Act 17: Scene 4

The beige-haired girl stood back and let her friend think about what they should do. If this had taken place a while back, Suzune would never think of trusting a student from another class with any kind of information but after everything that's happened until now with Kiyotaka and Kikyo, she had gained a better perspective on things around her. And so, after a while, the black-haired girl took a deep breath and faced Hiyori once again.

"To put it simply, we are looking for evidence that can help our classmate with his current situation, Shiina-san. According to him, he only needs a photo of Class C to be able to point out who are the people that attacked him. Because of that, we are planning to take a picture of your class sometime within this day so we can show it to him."

"Hmm... maybe I can help with that?" Hiyori pondered.

"What are you saying, Shiina-san?"

The silver-haired girl smiled. "Instead of you two taking a picture of Class C as a whole, I could just do it myself and give you two a photo of Ishizaki-kun, Komiya-kun, and Kondo-kun. That would save you from taking a risk of being seen by my classmates."

Both girls from Class D were surprised, to say the least. They didn't expect someone from the same class as Miyake's attackers would help them in exposing the true culprits in this case. But then again, the fact that Hiyori was helping them by giving the names of the likely suspects was already more than what they expected from this encounter.

Suzune raised an eyebrow, skeptical of the girl's words. "Are you sure about that?"

"It would be easier for you both if I'm the one who does it, wouldn't you say? You wouldn't have to show yourselves to my classmates and there would be no chance of Ryuuen-kun finding out that you're doing something behind his back."

"Ryuuen-kun?"

"Ah, he's the one who leads Class C. He's really violent with everyone, even his classmates, but I simply ignore what he does."

"...and you're not afraid of him?" Kikyo couldn't help but ask.

Hiyori chuckled. "Naturally, I am. But he doesn't do anything to us unless he needs something to be done, or when someone's not responding to his orders. Ryuuen-kun normally doesn't care about what we do, unless he's suspicious of someone. I'll be fine."

"This Ryuuen sounds like he will be a problem in the future..." the black-haired girl thought, before she realized "Wait. Could it be that he ordered those students to attack Miyake-kun? They wouldn't target someone they don't know for no reason, not when it would risk getting themselves expelled. It would also explain why Miyake-kun was attacked at a place specifically where there are no cameras around."

Now that she thought about it a lot more, the whole situation was strange.

Their first thought was that those Class C students attacked and beat up Akito for no reason but if that was the case, then they would have done it out in the open without a care in the world, even if they get in trouble for it. Instead, they first dragged him behind the bathhouse before proceeding with their attack, which was a place that happened to have no cameras around.

Nothing that could possibly record what really took place that day.

It was very clear that bringing her classmate to such a place was intentional, in order to prevent any kind of evidence from being traced back towards the attackers. It also enabled those students from Class C to inflict injuries on themselves so they could frame Akito for the incident, despite the obvious fact that they had him outnumbered.

But still, this left the question of what could be Ryuuen's motive in this whole thing, as the leader of Class C.

What could he be planning as his endgame here? Why go so far as to have three of his classmates target someone from another class and instigate a fight? Why do that even though there's a huge risk of it backfiring on him? What could be his reason for doing all this?

"I need to discuss this with Ayanokouji-kun later," the girl decided in her mind. This wasn't a matter that she could handle on her own. She could definitely use his input on this and share ideas with him regarding Ryuuen.

"So what do you think?" asked Hiyori, flashing them an innocent smile.

"You'd be helping a rival class if you do this, Shiina-san."

"I don't care about our classes being rivals," Hiyori shook her head. "I simply dislike violence and I prefer it if everyone gets along."

For a moment, just a moment, it felt as if the two girls from Class D were seeing a pair of angel wings from behind Hiyori, along with a halo on top of her head. This caused both Suzune and Kikyo to widen their eyes in disbelief at what they were seeing.

"...and you're Ayanokouji-kun's friends too, right? I'll be glad to help his friends!"

Their eyes widened even more upon hearing those words, as a bright light from above began to shine down on her like she was some kind of holy figure.

Of course, the two were aware that they were only seeing things but it still felt like they were talking to an angel this whole time.

In fact, it rendered both Kikyo and Suzune unable to give any kind of response to the silver-haired girl for a few moments, something that Hiyori noticed right away.

"Horikita-san?"

The voice of the silver-haired girl snapped Horikita out of her little trance, as she shook her head to get herself back on track.

"Forgive me for being unable to answer, Shiina-san. It's just that I wasn't expecting you to act so... gentle and nonchalant about this. Are you sure about helping a rival class?" she asked, wanting to be sure if this is really what Shiina wished to do.

"It's fine, really. If it means helping Ayanokouji-kun, then I'll gladly cooperate."

"You're an angel, Shiina-san!" Kikyo spoke as a genuine smile appeared on her face.

"I get those comments a lot from other people, but thank you for the kind words," Hiyori chuckled. "That being said, can I have both of your contact information? I can't really send my classmates' pictures if I don't know how to contact you."

Suzune didn't need to be told twice. This meeting already went better than what she expected, so showing a bit of information about herself didn't really bother her this time.

"Very well, I will show mine."

"So will I!" Kikyo added, bringing out her own phone.

With Hiyori's added cooperation in the mix, the mission to prove Miyake Akito's innocence was finally making some progress... from Class D's end, at least.

Because watching the three from a distance was a certain scarlet-haired girl who was ready to bring out Kiyotaka's trump card anytime. She laughed softly at the sight of Suzune and Kikyo shaking hands with Shiina Hiyori of Class C.

"Oh dear... Senpai must be really popular in this school if he can get another student to betray her own class like this~"

~XoX~

As the bell that signaled lunch break began to ring, the students of Class D left the room one by one for a well-deserved meal at the cafeteria. For one Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, he wouldn't be able to follow them right away, at least not until two of his soulmates are finished discussing whatever they needed to discuss with him.

A few minutes ago while their class was still ongoing, Suzune passed a notebook to him. It had a message on it that read, "Don't go to the cafeteria yet. Kushida-san and I need to discuss our findings with you. We shall head there together afterwards."

Kiyotaka just shrugged to himself before returning her notebook. The fact that his seatmate would tell him this in the middle of class must mean that they got some valuable information from Hiyori earlier, so he should keep his ears open for this.

After everyone else had left the room and only his two heroines were left with him, Kikyo walked over to his and Suzune's desks as he leaned back against his chair.

"So what did you two want to talk about?" he began, sending a curious look at his heroines.

Suzune cleared her throat, before she spoke. "Just as I wanted to do, we went to Class-C earlier to try and ask Shiina-san if she knew something."

"And did she?"

"Not really," Kikyo shook her head sadly. "Shiina-san said that she doesn't like violence so when their class talked about it, she didn't listen."

Kiyotaka remained silent, knowing that that won't be the end of it. He was already aware that Hiyori disliked violence thanks to her 'summary', and he doubted that this would be all that the two had to tell him.

"However, she mentioned three names who were unable to attend their classes the day after the incident because they were supposedly treating the injuries that they have sustained from an unknown event: Komiya Kyogo, Kondo Reo, and Ishizaki Daichi."

"Kondo and Komiya, huh? The same guys who seem to be Ishizaki's friends from what Sudo told us. Looks like he made the right decision, then."

"What did he do?" Horikita raised an eyebrow.

"Yesterday, he told us that he tried asking his clubmates if they saw someone by the bathhouse on the day of the incident. However, he made sure to leave out Komiya and Kondo since they're both from Class C. He figured that if he asked them too, they'd find out that we're looking for evidence that would lead us to them."

"A wise choice by Sudo-kun," Suzune nodded in approval, while Kikyo looked pleasantly surprised. "Engaging even in a simple conversation with them would have been bad."

"Everyone else was surprised by it since he actually had some good reasoning for once," Kiyotaka shrugged. "So is that everything you learned from Shiina?"

"We then tried to ask her if she had a picture of her three classmates, but she didn't have anything."

Kiyotaka nodded slowly. He could understand that. Expecting someone to have a picture of someone else simply because they are classmates was a flawed plan from the beginning, anyway.

"Then that means you'll have to take a picture of those three yourselves."

"Heehee, not quite!" the beige-haired girl giggled in amusement.

"Oh?"

Suzune folded her arms as she continued on, "Although she had no photos of her classmates, Shiina-san had volunteered to do it instead of us. She proposed it because it would be less suspicious if it was her who took a picture of the three suspects instead of us, and we agreed. She said that she would gladly cooperate if it meant helping out Ayanokouji-kun."

He honestly didn't see this coming. There was a possibility of Hiyori helping them out through verbal information in the scenarios that played out in his mind, but for the girl to go one step further than that by providing a picture of the suspects (who were her classmates, no less) in exchange for nothing...

To think she would go against her class's best interest just to help him. She may just turn out to be his favorite heroine— wait no, what was thinking? He's not supposed to play favorites when it comes to this whole thing!

"I have to thank her the next time I see her. What an angel," the young man thought to himself, erasing any thought of having a 'favorite'.

[You have gained 10 Affection Points with Shiina Hiyori!]

[You are starting to realize that every girl is best girl! You gained +8 in Wisdom!]

Even though the first notification that appeared out of nowhere was definitely more out of place than the other, the second one was what got his attention.

"Every girl... is best girl. What the hell does that mean?" he asked himself, directing his question to his own 'superpower'. "Is it about not playing any favorites? Since you seem to be sentient anyway, could you answer that question? I'm not the one who's well-versed in this subject, you know..."

~XoX~

So far, so good.

After leaving their room with her classmates, Hiyori had been invited to eat lunch with Manabe and her friends. However, as always, she respectfully declined the offer.

It's not like she was actively avoiding any kind of interaction with her classmates. Hiyori simply believed that it's better if people spend time with others whom they feel comfortable with. Then again, one would never be able to step out of his/her comfort zone if they didn't actively go out and pursue social interactions with other people.

So, for all intents and purposes, Hiyori just didn't feel comfortable with any of her classmates.

As a result, the silver-haired girl sat alone at a small table with no one around her. However, this was exactly what she wanted because of what she intended to do.

With her phone in hand, Hiyori opened her camera and carefully raised her device towards the table where Ishizaki, Komiya, and Kondo were sitting. She made sure to zoom in on their faces before taking three separate photos of them, without anyone else noticing.

"Now all I have to do is send this to Horikita-san and Kushida-san later on. I hope you'll be able to make good use of this, Ayanokouji-kun."

She smiled as she began to think about her friend, whom she first met at the library by some stroke of fate. Ever since that day, she only met him one other time, and that was when they met at the bathhouse two weeks ago.

"Oh..." she murmured to herself, feeling a strange sensation on her back, something that's quite pleasurable. For some reason, she could still remember the feeling of his hands on her body, even though it's been a long time since it happened. And from there, Hiyori realized what she was thinking about and caused her to blush profusely.

She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts, before focusing on something that's... less embarrassing. Surprisingly, someone like her wasn't immune to the fact that she still took a bath with a boy, even if it only happened because she was curious about what it's like to have someone wash her back.

"I hope we can meet again soon... maybe during summer...?" she thought to herself as soon as she calmed down from her moment of embarrassment.