Classroom of the Elite: Legacy

V.2-Ch.4.2

Misaki

Advanced Nurturing High School; Hallways

After going separate ways with Furukawa, I eventually found Ogawa, who was standing alone in the hallway nervously holding her camera.

"Ogawa-san," I called out to her.

"Eek!" Ogawa was startled again. "H-H-Horikita-san..."

"Please, calm yourself. I'm not here to do anything to harm you," I said, reassuring her.

Ogawa stared at me in the eyes and slowly nodded, then she took a deep breath and calmed down. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run away from you guys. I..."

I shook my head. "I understand. You were scared, and there's no one blaming you for that. After all, Furukawa-kun and I came up to you without informing you beforehand. I sincerely apologize."

"N-No, you don't have to apologize, Horikita-san! I...I'm just often scared of talking to people..."

"I see." I thought about the time where all of us were studying for the midterm exam. Ogawa, who was a part of my study group, seemed to be quite comfortable with us. She didn't talk much, but she wasn't bothered nor nervous at all. I suppose now it was different.

"Do...you still want to know...? About the fight...?" she nervously asked.

I nodded, then stood next to her. "If you're willing to."

She nodded, then she looked down at her camera. "...It was in the afternoon. I was taking pictures with my camera-pictures of the school, pictures of the scenery, and even pictures of a few students who were doing their club activities. Because I take so many, I kind of call myself a photographer." She frowned. "But...as I was taking photos, I happened to notice Tsukamoto arguing with three students from Class C. That's when I hid away from them and watched them from afar."

"So you saw everything then? From start to end?" Ogawa nodded.

"I'm sorry, Horikita-san... I just watched and did nothing," she apologized.

I shook my head. "No, it was the right decision. If you got involved, it might've gotten worse. You couldn't have done much."

"I-I suppose you're right..." Ogawa frowned even more.

"Ogawa-san, can you continue?" I asked.

She nervously nodded. "As I watched them, I was...so scared. Even though I wasn't a part of it, just watching them fight each other...punching and hitting each other...it terrifies me. My heart was beating so fast, and my body was shaking..." Ogawa gently touched her camera. "I was so scared that I...I took a picture of it..."

My face lit up after she said that. "You took a picture?" I repeated, and she nodded. "How many?"

"...Maybe four or five photos." Back when Tsukamoto explained his side of the story, he had mentioned something about how he heard some clicking noise. And now after hearing this from Ogawa, there was no doubt about it.

"Four or five photos of the fight..." I muttered to myself. "And that was all?"

Ogawa nodded. "T-That's all. I-I'm sorry...Horikita-san..."

"You don't need to apologize. Thank you, Ogawa-san, for talking with me today. Because of you, we learned something important. But it won't be useful during the meeting if it comes out of my mouth. So I must ask: will you speak during the deliberation meeting as a witness?"

"Eh? M-Me?" I nodded. "I...I can't!" she said, shaking her head. "I-I'm not brave enough to go up there...in front of so many people. If I talk....I feel like they may look down on me..."

"You're right about that," I agreed with her. "If you stood up as a witness and spoke, they may immediately look at you with suspicion. After all, you didn't speak up before, and you're a student from Class D. But even so, I want you to come. It's better with you there than without you."

"Really...?" I nodded, then she took a deep breath. "A-Alright...I-I'll try..."

"Thank you, Ogawa-san. Truly." With that, I said goodbye and left.