Mystery from Another World

Part 103: Two Spies

[OP: "Secrets and Lies"--Ruelle]

Shine gathered Momo and Shoto and Aizawa as soon as she could to open the files.

Momo used her private laptop. She was one of the only students who had her own and didn't use a school loan.

The files were easy to open, and there wasn't that much to go through.

She read it out loud to Shine, who made notes on her usual physical notebook.

Aizawa was looking darker and darker the long they read.

Wally joined them halfway through after he got Shine's message a little late.

"The tea thing is weird," he said.

"There's no way to prove it's code," Momo said, glancing up. "Right? It sounds like a schedule."

"Let me try something." Aizawa took the laptop, and then he logged into his personal school portal and pulled out the shared schedule. Then he checked the dates of the "tea" log.

"Look, it matches." He pointed. "First week of last year, All Might's tea schedule coincides with the USJ attack. I remember he said he was having tea when they got the alert. I'm not even on this. I never have tea with Nezu."

"It's a strange thing to track, but I don't see how it's sinister," Shoto said.

"That in of itself isn't." Shine tapped the pen to her chin. "But, why track the preferences? Why are Wally and I even listed? Why not just wait till we actually had tea with him to write that down? Why make note that we didn't?"

"Maybe you hurt his feelings?" Momo suggested, but weakly.

"I don't think so, Peaches." Wally shook his head.

"What's this bottom field?" Shoto asked.

Momo hadn't opened the one about traitor suspects yet, but when she did, they all sat back.

She covered her mouth.

"Aoyama..." Shoto frowned. "But how could it be him?"

"We considered it could be a staff member." Aizawa shook his head. "But a student? It seems too unlikely a kid would do this."

Wally was staggered too.

He looked at Shine.

But she had her locked-in expression. She was suppressing her emotions for the time being and running it all through her mind. He knew that look well.

"I think she's got another thought," he told the others.

"Hmm?" Momo was too distracted to notice, but she looked up. "You think it's not him, maybe?" Hopefully.

"He is just a suspect," Aizawa said. "This isn't proof. Though it's weird they didn't say why he's a suspect. And if that was a report for the police, we'd have to ask them."

"Do you know anyone on the police force?" Shine inquired.

"All Might does, but I don't have any friends," Aizawa said.

"We can ask him, but it's a long shot that he'd tell All Might anything so confidential." Shine folded her arms and sat back. "But it cannot be Sparkles. Not just him, anyway. I remember something you said about the camp incident--you said that you were alone out there and the students didn't even know about it, right? If a student tipped off the LOV, that would give them, what, a day and half to coordinate that attack? Yet they knew the perfect place in the forest to set it on fire, where they would find everyone? And that the kids would be in the woods? Did you even tell them how that would be sorted out beforehand?"