We were just a few minutes away from the appointed time. Just as I ran out of drink in my cup, a male student approached us.
"Asahina, is this Ayanokouji?"
"What? Tachibana? Yes, but…"
"I'll be disturbing you guys for a bit."
A student named Tachibana roughly pulled out a chair and sat down empty-handed. Then he immediately put his arms on the table and leaned forward to talk to me.
"What do you want with Yamanaka?"
Tachibana Kento. He was a classmate of Yamanaka's in Class 3-D.
I was expecting Anazai to appear, but it turned out he was another new face.
"Wait a sec, huh? Why did you say that…?"
Asahina-senpai was clearly confused at this sudden appearance.
"I guess you got a message from Yamanaka-senpai, right? She asked you to check things out?"
"Huh? I'm the one asking the questions here, you know."
He didn't show any sign of weakening his aggressive posture, perhaps because he was a senior. He was probably someone who was superior to Anazai in terms of physical and mental strength.
"This is about Kiryuuin-senpai, you know?"
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I'm not directly involved, but I've been asked by Kiryuuin-senpai to ascertain the truth."
"Are you some kind of detective or something? If so, tell her what Yamanaka-san told her before."
"That Nagumo-senpai sent you to frame her for stealing, right?"
"Right."
"Hey, is that true, Tachibana? I can't believe Nagumo would let her do such a thing."
"You can't believe it? Nagumo's always the one who makes us do such things. He's enslaving us and using us like limbs."
From the looks of it, it seemed that they were at least different from the faction that supported Nagumo. It wouldn't be out of place if they called themselves an anti-Nagumo faction.
"I have no choice but to follow him, no matter how much I don't like it. Just like Yamanaka."
Tachibana exhaled in a bored manner and tilted his head slightly.
"If you understand, don't get involved with Yamanaka again. Okay?"
"My apologies, but I can't do that either. Nagumo-senpai didn't approve of this matter."
"You can doubt me all you want, but it's the truth. We can't go against Nagumo."
"You have a contract with Nagumo-senpai, don't you?"
Tachibana stared at Asahina and gave her a look as if asking, 'You even told him that?'
"Then you know what I'm talking about."
"I'm sure you could've collected private points and redistributed them into large sums of money that could be transferred to different classes. Why did so many people go to the trouble of following Nagumo's instructions?"
"You don't understand. We, Class D and C, didn't have any class points left before the contract was made. Even if the whole class worked together for a year, we never would've collected 20 million. But if you sign a contract, they let you win a few special exams. That means you get class points. What choice would we have if we didn't sign up? And if the whole class ignored Nagumo's contract, we'd have to fight him every step of the way. What then? The remaining class points would've been stripped away and the monthly private points would've been at zero for a long, long time."
Seizing the opportunity, Nagumo took full advantage of his class's strength and advantage.
"She was given a stable school life and even a chance to graduate with class A if she was accepted by Nagumo. Only an idiot like Kiryuuin could refuse this."
By being under Nagumo's control, you could maintain your class points to some extent.
Even if you were exploited by the 75% payment, you could always keep your allowance every month.
Once a contract was made, it'd be difficult to break it.
Even if one or two people revolted, they'd be found out by someone tipping off.
"Even if Nagumo spent a lot of money, no one could complain."
"Well... I'm not saying there's nothing to be dissatisfied about. But as you said, we can't complain. It's okay for those who have the ability, but for those like me who have no hope of reaching Class A without relying on someone, the last resort is to rely on the lottery."
Even if private points were squeezed endlessly until graduation, there was always the lottery to bet on.
Even if you only had one ticket, there was a 1 in 100 chance of winning.
That wasn't bad, was it?
"Was one of his instructions to frame Kiryuuin-senpai for shoplifting?"
Tachibana kept his eyes down for a moment, then nodded quietly.
"I'm one of the intermediaries. If I can get Kiryuuin to confess to shoplifting, he said he'll give me the transfer ticket."
"I don't understand this 'intermediary' thing. The more people you put in between, the more the fact that you tried to make her shoplift will be leaked.
Besides, if a large number of people challenge a single event together, each person's contribution will naturally be distributed."
It'd be less time-consuming and risky for Nagumo to approach a girl like Yamanaka from the beginning.
Where was the need to pass the baton from Nagumo to Tachibana and from Tachibana to Yamanaka?
This point was stuck in the back of my mind and wouldn't come loose.
And if you asked me whether all of Tachibana's statements were worth trusting, I'd say no. Basically, he seemed to be telling the truth, but he was speaking too frankly for that.
"You were told not to tell anyone by Nagumo-senpai, weren't you?"
"Of course. However, when we're in trouble, we can't be blamed if we have to use his name. I don't think Yamanaka and I are… responsible, if I may say so myself, or…"
When pressed, he simply confessed to the crime. The first time he appeared on the scene, he was all bullish, but he may have had a part of him that didn't want to be poked at or a part of him which had a weak side peeking out.
"Tachibana-senpai, you may not be the direct perpetrator, but if this becomes public, the school will judge you as well."
"Huh? There's no way Nagumo-san will make this public."
"Nagumo-senpai may be at fault, but Kiryuuin-senpai's angry. You can tell from watching her for the past three years that if she wanted to, she'd bite whoever she was dealing with, can't you?"
"That's… Anazai was quite frightened too…"
"You received instructions from Student Council President Nagumo and consulted with Yamanaka-senpai—a girl who could get close to Kiryuuin-senpai.
He told you that if you succeeded, he'd give you recognition. That was the whole truth. Can you swear to me that you're completely sure?"
I set my cell phone to video mode and brought the camera close to Tachibana's eyes.
"That is why…"
"Can you swear to that?"
When I brought the phone close to him again as if to remind him, Tachibana strongly brushed it away.
He then forcibly stopped the recording.
"I'm telling you I'm sure."
"Then there's no need to panic. Why don't you want it recorded?"
"It's… that… Give me a break!"
"Hey, Tachibana-kun!"
Asahina tried to stop him, but he left without looking back.
"I think he wanted to say something. I wonder what it was…"
"It's okay. I was able to get a rough idea of what he was talking about from his reaction."
"Is that so? You mean you know who ordered Tachibana-kun and the others?"
Tachibana obediently obeyed the order and carried it out.
When he failed and Kiryuuin questioned him, he mentioned Nagumo's name.
Even at the risk of destabilizing his own position, he refused to admit anything other than the fact that he had done so.
"Thank you very much for today, Asahina-senpai."
"Ummm… I'm glad you figured it out Ayanokouji-kun… Can you tell me about it…?"
"Let's not do that now. I don't want to get you involved."
It seemed to be bothering her from start to finish, but it was best to keep it to myself for now.