Classroom of the Elite: Legacy

V.2-Ch.3.5

Furukawa

Advanced Nurturing High School; Keyaki Mall

Horikita and I went our separate ways, heading back to our own dorm rooms. As I was walking out of the mall, I heard a few familiar voices nearby and turned. There, I saw Kasai with a group of girls from our class, talking to each other. It seems like they were both having fun and looking for information for Tsukamoto.

"L-Let's all do this another time, alright? We still have a job to do..." Kasai turned towards me, noticing me. "Everyone, please go on ahead without me. I'm going to stay here for a bit."

"Eh~???" With disappointed looks on their faces, the girls turned away and left. With them gone, Kasai walked towards me.

"Good afternoon, Furukawa-san.'

"Good afternoon," I greeted him back. "How's your progress?"

Kasai's smile went away and he shook his head. "Not so good. Everyone we talked to pretty much told us the same thing we heard from Matsubara-sensei. But...I suppose we did learn one thing."

"What is it?"

"Nishida Akihiro. Apparently, he was a troublemaker and delinquent back in junior high. And as for Hoga and Sugiyama, they were typically normal students with normal behavior. Nothing out of the ordinary. For the three of them to do this, it seems so strange."

"I see..." I note the details he gave me inside my head. "Thank you, Kasai-san. I'll tell Horikita-san about this."

"Well, it was the least I could do for Tsukamoto-san." Kasai smiled. "You know, when you contacted me after the midterm exam was announced, I thought you were just a scary guy. But now after talking to you, you didn't seem like a bad person. You're just like everyone else."

"Is that so...?" Kasai nodded. I suppose he did seem afraid of me back then...

Advanced Nurturing High School; Hallways; several weeks ago...

After my conversation with Horikita during lunch, I went on my way to search for Kasai Arata. There was still some time before lunch ended and before class would start, but I had to use it wisely. The entire class would meet at the library after school, and if I failed to get Kasai, I would fail at getting the rest of our classmates.

As I was walking around, I eventually found Kasai. He was buying a drink from one of the vending machines, and he had just walked away after paying for it. Seeing this chance, I went towards him.

"Kasai," I called out his name.

He turned around. "Oh!" Kasai got startled and suddenly had a nervous look on his face. "H-Hey, Furukawa-san. Is there something you need?"

I nodded. "Can you do a favor for me?"

"...Eh?" Kasai's face changed and lit up. "What is it?" he asked.

"Horikita from our class wants to bring everyone together to study for the midterm exam. She plans to form study groups and host study sessions at the library this afternoon, and she wants all of us to be there. Kurino-san is helping at the moment, and she's already told most of our classmates to come, but not everyone agreed. I want you to convince the rest of them and bring them to the library."

"I see..." Kasai placed his hand to his chin and thought about it for a moment, then he nodded. "Alright, leave it to me."

I nodded, then I turned away. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'll be leaving now."

"Wait." I stopped and stood still. "Um...what about Shirogawa-san?"

"Shirogawa?" I repeated the name and remembered who he was. The invisible student who was sitting in the middle of the classroom. "If you manage to bring him, that's fine. However, if you can't, that's fine too. I have a feeling he can handle himself whether he joins our study sessions or not."

"I see. Well, either way, I'll do my best to help." I nodded. "Oh, um...Furukawa-san? If you don't mind, would you like to exchange contact numbers? It'd be faster to share information that way."

"...That's fine with me." I pulled out my phone and the two of us shared our contact numbers. After that, I said goodbye and left.

Present day...

"I often have a terrifying look on my face, and everything I do often seems suspicious or strange. And I don't talk much for that matter. So I understand why you and everyone else may think of me like that."

"I see. Well, I just want to apologize for seeing you like that. I'm sorry." Kasai bowed.

"There's no need to apologize," I said to him.

"O-Oh, is that so? Well, just know that I truly mean it. I really am." Kasai pulled out his phone. "Well, I suppose I'll get going now. I'll give you an update if we can find anything. Later." Kasai waved goodbye and left, then I turned around and went the other direction, leaving as well.