Reversal

Komiya?

That tall, skinny boy?

Horikita looked confusedly toward the plaintiff's seats not far away.

Both of his hands were wrapped in bandages.

They looked quite seriously injured.

Elsewhere.

Horikita Manabu waited and waited, yet the defense still offered no argument.

In the end... under Sakagami's urging.

He could only prepare to close the case with a helpless expression.

"Since that is the case, then... defendant Sudo Ken, starting today..."

"Wait!"

"There's something wrong with Komiya's injuries!"

Horikita cried out anxiously.

Comparing Komiya's heavily bandaged hands with the frozen image from the final seconds of the surveillance footage.

She finally noticed it.

"President Horikita, the verdict can be announced now, can't it?"

Sakagami's face had completely darkened.

Seeing Horikita Manabu act this way.

He intended to favor Class D.

Horikita Manabu paid Sakagami's words no mind and said calmly:

"Since the defense still has objections, they naturally need to be taken into consideration."

"...So that no one is wrongfully accused."

Suzuki Tsubame chuckled softly. It seemed Horikita Manabu had noticed something was wrong long ago.

He had deliberately frozen the footage a few seconds after Ishizaki and the others left the Equipment Room.

In the footage, Ishizaki was severely injured, to the point that two other people had to support him as they left.

Yes... there was no mistake. They had to support him as they left.

As the judge in this case, Horikita Manabu could not personally step in and point it out.

He could only remind his sister in such a subtle manner.

Unfortunately... the siblings seemed naturally incapable of getting on the same wavelength.

Suzune had not caught even a trace of Horikita Manabu's intent. Suzuki Tsubame still had to remind her.

Sakagami had clearly noticed something was wrong as well. Ever since watching the footage, he had continually pressured Horikita Manabu.

As for little Chabashira, she could be considered truly fair and impartial.

Her face had remained dark from beginning to end, with no intention of offering a reminder whatsoever.

Sakagami's face turned livid as he said harshly:

"President Horikita, I will truthfully report your conduct to the School Board."

Horikita Manabu could not care less about him.

In his view, among the first-year homeroom teachers, no one but Mashima and Chabashira could influence him.

Mashima was Chairman Sakayanagi's confidant and Class A's homeroom teacher. To a certain extent, he could even influence the Chairman's thinking.

Chabashira, meanwhile, was his sister's teacher.

Horikita Manabu's expression turned stern as he looked toward his sister, signaling for her to continue.

Horikita naturally would not give up this hard-won opportunity. Her thin lips parted slightly.

"Komiya and Kondo's injuries are both so severe. Yet in the surveillance footage, they were still able to calmly support Ishizaki as they left."

"Their injuries completely contradict what was shown in the footage."

"Furthermore, why are their injuries so serious, while Sudo bears no sign of injury whatsoever? I have reason to suspect that this entire incident was staged by Class C."

"Y-You... you're talking nonsense!"

"Th-That's because..."

The three Class C students looked flustered.

Their original plan had been for Ishizaki alone to get injured. After all, taking a beating for nothing did not feel good.

But... after they returned, Ryuen felt their injuries were not severe enough. He was afraid the school would not punish Sudo harshly enough.

So... he gave them a few more injuries.

Horikita Manabu frowned slightly.

Komiya and Kondo's injuries had indeed been fabricated.

But Ishizaki's injuries were real.

Based on the current evidence, all he could do was punish both sides equally.

Just as he was about to make the final ruling.

Suzuki Tsubame loudly reminded him:

"President Horikita, if you bring Ito back now, you might still find transfer records on him."

Like Ishizaki and the others, Ito was also from Class C.

But unlike the first-years, the poor second-years also had to pay protection money to Nagumo.

Their quality of life simply could not compare to that of the first-years.

That was precisely why they were so enthusiastic about "helping" younger students.

Fortunately, the school had an explicit rule forbidding upperclassmen from interfering in lowerclassmen's affairs.

Otherwise, the school would have descended into chaos long ago.

Horikita Manabu's expression did not change. He turned and instructed Tachibana Akane behind him to bring Ito back again.

Not long afterward, Tachibana Akane led Ito back inside.

When Ito saw so many pairs of eyes in the office staring at him without blinking.

He could not help wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

He turned toward Horikita Manabu and asked uneasily:

"Um... President, is there anything else?"

Horikita Manabu said nothing.

He rose and walked over to Ito.

With a casual flick of his hand, the phone Ito had stuffed into his pocket somehow ended up in Horikita Manabu's hand.

Suzuki Tsubame was dumbfounded. He had not expected Horikita Manabu to have pickpocketing skills too.

"The password."

"Uh... President, isn't this inappropriate?"

"Hmm?"

Horikita Manabu narrowed his eyes.

"The password is..."

"..."

Perhaps readers of the novel or viewers of the anime could not tell just how badass Horikita Manabu was.

He was even set up by Nagumo during the training camp exam near graduation.

Yet he was, without question, the most outstanding Student Council president since Advanced Nurturing was founded.

From the moment he enrolled, he had kept the other three classes struggling to move forward.

In terms of physical ability alone, he could even stand shoulder to shoulder with Ayanokoji.

He had virtually no weaknesses whatsoever.

For Nagumo to successfully set him up, the price he paid was likely no less than Horikita Manabu's twenty million points.

Besides the four second-year classes, Nagumo had also joined forces with the three third-year classes other than Class A.

After uniting so many classes, it should have been easy enough to defeat him, right?

No...

There was another reason he had been able to win.

Because Tachibana Akane did not want to trouble Horikita Manabu, she simply never told him what had happened to her.

If she had chosen to come clean to Horikita Manabu, the outcome would likely have been different.

"Where did these twenty thousand points come from?"

Ito looked nervous as he cautiously said:

"Th-They... were saved up by me."

"I'll ask you one more time. Where did they come from?"

Horikita Manabu's face was stern and unfriendly.

"I... I don't know!"

"Pfft!"

Ito's knees gave out, and he dropped straight to the floor. His voice choked with sobs as he said:

"Wh-Who... who put so much money... i-in my phone? Aren't they deliberately trying to frame me?..."

"You admit it's your phone?"

Horikita Manabu's expression was severe. He did not want to waste any more time on him.

"P-President, I... I've been poor for too long, I..."

Ito crawled to Horikita Manabu, trying to hug his leg, only for Horikita Manabu to kick him over.

Ignoring Ito's desperate pleas, Horikita Manabu turned and calmly looked at Sakagami.

"Teacher Sakagami, do you have anything else to say?"

"Hmph!"

Sakagami was so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged.

But there was nothing he could do about Horikita Manabu. He immediately turned and left the Student Council office.

Horikita Manabu likewise ignored Sakagami's furious departure. Looking at Ishizaki and the others, he calmly announced: