Guess Who the Thief Was?

After checking everyone's luggage, Hirata looked over at Shinohara, who stood off to the side with her arms crossed, waiting for the results.

"I checked all the boys' luggage, but I didn't find anything."

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's right. You were watching from the side too, weren't you? There was nothing in the boys' luggage."

"Wait."

Shinohara came over to the tents and began searching inside.

She suspected the underwear might be hidden somewhere else, but she didn't find anything.

After checking both tents, Shinohara returned to the girls and began whispering with them.

"Hirata, maybe the culprit hid it in a pocket or something. Also, Takahashi, Ike, Yamauchi, and Ayanokoji were acting suspiciously and whispering at the back of the line just now. That's pretty suspicious too."

"Enough already! We've let you search our luggage and the tents. Don't push your luck!" Ike shouted.

At Ike's loud objection, the girls—including Shinohara—began firing back at him all at once.

"Ike, you've been acting strange ever since you found out Karuizawa's underwear was stolen and we were going to search. Don't tell me you're the one hiding it?"

"Yeah, you were acting suspiciously at the back of the line just now. Were you hiding the underwear?"

"Ike's been harassing girls since the start of the school year."

"Yeah, he messages me every day. I'm sick of it."

"When we introduced ourselves at the start of the year, he said he wanted to be the first in the class to get a girlfriend. Now that Hirata and Karuizawa are together, did he get jealous and steal her underwear?"

Ike was taking one hundred percent of the damage in this team fight!

"What?! I—I'd never do something like steal underwear! Fine, fine. Search me if you want."

As he spoke, Ike pulled out his pockets with both hands to prove his innocence.

Takahashi: ←_← I wonder if he slipped the underwear to Ayanokoji.

"Hirata, could I trouble you again? Could you check the pockets of Ayanokoji, Ike, and Yamauchi—and... um... Takahashi's clothes too?"

"Understood. If doing that will make you girls feel better, I'll do it. But if we still don't find anything, I hope you'll stop acting suspicious of the boys. We shouldn't do anything that could hurt the class's unity."

Then, under the gaze of all the girls, Hirata searched Nishito Takahashi.

"I'm done. There's nothing on them! Could you go back and ask Karuizawa if she might have left it somewhere?"

"This is strange... I was sure one of those four had to be the culprit. But if that's what you say, Hirata... I'll go back and ask Karuizawa again."

The girls left, and the boys returned to their tents to sort through their belongings.

Only Takahashi, Ayanokoji, and Hirata remained outside the tents, silent.

"Hirata... why didn't you say anything?" Ayanokoji spoke first.

"What's in your pocket... it really is the underwear, right?"

"Yes."

"So Takahashi also knows that Karuizawa's underwear is with you, Ayanokoji?" Hirata looked at Takahashi. When Takahashi nodded, he continued, "Let's sort out our things first. We'll talk outside the camp in a bit."

"Did you steal Karuizawa's underwear, Ayanokoji?"

"No, I didn't."

"I believe you. You're not the kind of person who'd do something like that. But why was it in your pocket?"

"Hmm..." Ayanokoji thought for a moment, then explained everything, from Ike finding the underwear to passing it to him.

After listening, Hirata looked at Takahashi as if to confirm Ayanokoji's story.

"That's exactly what happened."

Once Takahashi confirmed it, Hirata lowered his head and thought it over.

"In that case, Ayanokoji definitely isn't the culprit, and I don't think Ike is either. Come to think of it, if he were the culprit, he probably wouldn't keep the stolen item in his own bag. Usually, someone would hide it somewhere else. Um... if you don't mind, could you let me keep Karuizawa's underwear?"

"I can, but is that really okay?"

"It's fine. If Shinohara and the others find out, at least I have the status of being Karuizawa's boyfriend. It won't affect the class's unity."

Hirata went to get a plastic bag meant for the toilet and placed the underwear inside.

For Karuizawa—or, really, for any girl—having her underwear touched with bare hands by a boy would probably be hard to accept.

"But... this also means there's bad news. Since the underwear was found in Ike's luggage, the culprit might be someone in our class."

"Takahashi, Ayanokoji, could you do me a favor?" Hirata looked at them, his tone pleading.

"You want us to help you find the culprit?"

"If we don't find the culprit, this incident will cause bad blood between the boys and girls. It would be best if I looked for the culprit myself, but I can hardly find the time while I'm trying to keep everyone together. So I hope you can help me find them."

"As someone who's been caught up in this, I'm curious about who the culprit is too. But I'm not good at finding things out, so I'll try my best. Just don't expect too much from me."

"Thank you! Thank you, Ayanokoji!"

After thanking Ayanokoji, Hirata turned to Takahashi.

"Um... I'll do my best to help Ayanokoji."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it, Takahashi."

Hirata bowed his head to Takahashi and Ayanokoji, then said again:

"I have one more request. If... if you find the culprit, please don't tell anyone in the class or spread it around. Tell me who it is first. If this becomes public, I think it'll have a serious impact on the class, so I want to avoid that if possible. I'll talk to the culprit first, then think about the best way to resolve this. If they can reflect on what they did, maybe the matter can end with me."

"In other words, you're planning to cover it up?"

"Cover it up... That's not the best way to put it, but I hope you'll understand. Whoever the culprit is, I don't think this should affect the unity of the whole class."

Hirata looked at Takahashi and Ayanokoji with an unusually resolute gaze.

"All right. If we find out who the culprit is, we won't tell anyone but you," Takahashi said. He knew Hirata had always wanted to preserve the class's unity, so there was no point in saying more.

"Thank you. I'll head back now."

Hirata bowed to Takahashi and Ayanokoji, then walked toward the campsite.

"Who do you think it is?" Takahashi asked.

"Hmm... There aren't many clues. I'm not sure either."

"Okay. I'm going to wash my face by the river. Want to come?"

"No. I'll go check on Horikita. I haven't seen her at all since the start."

"Okay."

After watching Ayanokoji leave, a figure came up beside Takahashi and said:

"Guess who the thief was?"