After thinking for a bit, I came up with an answer.
“In other words, there was no culprit from the start. Is that what you mean?”
When I said that, Hagasaki-kun nodded as if it were the most obvious thing.
“Yeah. Normally, it’s impossible for molestation to happen even with patrols, and it’s improbable for so many molestation cases to happen in a row. So the most reasonable answer is that such incidents never existed in the first place.”
“Huh… What? There wasn’t? The incident didn’t happen?”
“Kadomi-kun, you sound like a broken Indian. Please explain, Hagasaki-kun.”
“Huh? It’s not even something that needs explaining. Should I call it ‘fake molestation’?”
Well, that’s true. There’s not much to explain, or rather, there’s no way to explain it.
‘Fake molestation.’
To begin with, molestation never happened.
It was all ‘a lie by the female students claiming to be victims.’
That’s the answer.
“Maybe the first case was real. But at the very least, six cases in a row are impossible. Besides, how could a victim know exactly that they were the ‘sixth person’ when such information wasn’t publicly known?”
Now that you mention it, that’s true.
We just thought the victims would know the information because they were involved, but… ‘normally,’ ‘each molestation case happens to a single person,’ and ‘all of them should have no connection.’
By chance, all six girls, who were somewhat close, were targeted, and they shared information internally? No, rather…
“… Were they all in on it together?”
“Can you think of any other explanation? Even if they weren’t all in on it, having six molestation cases in a row is impossible.”
Especially day after day, it’s just too much.
Maybe this suspicion will be a topic in today’s emergency staff meeting.
But, as Hagasaki-kun just said.
‘The teachers can’t solve this and shouldn’t solve it.’
As long as students claim to be victims, teachers are not allowed to doubt those claims without basis. That’s the nature of teachers, for better or worse.
So, the teachers can’t solve it and shouldn’t solve it.
“… I get the logic. I understand. But, Hagasaki-kun.”
“What?”
However, Maito said with a face that showed she wasn’t convinced.
“What’s the motive for this?”
…right.
The only limitation for this armchair detective is that part.
‘I don’t know the motive.’
But, Hagasaki-kun said without changing his expression.
“If you look at what’s happening now, you’ll understand.”
“Now?”
What’s happening now.
Is it the emergency staff meeting?
“Do you mean they wanted to mobilize the teachers?”
“That’s probably it. Or… well, anyway, there’s no chemistry club this week. We can wait until tomorrow. If there’s any news, it will be first thing in the morning, and if we report to the teachers first thing in the morning, it will be in time for the next club meeting. If a confession from the culprit is needed, well, two of the girls claiming to be victims are already identified, so we can make them confess.”
Hagasaki-kun said this and glanced at me.
… hmm.
There is a possibility that something will be decided in today’s staff meeting and that we will be notified first thing tomorrow morning.
Since Hagasaki-kun said, ‘there’s no club activity tomorrow, so we can wait until tomorrow,’ it must be a report related to club activities.
What could it be?
“… Moving up the dismissal time?”
When I answered, Hagasaki-kun nodded.
“Well, that’s probably it. There were a lot of fools who faked molestation just to move up the dismissal time because they found club activities troublesome and wanted to go home early.”
… In the end.
It was later revealed that Hagasaki-kun’s prediction was mostly correct, but there was one thing he missed.
That is.
“In that case, we should act immediately, Hagasaki-kun.”
“The sooner the resolution, the better… I think…”
It turned out that the club members were quite impatient.
“I mean, staying like this, there’s not much we can do in club activities right now anyway.”
“Yeah, but still.”
“And if things stay like this, Hibiki-sensei might be called out for patrol again.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Not just Hibiki-sensei, but making all the teachers work unnecessarily is quite rude, don’t you think, Hagasaki-kun?”
“… Yeah, well, that’s true…”
It was rare for Hagasaki-kun to be at a loss for words.
Well, what Maito said made sense.
“So, let’s go to the brass band club that’s currently practicing. If we put Suzumoto on the front lines, it should be fine.”
“Hey.”
“Let’s find Toriumi next. We need communication skills.”
“Hey, are you listening? Hey!”
“If we see Hariu, let’s bring him too. Maybe he’s in the computer room.”
“Yeah. He was there earlier.”
“Nice job, Kadomi-kun.”
“Wait a minute! What do you mean by putting me on the front lines! Hey!”
Ignoring me, Maito and Kadomi-kun were planning to put me on the front lines. When I asked them, they exchanged glances and each gave their answer.
“Handsome guys get away with anything.”
“Suzumoto, you’re skilled… you’ll manage somehow…”
Ah, I see.
I looked at Hagasaki-kun. Before he could look away, I spoke.
“Help me.”
And so, in the end.
“… You know, why don’t we have President do it? Whatever a madman does, it just falls within the madman’s range.”
“That’s true.”
“Agreed.”
Although someone else was still being sacrificed, President would likely be happy to do it, so there was no problem.
Thus, I succeeded in preserving my own peace.
I felt a little guilty, but I predicted that watching President’s turn would quickly dispel that guilt.
After explaining the situation to President in the computer room, he agreed, saying, “It can’t be helped, for the sake of reducing the teachers’ working hours and improving the quality of our classes and club activities.” Along with Toriumi and a few other chemistry club members who had been in the computer room, we followed out of curiosity.
And so, from our hiding place, we watched the meeting, or rather interrogation, between President, acting as an intermediary (essentially a buffer), Toriumi and Maito, and the girl from the brass band club claiming to be a victim and one of her close friends. A total of five people were involved in this dark negotiation.
… I won’t go into the details of the dark negotiation.
Suffice it to say that President calmly dismantled the girl’s arguments, picked apart the flaws, countered, and when she got upset, he smoothly deflected with a “whoa, whoa,” ultimately securing a certain agreement.
I understood why the girl brought a friend and an interpreter. President’s straightforward interrogation was intense, and she needed an escape route. She would have felt very isolated alone. … Though, having two people might not have made much difference.
“Is this satisfactory?”
“Yeah. Good job.”
“No, it was a valuable experience.”
After concluding the dark negotiation, we returned to the chemistry lab.
“Uh, just to confirm. The deal was, ‘We won’t tell any other students or culprits about this incident. We’ll inform the teachers ourselves and request leniency. If the teachers ask about the incident, we’ll answer honestly,’ right?”
“That’s what we decided.”
To solve this case, it was necessary for the story of the incident to be told ‘from the students’ side’ and also to provide ‘proof that the report was not false.’
In other words, at some point, the culprits would need to confess. If the culprits unanimously denied it at that time, a clear resolution would be impossible, and the case would become a mystery.
Therefore, it was necessary to get the culprits to confess, but directly telling them to confess was a high hurdle.
So, we decided that we would report to the teachers, and the culprits would only have to confirm it.
The culprits faked the molestation because they found club activities troublesome. If other club members found out, it would be inconvenient for them. We used that as leverage for our negotiation, or rather, our deal.
Of course, President, who stood at the forefront, would bear some resentment from various quarters, but as he said, “Even if they resent me, there’s nothing they can do about it. I’m just a guy with no connection to them. They can’t ostracize me from a community I’m not part of. So it’s harmless. Don’t worry.” Strong words.
“So, who will report to the teachers?”
Thus, although our slight discomfort was completely shattered by President, there was still the slightly troublesome task left.
We couldn’t avoid reporting to the teachers.
But reporting it would be troublesome. There’s no doubt about that. Not only the various explanations but also the follow-up confirmation work, and the request for leniency for the culprits, which was part of our deal, would be extremely bothersome.
“Well, I’m probably the most suitable person for the job.”
Here, President, with his steely resolve, stepped up, deciding the first sacrifice. Thankful for that.
“Well, President can be one. We’ll need one more, or maybe two.”
“Oh, I’ll go too. I was the one who pressed for the resolution of the case.”
Maito, looking slightly apologetic, raised her hand. Good, the second sacrifice.
So, we needed one more.
… And then, all eyes turned to me.
“… Wait. Why are you all looking at me?”
“Hmm? I just thought you’d be suitable. Is that a problem?”
“Yeah… I think Suzumoto is fine.”
I glanced at Hagasaki-kun. But he just gave me a half-smile and clapped, saying, “Congratulations, Suzumoto.”
… Damn it, I guess I drew the short straw again!
+Today’s Record+
We exposed the fake molestation.
I feel a bit sorry for the girls, but it’s their own fault. They should give up.
For the record, President, Maito, and I, who reported to the teachers, might have to leave club activities for further explanations, so keep that in mind.
*Additional Note*
It seems the girls thought, ‘Even if it was discovered, we wouldn’t be reported. The teachers can’t doubt us.’ They also complained, ‘We never thought there would be a student who would report us.’
Regarding this, Hagasaki-kun commented, ‘It’s not always a moonlit night on the road.’
Hearing this from Hagasaki-kun, the biggest ‘assassin’ this time, carries weight.
*Second Additional Note*
President has started using ‘Don’t always think it’s a moonlit night on the road’ as a threat. Someone please stop him. I’m not getting involved.