Volume 2: Chapter 5.4 - Triple Alliance

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The next morning, I left my dorm room earlier than usual. As I stepped out of the lobby, the heavy summer heat assaulted me from above.

Hirata, Kushida, and I had gathered a few leads during yesterday's search. But without solid, irrefutable evidence, defending Sudou and Horikita now would almost certainly result in failure.

But something was different today. Posted on the bulletin board near the stairway landing, just ahead of the shoe cubbies, was a sheet of paper. It called for students with information related to Sudou, Horikita, and Class A.

"Looks like someone's trying to help," I said appreciatively.

As I scanned the message, I was quite impressed. The author even mentioned offering points to anyone who could provide useful information. In that case, even apathetic students would pay attention.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun!" Ichinose called out from behind me. She must have just arrived.

"I saw the paper on the bulletin board. Did you post it, Ichinose?"

Ichinose joined me in looking at the board. She seemed deeply interested.

"Hmm. I see. So there's this method too."

"This wasn't you, then?"

I thought for sure this was her strategy.

"This was probably— Ah, he's here! Good morning, Ryuuji-kun!"

Ichinose raised her hand and called out to a lone male student. The boy noticed Ichinose and quickly approached us.

"Did you put this up?" Ichinose asked.

"Yeah. I made and posted it yesterday afternoon. Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, not at all. My friend here just wanted to know who did it. Let me introduce you two. Ayanokouji-kun, this is Kanzaki Ryuuji-kun from Class B."

"Nice to meet you, Kanzaki."

"Ayanokouji?" Kanzaki blinked and paused for a moment before extending his hand. "Nice to meet you as well."

For some reason, when he heard my name, Kanzaki did a double take. Well, it was probably nothing. He had a serious air about him and seemed like a diligent student. He was tall and slender. A pretty boy, but in a different way from Hirata.

"How's it going, Ryuuji-kun? Did you get anything reliable?"

"Unfortunately, I haven't received any useful information."

"I see. Well, let's take a look at the online forums."

"Online forums? Did you put something there too?" I asked.

"Yeah. Have you ever checked the school homepage? There's a message board. I posted a request asking people to come forward with any information. If anyone witnessed a violent incident or noticed anything unusual, I said I'd like to hear from them."

After she said that, Ichinose showed us her phone's screen. It showed a message seeking out witnesses, as well as a count for the number of people who'd viewed it. The displayed number was still only in the dozens, but it was much more efficient than asking people directly.

"About the stuff related to points, don't worry. We decided to do that on our own. Besides, I doubt we'll get much out of it anyway. Wait, hang on a second."

"What is it?"

"I got two messages regarding the post. Looks like we might have something after all."

Ichinose checked her phone to confirm, then turned the screen toward me so I could see for myself.

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