Fictional Truth

The entrance ceremony was over.

Everyone shuffled out through the gate.

"Do you think that sudden power outage just now was..."

"Are you starting again?"

"Little bro, quit acting like some kind of ghost!"

Oreki headed for the Class A classroom.

He didn't want to listen to any more of this pointless talk.

Those people would never learn the truth.

Never.

—Let's talk after class.

The message was from Sakayanagi.

Oreki quickly replied.

—I'm busy.

But as soon as he sent it...

—I'm free. Besides, this whole thing happened because of you.

—...

—If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes.

Oreki turned off his phone.

Sakayanagi Arisu could send whatever she wanted.

It wasn't as if Oreki had seen it.

If she asked...

He could always make up some excuse afterward.

The seating chart was usually posted beside the classroom door.

Oreki spotted his seat at a glance.

Back row, by the window.

A nice spot.

Looks like good things did happen sometimes.

"Oreki?"

Sakayanagi approached with a smile.

This was bad.

That smile was very bad.

Oreki could feel it.

"My phone ran out of battery just now."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Then does that mean you agree to spend some time alone with me?"

"I haven't sa—"

"You were going to say, 'I haven't yet,' right?"

Oreki had underestimated Sakayanagi.

He hadn't expected her to set a trap.

He should've stayed silent.

Saying "I haven't yet" would mean admitting he'd read her message, wouldn't it?

He'd let his guard down.

The students around them watched with some curiosity.

Half of them hadn't arrived yet.

That meant Katsuragi and his followers.

They were probably still giving their statements.

Poor things.

"It's all right, Oreki."

Sakayanagi sat down beside him.

"Ultimately, this was my fault."

"?"

"I'd only just promised not to bring trouble your way... and before long, I was coming to you with trouble again."

"...I understand."

Oreki propped his right cheek on his hand.

He said, sounding a little listless:

"Let's talk after class."

"Sure."

With that, Sakayanagi sat in the seat to his right.

That confused Oreki.

That wasn't where the seating chart had her.

Sakayanagi was supposed to be...

Never mind. There wasn't much point in saying anything.

The chairman's daughter could sit wherever she wanted.

Besides, she had the perfectly valid excuse of being in poor health.

Soon,

their chubby homeroom teacher stepped up to the front.

After going over the school's rules, he handed out something that looked like a phone.

A terminal.

It could serve as a student ID and had all the basic functions of a phone.

Next came the classic points system.

The only difference was that this school called its "points" something else.

But it was more or less the same.

"Sure enough, a hundred thousand..."

Oreki idly fiddled with his terminal.

It displayed his identity and personal points.

"Let's exchange numbers, Oreki."

Sakayanagi waved the terminal in her hand.

This time, Oreki agreed readily.

He knew there was no point in refusing.

Before long, it was noon.

Since the entrance ceremony that morning had gone on too long, the classes originally scheduled were replaced with self-study.

"Go on, what do you need me for?"

After everyone had left, Oreki asked Sakayanagi.

"A request from my father."

Sakayanagi took a letter from her handbag.

It was filled with polite words thanking Oreki and the like.

But the final line...

"So the chairman wants to catch someone?"

"Yes. My father's at a loss, so he has to ask for your help."

"Why not check the security footage?"

"We did, but didn't find anyone suspicious."

"..."

Oreki thought it over.

If that was really the case, then perhaps he'd oversimplified the incident.

Interesting.

But... he wanted to conserve energy.

Sakayanagi put the letter away.

Then she leaned close to Oreki's ear and whispered:

"This time, we're not going to uncover the truth."

"What do you mean?"

"My father doesn't want any students to get dragged into this."

"...A fabricated truth?"

"Yes. We just need to find an explanation people will find reasonable."

"The reward?"

"Five million points."

Oreki agreed.

Five million right off the bat. As expected of the chairman.

All right, then.

Oreki and Sakayanagi got to their feet.

Together, they headed toward the gymnasium.

Oreki had already examined the place once.

So when he looked it over again, he didn't find much new or useful information.

They couldn't get into the security room.

But...

"I asked my father to record it for us."

Sakayanagi handed Oreki her phone.

Oreki watched the footage at five times speed.

After watching it a second time, he set the playback to 5:24.

At that moment, one of the players hit a high lob.

The tennis ball passed through the steel frame, then the opponent hit it back.

Wait.

Through the steel frame?

Shouldn't it have gone over it?

And that falling trajectory wasn't a parabola, either.

"Yeah, I more or less understand."

Oreki returned the phone to Sakayanagi.

He looked up at the steel frame.

One step, two steps, three...

When he'd backed away forty-six steps, Oreki spotted a clue.

"Do you know where they keep the tennis balls used for the match?"

"Hmm... My father might know."

Sakayanagi quickly sent her father a message.

A short while later,

"They're here."

Sakayanagi led Oreki to a room.

He had no idea where she'd gotten the key.

When she opened the door,

Oreki saw a basket of tennis balls.

The most conspicuous one among them was a pale yellow ball.

"The truth is clear now."

Sakayanagi nodded.

After watching Oreki's series of actions, she'd begun to understand, too.

"So there was already a tennis ball on the steel frame?"

"Exactly. The high lob knocked it down."

"What a coincidence."

"That player is the person the chairman's looking for."

Oreki calmly got to his feet.

The tennis ball that person had hit got stuck in the steel frame.

The ball that had originally been stuck in the frame fell down.

This coincidence successfully fooled everyone who had been there.

Sakayanagi happily walked over to Oreki.

"So, what will you do now?"

Oreki thought it over.

He knew exactly what Sakayanagi meant.

He had to come up with a suitable truth.

If he revealed what had really happened, the principal would reprimand this person.

They might even have points deducted or something.

Needless to say, that wasn't what Sakayanagi's Father wanted.

He glanced out the window.

A crow was building a nest.

"Got it."

"Oh?"

"You can delete some of the surveillance footage, right?"

"Only footage that isn't important."

"Right. Find an excuse to delete tomorrow's footage from the gym."

"Sure."

Oreki nodded, then told Sakayanagi the fabricated truth.

He said...

--To be continued