"The ones who did all of these three things are scapegoats!"

Scapegoats?

As I questioned the entirety of their assumption, my table partner swiftly let out her opinion in the process, along with a vast arm movement, which expressed a certain degree of enthusiasm.

"I see now! Then, I was right in assuming that the actual culprit hasn't done any of these actions! It all makes sense now!"

So much vanity...

"Kuzan and I arrived at that solid conclusion when we realized that it wouldn't make any sense for the real culprit to partake in any action that might endanger her/his position! That's why it would make the most sense for the culprit to utilize 3 people!"

...If that's really the case, then whoever is behind this must've thought about this greatly. I understand that this was natural to happen since we are all technically criminals, but this is...

Ikkiri, what have you done to get someone like this on your back?

"But... Kanawari, isn't this saying that the real culprit managed to get three people to do all of this for him or her? Given that none of us can interact with any other students aside from this class, the real culprit's selection is limited."

What I'm saying is that the real culprit, the one behind all of this, could've only depended on people from this class and no one else.

"Aniki! The real culprit must've depended on people from this class! Therefore, we aren't just looking for 1 person... But 4 in general!"

"No way... Why would there be four people involved in this... Is there really a reason to hate Ikkiri this much?"

Plus, it's quite unrealistic to assume that there would be someone in this class who would be able to get 3 people to do something like this...

"I don't really think that it's about Ikkiri anymore. Maybe there was a massive upside to these tasks. Something that means more than Ikkiri. Though... We shouldn't waste time thinking about it. Because we won't arrive at plausible conclusions. Either way, what we should take from this message is that there is a very high chance that a boy wrote this message, if not all of them."

My table partner's not exactly making this easy. By splashing so many possibilities, we won't be able to tell who to focus on.

It's one thing to assume who is truly behind all of this and another one to assume who wrote all these messages. Right now, we should focus on finding out who wrote all these messages.

"Let's not lose focus. We should prioritize finding out who wrote the messages. That's what we were tasked with. Why are we going through unnecessary lengths?"

I hate to rain on her parade, but her leadership is entirely pointless. She's going through such unnecessary lengths for no legit reason.

"But don't you think that if we connect all the clues that we will find out who the real culprit is? If we associate all the reasons we can achieve and collect, then we will reach a better end goal."

She didn't get my point...

"I didn't argue that we wouldn't make swifter progress if we utilized that methodology... Your idealogy is simply useless."

"Excuse me?"

Well, this was bound to happen. I tried. I really did.

"I'm correct here. We are all trying to find some culprit for no reason whatsoever. Let's not lie to ourselves... We don't care about who did this... Why are we all pretending to care? Let's just blame someone like Tatsu or Tateyana."

I suggested those two names because we have reasoned that the chances of them being behind this has a minimal and plausible level of coherence.

In all likelihood, Tatsu did this.

All the signals are pointing at him.

"You're not correct. You're the only one who has that point of view. While it's true that this is Ikkiri's problem, we were tasked with the task of finding out who the culprit is. Stop being so whiny about this..."

Why are you glaring at me like that... You're the one who's being whiny but of course, you just can't see it...

"You're the whiny one. You're suggesting that we have to, no, I have to do this just because I was tasked with this task. What a load of nonsense. You're not going to arrive at any plausible conclusions whatsoever. All of these assumptions have been unrealistic and will continue to be."

"Then don't talk... No one is forcing you to."

Fucking fine by me.

If she actually thinks that there is something to be achieved here, then props to her. I hope she sees something that I can't see.

I'm pretty sure that your ego will reach unspoken heights.

Hyunda's right. My actions often don't have any meaning whatsoever. I don't have a reason to bother myself with this scenery at all. It's Ikkiri's problem. Not mine.

"Ummm... can we say our opinions about this...?!"

"I think that both of you are taking this too seriously!"

They've been silently observing our argument go down, but they finally decided to speak. Almost glued to each other, Kanawari and Kuzan began with their attempt.

They are in front of us, so it's normal that they have their fair share of opinions regarding what just happened.

That doesn't mean that they are correct though.

"I'm not taking this seriously because I don't have a reason to. She is. If you two want to argue about something at least be correct about it..."

If the argument is that I'm taking this too seriously, then that's not true. If that was the real case, then I would change my approach here. Kanawari was the one who suggested this, I simply didn't reject her option because the end game is all the same...

"Pardon his rudeness and lack of manners. It's plainly obvious that he just comes up with excuses because he can't keep up. Don't mind him."

"That's not the case, damn it... Stop throwing baseless insults that are not true at all!"

"Except they are true. If you could keep up, then you wouldn't complain. Your mood dictates that you complained for a reason. That reason being, this is too much for you!"

Why does she even bother to open her damn mouth... It should be logical to any human being out there that doing something fruitless is worthless, meaningless and utterly useless! How can someone not understand this!?

"Please shut up before I do something that I might regret... You only open your mouth to say stupid shit that makes no sense at all. Either be quiet or don't speak at all!"

Amidst this, our arms have started to form wide swings in our opposite direction in order to express our violent emotions regarding one another.

This should be obvious right now, but.... I completely and utterly hate her.

"It's my mouth and the words that come out from it are according to my will! Your words mean nothing to me!"

"Fuck! Is it so hard for you to process common sense?! Are you seriously this retarded?!"

"You're the retarded one, you numbskull! I should've known it would turn out like this!"

"Should've known!? I fucking knew from the start that it would turn out like this! It was only a matter of time! Dumb bitch!"

"D-D-Dumb bitch!? Say that one more time! I'll pierce your eyeballs and make you eat them!"

Does this bitch seriously think I'm afraid of her? What? Does she think that just because she has good looks that her opinion suddenly matters? Fuck off. That's incorrect!

"Dumme Schlampe! Cagna stupida! Tupa suka! There, I even said it in three different languages! Oh, fucking wait! Even then, you won't understand!"

I can't believe I studied the german language, the Italian language, and the Ukrainian language just to use my knowledge in this roast fest.

This is almost as sad as her existence in general.

"Did you seriously say those untruthful two words in THAT language?!"

What is she talking about?

"G-Guys! Calm down, please! We can think about this together! We are a group! So, can we ple--"

"Shut up, Kuzan!" x2.

Though Kuzan spoke, I'm wondering why Kanawari hasn't spoken along with him, but that's not important right now.

This bitch needs to know her place.

"It's not 'THAT' language or whatever you are speaking. It's three languages, you dumb bitch!"

In response to this, her eyebrows twisted themselves accordingly. Furthermore, she was starting to grit her teeth while looking down in tremendous rage. But, still, so what?

"Whatever! I won't question how you know it, it's just sheer dumb luck, I bet! How can you expect others to treat you with respect when you don't treat anyone with respect?!"

"What the hell?! What does that have to do with anything!? I choose those who I apply respect to!"

"I strongly doubt that! You're flawed in general! You can't respect someone, I bet! Come on, just admit it! You are in the wrong here!"

How am I in the wrong here...?! God, she doesn't realize how contradicting she is. I argued with my logic but she twisted my argument by using her biased logic.

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That's not proving me wrong, that's you trying to prove yourself right. Only someone seriously dumb could not distinguish the obvious difference here.

"Just shut up. Seriously. You can't ever win in an argument, because you are more preoccupied with how you look in the process rather than the argument itself. That's why you're a dumb bitch. See, Kuzan? Learn from me. These types of bitches are the worse there are. They can't even see how wrong they are!"

"I see, Aniki! Then---"

Something stopped Kuzan from further speaking. His face looked in anguish and pain for some reason.

Although my table partner was ready to go at it again, Kanawari spoke on her turn.

"Umm...! If I can speak, then I have a suggestion!"

Just as we were about to resume our violent argument, we both looked towards the light-blonde-haired girl whose eyes emitted a sense of peace just by glancing upon her.

Thus far, her attitude has been remarkably positive and enthusiastic, which made me wonder why exactly she allowed us to argue this far. Kuzan attempted to stop us, but he was unsuccessful in the process of doing so.

Since no one really said anything to stop her, Kanawari went on.

"Does this happen a lot or is this the first time you two have argued!?"

I'll never understand where she gets that undeniable enthusiasm.

Nonetheless, I answered back.

"I wouldn't say it happens a lot, it happens every time she opens her mouth."

"Excuse you, don't you mean those words to yourself instead? You're the one who attempts to talk to me in the first place."

"That is not true. Don't pretend that's the case when it's not!"

It really is not the case, okay? What sorta man would I be if I started every single conversation with the opposite gender? I'll have you know I have plenty of integrity.

"Guys, listen to Kanawari, please! I think she's onto something!"

I can't tell if it's a side effect or not, but every time my eyes cross with Kuzan's, as soon as I look at his head in general, I can't see the black wig, even though it's there.

Despite all this, you keep yourself strong, Kuzan. You are out of this world.

"That's right, Kuzan! I noticed something while you two were arguing endlessly! Do you two... even know something about each other?"

I think I see where she's going with this. With that in mind, it will be easy to prove her approach wrong.

"No, we don't. But that's because I don't care in the first place."

Though... She has told me a few things about herself, but I honestly forgot. I don't tend to keep on track with irrelevant things in the first place.

"For once, you are right. I don't care about you, so of course, I don't know anything about you."

There's no argument here. We don't care about each other. That's a fact. It was never my intention to befriend her.

Kanawari's point of view was most likely going to proceed the same way I did with Yulia. How we must strive to understand each other and whatnot in order to develop a proper bond.

In actuality, that doesn't work out and it's not as simple as it seems for a certain reason.

You can't understand someone that doesn't allow you to understand them in the first place. Logically speaking, you can only see what is on the surface and label that as the general understanding, but that's about it.

What hides beneath the surface is impossible to perceive, which is why the 'mutual understanding' argument never works in reality.

Yulia's case wasn't luck or anything of that sort. Her surface told me enough information about her.

It's a different story when we consider the creature that I'm paired with. Just like me, she tells nothing. Her surface is empty and dry.

"Oh, so it's not the first time! I see! That makes sense, really! But... Are you two existing in each other's atmospheres?"

.....What? She's not using the 'mutual understanding' argument?

And what is this 'other's atmospheres' stuff?

"Kana, what are you talking about? Can you be more specific?"

Despite my table partner's question, it wasn't Kanawari who answered, but it was the only boy in this classroom whose enthusiasm could rival Kanawari's.

Leaning his head forward, Kuzan spoke with tremendous gal.

"You two are not acknowledging each other's existence! Look at me and Kanawari! We know that we are full of flaws but still, we allow each other to exist inside our own atmospheres! Kanawari stutters a lot, for example! I used to find this super funny, ah, don't get me wrong, I still do, but I don't laugh at it anymore!"

"Kuzan's sudden haircut had me laughing from left to right, but I'm holding myself now! Look, he even bought a wig to mask that! Hilarious!!"

"Hey! This wig was expensive! No roasts please!"

"Aye, aye! Though, my point is that you two are talking about each other far too negatively! You can't appreciate each other's flaws! I'm not saying for you two to understand one another, but don't you think that you two argue because you are protecting each other's images a bit too much!?"

This is... Weird. It's as if Kanawari and Kuzan are this experienced couple who have gone through every hardship life has to offer and therefore, they feel this obligation of giving the most sophisticated and philosophical advice to every lost couple they find along the way!

The most annoying part is that they are not a couple and neither are we!

"I don't agree, Kana. I argue to prove myself right. My image is completely partial. My intentions are pure along the way."

Liar... If you argue to prove yourself right then you are already caring for your overall image, you dumbass...

"But Lus! This isn't about you, nor about him! Think about it, wouldn't it be for the best if you two stopped arguing?! You'll develop such a toxic relationship, then!"

"We don't have any relationship, to begin with..." x2.

I'm glad she agrees with this, at least.

By contrast to my exasperated thought process, both Kanawari and Kuzan looked at each other in the eyes and shrugged a second later.

"Oh well! I guess we had it easy, didn't we, Kanawari?"

"Sure did, Kuzan! Is this where you apply the 'take it nice and easy' term?! Maybe they can't see things the way we see it! Were we idiots by assuming that they could see our ideas from the start!?"

Hey...

"It must be! Aniki and Lus seem to be in denial at the moment! Maybe this will change over time! Oh, I know! Special and unique events will slowly demonstrate how they could change their toxic relationship! Isn't that kinda like a fairytale setting, Kanawari!?"

"I see what you mean, Kuzan! But, don't you think it's a shame?! Our idea was so simple! We even discussed it, remember?!"

"Oh, I know! The whole concept was that by existing with each other, it wouldn't refer to physical existence only but emotional existence! It's not hard to understand, right?!"

Why are they....

"It can't be hard to understand! This is not an explicit emotional connection but just the acknowledgement! I can't believe that there are people out there who mistake acknowledgement for respect! How dumb must you be to not get the difference?! Hahahaha!!"

"Wait, wait, are you serious?! You mean to tell ME that there are people out there who can't distinguish such an obvious difference?! Hahahaha, imagine that for a second!! Try not to die while you think about how dumb you've to be in order to have that type of thought process!!"

Oh, I see now. As I glanced at my table partner, we suddenly realized.

Both Kanawari and Kuzan were idiotically laughing their asses off. They had this mockery sensation written all over their faces.

Our stiff faces became disturbed as soon as we caught on to what was happening.

"Kuzan! Kuzan! I know a better one! Imagine this: You are attempting to explain something really basic but for some reason, for some extremely ODD reason, the ones you are explaining this towards, just can't get it! How prideful do you have to be to understand the basic logic behind this simplistic ideology?!"

"Too damn prideful, that's for sure! But, Kanawari, don't worry! There aren't such human beings on this planet who would be this dumb! We are safe!"

For how long are they going to keep this up...

"That's true --- Oh wait! N-No way!"

"W-What is it...?"

....In a symphonic combination of movements, Kuzan twisted his head in a way that Kanawari managed to whisper something on his ear. Even though the usual intention would be for the whispering message to be as silent as possible, Kanawari purposely allowed the upcoming words to be heard extremely loud, despite being whispered.

"I think we have a case on our hands! L-Look at them!"

"Hm?!"

Upon receiving Kanawari's whispering loud message, Kuzan looked at me once and then back to Kanawari. He did the same with my table partner. Ultimately, he blinked so much that I think it got contagious.

That's right. Right now, these two idiots think we don't notice this wave of sarcastic sentences.

"K-Kanawari..."

"Y-Yeah, Kuzan...?"

"Is this it?! Are they the ones you were talking about?! I tried to look in front of me and I only found these two stiff people! One looks like her face is made of stone and the other looks like it's about to explode! What do we do?!"

Slamming my right hand onto my table, I put a stop to this spiral of sarcasm.

"Alright, I get it, you've made your point! Still, I won't change."

It's pretty obvious what they were insinuating. That we'd have to be dumb, truly dumb not to take this opportunity, but I simply don't care.

There's no reason for me to reach out to her.

"Likewise."

She shrugged. Yes.

She's the same as me in this sense. We won't change because we don't have a reason to.

"5 minutes left!"

Yuka-sensei declared that. Her voice came out low to us since she was at the end of the classroom with Akimiyashika and Hinagiku. However, we all heard her loud and clear.

Normally, this would be alerting, but considering that we don't have much time, I think it's wise to assume that it won't pose to be a problem.

"Waaaahhh!! We only have five minutes left! Quickly, let's analyze the rest of the messages!! Umm...!"

Kanawari was freaking out because she only realized now that time was almost up. She placed her shaky hands on top of the sideways of her head while forming a hysterical expression.

"Relax, Kanawari. We don't need to analyze the messages anymore. Don't you have a guess already?"

With a quick head pat, Kuzan calmed Kanawari's pile of nerves down.

.................

What's with Kuzan patting every single person there is? First his sister now Kanawari? I'm sensing a pattern here.

Although, I'll praise Kuzan for ceasing the situation quickly. With just 5 minutes on the clock, right now is not a good time to freak out.

"I do! But I just wanted to form better guesses through reasoning and logic!"

"We've already discussed it though! We already know who we think did it, right?"

"That's right, Kuzan! The question is..."

Do we know who did it?

By 'we' I'm referring to me and her, not Kuzan and Kanawari.

"Your worry is unnecessary, Kana. I already have my guess."

"I do as well. Then... Shall we say what's truly on our minds?"

The four of us simultaneously traded looks with each other until we arrived at a consensus.

There should be 3 minutes left if I'm not mistaken. If our opinions differ too much, we should reach out to each other why we disagree and attempt to fix the situation.

Nevertheless, time is short.

Thus, Kuzan took the initiative and started. His opinion was the same as Kanawari's, therefore, Kuzan would speak for Kanawari as well.

"Tateyana. Why? We've already explained it. To be honest, there isn't much evidence to link with, as a matter of fact, there is none, but this is based on the scenario that Kanawari proposed."

I've already reinforced my thoughts with the idea of the not-so-great importance that this whole event has. And the reason as to why this event isn't important in the first place is because this is Ikkiri's problem.

If Ikkiri herself can't take care of her own problems, then she'll have to rely on others. This is the case, and as such, we are forced to make illogical claims such as these.

Kanawari's scenario has barely any logic whatsoever.

"If there was more evidence then I would really say more, but... Tateyana should do it for now. All the other scenarios don't tell us much about the real culprit and it makes the most sense for the one who wrote all those messages to be a girl. Plus, Tateyana does possessive aggressive behavior. It's not entirely impossible that she low-key hates Ikkiri for whatever reason."

Assuming this information is based on events that have took place in their dorm, then I would say it's a verdict opinion for sure.

Also, Kanawari is not ignoring the other possibilities, she's simply going along with her own.

Still, that's already two different opinions from mine.

All eyes were on me, therefore, I spoke.

"Tatsu. Why? Due to Ikkiri's absence, he failed the exam. His failure in the past exam had extra meaning. Kuzan, can you tell them what was that meaning?"

"Ahhh! If a certain portion of us would fail the previous exam, we would be filled with, not one, but two supply exams! Tatsu was no exception!"

Tatsu is a serious person. Unlike the majority, he doesn't fuck around. Of course, someone like Ikkiri would break his system completely.

"That's right. Since he was no exception, he is now one exam away from being out of the program. Needless to say, but the consequences for this aren't very nice, are they? I'm sure he accumulated a great deal of hatred for Ikkiri. Ikkiri's at fault here, no matter how you look at it. So, Tatsu, as a way to vent his strong emotions, decided to bully her. Isn't this just simple? Why are we choosing Tateyana over the obvious answer?"

My scenario makes more sense than Kanawari and Kuzan's.

You'd have to be blind not to see this. This is by no means any form of self-over glorification yet I need to glorify my opinion to the point where they will be able to see what I mean.

"You do bring a point, Daniel! Hmmmm.... Maybe it's better to change our target...! What do you think, Kuzan?"

"Ehhh!? But we argued that those messages were most likely done by a girl! What sense does it make for us to choose Tatsu?! Unless... We are following the logic where Tatsu made all of those messages up."

It's quite unlikely, but I've come to terms with this decision of mine.

"Kuzan, couldn't Tatsu just have come up with all of this? It's not hard. Think about it... We are all criminals... Acts of manipulation should not be something to be surprised at this point."

What I'm trying to tell Kuzan is that we aren't dealing with someone who would do all of this openly. Either that or Tatsu wasn't the one. Under my impression though, he was the one. He just put a little act behind it.

"Since one minute is left, I'm going to say the opinion we should all follow. I think that out of all the targets here to choose, there is only one, honestly."

Glancing at the clock, my table partner launched her most surprising words yet.

"This is all too illogical. The fact that we don't have any evidence to link anyone completely should symbolize that there is only one person in this room capable of doing this while fooling everyone in the process. That person being..."

She hesitated to say her words for some reason, but after a few seconds, she returned back and spoke out a single name.

"Ikkiri, the supposed victim herself."

What?