Three days after the cross-class groups were announced, Chabashira handed out the official instructions for their first group study task during homeroom.
Kanzaki Toru opened the printed task sheet. Its title was brief: "Campus History Research: Rules and Changes." Each group was required to trace the complete evolution of one school rule using historical records and submit a report of at least three thousand words. There were three possible grades: pass, good, and excellent. Every member of a group that earned an excellent grade would receive an additional ten thousand Personal Points, and the achievement would be entered into their personal records. Groups that failed would have to resubmit within a week. If they failed a second time, five thousand Personal Points would be deducted from every member.
Chabashira stood at the podium and nudged her glasses up, adding in a tone about as lively as a weather forecast, "The results of this task will also be used as a reference when evaluating Class Points in the future. Please take it seriously."
With that, she left the classroom. As usual, she offered no further explanation or detailed guidance, leaving them with nothing but the rules themselves. After a brief silence, Class D fell into chaos again. Sudo declared on the spot, "What's this research crap got to do with me?" Horikita shut him down with, "If you don't do your part, the whole group loses points." Ike muttered that he wanted to switch groups, but the homeroom teacher's earlier words—"Group assignments cannot be changed"—had snuffed out that hope.
Kanzaki Toru folded the task sheet and put it in his pocket. Campus history research: rules and changes. To others, the topic might have seemed like a dull pile of historical records, but every word on the task sheet felt tailor-made for him. He already had the Summary of School System Changes that Shiina Hiyori had given him. Page thirty-seven clearly documented the key fact that the cooperative system had been frozen, not deleted. If they made good use of the material, it could help their report stand out and give him a legitimate reason to consult more archived documents about the old system.
But before that, he needed to deal with one problem in the group: Yukimura Teruhiko.
At lunch, the group gathered in a discussion room at the library.
Yukimura took a math reference book out of his bag and set it on the table, then began laying out his systematic views on how to organize historical records. He spoke earnestly, growing more and more certain as he went. By the fifth minute, he was assigning everyone's roles rather than discussing them.
"I'll organize the chronology and build the logical framework. Kanzaki will look up the primary sources. Sakura will handle the layout and charts. Shiina will help verify the supporting materials. Hamaguchi from Class B will contact Class B about their old Student Council records. As for the schedule, I suggest—"
"Yukimura," Kanzaki Toru interrupted.
Yukimura stopped and nudged his glasses up. "What is it?"
"You've made a good plan. But we formed a group to work together, not to put one person in charge of everything." Kanzaki Toru's tone was calm, not critical. "Shiina knows the library's old records better than any of us. What she can find might be more important than your chronology. Let her tell us what she's good at instead of deciding for her."
Shiina Hiyori sat by the window, leafing through a yellowed old booklet. At the sound of her name, she looked up. Her light-brown eyes peered over the page at Yukimura, but she said nothing. Her silence was an attitude in itself.
Yukimura opened his mouth, then closed it again. He wasn't stubborn; he was simply used to finishing things on his own and then telling everyone else what to do. In his two months in Class D, he'd had almost no real experience working as part of a team. Others thought he was too serious, and he thought they were too careless. But Kanzaki Toru hadn't rejected his ideas outright, as the others might have. Instead, he had taken Yukimura's suggestions and adjusted their focus.
"You can still organize the chronology. That's a good approach."
Yukimura looked surprised, then gave a slight nod. It was small, but he really did nod.
Then Sakura Airi set her camera on the table and pulled up several photos. They were pictures of architectural details she had taken around the Old School Building two days earlier. "I looked at the school building maps from past years. The Old School Building used to be the main academic building, and was later converted into club rooms. These door signs and hallway bulletin boards still show traces of what they used to be like. We might be able to use them as photographs for our research." She spoke quietly but fluently, then opened the notebook she had brought with her. Several pages of preliminary layouts about "the changes to the school buildings" were already sketched inside.
Shiina Hiyori gently closed her book and said, "At the end of the east corridor on the third floor of the Old School Building, there's a locked staircase. Behind the wall is an old wooden cabinet with files from the school's early days locked inside. I can take Sakura to see it."
A group of people who had barely known one another began laying the pieces of the puzzle they each knew best on the table. Kanzaki Toru said nothing more, simply opening his notebook and writing down everyone's ideas. As the discussion moved on to the next step of its own accord, he felt someone looking at him from beside him. Shiina Hiyori had tilted her head slightly and watched him for two seconds. A glimmer in her brown eyes seemed to catch on a phrase she had picked out from between the pages. Then she casually looked away.
When the discussion ended, everyone gradually got up to leave. As Kanzaki Toru gathered the materials on the table, he noticed one small detail: Yukimura didn't take his math reference book with him when he left. He left it in his bag and put only the task sheet in his pocket. He had brought the book in case he had time to work on his own problems during the discussion. The fact that he hadn't taken it out meant he hadn't let himself get distracted for a moment. That bookworm was beginning to take the group seriously.
Sunlight streamed through the hallway. Sakura and Shiina walked ahead of him, talking about something. Sakura tilted her cap toward Shiina and nodded now and then. After listening, Shiina suddenly curved her lips into a faint smile and offered her a piece of candy.
He was about to catch up when Sakura suddenly slowed down. She waited until Shiina had entered the library, then turned around. She was holding a pale green lunch box. Inside were the shrimp spring rolls she had spent most of the weekend making in the kitchen. The shrimp showed pink through the thin wrappers. She held the lunch box out, then started to pull it back halfway, but he took it firmly from her.
"Kanzaki didn't eat much at lunch. There was still a third of your lunch in the discussion room." She lowered her head and hurriedly added, "If it doesn't taste good, you don't have to force yourself."
He opened the lid, picked up a spring roll that was still warm, and took a bite.
"It's delicious."
This time, Sakura didn't turn away. Instead, she looked up and gave him a full smile. Sunlight shone through the glass in the hallway, making her smile seem bright and real. Her eyes curved as she softly said, "Thank you," then jogged to catch up with Shiina.
Kanzaki Toru watched her disappear through the library entrance, then carefully closed the lunch box. What he didn't notice was Karuizawa Kei standing at the corner of the hallway not far away. She had been on her way to the vending machines, but stopped when she saw what had just happened. She looked down at the new red bean soup she had just bought, seemed to lose her appetite, and gently set the can on the windowsill before turning in the opposite direction. Condensation on the can slowly slid down its metal surface and onto the white-painted windowsill, leaving a small dark ring.
After school that afternoon, Horikita waited for him at the classroom door. She held a tablet, her expression more serious than usual. Her purple eyes shone strangely under the hallway lights. She turned the screen toward him. It showed the response to a request for access to a student conduct record.
"I used my privileges to request Ryuen's records last time, but he got approval to block access before I did," Horikita said, with a rare hint of frustration in her voice. "He was faster. Or rather, he didn't need to request them himself. He has someone on the Disciplinary Committee."
"The Disciplinary Committee?"
"A second-year. After what happened at the Old School Building last year, Ryuen helped him out of a jam in exchange for that connection. He solves other people's dirty problems in exchange for access to records." Horikita turned off the tablet. "He's not just trying to provoke you. He's building an intelligence network of his own. The cross-class group task involves the old system, so he'll definitely use those privileges to dig up more information before us and interfere with everyone's judgment."
The word "interfere" made a vague thread of thought suddenly fall into place in Kanzaki Toru's mind. He looked up. "Then we won't let him interfere."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Look into the old system," Kanzaki Toru said. "Not just in the library. We'll ask someone who actually carried it out. Sakagami, who teaches social studies to the third-years, has been teaching at this school longer than any other current teacher. He was already here in its third year."
Horikita watched him for a moment, seeming to assess just how much thought lay behind the casually delivered detail. Then she nodded. "Sakagami's desk is in the Social Studies prep room on the fourth floor. He doesn't usually answer students' questions unless they ask, so be prepared."
"He doesn't have to answer. If he pauses for a second when he hears a certain question, that'll be enough."
The wind outside the Academic Building already carried the humid heat of early summer. The sound of a ball being kicked on the far side of the athletic field came and went. In the distance, a blond figure didn't stop near the people playing soccer. Karuizawa Kei walked alone along the fork in the path leading to the dorms, not in any hurry. She had no red bean soup, and no companion walking beside her. Several gray-feathered birds pecked at grass seeds by her feet. She stopped to watch them for a moment, then continued on alone.
Kanzaki Toru stood at the entrance to the Academic Building, watching her walk away. After a moment, he looked toward the fourth floor. He had been clutching the Summary of School System Changes for days, and beneath the ice, his heartbeat was still knocking. Now it was time to ask the person who had once frozen that ice into the rules.
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