Classroom of the Elite, A Hypocritical Gray Life

"That's right, we'll leave it at this. Our side will no longer pursue the other party's responsibility."

"Has the matter been resolved privately?" As he spoke, Horikita President reached out to take the record sheet from Secretary Tachibana, deciding to put an end to this farce.

"You could say that. I really didn't expect Class D to have such interesting students."

Class D students... is there some hidden meaning behind that?

If that's the case, that phone call wasn't a coincidence either.

"Wait, Ryuen, do you know what you're saying right now?"

"I am very clear on that, Teacher Sakagami. Although the people from Class D were at fault for starting this dispute, the responsibility cannot be pinned on just one person. Withdrawing the complaint is a natural choice."

Even when the other side held absolute evidence, he still wouldn't change his tune? In other words, the other side didn't truly intend to help us; everyone involved in this dispute, including myself, had been played.

"A natural choice, is it?" Teacher Chabashira wore a faint smile like a spectator watching a play, and finally, she couldn't hold it back and laughed out loud.

"Teacher Chabashira, I don't think there is anything funny about this. Won't you discipline your students?"

"My apologies, it was rude of me. I just didn't expect the incident to develop this way. As for disciplining students, we teachers aren't allowed to interfere too much in student affairs, are we?" Facing the restless Teacher Sakagami, Teacher Chabashira showed no panic at all; one could even say she was completely indifferent.

It was at this moment that I noticed her cast a subtle glance at me, then shift her gaze toward Suzune.

"...Could it be that you were threatened behind the scenes once again?"

"Teacher Sakagami, the students of Class D have never threatened us. We simply reached a reconciliation just now. Sorry for troubling you all this time."

"This kind of thing—"

Teacher Sakagami closed his eyes, shook his head in disbelief, and sighed.

"As teachers, we really shouldn't interfere too much in student affairs. You can handle things as you see fit."

"Just to be safe, I will confirm with you all once more. Is Class C withdrawing this complaint? I must state in advance that since you have chosen to withdraw, the Student Council will not accept a second filing for this dispute."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Then, are the three of you the same?" Horikita President turned his gaze to Ishizaki and the others.

"W-we are sure."

After hearing the affirmative reply, Horikita President nodded, then turned to ask us.

"Although it is rare for a case to be withdrawn during deliberation, I can accept it for you. However, according to the regulations, you are also required to pay the corresponding amount of points to compensate for the losses. Do you have any objections?"

"None."

"Then, if the personnel from Class D do not intend to pursue the matter, this dispute ends here. Do the personnel from Class D wish to file a complaint against the actions of Class C?"

"Of course! These guys clearly provoked us first, and now—Horikita?"

"Shut up, this isn't your place to interrupt." Suppressing Sudo, who was on the verge of exploding, Suzune stood up. "Our side has no intention of fighting further."

"Then I declare the deliberation closed."

0

"Ah, these people are all so inexplicable." After walking out of the student office, Sudo ruffled his hair in frustration.

Suzune had been kept in the conference room by Teacher Chabashira for some unknown discussion, while the people from Class C left immediately after the meeting ended.

"But the matter ended smoothly in the end, isn't that good news?"

"Yeah... although I don't know what the situation was, Horikita must have done a lot, right?"

"Maybe. I just did things according to her instructions. As for how much preparation she actually made, I have no idea."

"I told you she would help me, hehe." Sudo chuckled foolishly for a while.

"Anyway, I can participate in club activities normally from now on. I'm leaving first."

"Alright."

Under my gaze, Sudo left the Special Building. There was no silhouette of anyone in my field of vision, just like the mastermind who truly solved the problem—they did not appear before my eyes.

Immediately after, the Student Council President and Secretary Tachibana finalized the full content of the meeting and exited the archives room.

"Thank you for your hard work." I wanted to express my gratitude to the busy people, but they stopped in their tracks right in front of me.

"That final move was what you prepared, the so-called method to prove that Sudo and Sakura were not lying? Making the people from Class C withdraw this complaint."

"I was just carrying out your sister's orders the whole time."

"Don't joke around. At the very least, Suzune would absolutely not be able to pull off something like this. If things were really as you said, that means the final withdrawal wasn't a tactic you prepared. But Ryuen seemed very clear that that person is in your Class D."

"Perhaps it's your sister, for all I know. At the very least, I don't know how much preparation she actually made for this matter."

"During the deliberation, your evidence regarding the wounds hadn't been fully presented yet. Can I assume that even without the final withdrawal, you could still prove they weren't lying and win the debate?"

"Who knows? Since the meeting is already over, the future as it was during the meeting is now unknowable."

"Although the future of the past cannot be predicted, we can contemplate the occurrence of deterministic events."

"If that's how you think, I can't refute it."

"...Interesting." Having said that, Horikita President adjusted his glasses and turned to face Secretary Tachibana, who was holding a thick stack of documents.

"Tachibana, there is still one vacancy for a secretary, right?"

"Yes. The student from Class A was also eliminated by you, and currently, only that interviewee from Class B remains under consideration."

"Are you interested in this vacant secretary position, Ayanokoji?"

I was startled, and Secretary Tachibana, who was listening from the side, was also extremely surprised.

"P-President, you—"

"Do you have an objection?"

"No, I don't. I just find it surprising... but since it is your decision, there must be a reason for it."

"The Student Council shouldn't need a useless person like me, should it? Besides, I prefer the life of an ordinary student."

"Eh?! He turned it down! W-why would he do that?"

"My joining would only tarnish the Student Council, and I am not suited for this kind of work."

"Preferring the life of an ordinary student... to be able to say such a thing only proves how extraordinary you are, Ayanokoji. Let's go, Tachibana."

"W-wait."

The trouble had finally left.

Just as I was rejoicing over having regained my freedom, an unsettling voice reached my ears once again.

"Ayanokoji-kun—"

After a flurry of hurried footsteps, Ichinose and Kanzaki arrived before me, panting. It was clear from their expressions that they were extremely anxious.

Their panic reminded me of Raku, who always wore a look of indifference.

That person who had always felt so familiar to me.

Chapter 39: The Truth Hidden Behind the Incident

[Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's Perspective]

"Did Ayanokoji-kun fail to make it to the start of the meeting, or has the meeting already ended?" Ichinose asked anxiously.

"I managed to make it to the meeting at the very last moment, and the deliberation just concluded."

"W-what was the result?"

"The person from Class C chose to drop the complaint."

"Drop the complaint? Is Ayanokoji-kun joking?"

"I am not joking. If you don't believe me, you can ask Horikita when she comes out." I shrugged and pointed toward Horikita and Teacher Chabashira, who were still inside the meeting room.

"But why? Didn't our plan fail?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know the specifics either. Perhaps Horikita knows something about the truth."

I then explained to Ichinose what had happened inside the meeting room.

"It's Ryuen again... what exactly is he trying to do?" Upon hearing that name, Ichinose furrowed her brows.

"Does Ichinose know what kind of person he is? You seem to hold a lot of resentment toward him."

"It's not exactly resentment... but students from Class C have been causing trouble for Class B students constantly, and it's not something that can be explained in one or two instances. I've always suspected that Ryuen is the mastermind behind these events."

"Are all the disputes this troublesome?"

"No, at least they haven't managed to involve the school to this extent. Fortunately, they dropped the complaint. Although we wasted a large amount of points purchasing surveillance cameras, we didn't suffer any other losses in the end."

I wanted to continue asking Ichinose why Kanzaki had appeared at this time, but as luck would have it, Horikita and Teacher Chabashira finished their conversation.

Teacher Chabashira merely glanced at me briefly, but Horikita glared at me fiercely.

"Yo, Ichinose and the others are here too."

Faced with a level of hostility I had never seen from her before, I fearfully raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Ayanokoji, shouldn't you explain what exactly you did?"

"...Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. If you're referring to the execution of the plan, I already explained it to you during the meeting."

So, Horikita wasn't that person after all.

"Do I really need to explain what needs to be explained? From the very beginning, you've been playing me in the palm of your hand, and just now, you kept using my orders as a shield."

"Ichinose-san is still right here, could you please not paint me as a scumbag who enjoys playing with girls? I'll be misunderstood."

"What does this mean? Does Horikita-san also not know what happened?"

"I have no idea. Until the very end, I was being deceived by Ayanokoji."

"Ayanokoji-kun?"

Even though she had given me a look that suggested we talk about this later, why did she turn around and attack me?

"Sorry, I really don't know what happened." I spread my hands to signal my innocence.

In truth, all of us had been calculated. Aside from the uncertainty of the final deliberation, that person had incorporated all of our actions into their train of thought.

Ichinose, Horikita, and even Ryuen.

Good grief, I only want an ordinary student life; why do these incidents always get pushed onto me?

Besides, I really did interfere too much in this matter; I definitely went overboard. I need to come up with a plan to fade out of everyone's sight from here on out.

"Clap, clap, clap—"

A slow, rhythmic sound of clapping rang out, drawing our attention away from the standoff.

It was Ryuen.

Unlike Sudo, he had long, soft red hair, though his personality was anything but soft. He was roughly the same height as me, and his face was always fixed with an "amused" smile.

"Since the surveillance threat didn't work, I had no choice but to trigger my backup plan... Even though my strategy failed this time, you guys took a heavy hit as well."

"Isn't this a complete defeat for you?" Horikita responded coldly.

"It seems you still don't get it. Then again, what could a weak girl like you possibly accomplish?" Ryuen flashed a mocking smile at Horikita.

"What exactly are you trying to do, Ryuen?" Ichinose stood in front of us, shielding me from him.

"This matter has nothing to do with Class B, Ichinose. I originally only intended to launch a casual attack on Class D, but I didn't expect to reel in such a big fish. You guys in Class D are hurting too, aren't you? Even if you're just defective goods, you're surprisingly powerful."

"We aren't as damaged as Class C, are we?"

"Isn't it a bigger loss for your side to waste a pawn planted inside our class just for the sake of a hot-headed piece of trash?"

A pawn planted in Class C?

"...I see. So the mastermind isn't among you?"

At this point, we couldn't pretend we had known about it all along.

"What have you been muttering to yourself about since just now?"

"..." Ryuen was silent for a moment after seeing our reactions, then burst into laughter. "Isn't it even more interesting that you chose to deceive and hide things even from your own allies?"

"Since none of you have a clue, I might as well leak a little information to you." With that, Ryuen pulled his phone from his pocket, opened a file, turned the volume to the max, and placed it in front of us.

First, a muffled, indescribable sound of pain came from the phone, followed by clear speech.