Act 17: Scene 3

Suzune and Kikyo walked through the hallways of the school building with one goal in mind: To obtain a photo of Class C so that Miyako can pinpoint which of the students within that class were the ones who attacked him.

While Suzune was completely determined on getting the task done, her companion was not-so-pleased with her actions.

"Geez, if you wanted to continue with your plan to ask Shiina-san, then you could have just said so, Horikita-san. Other people wouldn't have been so forgiving if you did it to them," Kikyo spoke in a scolding manner while sending a small frown towards her friend.

She definitely didn't appreciate her companion's actions in the classroom, right after Chabashira-sensei allowed them to have the rest of their homeroom to themselves. Before she could even do anything after their teacher left, Horikita had dragged her out of the classroom by the arm, basically demanding to be accompanied by her friend.

It was quite the comical scene, from an outside perspective.

Suzune sighed and lowered her head in response. "I apologize if I have caught you off guard, Kushida-san. I simply do not want to waste time while we have it. We only have until the end of homeroom to be able to put the plan in motion."

"Stop trying to justify yourself already, you bitch... now my arm hurts a bit because of you," she scoffed in her mind while stretching her right arm, before putting on her mask again. "The plan? Does that mean we're heading to Class C right now to ask Shiina-san about the incident?"

"That's correct," Suzune nodded.

"Don't you think it's a bit risky to do this now, Horikita-san? What if they're having a class right now? We can't really ask Shiina-san if they're busy, let alone go to their classroom."

"If they are currently having a class, then we'll do this later. However, it wouldn't be a bad thing to see what they are doing for ourselves and if it's possible, we could get a photo of them while they're unaware of our presence."

Kikyo sighed to herself. "I hope you're right, Horikita-san. I just don't want us to get caught by them and get accused of doing something suspicious."

"They won't. We'll be quick and discreet with our movements to prevent any of them from seeing us. As soon as we get a clear photo of Class C, we leave immediately."

"Roger that, Horikita-san."

The two continued on with Kikyo leading the way, as she was more familiar with the school hallways than Suzune. However, before they could even reach Class C's designated room, they quickly spotted their person of interest heading out of her classroom before walking away to who-knows-where.

"There she is," Suzune pointed to where Shiina was, while keeping her eyes glued on the girl from Class C.

Kikyo whistled to herself. How incredibly lucky they were to get an opportunity like this! It would make things a thousand times easier for them compared to their efforts in the past two days, all of which had contributed to nothing.

"Wow, we're lucky that she's not in her classroom right now."

"Hmm... where could she be going at this time? Could she be meeting someone? Is she planning to do something? Or could it be that she's planning to go to our class to see how we are faring in our investigation of Miyake-kun's case?"

The beige-haired girl sent a deadpan look at her companion while wondering if Horikita was actually serious about those allegations. She has to be kidding... but just from seeing the dead-serious expression on her face which was directed towards Shiina, it's clear that she wasn't kidding.

Seriously, this bitch should learn a thing or two about emotional quotient instead of the other one. Maybe it would change her from being a stuck-up pathetic bitch to someone bearable. However, never in a million years could Kikyo see herself helping this homewrecker because one, Horikita is too selfish to even think about other people and two, she'd rather get caught having sex with Kiyotaka than lending this bitch a hand.

"Horikita-san, I think she's just going to the restroom..." Kikyo sweat-dropped.

Upon hearing that suggestion from her friend, the raven-haired girl quickly realized that she had gone overboard with the possible scenarios in her mind that she didn't think of a simple reason such as going to the restroom.

"...you make a good point, Kushida-san."

At the very least, Suzune seemed to acknowledge the mistake she made and lowered her head to try and hide her embarrassment. Kikyo saw this and only smirked to herself, amused at Suzune's obvious blunder which was a pretty rare moment in itself. In fact, she had never seen this bitch acting like this before.

The two waited for a bit until Hiyori was at a considerable distance away from her classroom, before they finally decided to follow her. When they caught up to her, Horikita tapped the girl's shoulder a few times to get her attention.

"Shiina-san," she spoke as Hiyori turned around to face them.

The silver-haired girl from Class C took a moment to observe them for a bit, before realizing "Oh. You're... Horikita-san and Kushida-san, right? I remember we took a bath with Ayanokouji-kun together a few weeks ago."

The blush that appeared on Suzune and Kikyo's faces was instantaneous, as the two of them immediately turned their heads in different directions. They were both taken aback at what the girl from Class C said out of nowhere, all while Hiyori looked at them in wonder.

"P-Please be mindful of what you say out in the open, Shiina-san..." Suzune tried her best to glare at Hiyori, but was struggling to even do it without blushing furiously.

It was only after those words that the silver-haired girl realized what she said and the possible implications of it.

"I'm sorry. I just said what was on my mind," Hiyori chuckled nervously.

"You're lucky no one was around..." Kikyo scoffed in her thoughts. Honestly, she wouldn't have a problem with others finding out that she was interested in Kiyotaka. After all, she kissed him in front of her class about a week ago.

What she didn't want other people to know was that she spent a few hours in the local bathhouse not just with him, but with eight other girls. She didn't want other people to think that she swings both ways, because she doesn't!

"So what can I do for you two?" Hiyori asked with a smile.

"Where were you heading? We saw you walking out of your classroom," Kikyo asked in return.

"To the restroom. Is there a problem?"

Kikyo sent Suzune an 'I told you so' look right away, while the black-haired girl looked a bit ashamed at being proven wrong at the very least. However, she shook her head immediately to get her mind back on track. They were here for a reason.

"Will it be okay if we ask for a bit of your time, Shiina-san? We want to ask you a question."

Hiyori nodded. "Sure. We don't really have anything to do for the next hour since Sakagami-sensei let us have the rest of our homeroom to ourselves. What is it?"

"Are you aware that a few of your classmates have gotten involved in an incident a few days ago?"

"Yes, we were told by Sakagami-sensei that three of my classmates were involved in a fight with another student, but I don't know who they were in conflict with because I wasn't listening. Why?"

"The student that your classmates have gotten in a conflict with happens to be one of our own. They cornered him near the bathhouse and proceeded to assault him to the point that he needed to be brought to the clinic to treat his injuries."

"Oh, my..." Hiyori gasped softly, bringing up a hand to cover her mouth. "I hope he is okay..."

Kikyo shook her head with a smile. "Don't worry about him, he's fine."

Hiyori let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm not surprised that my classmates were like that towards him."

"Do you know anything about it?" asked Suzune, hoping for a positive response from the silver-haired girl.

"I'm sorry, Horikita-san. I don't know anything. I don't like violence and I keep my distance from anything related to it."

Suzune sighed and donned a thoughtful expression. Somehow, she expected that response so she wasn't surprised.

"Do you at least know who among your classmates were involved in that fight?"

"Hmm..." Hiyori thought about that question for a moment, before she was struck by a moment of realization. "I do remember Sakagami-sensei telling the rest of us that Ishizaki-kun, Komiya-kun, and Kondo-kun couldn't attend classes three days ago because they were treating some injuries that they had sustained for some reason..."

Both girls from Class D widened their eyes slightly in response, as they wordlessly agreed to one single conclusion.

"It's them. It has to be," Suzune stated. "I remember Sudo-kun mentioning that this Ishizaki-kun could be one of the attackers. Komiya-kun and Kondo-kun must be two of his friends who were also mentioned by Sudo-kun."

Kikyo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but it's strange... they weren't able to go to school and yet they were the ones who ganged up on Miyake-kun. And even more strange, Miyake-kun was able to attend class and not them."

"It appears that they really wanted to sell the act of them being the victims and that Miyake-kun was the one who started the fight. It wouldn't be as convincing if they were able to attend their classes like nothing happened."

"But how could they do that? Did they inflict self-harm on themselves? Or are they just faking it?"

"If they were only faking their injuries, then it wouldn't have reached the point where a hearing would take place in order to settle the case between the two sides. They must have shown proof of their injuries to their teacher to prove they weren't faking," Suzune shook her head. "At the same time, the teachers realize the absurdity that three students were the ones who are injured in a 'fight' against one individual, so they believe that there's merit in Miyake-kun's words."

"Then that means they did it to themselves," Kikyo concluded. Even though they were part of a rival class, the girl couldn't help but be impressed with the lengths that Ishizaki, Kondo, and Komiya would go through in order to pin the blame on Miyake despite being the perpetrators of the whole incident.

"That's the most likely scenario that I could think of, Kushida-san. Of course, there is also the possibility that someone else caused the injuries that they sustained, but that would be another case entirely."

"So this is why they couldn't make it to class that day..." the silver-haired girl muttered as she listened to the conversation between the Class D girls. To think that her classmates were a part of this thing...

"Shiina-san, do you have a photo of those three students? Anything will do, as long as it shows their faces," asked Suzune while turning towards Hiyori. All they needed to provide Akito was a photo of three students from Class C, and he could point out if those were his attackers, which she was sure that they were.

"I don't. I'm sorry."

As Hiyori shook her head, both Class D students felt a wave of disappointment hit them both.

"I guess we have no choice but to take a picture of Class C ourselves," Kikyo sighed.

"I suppose," Suzune sighed as well. While she had no problem with doing what she needed to do in order to gather the necessary evidence, a photo of their three suspected perpetrators would have made things easier. "However, we have to be careful. If one of them even sees us doing such a thing, they will be suspicious of our actions and be aware that we are catching on to their scheme."

"Uhm, what are you two planning?" Hiyori asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Should we tell her? She's classmates with the people who attacked Miyake-kun," Kushida whispered into Horikita's ear.

Horikita thought about it for a moment, picturing what could happen if they did. "Shiina-san said that she dislikes violence. I don't believe she would tell on us and inform her classmates about what's happening."

"Well, it's your call, Horikita-san. I just hope you make the right decision."