Guess Who Stole It?

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

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

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's right. You were watching too, weren't you? None of the boys' bags had it."

"Hold on."

Shinohara moved closer to the tent and began inspecting inside it.

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

After checking both tents, Shinohara returned to the girls and started whispering among themselves.

"Hirata-kun, what if the culprit hid it in their pocket or something? And earlier, Takahashi-kun, Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, and Ayanokouji-kun were whispering suspiciously at the back of the line—that's pretty suspicious too."

"That's enough! You already checked our luggage and tents, don't push it!" Ike shouted loudly.

In response to Ike's loud rebuttal, the girls, including Shinohara, simultaneously opened fire.

"Ike-kun, you've been acting weird ever since we found out about Karuizawa's underwear being stolen and decided to search. Could it be you're hiding them?"

"Right, and you were sneaking around at the back of the line earlier—were you hiding the underwear?"

"Ike-kun has been harassing girls since the start of school."

"Yeah, he messages me every day, and it's driving me crazy."

"During the opening introductions, he said he'd be the first in class to get a girlfriend. Now that he sees Hirata and Karuizawa together, isn't he twisted enough to steal Karuizawa's underwear?"

Ike took one hundred percent of the damage in that team fight!

"What the hell! Me? How could I ever do something like stealing underwear! Fine, fine, if you want to check, go ahead."

With that, Ike pulled out his pockets to show his innocence.

Takahashi: ←_← He didn't pass the underwear to Ayanokouji, did he?

"Hirata-kun, could I trouble you again? Please check the pockets of Ayanokouji-kun, Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, and... um... Takahashi-kun too."

"I understand. If that's what it takes for you girls to be satisfied. But if nothing turns up, I hope you'll stop suspecting the boys. After all, doing things that harm class unity isn't good."

Then Hirata conducted a body search of Nishito Takahashi under the gaze of many girls.

"All checked—none of them have it! Could you go back and ask Karuizawa if she maybe forgot where she put it?"

"How strange... I was sure it was one of those four. But since you say so, Hirata-kun... I'll go back and ask Karuizawa properly."

Then the girls left, and the boys returned to the tent to organize their things.

Outside the tent, only Takahashi, Ayanokouji, and Hirata stood in silence.

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

"What's in your pocket is... Karuizawa's underwear, right?"

"Yes."

"So Takahashi-kun also knew Karuizawa's underwear was with Ayanokouji-kun?" Hirata looked at Takahashi, and seeing him nod, spoke again: "Let's tidy up the luggage first. We'll talk outside the campsite later."

"Did Ayanokouji-kun steal Karuizawa-san's underwear?"

"No, I didn't."

"I believe you. You're not the type to do something like that. But then, how did it end up in your pocket?"

"Hmm..." Ayanokouji thought for a moment and recounted the whole process, from Ike finding the underwear to stuffing it into his pocket.

Hirata looked at Takahashi after hearing this, as if confirming Ayanokouji's story.

"That's exactly how it happened."

With Takahashi's confirmation, Hirata lowered his head in thought.

"In that case, the culprit definitely isn't Ayanokouji-kun, and I don't think it's Ike-kun either. If he were the culprit, he probably wouldn't keep the stolen goods in his own bag—he'd hide them somewhere else. Hmm... if it's okay, could you entrust Karuizawa's underwear to me?"

"That's fine... 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, so it won't affect class unity."

After saying this, Hirata went to get a plastic bag from the toilet and placed the underwear inside.

For Karuizawa—no, for any girl—having her underwear touched by a man's bare hands would probably be hard to accept.

"But... this also means bad news. Since the underwear appeared in Ike's bag, it suggests the culprit might be someone in our class."

"Takahashi-kun, Ayanokouji-kun, could I ask you both for a favor?" Hirata looked at Takahashi and Ayanokouji, his tone pleading.

"You want us to help find the culprit?"

"If we don't find the culprit, I think both the boys and girls will end up unhappy over this. Ideally, I'd handle it myself, but I've been too busy trying to unite everyone lately to spare the time. So I'm hoping you two can help me find the culprit."

"As someone caught up in this incident, I am curious who the culprit is. But I can find them easily enough, so I'll try my best. Just don't expect too much from me."

"Thank you! Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun!"

After thanking Ayanokouji, Hirata turned his gaze to Takahashi.

"Mm... I'll do my best to help Ayanokouji."

"Mm, thank you very much, Takahashi-kun."

With that, Hirata bowed his head to Takahashi and Ayanokouji and 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. When you do, please tell me who it is first. If this becomes public, I think it would have a huge impact on the class, so I want to avoid that as much as possible. Then I'll talk to the culprit first and think about how to resolve this in the safest way. If they can reflect on themselves, maybe the matter can end with me."

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

"Cover up... that's a harsh word, but I hope you can understand. No matter who the culprit is, I don't think it should affect the unity of the whole class."

Hirata looked at the two with an unusually firm gaze.

"Alright, when we actually find the culprit, we won't tell anyone except you," Takahashi said. He knew Hirata had always been trying to maintain class unity, so there was no point in arguing.

"Thank you both. Then I'll head back first."

Hirata bowed to Takahashi and Ayanokouji and walked back toward the camp.

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

"Mm... no clues. I'm not sure."

"Alright, I'm going to the river to wash my face. Want to come?"

"No, I'll go back and check on Horikita. I haven't seen her since the start."

"Got it."

Watching Ayanokouji leave, a figure approached Takahashi and said:

"Guess who stole it?"