In Classroom of the Elite, Ichinose You Will Regret It

Kanzaki's expression turned serious as he nodded.

"I understand. I will make the arrangements immediately."

Heh, so there really was something.

Uesugi Gen watched the surveillance footage before him, muttering to himself.

Not long after Yamauchi and the trio entered, a girl clutching a camera ran out, looking flustered.

Judging by the time interval between the two shots, she had definitely seen something.

More importantly, Uesugi Gen's eyes were locked onto the camera in her hands; she might have even captured something on film.

Furthermore, according to the surveillance footage, Yamauchi had entered first, and the three students from Class C had followed him in sneakily.

This was enough to prove that there was more to this incident than met the eye.

Had Class C really been exploring the school for so long without figuring out the locations of all the hidden cameras?

Then again, with Kōiku's goal of evaluating student value, how could they possibly let students discover the locations of all the cameras so easily?

For Class C to act so rashly without even having the specific intelligence fully mapped out—their leader was a bit impulsive.

With this video alone, one could basically bring Class C and Class D back to the same level.

No... that's not right!

Uesugi Gen stared at the grinning Yamauchi Haruki on the screen.

That Yamauchi hadn't arrived at that location by accident; he had been tailing the girl in the footage.

Uesugi Gen's mouth twitched.

What kind of background check did the school administration even conduct? How could they let just anyone into this school!

Forget it, never mind that talent for now; the priority was to handle the matter at hand.

Uesugi Gen pondered for a moment.

He sent the photo of the girl from the footage to his accomplice. Given her social reach, she would likely know exactly who that girl was.

And judging by the fact that Yamauchi Haruki had specifically followed her, she might even be a student from Class D.

Soon, Kushida Kikyo sent a message back.

Sakura Airi, huh.

Moreover, it seemed Horikita Suzune had also discovered that Sakura Airi was a witness and was currently heading toward her location.

He had to pick up the pace; he needed to get his hands on the evidence before Horikita Suzune did.

Because of Sakura Airi's status as a Class D student, the persuasiveness of her testimony would be somewhat diminished, so the physical evidence was what mattered most.

Uesugi Gen made a swift decision.

The digital camera had been broken, so the location was an electronics store, then.

When Uesugi Gen arrived, Sakura Airi was bowing her head, timidly handing the digital camera to a clerk for repairs.

Uesugi Gen let out a soft sigh. Since the camera was there, the rest would be easy to handle.

Sakura Airi was from Class D; there was no way she would help Uesugi Gen threaten Class C, so the only option was to target the camera that might contain physical evidence.

As soon as she walked away, Uesugi Gen would use his authority as the vice president of the student council to demand an inspection of the device to see if the scene had been captured, and if so, he would copy the files and take them with him.

However, an unexpected scene unfolded.

The seemingly timid Sakura Airi suddenly bolted out of the electronics store.

Hm? Was her intuition that sharp? Could she really have spotted me?

No... that's not it. It wasn't me; it was that repair clerk.

Uesugi Gen frowned and continued to observe.

He saw that as soon as Sakura Airi fled, the repair clerk couldn't wait to pry open the memory card, looking at the contents with an obsessed expression while muttering something to himself.

Uesugi Gen fell silent, looking expressionlessly at the fleeing Sakura Airi, then turned his gaze back to the store clerk.

Being targeted by two such perverts in a row—do you have some kind of special constitution?

Yamauchi Haruki was one thing; with his ability, which might be inferior to the air itself, the impact he could have on Sakura Airi was limited.

But this person in front of him had clearly terrified her, and he might even have a criminal record.

Although Horikita Manabu was always complaining that he didn't do his job properly, as the vice president of the student council, Uesugi Gen still felt it was necessary to intervene in a situation like this.

Soon, Uesugi Gen brought over a few security guards and flashed his student council vice president ID.

"Go check his phone and things like that; see if there's anything suspicious. Also, send someone to bring back the person who just ran off."

The security guard nodded with a stern expression and signaled his subordinates, who immediately swarmed forward.

"W-what are you doing? Let me go!"

The repair shop clerk panicked the moment he saw the burly men surrounding him.

Ignoring the clerk's struggles, the men forcibly unlocked his phone.

"T-this is!"

The security guard looked at the contents of the phone in shock, then trotted over to hand it to Uesugi Gen.

"To think they would hire someone like this; this is truly a grave dereliction of duty by the school."

Uesugi Gen looked at the contents of the phone and scratched his head in annoyance.

Displayed on the screen were photos of Sakura Airi taken from various angles, and when compared to the idol portraits filling every corner of his phone, it was easy to conclude that they were the same person.

Uesugi Gen then glanced at the disheveled repair shop clerk and waved his hand.

"Take him away and hand him over to the school authorities."

"Now then, it's time to talk about our issue."

Uesugi Gen turned around and looked at Sakura Airi, who was hiding behind the security guards.

"Miss Idol."

"I... we have nothing to talk about."

Sakura Airi hid behind the security guards, closing her eyes and crouching down with her hands over her head, her voice trembling.

"..."

Am I really that scary?

V-very scary!

A Great Demon King!

Others might not know, but Sakura Airi knew very well that Sudo, who had been so arrogant at the start of the term in their class, was now perfectly obedient and didn't even dare to speak loudly in front of him.

Whenever Sudo mentioned him, he called him the Great Demon King.

"What about your camera, then? You don't want your camera either?"

Uesugi Gen teased.

"N-no, I don't want it."

Sakura Airi waved her hands repeatedly in refusal.

"Then the compensation the school is giving you--"

"I don't want that either!"

Sakura Airi blurted out, a hint of a sob in her voice.

"Fine, I'll have Secretary Tachibana talk to you later. That clerk won't be bothering you again, though your camera might need to be kept as evidence for a while."

Uesugi Gen gave up on the struggle.

"Mm-hmm."

Sakura Airi nodded repeatedly.

She was already satisfied enough that the problem had been resolved.

After Sakura Airi left with the security guards, Uesugi Gen used a computer to open the memory card.

The photos appeared clearly on the screen.

Looking at the images on the computer, Uesugi Gen revealed a faint smile.

"Got it."

Chapter 42: Smash!

"Stop right there!"

Horikita Suzune had appeared behind Uesugi Gen at some point.

"Oh my, if it isn't Miss Horikita?"

Uesugi Gen turned his head to look at Horikita Suzune, his voice carrying a hint of a smile.

"You've come at the right time. I've found the decisive evidence to prove that Class C started it, and I was just about to help you go settle the score with them."

A fair, delicate hand reached out in front of Uesugi Gen.

"Hand it over to me. You don't need to trouble yourself with this matter."

Horikita Suzune said with an expressionless face.

Just a moment ago, she had learned from Sakura Airi that the camera containing the evidence had fallen into Uesugi Gen's hands.

As expected, this guy wouldn't help her out of the kindness of his heart; he just wanted to use this incident to strike at Class C.

"That won't do, Miss Horikita. This is my property, and even if you are a student, I can't just give it to you."

Uesugi Gen said in a tone of earnest advice.

Horikita Suzune retorted, somewhat exasperated, "This clearly belongs to Sakura, so how did it become yours?"

"She told me she didn't want it, so I picked it up off the ground. According to school regulations, any unclaimed items found on the Kōiku campus are to be handled by the Student Council."

"There is an unclaimed memory card here, and as it happens, I am the vice president of the Student Council. Look at what a coincidence that is."

Horikita Suzune's perpetually cold expression finally began to crack.

How could this guy make such a shameless act sound so high-minded?

However, expecting Horikita Suzune to give up just like that was impossible.

Ever since she took down Yamauchi Haruki with force last time, she had discovered that this method was sometimes much more effective than words.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Are you trying to rob me? Let me tell you, if you touch me today, I'll go straight to your brother and tell him you assaulted the Student Council vice president in the street, and have him beat you up again."

Sensing Horikita Horikita's intentions, Uesugi Gen stepped back slightly and immediately used Horikita Manabu's name to pressure her.

Horikita Suzune's outstretched hands paused in mid-air, then she pulled them back indignantly, glaring at Uesugi Gen through gritted teeth, "You bastard, if you have the guts, don't go snitching!"

"I just can't be bothered to fight you. If I accidentally break you, your brother will come to annoy me again."

Uesugi Gen was still being stubborn.

"I don't care. Give me the item right now, or you aren't going anywhere today."

Horikita Suzune looked as if she were prepared to wear him down to the end.

Uesugi Gen had no choice but to try a different approach.