryuuen doesn’t trust anyone,” I said. “That seems as if it’s the likeliest answer. I mean, gathering intel on other classes while learning their leaders’ identities probably seemed like too important a job for him to trust another student with, right?”
You would’ve had to issue commands to your spy, exercise deductive reasoning, and have the endurance to survive on the island for a few days with only the bare necessities. Though I didn’t say that part aloud, it also had to be someone who had a connection with A Class and could work with them. It wasn’t far-fetched to think that Ryuuen was the only person in Class C capable of pulling it off.
If the leaders had been nominated after everyone had gathered, then Ryuuen would probably have had a different strategy. However, the manual that was distributed out to us on the uninhabited island clearly stated that the nominations would be held immediately after our roll call on the final day. In other words, it was done before each class had assembled. Ryuuen probably went with that strategy he did because he saw that.
Keisei and the others mulled it over.
“Just as I’ve come to expect of Horikita. I could never think that far ahead.”
“We had all that trouble with rations and sanitation, someone burned our manual, and someone’s underwear even got stolen. Class D was in complete shambles. We didn’t have the time or energy to conduct reconnaissance on other classes,” said Akito.
“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”
“Horikita-san is amazing.”
“She really is. To think she figured out all that stuff,” said Airi, sounding genuinely impressed.
“Considering how she saw through Ryuuen-kun’s strategy, I understand why they have it out for her.”
“In fact, it looks like they’re still trying to get in our way, even now.” Rather than deny it, I decided to just tell them how things were.
“It seemed like there was some kind of dispute between people in the same group during the zodiac test, too.”
“I suppose I can understand what happened on the island and the cruise ship. But why come all the way to spy on me during archery club? That’s not normal, right?” asked Akito.
He had a point. If Horikita was Class C’s main target, why waste time tailing all of us?
“They might be trying to find weak links in Class D,” I said. “After all, it doesn’t seem like Horikita has any weaknesses they can exploit. Maybe their plan is to destroy those around her.”
“I suppose.”
“Wow, Kiyopon’s girlfriend is really incredible,” teased Haruka.
“Don’t call her my girlfriend.”
“Y-yeah. I think that’s rude to Kiyotaka-kun,” said Airi.
“Ah ha ha! Sorry, sorry.”
It was also frankly insulting to Horikita to pair her up with someone like me. Sudou would blow his top if he even heard Haruka joke about it.
“Even if she isn’t your girlfriend, don’t you like her?” asked Haruka. “Or have you already got a girlfriend?”
“I don’t really like her, and I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I see. Then I guess that settles it. We’re all going to be lonely this year.”
“Lonely?”
“Look around. It’s almost Christmas, isn’t it?” Haruka whispered. She had a point. The mall was so festooned with Christmas decorations that it was hard to believe we were on a school campus. Happy couples walked past where we sat.
“It’s not that special a day, right?” said Keisei. “It’s just like any other.”
“That might be the case for you, Yukimuu, but it’s important to us girls,” Haruka replied.
“R-rumors might go around.”
“Yeah, yeah. Stuff like who’s dating, and who isn’t. Or who spent the night together, and who didn’t. You know? Even if you’re just single because you like being alone, they’ll pity you,” said Haruka.
“We’re first-year high school students. Our priority should be our studies,” Keisei insisted.
“What, so you’ve never, ever thought even a little bit about dating? You’re blushing.”
“Shut up.”
“This mango juice is way too sweet. Whew,” said Akito, handing me the cup while pretending to vomit.
“But it’s so good!” said Haruka, sounding shocked. “Anyway, I think a bunch of stuff is going to happen in Class D over winter break. Just my two cents.”
“You mean like people asking each other out?” Airi inquired.
“Probably. If couples go out, other couples are going to break up. A lot can happen at Christmas, after all.” Haruka nodded sagely, as if she’d spent a lot of time observing the battlefield of relationships.
“Putting aside who might start dating, what about who might break up? The only couple in Class D is Hirata and Karuizawa, right?” Akito clutched his throat while talking, as if the mango juice’s sweetness was throttling him. It was super sweet.
“Love can bloom anywhere, Miyacchi. It’s not as though your only romantic options are the people in our class. If there’s a girl you like, you gotta make a move before someone snatches her up,” said Haruka.
“Sadly, archery is my only love,” said Akito.
“Dude, that’s so lame. You’re not even all that passionate about it. Super uncool.”
“Shut up!” he averted his eyes as if embarrassed. “Anyway, I’m not taking time off from club activities during winter break. I suppose it might be a different story if I had a girlfriend, but I don’t.”
“So, you would like to get a girlfriend?” asked Haruka. She mimed holding a microphone up to Akito’s mouth.
“I mean, I’m not going to broadcast it to the world like Ike and those other guys, but I imagine both guys and girls want the same things, right?”
“Well, if my ideal guy’s out there, I’d love to find him. What’ll you do if a girl says she likes you, Yukimuu?” Haruka pressed.
“What’ll I do? It’d depend on the relationship I had with that girl, I guess.”
“Oh, so you wouldn’t date her just because she was cute? I see, I see. You’re quite the serious little boy,” she teased.
“Knock it off.”
“Kiyotaka-kun, do you have any plans for Ch-Christmas?” asked Airi.
“Whoa, Airi. Does that mean you’re inviting Kiyopon on a date? So bold!” Haruka exclaimed.
“Th-that’s—I mean—that’s not what I mean! I’m not asking that!”
“What else could it be, then? Kiyopon just said that he didn’t have a girlfriend.”
“That’s not what I was getting at. It’s only… I mean… Well, I wanted to know what his plans were. It’s just that I’m curious about what you want to do, when you spend Christmas all alone,” said Airi.
“Hmm, that makes sense. Miyacchi probably has club stuff, but what about you, Yukimuu? What are you up to during Christmas?”
“I’ll be studying,” Keisei answered. “If the school promotes us to Class C in the third semester as planned, we have to switch from climbing the ladder to holding our position. We don’t have all that many academically skilled students in our class, so I’d like to stay ahead.” So, he wanted to contribute his strongest talents to the class. He seemed to have grown more confident after tutoring Haruka and Akito.
“I don’t know how much I can help on the academic front. I’ll leave that to you, Keisei,” Akito said.
“That’s fine, but even if we manage to graduate from Class A, you should try to do better in your studies. Those academic scores will follow you through life.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll slide right back down if I start slacking off now.”
“You can’t slack off and graduate from Class A, anyway.”
“What about Airi’s question, Kiyopon? Are you going to be alone on Christmas?” Haruka asked.
“Yep. I’m not doing anything special. I’ll probably spend the day quietly in my room.”
“Christmas is just a normal holiday, right?”
The closing ceremony was on December 22nd. Christmas was almost here.
“Heh. Hee hee!” Airi chuckled to herself. She tried frantically to stifle her laughter, but failed.
“Is something funny?” asked Haruka.
“S-sorry. No, it’s just… Well, I’m having fun. I’m having so much fun I started to laugh.”
“You’re laughing because you’re having fun?” Haruka and the others looked as though they couldn’t quite understand. I looked too, noticing tears welling in Airi’s eyes.
“It’s just that I’ve never had such a fun time before. I’m really happy,” she answered, revealing her heart to us.
“Seriously? We’re just talking about stupid stuff.”
“That’s fine with me. I like talking about stupid stuff,” Airi replied.
“Well, I don’t really get it, but I’m glad. I’m having fun too,” Haruka concluded.
Our conversation topic switched again.
“Since we’re all here now, why don’t we grab dinner together before heading back?”
Everyone was down with that. As we started to head out, I spoke up. “Hey, I’m going to use the bathroom quick. You guys mind going on ahead?”
“We’ll just wait here.”
“Nah, it’ll be really crowded at this time of day. It’d probably be faster if you got in line. Save me a seat.”
Convinced, everyone headed toward Keyaki Mall’s restaurant. This was only possible because Airi could now act on her own, to some extent, without me being there.
Komiya, after concluding I was heading to the bathroom, followed them. I watched them leave, then headed in the opposite direction from the bathroom, approaching a girl who’d sat by herself while my group chatted.
“Can I have a minute?” I asked.
The girl was Kamuro, from Class A. She messed with her phone as if she hadn’t noticed my presence.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” I said again.
“Huh? Me? What?” Her body language told me she’d only just noticed me.
I took a chair next to Kamuro. You could’ve cut the tension in the air with a knife.
“You’ve been following me. What do you want?” I asked.
“Hmm? What’re you talking about?”
“I saw you after class yesterday. Two days ago, at Keyaki Mall. Four days ago, at Keyaki Mall. Six days ago, after class. Seven days ago, after class. You were always there. That’s quite a string of coincidences, isn’t it?” I asked. On my phone’s screen, I showed her several pictures I’d taken of her spying.
“That’s… But when…?”
“You were trying to be discreet, so you couldn’t exactly meet my eyes when I looked in your direction. No wonder you didn’t notice me taking pictures of you.”
“Well, so what if I’m following you? Do you have a problem with that?”
“Not especially. It’s not hurting me or anything. I’m not going to tell you to stop, either.”
“Exactly. This is just a coincidence.”
“But I have to wonder…what will your boss think when she finds out about this?” I asked.
“Boss? What’re you talking about? You’ve been watching way too many movies.”
“Then I suppose I’ll report this to Sakayanagi. I’ll tell her you’re not really very good at tailing me.”
“Wait a minute,” said Kamuro, grabbing my arm as I stood up.
“You’re devoted, aren’t you?” I asked. “To Sakayanagi, I mean. She asked you to tail me day after day, and here you are, still doing your job. You must be close to her.”
“Don’t give me that. I’m nobody’s lackey.”
“There’s really no need for you to lie. You’re spending your precious time doing something as boring as tailing me, and you’re doing it precisely because you trust and respect Sakayanagi.”
“Absolutely not. I’d honestly never speak to her again if I could,” Kamuro spat.
“Then why do you follow her orders?”
“Does it matter?”
“If you’re not doing it out of goodwill, then it must be because she’s got some dirt on you.”
“What’re you trying to say?”
“I’ll report your clumsy efforts to tail me to Sakayanagi. I’ll expose your inability to act on her behalf. Then that weakness of yours she’s exploiting will probably come back to bite you.”
“So, you’re threatening me, too?”
“Too,” huh? That just about confirmed that Sakayanagi was indeed using some weakness of Kamuro’s. She’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for my ploy.
“So, what’s your deal?” Kamuro demanded. “Why is Sakayanagi targeting you?”
“Who knows? I honestly have no clue,” I said.
“You’re the Class D student that Ryuuen’s looking for, aren’t you? That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“What’re you going to do about it?” I chose not to deny it. If Sakayanagi knew what I was doing, there was no point covering it up.
“You’re trying to threaten me, but I could give Ryuuen some friendly advice, if I felt like it,” Kamuro said.
“So, you’re threatening me in return, huh? In that case, how about this?” I decided to make her a proposal. “Feel free to tail me as much as you like. I won’t say a word, and I won’t rat on you to Sakayanagi. In exchange, I want you to keep quiet. Don’t tell anyone other than Sakayanagi what you know about me.”
“So, those are your conditions?”
“I don’t think it’s a bad deal.”
“You’re right. I have no real interest in helping Ryuuen, either.” Kamuro nodded in apparent agreement and stood. “I’m going home now. I’m tired.”
With that, she headed for the exit.
“Whatever Sakayanagi has on her is dynamite, I bet,” I muttered to myself.