Framed

"Chabashira-sensei, there's no school rule that explicitly forbids a classmate from sitting in on a student council trial, is there?"

The classroom's gazes all turned toward the source of the voice.

The one who spoke was none other than Suzuki Tsubame!

Among the many stares, curiosity and confusion definitely made up the vast majority.

For these three months, Suzuki Tsubame had stuck to a three-point line: classroom, dormitory, and gymnasium.

No matter who invited him, he almost always gave a polite refusal.

No one expected him to voluntarily step forward and speak up for Sudo.

...Wait.

Gymnasium?

Sudo also liked going to the gymnasium...

Case closed... Could this really be the outcome?

Everyone was stunned.

"Oh?"

Chabashira's expression finally shifted. She looked at Suzuki Tsubame with interest.

"Suzuki Tsubame, are you sure you want to come along?"

She hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise.

If they were this close, didn't that mean she could use this to threaten him?

"Of course... I trust Sudo. He's not the impulsive type anymore."

Suzuki Tsubame nodded, his tone firm.

However...

Only he knew the real reason for doing this.

[Ding! Time-limited mission activated: Inferiority and hyper-aggression, family trauma has left him covered in thorns—try to reform him. Time limit: 23:59:57]

"..."

Why did this time-limited mission always make me do good deeds?

No choice... the rewards were just too much to pass up.

"That's right! I believe Ken isn't that kind of person either."

Ike also stepped forward.

He just didn't dare to initiate the charge; in truth, he valued the friendship among everyone very much.

"Um, Sudo-kun... might have just been caught up in the incident."

"Chabashira-sensei, I think we should trust Sudo-kun this time."

"Yeah, yeah, maybe... Sudo really was framed?"

With Kushida Kikyo, Hirata Yosuke, and Karuizawa stepping forward, the hostility in the class finally eased a bit.

The Two Tas went without saying—as the easygoing types, it was normal for them to step up.

Most of the class was willing to give them that face.

Karuizawa's move was a bit more thought-provoking. After all, she usually despised Sudo and the other two idiots.

Her stepping forward was most likely to protect Suzuki Tsubame, her cash cow.

In these two months, relying on her unusual 'generosity,'

she had already taken on the role of the girls' leader.

Watching this scene, Sudo's eyes grew hotter.

"Everyone..."

He lifted his head, struggling not to cry.

Student Council.

On the stage, Horikita Manabu sat upright with a stern expression on the judge's seat.

Behind him, Tachibana Akane held a notebook, recording.

Below, Sudo stood miserably in the defendant's seat, looking restless and uneasy.

Chabashira stood not far behind him with a cold expression.

In the spectator seats sat Suzuki Tsubame, Horikita Suzune, and Hirata Yosuke.

On the other side, the plaintiff's seat naturally belonged to the three Class C students led by Ishizaki Daichi. Each of them had bruised and swollen faces, with bandages wrapped around their hands.

Behind them stood a stern-faced middle-aged man—Sakagami Kazuma, the homeroom teacher of Class C.

He looked exactly like a rigid, strict teacher who would be harsh on students.

But... if you had to pick the one teacher at Advanced Nurturing who helped his class the most, it would undoubtedly be Sakagami.

His actions were completely at odds with his appearance.

As long as a student's behavior helped raise class points, even if it was somewhat problematic, he would tacitly allow it or actively assist.

By the way... he seemed to have some friction with Mashima-sensei of Class A.

"Sudo-kun, three students from first-year Class C have jointly accused you of committing acts of violence against them yesterday at five o'clock in the afternoon, in the Equipment Room of the Gymnasium."

"Do you... have any objections to this?"

President Horikita made it clear: neither side had definitive evidence to prove whether Sudo had actually used force.

Even without evidence, as long as Sudo flatly denied it...

The worst outcome would be both sides getting a slap on the wrist.

After all, the injuries on the Class C guys were real—that couldn't be faked.

The only real pity was probably the class points Class D had painstakingly saved up over the past month.

No... there was also Suzuki Tsubame's limited-time mission.

"I object!"

"I never laid a hand on them from start to finish! They're framing me!"

Sudo's face twisted with indignation as he pointed at Ishizaki and the others.

Ishizaki's eyes narrowed, and he shot back without backing down:

"Please see clearly, President! It's clearly this scumbag Sudo who thought we were easy pickings."

"He saw us go into the Equipment Room and deliberately came to corner us."

Suzuki Tsubame's mouth twitched.

From the surveillance footage President Horikita had just shown, it was indeed them who entered the Equipment Room first.

The moment they stepped in, Sudo followed right behind.

But... even if Sudo was an idiot, he wouldn't come alone to corner all three of them, would he?

"You're full of shit!"

Sudo first pointed at Ishizaki and cursed, then turned to explain to President Horikita:

"The reason I went to the Equipment Room was because Ito-senpai from the Badminton Club asked me to help him get a shuttlecock."

Damn...

Looks like Sudo was about to lose.

Due to the poor quality of the surveillance footage...

A small shuttlecock in Sudo's rough, large hands would be hard to make out.

Suzuki Tsubame turned to look at Class C.

Sure enough, the three of them were grinning smugly.

"President, since he said that, why don't we call Ito-senpai over and ask him?"

President Horikita frowned.

But he still instructed Tachibana Akane behind him to find Ito and bring him in for a confrontation.

It seemed they had been prepared.

From the notification to his arrival at the scene, Ito took less than two minutes.

After briefly understanding the situation, Ito shook his head without hesitation:

"President Horikita, Sudo is lying. I didn't ask him for help yesterday."

"You!"

Sudo stared at him, eyes wide with fury. He could hardly believe his ears.

Yesterday, it was clearly the other party who asked him for help, which was why he went to the Equipment Room.

"It was clearly—"

Just as Sudo tried to defend himself again...

"Silence!"

President Horikita barked, then said expressionlessly:

"Sudo, do you have anything else to add?"

"If not, the school has decided... to impose a one-month suspension on you."

The punishment was fairly reasonable, even though his intentions for going to the Equipment Room were unclear.

But the other side still had no direct evidence proving that Sudo had used violence against them.

As long as there was no audio or video recording, the school couldn't expel a student without cause.

Sudo's face showed a pained expression—he had said everything he could, what else was there to add?

It was all that bastard Ito's fault!

"Suzune, watch Komiya's hand on the surveillance footage."

Suzuki Tsubame wore a helpless look—when it came down to it, he still had to step in himself.