Chapter 4: Ichinose's Secret, Kamuro's Secret
It was a Friday, four days after Kanzaki reached out to Hashimoto.
The rumors about Ichinose had been spreading more each day, and it had gotten to the point where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all of the students in the school had heard about them by now.
However, Ichinose herself didn’t appear to have reported anything about them to the school.
She gave off an appearance that told everyone that she didn’t care very much about the rumors, and she spent each day as she always had.
Despite being harassed with unpleasant rumors, Ichinose stood firm. And as she expected, eventually, students began to speak in support of her. Students were saying things like: “The rumors really were just rumors.” “She was totally being framed.” and “They were all lies.”
All gossip has an expiration date.
The plan to defame Ichinose had failed miserably.
She had successfully managed to get through it by simply staying silent. Eventually, everyone began to shift their attention to studying earnestly for the upcoming final exams.
Though, during this time, another incident occurred. One that once again stoked the flame of the rumors throughout the school.
It was Friday, after school.
On my way back home from the school building, I bore witness to a large crowd of people as I entered the dorm lobby.
A scene like this taking place as I returned to the dormitory was one I felt like I had experienced before.
“Deja vu, is it?”
Coincidentally, Katsuragi was standing in the same spot as he had been back then. The only difference was that this time Yahiko was also standing beside him. Since there didn’t seem to be anyone I was acquainted with nearby, I decided to approach them and called out.
“What’s with all the commotion?”
“Ah. It seems like a letter has been put into everyone’s mailboxes. It’s similar to that case that happened earlier this year.”
Katsuragi mumbled, crossing his arms in dissatisfaction.
“Didn’t you get one in yours as well? Ayanokouji?”
Yahiko pressed me to go look, so I lightly nodded in response.
“I’ll go check to make sure.”
I went over to my mailbox, turned the dial to the right combination, and took a look inside.
There, someone had neatly inserted a paper, folded in the same 4-fold style the last one had been.
If it was the exact same type of message as last time, it would be a print. That is to say, it would be a printed copy.
Naturally, it’s impossible to tell the difference between a handwritten letter and a printed copy when it’s folded like this.
I slowly opened the paper.
Ichinose Honami is a criminal.?
That was written inside.
However, this time the name of the sender wasn’t included like it was in the letter last time around.
It was just this one line.
The font it was written in was also a standard one, making the entire letter come across as unusually simple. Since it doesn’t seem like the type of thing that would be printed at the convenience store, it was probably printed with a personal printer.
The one sentence reminded me of the rumors that had quieted down.
Additionally, the letter went one step further by calling her a ‘criminal’.
Though, there was no mention of what she had done to deserve that title…
“I’m sure Ichinose will be surprised by this.”
“But if it’s presented in such a straightforward way, won’t it cause the sender all sorts of problems? Isn’t there an issue with doing something so malicious in such a public way?”
Yahiko was asking Katsuragi if the letter was a poor move for the sender.
“Indeed, this situation is quite different than what happened last time. Back then, it was just an allegation that Ichinose could’ve been illegally amassing private points. It turned out that she hadn’t done anything wrong. The school even made an unprecedented announcement by recognizing the authenticity of her large numbers of points. However, this time the letter is obviously meant to defame Ichinose. If she was to report it to the school and ask for help with it, it’s possible that they’ll be able to track down the person who sent out the letters.”
“The sender is an idiot then.”
“No, I’m not so sure.”
“Really?”
“This person… It’s impossible for them not to understand something so simple.”
“Huh… Is it possible that the person spreading the rumors… That Katsuragi-san knows who it is?”
“It’s nothing more than a rough idea.”
Even though Sakayanagi had given me advance notice about her plans, to the rest of the school, she has ostensibly denied her involvement with these rumors. It’s possible that Hashimoto acted alone, or acted under the instructions of one of the second or third years. There’s also a chance that the source of this rumor is someone completely different.
However, Katsuragi said that he had a rough idea about the source in this case.
Which means that Sakayanagi is the clear favorite.
“Whether or not the school takes action here. It will depend on Ichinose as the person at the very center of this incident.”
The person responsible for sending out these letters is convinced that Ichinose won’t report anything to the school, just like with the rumors. That is, they’ve determined that no matter what they do, Ichinose will choose to remain silent.
When Ichinose doesn’t take action against the letters or the rumors, the school also isn’t able to take action.
In the middle of all of this, Ichinose herself entered the lobby. She had probably been contacted by one of her classmates in Class B and hurriedly returned to the dorm.
A friend immediately gave her one of the letters and she looked through it.
Katsuragi, me, and about 10 other students stood in place and watched Ichinose.
“…”
Ichinose didn’t say a word. She just looked down and stared at the letter.
The sentence on the letter takes no more than one second for somebody to read in their mind.
From the looks of it, Ichinose spent dozens of second reading that single line of text over and over.
“…This is in the mailboxes?”
“Yeah… It’s terrible, isn’t it? It’s probably in every first-year mailbox…”
One of the girls from Class B, Mako Amikura, spoke as she approached and hugged Ichinose.
“Hey, you don’t need to put up with this anymore. Why don’t we talk to the teachers? Something like this shouldn’t be forgiven.”
“That’s right! If we bring it to the teachers, they’ll definitely find the culprit!”
So far there had just been invisible rumors, but this time was different. There was now something that could serve as physical evidence. There was clear proof that someone has been maliciously attacking Ichinose.
“I’m okay. Something like this isn’t enough to get to me.”
“Y-You have to! If you don’t, the horrible rumors about Honami-chan are going to spread everywhere!”
It’s no surprise that her classmates were desperately trying to convince her to reconsider.
Even if nine out of ten people don’t believe in the rumors, it’s still a big deal if that one remaining person does. That student’s impression of Ichinose Honami will slowly deteriorate.
Ichinose is able to decide to stay silent without any hesitation, but the people around her are different.
They’re all looking for some way to help her. After all, proving her innocence would also lead to being able to enact punishment on the culprit responsible for all of this. However, doing that would only push Ichinose into a corner.
“I’m sorry everyone, for continuing to trouble all of you. But please, don’t worry about me.”
With those words, she smiled at the girls of Class B.
Without a doubt, these letters were distributed out to the mailboxes during the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. Since very few people check their mailboxes in the mornings, the big discovery came in the evening after everybody had come back from school.
All that had to happen then was for somebody to find the letter and tell Ichinose.
All this time, a lone girl had been carefully watching over the reactions of the upset Class B students.
Katsuragi was glaring at her with a sharp look in his eye.
She was a first-year student of Class A, Kamuro Masumi. A girl often seen together with Sakayanagi, but today, she appeared to be alone.
“Is something up with Kamuro?”
“No… It’s nothing.”
Katsuragi didn’t give an answer. He tossed his letter into the trashcan, called for the elevator, and got in with Yahiko as it had been waiting on the first floor. Katsuragi’s expression remained stern even until the final moment when the doors shut. Watching the elevator go up, I decided to return to my room as well.
My room was located on the fourth floor of the dorms, Room 401.
As soon as I stepped into the elevator, Kamuro got on at the same time.
“Which floor?”
Even though I asked her this as I stood in front of the buttons, she didn’t give me an answer, so the elevator doors just closed in silence.
Shortly after a quiet ride, the elevator reached the fourth floor.
I got off the elevator. So did Kamuro. It was almost as if she was following me.
‘Just a mere coincidence’, ‘she only got off on this floor to meet up with some guy’, a reason like these didn’t seem very likely.
As soon as I reached the door to my room, which just happened to be right next to the elevator, I turned and asked:
“Is there something you want from me?”
“I want to talk.”
“If possible, I’d prefer that you’d have said something sooner.”
“What, do you have plans?”
“No. Do you have an issue with talking right here?”
“I’m sensitive to the cold. If it’s alright with you, could you invite me in?”
Even though she had asked me if I was alright with it, her request ended up coming across as more of a threat instead.
“That’s fine…”
I unlocked the door and we went inside my room.
Kamuro’s expression didn’t change at all. She looked around my room with a serious look on her face.
“What a dull room.”
“Is that really the first thing you’re going to say after forcing your way in?”
“When did I force you to do anything? You rightfully gave me permission.”
With that said, Kamuro sat down on my bed.
“The way you went about getting said permission… Nevermind. So now…?”
“Get me something to drink. We’ll be talking for a while.”
Really, what a shameless girl.
“Well, I’ll make some coffee or tea.”
“You don’t have hot chocolate?”
“…I do.”
“I’ll have hot chocolate then.”
I clearly presented her with two options, yet she unexpectedly demanded a third.
“So what is it that you wanted to talk about? If it was too cold in the hallway, we could’ve talked down in the lobby.”
Since the heater was running in the lobby, we should have been able to talk there without any problems.
While preparing the hot chocolate, I took control of our conversation.
“There isn’t anyone who can bother us here. Talking in your room was for the best.”
“What are you wanting to say?”
To be honest, I wasn’t interested and didn’t want to hear about it.
“Does my presence make you feel apprehensive?”
“It would be strange if it didn’t. A girl I have no intimate connections with, who also comes from the rival Class A, suddenly wants to come to my room?”
“Hmm, that sure is nothing like how Yamauchi reacted.”
She replied, looking straight at me as if daring me to do something.
“Curious?”
“Not at all.”
“Really. Then I won’t touch on that subject anymore. It doesn’t matter anyway.”
While it’s possible that she has someone eavesdropping over the phone or she’s concealing a tape recorder, Kamuro is in a somewhat special position. Since Sakayanagi already knows about me, it isn’t necessary for Kamuro to come here looking to catch me off guard.
If needed, Sakayanagi is in a position where she can wage war against me anytime she wants. At the moment, the only reason she doesn’t is because she doesn’t want me to stand out.
“That letter from earlier, about Ichinose. What do you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Do you believe that she’s a criminal?”
“I don’t know. I’m not interested either.”
“Even if you’re not interested you should still have an opinion about it. Do you think Ichinose is a good person or a bad person?”
“You can’t say that someone’s a bad person just because they’re a criminal. Just like how you can’t say that someone’s a good person just because they aren’t.”
In the first place, the definitions of good and bad are ambiguous and subjective. Depending on how you look at it, what’s considered good and what’s considered bad can change quickly.
“…”
Kamuro stared at me listlessly.
She had no intention of allowing me to move the conversation in this direction.
At this point, there was no way for me to continue avoiding the essence of the conversation.
“I think the letters are just like the rumors that somebody somewhere has been spreading.”
“Yes. I did hear that someone somewhere has been spreading rumors.”
“It’s conjecture, but I think some of those rumors are true or at least come close to the truth. Which is why Ichinose wouldn’t fight back against the rumors, or in this case, won’t fight back against the letters. If she did, the truth that she’s been trying to keep hidden would be revealed.”
“Her strategy is to continue to ignore it so that the rumors don’t end up as anything more than suspicion.”
“Yeah. However, that doesn’t solve the problem. If the person who’s spreading the rumors knows the truth, eventually more and more specific rumors will emerge until Ichinose admits to it. It’s highly probable that when that time comes, she won’t be able to simply gloss over it.”
The hot water began to boil so I poured it into a cup.
Then I put the cup of hot chocolate on the table. Kamuro didn’t reach for it.
“Not going to drink it?”
“I’m sensitive to hot liquid.”
I wonder just how true that really is.
“It’s just like you thought. Right now, Ichinose is being targeted by a student who knows the secret that she wants to keep hidden.”
“Why do you know something like that?”
“You know why. Sakayanagi said it in front of you, after all.”
Of course, I remember that.
However, Kamuro herself shouldn’t have any reason to tell me that.
Was this also one of Sakayanagi’s strategies?
“That said, Sakayanagi doesn’t know that I’m here right now talking with you about this. She’d probably be angry if she knew.”
“In other words, you’re saying you betrayed Sakayanagi?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Sorry, I can’t believe that.”
“I suppose that makes sense. Therefore, I’ll tell you the secret that Ichinose has been hiding as well. After all, tomorrow or the day after, everyone else will have probably already heard about it.”
In which case, you can prove to me that the things you’re saying are true, huh?
“But before I tell you about that, I need to tell you about something else. About why I’ve been letting Sakayanagi push me around like she has been.”
“Your own personal story?”
“I know you’re not interested, but you’re going to hear me out.”
It didn’t matter if I was interested or not, I planned on listening and hearing her out anyway.
Because if I didn’t, she was never going to leave.
It was about a week after the school entrance ceremony when Sakayanagi first contacted me.
On my way back to the dormitories, I stopped by the convenience store. I quickly finished my business in the store and left.
“Just a moment please.”
In route between the convenience store and the dormitories, one of my female classmates called out to me.
“What do you want?”
“It hasn’t been very long since we started school here, so I thought that I’d like to talk with you for a little bit, Kamuro-san.”
“You’ve remembered my name.”
“I have memorized the names and faces of all my classmates.”
That said, this girl’s pace was very slow.
The walking cane she grasped in one hand was more than enough proof to show that her legs were bad.
I remembered her name- Arisu Sakayanagi. She was very conspicuous because of her physical handicap. Even though I had no intention of remembering the names of my classmates, hers had managed to stick with me for some reason.
“May I accompany you on the way back?”
I would usually decline. However, although it wasn’t directly because of her bad legs, the mood made it hard to turn her down.
“Suit yourself.”
“Thank you very much.”
She gave a pleasant smile and sped up a little in order to match my pace beside me.
“I’m not going to help you if you fall from overdoing it.”
“I’ll be okay. This cane and I are old friends.”
That said, she still wasn’t moving very quickly.
“Haa…”
Even though I let out an intentionally heavy sigh, Sakayanagi didn’t seem to pay it any mind.
Her outward appearance was frail, but she had the heart of a lion.
“By the way, what were you doing at the convenience store just now?”
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