CotE: The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 2: Steps in the Right Direction

"Man, it really is hot today."

I've never thought about global warming more than now, when I exited a building with working air conditioning. I decided not to dwell on the matter too much, considering everyone else would also have to put up with this until the autumn arrives. The moment I left the dorm's lobby, I was overwhelmed by the hot air waiting outside. 

I walked alongside the green, leafy trees and noticed that on the bulletin board by the stairway's landing, a piece of paper on the board announced the message of information related to Sudō and Class C.

Looks like Ichinose got to work quick. At least, this should be Ichinose. I don't think Class D would even think of taking such measures.

Taking a closer look at the poster, it seemed like Ichinose, or whoever the author was, was willing to offer private points to helpful informants. 

"Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun!" Ichinose called out, walking up to me.

"Is this your poster, Ichinose?"

She walked up to the board and appeared to deeply admire the poster.

"Oh. I see, that's smart! So you can do this too!"

"Huh? I thought you'd have done this?"

"This was probably-- Good morning, Kanzaki-kun!"

Ichinose raised up her hand to Kanzaki who was walking towards us with quiet steps.

"Did you put this poster up Kanzaki-kun?"

"Yeah. I posted it on Friday. Is there something wrong?"

I must not have noticed it then. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from our class leaders. This is probably a plan to try and gain trust.

"No, there isn't. Did you get anything useful Kanzaki-kun?"

"Unfortunately, nothing useful has come forward."

"Then, let's check..." Ichinose put on a smile.

"Check what?"

"The school homepage. It has a message board where I requested people to come forward if they witnessed a violent incident."

After speaking, Ichinose showed us exactly what she said, along with a view counter. Like Kanzaki, she also offered private points to those who had helpful information. 

"And it works. I just got two messages regarding it. Perhaps they have some information."

She checked her phone and read the messages, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Hee~ like this."

She showed me and Kanzaki her phone to read the message.

"'One of the boys fighting, from Class C, Ishizaki Daichi, was a bad seed in junior high. He was a good fighter and terrorised the locals.' Someone from his hometown probably leaked this."

"Interesting," muttered Kanzaki. 

Viewing the situation through a logical mindset, this sets up Class C as fakes. If it is known for a fact that the people who challenged Sudō were known troublemakers and good at basketball, meaning that they had skill, then the fact that Sudō had minimal injuries while beating up the three students raises questions. However, this won't be enough to prove Sudō innocent. And it seemed like the other two had the same idea as me.

"Kanzaki-kun, what are your thoughts?"

"I think the most natural path is that Sudō was allowed to beat them up on purpose. If this was a planned trap, then everything fits into place."