Chapter 50

Was he really energetic enough to practice basketball when he looked so listless?

Or was he just conserving his strength, ready to come alive the moment he stepped onto the court?

After Chabashira-sensei exchanged a few words with Sudo, he obediently followed her away.

Kamio Tatsuya had finished packing as well and prepared to head to the library.

"The exams are already over, yet you still go to the library every day?"

Kamio Tatsuya glanced at Horikita and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Studying makes me happy."

"Is that so? Then why did I hear that you go on dates with girls from Class C in the library every day?"

Horikita Suzune spoke pointedly.

Damn it, Horikita, why are you sticking your nose into my business?

What?

Are you jealous that Hiyori and I are spending every night together?

That was right. After spending some time together, Kamio Tatsuya and Shiina Hiyori had reached the point where they called each other by their given names.

Masumi, you're ahead this time.

"That's none of your concern. After all, you were the one who abandoned me back then." Kamio Tatsuya smiled faintly.

He was referring to the tutoring he had asked Horikita for before the Midterm Exam.

At first, Horikita Suzune had agreed. However, in order to prevent their classmates from being expelled, she had chosen the Three Fools instead.

As for teaching them all together—

That had naturally been impossible. Kamio Tatsuya and Yamauchi Haruki had bad blood between them. There was no way they could sit at the same table.

Unfortunately, even after Horikita's tutoring, the Three Fools still failed to pass. In the end, Kamio Tatsuya had been the one to save them, and he had even turned them into blood bags.

Well, from that perspective, he ought to thank Horikita.

Now that Kamio Tatsuya had brought up the past again, Horikita felt somewhat displeased.

"I believe I returned your tutoring fee."

Kamio Tatsuya merely gave her a polite smile before leaving the classroom.

He had assumed she would leave it at that, but unexpectedly, she caught up with him today.

"What do you think about what Chabashira-sensei said this morning?"

Part of the route to the dormitories overlapped with the route to the library. Kamio Tatsuya did not mind chatting with Horikita for a while, and taking the chance to needle her.

"A delay in the points distribution... It's hard to imagine the school is the one at fault."

"You mean the problem lies with us students?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Kamio Tatsuya smiled. "You don't honestly think Class C would do nothing after taking such a huge loss last month, do you?"

Horikita Suzune immediately recalled how Class C students had beaten up Yamauchi and Ike in the special Teaching Building.

Not only had those Class C students later been thoroughly beaten by Hirata, but Class C had also lost 200 Class Points afterward.

Then, because they ignored the school's punishment, they lost another 200 Class Points.

Thanks to that, the gap between Class C and Class D had become very small.

"Class C started that incident in the first place, didn't they? And it seemed to have something to do with you."

"Precisely because Class C started it, Class C—or rather, Ryuen—would stir up trouble again after losing."

I see. So that was why Ryuen kept targeting Class D even though there was nothing to gain from it.

It was all to restore his standing in the eyes of Class C's students.

Otherwise, once people's hearts scattered, it would be hard to lead them.

And to make sure he succeeded in one go, Ryuen actually chose Sudo, someone who was obviously easy to scheme against. It would be impossible to say he hadn't improved.

Seeing Kamio Tatsuya suddenly fall silent, Horikita wore a suspicious expression.

"What did you think of?"

What had he thought of?

"Nothing. But as a classmate, let me give you some advice. Regarding Sudo, you'd better stay out of it. You can't win."

What was that supposed to mean?

Watching Kamio Tatsuya's departing back, Horikita Suzune frowned.

Although Kamio Tatsuya had said that to Horikita Suzune, he never expected her to listen to him so easily. Otherwise, she would not be Horikita Suzune.

After arriving at the library, Shiina was unusually absent.

She normally arrived very early.

Was she avoiding suspicion?

That really was her style.

Kamio Tatsuya smiled, then took out the material the teacher had covered that day and began reviewing it.

As a student, he did not slack off in his proper duties in the slightest.

After all, no one knew when this school might pull some outrageous stunt, so enriching his knowledge and strengthening himself could never be wrong.

At the morning homeroom meeting the next day, Chabashira-sensei appeared at the podium with an indifferent expression.

"Today, I have something to report to you. A dispute occurred at the school a few days ago. It seems that Sudo, sitting over there, got into a conflict with students from Class C. Simply put, they got into a fight."

The moment Chabashira-sensei finished speaking, Class D erupted into chaos.

Kamio Tatsuya glanced at Sudo. This guy really was unlucky. He had only just escaped the threat of expulsion not long ago.

Yet in the blink of an eye, Ryuen had set his sights on him.

Still, if it was only a fight, it did not seem like such a big deal. At worst, he would be suspended.

What was Ryuen thinking?

Would he really be satisfied with expelling just one idiot? Did he think that would be enough to restore his standing in the eyes of Class C?

Kamio Tatsuya was somewhat puzzled.

After the commotion in Class D died down, the topic returned to the main issue.

"Sensei, what will the outcome of this incident be?"

"No final conclusion has been reached yet. However, if it is confirmed that Sudo assaulted someone, not only will Sudo himself be suspended, but the Class Points you worked so hard to earn will once again be reduced to zero."

Class D broke into another uproar, even louder than before. Some people even felt it would be better to have Sudo expelled during the Midterm Exam.

"Um... may I ask why there is no conclusion yet?" Hirata continued to ask.

"The complaint was filed by Class C. They claim they were subjected to a one-sided beating, but Sudo says they struck first—that the Class C students called him out and picked a fight with him. The school is currently investigating to determine the truth. It will probably take about a week."

"I didn't do anything wrong! They were jealous because I was going to become an official player, so Komiy and the others deliberately came looking for trouble with me. They told me to go to the Special Teaching Building too, and I was only acting in self-defense! Self-defense!"

But clearly, the students of Class D did not believe Sudo's claim of self-defense at all. Instead, they cast cold looks his way.

"Um, wasn't there any surveillance footage of what happened?"

"Unfortunately, the dispute took place in the Special Teaching Building, where there are no cameras."

The Special Teaching Building again.

Class C had suffered there last time...

Some of the students in Class D realized it too.

Could this be Class C's revenge?

But none of that was within Kamio Tatsuya's concerns. At that moment, he only cared about one question.

"May I ask how badly the victims from Class C were injured?"

Chabashira Sae was slightly surprised to hear that question—not because of the question itself, but because of who had asked it.

Hadn't he said he was not interested in class competition?

Then why was he so concerned about this matter?

Kamio Tatsuya's question also made Sudo extremely dissatisfied. Shouldn't he be thinking about how to help clear him right now? Why was he concerned about the injuries of those Class C guys?

Had this guy switched sides?

"There are three injured students in Class C, and all of them suffered fairly serious injuries. One of them even sustained a minor fracture in his arm."

An uproar swept through Class D.

At first, the students had assumed it was just an ordinary brawl, but now that they knew the extent of the injuries, they understood how serious the matter was.

Even Yamauchi and Ike looked completely dumbfounded, stunned by Sudo's actions.

"Hey, Sudo, no matter what, breaking someone's arm is going too far, isn't it?"

"Exactly."

Even the two closest to Sudo were saying that, let alone everyone else.

"Wouldn't it be better for this guy to get expelled as soon as possible?"

"Yeah. I don't want him breaking my bones someday."

"Even now, he insists he did absolutely nothing wrong."

The students of Class D murmured among themselves, while Kamio Tatsuya could not help admiring how ruthless Ryuen was.

To frame Sudo, he had actually broken a classmate's arm. That was one hell of a painful self-inflicted scheme.

He wondered which unlucky guy Ryuen had chosen.

As for Sudo himself beating those three into serious condition, Kamio Tatsuya would never believe it. They might not have been able to beat Sudo, but couldn't the three of them have run the hell away?

Wouldn't they be safe as long as they ran out of the Special Teaching Building?

Besides, once they fled, Sudo probably wouldn't do anything as extreme as chase them down.

As the class began discussing it heatedly, Sudo immediately spoke up in his own defense. "I didn't hit them that hard at all. I just gave them a few ordinary punches. Who knew they were such weaklings?"

"Then do you have any evidence?"

"What evidence? How could I possibly have something like that?"

"In other words, the truth still isn't known. The Student Council will issue its judgment in a week. They'll make a relatively fair ruling based on which side was at fault."

"I'm innocent. I won't accept any verdict other than not guilty." Sudo stubbornly held to his position.

However, the students in the class had already silently decided that this was his fault.

Although Class D had obtained some Private Points from the other classes, they all understood that doing something like this once was enough. They absolutely couldn't keep doing it.

Otherwise, the other three classes would definitely band together against them.

Forty thousand points was neither a lot nor a little, but if they went two or even three consecutive months without receiving any points, it definitely wouldn't be enough to live on.

In fact, the best way to handle this would have been for Sudo to deny everything from the start.

After all, there were no cameras in the Special Teaching Building, and given the current circumstances, there were probably no witnesses either. So whether he had actually beaten them or not was known only to those involved.

The cameras elsewhere could at most prove that Sudo had gone to the Special Teaching Building at that time, meaning he might have assaulted someone.

But as long as he stubbornly insisted that he hadn't hit anyone, even the school would have no way to declare him guilty.

As for the injuries on the Class C students, they had obviously fallen down by accident.

Either way, they couldn't pin this crap on him.

If it had been Kamio Tatsuya, he definitely would have handled it that way.

But now that Sudo had already admitted to hitting them, no matter how the other side's injuries had been caused, the blame would ultimately fall on Sudo's head.

Kamio Tatsuya had never studied law, much less Japanese law, but he still felt that Sudo basically had no room left to defend himself.