C36

Chapter 36: Connected Facts

By the time they left the agency, the light rain that had been falling since morning was gradually intensifying its pace.

Fine raindrops fell continuously onto the wet asphalt. Stepping even a single step outside from the eaves, the sound of rain striking umbrellas reached the ears much more clearly than before.

Misaki asked a junior manager to drive Kokona back to her home.

After seeing the two off, Misaki headed to the car alongside Sudou. Slipping into the passenger seat, Sudou took his place in the driver's seat as well.

The engine started, and the car pulled away quietly.

The sound of rain beating against the windshield echoed continuously inside the car. Every time the tires trod upon the wet road surface, the splashing sound of water overlapped, and the city's scenery blurred into the rain.

There was no conversation inside the car.

Misaki kept her gaze directed toward the outside of the window, while Sudou gripped the steering wheel with his eyes fixed ahead.

The rain, which had been fine when they started driving, gradually increased in force as they progressed. The raindrops streaming across the windshield multiplied, and the wipers restlessly swept back and forth left and right.

Beyond that, a cityscape veiled in rain vaguely surfaced and vanished.

Before long, the school's building came into view through the rain.

On a Sunday, the school grounds possessed almost no human presence, and lacked the voices of students that would normally be heard.

Only the sound of rain enveloped the quiet school building, drifting an atmosphere quite different from an ordinary school day.

When they parked the car, the two opened their umbrellas. Entering the rain-drenched school building, they reported their arrival at reception, and before long an attendant showed their face. Continuing down the quiet corridor just like that, they halted their steps in front of a single door. The attendant opened the door.

Beyond it lay the reception room.

◇

Three men were waiting inside the reception room, standing up in unison as the door opened.

"Thank you very much for making time for us today despite our sudden request."

Sudou bowed deeply.

"Not at all. Thank you very much for coming out of your way."

The older man in the center responded quietly.

"Please, have a seat."

"Pardon the intrusion."

As Sudou took his seat, Misaki sat down right beside him, directing her gaze quietly toward the counterparts lined up opposite them.

"Once again, my name is Sudou, and I serve as a department manager at the modeling agency Labelle."

Following that, he shifted his gaze to Misaki sitting beside him.

"This is Uehara, who manages Kokona Suzumura, a model affiliated with our company."

"I'm Uehara. Thank you for your time today."

The two bowed their heads.

The man in the center straightened his posture a step.

"I'm Tajima, the vice principal. Thank you for your time today."

Following that, the male teacher next to him introduced himself.

"I'm Nishikawa, serving as the second-year grade head."

"I'm Yamaoka, serving as Suzumura-san's homeroom teacher for Year 2, Class A."

The three bowed their heads in turn.

When everyone took their seats, a quiet silence fell over the reception room. Outside the window, the rain continued to fall, and enveloped in that sound, Sudou steadied his breath just once before directing his gaze across the table.

"As I mentioned over the phone earlier, we have come today regarding the matter involving Kokona Suzumura, who is affiliated with our agency."

The expressions of the three tightened slightly.

"A video concerning this incident has been sent to the agency."

Misaki took a laptop out of her bag at her feet and placed it on top of the table.

"First, we want the school side to verify this video as well."

Sudou cut his words off there.

"On top of that, we hope to speak with the school side regarding our response moving forward."

The vice principal nodded quietly.

"Understood."

Sudou gave a small nod in return.

"Then, would it be alright for you to check the video?"

"We will check it."

The vice principal replied.

When Sudou operated the screen, the video began to play, and its audio quietly began to flow through the conference room.

After a short while, Yamaoka's expression changed.

A frown formed between his brows, and his gaze directed toward the screen grew increasingly stern.

The vice principal and grade head sitting beside him directed their gazes toward the screen in silence as well.

As the video progressed, the color slowly drained from Yamaoka's face.

Before long, Yamaoka drew in a small gasp.

The classroom reflected on the screen, the students within it, and the person standing at the center of it all.

Yamaoka didn't avert his gaze.

Naturally, the voices heard from within the video were... voices he recognized.

Yet, rather than verifying that, Yamaoka continued to watch the screen in silence.

Obvious agitation floated across his expression.

The grade head stared at the screen as if confirming something, then quietly let out a breath.

The vice principal's expression was also clearly different from moments before.

The video ended.

When the final audio cut off, silence returned once more to the conference room.

No one opened their mouths immediately.

Staring fixedly at the screen, Yamaoka overlapped the story he had heard yesterday from Tachibana's parents.

A fake confession.

Multiple students.

And an event that occurred in the presence of numerous classmates.

Those things connected into a single line with the footage he had just seen.

"......From where was this video sent, might I ask?"

The vice principal finally opened his mouth.

Sudou shook his head quietly.

"We grasp the destination it was sent from. However, at the present stage, we haven't been able to identify who sent it."

Pausing once there.

"However, we do grasp who filmed it."

The vice principal looked at Sudou.

"You know?"

"Yes. We heard it directly from Suzumura herself."

Sudou answered flatly.

"The person who filmed it is a student named Meiko Kano."

The moment he heard that name, Yamaoka's expression tightened slightly, and the hand clenched tightly in his lap trembled faintly.

Misaki dropped her gaze to the memo at hand.

"Regarding the students involved in this incident, we heard about it directly from Suzumura herself."

Saying that, Misaki placed the memo on top of the table.

"We have summarized it here."

When the vice principal picked up the memo, the grade head and Yamaoka also turned their eyes to its contents. While the three scanned the paper, Misaki waited in silence.

Eventually, the vice principal finished confirming the names recorded on the memo to the very end, and opened his mouth after a brief pause.

"Thank you. We will verify this on our end."

"Please do."

Misaki nodded quietly.

Seeing the state of the three, Sudou slowly opened his mouth.

"Now then, please allow me to speak a little regarding the future."

The gazes of the three gathered on Sudou.

"First of all, as an agency, we are not taking this matter lightly."

Sudou's voice was calm.

"Regarding our response toward Suzumura herself, the agency needs to judge it anew."

Pausing once there.

"However, aside from that, there is one more thing we must consider."

Sudou directed his gaze toward the device placed on top of the table.

"This video."

A short silence fell over the conference room.

"For now, we do not know how far out into the open it has spread."

The vice principal nodded quietly.

"However, given that it has already been sent to the agency, it is certain that it exists externally."

"......Indeed."

"If this were to spread across SNS or the like, the story would change."

Sudou directed his gaze toward the vice principal.

"It might not end contained as an issue between students that occurred within the school."

The vice principal didn't answer right away, dropping his gaze once as if absorbing Sudou's words.

"The impact on the victimized student could grow even greater."

The vice principal let out a small breath and quietly opened his mouth.

"Regarding that point, naturally, the impact on the victimized student must be considered above all else. We wish to avoid at all costs a situation where the spread of the video causes further pain to the individual or makes it difficult for them to return to school."

Answering thus, the vice principal directed his gaze straight at Sudou.

"Moreover, if the video spreads externally, the school as well will not be able to get by merely verifying the facts and responding to the involved students. Explanations to parents will also become necessary, and depending on the state of the spread, the school will have to judge anew to what extent it must respond."

Upon finishing listening to the vice principal's words, Sudou nodded slightly.

After a brief pause, he opened his mouth quietly.

"As an agency, we too must first confirm the facts, explain to related parties, and judge regarding Suzumura's future activities. Depending on the content, we will likely have to coordinate with the other parties regarding jobs already decided as well."

Sudou cast his gaze once toward the screen where the video had stopped.

"Furthermore, as an agency managing affiliated models, we will be questioned on how we responded regarding this incident."

Sudou cut his words off once.

And, directing his gaze to ascertain the vice principal's reaction:

"That is precisely why there is something I want to confirm before it spreads: whether the student who filmed it has already sent the video to a third party other than our company."

The vice principal's expression tightened slightly.

"If they have sent it, we on our end need to respond urgently as well."

The vice principal nodded once and immediately returned his gaze to Sudou.

"Understood. We will check it urgently."

Sudou nodded once and quietly returned his gaze to the vice principal.

"Regarding the fact that Suzumura was involved in this incident, the agency takes it heavily as well."

Continuing in his calm voice:

"However, regarding the act of filming this video and sending it to the agency, we consider it a separate issue from that."

A brief silence fell.

"As an agency, depending on the circumstances, we are considering examining legal measures as well."

The vice principal nodded quietly.

"Understood."

Ending with those words, a short silence fell over the conference room.

In this incident, they had to avoid at all costs increasing the burden on the victimized student any further.

If the video spread across SNS and the like, their own appearance and the events of that day would repeatedly encounter people's eyes without their knowledge.

Considering the situation where they already couldn't come to school, that impact was by no means small.

As the school side as well, it was necessary to protect an environment where the victimized student could return to school life with even a shred of peace of mind without getting hurt any further.

At the same time, if the video spread widely, external eyes would be turned toward the school itself.

Why did something like this happen? Did the school grasp it?—Such voices would necessitate the school explaining the factual relations and responses.

And the school wasn't the sole party affected.

For the agency as well, if the video spread, it wouldn't end as a matter concerning Suzumura alone.

In addition to responding to affiliated models' activities and work-related parties, they would be questioned on how they handled it as an agency.

Precisely because nothing had happened yet, they would confirm what could be confirmed right now and proceed with necessary responses.

School and agency—though their positions differed, right now they had to move to fulfill their respective responsibilities.

When the discussion settled down, Sudou glanced once toward Misaki.

Misaki nodded and took a USB flash drive out of her bag.

"The video from earlier is saved here. We've made it so it can be verified at the school as well."

"Thank you. We will take custody of it."

The vice principal accepted the USB flash drive.

"Then, thank you for your time today."

When Sudou stood up, Misaki followed and stood from her seat as well.

"Thank you as well."

The vice principal stood up, followed by Nishikawa and Yamaoka.

"We'll see you out to the entrance."

When Nishikawa said that, the three followed behind Sudou and Misaki out of the reception room.

Walking down the corridor, they headed toward the entrance.

Reaching the entryway before long, Sudou turned back once.

"Thank you for making time for us today."

"Likewise. We will contact you from the school as well once verification is completed."

The vice principal replied.

"We appreciate it."

Sudou and Misaki bowed their heads once more and left the school just like that.

The three watched those backs go for a while, but eventually returned to the depths of the school building.

◇

When the three returned to the reception room again and the door closed, the outside atmosphere receded.

Taking his seat, Yamaoka slowly leaned his body back against the backrest. Crossing his arms, fixing his gaze on a single point, he said nothing for a while.

The story he heard yesterday from Tachibana's parents.

The footage he actually verified today.

To quietly organize those two things inside his head, Yamaoka remained silent for a while.

Eventually, Yamaoka uncrossed his arms. After remaining silent for a little longer, he quietly opened his mouth.

"The story I heard from Tachibana's parents yesterday and today's video have connected into a single line."

Hearing those words, Nishikawa spoke quietly.

"......Now that this much is clear, we first need to verify the facts from the students involved, don't we?"

The vice principal nodded and opened his mouth as if taking up those words.

"Yes. First, let's contact the household of the student who filmed the video within today. We've heard from the agency that that student filmed it. We also need to check who they sent it to and how far they shared it."

"I'll contact them."

Yamaoka replied.

"Please do."

The vice principal nodded.

"Tomorrow, let's have the entire class fill out a questionnaire. Let's have them write down one by one what they actually saw or heard regarding what happened in the classroom on that day."

Nishikawa nodded quietly.

"Understood."

"Not just who did what, but also what the students present in that room saw and heard—we will verify that as well. The same goes for what each individual student was doing in that room at the time."

Yamaoka nodded as well.

"So we're cross-referencing those contents with the information and video contents provided by the agency."

The vice principal nodded and continued his words straight away.

"Yes. First, let's grasp the situation of that day as accurately as possible. Also, regarding Tachibana-kun, we just heard from his parents yesterday. By watching today's video, we were able to confirm that those contents were fact."

Yamaoka listened quietly to the vice principal's words.

"As a school, let's think carefully about our response toward Tachibana-kun himself, too. Do not forcefully encourage him to attend school, and coordinate with his household."

"Understood."

Yamaoka nodded.

"We do not intend to end this matter solely as a problem between students."

The vice principal's voice was quiet.

"As a school, we will verify what needs to be verified and take necessary responses. On top of that, let's make sure we can properly explain it to parents as well."

A short silence fell among the three.

Rather than unilaterally blaming someone, confirming what happened one step at a time.

That was the kind of response demanded of the school right now.

Thank you for surpassing 3 million total PV!

In this recent author's note, I've written a short behind-the-scenes piece about the writing process.

I'm introducing "chapters that were difficult to write" and "chapters that were fun to write" in a ranking format.

Please feel free to take a look if you'd like!