Stealing Spree

"Miss Eguchi, how are you going to conduct this… investigation?" Sounding a little unsure how to tackle the situation at hand, the principal of this school, a stout old man that was possibly in his late 50's, had his forehead currently lined with sweat as he stood before us.

We're already in his office and Eguchi-sensei had just finished explaining the reason for our visit to this school. From what I observed since we arrived, he's got taken in for a surprise. Hence, his rather suspicious reaction.

However, instead of picking up that he's hiding something, I could somehow attribute that to his fear of Hayashi-sensei. She's the owner. She could decide whether to allow him to continue in his position.

And so, the notion that someone might intentionally hide from her was a little too over the top. Nonetheless, the possibility still exists.

I guess Hayashi-sensei was just trying to be very careful after Nobuo's incident. I cannot fault her for that.

"Principal, I never said anything about investigating. I'm here to assist you in doing an inspection at this school. There's no need to make it bigger than it seems." Eguchi-sensei replied in a calm yet stiff tone, making the principal involuntarily gulp down as an unconscious reaction.

Little did he know that she was just a little tense in front of him hence her voice became like that. Not counting how comfortable she is with me, even if there was already progress in her discomfort with interacting with the opposite gender, she could only act like this in front of them.

Eguchi-sensei already told me about it. When it comes to fellow adults or colleagues in the same field, she's capable of separating her issue from them. She could hold a conversation with the male teachers but only very minimally. Even if they invited her for a drink, she would always decline if it's not all women.

Anyway, what she said was the truth. That's just really her task. Or at least, it is on the surface. She's going to monitor this principal's act during the inspection and if she finds something suspicious, she's either going to call him out to bring it to light or report it to Hayashi-sensei when we return. The discretion on what to do exactly is entirely in her hands.

"Y-you're right. Give me a minute to prepare." The principal fumbled his words and the sweat that accumulated on his forehead started to run down his face. He got caught in quite a pickle of his own mind there.

In my mind, I couldn't help but shake my head at how he acted. I checked on Eguchi-sensei's reaction to it but she remained the same, serious and focused on the task she's set out to do.

She would sometimes glance at me though. Perhaps, to make sure that I remained close to her or that I was treated as her emotional and mental support.

Whenever that happened, I would smile at her, albeit stealthily.

As for the reason, the teacher who guided us also remained in the room. She's standing at the side, watching this very proceeding.

While she was also listening attentively to Eguchi-sensei and the principal, I would sometimes catch her staring at me.

Whether that was a conscious act or not, I felt like she was also trying to observe my act here.

I mean, she already questioned my existence earlier. She may be projecting her own situation onto us. But that's all speculation.

I said she was a suspect but that didn't mean that it was already proven. Based on the information included within that file which actually only centered around the two students, she's only one of the two teachers linked to one of those students.

Apparently, she's very close to that one particular student. Close enough to visit him at his house whenever he would call in sick. And someone – maybe Hayashi-sensei's informant – picked it up as something she seldom did to her other students.

Only to that guy.

Well, I also couldn't discount the fact that the said student was tagged as 'sickly' who already got hospitalized a few times. He's already in his third year and was set to graduate after this school year.

For now, I decided to not make any rash moves and just meet up with Nao. That girl could help me locate those two students. As for the teachers linked to them, following this inspection would probably be enough to observe them.

After a few minutes or so, the principal finally finished with his preparation.

His back straightened, looking a little more dignified that how he appeared afraid earlier. His face also got wiped off the sweat that accumulated to it. Then, with a very amiable smile that made his bushy mustache sway from his breath, he took the lead to leave the Principal's Office.

"Miss Eguchi, let us go. Also, Kanno-sensei, you may follow us." He said as he gestured for us to follow him. He also acknowledged my existence, but since I was introduced as Eguchi-sensei's student assistant, he didn't need to go out of his way to treat me the same way he treated the teachers.

"Yes, Principal." The female teacher, Kanno-sensei, bowed respectfully in answer.

Eguchi-sensei only nodded and started following him.

Upon leaving the office and continuing to the stairs leading down,

I was about to follow behind her in descending when Kanno-sensei suddenly approached me.

Not from the front but from behind. She placed herself behind us, after all. However, this time, she became close enough that even without looking, I could sense her entering my personal space.

A second later, her hushed voice reached my ears as a whisper, "Excuse, student Onoda, is it? May I ask you a question?"

At first, I acted like I failed to hear her and took the first step forward. For her to suddenly approach me like this was suspicious, won't you say so?

She could have picked any other moment but to do it at this time when Eguchi-sensei was already at a fair distance, that's what I call suspicious.

Or is it? I don't know.

Not failing my expectations, Kanno-sensei didn't let me take another step down the stairs. Her arm landed on my shoulder which instantly took away my chance to feign obliviousness once again.

But this time, instead of repeating her question, the woman, who Eguchi-sensei introduced as her former schoolmate, added, "Wait. I'm curious, student Onoda. How did you do it? Eguchi-sensei is known to be uncomfortable with the opposite gender, even with her students. Yet here you are, her Student Assistant. And from the looks of it, she's not any bit uncomfortable with you…"

Yeah. I couldn't say I didn't anticipate this after hearing that she's her schoolmate. But isn't this too soon?

I glanced at her and checked what was written on her face. To my surprise, she appeared rather desperate than curious…

What could this mean?

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to find out the answer to that without replying to her question first, I rearranged the words in my head before calmly turning around. "Uh. I apologize, sensei. I don't think I can answer that question… However, if you're wondering, I applied to be Eguchi-sensei's Student Assistant. She accepted me for some reason or another."

Well, it's not completely a lie. But as soon as she heard my answer, Kanno-sensei let go of my shoulder as she froze on the spot, perhaps trying to dismantle my answer word for word to find whatever she was seeking.

A few seconds later, perhaps noticing that I wasn't behind her, Eguchi-sensei called out to me. I naturally ran down to her, leaving behind Kanno-sensei. But before doing so, I glanced at Kanno-sensei again, the desperation on her face seemingly eased up but it was replaced by the look of someone being enlightened.

Really, what's her deal? Should I put an emphasis on observing her rather than the students and the other suspected teachers?

We'll see. Even though we only have a few hours here, that's plenty of time to scout and probe.