Assassination Classroom: A Case of Murder

For My Friend

By the time recess came along, I had all the info I needed. Maybe I was actually more social than I thought I would be, since all I did was talk to a couple of people. My three suspects' data lay in front of me while I eyed them with much scrutiny.

Izumi Haruki had a solid alibi; he had switched to the Arts division this year so he couldn't have known where the new labs were. Yoshida refused to tell me anything, but through Miya I found out that they had been secretly went on their first date yesterday and with all that unnecessary info from her, there was no way Yoshida could have slipped into school and broke some flask at that time. That left me with only one person; Mikage Ayaka. I calmed my breathing and stored the data away.

Ayaka huh? I wonder, did you really want to hurt me that badly? Or was there another reason you had to? Nevertheless, I would find out either way, after school.

When the promised hour finally came along, I left the classroom and hurried to the rooftop, where we were supposed to meet up. I met her up the stairs instead, so we decided to have our talk there. Her face was hidden by her bangs. That strengthen the amount of suspicion I had on her. She started the conversation first.

"So what is it do you want to talk about?"

I leveled my breathing to a constant rate and spoke calmly.

"The glass shard in my shoe, it was you who put it there wasn't it?"

Her face changed a little before her poker face came back on, as tight as ever. Her voice was cold, as if she had been possessed by something else. The Ayaka I knew wasn't as cold as this before.

"What makes you think I did it?"

I fished out my hand phone and showed her the pictures of the name and her handwriting. Her reaction was really big; her poker face collapsed and she had a totally shocked expression on instead. I replied.

"After breaking the flask in the chemistry lab, you wrote Kuromatsu's name in the book instead of yours and to erase the evidence, you specially disposed the pieces in the dumpster outside the school. However, you kept one of the shards of glass with you and then placed it into my shoe."

A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead as she tried to appear uninterested.

"I-I don't know what you are talking about..."

"DON'T LIE! You were the last one to leave the chemistry lab because you were on cleaning duty that day and the teacher had left before that. Nobody else knew about the broken flask but you! You had plenty of opportunity to commit that crime!"

Ayaka's eyes flared up and her words came out in a stammer.

"Sh-Sh-Shut up! I told you it wasn't me! Stop accusing people when you've got no proof!"

"I have more than enough proof once I send those fingerprints on the glass for identification! Do not make me do this, AYAKA!"

Our heated debate stopped right there, with the both of us trying to catch a breath. Ayaka was the first to make a leave.

"I'm not going to stay here and listen to your false accusations, so I'll take my leave first-"

"Ayaka WATCH OUT!"

I quickly grabbed her shirt from behind and pulled her backwards. A little bit more and she would have fallen down those stairs. I let go of that shirt but she didn't try to leave again. When she did, she suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"I... didn't mean it, you know. I know you won't believe me but... it was for the best. I really didn't want to harm you, honest..."

Without another word, she ran down the stairs, leaving me dumbfounded at the top. What did she mean by that? Did she really have a really good reason to do that to me? I sighed and got down the stairs.

Either way, I could only ask her again tomorrow.

******

"Attention to all students, please gather at the gym immediately. I repeat, please gather at the gym immediately."

I frowned as I checked the day on the calendar. That was strange, we already had our monthly assembly already. What was the occasion? Once at the gym I shot Kayano an enquiring look which she mimicked in reply. Looks like nobody really knew what was going on.

"Sorry for calling everyone for an assembly without further notice. Something terrible has happened early this morning and I believe that everyone deserves to know."

The MC cleared out his throat nervously before continuing. Obviously, it was not something good. The atmosphere in the gym had become heavy instantly. For some reason, my hands couldn't stop trembling as I anxiously waited for the MC to break the news.

"A fellow student has been killed in a car accident earlier this morning."

Gasps and murmurs spread like wildfire. A student getting killed by a car accident was unusual these days; traffic rules were really strict these days. How did it happened was my first thought.

"We found her lying on the road this morning, assumed to have been knocked by a car but the driver was nowhere to be seen. By the time we got her to the hospital, it was already too late."

I looked around me. The students were unsettled, looking around for their friends just like me. Wait, there was indeed somebody missing...

"Let us have a moment of silence for Mikage Ayaka-san, student of Class 3-A, who had to leave our side too quickly. May she rest in peace."

I collapsed onto my knees, gaining the attention of several people. Ayaka... was dead? No way. Did I hear the announcement wrongly?

"May Kami-sama guide Mikage-san's soul to an even better place, and allow her to rest in peace."

I felt tears running down my cheeks. Ayaka... Ayaka... Why did you have to die so soon? Why did we fight... during your last moments?

"Ashiya-san, Ashiya-san are you okay? Ashiya-san?"

I stared at the floor and clenched my hands tightly. If only, if only I could turn back time and say sorry to her! The moment assembly ended, I ran straight to the gates, where I could see a dried crimson patch in the middle of the road outside. She really did die. I wiped away my tears and recalled her last words.

"I... didn't mean it, you know. I know you won't believe me but... it was for the best. I really didn't want to harm you, honest..."

There has to be a reason why she said that, I firmly made the conclusion. Clearly she didn't want to tell me why she did that, but I could confirmed one thing in my mind. She didn't want to do it.

Ayaka said those words as if she had been forced to do something against her own will. Which that leads to my guess; Ayaka was just a puppet forced to submit to her master's commands.

If that was the case, who... who was the puppet's master? Who was the mastermind behind all this?