After Tadashi left I felt that I should have the responsibility of helping everyone. I had always wanted to help people. To see a smile on people's faces meant everything to me.
I got up from the floor and dusted my clothes. I tried to look around after my eyes had adjusted to the darkness and if I could see even a little bit more than before then I might be able to help everyone.
"Kishimoto-kun!" I called out. There wasn't an immediate answer but I waited, hoping that he would make some sort of sound.
I then saw a silhouette by the door. The person was definitely a male because of his height and his hairstyle and physique seemed to closely resemble Kishimoto's.
"Can you see, Nakamoto-san?" Kishimoto asked me.
"I can see a bit. How about you?"
"It's clear as day for me." Kishimoto replied.
It seems that Kishimoto can also see clearly in the dark which means our group might have an advantage however Tomiko, Yoshio and Yu-kun can all see clearly in the dark however Tadashi-kun might be able to help us in this exam. I'm sure he is capable of other things and I am also sure that I don't know probably half of the things he can do. That also applies to other members of the group such as Ikeda-san, Kaori-chan and Kishimoto-kun.
"Wait, how did you get there, Kishimoto-kun?" I asked.
I had suddenly remembered that I never saw Kishimoto leave the room and if he left the room when the lights were out then I would've definitely heard his footsteps.
"Ishigami-san told me to get Tadashi-kun back because we were going to start a game or something like that." Kishimoto replied.
It wasn't a bad alibi but all it had done was increase my suspicion of Kishimoto. I was always suspicious of Kishimoto from the start of the Spy Exam because anytime I was discussing something private with Tadashi he was always there and even if I couldn't see him I could certainly sense his presence.
"Kishimoto-kun," I called, "Could you help me bring everyone outside?"
"Sure." Kishimoto replied without any hesitation.
* * * * * *
We both began to guide the others outside and now that we were outside we could see better here than inside the karaoke building.
We began to all walk towards the Great Hall. As we walked I noticed someone looking at me but I couldn't pinpoint their location. I stayed wary of the person and tried my best to not raise suspicion and also try to look for the person but I couldn't.
"Guys!" Kaori yelled. "Come here!"
Kaori was crouched down looking at something on the ground. We all gathered around and saw it.
"Blood…" Kawahara muttered.
"What does this mean?" Nakamoto muttered to herself.
I also tried to think of what could've happened. The most logical reason for the blood would be that a fight broke out but who could fight in this darkness? Could it be him?
It could be Tadashi however there wasn't enough evidence. There is also a reason for the fight to think about. If it was Tadashi then he wouldn't just fight for any small reason unless it would benefit him in some way.
Was there another person?
I looked around the "crime scene" and I then found footprints. I didn't announce to the group my findings because it was best to keep them to myself.
The footprint closely resembled someone I knew. Their foot size wasn't large in fact it was small even for a girl which meant that the person was small and a female. A person I know who's small and a female? There are two candidates for that, Yatogami and Harumi which could only mean that either of those two was here.
I continued to analyse the footprints from afar so that no one else would find them suspicious. I had memorised the layout of the soles of everyone's shoes in the Archimedes Group.
It was Harumi. Harumi was here.
Harumi, Tadashi…and another person?
It wasn't possible that Harumi and Tadashi fought because Tadashi wouldn't make Harumi bleed like that because he's good friends with both Harumi and her brother.
Was there any other evidence?
I visualised the scene in my head. The whole fight. I could see subtle footprints which were different to the ones I found before. These were only parts of the shoe and there were two different ones.
The first footprint was from one of Tadashi's shoes and the other was one I didn't know. It didn't seem to be of any type of brand and it didn't seem to be sold in this school which means that the third person was not from this school.
So, Tadashi, Harumi and a person who wasn't from this school.
The faint marks of the shoes allowed me to visualise the scene more clearly and now I had a rough idea of what happened.
He knew that person? That could be right.
"Kishimoto-kun, do you have any ideas?" I turned to my left to see Nakamoto.
"A fight broke out, that's all I could think of."
* * * * * *
A fight broke out? That's all he could think of? Why is he lying in front of me?
I knew that no matter how Kishimoto tried to hide his true intellect it wasn't enough. A person cannot hide their true nature. Kishimoto could have already found something out that even I couldn't find out.
I had already figured out that there were four people here and one of them wasn't from this school from the marks of the footprints. One of the four was someone I didn't know but someone one of the other three did. Tadashi was one of the four and the blood was not the result of Tadashi fighting.
Person One is Tadashi, Person Two is someone not from this school, Person Three could be Yatogami and Person Four is someone Person One and Three knows.
"I thought so as well, Kishimoto-kun." I said. "Do you think Tadashi had something to do with this?"
Kishimoto's eyes widened as he looked at me.
"You think so as well?" Kishimoto asked me.
"Well he was the only one we know who came from this direction."
"I'm sure you've worked out more than that, Nakamoto-san." Kishimoto said as he glared at me.
Has he already worked that out?
"I'm sure you've worked out something as well, Kishimoto-san." We both looked at each other and we both realised something. We couldn't beat each other. "Let's just work together." I suggested.
"Agreed." Kishimoto said without any hesitation. "So what do you think?"
"What do I think?" I thought for a moment before replying. "You've realised that there are three different shoeprints meaning there were three people however if you look carefully you can see a faint fourth shoeprint."
"So there were four people? I overlooked that fourth shoeprint." Kishimoto said. "Person One and Two fought each other while Person Three and Four watched."
"Did you work out who they were?" I asked.
"Person One wore a shoe that Tadashi owns but it doesn't confirm that it was him however, Person Three intervened in the fight at least once and he was also wearing a shoe that Tadashi owns—"
"And judging by Tadashi's personality he was Person Three." I had finished Kishimoto's sentence.
"Yes, so who do you think Person Two and Four is?"
"Well, Person Two isn't someone from this school and Person Four is someone Person One and Three know."
"How do you know it's no one from this school?" Kishimoto asked. I looked at him and smiled.
"Their foot size is far too big."
"Person Four is Ikeda Harumi and not Yatogami Yumi."
I stared at Kishimoto. He had read my thoughts and acted as if it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
No….did he find out?
"I know something is going on between you two but I won't ask."
"I'm sorry if I underestimated you, Kishimoto-san."
"Person One is Ikeda Shuichi."
It made sense. Kishimoto had worked it out…no…we both had worked it out.
Tadashi did go to the hospital with Ikeda when her brother woke up from his coma which means that Ikeda Shuichi is Person One and Ikeda Harumi is Person Four. It also helps that both Tadashi and Ikeda don't socialise as much.
The pieces fit.
Is Ikeda Shuichi truly capable of such strength though?
I had never investigated the Ikeda family before so I didn't know who they were but it seems that I was wrong to not have investigated them.
"You're pretty smart, Kishimoto-kun." I smiled as I praised Kishimoto. Kishimoto looked at me and then smiled.
"You're smart as well Nakamoto-san."
* * * * * *
I watched Akito and Ryoko-chan discuss what could have happened here but I knew what had happened. I didn't need to figure it out when I was the cause of it.
Ochiyama Kazuo, Tsukamoto Tadashi, Ikeda Shuichi and Ikeda Harumi—the four people who were here.
My goal was to destroy Ikeda Harumi however now Tsukamoto Tadashi has meddled with my plans so I should destroy him as well but the question still remains.
Could I truly destroy him?
A man with not much known about him but that is what ordinary people might think. I am not ordinary. Although I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth I was still blessed with a plethora of intellect. Intellect fit for a person like me. No one could stand in my way because of it.
They must be in the Third Phase now.
A small smile crept on my face as my goal was within arm's reach.
I can use Kishimoto Akito and Nakamoto Ryoko in my plans as well. Those two seem to be intelligent and useful. If I can get Akito and Harumi into a closer relationship or even better if they started dating then I could use Akito and destroy Harumi.
After all emotional pain is much worse than physical pain.
"Kaori-chan, what do you think happened?" I looked to my right to see Ryoko-chan smiling at me as she asked.
"It's obvious a fight broke out or maybe someone tripped in this dark and now they are bleeding somewhere."
"That could've happened." Akito spoke. Akito suddenly appeared on my left. "That would also mean that that person is struggling so they shouldn't be far from us."
"If that's the case then we should try to find them!"
That optimistic ideology won't get you anywhere in life, Ryoko-san.
* * * * * *
I looked around to find that only three people have worked out what had happened. Everyone just stared at the blood in horror and didn't even think of a logical way of how it happened.
I'm surrounded by idiots.
"Did you work it out yet, Ishigami-san?" I didn't need to see the person to know who it was. That soft calming voice only came from one person.
"You know I already have, Yonamine-san." I replied. Some people may portray me as a cold-hearted person and because of that most people stayed away from me other than Yonamine.
"Sooo…what happened?"
"Ask those three?" Yonamine knew exactly who I was referring to. "Why can't you tell me?!" She cried.
"You would get a lot more information from them than me." I explained. "Those three are a lot smarter than me so it only makes sense to go to them."
"Why won't you tell me?" She cried again and now it was even more annoying. "Please tell me!"
I sighed out of frustration. I always hated it when people begged me for anything and I hated being the centre of attention which is why I purposely got a lower score on the entrance exam but after the first semester they put me in Class A however I haven't gotten much attention because of Tsukamoto and that is the only reason why I am taking this school a little more seriously because I have Tsukamoto to hide behind.
"A fight broke out, Yonamine-san." Yonamine looked more serious now.
"Who could fight in this darkness?"
"Remember the student who was going to fight my brother?"
"Tsukamoto-san?"
"Yeah, he's probably the only one I know apart from my brother who could fight in this dark."
Although I had lied to Yonamine she still believed me. I knew Tsukamoto wasn't the one who fought the other person but he was still here and when a lie is mixed with the truth it is more believable.
"So he's on your brother's level?" Yonamine asked.
"As far as I know he could be or probably beyond his level."
Tsukamoto Tadashi is an extremely mysterious student with not much known about him.
* * * * * *
"Guys!" Nakamoto called everyone and everyone came to her. Like a shepherd calling their sheep, they all rushed towards her. "There might be someone here so let's try to find them!"
Let's see if he left any clues for me.
I started to look around the area to see if there truly was a person. It was likely that after Ikeda Shuichi fought Person Two he had disposed of him somewhere but that would be too stupid unless they had killed Person Two.
As I search around the area I came across a rather suspicious dumpster. The dumpster sat next to one of the buildings however it attracted my attention.
As I grew closer to the dumpster I could almost hear low growls coming from it. The sounds did scare me a little bit but I didn't believe in the supernatural so it must've been something my brain has generated as my surroundings were too quiet.
That is what I initially thought but as I grew closer and closer to the dumpster I quickly realised that something was inside it. I watched as the dumpster shook slightly.
Suddenly, I saw something emerge from it. I saw a silhouette slowly emerge from the dumpster. I blinked a few times to see if I was hallucinating or not.
Oh shit!