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Chapter 274: Chapter 2 Part IV

A casual message from Haruka. The moment I tried to reply with my phone, a verbal sword from the neighbor came flying at me.

"That grinning face of yours is giving me the creeps."

"Whose?"

"Yours. You do have some self-awareness, right? Even without me having to point it out?"

"I can at least say with confidence that I wasn\'t grinning."

Because I don\'t remember the corners of my mouth curving upwards.

"Is it just that you\'re even more serious than I am or perhaps you\'re playing dumb.....? I\'m talking about your inner self."

Apparently Horikita can tell that I\'m overjoyed at having a friend send me a chat message.

"You\'re fitting right in, aren\'t you?"

And with a throwaway remark like that, Horikita took her bag in hand and walked off alone.

"I was grinning, huh?"

Of course, I\'ll admit it doesn\'t feel bad to be contacted like this by a friend but if the conclusion you draw from that is that I was \'grinning\' then it\'s not something Horikita should be celebrating.

Does she really want to remain a loner that badly...?

I quickly wrapped things up and left the classroom. If we were a normal group, we could\'ve headed to our destination while chatting the whole way there but for a group like ours lacking a driving force, that\'s not quite possible.

We only gather when there are people willing to meet up. When I arrived at our usual spot at Keyaki Mall, everyone had already assembled.

"Akito, what about your club activities?"

"...I\'m skipping today\'s."

"Looks like the Class C guys showed up at the archery club again. From what I can tell, they haven\'t come to blows with anyone though....."

Apparently there\'s been a quarrel there.

"I told my seniors I wasn\'t quite feeling it and that I\'ll be taking a break. Our club\'s quite lenient, you see."

Even if he is taking a break, this declaration is just far too honest. Well, I suppose if he used the excuse that he\'s not feeling well then he wouldn\'t be able to show up here after all.

"We seriously need to put an end to Class C\'s reckless actions. At this rate, it\'s even harming our club activities."

"What about discussing this with our teacher?"

Haruka offered. But Akito shook his head.

"Nothing you can do if the only thing you\'re going to say is that you\'re being watched by Class C. It\'d be a different story if they intruded on a private area but they\'re free to visit the archery club."

Even if that\'s mostly a lie, they\'re still free to come have a look as many times as they want.

"I guess so. Class C\'s really giving us grief, aren\'t they? Ahh, speaking of Class C, I saw it, I saw it. How detestable, Boss~"

Saying anachronistic words like that, Haruka elbowed me in the ribs.

"You saw? What?"

"What do you mean \'what\'? I\'m talking about Kiyopon eating together with Shiina-san from Class C."

...I see. I guess she spotted us in the cafeteria. Even though it\'s a spacious area, there weren\'t many people left by then so it\'s not really strange.

"I\'ll have you know Airi\'s been worried about that ever since to the point she\'s been spilling her rice all over the place."

"Wah?! You promised you wouldn\'t talk about that, Haruka-chan!"

"Really? Then let\'s pretend that didn\'t happen just now."

Of course, the brain isn\'t really configured to forget things that easily. But with this, I\'ve managed to catch on. That the reason she had us gather here today is, without a doubt, because she wanted to discuss this.

"Right before Christmas? Could it be a last minute romance?"

"Really, Kiyotaka? I didn\'t figure you for the worldly type though."

Almost as if he\'s slightly angered by that, Keisei said so.

"Naive. You\'re way too naive, Yukimu~. All roads lead to romance for a boy and a girl. Also, \'worldly type\' is such a lame thing to say. Teenagers these days go at a much faster pace than you\'re imagining."

"What do you mean \'faster\'? We\'re still in our 1st year of high school, you know."

"Look here, experiencing romance for the first time in your 1st year of high school is already considered too late. Back when I was in elementary school, some of my classmates were already dating middle schoolers and high schoolers."

Keisei\'s jaw dropped at Haruka\'s shocking declaration and he was left dumbfounded.

"I-I\'ve never heard that before."

"That just means you never paid any attention to your surroundings, Yukimu~. Most girls aren\'t interested in a childish classmate after all."

I don\'t think you can really apply this logic to elementary school students but that could just be both Keisei and I lacking experience in worldly matters. But I must make a correction where one needs to be made.

"Sorry to rain on your parade but there\'s no such thing going on with me."

"Really? You sure you\'re not just trying to avoid the embarrassment?"

"S-See? I told you but you wouldn\'t believe me, Haruka-chan."

"I had some business at the library during lunch break. I just happened to run into Shiina there by coincidence. I think it\'s probably the same as Akito being watched by Ishizaki and the others at his club. She asked me a variety of things too. I didn\'t want to turn her down and end up attracting more unwanted attention..."

By going along with the flow of the conversation like this, it makes me sound more credible. Besides, it\'s not really a lie.

Even though our encounter was a coincidence, it\'s still highly possible she was trying to sound me out there.

"So you\'ve finally been marked too, Ayanokouji. Does that Ryuuen guy really hate the idea of being overtaken by Class D that much?"

Akito resentfully said, aware now that he\'s not the only one affected by this. But Keisei began to consider this tailing problem from a different angle.

"No, that may not be the case. You\'ve heard the recent rumors about there being a mastermind behind Class D too, right? I didn\'t give it much thought until now but that may be the reason why Ryuuen\'s tailing us. Ayanokouji, what exactly did Shiina ask you anyways?"

"You\'re exactly right, Keisei. She probably thought I\'d be an easy target for conversation since I was alone. She talked about a variety of different topics too but she questioned me quite a bit about the mastermind and such."

"I-I see, so that\'s how it is. So it wasn\'t a date or anything."

Airi pats herself on the chest in relief after learning it\'s completely unrelated to that.

"But I didn\'t have a clue so I couldn\'t really answer no matter how many times she asked me. To be honest, it was really tough."

"Still, you seemed to be having fun though?"

"I can\'t just openly act displeased now, can I? She is still a colleague, for the record."

Haruka still seems suspicious of me but Keisei immediately changed the topic.

"Leaving aside the romance that Haruka\'s talking about, the things Class C\'s been saying are worrying. I do feel bad about eavesdropping but it looks like Sudou also got caught up in it and asked Horikita for advice."

Looks like he overheard the conversation with Sudou this morning.

"What about you? Are you okay, Keisei?"

Keisei seemed contemplative in response to Akito\'s concern.

"So far nothing\'s happened yet. Directly, that is. But I\'d be lying if I said there\'s nothing I\'m worried about."

As though reminiscing, Keisei told us about what\'s been on his mind.

"These days, I\'ve been crossing paths with Class C students more than usual. I didn\'t pay it any heed but they were all Ryuuen\'s lackeys. It may be that I\'m also being targeted."

The probability of that being the case is likely extremely high.

"I see...but they haven\'t done anything to me though?"

She reservedly raised her hand as though she doesn\'t recall anything.

"Same."

Haruka also raised her hand like Airi did. One wouldn\'t normally think they\'re being tailed. All the more so because none of it is conspicuous.

"Maybe we just haven\'t realized it like Keisei and someone might actually be tailing us."

"Ehh~ That\'s what you\'d call a stalker, right? Creepy."

Naturally, having a boy target a girl like this would lead to various problems. In this case, Ryuuen may be making use of girls if he wants to perfect his strategy.

"Being tailed, huh? That may be the case..."

Hearing that, Akito covered his mouth with his hand and said as though he had remembered something.

"The time I finish with my club activities and meet with you guys is often late, right?"

"Yeah. Usually around after 6 or 7?"

"I\'ve been feeling there were more Class C students around that would be normal. The other day when we met up at Keyaki Mall, Komiya was there. He\'s here now too."

Akito is the sharp one in our group, he\'s got excellent observation skills.

Haruka tried to look around but Akito stopped her.

"Stop it. We don\'t know what they\'re after, it\'s better not to react."

I would\'ve stopped her if Akito hadn\'t done so first. It\'s for the best if we avoid adding fuel to the flames as much as we can.

"Creep."

Haruka spitefully said while looking in the direction Komiya\'s in without even trying to hide it.

"So it\'s really true? That Class D has a hidden mastermind?"

Perhaps Haruka wasn\'t taking it seriously, it appears she still has her doubts.

"No use thinking about it, Haruka. Ryuuen\'s got no qualms about lying. There\'s no telling whether we\'ve got someone like that or not."

Akito said while denying the very premise of it. However, it looks like Keisei\'s thinking about it from a different angle.

"I\'m sure Ryuuen\'s thought it out. He\'s having us tailed precisely because he believes there\'s someone like that. But if so, then who could it be?"

"Hmm? You think there\'s someone like that?"

"If not, then none of their actions would make sense."

Akito didn\'t seem too convinced.

"That\'s assuming there\'s any meaning to the things Ryuuen thinks about."

Perhaps because of their entanglements up until now, Akito seems doubtful of that.

"What do you think, Kiyopon?"

The question I expected to come flying at me, did come flying at me.

"Regardless of whether or not a person like that exists, that\'s probably the reason why they\'re tailing us."

After hearing all of our opinions, Haruka crossed her arms and spoke.

"So we\'re talking about someone who isn\'t Horikita-san and whose actions have gotten us through the exams so far, right? Someone like Yukimu~ perhaps? He\'s smart and as a matter of fact, he always tops our tests."

"I did no such thing. I was only being swept along during the island exam and the zodiac exam."

Keisei sighs as though the topic is something pathetic.

"Then perhaps Kouenji-kun? You know how his personality is but he\'s top class when it comes to brains and brawns."

"No way, Haruka. His personality is just like what you said. Do you really think he\'s the type of person who\'d make a move for the class?"

His lack of teamwork is far beyond Horikita\'s to the point it\'s almost off the charts.

"But maybe that\'s just faked?"

"You\'re saying that absurd personality of his is just a front?"

"Maybe his real personality is a calm, calculating schemer.....no?"

Everyone shook their heads at once.

"No way. He\'s just whimsical."

It\'s precisely because they\'ve known him for a long time now that they\'re able to say with confidence that this is the sort of person Kouenji is.

"Even leaving aside the personality issue, Kouenji being the mastermind is still very unlikely."

Keisei added that as though he has proof of that.

"He retired on the first day of the island exam. In other words, he wouldn\'t have been able to assess the situation one bit. If there\'s a mastermind besides Horikita during the island exam that it wouldn\'t add up for him."

"Ahh---I see. You\'re rather persuasive, Yukimu~"

"But this is just pure guesswork. And based on the premise that there is a mastermind like Ryuuen theorized. Besides, it\'s only if the mastermind made a move in every exam so far. Even if they exist, they may not have gotten involved during the island exam. It\'s all guesswork, of course."

"I see. That does sound right."

"But I do think there\'s a mastermind in our class."

"Why do you think so, Keisei?"

Keisei continues speaking in response to the doubtful Akito.

"Just a hunch. If I had to say then it would be because Class D\'s been making much progress so far, I suppose."

"But how could Ryuuen-kun tell that the mastermind isn\'t Horikita-san?"

Since no one knows the reason for that, the conversation stalled for a moment.

"Maybe it\'s Hirata-kun? If I recall, he got some advice from Horikita-san back during the island exam."

"Maybe it\'s actually Hirata issuing orders behind the scenes, you mean?"

"I don\'t really think he\'s that kind of guy though but I can\'t rule it out either."

Ultimately, it was Hirata who became the prime suspect.

"But I\'m sure Hirata\'s also been marked by Ryuuen."

"That sounds tough...maybe about 10 people or so have been marked?"

Normally speaking, surveillance at the hands of that many people would leave you with no room to rest. Just like how Ishizaki\'s the one keeping an eye on Akito, Hirata is probably also being marked by someone else. But Hirata\'s policy is that of non-intervention.

I imagine he\'d be considerate even of enemies that need to be defeated. And I haven\'t had much contact with Hirata these days. It is a fact that freedom of movement is limited while Ryuuen\'s in the middle of his investigation. No point in giving them what they want.

"U-Um, Kiyotaka-kun."

After hearing everyone out, Airi reservedly started speaking.

"Hmm?"

"Please don\'t get angry but...could it be that the mastermind is actually Kiyotaka-kun?"

At those words, the remaining three simultaneously turned to look at me.

"Why do you think so?"

"I-I mean, umm...Kiyotaka-kun\'s always calm and smart...and also dependable...also, I thought you\'ve been giving Horikita-san a lot of advice, so..."

"Were Kiyopon\'s test scores any good?"

"If I recall, they were neither good nor bad."

Keisei pushes up his glasses.

I suppose it\'s just in her nature, that remark of Airi\'s probably has no malevolent intent behind it since she herself doesn\'t know about the hidden affairs of the class.

"S-Sorry. I just, somehow, thought that...that maybe because of the advice you gave without realizing, Ryuuen-kun may be targeting you and I felt sad about that....."

"Unfortunately, I\'m the one always receiving advice from Horikita."

"Well, I mean, Kiyopon does have a mysterious side to him. Adding the fact that he\'s close to Horikita-san too, it wouldn\'t be out of place for him to seem suspicious."

"That...might be the case. Maybe that\'s also why Shiina directly confronted him."

Akito, who has denied the existence of a mastermind so far, reached that conclusion.

"There\'s certainly reason to be suspicious of Ayanokouji. Even if there is no mastermind, just by being close to Horikita, it may give rise to doubts that there is a mastermind, right?"

"If so, that\'s disastrous for you, Kiyopon."

"...you can say that again."

"A thorough marking by Ryuuen based on a misunderstanding, huh? It\'s annoying just thinking about it. If there\'s anything troubling you, feel free to consult us, ok?"

Akito said so while putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah. I\'ll do that."

But there\'s no way this surveillance is going to continue on forever. When there\'s a good opportunity to do so, Ryuuen will definitely attack.