Shinjo hung up just like that. It might have been unrelated, but he had a vague feeling there was some connection between this and the fact that their Personal Points hadn't arrived today.
"Sorry, Kei. Sudō asked me to go over, so..."
"That's not right... I could've sworn I heard something about a secret base..."
Although they were only fake dating, Karuizawa had long since come to see Shinjo as her prey. To begin with, she hadn't wanted her boyfriend hanging around the class's Idiot Trio.
What if they corrupted the honest Shinjo?!
But ever since Shinjo had joined Horikita's study group last time, things had gotten completely out of hand.
A boys' secret base... It didn't sound like the kind of place people went to do anything good...
"The secret base is actually Ayanokōji's dorm room. Sudō seems to be having some kind of trouble, so he asked me to come over."
Seeing Karuizawa's expression grow more and more suspicious, Shinjo hurried to explain.
"Isn't that even worse?!"
"So, what exactly are you thinking...?"
"Katsuya! I'm only worried about you because I care. You can go if you want, but take me with you, okay?"
That way, with his girlfriend there, nothing could possibly go wrong, no matter what happened!
"W-Well, all right."
Sudō had sounded so urgent that Shinjo hadn't thought to call and check whether it was okay to bring his girlfriend along.
"Hehe! Then let's go!"
Sudō's secret base. (Ayanokōji's dorm room)
"So, why is my dorm room the secret base?"
"Well, after the celebration party last time, everyone decided your place was clean and hygienic, so we each got a spare key and chose it as our secret base."
As he spoke, Ike even took out his own key and twirled it in front of Ayanokōji.
"I feel like I'm in a very dangerous situation!"
"That doesn't matter. Anyway, Sudō, what exactly did you want to tell us? You even called Horikita and Kushida over."
"I... Could we wait until Shinjo gets here? This is a really serious matter, so..."
Sudō didn't look like he was joking, which made Horikita, standing nearby, grow suspicious.
Fortunately, Shinjo didn't keep everyone waiting long.
When they noticed Karuizawa following behind him, each of them reacted differently.
"K-Karuizawa?"
"Karuizawa, you're here too!"
Seeing Horikita and Kushida there, Karuizawa finally began to believe she might have gotten the wrong idea.
If they were really planning to do that kind of thing, wouldn't they have kept the girls away?
Especially these two.
For a moment, the atmosphere turned awkward.
"Um, Sudō, sorry I didn't tell you first. I brought my girlfriend along without asking..."
"Huh? Oh! It's fine! She's your girlfriend, after all! From now on, Karuizawa's a good friend of mine too!"
Sudō was quite gracious about it. After all, he felt nothing but admiration and gratitude toward Shinjo right now. He wouldn't mind him bringing his girlfriend—or even Chabashira Sae... No, best not to go there.
"It's fine! We're happy to have Karuizawa here!"
Kushida Kikyo was the class's social butterfly for good reason. She got along well with everyone, so naturally she wasn't going to give Karuizawa a cold shoulder.
The two devoted lackeys joined in to welcome her, while Horikita remained as aloof as ever. She was more concerned with what Sudō wanted to say.
[Hey, at least ask for my opinion...]
But Ayanokōji knew all too well that his opinion had never mattered.
"Now that everyone's here, Sudō, what did you want to tell us?"
Sudō looked from one person to the next, then finally spoke, his face full of bitterness and sorrow.
"Um... Actually, Chabashira-sensei called me in today. If things go badly... I might get suspended. Maybe for a long time..."
"Suspended?!"
Even Shinjo's eyes widened. It really was one thing after another.
"You didn't... insult a teacher, did you?"
It was Kei who asked. She didn't have a very good impression of Sudō, and with his short temper, it wouldn't have been surprising if he'd done something like that.
"Of course not! No matter how dumb I am, I know better than to mess with a teacher."
"Then what happened?"
"Actually, I... beat up some guys from Class 1-C last week. So the teacher said I might get suspended. They're still deciding what to do, and that might be why our points haven't come through. It could be my fault."
Sudō had hit someone? Guys from Class 1-C?
That was pretty normal!
Still, someone had to ask.
"Wh-Why did you hit them? I'll admit the people in Class 1-C are pretty punchable, but still."
"Let me make this clear first! They came after me! I only fought back! And then those guys had the nerve to report that I'd gone looking for a fight! They're the ones who set me up!!!"
Shinjo immediately thought of Ryuen. It was inevitable that he'd target Class D, whether because of their past feud or for the sake of the class competition.
So he'd gone after Sudō first, since he was the easiest to catch slipping.
He's gotten pretty clever...
"Sudō, calm down. Tell us exactly what happened, from beginning to end, and don't leave out a single detail, okay?"
Shinjo did his best to soothe him. Sudō began to steady his breathing as if Shinjo had thrown him a lifeline, then spoke slowly.
"Our basketball coach said he'd make me a regular player for the summer tournament. But on my way home that day, Komiya and Kondo from Class 1-C, who are also on the basketball team, called me over to the administration building. They said they had something to tell me. I'd already had a falling-out with them, so I figured I'd settle things once and for all and went with them."
"But I wasn't planning to use violence! When I got there, some guy named Ishizaki was already waiting. They said they couldn't accept someone from Class D becoming a regular player and threatened to beat me up unless I quit the basketball team. Naturally, I refused! But they didn't even try to reason with me—they just attacked. So I took them out before they could take me down."
Shinjo pieced together the events in order.
"So, you already told the school what happened, right? And they told you to wait for a decision?"
"Not exactly. The school told me to find evidence by next Tuesday proving they attacked first. Otherwise, I'll be suspended. And if that happens, our class will lose Class Points, and I might even lose my place as a regular player on the basketball team!"
Clearly, of those three punishments, the last one was the hardest for Sudō to accept.
"How is that fair?! We're the victims! Why are we the ones who have to gather evidence?!"
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Before you continue