As for the parts that followed, perhaps because he hadn't had enough time to find the right wording, Bai Lan hadn't been able to come up with more appropriate phrasing right away.
So he had simply replaced them with words that roughly conveyed the meaning of wanting to go head-to-head with Kogenji, and because they failed to express it accurately, everyone had misunderstood him.
Therefore, I think the provocations and threats in his words, just like the first sentence, were specifically meant to respond to Kogenji. They had nothing to do with anyone else."
At this, everyone suddenly understood.
So Bai Lan hadn't been mocking the entire class at all. The only person he had really wanted to mock was Kogenji!
After learning the "truth," everyone instantly let go of the resentment toward Bai Lan that they had only just developed.
"Of course, I think there may also be some misunderstanding on Kogenji's side. It would be best if it could be cleared up."
Hirata didn't forget to play peacemaker in the end.
However, it didn't work. Kogenji had no intention of accepting the offered way out.
Besides, he wasn't an exchange student, so he couldn't use the excuse of "not being good at Japanese" as a filter.
Apart from that, some people thought of even more.
Someone noticed that:
Just now, after Kogenji had finished saying those things, everyone had expressed their dislike of him.
But in reality, before Bai Lan, not a single person had dared to use their self-introduction as an opportunity to strike back at Kogenji.
This showed that although everyone hated Kogenji, they were still afraid of the forces behind him, as well as the "punishment" he had mentioned!
If they hadn't been in class at the time, everyone could have swarmed him and condemned Kogenji together.
They could have relied on their numbers to share Kogenji's hatred, protecting themselves while "beating him up as a group."
But it had been class time, and saying random things would result in their living expenses being deducted.
With money tying their hands and feet, they couldn't simply rush forward together.
And if they only used their self-introductions as an opportunity to speak, only one person could attack Kogenji at a time.
Many people in Class D were willing to rely on their numbers to "gang up" on someone.
As for fighting him one-on-one, forget it.
At least among those who spoke after Kogenji, no one before Bai Lan was willing to stick their neck out!
In the end, after Kogenji had finished speaking, no one had retaliated at all.
In fact, many people had probably long been looking forward to a hero in the class stepping forward and retaliating against Kogenji on their behalf.
That was, until Bai Lan had stood up and said those words in retaliation against Kogenji.
Now that they thought back on it.
Recalling how Bai Lan had provoked Kogenji until he blurted out those remarks about his "mood not being beautiful."
The people in Class D, who had previously felt threatened and frustrated by Kogenji, couldn't help but feel a surge of satisfaction.
At that moment, some of the people in Class D realized—Bai Lan was the hero who had retaliated against Kogenji on their behalf!
Bai Lan had actually had the courage to stand up and help them strike back at Kogenji, who had powerful connections, a towering build, and looked extremely dangerous to provoke?!
I'm crying so hard.
Before long, someone voiced these thoughts aloud.
Once someone had taken the lead, the others who had reached the same conclusion also joined in, adding their own comments to show off.
Later, even those who hadn't thought that way at first couldn't help joining in to fit in and show off.
Before long, Bai Lan had been transformed in their mouths into a heroic figure who drew his sword to help the oppressed, upheld justice, punished the strong, and eradicated evil.
After learning the "truth," many people looked in the direction Bai Lan had left with gazes filled with goodwill—respect, admiration, and favorable impressions.
There were not only girls among them, but many boys as well.
Boys liked heroes no less than girls did. In fact, they might even like them more.
Of course, there were also some malicious looks.
The sour kind.
Ah~ The scent of jealousy yet again.
After all, although boys liked heroes, they liked becoming heroes in the eyes of others even more. They didn't want to watch someone beside them "replace" them as the hero.
While their classmates were "gilding Bai Lan," Hirata merely watched, because the shock in his heart had left him unable to speak.
So this was possible too?
I hadn't even made that up... I mean, thought of it!
The children had grown up. They could make things up in their own heads now.
Mama Hirata was very gratified.
At that moment.
"Wonderful!"
Kogenji, who had been looking at himself in the mirror the entire time, suddenly laughed loudly in praise.
After Kogenji spoke, the classroom fell silent for several seconds.
A few seconds later.
"What's he doing?"
"No idea."
"Is he sick?"
After complaining about him, everyone prepared to continue discussing things.
But because of what Kogenji seemed to be planning, they suddenly felt as if they couldn't rekindle their earlier enthusiasm.
The sound of their conversations was far less lively than before.
"I remember Bai Lan didn't just imitate what Kogenji said, did he? I remember he said more afterward, and those remarks were pretty irritating too! How do you explain those?"
At that moment, someone once again questioned Hirata.
The speaker was Yamauchi.
At the same time, he was also one of the people jealous of Bai Lan and unwilling to see him become a "hero."
Hirata was just about to answer.
But someone else beat him to it.
"No way, Yamauchi. You still don't understand? Bai Lan didn't just imitate Kogenji!
He imitated you too!"
36. The Two Idiots Who Started Fighting Among Themselves
The speaker was a girl named Shinohara Satsuki.
Shinohara Satsuki was one of the members of the Gyaru group led by Kei Karuizawa.
The Gyaru group had clashed with the Sese Group just yesterday, forming a grudge between them.
Therefore, as a member of the Gyaru group, Shinohara paid close attention to the two leaders of the Sese Group—Yamauchi and Ike.
Every word and action of Yamauchi and Ike could become ammunition for her to help the Gyaru group attack the Sese Group.
Therefore, when Yamauchi and Ike introduced themselves, Shinohara had taken out a little notebook. As she listened, she searched for flaws in their wording and jotted them down whenever she found them.
Sure enough, the two leaders of the Sese Group never disappointed when it came to disappointing people.
There was no need to pick out flaws in what they said, because every word was a flaw. Instead, finding something in their deeply flawed statements that wasn't flawed was the difficult part.
Therefore, Shinohara had written down practically everything the two of them had said.
When she saw Yamauchi foolishly come forward to question Hirata about the meaning behind Bai Lan's later remarks, Shinohara had almost laughed herself to death.
If Yamauchi hadn't brought it up, she might have forgotten!
"No way, Yamauchi. You still don't understand? Bai Lan didn't just imitate Kogenji!
He imitated you too!"
Unable to suppress her urge to mock Yamauchi, Shinohara spoke before Hirata could answer:
"Besides you and Kogenji, there was also Ike!
Bai Lan must have been teaching you two a lesson on behalf of all of us who were disgusted by your words!
Look, you actually hate the kind of things you yourselves said.
You were hit by your own boomerang, yet you don't feel anything at all?
Seriously? Seriously?
Is it because your skin is too thick?
Hahaha~ I'm dying!"
Shinohara then directly took out her notebook.
In front of everyone, she read aloud everything Yamauchi and Ike had said.
Everyone thought back over Bai Lan's remarks for a moment.
With Kogenji serving as a "sample answer," they quickly realized that Bai Lan's later words had been "imitations" of the things Yamauchi and Ike had said. He had merely "surpassed" them somewhat while imitating them.
Shinohara's explanation quickly won everyone's agreement.
Yamauchi, who had jumped out to question them, and Ike, who had been too late to question Hirata, instantly became the butt of everyone's jokes.
Ike felt that he was completely innocent.
Although he had wanted to do something too, he hadn't even had the chance to do anything yet, had he?
Unable to withstand everyone's united mockery, Ike thought for a moment, then turned his fire toward his own teammate.
"Yamauchi! This is all your fault! You wanted to show off by questioning Hirata, and you dragged me into it!"
Before you continue