How Did Everyone End Up Falling Apart? (Part 2)

Since joining the Student Council, Horikita Suzune has been involved in many mundane matters on campus, such as disputes between various clubs over club fees, handling applications for participation in various competitions, and approving whether students who perform well in competitions meet the rules and can add Class Points to the class.

"So that's why you value Sudo so much?"

After finishing discussing a club dispute she had handled a few days prior, Horikita Suzune looked up at Kitagawa Ryo and asked him a question.

"Yes, he is one of the few, if not the only, students in Class D who can contribute to club activities."

Kitagawa Ryo ate the food on his plate slowly and deliberately.

"What Sudo needs is an Unforgettable lesson, and then everyone's approval. Once he achieves these two things, he can become the backbone of Class D."

"I didn't expect Liang to have such a high opinion of him."

"No wonder you were in the Basketball Club back then."

When Horikita Suzune suddenly blurted out such a nonsensical remark, Kitagawa Ryo just smiled and didn't respond. After quickly finishing their food, the two walked side by side out of the Student Cafeteria towards the dormitory building.

When Kitagawa Ryo led Horikita Suzune to his room and unlocked the door, he found a girl sitting leisurely on the sofa inside. She was eating the dessert ice cream that Kitagawa Ryo had cooked the night before and kept in the refrigerator while watching TV.

"Oh, you're back?"

"I think I haven't come to the wrong room, this should be my room."

Kitagawa Ryo casually kicked off his shoes and put on slippers, then leaned back on the other side of the sofa:

"Benefit?"

"Since we always need to discuss things in the cool room, knocking on the door is too noisy, so it's normal for me to have a spare key made, right?"

Karuizawa Kei twirled the keys in her hand and casually tossed them towards Kitagawa Ryo:

"If Liang doesn't like it, she can take it back."

"Then you should keep it, just don't let anyone see you."

Kitagawa Ryo knew that Karuizawa Kei was playing hard to get, so he took the key and threw it back. Karuizawa Kei then smiled and put the key away again.

Horikita Suzune had also changed her shoes by then. She carefully squatted down and arranged the three pairs of shoes at the door before walking in. Although the sofa where Karuizawa Kei was sitting could fit another person, Horikita Suzune naturally sat on Kitagawa Ryo's bed next to her.

"Suzune, how's the Student Council going?"

Upon seeing Horikita Suzune's action, a strange glint flashed in Karuizawa Kei's eyes, but she concealed it well and asked in a relaxed tone.

"Tokito has already been expelled and eliminated. It seems like Yagami won't be far behind. As for Yamauchi and Ike, we'll have to see the final result, but the worst punishment will be suspension."

Horikita Suzune briefly summarized the morning's events, then asked Karuizawa Kei with great interest:

"Speaking of which, you should know Yagami's initial plan, right?"

"Yes, Hoshinomiya teacher told me."

Karuizawa Kei nodded, taking small licks of her ice cream and gesturing towards Kitagawa Ryo:

"But you should still let Ryo explain. He probably knows more than I do, since the current situation has far exceeded Yagami Takuya's initial expectations."

Back in his room, Kitagawa Ryo Matsushita. He stroked his chin, carefully considering his words:

"To explain Yagami Takuya's plan, we should first introduce his identity and personality."

"If I'm not mistaken, he should be one of the helpers sent by the White Room to assist Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."

Both of them understood the bet between Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and were also aware of the existence of the White Room. So, although they showed a little surprise on their faces, they quickly accepted the fact.

"However, Yagami himself is not simply an assistant. Although he accepted the mission to help Ayanokoji Kiyotaka defeat me, he always thought he could bypass Ayanokoji and defeat me alone."

Kitagawa Ryo gently tapped the armrest of the sofa:

"To put it bluntly, he even wanted to defeat both me and Ayanokoji at the same time."

That's why he devised that plan—an action plan targeting both Class A and Class D simultaneously.

"As a student in Class 1-B, Yagami keenly sensed the usefulness of their Hoshinomiya Chie, so he promised her that he would strike at Class A in exchange for her support."

"Yagami's plan is divided into two parts; the infirmary is only the first half."

"He lured Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike from Class D to the infirmary. In doing so, he had two backup plans: a photo of their Hoshinomiya Chie, and a student from Class D, Matsushita Chiaki."

"I cut off the Koenji Rokusuke's surveillance cameras beforehand, set up a recording of Koenji Rokusuke to create the illusion that he was present, then I injured both of them myself. At the same time, I sent an anonymous message to Koenji Katsuragi Kohei, who was concerned about Koenji, summoning him to the infirmary to confront Class D."

Horikita Suzune was somewhat taken aback when she heard this and said:

"Isn't this the same reasoning the Student Council used at the beginning?"

"Yes, if the first half of this plan goes smoothly, it will most likely replicate the reality of Katsuragi Kohei requesting a private settlement, because Yamauchi and Ike were supposed to suffer real injuries in the first place."

"Furthermore, Yagami doesn't need to worry about failure, because if the scam succeeds, Class A and Class D will become enemies, and if it fails, Class A and Class D will also become enemies."

"The reason we chose Yamauchi and Ike is because they are the two people who are most easily fooled and most likely to give Katsuragi Kohei a hard time. Katsuragi Kohei's personality is not good at dealing with this kind of performative personality who is good at exaggeration, and he will easily be drawn into the other person's rhythm."

Horikita Suzune nodded thoughtfully. She didn't know much about Katsuragi Kohei's personality, but from her few interactions, he was indeed a rather conservative person. Despite his fierce appearance, he seemed inexplicably stubborn.

"But Yagami's plan doesn't stop there. His real target isn't Yamauchi and Ike, because subjectively he doesn't even want them to drop out. After all, they're a pure side effect in Class D, and keeping them would be great news for the top classes."

"The Basketball Club, is that right?"

Horikita Suzune narrowed her eyes; she vaguely guessed what the other party's plan was.

"Yes, it's Sudo."

"Sudo is highly regarded by the coach in the Basketball Club, and if nothing unexpected happens, he is very likely to be selected as a regular player to participate in the Summer Tournament with the club."

"But as you know, Sudo himself has a personality that makes him unpopular in the Basketball Club. On the contrary, his outstanding performance often makes him the target of jealousy and even resentment from the other First Year classes."

"Kito from Class 1-A is the boy in the Basketball Club whose physical abilities are closest to Sudo's, and he also has a background in basketball. So, with the encouragement of the other students, Sudo naturally developed some hostility towards him."

Kitagawa Ryo paused, then said with some emotion:

"Actually, Yagami is also a social talent. His data rating on his entrance exam file is probably fake. He has a wide social circle throughout the grade and is close to Kushida Kikyo from Class A, which is why he was able to gather so much information and make targeted plans."

"That afternoon, while Yamauchi and Ike were unconscious in the infirmary, the Basketball Club was also quite lively. Yagami had arranged for his students to spread the word about the regular players, saying that Sudo's playing style was too selfish and he didn't cooperate well with his teammates, while Kito was better at cooperating with others."

"Then, taking advantage of Sudo's anger, they deliberately stirred up trouble and used public opinion to force Sudo and Kito to play a three-on-three basketball game."

"Actually, both sides were caught in the middle at this point. Sudo was consumed by rage, while Kito was someone everyone usually expected to put Sudo in check. Even if he didn't want to provoke Sudo, he was forced into the fray, since Sudo had already gotten too aggressive."

Unlike Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Yagami Takuya is more adept at manipulating these psychological and public opinion factors, and quite effectively at it.

Kitagawa Ryo silently commented on Yagami Takuya while continuing to explain:

"But because of Sudo's usual unpopularity, he couldn't even find a teammate. The First Year couldn't stand his temper, and the older students were afraid he would take their spots, so no one wanted to team up with him."

"Since the start of the school year, the only two people Sudo can call friends are Yamauchi and Ike in his class. So at that time, his choices were either to play one against three, which the rules didn't allow, or to temporarily pull these two over to be his teammates."

"But Sudo himself has an arrogant mentality that he is very strong and his teammates are just there to make the game a breeze, so he will definitely choose to call Yamauchi and Ike."

Horikita Suzune slowly exhaled:

"But at that time, Yamauchi and Ike were unconscious in the infirmary."

"Um."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded, then squinted and said:

"So, since Sudo can't contact either of them, he'll be facing ridicule and mockery from the entire audience. Even if his opponents, the students of Class 1-A, don't get involved, their mere presence will put pressure on Sudo, who's all alone."

"If at this moment, someone were to say to him—"

"Yamauchi and Ike were beaten up by the students from Class A and ended up in the infirmary."

"Boom--"

"The powder keg exploded."

Kitagawa Ryo knew Ken Sudō's personality well enough that he thought Sudo wouldn't even need a final reminder; he figured Ken Sudō would probably throw a punch during the penultimate step.

That will be the time when Class A and Class D truly break apart and become enemies.

If Sudo really takes action, then no one will care about the truth of the infirmary incident.

"This was Yagami's entire plan from the beginning. If it had succeeded, both Class A and Class D would have been in serious trouble."

After talking so much, Kitagawa Ryo was also a little thirsty. He took three bottles of juice from the refrigerator, threw one to Karuizawa Kei and Horikita Suzune, and then drank it all by himself. He finished it in just two gulps and casually threw it into the room's trash can.

"I've already discussed the rest with Suzune. Yagami's confidence largely stemmed from the support of his homeroom teacher, but he overlooked the possibility that the teacher might betray him for the same reason, leading to the complete leak of the plan. This makes breaking the deadlock much easier."

Kitagawa Ryo cleared his throat and then spoke again:

"First, Katsuragi Kohei's intrusion was only beneficial to Yagami Takuya's plan, so he not only didn't stop it, but also saw it as a good opportunity and actively cooperated, further deepening Yamauchi and Ike's conviction that Koenji was in the Koenji."

"But what Yagami didn't expect was that this would also become one of the pieces of evidence suggesting collusion between Class A and Class B after things were exposed."

"Then comes the specific evidence collection."

"I arranged the Class C incident in advance so that I could use it as a Class C to cover up Yamada's involvement and allow him to quietly get involved in the infirmary incident."

"Yes, the evidence footage related to Yagami was first filmed by Yamada, who was lying in wait there. Then he met up with Tokito Yuya Class C and intervened in the internal conflict of Class C."

"Tokito Yuya and Ryuen Kakeru were just a decoy. If Yagami had attacked Yamauchi and Ike as originally planned and injured them, Yamada could have collected even more perfect evidence."

"Unfortunately, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka intervened in time to stop Yagami, but he was indeed tricked by Tokito Yuya's pretext and was forced to steal Tokito Yuya's camera memory card afterwards."

"But the memory card had already been switched by Yamada by then, and there was nothing on it."

"Hoshinomiya Chie is responsible for faking the injury, and Ryuen Kakeru is responsible for exposing it according to the contract."

"Then I'll take Yamada to the Basketball Club to cheer on Sudo, forming a temporary three-man team with Sudo to prevent him from going berserk while also gaining his gratitude."

That's roughly the whole process.

After saying such a long thing, Kitagawa Ryo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

While still munching on the remaining ice cream cone, Karuizawa Kei clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"Whoa whoa--"

Horikita Suzune thought carefully for a while, then her relaxed brows furrowed again:

"There's one more question."

Why did Class B's leader Hoshinomiya, choose to abandon Yagami to assist you?

She looked suspiciously at Karuizawa Kei, who was eating the tube.

"What promises did you make to her?"

"Given the current situation, there's a good chance that Yagami Takuya from Class B will be expelled. Hoshinomiya can't possibly accept that outcome."

Is it possible that she didn't know?

Karuizawa Kei finally finished her ice cream, and playfully licked the cream off her fingers, saying:

"If things had gone according to the original plan, Yagami would have needed to personally inflict real injuries on the two of them. Now, all she has to do is pretend to apply a few bandages, and she feels safer that way. She should even thank us."

"As for our terms—"

Karuizawa Kei deliberately drew out her words, glancing at the smiling Kitagawa Ryo, and pouting slightly as she spoke:

"Let Ryo tell you."

"Well, Suzune will know next month."

Kitagawa Ryo also kept everyone in suspense, gazing towards the Student Council and muttering to himself while propping his head up with his hand:

"Now we'll see what the Student Council's decision is."

Horikita Suzune didn't mind, and after listening to the entire explanation of the incident, she carefully spoke:

"Although Liang's plan dragged every class into the mess, it also made everyone share the responsibility for the incident. This time, the incident between Class A and Class D is very likely to result in no students dropping out; the most probable punishments will be something like paying points or suspension."

As a member of the Student Council, Horikita Suzune was also familiar with the school rules.

Take Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike as examples. If the events hadn't taken a turn, the two would have been expelled from school for fraud. However, the fact that Yagami and Katsuragi were outmaneuvered created a strange backdrop that made it seem like Yamauchi and Ike were framed, making the final liability and punishment seem unpredictable.

With Kitagawa Ryo's manipulation, the whole thing seems to be a conspiracy between Class A and Class B to frame Class D, but there is insufficient evidence; it also seems to be that the two students from Class D deliberately faked injuries to commit fraud, but there is also insufficient evidence; it is said that Yagami planned everything by himself, but the two students from Class D did indeed commit fraud, Katsuragi Kohei also appears suspicious in the whole incident.

"Don't worry, for some people involved in this incident, being suspended from school is actually no different from being expelled."

Kitagawa Ryo leaned back on the sofa and slowly closed his eyes.

[Katsuragi Kohei, a student in Class 1-A, concealed information during the Student Council's investigation. Following the Student Council's review, he was ultimately suspended from school for half a month and had 50 points deducted from his Class Points.]

[Yagami Takuya, a student in Class 1-B, is suspected of committing acts of violence against a student (causing the victim to fall into a coma) and is also suspected of planning and participating in activities to frame a student. After investigation by the Student Council, he was ultimately suspended from school for six months and had 100 Class Points deducted.]

[Tokito Yuya, a student in Class 1-C, was suspected of committing acts of violence against a student (resulting in serious injury to the victim). After investigation by the Student Council, he was ultimately expelled from the school.]

[Students Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike, from Class 1-D, are suspected of fraud (the amount involved is one million Private Points, of which 110,000 Private Points have already been spent). After investigation by the Student Council, they were ultimately punished with the following disciplinary actions: confiscation of all Private Points, compensation for all Private Points lost by the victims, deduction of 100 Class Points, and suspension from school for three months.]