Chapter 5 Part I

"By the way, isn't there a Yoshimoto-kun in Class C? Miyatchi, do you know?"

"Do you mean Yoshimoto Kōsetsu? He's in the archery club."

"Ooh yeah, that Yoshimoto-kun. I heard that he started going out with a second-year, you know?"

Tired of studying, Hasebe began to gossip.

"I hadn't heard anything about that, but I was just thinking that he's been in a hurry to leave early for some strange reason. So that's what it was."

In high school, the hurdle for dating someone even one year older is pretty high. When you're an adult in your thirties, a year or two age difference doesn't seem like it would matter very much. Although this is something I can't imagine as a teenager, this is surely how it works.

"Yoshimoto-kun has been super motivated and says that they're going to get married in the future. The man is a simple idiot."

Hasebe and Miyake slowly diverged from studying.

"You're free to talk about who's going out with whom and what the future will be like all you want, but at the very least get your work done while you do."

"I know. We're just chatting while taking a breather."

Hasebe had gotten used to this kind of thing, so she gave no indication of being shaken by Yukimura's words.

"Is that right?"

"Wow, I'm getting sarcastic vibes from you. I'm going to refill my cup."

"You're adding more sugar? I'm surprised you can even drink it that sweet."

"From my point of view, I can't understand people who drink it black. Ah!"

Hasebe tried to stand up with her empty plastic cup, but she stumbled over the backpack at her feet and the cup in her hand fell to the ground.

My eyes unconsciously followed it as it rolled.

The cup stopped at the feet of a student who was walking past.

"Ah, sor-"

Hasebe started to apologize, but the cup was then crushed under foot, so she swallowed the words before they came out.

"You all seem to be having a good time. How about we join in?"

"What are you guys..."

Hasebe immediately strengthened her guard and looked at the group in front of her sharply.

It was a reasonable reaction too because the man who crushed the cup was none other than Class C's Ryūen. Standing behind him was Ishizaki, Komiya, and Kondō, the often seen Class C trio.

Ryūen showed a sly smile as if he was thinking about something amusing.

There was also a lone girl who wasn't usually a part of Ryūen's group standing next to Ishizaki.

She wore an expression that was unsuitable for the situation, one that was devoid of all tension.

"Hey! Why did you step on my cup? It wasn't an accident, was it?"

"It rolled to my feet and I thought you'd tossed it. I stepped on it to save you the effort."

He laughed and returned the crushed cup to Hasebe with a kick.

A little bit of its contents sprinkled across the ground from a hole in the side of it. Miyake, watching in silence, stood up slowly.

"Oi Ryūen. I've wanted to say it for a while now, but that's enough your punkish attitude."

"Huh? Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

As if to say that Ryūen didn't need to bother with him, Ishizaki went forward and grabbed Miyake by the lapel of his shirt.

"I wasn't talking to you. A henchman should mind his own business, Ishizaki."

Miyake was unmoved and knocked away Ishizaki's hand.

"Bastard!"

Ishizaki shouted, who managed to attract attention from our surroundings even in such a noisy environment.

The person who reacted sensitively to this was none other than Ryūen.

"Shut it. Do you really want to make a scene in a place like this, Ishizaki?"

"S-sorry. Because Miyake was so cocky, I just…"

"I don't hate emotionally impulsive idiots, but now you need to behave yourself."

"Yes..."

Ryūen was right. There aren't only first years around, but also senior students, shop assistants, and several surveillance cameras. It's a public place without any blind spots.

If an incident happened here, Class C would clearly be at fault. It's almost certain that they would be subject to punishment based off the testimony and recordings that we would have as evidence.

"I have no business with you. I'm interested in the two people over there."

Ryūen said so as he shifted his line of sight from Miyake over to Yukimura and me.

"Have you received my gift?"

"What the hell are you talking about..."

Naturally, Yukimura couldn't understand what he was talking about. He looked to me as the other person Ryūen referred to. The so-called 'gift' is undoubtedly the time he sent a message with the words 'Who are you?'

"Who knows..."

I acted as if I didn't know. Ryūen had resorted to really tough measures. I had no reason to dig my own grave by answering his questions. Even if I tried to appear more suspicious to him, he wouldn't be able to reach any conclusions. This is because no matter what happens, it's still only a gray area.

"How's that? Did you catch onto anything, Hiyori?"

Ryūen took his eyes off us for a moment and asked the girl from his class for her thoughts.

"How is it? Well, there's no telling at this stage."

A lot of the students working under Ryūen were afraid of him, but the girl named Hiyori remained totally calm in this situation. Her somewhat out-of-focus eyes alternated between the two of us.

What was Ryūen scheming by bringing this student here?

"Both of their faces leave a weak impression, so I'll probably forget them immediately."

"Kukuku, don't say that. They're probably going to be our friends for a long time."

"Yukimura-san... Ayanokōji-san... Kōenji-san, who was the other person?"

"It's Hirata. Hirata."

"That's right, it was Hirata-san. Why are faces and names so hard to remember?"

She was wrapped up in a mysterious atmosphere, and I was rather concerned about Ishizaki's use of honorifics while talking with her. I had seen her before and knew that she was a student in Class C.

"As expected, the only one you'll remember is Kōenji."

"He's very unique, so he's easy to remember."

It seems that Ryūen has also marked Hirata and Kōenji. In the case of Kōenji, his actions were truly incomprehensible, but it's understandable that he would be suspected because of his capability.

Having said that, it feels like Ryūen wouldn't have selected Kōenji as one of his targets if he had known that he wasn't acting but was instead a legitimate naturally-born oddball.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Ryūen? We're busy, so if you want to sort something out, let's do it quickly."

Miyake spoke aggressively, conveying all of our feelings across with his words.

"It's nothing. We're just saying hello for today. But I'll tell you right now, I'll be seeing you again in the near future."

"What does that mean?"

Ignoring Miyake's question, Ryūen left the cafe with his entourage.

The cafe, which was briefly enveloped in silence, immediately regained its vitality and returned to its previous state as everyone returned to their studying.

However-

The student named Hiyori remained at the scene, still watching us all this time.

Under such circumstances, there's no way that we could successfully concentrate on our studies. Irritated, Hasebe spoke up:

"What is it? You're being a distraction by hanging around here."

"Just a moment, please."

"What? What does that even mean? I'm saying you're in the way, so go someplace else, okay?"

Hasebe, who had her cup crushed just earlier, was in a foul mood.

Confronted by the rowdy Hasebe, Hiyori answered with a slightly goofy smile. She grabbed her bag at her feet and walked over to the cafe's checkout.

"What was that about?"

"Who knows. I don't quite understand what's going on, and I don't want to know."

Yukimura seems to be unable to understand Hiyori's actions and was temporarily lost in thought. As if he was unable to come to a conclusion, he ended up deciding to ignore the matter altogether.

"I believe she's Shiina Hiyori from Class C. I've seen her before."

It seems that only Miyake managed to remember her name.

The Shiina in question placed an order with the cafe's clerk and came back with two cups in hand.

"If you don't mind, please accept this."

"What do you mean? Why are you giving it to me?"

"You don't have to be wary of me. I was watching what happened earlier, and it's clear that Ryūen-kun was in the wrong. I would like to apologize on the behalf of Class C. I took the liberty of adding sugar to it myself."

"You put in... eh? This is totally delicious! It's like, exactly the same as what I was drinking earlier!"

"The cup that was crushed earlier had a lot of sugar collected in the bottom, so I figured that you like your coffee sweet. I'm glad I didn't make any mistakes."

"But, ah, it feels like it has the exact same amount of sugar that I like added to it... is this a coincidence?"

"I calculated in reverse based on the amount of sugar that hadn't dissolved in your last cup."

"Huh!? You can do that!?"

"I suppose it could be considered surprising. Despite how I look, I have a rather good perception?"

With that, she turned towards me, Yukimura, and Miyake.

"This is- You guys are holding a study session, right?"

"People like her totally drain my energy..."

Hasebe had been irritated until just now, but she had become entirely overwhelmed by Hiyori's inscrutable pace.

From Yukimura's point of view, he didn't want to risk giving Hiyori any extra information, so he quickly covered up everyone's notes.

"By any chance, do you think I'm a spy?"

"You don't even need to ask, of course we're suspecting you."

"I wouldn't do that. After all, I normally keep my distance from Ryūen-kun."

"But didn't Ryūen-kun intimately call you by your name?"

"I personally requested to accompany them because I'm interested in Class D."

The three of them couldn't understand the reasoning behind Hiyori's statement and tilted their heads to the side.

Of course, I imitated them, pretending to not understand the situation.

"Don't you know? It's a hot topic in Class C. There's a mastermind in Class D who's hiding their true ability. This person has apparently made huge contributions to Class D's progress during the uninhabited island test, the test on the cruise ship, and during the sports festival. Do you really not know?"

Hiyori speaks a truth that most of Class D hasn't been able to figure out. Of course, there were question marks hovering over Hasebe and the other's heads.

"I have no idea. Aren't you just talking about Horikita?"

"Yeah. I can only think of Horikita-san."

"It's apparently someone other than Horikita Suzune-san."

Hiyori cut them off from coming to that conclusion.

"Ayanokōji-san, I hear that you spend a lot of time with Horikita-san."

"It hasn't been like that recently, but I guess I've spent a lot of time with her compared to anyone else."

"After all, you do sit right next to her."

"Still, there's hardly anybody smarter than her."

"Yeah, essentially all of Class D's strategies are things she comes up with."

Hasebe and Miyake conveniently agreed with each other at a good time, adding credibility to my statement.

I wouldn't need to confirm or deny anything about the two of us spending time together.

It's only important for me to tell the truth from the point of view of a typical Class D student.

"I see. You all have the same kind of evaluation of her."

"Can you stop getting in our way by bringing up such inexplicable things?"

Yukimura spoke strongly, having been gradually influenced by Hiyori's peculiar atmosphere.

It appears that he's unable to bear the thought of having his study time reduced any further.

"...I'm sorry. It's my fault for disturbing your studies, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, but that's how it is."

"You really don't have to go that far, Yukimū."

"If you have no complaints about failing and dropping out of school, then by all means, have a good chat. I'm going home."

"Ah, please forgive me a little. Please continue teaching me."

Hasebe bowed her head.

"This is it. If you want to talk about strange topics, please do so after the exam."

Yukimura ended the conversation with Hiyori almost by force, so Hiyori apologetically rose from her seat.

"I'm very sorry. It would be dangerous for you to neglect to study desperately for the exam."

Was that a jab towards the students who were at risk of failing?

I feel like she always has a natural temperament, but it's not clear whether she can be trusted.

"I see, Let's talk about it after the end of the final exams. It shouldn't be too late at that point."

Having decided to go home, Hiyori picked up her cup.

"Thanks for the coffee, it was a real treat."

"No no, it was nothing special. Goodbye then."

After this, Hiyori, who had appeared together with Ryūen, also left.

I'm not certain if she's part of Ryūen's plan for finding me, but there's nothing wrong with staying alert.

I'll have to keep an eye on her for the time being.