The Trial Begins

Sakura sat quietly beside the table, doing nothing, staring blankly at her hands.

She was timid and weak. She knew that well.

With her keen sense of self-awareness, she had accepted herself as she was from the very beginning.

She did not know how to change, nor did she want to.

But then Hachiman Hikigaya appeared. He was the first person who had made her lift her head high and face the world bravely.

She wanted to preserve the sunlight of that day, the smile of that day, and the scene of that day.

Unfortunately, she had not brought her camera to record it all.

So, unwilling to let those memories fade away, she made an important decision.

Ding-dong!

The piercing sound of a doorbell rang through the terrifyingly silent room.

When she opened the door, she saw Horikita standing there with an expressionless face.

"I received your message. You said you were willing to attend as a witness.

"Is that true, Sakura?"

"Yeah. I don't know if I'll be of any help, but I'll do my best."

She decided that she would make an effort to help Hachiman Hikigaya stay.

Her attitude had changed completely in just one day. What exactly had happened?

Horikita did not understand Sakura's change in attitude, but what mattered now was discussing in advance how they would handle tomorrow.

After comforting Wang Meiyu and taking her back to the Dormitory, Hachiman Hikigaya received a message from Horikita.

The message explained that she had already discussed tomorrow's strategy with Sakura.

He pulled out a chair and sat down in front of his computer.

Horikita would probably never figure out why Sakura had been willing to help.

Perhaps this was what they called the fluttering of youth.

"Now, all I have to do is wait for tomorrow to come."

Hachiman Hikigaya shut down his computer, lay down on his bed, and gradually drifted into sleep.

As the hands of the clock reached their final moment, this matter also arrived at its conclusion.

"Hikigaya, Sudo, and the witnesses you found, come with me."

Chabashira called out to the class. Several figures stood up and followed her out of the classroom.

Everyone else stared anxiously at their departing backs. For a while, no one left even though school was over.

Wang Meiyu wanted to go with them, but when she saw Hachiman Hikigaya's rejecting gaze, she could only remain in the classroom.

The final judgment would not be made by the teachers, but by the student council president, Manabu Horikita.

"Oh? Are these the two troublesome students from Sae's class?"

A familiar figure appeared: Chie Hoshinomiya, the homeroom teacher of Class B.

It seemed that the last time Hachiman Hikigaya and Sudo had been summoned to Chabashira's office, they had also run into Hoshinomiya. What a strange coincidence.

"So this is Hikigaya, the legendary girl molester? He doesn't look like one at all. He's clearly such a handsome guy!"

Hoshinomiya passed by Hachiman Hikigaya and curiously looked him over.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, my name still hasn't been cleared. If I really am a molester, maybe I've already set my sights on you at this very moment."

Hachiman Hikigaya expressionlessly glanced at her proud chest and teased her with a threat.

"That's fine. Come at me if you dare!"

Rather than being frightened, Hoshinomiya straightened her back with a hint of excitement, as though she were saying, Come on, then! Come on!

The corner of Hachiman Hikigaya's mouth twitched, while Chabashira shot her a glare.

"Enough nonsense, Chie. Please stop wasting our time."

"Okay, okay. Sae is as impatient as ever."

After nodding at Hoshinomiya, the group followed Chabashira to their final destination.

Inside the student council's Conference Room, a man and a woman were already waiting.

Manabu Horikita watched their arrival expressionlessly. After exchanging a glance with Chabashira, the members of Class D took their seats.

Before long, Class C's homeroom teacher and the alleged victims also arrived at the Conference Room.

Shiho Manabe, the girl who had confessed to Hachiman Hikigaya, was among them. She seemed afraid of him and sat in her seat without daring to raise her head.

"Is everyone here?"

Manabu Horikita looked toward the two homeroom teachers. Once he received affirming looks from them, he announced,

"Then the final judgment meeting regarding Hachiman Hikigaya's molestation case and Sudo Ken's assault case officially begins."

Next, led by Horikita, Class D began defending the two.

Although Horikita still felt intimidated when facing her brother, seeing Hachiman Hikigaya seated beside her gave her the courage to boldly argue for their innocence.

"What are you talking about? Sudo was obviously the one who assaulted us!"

"Yeah! He called us to an empty school building and started beating us up. We were no match for him at all!"

"Bullshit! There were two of you! How could I possibly have been the only one using violence?"

Both sides began arguing heatedly, each insisting that they were in the right.

Manabu Horikita rubbed his glasses with a headache, then raised a hand to signal for silence.

"Stop for a moment. Let me hear about Hachiman Hikigaya's case first."

He was more interested in this man who was supposedly Horikita's boyfriend. No matter what, he had to figure out what kind of person Hachiman Hikigaya was. He could not let his sister be deceived by him so easily.

"I'm innocent. Manabe called me to the back of the school building because she wanted to confess to me. I just rejected her.

"After rejecting her, I left."

"Do you have any evidence?" Light gleamed off Manabu Horikita's glasses, and an inexplicable pressure filled the Conference Room.

"I can testify."

Horikita spoke up. Fearlessly meeting Manabu Horikita's gaze, she said, "Hikigaya had been having lunch with me at the time. He went out with Manabe, but they were gone for only around ten minutes.

"It would have been impossible for him to molest her in such a short amount of time."

This was the only evidence Horikita had, and the only evidence she had been able to find.

"Hikigaya is your classmate. Your testimony may be biased in his favor."

Unmoved, Manabu Horikita shifted his gaze to Manabe.

"Manabe, could you please explain what happened at the time?"

Manabe's body trembled. She shakily glanced at Hachiman Hikigaya, genuinely looking like someone terrified after being molested.

"It's true that I went to Class D to call Hikigaya out, but that was because he messaged me beforehand and told me to come find him.

"He took me to the back of the school building. I didn't know what he wanted, so I asked him. But he confessed to me instead.

"Of course, I had no idea what was going on, so I rejected him. Then... then he started tearing open my uniform..."

As Manabe spoke, tears began streaming down her face.

"And he threatened me, too. He made me delete all the messages on my phone so that no evidence would be left behind."

She began sobbing uncontrollably, looking every bit like a victim.