"Hello, Ayanokouji-Kun, Horikita-San. I didn't expect to see you two here" After seeing us in the hallway Ichinose greets us.
"Ah, Good evening Ichinose," I said.
"What are you two doing here?" Ichinose asked.
"Nothing," I want to answer honestly but Horikita spoke up before I could utter a word.
"For no reason?" Ichinose said.
"What about you? Why are you looking for Sakura-San? She's from our class. What do you need from her? Horikita asked as she interrogating her.
"There's no need for you to be on guard. Sakura-San and I are very good friends. We often meet at this place in the evening. When I heard noises in the hallway I thought it's her. But it looks like she didn't come here today," Ichinose said.
That's a surprise. I never expect Ichinose to be friends with Sakura. Even Kushida failed to become friends with her.
After that, I explained everything to Ichinose much to Horikita discomfort. She was sending me intense glares the whole time as I was explaining the situation to Ichinose.
"So this the situation. And now you looking for a witness to prove Ayanokouji-Kun's innocence. If that's a case then I want to help you" said Ichinose.
"What. Class B leaders want to help Class D. Aren't we supposed to compete with each other. There is nothing for you to gain from this. How we can be sure that you not going to backstab us." Horikita argues. I knew she was against the idea of working with others especially with someone from another class. But in the current situation, Class D need every help they can get. We don't have the luxury to be picky.
"I know as long as we are in this school there, competing is inevitable. But we are all students of this school. So we should help each other while we can. I am sure there is no rule against helping each other." Ichinose said.
I can't tell if this is Ichinose genuinely feelings or she faking it. I was already fooled by Kushida once. I look at Horikita, she still as her guard up against Ichinose. If Horikita didn't take initiative then I have to.
"Are you sure that's the only reason you want to help us?" I asked Ichinose. She didn't replay, just smiled. I immediately understand what that smile means.
"Okay, If that's the case then I gladly accept your help, Ichinose," I said.
Just as Ichinose and I were about to shake hands, Horikita stop me and grab my hand.
"One second," She said to Ichinose and drag me away from Ichinose.
"What are you thinking? Forging an alliance with Class B. How can you be so sure that they will not betray us" Horikita asked clearly pissed.
"Because betraying us will do no good to them," I said.
"How," asked Horikita.
"If they betray us they will be helping Class C win and if Class C win against us their influence on other students will also increase, which can be a threat to Class B. That's why they want to help us. Even if we win against Class C, we will be no threat to them," I explain everything to Horikita. She seems to be in deep thoughts. After some time she sighs. It looks like she finally made a decision.
"Okay, I approved of this alliance," Horikita said. Then we meet up with Ichinose and accepted her proposal.
"But there is one thing I want to makes sure, Ichinose-San," said Horikita with a serious tone. I and Ichinose both look at Horikita with confusion as she faces Ichinose.
"At any point, we see that this alliance is becoming a burden to us, We will break this alliance. I hope you understand, Ichinose-San," Horikita said. A fair statement. Alliances are made for both parties to be profitable. If any one party failed to do that then there is no meaning to that alliance.
"That's alright, I understand," said Ichinose as she and Horikita shake hands. With that Class B and D, the alliance is formed.
"So where do we start," Ichinose asked.
"Why were you looking for Sakura at this particular place," Horikita asked Ichinose.
"This is the place Sakura-chan usually hang out. She likes photography but she isn't good with the crowd, because there aren't very people here, so she usually takes a lot of photos around this place, so I thought Sakura would be here," Ichinose answers.
As Ichinose told us her reason to be here, Horikita look at me. I nodded my head as confirmation that I was thinking the same thing as her. If Sakura like taking photos then it is possible that she could take a photo of the conflict. That would also explain why Sakura was standing in front of my room door. After seeing our expression Ichinose propose that we should go to Sakura and ask her directly and we agreed to it.
"How did you become friends with Sakura, Ichinose?" As we going towards the girl's dorms, I asked curiously. From my observation, Sakura is a very shy girl. She never opens up to anyone in the class. So I was curious about how they become friends.
"She helps me turn down the confession. I was asked out by a girl from my class. I was wandering around this area thinking of a way to turn her down nicely. At first, I thought of introducing a fake boyfriend to her. That was then I bump into Sakura-chan and she told me that I should face her honestly because confession one's love takes a lot of courage and I should respect that," Ichinose said.
I would say the same thing if someone asks me about it. I may didn't know the feeling of love but I know it takes courage to tell someone you're feeling doesn't matter if it's love or something else. Sakura may be quiet and shy but she has a good head above her shoulder.
Ichinose sudden stop brake my train of thoughts. I almost bump into her.
"This is Sakura-chan's room," Ichinose said and point towards the door in front of her. She knocks on the door several times but there is no answer from inside the room.
"That's odd. Sakura-chan didn't stay outside this late," Ichinose said. I look towards the sky. The sun was almost set. In few hours the night curfew will start. Then Ichinose tries calling Sakura but to no avail. Sakura wasn't answering her phone.
"Should we go look for her?" Ichinose said. The concern of her friend is visible on Ichinose's face. From the looks of it, her and Sakura's friendship is genuine.
"There is no way we three could locate a single person in this school," Horikita said. She right. The School area is too large for three of us to cover, finding a person in this school would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Then Suddenly I remember something which occurred in the morning at school.
Flashback
I was sitting in my seat. The class atmosphere was lively as usual. The lunch just began. I towards Sakura, she was packing her stuff. That's unusual. As far as I know, she always eats her lunch in the classroom. After tomorrow encounter with Sakura, I decided to keep an eye on her, to know why she tries to approach me.
"Tch, all the boys are the same and here I thought you're somewhat decent," Horikita said in disgust. She caught me starring at Sakura.
"This is not what you thinking," I said try to clear the misunderstanding before I was labelled as a pervert.
"I don't care," Horikita said as she cut off our conversation. I sigh. In a meantime, Sakura finished packing. She had a camera in her hand. She got up from her seat and was about to leave the classroom Ike bump is into her which caused the camera to fall on the ground. Seen her camera on the ground which probably broke from the impact Sakura panicked. She quickly picks up the camera and tries to turn it on.
"Oh, sorry about that," Ike apologised.
"No, I wasn't paying attention," She said and run out of the classroom. The camera must be important to her to be panicked like that.
Flashback End
We should start by looking at the electronics shop on the campus," I said.
"Ok sure," Ichinose said. I and Horikita were both taken aback. She agreed to my plan without any explanation.
"We allied so it's only natural that I trust you," Ichinose said with a smile.
"But there is so many electronics shop in this campus, where do we start?" Horikita said. She and Ichinose both looked at me.
"We should start with the less crowded shop," I said.
"I know a shop like. Due to been farthest from the dorms, it always has few people," Ichinose said.
We all agreed to start searching for Sakura from there.
To be continued