[SS] Through the Eyes of the Silent Dolls

“What do you mean Kana? You met Nanami with Kohaku and me just after we got into a fight with this demon the first time. Also considering how Nanami was acting earlier I think it is fairly obvious what I mean by revenge”

A look of confusion has spread across the villain’s face as the girl asked him these questions. He was a bit worried about her lack of recall on events that had just happened earlier that day. How much of a beating had she taken from Eri exactly for her memory to lapse like that? Everything just kept getting more inconvenient by the second, not only did he have to deal an unconscious demon girl but he also had to tend to a companion with memory failure.

“Eri must’ve hit you in the head pretty badly. Do you know if Kohaku is coming here after getting the phone or should we go to her?”

After asking Kana that question he would bring his attention back to Nanami.

“Since Eri has been removed from the equation along with her blackmail what do you plan on doing now? You already have your own blackmail on so there isn't really any reason for you to stay here anymore”

For a moment the boy tried to make it look like he was going to let Nanami leave but that wouldn't last too much longer. She was here after school hours and as such she was still a potential suspect despite her alibi that she was just here for revenge. Something about her presence in the school after hours just felt off.

“Before you go, however, could you tell me how you got into the school and how you got the picture of Eri here without getting caught? Also how’d you know Eri was going to be here? I mean I know you could make the assumption based on her vengeful personality but it was still a big risk to take out without knowing for certain that she was going to be here”

Revenge.

That simple word formed ripples upon ripples as it dropped into Nanami’s mind. Her gaze shifted to the boy talking down to her and then back to the girl who now lay knocked out (probably with some concussion to boot). Despite the fact that she held no particular reason to hate Nori like she did to Eri, the intensity of her gaze never faltered once.

It was only after she took a deep breath that the intense waves of emotion that threatened to engulf her heart in that moment subsided into a whimper.

Rather than letting herself be bogged down by Nori’s own taunts, she focused on the final questions he wanted to ask her. There was no need to tell him everything. Regardless of what happened to him, there was no way that he could help her at all.

In terms of resources, he was a dry well at this point so she just needed to cut him off and move on about her own business. She needed only to answer what she felt like.

“You might not realize this, but being a doormat for somebody for so long makes their actions absurdly predictable.” Nanami sighed as she vented a little, taking the opportunity Nori had laid out so graciously for her to finally vent herself to a living human being or pair of them for the pedantic. “Everything she has done in the past twelve hours since you started investigating those things—”

With a quick motion, she pointed her finger at the current classroom’s own doll.

“Was something I could predict. Certain people can just be refined to a simple algorithm or program like that. You just have to know what they want to attain as the end result.”

Her gaze had long since taken more of a somber ambiance as she let out the sigh of someone who was too tired to deal with everything.

“It was a gamble, but one made on high odds.”

Even if the five percent chance that she was wrong had come to pass, things would have been uneventful in general.

Malice? Nori could completely understand Nanami’s hatred for Eri but up until this point he had no idea that the girl was capable of such an intense gaze. It seemed that Nanami was actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Though instead of being disturbed by this the masked villain found himself intrigued. Maybe she wasn’t a weakling after all. Maybe he hadn't been reading her wrong this entire time. There was definitely more to this story than he had previously thought and he was interested.

What Nanami wanted no longer mattered. Nori wanted answers and he wasn't going to let her just leave until he got them. It was pretty obvious by this point what had triggered Eri’s fight or flight response before she passed out but it still left the question of why it scared her so much. Sure, having someone staring daggers at you isn't the most comfortable feeling but discomfort was very different than fear. If Eri had been abusing Nanami all this time and using her like doormat why would she have any reason to fear her victim?

“Quite the look you got there. If I didn't know any better I would mistake it for murderous intent”

Despite the murderous gaze and his own curiosity, Nori looked back at the girl with a smile on his face. Sure the look had caught him off guard but in his line of work he was accustomed to facial expressions much more hateful and terrifying than anything this small girl could ever muster. It was almost laughable. At the same time, however, Nori wasn't going to be leaving the unconscious Eri alone with Nanami anytime soon.

“You might not realize this, but being a doormat for somebody for so long makes their actions absurdly predictable. Everything she has done in the past twelve hours since you started investigating those things—Was something I could predict. Certain people can just be refined to a simple algorithm or program like that. You just have to know what they want to attain as the end result. It was a gamble, but one made on high odds.”

”Predictable, huh”

Up until this point the masked villain had put his trust in Nanami since they were both working towards the same cause. However, now that Eri was caught and his former ally was now hiding something from him she was a suspect. There were too many contradictions between here behavior and her actions. When Nori had first met her she was a nervous wreck, someone that wouldn't have taken the chance of breaking into school even if the odds of success were high. Then only a few moments ago she showed a death stare completely uncharacteristic of the personality she had shown earlier. Before Nori had thought that Nanami didn't want to come to this location because she was afraid of confronting Eri directly but the look she had given just a few moments ago had no signs of that previous feeling. So what was the real reason that the girl didn't want to come here?

”Nanami”

An explosive flame of malice burst into existence inside Nori and the girl would find herself caught under a gaze far darker than the one she had given just moments ago. Any chance of escape was now gone and the full truth was going to be revealed one way or another.

”It would be in your best interest if you didn't try to hide anything from me. So I’ll ask again how did you know exactly where Eri would be and how do you get this video without getting caught?”

As he said this he took out his phone, opened the video file she sent him earlier, and played it.

”Also while you’re at it will you tell me how you got into the school and avoided all the cameras?”

“I didn’t quite mean so literally…” Kana sighed, it seemed she hadn’t made clear that she wanted context more so than an introduction. Though perhaps she had hit her head a little and ended up making it unclear. How bothersome.

“I’d suggest we leave the school for now before we end up in more trouble, but it seems there is an interrogation to be conducted …” It was hardly likely that they would drag Nanami elsewhere to answer questions, so Kana merely bit her lip somewhat as the worry that lingering too long in this place would bring them trouble settled in.

Though, thankfully, it seemed she would be able to piece things together regarding Nanami by her conversation with Nori alone.

“It would indeed be in your best interest. Unless you want to have to deal with worse than this petty little girl, that is. Neither of us should be wasting so much time around here.” Unlike Nori, her behaviour was far from malicious, but it did hold a certain dignity that would cause troubles to those who opposed them.

“Accessing security cameras.” Without hesitation, she quickly answered the question that the two had posed. “You would be surprised how well a security camera can see. All that’s really needed is to take the necessary footage and enhance it.”

Nanami gestured as if she held a phone in her hand. She was not stupid enough to keep her phone out after all of that. It was still necessary for her to still have possession of it.

“All that’s needed is a proper terminal and the rest is history.” So, she continued to answer the question without pause. After all, any hesitation would be taken as a sign of deception given her current situation.

She was being suspected of something, after all.

“It was the same for everything else you asked.” With that, she closed out her explanation with whatever she needed to say. Though, she could feel her body’s tremors. The amount of false bravado she was giving was not something she was used to and the cognitive dissonance was starting to undeniably take root. “Why do you even feel the need to interrogate me so much? I didn’t expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition here.”

This whole situation was beginning to infuriate the masked villain. He just wanted to find the culprit behind the dolls and be done with it. Taking Eri down had raised his spirits a little bit but they were still in the school and hadn't gotten any closer to finding the culprit. So any lead was worth going down and Nanami was currently the most suspicious person in the building.

Something just didn't feel right about her being here. Sure, she had justified it by saying she was coming to get revenge on Eri and she had answered all his questions so far. Yet he still felt as if the girl was hiding something from him and he didn't like it.

“Why do you even feel the need to interrogate me so much? I didn’t expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition here.”

"Put simply, out of every conscious person in this building I trust you the least"

Nori wasn't one to mince words and there was no reasons for him to start now. If Nanami was the culprit she had every reason to lie about every question the boy had asked so far. Fortunately for him, with the video the girl had sent to his phone could be used to atleast confirm one of her statements. If the video lined up with the point of view of one of the security cameras than she would be in the clear.

Before he would go to confirm that, however, there were still a few things he had to checked out.

"So you got the video from the security footage. Couldn't you have hacked into the footage without coming into the school building and even if you couldn't why were you just out wandering the halls after you already had the footage? Why do you want me to send the video when you can probably just find a way to send it anonymously yourself?"

Part of the reasons Nori was asking so many questions was to pressure Nanami into making a mistake. If he could get her to contradict her previous statements then he would know she was fabricating the story.

"Also give me your phone"

It wasn't a question, it was an order the masked villain was giving. If the girl had gotten the footage of Eri from the security footage, then she could have videos of them as well. Kana had taken care of the security cameras when they first got into the school but that had all come to an end when the pursuit of Eri had begun. Nori wasn't going to allow himself to be blackmailed again and there was also a chance there was evidence on Nanami's phone.

As the two discussed in a less than amicable fashion, Kana took a glance towards the wall clock in the classroom, and only let escape a slight click of the tongue. It was getting later and later, and not only were there chances that Eri could soon come to, but if they kept lingering around, then security guards could very well catch them.

God forbid they would have to go through extensive punishment. Something like that would definitely ruin her perfect record; alas the other teenagers besides her didn’t seem to consider the urgency of the situation at all.

Kana noted that Nanami seemed to be reluctant to actually hand over her phone, and with a slight sigh and deep observation of the girl facing her, it took but mere seconds for something to fly out of her pocket and right into Kana’s outstretched hand with a satisfying sound as she motioned closer towards Nori.

“Unfortunately, until the culprit is caught, we cannot afford to let proof of this night so easily accessible. If you want your phone back, you’ll have to cooperate with us.” Kana expressed calmly; Nori was emitting enough animosity towards the matter for multiple people’s share, and it would be unbecoming of an elite lady to be so easily carried away.

She simply asserted her superiority in the most straightforward of fashion as she proceeded to give a recommendation:

“For the moment, I suggest we meet up with Kira-san and move out of the school, before someone else takes notice of us through cameras. I wouldn’t want to be looking for stray phones and pictures all night long.”

“Because I knew you were here. I knew she was here. I wanted to avoid the worst possible situation where more people were forced under her thumb. If you pulled the trigger, she would be more likely to step back. Is that reasoning so wrong?”

Despite the inquisition before her forcing an interrogation, she continued to attempt to deflect all suspicion that had been placed on her. Nori’s suspicion was somewhat warranted, albeit overplayed by his absurd enthusiasm.

But, in the end, it was two against one in this scenario. There was not much she could do but acquiesce to their desires. Or so they thought. Luckily, they had given her an out.

At the very least, that’s what she had thought before her phone flew out of the pocket and landed screen first onto Kana’s palm. Not necessarily the most graceful motion, but she had essentially cut out Nanami’s out of deleting said footage to her phone, much to her dismay.

Nanami could only cringe as she had essentially been chained to a wall without an out and without even knowing what she had been under watch for. No, it was quite obvious what she was under watch for.

They had thought she was the culprit and there was no way that she was going to let those two pin that label onto her.

Unfortunately, there was not much she could do. With a defeated sigh, she placed her hands in her pockets and gracefully accepted ‘defeat’. “Fine.”

“Because I knew you were here. I knew she was here. I wanted to avoid the worst possible situation where more people were forced under her thumb. If you pulled the trigger, she would be more likely to step back. Is that reasoning so wrong?”

It was obvious to tell that his questioning was getting him nowhere. He didn’t doubt that the girl was trying to protect them since she had warned them not to get involved with Eri earlier. She had also provided them with the blackmail to use against the demon girl and yet there was still something he found unsettling about her presence here. After seeing the look Nanami had given earlier and the reaction it got out of Eri the villain was certain that she was hiding something.

Unfortunately they didn’t have all the time in the world and Nanami still hadn’t broken down yet. If she truly was hiding something she was far more resistant to interrogation than he had expected. At the very least he hoped to get her phone to remove any trace of that night’s trespassing and if he was lucky find some evidence relating to the dolls.

“Unfortunately, until the culprit is caught, we cannot afford to let proof of this night so easily accessible. If you want your phone back, you’ll have to cooperate with us.”

The boy looked over at Kana and the phone that was now in her hand. Telekinesis was truly a very useful ability. If Nori had gone for the phone he would’ve needed to convince Nanami to hand it over or taken it by force. With the girl’s phone now in their possession they no longer had to worry about any chance of blackmail, though being honest Nori never expected Nanami to blackmail them. Now that Kana had taken the phone Nori relaxed and drop all his efforts to intimidate Nanami.

“For the moment, I suggest we meet up with Kira-san and move out of the school, before someone else takes notice of us through cameras. I wouldn’t want to be looking for stray phones and pictures all night long.”

"Sounds like a plan. Wouldn’t go well for any of us if we get caught now. Do you have any idea where Kira-san is right now?"

(OOC: Hawhaw, feel free to make it so that Kana either got through to Kohaku or ended up on voicemail.)

“Well, wherever she is, she’ll have to regroup with us. Though it is weird she hasn’t and hasn’t given us any updates quite yet…” Kana spared another glance towards the clock slowly ticking its way towards early morning with growing nervousness, before returning to the very awkward Nanami. It certainly displeased her to have to doubt someone who had apparently lent them a hand, but if they wanted to get to the bottom of this, they needed information from anywhere it could come from. Alas, it seemed that it would take a fair while longer before we got out of the justification phases Nanami was in.

 “We can’t afford to stay here any longer.” She affirmed as she began to motion outside the classroom and hopefully to a way out of the school unnoticed, as she pulled her own phone to contact Kohaku.

“Kira-san? It’s Tsukomata again. Did you find something? You still haven’t gotten back to us regarding the phone and whether you’ve discovered anything.”

“Really, what kind of trouble did you guys get into?” Kohaku could not help but be peeved that she had been pushed out of the purview of the climax of whatever happened in the building. She was not necessarily the type who liked throwing herself into the heat of some heavy action, but she definitely felt she missed out on the possibility of solving whatever issue had led to her retrieving some phone in favor of being a glorified errand girl.

“It’s a bit difficult to discover anything in my position, but I did find a certain someone.” Kohaku sighed a bit. “Though things are a bit too tenuous to simply talk over the phone, at the moment.”

Kohaku looked up at the windows on the side of the school where Kana and Nori likely were. “I’ll explain what’s going on when we’re together. Should I meet you inside the building?”


Meanwhile, Nanami could only stand and watch as she kept a hand in her pocket, loosely fiddling around with something inside. With her other hand, she pointed towards the now unconscious girl.

“W-what about her?” With her single avenue of strength and confidence robbed from her control, she regressed to a her usual nervous and shy state. At the very least, that’s what it would seem.

"Hmm?"

As Kana and Kira discussed what the group was going to do next Nori looked over at Nanami. Without having to follow the direction of her finger the boy already knew who she was referring to. It wasn’t something he hadn’t see coming. The girl had come here to get revenge against Eri after all and that was one of the only things the masked villain didn’t doubt about her story. He’d be seeking revenge as well if he was in the same situation though his tactics would’ve been far more direct than Nanami’s strategy. The girl couldn’t even use her own blackmail against Eri, she had asked him to do it for her.

Despite his cruel judgement of the girl he couldn’t deny the fact that she had a point. While he doubted they were going to stay in the building much longer, carrying Eri around was going to be a pain if they decided to do anymore investigating. At the same time leaving the building carrying an unconscious girl was definitely going to cause trouble. He also didn’t know when she was going to wake up or even how bad the injury to her head was. They couldn’t just leave her either since if she talked the group was going to be in trouble for far more than just breaking into the school at night. They could say Eri attacked them first but if the girl had a concussion then it pretty easy to imagine who the school would believe.

”That’s a very good question. For now it looks like we are going to have to take her with us. I’d like to just leave her here but that wouldn’t end well for us. Thanks to you though we have some blackmail, so when she does wake up we can stop her from taking any actions against us”

The blackmail truly was working to their favor, even if he didn’t trust Nanami her intervention really was helping him out. He was still going to have look into what she was hiding later but for now he’d just have to wait for Kana to tell them where they needed to go.

Kana hung up the call with a somewhat sour expression; it seemed that everyone tonight was fancying the idea of being caught by surveillance, something that would forever taint her perfect record. As such, she had merely warned Kohaku that she would wait outside of the building’s gate, it was far too late for them to pursue any further investigation, anyway.

“If that’s the case, then let’s go. I’m not too sure why Kira-san wants to remain in the building, but any more than this and security guards will find us.”

With those words, and mercilessly letting Nori to handle the carrying, Kana silently made her way out of the classroom, hoping they wouldn’t get caught walking around in what was almost early morning.

10:15 pm
Despite the lack of curfew, the fact that a group of students from Nagatenjouki Academy were wandering around outdoors this late at night was far from what one could call normal or even proper. It was truly inevitable, though. They had been at the school this late under the noses of all who could be called authorities.

They had long since crossed the line where curfew or being caught out late would have made a difference.

“Even so, they’re a bit late.”

Rather than waiting for the others to evacuate the building, Kohaku had taken the tall, dark, and handsome mysterious figure she had encountered and made an escape before notifying the others to meet her at a specified rendezvous point—a nearby children’s park lit up only by the paltry moonlight and a few streetlamps that were in the on its borders.

As her butt lay firmly planted on a swing, she lightly kicked off the floor, swaying back and forth, keeping her eyes trained on the entrance to the park, waiting with a mask of concern on her face.

At this point, she had no longer needed to keep an eye on her new companion, for there was no reason for him to escape. He would just stand, leaning on one of the poles that supported that swing set and wait it out.

In the end, they needed to peel off the scab of this incident.

“Do you think things will run smoothly at all, Kira-san?”

“Hardly, Kanazawa-kun.” She simply spoke out her honest expectations. The situation had long since turned past the point of no return, so everything needed to be laid to rest. So, that was all that needed to be said.

They simply stayed and waited.

For the last players of this absurd play to enter from stage left.

10:20

He was a bit late. There was no denying it. The masked villain hated being late but there was nothing he could do about it. He was carrying with him far more than he had originally expected and he had lost some time looking for the girl outside the school before realizing that she had probably gone to their rendezvous point. As the false hero entered into the park a look of suppressed irritation could just barely be seen on his face.

"So Kana, what do you think the chances are that we actually find this culprit? At this point we've gone through a lot of trouble and I have quite I bit more I have to pay them back for. I do hope this wasn't all for nothing."

The boy put no effort into hiding the malice that had snuck its way into his voice. After all the trouble they had gone through tonight he wanted nothing more than someone to take out his frustrations on. He would've directed it at Eri but she was currently laying in his arms still unconscious. After exiting the school he had switched from carrying her over his shoulder to using a princess carry. Needless to say he hated every second of it but he thought it was less likely to attract negative attention than carrying her over his shoulder.

If there was anything the false hero was looking forward to at this point it was using the blackmail on Eri later but for now there were more important things to deal with. As Kohaku fell into his gaze the irritation on Nori's face receded a little bit. He was a bit relieved that everyone seemed to have made it to the park alright. It would've been trouble if one of them got picked up by a patrol of some kind. The villain didn't even want to think about how much of a pain that would've been.

As he grew closer Nori's gaze finally fell on the man who Kohaku had brought with her. The false hero's moment of relief was quickly taken away from him as he realized who it was. Why did it have to be him? Of everyone it could've been standing there why did it have to be him? He prayed that this guy wasn't just here to scold them about breaking into the school. The pitcher simply didn't have the patience to deal with something like that right now.

"So what are you doing here? You here to help? Where did you even run into him Kohaku?"

The masked villain directed his first two question at the new arrival before turning to his other ally and asking the final question. All the while still carrying Eri and not offering any explanation as to why.

“Honestly, I hope so. As much reasonable cause as we have, there’s no guarantee that she’s the right person.”

Circumstantial evidence was just that. A story could build up the evidence and vice-versa. One piece of evidence could send a story plummeting and vice-versa. As much circumstantial evidence as they had built up to claiming Nanami to be the culprit, there was still an air of uncertainty as far as Kana was concerned—a missing piece or pieces that could very well end up buried.

But, she wanted things to be over and human emotions could easily become a driving force for any given judgment.

Luckily for them, it seemed Nanami made no attempts to escape as she simply followed Kana and Nori to the park, emotionally and physically isolated from the too as she stared down to the ground with a look of pure hopelessness in her eyes.

And as they set foot upon the park agreed to as the rendezvous point, Kana found herself sighing and shrugging as Nori made no attempt to wait even a second to ask questions.

“Honestly, I think I have more questions to ask you myself. Like why is she here? Or her? And why are they in this state right now?  But, I guess I’ll answer your questions in lieu of him for now.” Kohaku crossed her arms as she stayed sitting on that swing. “I ran into him in the school. I guess you could say he has admitted to being the culprit behind it all.”

The taller boy simply smiled as Kohaku relayed everything he had hoped she would say.

The world grew silent enough to hear a pin drop and one single utterance left the mouths of the two conscious girls with Nori.

“Huh?”

Nori's facial expression went blank as Kohaku finished her sentence. After all the trouble they had gone through it had turned out it had been the Kanazawa's fault the entire time. Nori hadn't liked the class rep since the moment they met and getting him in trouble probably would make his day. Yet this whole situation didn't seem to make any sense. Why would Kanazawa want to set up dolls throughout the school? Nori thought Kanazawa was a snob but he couldn't think of what motive the man would have to do such a thing.

"Wait. So you're telling me that he's responsible for the dolls? Every single one of them?"

Any frustration Nori felt before this point had been completely replaced with confusion and he made no attempt to hide it. The fact that the man was here and was only nodding in response to everything that was being said only made the whole situation more confusing.

"I'm going to be completely honest, that really just doesn't make any sense to me. This unconscious psychopath attacking and trying to frame us for the dolls to get back at me for earlier makes sense. Nanami over there breaking into the school to blackmail Eri for bullying her makes sense. All of it was for revenge and revenge makes perfect sense for a motive. Yet I can't imagine Kanazawa here would have to use something like dolls to get revenge on anyone considering he's a class rep and basically has his own fan club. At the same time, I can't think of any other motive."

Nori turned his head to look at Kanazawa. There was no reason to direct all this at Kohaku when the culprit was right there.

"Unless you are going to tell me you didn't trust the student body enough that you felt the need to spy on them. Though honestly I don't think I could even believe that one."

The masked villain was definitely going to get an explanation about the dolls. After that he would decide whether or not it was worth punishing Kanazawa for all the irritation the incident has caused though he'd have to be creative about it considering all the people around. Before all that though there was one more thing he had to deal with.

"Well Nanami, it seems I owe you an apology. I really thought you were responsible for placing the dolls throughout the school after all it seemed like a great way to keep track of Eri's whereabouts. Seems you're completely innocent though so sorry about interrogating you."

“You’re going to just let that drop like that?” As much as Nori may have taken a certain level of pull over the situation, let us not forget that there was one other person who was assisting in the apprehension of the culprit of the doll-related endeavors. Kana blurted out as she, likely just confused as Nori, held her hand out in an attempt to say ‘hold up.’ “We brought her here because we thought she was the culprit when we encountered her in the school!”

“Huh, so that’s it.” Kohaku held the chains of the swing once again and kicked up into the undulation that was natural for the swing, even if it was too slow. “But, given your surprise, it’s  heavy suspicion rather than an actual confession that you got, right?”

“Yeah. She kinda shut down, but she couldn’t really refute any of our points.”

In the background, however, the subject of the of the conversation seemed to shrink back as she scratched her head. Though she had zero motivation or intention of escaping, she couldn’t help but let herself be taken aback by the current findings.

“In that case, allow me to explain myself a bit.” Cutting into the conversation was the tall, dark, and handsome class rep. “You said it felt like a stretch, but that is actually what happened. Every single doll, including the one in the women’s locker room was my doing.”

The boy motioned to himself as he turned to Nori, who seemed the most apprehensive out of everyone here. “The student council had been receiving some information regarding certain issues, but needed proper evidence and information before they proceeded. Lo and behold, I decided to take it upon myself to secure that evidence.”

It seemed to fit in with everything that was going on. The conclusion seemed to tie neatly into all of the evidence that had been found with regards to the dolls.

While Nori did want to find the true culprit for the dolls to end the whole situation for good the entire thing felt like it was causing more trouble then it was worth. Eri's attack was definitely his fault for picking a fight with her earlier but having to break into the school, avoiding cameras, investigating so late into the night. He just wanted to end the whole thing, go back to his dorm, and go to sleep. If they got the wrong person the dolls would keep showing up and they go looking again. They'd get the culprit eventually right? That was why he was so willing to switch over to Kanazawa, if they were wrong they'd just grab Nanami again.

"I mean he gave a confession didn't he? I don't see why he'd cover to Nanami if she was responsible. I guess you're right though she didn't really clear any of their suspicions."

As the class representative gave his explanation Nori listened and compared it to what they had found. His explanation seemed to match up with everything they had found so far but something about it felt off. He was a class rep, even if it was to get information the fact that he would go off on his own to get evidence with the dolls seemed strange. Before he went into that though he wanted to get one thing out of the way. Before he spoke he'd gesture to Nanami.

"Do you happen to have any kind of relationship with this girl or at the very least known her before tonight? Cause I'm going to be honest I don't really think you are the type to go hiding cameras in dolls around the school, especially not putting it somewhere like the girl's locker room. Even if you wanted evidence I can't imagine you'd purposely do something that would worry the student body like the dolls have. I mean if you were going to gather evidence why use something that grab so much attention like these god forsaken dolls."

It was obvious Nori still had his suspicions regarding the Kanazawa’s confession. Even if Nori clearly wanted for everything to be done with, there was no way this didn’t sound off to him. After all, Nori had found his own suspect. And some inconsistencies were clearly prevalent.

But, despite it all, the taller boy chuckled.

“To answer your first question, I don’t know her.” If one paid attention to Nanami, one could almost catch a twitch in her eyes and her fingers when she heard that. “At least beyond what I would know as a student council member anyway.”

In other words, no reason to cover for Nanami. No personal relationships. He had quickly severed all ties to the girl without even skipping a beat.

Kohaku raised her eyebrow as she stayed in her position but decided it was best to keep silent and watch. Nori seemed to be performing adequately on this cross-examination.

“As far as the conspicuousness goes, we wanted to create blind spots. The eeriness on their own was enough. Nobody likes doing things they possibly feel ashamed about when they feel that something could be watching. By creating the illusion of being watched, we could force what we were looking for to confine itself to blind spots.”

Again, a twitch.

“Don’t underestimate the power of human superstition.”

“To answer your first question, I don’t know her. At least beyond what I would know as a student council member anyway. As far as the conspicuousness goes, we wanted to create blind spots. The eeriness on their own was enough. Nobody likes doing things they possibly feel ashamed about when they feel that something could be watching. By creating the illusion of being watched, we could force what we were looking for to confine itself to blind spots."

Nori hadn't missed Nanami twitching in response to Kanazawa's denying knowing her and the comment about forcing what they were looking for into a blind spot. Something was definitely off and with every passing moment Nori was trust in Kanazawa was decreasing at an exponential rate. It didn't help that he hadn't liked or trusted the class rep since the very beginning.

The fact that he denied knowing Nanami only made him more suspicious. Nanami was being bullied by Eri and her squad, who as far as the masked villain could tell were the very embodiment of fanatical fan girls. They had even gone as far as to threaten Kohaku, Kana, and Nori for investigating the dolls cause they believed it would cause trouble for Kanazawa. With everything they knew now he had to wonder if Eri knew that Kanazawa had something to do with the dolls from the start.

"See here's the thing, Nanami here was severely bullied and used as a lackey by the girl I'm carrying. Now this girl and her entire squad are absolutely crazy about you, I mean it practically fanatical. So to be honest I don't think there is anyway you don't know who Nanami is outside your position as a student council member. We'll get back to that point later though why don't you tell me exactly what you were trying to push into the blind spots? I mean it must've been something big for the student council to decide to use psychological warfare on the entire student body."