It Was All Ayanokōji Kiyotaka's Doing!

After finishing her opening remarks, the girl with short hair, Tachibana, the Student Council secretary, simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"I never expected the Student Council to make a special trip for a dispute of this scale. It's really unusual; usually only Tachibana comes."

"Due to my busy schedule, there are some issues I haven't participated in, but in principle, it would be better if I attended. Besides, the school has entrusted me with responsibilities related to Student Council affairs."

"Moreover, this incident involves all four First Year classes, so I think it's best if I go there in person."

"So, the Student Council doesn't think that what happened all day was just a coincidence?"

The teacher of Class 1-A, Chabashira-sensei, gave a meaningful smile, but Horikita Manabu showed no sign of wavering. He knew Chabashira Sae's confidence, after all, based on all the evidence collected so far, Class 1-A was definitely the victim in this incident, and therefore naturally carried a bit of the arrogance of a victorious nation.

In stark contrast to Chabashira Sae, the Hoshinomiya Chie seemed more at ease, while Sakagami Kazuma and Mashima Tomonari of Class C and Class D had gloomy expressions and kept tapping their fingers lightly on the table.

"The first matter is about the brawl that occurred within Class 1-C."

"Normally, this is an internal matter of Class 1-C, and the other three classes are not qualified to observe. However, considering that the parties involved in the incident are closely related to the events that occurred that day and involved the other three classes, we will temporarily allow three people to observe, but they are not allowed to speak."

Horikita Manabu sat in the main seat and looked around. He had been in the position of Student Council president for more than a year, and even now, when he was confronting the class advisors, his momentum had not weakened at all. He firmly held the atmosphere and the power of speech in his hands.

"Ryuen Kakeru from Class 1-C, reported that his classmate Tokito Yuya, had committed acts of violence against him."

"Tokito Yuya countered that Ryuen Kakeru had fought with Yamada Albert, a student in Class 1-D, and that Ryuen Kakeru was framing him."

After briefly introducing the basic situation, Tachibana Akane began the meeting seriously:

"--Based on the above circumstances, we hope to ascertain which side's claim is true."

The two parties involved Ryuen Kakeru and Tokito Yuya, were quickly summoned to the conference room. Ryuen Kakeru had a bandage wrapped around his head, his left hand hanging limply in front of his chest, and his face covered with medical gauze, looking quite seriously injured. Tokito Yuya, on the other hand, looked indignant, clenching his fists and glaring at the other party with gritted teeth.

"Ryuen Kakeru, a classmate at the Tokito, said that you personally called him to the grove behind the infirmary, where he was unilaterally provoked and beaten by you. Is this true?"

"Ryuen is lying through his teeth. I never beat him up."

Tokito Yuya immediately denied it.

"So, Tokito. Shi, can you state the facts?"

Faced with the Student Council's questioning, Tokito Yuya was momentarily speechless. After all, he couldn't really admit that he had asked Yamada to beat up Ryuen Kakeru, because if he did, he would be accused of instigation.

While Tokito Yuya hesitated, Ryuen Kakeru spoke first, explaining:

"I have the complete chat history here, showing the Tokito invited me to go out alone to the grove."

Tachibana Akane took the phone from Ryuen Kakeru and projected the image onto the big screen. Judging from the time and the account, it was indeed Tokito Yuya took the initiative to ask Ryuen Kakeru out alone.

"I did invite him out, but it was just to scare Ryuen. Besides, how could I possibly have beaten Ryuen up like this?"

Tokito Yuya quickly explained.

"I was caught off guard and you ambushed me. Before I could react, you had me pinned to the ground."

Ryuen Kakeru laughed mockingly:

"What's wrong? Weren't you having a great time fighting back then?"

"Shut up!"

Tokito Yuya glared fiercely at Ryuen Kakeru. Knowing he could no longer hide it, he simply confessed everything:

"I did have the intention to beat up Ryuen, but it wasn't me who did it. It was Yamada from Class D who did it. He was the one who inflicted all the injuries on Ryuen. Doesn't your school have surveillance cameras everywhere? It shouldn't be difficult to investigate Yamada's behavior that day."

"He went to that grove of trees that day too."

Horikita Manabu nodded and said:

"We naturally questioned Yamada from Class 1-D, but his testimony was that he only went there to take selfies that day and did not participate in the fight in your Class C."

"Selfie?"

"Would a normal person go there?"

Tokito Yuya couldn't catch his breath; he stared dumbfounded at Horikita Manabu.

"Where's the evidence?"

"Yamada often shares photos of himself working out on his personal social media platforms. Because he's afraid of being seen by girls and it would have a bad influence, he often takes selfies in the woods."

Mashima Tomonari, the homeroom teacher of Class D, couldn't help but chime in. Since the other person's words did indeed involve students from their class, Horikita Manabu didn't stop him from speaking.

Yamada's persona of liking to take selfies and upload gym photos was built up starting with the Sakura Airi incident, Horikita Manabu was well aware that this was Kitagawa Ryo's doing.

After all, what's the chance of running into a crime scene twice in less than a month?

"Then, this is a photo that Yamada accidentally took while taking a selfie."

Horikita Manabu projected three photos onto the screen, clearly showing Tokito Yuya straddling Ryuen Kakeru. One photo showed him slapping Ryuen Sho's face, and the other showed him grabbing his collar. Judging from his ferocious expression and their posture, Tokito Yuya did indeed appear to be committing acts of violence against Ryuen Kakeru.

How did the students at the Tokito interpret these photos?

"... I have a video of Ryuen and Yamada fighting."

The homeroom teachers of all four classes, along with the two Student Council members, all looked up with interest, but Tokito Yuya quickly added angrily:

"It's just lost."

Ryuen Kakeru seemed to find Tokito Yuya's words very amusing. He laughed loudly twice and pointed at Tokito Yuya, shouting:

"Then I could also say that I have conclusive evidence, but I accidentally lost it?"

"Ryuen, please calm down. We are only listening to Tokito's side of the story. Please refrain from interrupting."

After reprimanding Ryuen Kakeru Horikita Manabu, Horikita Manabu turned to Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, and asked:

"As the homeroom teacher of Class C, based on your understanding of these two people, which version of events is closer to the truth?"

Sakagami Kazuma took a deep breath. Although as the homeroom teacher he knew very well that Tokito Yuya was successfully framed and expelled, Class Points Class C would lose a full 300 points, he had already chosen Ryuen Kakeru as the Leader of Class C, and all he could do now was support his choice.

"Tokito Ren is usually very irritable, and Ryuen is also impulsive. The two often have conflicts."

With Tokito Yuya at a disadvantage, these seemingly fair words undoubtedly shattered his hopes of turning the tables. He stared intently at his homeroom teacher, unable to understand why the teacher was so biased towards Ryuen Kakeru Tokito Yuya.

Ryuen Kakeru tore off the gauze from his cheek, revealing a broken skin, and then pointed to his fractured left arm.

No matter how much Tokito Yuya tried to deny it, the wound was simply too convincing as evidence.

Moreover, the existence of various pieces of evidence, especially the photos, has pushed him to the brink of despair.

The only piece of evidence that Tokito Yuya is now relying on—the memory card from the camera that recorded the entire fight between Ryuen Kakeru and Yamada— has also disappeared.

Over the past two days, Tokito Yuya carefully recalled the entire day's events, going through every single second. He eventually discovered that the only two moments when the camera left his hands and even his field of vision were when he first handed it over to Yamada and the few dozen seconds when he was knocked down on his way back to the dormitory.

He had even found out that the person who knocked him down was Yagami Takuya from Class 1-B, but both of them denied Tokito Yuya's camera. With no evidence whatsoever, Tokito Yuya could only be filled with impotent rage.

Tokito Yuya vaguely guessed that he had been set up, but he couldn't be sure who it was. Even now, standing on the edge of dropping out of school, he deeply felt the powerlessness of his lack of ability.

Seeing Tokito Yuya's ashen face, completely devoid of his usual radiance, Class 1-C's Sakagami Kazuma, shook his head helplessly.

Perhaps from Ryuen Kakeru's perspective, this was a blow to those in the class who had different ideas, a means to establish authority, and he was the victor.

However, for Class 1-C as a whole, this was a deal that was a complete win, not even a zero-sum game.

Now, all we can hope for is that Ryuen Kakeru, having eliminated those with differing opinions within the class, will be able to better lead Class 1-C.

Sakagami Kazuma slowly closed his eyes.

He heard Horikita Manabu announce the final results:

"Based on the existing evidence, it is inferred that Tokito Yuya committed serious acts of violence against Ryuen Kakeru. So, Ryuen Kakeru, are you willing to forgive Tokito Renyu? This might reduce his punishment."

"I do not forgive this, and I demand that the school severely punish this person."

Ryuen Kakeru grinned, his lips forming a sharp, curved line.

"OK."

"According to school regulations, any act of violence against classmates, teachers, or other school staff within the Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School will be adjudicated based on three factors: the perpetrator's intent, the objective circumstances, and the extent of the victim's injuries."

"Therefore, although this period of time was very short, thank you for your hard work."

Horikita Manabu's cold voice took away the last bit of strength from Tokito Yuya.

"After school, you will need to submit your withdrawal application, and you will need to be accompanied by a guardian. The Tokito teacher of Class 1-C will contact you after the meeting, but there may be further events that involve you, so please wait outside for a while."

[Class 1-C, Grade 1, Class Points reduced by 300]

Kitagawa Ryo made this judgment in his mind after watching the absent-minded Tokito Yuya stagger out of the conference room.

According to his calculations, Class 1-C should be able to save about 500 Class Points by the end of this month. If we remove 300 points, then only 200 points will be left.

The biggest disadvantage of Class 1-D is that in the first month, the overall quality of Class D will directly deduct all of the initial Class Points of one thousand, which Kitagawa Ryo cannot stop, although he did not intend to stop it at the beginning.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Class D will fall behind Class C by approximately 1,000 points, 700 points, and 400 points respectively in the first month.

Therefore, the first step is to bring all four classes back to the same starting line.

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike, who were trembling not far away. The two seemed to see their own fate reflected in Tokito Yuya, who had just left in a sorry state, and kept wiping the sweat from their foreheads.

"Next up should be the incident involving Class 1-A and Class D in the first year."

Horikita Suzune whispered a reminder to Kitagawa Ryo. As a member of the Student Council, although she did not directly participate in this meeting, she was familiar with the general process.

"You were the one who did what happened in Class 1-C, weren't you?"

Horikita Suzune poked Kitagawa Ryo in the back with her pen. The two were currently hiding in the corner of the conference room corridor. Kitagawa Ryo was crouching down below, and Horikita Suzune had her head pressed down on Kitagawa Ryo's head, peeking into the conference room.

"It's a win-win situation, but from the tone of your voice Suzune, it sounds like I'm some kind of heinous criminal."

"Tch, what win-win? It's more like losing twice."

Horikita Suzune's delicate chin was resting on Kitagawa Ryo's head. She rubbed her head against Kitagawa Ryo's head in dissatisfaction and said:

"Class 1-C had its Class Points deducted, and Class 1-D had two students expelled for dragging the class down. And in the end, all they did was vent their resentment on Class A, who reported them, and Class C, who exposed their tricks."

"Suzune answered a little less."

Kitagawa Ryo looked at Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike, who had been summoned and entered the conference room, and said, chin in hand:

"From the perspectives of Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike, there is a mystery that remains unclear."

"So who exactly faked their injuries, and why did they do it?"

"This person is the one who caused them the most harm. Of course, if they were smart enough not to do anything like extortion, they would have been fine."

Horikita Suzune squatted down, somewhat speechless. She lowered her head and rested it on Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder, whispering in his ear:

Is Liang introducing himself?

"No way."

"I've never even met those two idiots."

Kitagawa Ryo replied with a smile:

"Actually, when everyone knows about a breakthrough point..."

"That's the perfect bait."

[Please enter the meeting room, Class 1-A students Katsuragi Kohei, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Kushida Kikyo, and Koenji Rokusuke.]

See, they've all been caught!

Chapter 54: It was all Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's doing!

Inside the Student Council meeting room, the atmosphere was even more tense than before. Perhaps it was because as many as six students had been summoned, and even the air felt crowded. The students were breathing heavily, as if they were fighting over something.

"Now, Yamauchi from Class 1-D, please repeat what you just said. What did you and Kanji Ike see and hear when you arrived at the infirmary?"

Student Council President Horikita Manabu nodded in acknowledgment.

"When Ike and I arrived at the infirmary, we clearly heard the voice of Koenji from Class 1-A, and there was another girl whose name I didn't know. The two of them were discussing something like a transaction."

Under this intense atmosphere, Yamauchi Haruki, sweating profusely, stammered as he explained:

"And at that time, Ike also saw it, saw Koenji's back."

Kanji Ike nodded in affirmation of Yamauchi Haruki's statement:

"There are very few blonds in school to begin with. Although Hashimoto from Hashimoto Class A also has blond hair, his build is very different from Koenji's. I couldn't possibly be mistaken."

He did see the tall, blond figure through the window of the infirmary.

"Then, because the two of us discovered this illicit transaction, we were subsequently caught Koenji Rokusuke was knocked unconscious."

Logically speaking, there's nothing wrong with what Ike and Yamauchi said, although it does sound a bit like something out of Detective Conan.