v5
Chapter Seven:
Unseen Characters
AT 3:00 P.M, my job at the festival had come to an end.
I left the classroom, leaving Ayanokōji-kun in charge, just as our hidden
gem made an exciting appearance.
"I never thought that you would really make Chabashira-sensei into a maid."
Ayanokōji-kun and I had discussed all the preparations in advance for this
festival. I had heard that Chabashira-sensei would be used for the last hour of the
show, but I was skeptical that it would be possible. However, not only did he make
it happen, but she was creating a tremendous effect. Every time I walked down the
corridor, I heard the rumors of Chabashira-sensei's maid costume circulating.
Anyway, Chabashira-sensei's participation was an opportune event for me
personally. The large amount of attention drawn to the special wing would
inevitably draw people away from other places.
After sending them a message on my cell phone and making sure it was
read, I decided to head to the student council room. The reason for this was that I
wanted to go over the notes again.
Of course, I could have asked Yagami-kun on the day of the student council
meeting, but that would have made it impossible for me to calmly observe the
notes. He was a person who may end up being a reason for Ayanokōji-kun to leave
school. He seemed to have a connection with Amasawa-san and was extremely
physically dangerous.
Besides, if it was Yagami-kun, asking him to show me the notes again would
let him know I'm suspicious of him.
No. If you assume that he was the culprit, it was better to assume that he had
already thought so. Anyway, in order to be sure without being found, it was
necessary to aim for a time when no one was around.
The student council was closed for a while due to the circumstances of
Student Council President Nagumo. This meant that the opportunity to spy on the
proceedings had been restricted, but conversely, the unnecessary dispersing of the
members had been done naturally.
I thought the timing of the festival would be the best time to take advantage
of this opportunity. I reported to Chabashira-sensei in the morning that I had most
likely left my notebook in the Student Council Room, and she gave me permission
to go to the staff room during break time to get the key and pick it up.
Even if I stepped into the student council room now and was seen, I would
RoyalMTL's 163
still have a good reason. I quickly changed out of my maid's uniform into my
school uniform and headed for the staff room.
"Fifty minutes to go, huh?"
I exhaled as I walked by the student council office and looked at the clock in
the hallway. Today has been a busy day. It wasn't over yet, but my shiftof the day
was done. Due to the requirement that I must take a break for an hour, the festival
will end as soon as my break is over.
I was really busy from the morning, putting on my maid's uniform and
working without a break. I changed back into my uniform and walked to the
student council office and quietly inserted the key into the door.
The student council room was empty today, as the members of the Student
Council were busy with the festival. This meant that it would not be difficult to go
over the notes again and take a picture of the writing on my phone.
That's what I thought, but then I turned and...
My phone trembled in my pocket from an incoming call. I was startled to see
the name of the caller.
Yagami Takuya. Whycould he be calling me at this time? Feeling that this
was a scary coincidence, I answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Horikita-senpai." Yagami-kun's voice, which should be over the phone,
directly reached my ears from a small distance away.
The person I least wanted to see right now turned to me and waved with a
smile. I felt chills all over my body, as if my heart had been directly doused with
cold water.
"Did I startle you?"
With that he stepped closer to my side as he hung up his cell phone.
"Yagami-kun, why are you here?"
"What do you mean, senpai? Didn't you notice that I called from nearby?"
I was so focused on other things that maybe I wasn't able to see him. It was
as if Yagami-kun was trying to figure out how upset or flustered I was.
"By the way, why are you in such an deserted place, senpai? Isn't it time to
make the final push as the festival enters its climax?"
"I'm on break, so my role in the festival is over. I just wanted to be alone for
a little while."
"A break at 3 p.m.? You chose an unusual time, didn't you?"
Unusual, perhaps. I had never experienced a festival of this type before, so I
had no criteria to judge. However, since the rule was that all participants must take
a one-hour break, there must be a certain percentage of students like me who chose
to take a break at 3:00 PM.
RoyalMTL's 164
My train of thought failed to come up with an immediate answer, and I fell
silent for a few seconds.
Then I realized. Yagami-kun's words, "unusual time," were neither true nor
false. It was merely an attempt to find out whether I had chosen 3:00 p.m. as my
break time without any intention, or whether I had chosen it purposely.
In fact, I was too upset to respond immediately. No matter how I responded
afterwards. I may have already fallen into the trap.
No, not yet. There was an option here to go through with it since I have
delayed my response. The uncomfortable phrase "unusual time" could only be
heard once.
"Why is Yagami-kun here?"
"I found Horikita-senpai with a grim face, so I was curious and followed
you."
"Excuse me? Whatever the reason, I'm not impressed with you following a
girl."
"I thought I called out to you properly, but I guess you didn't hear me in the
bustle."
On my way here, I was definitely thinking. But that wouldn't stop me from
noticing if he called out to me. I could't help but feel that I was being swayed in the
same way as before, but there may be no real meaning to this whole sequence of
events. Besides, he could have called out to me any number of times before
coming here. Or maybe he did not follow me, but was in the vicinity around me...
from the beginning?
All of this assumed that Yagami-kun was the person I have been following
who wrote well. If it's irrelevant, I guess I'll have to apologize later for being so
skeptical.
"Are you allowed to leave the festival?"
"I've done what I had to do. It's not a break, but I have free time because
there is no rule that says you can't take a break for more than an hour."
Was it still just a coincidence? No, don't get that idea. If it turns out to be a
coincidence later, then there is no problem. But if it wasn't a coincidence, then I'm
in trouble now.
"What do you want in the student council room? It's locked and I don't think
anyone is in there." Yagami-kun asked looking at the door of the student council
room as if he anticipated my arrival.
"I'm looking for something. I borrowed the key from the staff room, so it's
no problem."
"You're looking for something? If that's the case, I can help you find it."
Calmness and impatience began to compete in my mind. I can't make clearly
RoyalMTL's 165
determine if his statement was only well-meaning or if he had malicious intent.
"It's not like I need your help."
"It's so important that you went to the trouble of looking for it in the middle
of a cultural festival, isn't it?"
It sounded like a statement that striped me naked and saw through my
thoughts.
"It's a notebook. I bought it some time ago and I'm having trouble finding it.
It's not good for my mental health to think that someone else might pick it up and
read it. I almost gave up on it, but it still bothers me. The only place I haven't
looked through is the student council office."
There was no point in spending any more time here. I told Yagami-kun the
lie that I had told the teachers.
"Then I'll help with the search. It will be twice as efficient to search with
two people rather than one, won't it?"
"Yes, that's right."
I slowly unlocked the door and opened it. I stoped moving to step into the
student council room one step ahead of Yagami-kun, who was standing right
beside me.
"Horikita-senpai? Do we need two people to search the student council room
for a forgotten item? Is there something else you're after?"
"Eh?" Under the circumstances, I dared to fight back. "I tried to refuse your
help because I honestly felt a little scared."
"You're scared... why?"
"Don't you understand?"
"I have no idea."
"We're in an empty student council room. Before, you said you called out to
me, but I didn't notice. It was as if I was being followed while we were alone. Do
you know what that means for a girl?"
This was where I set him up, not in terms of Horikita Suzune as an
individual, but in terms of social gender differences. I could get rid of him in an
absolute way, regardless of whether he was persistent or not.
"Oh dear, I see. I'm sorry, I hadn't thought of that at all. I see..."
This made it impossible to bypass the student council room and also made it
impossible to wait in the hallway. It would be too creepy to do that.
"I'm sorry. I certainly think my behavior was wrong." Yagami-kun bowed
deeply. "But, at the risk of sounding rude, may I just say one thing?"
"I'm sorry?"
He kept his head bowed and did not raise it, so what was he going to say at
this point?
RoyalMTL's 166
"The true purpose of Horikita-senpai's visit to the student council room..."
Yagami-kun looked up, and right after that...
Yagami-kun's posture suddenly collapsed in front of me, and his upper body
was bent.
No, he was attacked.
"I got him!"
With a voice like that, Ibuki-san appeared, dressed in a kimono.
"Wait, Ibuki-san!"
"Don't just stand there, let me in, Horikita!"
It would be a big problem if they found me, as it certainly looked like an
obvious act of violence. I opened the door to the student council room and Ibuki-
san forcefully pushed Yagami-kun to enter.
"Hey, what are you doing?" The first one to speak out was, of course,
Yagami-kun, the victim.
RoyalMTL's 167
RoyalMTL's 168
Ibuki-san appeared from behind, confused by the situation, having detained
Yagami-kun.
"You've been saved again by my exploits, Horikita."
"Saved? I didn't ask anything of you..."
"You told me to be very careful with this guy. And you were being pressed
by this guy. It's normal to think there's something going on." She blurted out things
she didn't have to say all at once.
Her single-minded behavior had rendered all my previous conversations
useless. To say that I had warned her in front of the person in question was nothing
short of nonsense.
"Um, who do you want me to pay attention to?"
Yagami-kun, unable to move, asked the question in a natural way. Now that
it's come to this, I had no choice but to throw it all at him.
"I apologize for the violent formality. But I have something on my mind
about you. Do you remember the other day when you showed me the notes from
the meeting?"
"It was in regards to the comments made by Student Council President
Nagumo, wasn't it?"
"Yes. I wanted to check again what you wrote in the notebook. Specifically,
your handwriting of the letters."
"Letters? I'm not sure, but what you're really looking for is the notebook full
of the meeting records, right?" Yagami-kun continued, looking puzzled. "You said
you wanted to check my handwriting, but what is your true intention?"
I continued my explanation, although I was curious about what he was about
to say before Ibuki-san appeared. I explained how a piece of paper was inserted
into my tent during the special uninhabited island exam. Yagami-kun listened
silently while being restrained, wanting to know who the sender of that paper was.
"You mean because the handwriting in my records and the handwriting on
that paper were similar?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"If that story is true, I can certainly understand your wariness of me. And in
order to confirm it secretly, it would have been best to aim for such a timing."
Because of the preparation period for the festival, people were coming and
going on Saturdays and Sundays, and students were walking all over the school to
scout for potential stall locations, so I couldn't take the option of collecting them
then.
"But I am not the sender of the letter."
Yagami-kun denied it once and for all, and although I was inclined to
believe him, I wasn't sure if I should...
RoyalMTL's 169
When I was unable to honestly accept it, he became a little more emphatic.
"Do you have any reason for your doubt?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have any grounds. I just can't expect you to honestly
admit it."
"If you don't mind, could you show me that paper once? Then I think I can
ask you to compare the letters with my handwriting, and I should be able to prove
my innocence."
"I'm afraid that's impossible. I had a little trouble and lost that paper."
Amasawa-san confronted me on the island and tore it up into little pieces.
"That's a problem. Doesn't that mean I can't prove my innocence?"
"That's why I want to recheck the notes first."
"Even if you reconfirm them, you can't be certain of their consistency with
your memory, can you? Rather, Horikita-senpai now strongly suspects me. If that
is the case, the possibility of being made the culprit because of a blurry memory is
not small at all. The odds are clearly stacked against me."
"You may be right."
I didn't want it to be Yagami-kun, but I strongly felt that I found the culprit. I
could understand his concern about the developments that would take place.
"It's not right for me to be suspected, but anyway can you let go of my hand?
Either way, I think it would be a welcome thing for both of you to back off before
it's too late. How are you going to excuse yourself if Student Council President
Nagumo sees a scene like this later?"
We were restraining a first-year boy for no reason. Surely this situation was
nothing but a mass of inconvenience for us. It would be a different story if we had
been assaulted, etc., but he had done nothing.
"Ibuki-san, let him go." I instructed Ibuki-san to follow his words.
But Ibuki-san's expression was grim and unruffled as she held Yagami-kun
down.
"I'm sorry, but that's not how it works."
"Why not?"
"Because my intuition tells me that harmless-looking people like you are the
most dangerous."
That's what she had learned before with Ayanokōji-kun. But it was clear
from her demeanor that it wasn't just a matter of looks.
"Do you have any other grounds?"
"You have a habit of looking weak at a quick glance, but you have a bad
sense of humor flying around. You're not just a scrawny kid, are you?"
I thought it was because Ibuki-san was in direct contact with him that I knew
what she was thinking. The part about the possibility that the person we were
RoyalMTL's 170
looking for was quite skilled. If that was indeed the case with Yagami-kun, then it
was no wonder that he was a strong suspect.
"The message sent to me is very similar to Yagami-kun's handwriting. Add
to that, the hidden physical ability, and the fact that he appeared here."
"It's true that I don't mind working out, so I have some confidence in my
body." Sighing in irritation, Yagami-kun raised his gaze slightly and looked at me.
"I'm a little angry with you too. This situation is too one-sided."
It would not be surprising if Yagami-kun had some high physical ability as
Ibuki-san had read. Originally, his OAA grade was C, which was average. It was
possible that Yagami-kun's running speed and sports ability were low, with him
only being proficient in martial arts.
Was he a white or black belt? As the judgment was pressed for time, the
silence was broken in an unexpected way.
The door to the student council room, where no one was supposed to come,
opened without warning.
"Oh shit, this is quite an unusual situation, isn't it?"
The one who showed up was Student Council President Nagumo, only
Yagami-kun didn't change his attitude, but Ibuki-san and I were terribly surprised
because of our guilty behavior.
"Student council president, why are you here ...?"
"What is this about?"
By "this" he meant mainly that Ibuki-san was restraining Yagami-kun.
"If it took two girls to bully a junior student, that's a big problem, man."
Ibuki-san couldn't continue restraining him, so she released Yagami-kun
with both hands.
"Thank you for saving me, Student Council President Nagumo." Yagami-
kun looked calm and fixed his ruffled uniform.
What was with Yagami-kun's calm demeanor, as if he had known that the
student council president was coming?
"Then, let's ask you to explain why you're here without permission."
If I said I lost my notebook, Yagami-kun might've pointed out that I was
lying. On the other hand, if I brought up the subject of the notes, the story would
spread to Student Council President Nagumo.
"Horikita-senpai seemed to have lost her notebook, and I was going to help
her find it... Ibuki-senpai seemed to have mistakenly thought that I was attacking
Horikita-senpai and acted like she did for no apparent reason." He replied, not
trying to corner me, but to defend my lie.
"I see, so that's the reason for the restraint."
"I think the misunderstanding has been cleared up, and I don't particularly
RoyalMTL's 171
intend to make an issue of it."
"Then there's no need for further mention. So, did you find the notebook?"
If he was willing to talk back, I was grateful to go along with the process.
"No, I did not find it. This was the last place I placed it. Maybe I mistook it
for trash and threw it away. I'll just give up."
Although he could check himself, he probably didn't care about the
whereabouts of the notebook. The student body president looked away from me, as
if he wasn't interested, and then sat down in his usual seat.
"Whatever the reason, this isn't something you should be doing in the middle
of a cultural festival. Break it up now."
Even if I persisted here, I could no longer see the meeting notes. I just had to
back off quietly for now. With that thought in mind, I was about to leave the room
with Ibuki-san, but then...
"By the way, Student Council President Nagumo, how did you know we
were here?"
Yagami-kun asked such a question beside me and Ibuki-san.
"Are you curious?"
"The door to the student council room was supposed to be locked. But the
student council president didn't hesitate to enter the room, so I was a little
concerned."
It was certainly unnatural. I didn't know if the student body president had a
spare key or not, but he should have tried to open the door by inserting the key at
least once. It was understandable to be suspicious that he entered the room so
naturally without question. It was as if he knew from the beginning that something
was going on...
Were Student Council President Nagumo and Yagami-kun planning to meet
up here? If so, then Yagami-kun's prediction that the student body president would
come would make sense. But, the exchange between the two was far from
indicative.
"I'd be happy to answer you, but before I do, I wanted to ask Yagami-kun
something too."
"Me?"
"You remember the matter we talked about in the student council room the
other day, don't you? I told you that there's a rumor that I'm trying to expel some
students with a lot of money."
"Of course. I've been doing some digging on my end, but I haven't been able
to find out where the rumors are coming from."
I couldn't keep up with the sudden rehash of the story.
"But you know, don't you? Where the rumors are coming from."
RoyalMTL's 172
"Pardon me?"
"I mean, you're the one who started them, aren't you?"
Student Council President Nagumo kicked the underside of the desk lightly
in frustration.
"Wait, please. What in the world is going on all of a sudden? Why would I
do such a thing?"
Just as he was suspected by us, now he was suspected by Student Council
President Nagumo. And it was completely unrelated.
"The reason for you doing it is quite clear. It was a special exam among
first-year students where certain students were expelled for a prize money. You
were one of the few who participated."
Yagami-kun's expression clouded slightly here. It contained irritation, just
like Student Council President Nagumo's.
"What do you mean, Student Council President Nagumo, what on earth are
you talking about?"
"You denied it at the student council meeting, but it was a fact."
"Well, you were involved too, weren't you?"
"But I didn't break any rules, you know? It's just school policy. I was
standing in as student council president with Director Tsukishiro to maintain
fairness. Am I right? Yagami."
There had been relentless special exams at this school, but I didn't think that
was even possible.
"Wasn't it a rule not to talk about that special exam and its participants?"
"You broke that rule first, didn't you?"
"It wasn't me. There is no merit in embarrassing Student Council President
Nagumo. Besides, there were several other first-year students who received the
same explanation."
"Well, yeah. But you showed up here. It's tempting to speculate."
"That's just a coincidence."
Student Council President Nagumo was facing Yagami-kun, but changed his
gaze to us.
"You guys go back now. I'll talk to Yagami from here."
"I did not know about that matter, but please allow me to speak."
"Horikita-senpai, what are you going to say?"
Yagami-kun attempted to restrain me with his eyes. 'I covered for you
earlier, return the favor' he seemed to be saying. I had to ignore such a gaze.
"Tell me."
"I don't know if he was the one who spread the rumor about that special
exam. But I don't think it's a coincidence that he showed up here; Yagami-kun was
RoyalMTL's 173
following me. Or I now strongly feel that he has been watching around this student
council room from the beginning."
"You think so, Suzune? Is this true, Yagami?"
Yagami-kun's expression hardened as he was caught between the two sides,
but then he exhaled in irritation.
"I understand. You two were working together from the beginning, weren't
you? From the moment you handed me that letter disguised as a love letter, you
decided to force me into a corner here, didn't you?"
"The letter disguised as a love letter?"
"You mean this one?"
Student Council President Nagumo took out from his pocket the love letter I
had received from Ichihashi-san.
What did he mean by a letter disguised as a love letter?
"I don't understand. It's just a love letter from an unknown sender, with true
feelings for me written on it."
"No, it's not. The letter is indeed a love letter at first glance, but it says,
"Cultural Festival, 3:00 p.m., Student Council Room." Other words like
"important," "expulsion," and "secret" are everywhere. No?"
Opening the already sealed letter, Student Council President Nagumo looked
it over.
"Where is that written? I have no idea."
With that, Student Council President Nagumo moved to hand me the love
letter.
"Excuse me."
I borrowed the letter and look through the contents. But I couldn't find the
letter Yagami-kun mentioned anywhere.
Ibuki-san was also curious and took a peek at the note, but her reaction was
the same as ours. Such was the content:
[I want you to forgive me for confessing without telling you my name. I have
always loved you.]
"Please stop playing games . If you analyze the anagrams, you will find the
truth."
"What's an anagram?"
Unlike Ibuki-san, who didn't understand the meaning of the word itself, I
wondered if he meant to say that this letter was written with an anagram? An
anagram is a rearrangement of letters to change their meanings. A play on words.
Even if you try to find the answer repeatedly, you won't find it right away.
Maybe you could find it with time, but it's not possible to instantly recognize it.
"You are very clever, Yagami. Apparently neither Suzune nor I can analyze
RoyalMTL's 174
anagrams right away, right?"
Yagami-kun was just as highly wary of us as we were of his growing
skepticism.
"Could it have been written by one of you two? Or was it someone you
know in common?"
"Common acquaintance? Who the hell are you talking about?"
"I don't know that. But you can trust that I followed the anagram to this
place."
If that was so... no, he said something completely strange.
"I don't care at this point if it's an anagram or not. How do you know in
advance what's in this love letter? You read it before you handed it to me, right?"
Yes. There was no other way to know.
"It's from coincidence. When I dropped the letter, the seal came off and the
contents came out. I wasn't supposed to look at it, but I couldn't resist looking
through it."
"That's not very good behavior for a member of the student council."
I understood the temptation to steal a glance, but I would usually restrain
myself. And even more so if it was a letter exchanged by a third party who had
nothing to do with me. Would I take the risk of checking the contents of a letter
exchanged between third parties with whom I have nothing to do? It was true that
not knowing the sender's name tickled my curiosity, but whether I'd even check the
contents of the letter was another matter.
"You checked inside because you usually have bad morals, right? I had a
hunch that I was being set up in some kind of trap."
"It doesn't sound like we can quite believe your words at the moment."
I was feeling strangely uncomfortable about this whole discussion. The
world as I saw it, the world as Yagami-kun saw it, and the world as President
Nagumo saw it. I couldn't help but feel that they were all slightly different from
each other.
They seemed to be meshing, but they were not. I felt uncomfortable as if
something was stuck in my back teeth.
It was bad enough that Yagami-kun read the letter without permission.
However, the fact that he spread a bad rumor about Student Council President
Nagumo, not to mention the ambiguous meeting notes, made it worse. We couldn't
determine with certainty whether his appearance in front of this student council
room was intentional or coincidental either. There was no way to go on blaming
Yagami-kun any further here...
Yagami-kun looked at me and Student Council President Nagumo
alternately and gave a small laugh.
RoyalMTL's 175
"Isn't it about time for you to answer the question? The truth is, you all
already know, don't you?" After a moment of silence, perhaps having sorted out
the situation in his mind, Yagami-kun spoke up. "Horikita-senpai, you were shown
the meeting notes, associated the paper with the one you received during the
uninhabited island, and thought I was the culprit. Then you gave a letter to Student
Council President Nagumo, disguised as a love letter, and secretly sent him a
message."
For some reason, he started mentioning the notes and paper himself, which
he had not mentioned up to this point.
"Why do you have to go through all that trouble? You could have just called
or chatted. Isn't it so you don't leave evidence that you suspect me? You can make
any number of requests with this letter disguised as a love letter. And Student
Council President Nagumo would be willing to go over the meeting records with
you to determine if I am the person Horikita-senpai is looking for."
"The island? The Notes ? the person Suzune is looking for? What are you
talking about?"
"Are you still going to continue your act, Student Council President
Nagumo? I already know that you and Horikita-senpai are acting under the
direction of a certain person. Everything is under the direction of Ayanokōji-
senpai, who created the anagram of this letter, isn't it? I feel bad for him. I'm sure
he had already arrived at this conclusion far before I even had to show you the
notes, Horikita-senpai."
"Why is Ayanokōji-kun's name mentioned here?"
"He's going around a lot, isn't he? I thought he didn't like to be publicized,
but I didn't expect him to contact me in this way." He laughed amusedly. Yagami-
kun's attitude had clearly changed from before.
"So what happens after this? Are we finally going to meet Ayanokōji-
senpai?"
Yagami-kun looked at the doorway like a child with a toy gift box in front of
him.
"I'm impatient. Can you tell me what you have heard about me before he
arrives? I would especially like to hear it from your mouth, Horikita-senpai."
"Wait. I really don't know what you are talking about. I suspected that you
came to my tent and put the letter in there, but I only talked to Ibuki-san about it."
Even when I told him the truth, Yagami-kun did not seem to believe me.
"Explain it to me so I can understand, Yagami."
"Fuu~ I'm getting tired of your quicksand, Student Council President
Nagumo. You were going to meet up with Ayanokōji-senpai here along with
Horikita-senpai through the letter. And he was going to talk to me. He must have
RoyalMTL's 176
thought it was dangerous to meet with me alone. Yeah, it was a wise decision."
"Sorry to interrupt your heated mood, Yagami, but I'll tell you why I came to
the student council room."
Student Council President Nagumo pulled out his cell phone and turned the
screen toward us. A phone number was displayed, as if there was an incoming call
from someone.
"Looks like you've arrived. Come in."
The other end of the phone hung up.
"Ha-ha-ha! I knew Ayanokōji-senpai was here! I'm so happy!"
Yagami-kun laughed loudly and opened his arms to welcome the slowly
opening door.
"It seems I'm a little unexpected."
With these words, a person who went beyond my expectations entered the
room. The first to react was not me, Student Council President Nagumo, or
Yagami-kun, but Ibuki-san.
"What? Ryūen? What are you doing here?"
Ryūen-kun was not the only one who showed up. Two of his classmates also
showed up.
"Oh, you look pretty good in that outfit, Ibuki. What do you think,
Kinoshita?"
"Honestly. I think you look cute with your little bow."
"What? Wait, Komiya? And even Kinoshita is...?
And to top it off, Sakagami-sensei and Mashima-sensei also showed up later
in the student council room.
"What is... This...?"
The most stunned person was Yagami-kun, who was mouthing something
incomprehensible.
"I came to the student council room to talk to Ryūen and the others. Isn't that
right?"
"Yeah, that was the plan, but were you in the middle of taking them in?"
Yagami-kun looking at them also had a grim look on his face, as if he did
not understand the current situation.
Student Council President Nagumo stood up and forced the letter onto
Yagami-kun's chest.
"Anagrams masquerading as love letters, secret notes, this doesn't make any
sense to me, Yagami."
"This can't be true... what's going on?"
Ryūen-kun approached Yagami-kun, who could not hide his confusion.
Then he pointed his finger and said.
RoyalMTL's 177
"This is the one you guys were talking about, right?"
Ryūen-kun asked Komiya-kun and the others standing discreetly behind
him, confirming something. Both of them nodded strongly with nervous looks on
their faces.
"Yes, sir. I'm sure of it."
"Yes. I'm sure."
Ryūen-kun heard this and, with a wan smile on his face as usual, moved
even closer to Yagami-kun. He was so close that he could reach Yagami-kun if he
stretched out his arm.
"I'm going to have to have a long talk with you, aren't I?"
"About what?"
Ryūen-kun laughed, extended his right arm, and suddenly grabbed Yagami-
kun by the bangs.
"Ryūen!" Mashima-sensei scolded him for his violent behavior, but he
showed no sign of paying attention.
"Yo, what's your name again?"
"Yagami, Yagami Takuya, Ryūen-senpai."
Ryūen-san pulled up his hair and his face changed to one of anguish.
"So you're Yagami. I heard you're the one who took care of Komiya and
Kinoshita."
"What do you mean? I don't understand."
"Don't play dumb. Komiya and Kinoshita reminded me just the other day.
The reason they got seriously injured during the desert island test was because you
violently attacked them."
Severe injuries on a deserted island. I knew that they were seriously injured
with broken bones, but that was an accident caused by carelessness, as I recalled.
"Me? What in the world is going on?!"
"These guys had lost their memories due to the shock of their injuries, but
once it was put away as an accident, they remembered. They remember now that
you were the culprit."
As if in response to this statement, Student Council President Nagumo also
commented.
"It was just yesterday. We were going to have a discussion today, just me,
Ryūen, and Komiya and Kinoshita. Why are the teachers here?"
"I called them here to save you the trouble. I heard that Sakagami rushed
over when the two of you were injured."
"Speaking of Yagami-kun, I'm sure Mashima-sensei recalls as well."
Sakagami-sensei confirmed Mashima-sensei, as if remembering something.
"Yes, I don't want to do anything to suspect the students, but I can't deny the
RoyalMTL's 178
possibility."
"Hey, what are you saying? I didn't do anything!"
No wonder he was so flustered. I was not able to clear my head either.
"Yagami. I know that the GPS on your watch was not functioning when the
two alerts went off that day. There were several students whose watches were
broken during the special exam, but only two, including you, were able to contact
Komiya and the others from the point where you last disappeared. Of course, at the
time, Komiya, Kinoshita, and Shinohara could only say that someone had injured
them, but they could not give their names. Therefore, we had no choice but to treat
it as an accident..."
"He couldn't remember, but later he remembered and gave my name? That's
impossible! It's obvious that the two of them must have talked past each other to
come up with my name!"
"Mutual back-channeling? The fact that your watch was broken is a fact that
the average student does not know."
Over 400 people were taking the test on a deserted island. Two of them were
wearing watches with broken GPS at the time they were injured. Surely the odds
are too low to call it a coincidence.
"They recall seeing the culprit. What's your basis for your doubts about their
claims? Tell me."
With more strength in his fingertips, Ryūen-kun pulled on Yagami-kun's
hair.
"Gghh! That's..."
"'No one could have seen me, I must have done it perfectly well.' That's
what you think, right?"
"Well, wait a minute. I didn't do anything. Do you think I'm capable of such
a terrible thing?"
Yagami-kun was not a big man. To the casual observer, it would seem
strange. But Ryūen-kun didn't trust Yagami-kun's words at all.
"I've learned from the past that the ones who look harmless are the most
troublesome. Isn't that right, Ibuki?"
"No doubt, this guy is strong. He can at least seriously injure Komiya and
the others without them noticing."
"Normally, I'd have you suffer an equal or greater injury to avenge our
enemy, but unfortunately, we're in front of Sensei. I'll give you a break. What
awaits you is nothing but expulsion."
If the facts were confirmed and it was proven that Yagami-kun caused
serious injury to Komiya-kun and the others, that it would be more than a
suspension. Expulsion was inevitable, even with no extenuating circumstances.
RoyalMTL's 179
Yagami-kun tilted his face down as Ryūen-kun removed his hand from his
hair.
"So? What are you doing here, Suzune?"
"I had some research to do on Yagami-kun too."
"Oh? What's that?"
I came this far, I had no choice but to tell them all about it. I told them what
had happened on the deserted island, that I had been looking for a student with
beautiful handwriting, that I had come here to check the notesbecause they were
similar to Yagami-kun's. I pulled out the notebook and opened it to Yagami-kun's
page.
"The handwriting and Yagami-kun's handwriting are almost identical. It also
matches my memory."
"Let me ask you to explain what this means, Yagami."
Student Council President Nagumo asked, even though he didn't have a full
grasp of what's going on. The only thing that was certain was that something
mysterious was going on in this place. While all of us were related to Yagami-kun,
there wasn't a definitive key.
There was no one who could be the most important key. How was such a
thing possible? What if it had all started with that one love letter... And I entrusted
it to Yagami-kun, and Yagami-kun saw what was inside, too?
They knew for sure that Yagami-kun would analyse the anagram inside of
it... But they didn't know that I had seen Yagami-kun's notes.
No, I wonder if that had anything to do with it. I was an outsider, and Ibuki-
san was an outsider with me.
Even if Ibuki-san and I were not here, this sequence of events would've
continued. Yagami-kun, who was lured by the letter and came to the student
council room, would have been questioned by President Nagumo.
But was such a thing possible? Even if it were possible, who would do it?
When and where?
No, this kind of question itself may be wrong. It would not be at all
surprising... if Ayanokōji-kun was behind this event.
RoyalMTL's 180
RoyalMTL's 181
Ryūen-kun, Komiya-kun and others who unexpectedly appeared as well as
the teachers. It was a place to surround Yagami-kun, who was evasive, from all
sides.
"Kuku, I'm surprised too, but I can't help it. He was playing with fire too
much."
Ryūen-kun started laughing, perhaps feeling the same way I did.
"Why is this happening, this is beyond stupid."
"I don't know what kind of background you have, but you're trapped."
"I-I'm still in a state where I can't even fight him!? This is where it ends? It
can't be over, that's ridiculous!" Yagami-kun, his whole body trembling, shouted in
a voice never heard before. "You mean you don't... even have to deal with me
directly? Heh... ha... hahaha! Don't fuck with me... don't fuck with me!"
"Shut up. Don't yell so close to me, you little bitch." Ryūen-kun sticked his
pinky in his right ear and muttered in exasperation.
Yagami-kun's excitement did not subside.
"Okay~" Yagami-kun said, "I'm going to do it now. I'm going to kill him
with my own hands! Then I'll go back to where I belong, and get my rightful
place! I'll take his dead body back with me!"
There were two teachers here, as if that didn't matter at all. In a clear sign of
change, Ibuki-san jumped toward Yagami-kun from behind just as he was about to
take a bold step toward Ryūen-kun. Without looking back, Yagami-kun quickly
dealt with it and slammed his elbow into her abdomen.
"Guh!"
Just one shot and Ibuki-san crumpled to the ground, unable to stand up.
"Stop it, Yagami!"
When the teachers started to run to stop Yagami-san, Ryūen-kun stopped
them.
"Pull back. He's not fucking around. Guess it's time for me to step up, isn't
it?" Ryūen-kun, without regard to the fact that this was the student council
chambers, clenched his fist.
"Oh my god, you can't stop me. I'm not going to tolerate anyone who stands
in front of me from now on. I don't care if it's a woman or a teacher. If you don't
want to see yourself get hurt like Komiya and the others, then shut up and back
off."
"Kuku. So that's your true nature. That's funny, isn't it?"
Without hesitation, Ryūen-kun took a step forward and lightly spread his
arms out as if to provoke.
"I'll gladly stand in your way, so come at me. You're only a punk."
Ryūen-kun was determined, but I didn't think Yagami-kun could be stopped.
RoyalMTL's 182
However, We must do something to hold him here. He was driven by the urge to
destroy everything, regardless of the teachers' presence. If we let him go, there is
no guarantee that we will be able to stop his rampage.
And where he was headed... was to Ayanokōji-kun. If something like this
happened in the middle of a cultural festival, a warning won't do.
"Stop it, Yagami. And Ryūen, too. If you cause a commotion here, it will be
a serious penalty."
"My expulsion is 100% inevitable. If that's the case, there's no reason to stop
it, right Mashima?"
Yagami-kun called him out without even addressing him as sensei, and
discarded him.
Still, Mashima-sensei, as a teacher, stepped in between Yagami-kun and
Ryūen-kun.
"Get lost." He kicked Mashima-sensei in the face, and when he staggered
over, he slammed his fist into his face.
Sakagami-sensei witnessed it up close and took a frightened step away.
Ryūen-kun, excited at the start of a perfect fight, was just about to jump on
Yagami-sensei.
"Let's stop now, Takuya."
The door to the student council room opened, revealing Amasawa-san with
red, swollen eyes.
"Ah? Why are you here?"
Yagami-kun stopped moving in a situation where no one's words were likely
to reach him.
"What's it going to take for you to get any more out of control? Do you think
that will make them accept you? They're already done with-"
"No, it's not! The instructors are waiting for me! I'm going to be the best!"
Who are the instructors, I wondered? At least I could guess that they were
not the teachers of this school.
"I was just going to close out the cultural festival today in an interesting way
by exposing that guy's past, but he's done something absurd."
"Takuya, I knew you were going to do that. ..."
"Get out of my way; I'm going to make Ayanokōji regret it. I'll make it so
funny you won't stop laughing."
"If you insist on going to Ayanokōji-senpai, I'll stop you before you do."
"You? You've never beaten me once. Don't make me laugh."
"Maybe I can't beat you with force. But I'll give it a try.
"I knew you were devoted to Ayanokōji, but I didn't know you were that
stupid."
RoyalMTL's 183
"I just learned that a frog in a well doesn't know the ocean. It's just like that
story we learned about before... Don't you remember?"
Amasawa had a sad look in her eyes. Yagami-kun seemed to falter for a
moment, before returning to his murderous gaze.
"Then it's time for you to die. There is no reason for you to be alive."
Just as Amasawa-san was about to make up her mind, we heard multiple
footsteps coming from the other side of the hallway.
Five adults steped into the student council room with blank expressions on
their faces. Not all of them were recognizable, but two of the five were guests of
honor who had also shown up at the maid cafe.
Yagami-kun, who had been untouchable until a moment ago, suddenly
began to tremble.
"W-why are you guys here? Hey, why...?"
"We even got a call to come pick you up at the student council office. It
wasn't exactly what we had in mind."
Yagami-kun, who had been on a killing spree just a short time ago, found
himself squeezed like a child. It was almost as if a child had been caught by his
parents and was scared of the punishment.
Surrounded by adults, Yagami-kun was taken away without resistance.
Amasawa-san walked with him.
"You people are..."
Mashima-sensei confirmed as he stood up in pain.
"We are related to Yagami and Amasawa. We will settle this situation, so
please go ahead and get treated. Please do not tell anyone about what happened
here, not even the teachers and students. Rest assured that we will pass everything
on to Chairman Sakayanagi."
"I understand."
With Sakagami-sensei's help, Mashima-sensei left the student council room.
The room, which had been so noisy, was suddenly enveloped in silence.
"Get up Ibuki, let's pull out."
"Come on, at least give me a hand!"
Ryūen-kun gave instructions to Komiya-kun with his chin to Ibuki-san, who
still could not stand up, and then lent her a hand and left the room.
Only me and Student Council President Nagumo were left in the Student
Council Room.
"So much for this. A lot of things have gone wrong, but I guess we've settled
the matter once and for all."
"How much did you know about today's incident involving Ayanokōji-
kun?"
RoyalMTL's 184
"What are you talking about? As I said before, I just came here with the
intention of talking to Ryūen."
"Then you didn't need to bring that letter."
The love letter remained crumpled and fallen on the floor in emptiness.
"To borrow Yagami's words, it was a coincidence. It just happened to be still
in my pocket." A simple lie. There was nothing more to say, such was the notice
from the student body president.
"The noisy festival is over. You too, go back."
"I understand."
I turned to leave the room, and saw Nagumo settling into his chair, eyes
closed, with a slight grin on his face.
RoyalMTL's 185
Epilogue:
The People Behind The Scenes
FINALLY, 4:00 P.M arrived, and the hectic cultural festival finally came to an end.
As explained in advance, the accounting application was forcibly shut down, and
sales cannot be recorded thereafter.
The results could be checked via cell phone starting 6 pm, two hours later.
Even though the event was over, we were still expected to not take it for granted
until the end of the day.
The guests who had stayed until the end began to leave their seats as the café
was closing, and gave their impressions of the maid café to the students.
All of them had positive comments such as, "it was interesting," and, "it was
fun." The students who had worked so hard at the event were deeply touched by
those warm words, and their fatigue seemed to fade away.
Incidentally, Chabashira-sensei ran out of the classroom like a rabbit as soon
as 4 o'clock came. Running around in that outfit would've been conspicuous, but
let's leave it at that. It was around 5:30 when all the customers left and all the
classmates (except Kōenji) gathered at the maid cafe.
"Good work, everyone. A lot happened, but at least we were able to end the
festival in an ideal way. I don't think the sales could have been any better."
Ike and the others gathered in the classroom having just finished taking
down the outdoor stalls. In the maid café, some guests stayed eating until late, so
there were still some areas to clean up, but Horikita stepped up to sum up the
cultural festival.
"The results will be announced later, but there is something I want to talk to
you about before that."
Yes, there were 37 students in the classroom. Akito and Haruka also
remained behind.
Although not prompted by Horikita, Haruka, who was the star of the show,
stepped forward.
"I would like to be the first to tell you. I have not forgiven everyone here."
Haruka mumbled in the silence of the classroom as she opened her speech.
Some of the students, expecting her to start with an apology, looked at each other,
feeling more bewilderment than anger.
They didn't seem to blame her. Everyone understood. They had grown up to
be able to feel the pain of losing a friend, a best friend.
"But the person I can't forgive the most is myself. I assumed that everyone
RoyalMTL's 186
who left the school would be unhappy. Yamauchi-kun, who disappeared last year,
and Airi."
At the mention of Yamauchi's name, Sudō, Ike, and the others seemed to be
thinking back.
"I had assumed that it was best for Airi to stay at this school. I assumed that
was the happiest thing to do. That's why I hated all of them ... and wanted to
take revenge."
Haruka clutched the skirt of her school uniform tightly as she expressed her
frustration.
"After this festival ended, I was going to leave school."
It was a fact that she didn't have to tell, but she didn't want to hide it, so she
confessed. I think some of the students had foreseen this, but the majority of them
were tight-lipped.
"I was going to go along with Haruka too."
At this point, Akito, too, could not remain silent and told the truth with
Haruka.
"If we had dropped out, our class would not have reached Class A. It's the
easiest and most powerful way to get revenge."
No tricks would be needed. Just leaving school was enough to make us lose
a large number of class points.
"But if you give me a chance, please let me stay in this class."
"You've had a change of heart, haven't you?"
"That girl is trying to spread her wings in the outside world. Kushida-san
told me about it."
At this point, Kushida's name was mentioned, and everyone's eyes were
drawn to her. The majority of them didn't understand what was going on, so
Kushida opened her mouth as if to add something.
"Sakura-san, she seems to be working hard to become an idol; you can find
her on SNS, so maybe you can ask Hasebe-san to show you later."
Some students were surprised, others thought it was a good idea. But the
common perception that emerged was the fact that Airi had taken a new step
forward.
"Airi will grow a lot. Probably more than I thought she would. So I want to
be able to graduate in Class A and go see her. I want to be able to show myself
without embarrassment."
The class learned that this was why she chose to stay at this school.
"You made a good decision, Hasebe-san."
"I'm going to accept punishment for the trouble I caused."
"I'm just as guilty. I didn't help with most of the festival and caused trouble
RoyalMTL's 187
for the class."
Horikita steped forward before the other students could say anything else.
"Skipping the festival is a problematic behavior, but fortunately it doesn't violate
any rules. Kouenji-kun hasn't shown up once since this morning, so it's the same
thing."
Horikita approached Haruka with a look of dismay and relief on her face.
"If you are going to be punished, it will only be by remaining classmates
with me. Can you face that reality?"
I wonder what Haruka thought of the reflection in Horikita's eyes.
"I'm going to try my best. Yes. From now on, you can think of me as your
regular Hasebe-san, okay?"
"Don't worry. I won't bother you." That was enough, Horikita nodded and
declared. "Miyake-kun is the same as before as well. Is that okay?"
"Of course."
"That's all for today then. Let's all finish the rest of the cleanup quickly."
Keisei walked up to Haruka and Akito, somewhat hesitantly. Starting with
Akito's apology, Keisei's eyes reddened a bit and he spoke with relief. Haruka's
apology brought the three of them together for the first time while, and they smiled
slightly at each other. Akito and Keisei turned their attention to Haruka as if they
had made up their minds. The two of them signaled to Haruka as well, and the eyes
of those three turned to me in confusion.
If I were to approach them here and now, the group might be resumed. That
was no longer necessary. I turned my back and went to send words of thanks to
Sato and the others.
The group of five was now three, but I hoped that the bond between them
would be stronger than before. That place doesn't need me.
The three of them could sense my actions as a sign of farewell. They didn't
approach me or call out to me.
It was quick after that. The cleanup that was left to be done would soon be
back on track with 37 people.
All the cleanup was done before 6:00 PM. Then the results of the festival
were announced.
• 1st place, 2nd year B class (+ 100 class points)
• 2nd place, 2nd year C class (+ 100 class points)
• 3rd place, 3rd year B class (+ 100 class points)
• 4th place, 2nd year A class (+ 100 class points)
• 5th place, 1st year A class (+ 50 class points)
RoyalMTL's 188
• 6th place, 3rd year C class (+ 50 class points)
• 7th place, 2nd year D class (+ 50 class points)
• 8th place, 1st year C class (+ 50 class points)
• 9th place, 3rd year D class (+ 50 class points)
• 10th place, 1st year B class
• 11th place, 3rd year A class
• 12th place, 1st year D class
"We're in first place! We did it!"
"I guess Chabashira-sensei's cosplay really struck!"
Each was pleased and praised each other for a good fight.
"But Ryūen's place is also in second place, and Sakayanagi's class is in
fourth place, which is quintessential."
"Ayanokōji-kun."
"Yeah, everything is going according to plan."
It was a certainty that Horikita's class would take the top place, and it was
assumed from the beginning that Ryūen's class would also be in the top position.
"I wondered how the one-liners would fare, but you've managed to outsmart
them."
"But there was also something unexpected: Sakayanagi came in fourth."
"Yes. Did you see their performance?
"No, I didn't go to the third floor of the special wing today. Did you see
them?"
"Class A was selling brochures and stuff about the school for a low price.
They didn't have any other food, drink, or other offerings. I wonder what kind of
tricks they used ...."
"The clue is probably at the bottom of the list."
"First year Class D, Housen-kun's class, right? What about it?"
"If they were the bottom of the class as a result of a struggle, fine. But that's
unthinkable. The class's entertainment, which was mainly a reenactment of the
festival, was quite successful. I thought it was one of the top classes. Did you think
that was lower than the third-year A class?"
"The 11th-ranked class is third-year Class A. They were priced out of the
competition from the start. It was only about entertaining to please the guests,
right?"
It was confirmed that the haunted house and other activities could be played
for 100 points. On the other hand, the shooting and other stalls that Hosen had set
RoyalMTL's 189
up were priced appropriately.
"The top class got 100 points for this festival. It means that behind the
scenes, Hosen might have gotten something else."
"Conceivably, you mean private points?"
"Doesn't this remind you of last year's desert island test?"
There was an agreement between Ryūen and Katsuragi to receive private
points in exchange for letting them earn class points. It would not surprise me if
something similar happened between Sakayanagi and Hōsen.
"It's not impossible. Or maybe they signed a similar contract to replace it."
The accounting was done through a cell phone. It would be a viable enough
strategy if Hōsen and his friends had received cell phones from the second-year A
class for accounting purposes and donated all sales. If they were also providing
funds to Hōsen's class for the festival, it would make sense for the size of the
festival to grow.
"But she did," he said.
"Because if you notice, she's taking the choice to win."
Either way, it meant that Sakayanagi won'tt be easily satisfied. It was clear
that they were steadily producing results, even though they appeared to have
abandoned the game.
1
The meeting was then dismissed, but Horikita called some members of the group
to the Class B classroom. They were the three maid cafe planners, with the
exception of Matsushita, who was absent due to illness.
"Actually, I have something I have to apologize to you guys for."
"What? Apologize for what? What is it?"
It had been a tough day, but there had been no particular occasion in which
Horikita had shown any fault.
Since Satō and the others had absolutely nothing in mind, they tilted their
heads curiously.
"You remember how Ryūen-kun leaked the maid cafe and how it spread
throughout the school, don't you?"
"Yeah. That was a bit of a panic, wasn't it?"
"Actually, it was already decided from the beginning that he would leak the
RoyalMTL's 190
maid café."
The story stemmed from my suggestion to somehow join hands in order to
cooperate with each other and win the top positions at the festival.
"What do you mean, the leak was set in stone? What do you mean?"
"It was all planned. Ryūen-kun and I would work together, he would betray
us and make the maid cafe's performance known."
"What? No way!"
Of course they would be surprised. Horikita and I were the only ones in the
class who knew about this.
"So you also had a bet where the winner gets private points?"
"That was Ryūen-kun's idea. I was a little nervous when he suddenly said it.
Hashimoto and the others, who had been looking forward to the result of the bet,
must have been decisive in the betting."
"Yes, Sakayanagi-san heard a lot of information from third parties. I'm sure
that Hashimoto-kun and other spies must've told her about this as well. The two
classes were supposed to cooperate with each other, but they got into a dispute, and
Ryūen-kun unilaterally betrayed them."
"Then what about the one million points you'd get if you won first place?"
"I'm sorry, but we've also confirmed that in fact, no matter who won, no
points will be handed over to either of them. He was willing to do it himself, but I
think he's a bit chilled by now. I kept this fact a secret from our classmates,
including Kei, with the exception of Horikita. And no one in Ryūen's class, except
Ryūen and Katsuragi, had heard about it."
Even close associates such as Ishizaki and Albert were no exception.
That was why I could only take it as a sign that Ryūen was serious about
keeping the agreement.
"One of their strategies was to put up a Japanese-style concept café as a
rival. Besides appealing to the public that we were enemies, it was also to keep
other rivals out."
Rivalry. The higher the excitement, the more responsibility and money down
the drain for the adults.
If they knew that there was a battle they couldn't lose, it would be natural to
want to let the ones who have the better shoulder win. On the other hand, other
classes and grades were not in a fight to the death. Of course, many classes wanted
class points, but the heat was a notch or two lower than the Horikita vs. Ryūen
battle.
"I'm really sorry. I even kept quiet to you guys, even though I was trying to
win."
RoyalMTL's 191
Horikita was always feeling guilty because she wanted to reveal the plan as
soon as possible.
I'm sure the three of them could tell that she was sincerely sorry.
"It's okay. We were first in the results, hey?"
Not particularly blaming us, Satō happily confirmed to Mii-chan and
Maezono.
"Well, you know. If you do well, I guess I don't mind so much."
"Yes. If I had been told beforehand, it might have shown on my face."
Mii-chan replied honestly, "I'm not even sure I'm confident enough to act."
"Good for you, Horikita."
"Yes, it's a weight off my shoulders. You guys can tell Matsushita-san about
this. And as soon as the private points are transferred to us, we'll pay you all."
"We did it!"
The three of them high-fived each other.
"Was Chabashira-sensei becoming a maid also discussed from the
beginning? That was probably the biggest surprise."
"That was amazing... we were on top of the scores within an hour."
"I know you have a lot to talk about, but we're going to end today off. Thank
you so much."
The class found a strategy in the suggestion of a maid cafe and was able to
win first place. I was grateful that other uncalculated factors also worked
positively.
After seeing the three of them off, only Horikita and I were left in the
classroom. A slightly stronger wind came through the open window and shook the
curtains.
"Are you sure you're okay with it? Most of the plan was your own idea. You
could've claimed more credit, you know? Staging the confrontation and making
Chabashira-sensei the maid, it was undeniably your ability that contributed to the
first place."
"It was only possible because of Horikita's stand as leader."
"If it had been you in the past, you wouldn't have included me in this
scheme, would you?"
In the empty classroom, Horikita muttered without looking at me.
"I guess so."
"You don't deny it, do you?"
"It's a fact, so it can't be helped. You knew it too, that's why you asked me,
right?"
"Well, yeah, that's probably true."
It's not that I, Ryūen, and Katsuragi couldn't have forced the issue by
RoyalMTL's 192
ourselves. But when I made this proposal, I told Horikita at the same time without
hesitation.
I wasn't sure if she could play the role or not, but it was not something that
could be done without the leader.
If the proposal had been completely rejected, I would've been fine with it.
"I wouldn't hesitate to consider deceiving my colleagues if it's an effective
means to win. When it's time to proceed, I will proceed, even if it's at a risk. Do
you understand?"
The idea of creating strategies herself became more ingrained in Horikita's
body.
"Maybe now I can understand. I think I'm starting to see it, little by little."
It may not be a very strong feeling yet, but she was definitely getting a feel
for it.
"That's enough for today. The sun will be setting soon."
"Wait. Ayanokōji-kun, I really need to ask you something right now."
I had a hunch that Horikita would refuse to leave when I tried to encourage
her to do so.
I had a feeling that Horikita and Ibuki's presence in the student council room
was not a mere coincidence. It must be because they had arrived at that place by
following some sort of thread.
"What is it?"
"Today's cultural festival. The serious incident that was happening behind
the scenes. Are you..."
Just in time or not, my cell phone rang.
"Sorry, hold on a second."
"Yeah, yeah."
I looked at the screen and saw that it was an incoming call from an unknown
number.
"Hello?"
"Are you still in school? I'd like to talk to you for a minute if you'd like."
The voice sounded familiar: It was Tsubaki Sakurako, a student in first year
Class C.
I didn't care how she got my number, as there were so many different ways
to get it, but she was an unexpected person.
I'm not surprised as to why she made contact today.
"Are you alone now?"
"Unfortunately not."
"Then why don't we meet up?"
"Where are you?"
RoyalMTL's 193
"I just left the front door. You're still on campus, right?
"Give me five minutes."
"Okay."
After a short call, I told Horikita, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to step
out for a bit...I'll be back in about 10 or 20 minutes. Then we'll continue our
conversation."
"Okay, I'll wait here."
I promised to come back here and left the classroom. Once I was alone, I
decided to call the person who had helped me the most today.
"The third-year's information network is top-notch; whether it was Kushida
Kikyo or Hasebe Haruka, you're able to find them immediately. I've once again
realized the power of Student Council President Nagumo."
"Did you call me to say that?"
"I just wanted to thank you in advance. You were very helpful in today's
search."
The number of eyes and the leadership among the third-year students who
quickly located Haruka and Kushida were magnificent.
"I never thought you'd use the strategy I used on you for your own benefit."
"It was helpful that you were able to tell me what was going on in the
student council room. Thanks to you, I was able to respond quickly."
"At first, I thought it was Yagami's crazy delusion, but was there actually a
trick to that letter?"
"It seems to be a love letter to Student Council President Nagumo, but as
Yagami complained, it had a somewhat complicated anagram in it. If someone
deciphers it, they arrive at the sentence, 'I have an important meeting in the student
council room after 3:00 p.m.' I also mixed in a few other words that I thought
would be interesting. If he had a strong interest, he would naturally take me up on
the offer."
In addition to the anagram, the love letter had a few other little touches.
The envelope used for the letter and the stickers that held it together were
made available to anyone at any time at the Keyaki Mall. If they had been custom-
made and bought on the Internet, Yagami might've hesitated, fearing that the
contents might be seen and evidence would be left behind. However, if you inspect
the Keyaki Mall, you'd notice that all but the handwritten letterhead could be
substituted.
That's why he could check the contents without hesitation.
Furthermore, by writing directly, I could give Yagami information about the
handwriting. White room students were thoroughly trained in calligraphy, so their
handwriting were sure to be professional. The love letter prepared in this way was
RoyalMTL's 194
passed to Horikita through another girl using Kei. Then, she was led to hand it to
Yagami, giving him time to examine it. Since there was a possibility that Horikita
would hand it directly to Nagumo, I had him act like he was in a bad mood that day
so that she couldn't hand it over immediately.
"I didn't think he was the guy who went rogue on the island. How much did
you know about him?"
"I don't know anything. Yagami just confessed on his own."
"What kind of a trick was used for Komiya and the others to name Yagami?
Was it a coincidence that the teacher showed up?"
"I just told them that the person at the center of the trouble might be lured
out. They couldn't identify the culprit, and Ryuen's side wanted a hint. I asked
them to take the suggestion knowing the risk that no one would come to the student
council. Or even if they did, nothing would happen."
"I see? Well, I wonder how much you're telling the truth."
I left it to his imagination. What I did was really nothing but trivial. Nothing
of note.
"Oh well. Now you're ready to make good on your promise, aren't you?"
"Of course. I'm looking forward to it, President Nagumo."
As I approached the front door, I ended my call and reached for my shoe
box.
2
"Is Tsubaki alone at the meeting place?"
I thought so for a moment, but it seemed that Utomiya was talking to
someone a little farther away. He was only looking at us.
"Is there something you're having trouble communicating over the phone?"
"Well, the first-year students are in a bit of a mess right now. There was an
unexpected expulsion at the school festival."
"Expelled? That's a very disturbing story."
Someone else was involved in this school expulsion fiasco. That was
Tsubaki Sakurako, who was in front of me then.
"I'm satisfied with the result, which is more than I imagined...Ayanokōji-
senpai."
RoyalMTL's 195
RoyalMTL's 196
Tsubaki made a circle with her finger as if to say, "you passed."
"It seems you've successfully extracted information from Satō-senpai and
drove Yagami-kun out of school. I am very grateful."
"I didn't extract the information. You contacted Satō repeatedly and
gradually drove her into a corner. And then, when she couldn't take it anymore,
you coordinated and threatened her, pushing her to spit everything out and confide
in someone."
Tsubaki, right here in front of me, was the person who approached Satō
without my knowledge.
"I don't know what that means. What a surprise."
Satō was apparently approached by Tsubaki near the women's restroom at
Keyaki Mall. There, she flashed some bait that would turn things around for her,
including a turnaround between my relationship with Kei, which tickled her
curiosity.
"It seems you called Satō to your room and made cheap threats, but it wasn't
a serious attempt to manipulate her into ruining our relationship. It was because
you wanted to push her to act, or deal with the threat of Kei's relationship, by
indirectly letting her know that we were getting close."
Tsubaki listened silently, staring at me without denial.
"When I asked her about the details, the abnormality of the situation was
immediately brought to light. As soon as you saw that Satō wouldn't accept your
invitation, you contacted her again as if to follow up and made similar comments
and provoked her. When you saw that Satō didn't seem to have consulted anyone,
you gradually intensified your threats and hounded her. This was due to the fact
that she would eventually come to consult someone, and that would be me."
The goal was not to cage Satō, but to wait for her to ask me for help.
"Then, you most likely told Satō that it was Yagami who was behind the
threats, not you."
The mentally exhausted Satō probably didn't have time to think about
whether that was true or not. I came up with the idea of using this one incident for
personal use and decided to call up Kei during my discussion with Satō and had
her confide in her about the abuse and almost everything that had led up to this
point in her past. The fact that Satō didn't choose Tsubaki's side afterwards
convinced me that she would be on my side. As a result, the two of them elevated
their relationship from friends to best friends in the truest sense of the word. That
was on November 1.
"Yagami-kun is a bad guy, isn't he?"
"You don't need cheap theatrics. Yagami had nothing to do with this. He's
not involved."
RoyalMTL's 197
"You don't think it was actually Yagami-kun's order?"
"If Yagami was using Tsubaki to contact Satō, there's no need to bother
naming names."
The only people who know about Karuizawa's past are those who are
connected with the White Room. Others can't easily imitate him in a way that
wouldn't have made it difficult for me to see through their disguise.
"Then isn't it the other way around, you found out that I was trying to frame
Yagami-kun, didn't you? And yet you did nothing against me and even expelled
Yagami-kun, who might be innocent. Isn't that contradictory? There was no
indication that Ayanokōji-senpai was looking into it in detail."
"Ah. I didn't investigate Tsubaki or Yagami. No need for that."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't feel like talking any more."
I was convinced that I had said enough. It wasn't even Tsubaki who was
manipulating everything. Furthermore, the person lurking in the background was
the one who painted this picture.
"Utomiya-kun, can you come here for a minute?"
Tsubaki beckoned to Utomiya, who was on the phone, and instructed him to
hand his cell phone to me.
"Go ahead..." Wary, Utomiya handed me the phone while it was still
connected.
"Yagami had some of Tsubaki's and Utomiya's classmates expelled. That's
why those two worked together with me."
I'm pretty sure that was the voice of the man I spoke to last year on the
phone and in front of my room.
"You left him alone because you knew you could take him down at any time
if you moved directly on him. But as a result, there were expulsions from the first
year. It wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for his nuisance."
"I don't deny it."
"The only way to avoid further unnecessary sacrifices was to have him
expelled. But even if you knew that, it isn't easy to defeat Yagami. I know he is no
ordinary high school student."
"That's why you wanted to use me."
He made this decision because he understood the white room student's
purpose and obsession.
"I guess you got my message," he said.
"Eventually, you'll get in touch with someone close to me. And when that
happens, there will be expulsions, right?"
"That's right. But to drive Yagami into a corner and expel him all at once?
RoyalMTL's 198
That was a little out of the calculations. Did you not take into account the
possibility that Yagami was unrelated?"
"It was up to Yagami's choice whether or not he wanted to be expelled. It
wasn't me who decided whether it was black or white. He was playing with fire
here and there, just like he expelled a student from 1st year C. He contacted
Kushida Kikyo, pretending to be her former junior, and he used the information he
was given to control and manipulate her. He provoked unrelated students on a
deserted island by inflicting serious injuries to them. He also checked the contents
of a love letter for another person, thinking it was a trap. I don't know why Horikita
and Ibuki were there, but I think it was also because he was playing with fire."
Normally, people don't steal other people's love letters. And even if they did,
they wouldn't notice the anagrams that were sprinkled throughout.
"So it was all connected."
"Even if there was no clear evidence left behind, the more tricks you play,
the more traces you will always leave behind. That guy didn't realize he was
strangling himself with cotton wool."
"Surely if Yagami hadn't done anything, he wouldn't have been expelled at
this stage."
"I agree."
The accumulated fire and games had led to this outcome.
If Yagami hadn't offended the man on the phone, I wouldn't have messed
with him, and if he hadn't contacted Kushida or seriously injured those guys on the
deserted island, he wouldn't have faced the penalty of expulsion.
If he hadn't seen the contents of the love letter, he would not have been put
in a situation where he could be questioned.
"The only reason he was expelled was because Yagami admitted to himself
that he was black."
I merely set up the stage for a test. If he was completely white, there
would've been no fuss in the first place. He only went to the student council room
because he knew me and because he was smart.
"You seem to be as good as the rumors say you are."
"By the way, just to confirm, remember what you told me before? You told
me that if I didn't get rid of the people who were in my way, I wouldn't expect
peace and quiet to return. That was a bluff, wasn't it? You wanted to create a sense
of urgency that if I didn't take care of the problem soon, it would become even
more difficult."
In order to make me move, he had made a move to get Yagami expelled
from the school from that stage.
"Ayanokōji-sensei was right, you were right to choose this school."
RoyalMTL's 199
"What do you mean?"
"It's just as you said. I'm going to enjoy my school life, and as long as we
don't bump into each other during the first and second years squabbles, I'll let our
relationship end here."
He said what I wanted to say and the call was unilaterally hung up. A sneak
peek at the cell phone screen revealed that the call was deliberately blocked.
This was done because they didn't want Utomiya to realize from their
address or phone number that they were registered to an address.
"Have you figured it out?"
"Yeah."
"When my classmate was expelled from school, at first I thought Hōsen-kun
was involved, but recently I was told that it was Yagami-kun."
Yagami's potential may be impeccably high, but he'd been caught flat-
footed by his own conceit. He was only concerned about me and didn't see his
rivals standing on the same stage. It seemed that Yagami was not a welcome
presence in the first-year students' battle.
"Don't quit just because you've defeated your enemy, Tsubaki."
"I know. To be honest, I wasn't attached to this school at first, but that's
changed a bit. This school is surprisingly fun.
Looking at the exchange just now, it was clear that there were a lot of mixed
feelings other than simply taking revenge on an enemy.
"So, we're leaving."
"Senpai." Utomiya, who was forcing himself to pull out the honorific,
returned to the dormitory with Tsubaki.
"I should get back to class too."
3
After finishing my conversation with Tsubaki and Utomiya, I ran into an exhausted
Chabashira-sensei on her way back to class.
"Thanks for your hard work today. You were very active."
"What's with the compliment?"
Chabashira-sensei was clearly angry as she turned her childlike glare on me
without hiding it.
"Did you really hate it so much that we made you wear a maid's uniform?"
I asked knowingly, and she shook her head and looked down.
"When I went back to the staff room, my pictures were on the desks of
RoyalMTL's 200
teachers everywhere. That's not all. I wonder how many teachers I've been
accosted by in the short time I've been there, how many stories about my maid's
uniform, how many embarrassments I've suffered. For the time being, I sincerely
wish to be a shellfish."
It must have been a really hard time for her, because she felt the pressure so
intensely.
"That's not for me to know. It must be symbolic of the teacher's popularity."
"I am definitely not popular. You've gone the extra mile."
If you really believe there was such a thing as no popularity, you were going
to have a hard time in the future. There must've been many adults who appreciated
Chabashira-sensei as a member of the opposite sex, even if they had't surfaced
until now.
"That's it. The class won first place, so that's good."
"Not good at all. If anything, the top sales amount was a sure thing even if I
didn't do anything."
"I see. Well, first place looks better than second and third place, doesn't it?
"That's not like you to say."
She swallowed hard and held back, as if she thought there was no point in
blaming me any more.
"Even so, I didn't think you were cooperating with Ryūen's class under the
guise of being hostile to them."
"If one class fights alone, the maximum strength is about 40 people. But if
two classes join hands, nearly twice that number of people will join hands though,
not foolproof."
Propaganda doesn't necessarily have to go hand in hand on the surface. If
you get a lot of people together, albeit in different forms, you can make a big show
without spending a lot of money.
"Even the staff room was surprised. Everyone thought it was a real
showdown."
Chabashira-sensei only mentioned the festival's success, but not Yagami's
withdrawal.
Even first-year students who were not directly involved in the event should
know about it as well as teachers, but none have spoken about it with me, who they
think was uninvolved. As a teacher at this school, she was making the right
decision.
"By the way, aren't you going home?"
"I have Horikita waiting in the classroom. Are you still working overtime?"
"I'm making the rounds of the school. There have been several reports of
RoyalMTL's 201
forgotten items filed by guests."
So even when the festival was over, the teachers were still busy cleaning up
afterwards.
4
When I returned to the classroom with Chabashira-sensei, Horikita was lying on
her desk with her upper body on top.
Chabashira-sensei and I looked at each other and decided not to talk to her. I
went closer to check and found that she seemed to be asleep. A strong breeze was
coming in through the opened window.
For a moment, I wondered if I should cover her with her uniform jacket, but
decided against it. I decided not to because I knew Horikita wouldn't be pleased if
she knew I had approached her later.
"Nn..."
Hmm? For a moment I thought she was awake, but apparently not.
"No..."
She was talking in his sleep. I was a little surprised because it was a bit of a
startling statement. Horikita must've been tired today. I closed the window quietly
so she wouldn't catch a cold before heading back to the corridor.
"I'm going to let her sleep a little longer.
"Are you going to wait for her to wake up here?"
"She won first place at the school festival. I'd say it's well deserved."
She'll be up soon anyway.
"You go home now. I'll take over here."
RoyalMTL's 202
RoyalMTL's 203
"Are you sure? I'm sure the woman behind the scenes deserves a little more
service than that."
"I'll take it easy."
"But Ayanokōji, don't ever think of a plan to humiliate me again, okay?"
"You still care?"
"This is a day I will never forget in my life."
"Well, Chabashira-sensei, thank you for your efforts. Someday that will be a
good memory too."
"Don't get cocky, student."
Glaring at me, Chabashira-sensei sighed and leaned against the classroom
door.
Well then, I'm going home too.
[Class points at the end of the November festival]
• Class A led by Sakayanagi: 1201
• Class B led by Horikita: 966
• Class C led by Ryūen: 740
• Class D led by Ichinose: 675