Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

SS4: Matsushita Chiaki - In the Shadows

As soon as roll call was over, I left our camp along with Ayanokouji-kun and Horikita-san to search for the person that had stolen the key card from Horikita-san.

According to what Ayanokouji-kun had explain to me, someone had stolen the key card while Horikita-san was taking her shower. I hadn't been attentive to the showers since I had already taken mine, so I just went and talked with Satou-san and Shinohara-san. He had proposed that we go and search for the responsible after roll call, so that took us to our current situation.

I decided to inform Hirata-kun about it. Otherwise, he would worry and probably send our classmates to find us, so it was best to reassure him in advance. Of course, he wouldn't tell the real reason as to why we went to the forest to our classmates; instead, he would give them an excuse, something like we would try to find out who the other leaders were or the like.

Yet, I couldn't really see why it would be useful for us to recover the card.

If someone stole it then the damage was already done. Besides, why would Ibuki-san need the key card when reading the name would suffice? How could we be so certain that Ibuki-san was the culprit anyway? I mean, I understood why she would be the prime suspect, but just assuming she was the culprit didn't seem right. The possibility of someone from our class doing it couldn't be overruled.

After all, there were tensions in our class. Someone who had a grudge against Horikita-san could very well have done it to distress her and turn our classmates against her.

Also, wandering around the forest at night wasn't exactly a good choice and with how cloudy the sky was.

A few minutes in, Ayanokouji-kun suggested to split up so we could cover more ground. I found his request rather odd but agreed to it. If Ayanokouji-kun thought that was the best, then I trusted his judgement.

Finding myself alone in the forest was weird. I was wandering with no clear goal, just hoping to stumble into someone that by some miracle held the key card from Class D.

If we didn't count this event, then the exam for our class had gone rather smoothly. There had been tensions and discussions, but we had managed to overcome the obstacles...

There was my discussion with Karuizawa-san during the third day as well, though. She had tried to buy things to install inside the tent to be more comfortable and I had intervened to stop her, which lead to an argument. In the end, she didn't buy anything, but I had to keep an eye on her to make sure of it.

Raindrops began to fall. Because we were in the forest, it wasn't as bad as if we were in the open. Still, the visibility worsened.

Deeming it was too risky to continue wandering, I made my way back to where Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun and I had split up.

Strangely enough, neither Ayanokouji-kun nor Horikita-san had returned. I thought of waiting for them but concerned about the possibility that something may have happened – especially to Horikita-san since she was sick, I walked in the direction Horikita-san had left.

After following Horikita-san's footprints for several minutes, I began losing her track because of the rain erasing the footprints.

As I was going to call out for her, I heard a voice.

"You should retire from the exam Horikita."

That was Ayanokouji-kun's voice... It was barely audible, but I managed to make up the words. Intrigued by what was happening I decided to hide.

Perhaps, Ayanokouji-kun was concerned by Horikita-san's health as well?

I became attentive to try and hear everything despite the rain. From my hiding spot I couldn't really distinguish Horikita-san even if I was able to see her figure, Ayanokouji-kun however was distinguishable enough so that I could see his face. Well, his profile.