Chapter 5 Part VI

I was waiting 15 minutes in front of the boys' tent for Horikita to come out. She stood stock still for a while, laying her eyes down to check up her condition. She then slowly raised her head looking around. When her eyes met mine, her pupils swayed for a moment. Her figure approaching me with heavy footsteps didn't seem to be frail.

"… Ayanokouji-kun. Could you come for a moment…"

I turned around once again to check if Ibuki lined in front of the shower room.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Follow me… We can't talk here."

With only uttering this, Horikita left the camp moving towards the forest.

"What happened? Are we going to enter the forest searching for food again?"

Horikita kept on walking without answering my calls. She stopped once we couldn't see the camp anymore. Horikita turned back wanting to say something, but hesitated for a moment as if having second thoughts.

"… It was my negligence. I wanted to say to you after I realized it was a mistake. Is that alright?"

"Mistake?"

"… It is stolen."

"Y-you aren't saying you underwears were stolen, are you?"

"No. Even worse. The thing stolen is… key card. It was a complete mistake."

Falling into self-hatred, Horikita showed a facial expression I hadn't seen until now.

"I wanted to talk to you since I trust you. I couldn't consult with someone who might be a culprit. It's so embarrassing I want to die…"

I was honored to hear that, but I couldn't possibly rejoice in front of her when she was feeling down.

"Such a big mistake…"

"No, the one who stole it is to blame. Alright?"

"Even so, it's a matter of responsibility. It has nothing to do with me being in a bad physical condition or covered in mud." Said Horikita regretfully, casting her eyes down. The leakage of information could bring big damage in the trial.

"I shouldn't have let go of the card even for one second. But instead, I…"

"Don't blame yourself. Maybe it won't console you, but I think you did the best you could do."

I didn't know if she had heard me. All she did was bit her lower lip as in regret.

"We shouldn't announce this publicly for now. We should grasp the situation first."

"Yes… I think so too."

Everyone would have panicked if they had known the truth. I wanted to avoid that at least.

"I suspect two persons. Karuizawa and Ibuki."

The former one would have done it out of simple hatred. Horikita hurriedly explained she could have stolen it out of fun.

"The chances are low. Karuizawa was the whole time in front of the shower room."

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes, I can affirm. The same thing about the two girls who were receiving orders from her."

"If that's correct, the chances of Ibuki being the culprit is high. She could have known about the existence of the card in the morning and the timing was just too good. However, don't you think stealing is a very dangerous stake? Since the name of the leader is carved on the key card, only looking at it is supposed to be enough. Maybe she's mimicking crime on purpose."

As if seeking for my answer, she looked at me with suspense. I laid my hand on Horikita's shoulder and calmly said:

"We could understand that if we examine the timing and inquire Ibuki. If we're going to doubt Ibuki then we shouldn't keep our eyes off her. Her escaping away would be the worst scenario."

"That's right. But excuse me, I wonder if you could return before me to follow her immediately."

"… Is that so? I get it. I'll go back and look out for Ibuki."

She probably had the urge to be alone in order to throw up. I left Horikita by herself and returned to the base camp.