Sudo's Case- 8[Ayanokoji PoV]

The first class we visited felt slightly odd. Although it had the same basic layout, it felt like we came to a completely different place. I corrected my initial misunderstanding that a home and an away game were only slightly different. Since we didn't know if the class would be an enemy or an ally, our initial impression of the class was also different. They may also feel resentment towards us due to being demoted from class B to class C. Even Ike and Yamauchi were shocked. They couldn't move from the doorway.

Being the only one unfazed, Kushida started talking to her friends with a smile right after she entered the classroom. What an amazing attitude. She was able to easily chat with her friends regardless of their gender, similar to how she acted with class B. I wouldn't be able to do the same. Though there was some kind of uncomfortable air around the girls, but they were comfortably talking to her at the same time. I don't want to know.

The two who were the most jealous were Ike and Yamauchi. Kushida was talking and having fun with people who were clearly more attractive.

"D-Damn it! There are way too many guys aiming for my Kushida-chan!"

What do you mean?

"Don't panic Ike, it's alright. We've have an advantage: we're in the same class as Kushida-chan!"

"No no no! I will never betray Yui-chan!"

They can't just decide who to aim for. People around us started looking at us with a weird expression. Hey, don't lump me with those two.

Feeling annoyed, the prideful two comforted each other. Although there were only 10 people in the room, Kushida started explaining the situation to those who were there.

As this was Kushida's lead, I left her to take care of things.

Trying not to be noticed by the others, I took a few steps back from the doorway.

"I want to go home…"

I didn't want them to hear me complaining to myself.

Out on the field, I saw the track and field club running laps around the track.

Since the air conditioning was comfortable, I didn't feel like going outside.

"The sports club sure is working hard."

Having finished scouting out class B, Ike joined me in looking out of the window. He's a fickle guy; this wait must have been boring for him.

"People who participate in club activities are stupid."

"What's with the sudden thought? You know that saying those kind of things will turn half the school against you, don't you?"

I didn't know the exact number, but I estimated that around 60 to 70 percent of the students participated in club activities,

"Where's the merit in such a harsh training regimen? If they like to exercise, they should just do it as a hobby."

It was strange to consider club activities solely as a benefit or a drawback.

Participating in clubs had its benefits. One was able to socialise with others, as well as experience success and failure. These were experiences not included in academics. Furthermore, members of the go home club wouldn't receive the benefits of being in a club.

"I guess."

I waited for Kushida's report for the next few minutes, but I didn't get what I was expecting.

---'A DAY LATER'---

The class was temporarily excited but quickly returned back to reality. Like yesterday, they were trying to get information about witnesses.

On the other hand, I was standing in the back of a room like a ghost, feeling admiration for Ike's group and Kushida for being able to casually converse back and forth.

It was as clear as day that I, who can't even talk coherently, wasn't fit for the job of looking for witnesses. How can they talk so easily to strangers? They're monsters.

During the investigation, they gathered not only names but also asked for contact addresses. Kushida's presence probably prompted them to tell her their addresses immediately after being asked. That's also a great talent…

Even though Kushida and her group were walking to the second-year classrooms and asking all the upperclassmen, there haven't been any leads.

As time kept ticking, the number of students left after school was rapidly decreasing. When we stopped passing by other students, we decided to call it a day.

"We didn't find anything today either…"

In order to revise our strategy, everyone returned to my room.

Soon after, Sudo came by and joined in the discussion.

"What happened today? Was there any progress made?"

"Sadly, no progress was made."

"I don't understand why you are looking for witness so hard. That Ryuen guy is clearly lying! He was jealous that I get to spend time with Yui so he is framing me. Because of him, she isn't teaching me right now!"

Out of everyone in the class, Sudo is the most enthusiastic about studying. So this is the power of love.

"Say Kushida, did you ask for Ichinose's help?"

"Yeah. I talked to her. She asked everyone in her class but they don't know anything about the matter. Though she did say that she will help if we asked."

Even if someone from her class knew about it, I doubt they will just tell us.

After the discussion continued on for ten minutes, Kushida spoke up, having come up with a new idea.

"I think it might be better to change the direction of our efforts. For example, let's look for a witness that might've witnessed the incident."

"Look for a witness that witnessed the incident? Isn't that kind of useless?"

"Are you going to look for the people who went into the building that day?"

"Yeah. What do you think?"

The idea's not bad. There might've been a few people that entered the building on that day, but the entrance is pretty easy to spot. In other words, if someone says that they saw a person entering the special building, we would be getting closer to finding the witness.

"That sounds like a good idea. Let's do that immediately."

When I noticed, Sudo was using up his stamina on a mobile game he got addicted to recently. It looked like it was called the "Generation of Miracles" something, but I didn't really know what was happening. After winning the match, he made a triumphant pose.

Even though Sudo really couldn't do anything in the present situation, Ike and Yamauchi look disgruntled. However, since they were scared of Sudou's counter-attack, they decided not to point out their own dissatisfaction. Both of them stayed silent, pretending not to have seen anything.

The bell rang and a visitor appeared at my door.

The small group of people that regularly visit my room have already gathered, so it was probably that person.

"Has progress been made?"

Horikita asked with a condescending attitude even though she probably knew the answer to her own question.

"No… not yet."

"I'm only saying this because it's you, but I have something—"

While she was talking, she realized there were a lot of shoes lined up at the doorway.

She turned around and held herself back in a panic.

Kushida popped out, probably worried that she would head back quickly.

"Oh, Horikita-san!'

Kushida waved at Horikita with a smile. Looking at her cheerful attitude, Horikita naturally let out a sigh.

"You can't run now, you know?"

"Seems that way…"

Horikita entered the room reluctantly.

"Did you decide to help? I'm glad you decided to join."

"I don't intend to help. After all, you haven't found the witness yet, right?."

Kushida nodded her head dejectedly.

"If you didn't come to help, why'd you come?"

"I was wondering what kind of plan you guys had."

"I'm happy even if you're only going to listen to the plan. I wanted advice as well."

Kushida then told her about the plan that she came up with a short while ago. Horikita's expression was stiff throughout the whole explanation.

"It's not a bad plan. It might even produce results with enough time."

Time is definitely the issue here. It's doubtful if we'll be able to get anything done in the few days we have remaining.

"Now that I've checked up on the situation, I'll be leaving."

In the end, Horikita decided to leave without even sitting down.

"Did you think of something?"

When she was standing at the door earlier, she clearly had something to say.

She's not that amicable to have come to my room for no reason.

"…I'll give one piece of advice to help your weak efforts. It's hard to see what's right in front of you, after all. If there really is someone that witnessed the incident, then that person is most likely close by."

The information that Horikita gave us was much more significant than I thought it would be.

She's talking as if she already found the witness we weren't sure existed in the first place.

"What do you mean, Horikita? Are you saying you found the witness?"

Surprise and doubt came first before joy for Sudo. It's understandable.

Everyone, including me, was in disbelief until she replied.

"Sakura-san."

An unexpected name came from Horikita.

"Sakura-san, from our class…?"

Yamauchi and Ike exchanged glances. They looked confused as to who Sakura was. That was probably expected, though. I also had to think about it for a bit.

"Why do you say that?"

"When Kushida-san was asking the class for witnesses, she looked down. A lot of the students were looking at Kushida-san, but she was the only one that looked uninterested. She wouldn't have acted that way if she actually was unrelated to the incident."

I didn't notice at all. Horikita's powers of observations are really impressive.

"Since you're one of the people that were staring at Kushida-san, it's only natural."

What a sarcastic tone.

"So, you're saying that this Sakura, Kokura something person is probably the witness?"

Yamauchi said something reasonable, unlike the role of a boke.

"Nah. I asked Sakura. She isn't the witness."

Sudo, who had been unusually silent, dismissed the idea.

"No, Sakura-san is definitely the witness. Her actions made it obvious. Although she may not admit it, she's who you're looking for."

Horikita was acting like her usual self.

All of us were moved that Horikita was doing this for the class.

"Did you really do this for my sake…!"

Sudo looked especially moved, even though he doubted that Sakura was the witness.

"Nope. I just didn't want to waste time and look shameful to the other classes. That's all."

"Um, so in short, you're saying that you helped us right?"

"You can interpret it however you want, but I'm just saying that you're wrong."

"Don't lie~. You're just a tsundere, Horikita~"

Ike hit Horikita's shoulders playfully, but she threw his arm onto the ground.

"Ouch!"

"Don't touch me. There better not be a next time, because I'll despise you until we graduate."

"I-I won't touch… even if I tried to touch… Ow, ow!"

She pinned him down in a headlock. Unfortunate, but he deserved it.

At any rate, those weren't the movements of a normal girl. Since her older brother does karate and aikido, does she do martial arts too?

"My a-arm is…!"

"Ike-kun."

Horikita talked to Ike, who was on the floor in pain. Isn't this just overkill?

"Should I revise it to, 'Despising you until we graduate won't cut it?'"

"Uu! Sho cruel!"

Ike was defeated by those final words.

But Sakura, huh… Of all people, it was a class B student.

It's hard to say whether or not this is a good thing.

"Isn't that great, Sudo? If it's a class B student, we definitely have testimony!"

"Yeah. I'm happy that there is a witness, but who is this Sakura person? "Do you know her?"

I really didn't didn't seem to remember much of her.

Yamauchi replied in surprise.

"Are you being serious?"

This girl, Sakura, certainly doesn't stand out. It's a big problem that we don't know who she is.

"I probably know her, but I don't exactly know where I've heard her name."

I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Tell us how she looks like."

"Well, would it help if I say that she has the biggest boobs in the class? Excessively big, you know?"

Ike, who looked lively again, told us her physical characteristics, but I don't know who she is with that explanation.

"Oh, that plain glasses girl, huh?"

How'd you understand with just that…? I drew back a bit.

"It's bad to remember people like that, Ike-kun. That's pathetic."

"N-No, it's different, Kushida-chan. I'm not trying to be offensive. You know how you might remember a tall person by their height? It's just like that! The only difference is that I'm remembering other people by a different characteristic…!"

Ike tried to smooth over the situation when Kushida quickly lost faith in him. But it's too late.

"Damn it! It's different, it's different! I don't like a plan girl like her! Don't misunderstand!"

No, I don't think there are any misunderstandings here.

Everyone else shifted the topic towards Sakura as Ike broke down crying.

"Then the next step is to find out how much Sakura-san knows. Does anyone know?"

"I am telling you guys that is useless. I already asked her and she doesn't know."

Sudo insisted on her being completely unrelated to that matter. Was Horikita wrong in her observation?

"Hmm, I'm not sure. We'll have to ask her directly."

"Can't we go to her room right now? We don't have much time."

The proposal from Yamauchi seems safe, but it also depends on her personality and character.

Sakura is an unusually shy girl. If people she didn't know very well suddenly appeared at her doorstep, it's easy to imagine that she would be confused.

"Then should we call her?"

Speaking of which, I forgot that Kushida has almost everyone's contact addresses in the class.

Kushida was on the phone for 20 seconds, but she shook her head and put her phone away.

"No, it didn't connect. I'll try again later, but it's a difficult matter."

"What do you mean?"

"She told me her contact address, but I think she'll be annoyed if I try to contact her, especially since she doesn't know me very well. Also, I don't think she was actually there to pick up the phone."

She might also be pretending to be gone.

"So she's kinda like Horikita?"

Why would you even think to ask that in front of the person herself, Ike?

She probably wouldn't mind. Rather, it didn't seem like she was interested in what Ike was saying either.

"Goodbye."

"Ah, Horikita-san!"

Looking like she was caught off guard, Horikita quickly stood up and walked towards the door.

By the time I got up and chased after her, I heard the sound of the door closing.

"Tsundere."

Ike looked happy as he laughed, scratching his nose with his index finger.

She doesn't have tsun, nor does she have dere. I think she's a lost cause… No tsun, no dere.

Since we couldn't do anything about Horikita's absence, the conversation continued without her.

"I think Sakura-san's just a shy person. That's the impression I get from her."

It's strange to talk about a person's character without ever having talked to them before.

"Anyway, she's plain. It's a complete waste of what she has."

While talking, Yamauchi gestured towards his breasts.

"Yea, yea. Her boobs are super big, though. That's cute by itself!"

Ike seems to have already forgotten the regret he felt a few seconds ago and started to get excited.

Ah, but Kushida had a strained smile. Noticing her expression, Ike regretted his words once again.

This is a perfect example of a living being that keeps repeating its mistakes.

The problem is that even though I'm staying quiet, I feel like I'm getting treated the same way as Ike and Yamauchi. Kushida's expression seems to say, "You're also obsessed with the boobs, right? You pervert." Of course, this is my own persecution complex.

"Um, about Sakura's face… Nope, don't remember anything."

I can barely match the name to the face. I remember seeing her face back when we were doing the bets. I also remember her breasts, though. Somehow, it seems like I'm just the same as the others…

Sakura gives off the impression that she would always be alone and hunched over.

"Which reminds me, I don't know if she actually talks to anyone. How about you, Yamauchi? Wait, wait a second… Yamauchi, you said that you confessed to her before, right? Were you able to talk to her?"

Oh right, Yamauchi did say that he confessed.

"Ah, ah. Well, I don't remember if I did such a thing."

Yamauchi pretended to have forgotten.

"Was it a lie…"

"Bah. No, I wasn't lying. It was a misunderstanding. It wasn't Sakura, it was a girl from the neighboring class. A girl who isn't as ugly and gloomy as Sakura. Oh, sorry, give me a sec."

Yamauchi dodged the question and took out his phone.

Sakura may be plain, but she's not ugly. I've never looked at her face directly, but she has pretty nice facial features.

But even then, I can't say with confidence because she has such a thin presence.

"Yui teaches her along with me. If she witnessed the fight, she wouldn't outright lie."

Sudo kept on insisting, but we have to reach for every straw.

"First of all, I'll try to talk to her by myself tomorrow. She might be wary if there are a lot of people."

"That sounds good."

If Kushida isn't able to get through to her, probably no one can.