[These 200,000 points are for buying computers. The club activity room has already been approved, and our club is a little unusual, so we need to buy equipment.]
[So, as the club president, I'm sponsoring your purchase. Oh, and you have to buy the top-of-the-line models.]
After reading the message Kitahara had sent, Kanzaki was stunned. He hadn't expected them to have to buy all the club's equipment themselves.
Ichinose, standing beside Kanzaki, hadn't expected it to be such a simple reason, either.
After briefly explaining the situation to Ayanokoji, Ichinose took out her phone again and began checking her messages.
But as soon as she pulled it out, it started vibrating.
"Hm?" Everyone turned to look at Ichinose again.
Even Ayanokoji, who had just been processing the news that Kitahara had established a club, snapped out of his thoughts.
Ichinose unlocked her phone and saw a message from Kitahara, who had just finished messaging Kanzaki.
It read:
"Ahem. Ichinose, I heard you're looking for leads on the witnesses?"
"Yes, that's right," Ichinose typed in reply.
"Then I have a few things I can tell you. I saw the bounty you posted, Ichinose, and I just paid out a large number of points, so I need to make some back."
"Ah, Kitahara, do you know anything?" Ichinose typed.
When he heard that Kitahara had messaged her, Ayanokoji and Kanzaki leaned in as well.
Kanzaki happened to see the previous message as he leaned over. Kitahara had barely paid out some points, and now he was trying to make more off Ichinose.
Was this what you called top-tier business sense? Kanzaki muttered under his breath.
"I know who was there at the time and saw the whole thing," Kitahara typed.
The three of them were astonished again when they saw the message. They'd spent so long looking for leads on the witness, and now one had simply appeared before them.
"Then who is she?" Ichinose typed back.
"Actually, it's our classmate, Sakura Airi."
After reading Kitahara's reply, Ichinose looked up and asked Ayanokoji in confusion:
"Who is this classmate?" She knew most of the students in Class D, but had never heard of the person Kitahara was talking about.
"..." Ayanokoji recalled how Kitahara had kept looking at her back then. So he'd already known. But how had he been able to predict it in advance?
"I haven't really interacted with her either," Ayanokoji replied after thinking it over.
"I see..." Ichinose messaged Kitahara. "Thanks for the information, Kitahara. I'll send you the points in a bit."
After finishing his chat with Ichinose, Kitahara lay limply on his bed, recalling what had happened the day before.
When Kitahara had opened the classroom door, he'd found it completely empty. There was nothing inside.
But he was running an esports club. Why weren't there any computers? So yesterday, Kitahara had hurriedly messaged Horikita to report the problem.
But, to his utter surprise, Horikita told him he'd have to deal with it himself. Kitahara was trying to save up 20 million points, so he really didn't want to spend any more.
He'd argued with Horikita all night, but in the end, Horikita delivered the final blow by telling him it was Chairman Yanagihara's decision.
After thinking about it all night and seeing the bounty Ichinose had posted, Kitahara had finally made his decision.
Originally, he'd thought he should approach her himself to find a chance to earn some points, but after giving it some thought, he'd changed his mind.
She was at the heart of the incident, but she wasn't the one who could directly make him money.
That would be the person who had been peeping.
So Kitahara realized he could just report it to the school.
The best part was, he could skip the whole process of persuading her.
Still, Kitahara had taken an extra precaution: he'd told Yanagihara that there was a problem at the school.
After all, the school was run by the Sakayanagi Family. Surely she wouldn't want to see someone like that at her father's school.
With that thought, Kitahara immediately sent a message to the student council president. He needed to get the matter dealt with before the others did.
After ending her chat with Kitahara, Ichinose began checking her inbox for more messages at Kanzaki's suggestion.
After all, each new message could point them toward another way to resolve the issue.
"Hmm... There really is another email," Ichinose said.
"What does it say?" Kanzaki Ryuji asked.
"Hmm..." Ichinose glanced at it and continued:
"The one who fought Sudo is someone named Ishizaki."
"I heard he was a delinquent in middle school and was always getting into fights."
"He was infamous in the area."
"The other two were on the basketball team, so they should've been pretty strong, too. The three of them went after Sudo together, and he still beat them badly. That doesn't make sense," Kanzaki Ryuji said, analyzing the information.
"Yeah..." Ichinose agreed.
"Maybe they let themselves get beaten on purpose."
"If the three of them set a trap to frame Sudo, then everything would make sense."
"That's what I think, too. In any case, we should thank the people who provided the information first..."
"Ugh, why is it Kitahara again..."
Ichinose's words left the three of them feeling helpless once more.
"Uh... Well, we'll get going. If we get any new information, we'll tell you," Ichinose said as she took her leave.
"Okay." Ayanokoji nodded and watched them go, lost in thought.
Just who is Kitahara? Why is he always one step ahead of us?
After finishing his train of thought, Ayanokoji returned to his dorm room. But when he opened the door, he saw several extra pairs of shoes on the floor.
"What are you..."
"We came here to meet up first, Ayanokoji," Kushida replied.
"Let's start exchanging information."
"But before that, Ayanokoji, are you some kind of minimalist? You don't have a single personal item, just a few pieces of basic furniture."
"I just don't have the points to buy anything. By the way, how did you get in?" Ayanokoji said calmly.
"We got spare keys." They all held up their keys at the same time.
"After all, this is our meeting place..." Yamauchi replied.
"...I can't believe the school allows this sort of thing..."
"Ding-dong..."
The doorbell cut off the group's discussion.
Ayanokoji walked to the door and opened it. Seeing who was standing outside, he said:
"Horikita."