Move Toward Tomorrow (6)

"Is that so? But wouldn't that violate the rules?"

"No, no."

Oreki wore his earphones and listened to the recording on his phone.

Oh, and there was video, too.

He'd kept his phone in the front pocket of his clothes the whole time.

It wasn't an ordinary pocket.

There was a hole in it.

It was just the right size for the phone's camera.

Most people wouldn't notice it unless they looked closely.

Oreki looked back.

The old man was staring at the phone with a delighted expression.

He was probably congratulating himself on his good luck.

Yes, he was lucky.

Lucky to have run into Oreki.

Once this case was over, not only would the man named Sakura Tanaka be finished, but this old man would be going to prison, too.

He could use the time to get rehabilitated.

Oreki took off his earphones and headed for his destination.

An old bookshelf.

According to the old man, it should be on the sixth shelf of the second row.

—Found it.

Oreki spotted a brand-new notebook.

A red string was tied around it.

This had to be the one.

But something about it felt off.

So Oreki didn't reach for it right away.

What exactly felt wrong?

In the end, Oreki picked up the notebook and turned it over.

There was hardly any dust on it.

The shelf beneath it was the same.

...No wonder it had felt off.

Someone had replaced the original with a fake.

If it had been sitting there for a long time, the bottom of the notebook would have collected plenty of dust.

This was different from the one in the front desk drawer.

Regular visitors could sign in at the front desk.

Those who didn't come often, or were visiting for the first time, could only sign in here.

—That guy got to it first.

Oreki put the fake back where it had been.

He planned to go straight to Shiina Hiyori.

There was no point looking for more clues here. Even if there were any, Kiyoko had probably collected them all.

"..."

"Come again!"

Oreki didn't look at the old man.

After all, the next time he came, the man wouldn't be here to see.

—Where are you now?

Oreki sent a message.

It didn't take long.

—At the Literature Club.

—The Literature Club?

—I've already taken care of things. So I went back to the club on my own. Sorry~

—Okay. I'll be right over.

That was unexpected.

He'd thought Shiina Hiyori would be stopped by Kiyoko.

But judging by this...

Never mind.

Oreki put his belongings in his bike bag.

He soon rode to the school building.

The Literature Club was in an empty classroom on the third floor.

"Here?"

Oreki went to the door.

After knocking a few times—

"Coming."

Shiina Hiyori opened the door.

She took Oreki by the hand and led him to a seat.

"You look happy. Did something happen?"

Oreki asked, puzzled.

"Yes. Something very interesting."

Shiina Hiyori pressed her hands together.

"...Is that so?"

"But... Oreki?"

"What is it?"

"You don't look very happy."

"Maybe not."

Oreki rested his cheek on his right hand.

It would've been a lie to say he was happy.

After running into such an unpleasant mess, how could he be?

Not only had Kiyoko played him for a fool.

An old man had also given him a hard time.

The latter was fine.

Oreki didn't care about a mere two hundred thousand yen.

After all, it had been bait to lure the other man into a trap in the first place.

But the former...

Anyone would be unhappy about being played for a fool.

Especially when they'd been sure they had the win in the bag.

"Please don't lose heart."

"Forget about me for now. Tell me how your investigation went."

"Okay. Most of the employees resent Sakura Tanaka."

"I see..."

"I think the reason probably has something to do with his uncle."

"That old man?"

"Huh... Oreki, you've met him?"

"More or less."

"What a coincidence."

"Let's not have any more coincidences like that."

"Mm-hmm."

"What else? Didn't you say you'd run into Ayanokoji?"

"Right. I was just about to tell you."

"What is it?"

"A showdown."

"...Could you be more specific?"

"A showdown with Kiyoko."

"Kiyoko?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"...Who's that?"

"Huh? Isn't that Ayanokoji Kiyoko?"

"Ayanokoji Kiyoko?"

"Yes."

"Not Kiyotaka..."

Oreki covered his face and muttered.

So he'd been calling her the wrong name all this time.

That was mortifying.

But why hadn't Karuizawa Kei told him?

Could it be she was just like Oreki...

Had she also gotten Ayanokoji's name wrong?

How strange.

"Oreki, you're acting strange."

"How so?"

"Would an ordinary girl call him 'Kiyotaka'?"

"You have a point."

"Then Shoko... No, never mind."

That was probably Sakayanagi's nickname for Ryuen.

It had nothing to do with "Kiyoko" here.

Oreki thought that if they kept talking about this, they'd never move on.

So he brought the conversation back to where it had started.

"So, what exactly happened that made you so happy?"

"Well..."

"Got it. I'm curious..."

"Yes, the complete first edition of Sherlock Holmes."

"Oh, that."

Oreki nodded.

It wasn't that he thought it was anything bad.

It was just...

Was this really okay?

Seeing how genuinely happy Shiina Hiyori was, Oreki didn't have the heart to say anything.

—The first edition?

—That guy really has everything.

—But why is he in Class D?

Wasn't this just some novelist forcing him in so he could play the underdog and reveal his true abilities later?

All that talk about controlling his scores—

It was probably just an excuse to make it seem reasonable.

If they were assigning people to Class D based on character flaws...

Did that person have no flaws?

By that logic, everyone would have to be in Class D.

Nobody was perfect.

Everyone had some shortcomings.

"I think I understand."

Oreki stood up.

He looked out at the window, where the sky was growing dark.

"It's getting late. Let's continue tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay. See you. I had a lot of fun today."

After saying goodbye to Shiina Hiyori,.

Oreki started thinking about something else important.

If he had to choose between the art gallery incident and this, Oreki would choose this without hesitation.

Because...

Sakayanagi Arisu was waiting for him to explain himself.

Why had he taken Shiina Hiyori to that restaurant?

Everything else was fine.

But that Chinese restaurant of all places.

He'd only carried Sakayanagi there that morning, and by the afternoon, he'd taken another girl there.

There was no way he could let that stand.

Still, Oreki was innocent, too.

He hadn't known Shiina Hiyori wanted to come here.

He'd thought it was just a place that served Chinese food.

He hadn't expected them to have desserts, too...

Maybe he'd been too focused on Sakayanagi when they were together to notice the desserts on the menu.

Regardless.

Oreki still had to figure out how to make things up to Sakayanagi Arisu.

Otherwise...

--To be continued