Dust Settles, Recognition of the Strong

After a light and melodious burst of girlish laughter, the atmosphere at the scene froze.

All eyes were focused on Horikita, along with a gaze full of murderous intent directed straight at Ayanokoji.

Ayanokoji furrowed his brows, trying his best to clarify his original intentions, but the girl did not seem to understand.

No, she did not want to understand.

She only felt that Ayanokoji was taking the opportunity to retaliate.

However, she still prioritized the bigger picture and held back.

She looked at the people around her who were staring at her with their mouths agape, closed her eyes slightly, and said as if nothing had happened: "Student Council President, I have a recording here regarding the true nature of the incident. Please... please verify it."

"Oh?" Horikita Manabu opened his mouth slightly and shifted his gaze to the girl. This time, Horikita Suzune did not dodge.

"Secretary Tachibana, please play it."

He signaled to the girl beside him.

Tachibana Akane walked over, took the phone, and played the recording in front of everyone. As the dialogue slowly played out, some unsavory information gradually began to surface.

At this, the three members of Class C finally lost their composure. Beads of sweat continued to roll down their foreheads, and they looked as if they were sitting on pins and needles.

After the recording finished, Horikita Manabu raised his head slightly, cast his gaze toward the members of Class C, and said: "Do you have any explanation for this?"

"We do!"

"President, this recording of his has been edited and lacks impartiality!"

"Look, the recording in the hands of Class D must have been tampered with to our disadvantage, not to mention that they also engaged in some form of inducement."

"We raise the strongest objection to the authenticity of this recording!"

The members of Class C scrambled to speak over one another, appearing somewhat flustered. Although they were anxious, their words held a certain logic.

After waiting for them to quiet down, Horikita Manabu nodded and said indifferently: "Indeed, a recording from Class D is not enough to prove the cause of this incident." He glanced at the silent girl, his eyes filled with expectation. "Do you have any other more convincing evidence?"

As the words reached her ears, Horikita fell silent. Her eyes lost focus, and she lowered her gaze, no longer looking directly at him.

Suzune, you really haven't made much progress after all.

As if he had tested what he wanted to know, Horikita Manabu withdrew his gaze and placed it on the storage bag in front of him. He adjusted his glasses, looked up at the crowd, and said: "I have evidence here submitted by Ichinose of Class B. Let everyone listen to it."

With that, he took a "butterfly" out of the storage bag, handed it to Tachibana Akane, and signaled for her to play it.

Immediately after, another recording played out.

The members of Class C were puzzled. Wasn't this about the same as the previous recording? Aside from the volume being lower, what was different about it?

Hm? Wait!

Why was there an abrupt female voice every 30 seconds, and why was it just onomatopoeia like "ah, oh, ya, hey"?

They didn't understand. Didn't this just make the recording seem even more fake?

Thinking of this, the three of them curled their lips into a smile in unison, feeling somewhat smug!

After the recording finished, Horikita Manabu first glanced at the girl who had been looking troubled earlier, only to see her expression was now blank, and the look of distress had turned into slight surprise.

Then, he glanced sideways at the poker-faced boy beside the girl, who still looked indifferent and completely out of the loop.

Finally, he raised his head slightly and returned his gaze to the confused members of Class C, his eyes filled with severity.

"Now, do you have any further explanations?"

?

The members of Class C, led by Ishizaki, were momentarily stunned by the question. Hadn't they just dismissed this recording?

"President, didn't we just question this recording, and didn't you dismiss it as well?"

Horikita Manabu looked at them in silence for a while, his cold eyes devoid of any light.

It was clear that he was not in a good mood right now.

"Do you need to hear it again?" Horikita Manabu asked coldly, his gaze filled with pressure.

"Wouldn't it be the same if we listened to it again? The two segments are exactly the same, aren't they..."

Suddenly, Ishizaki felt something tugging at him. He glanced at his homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, beside him with a look of slight panic.

"Enough, Ishizaki. No need to say anything more. We accept the punishment."

"Huh? Why, Teacher? We are the victims..."

Ishizaki shouted in confusion, his voice gradually losing its conviction.

"You idiot! Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Sakagami Kazuma darkened his face and adjusted his old-fashioned glasses, saying:

"The girl's voice in that recording was there specifically to prevent it from being edited. Furthermore, you can tell from the distinction in the audio that it was recorded during a phone call."

"If that is the case, the duration of the recording would be controlled to match the duration of the call. This makes it impossible for anyone to claim that the recording was tampered with, because any interference would affect both the length of the recording and the interspersed female voice!"

After he finished speaking, Ishizaki had a sudden realization and looked as if his world had been turned upside down. However, Sakagami continued to remind him: "Moreover, the one who submitted the recording is Ichinose from Class B, so there is no possibility of anyone favoring a specific side to edit the audio."

?

So, Ichinose already possessed such an upright and incorruptible image in the eyes of the teachers.

Ayanokoji, who was listening from the sidelines, raised an eyebrow slightly; his focus was always different from everyone else's.

After speaking, Sakagami Kazuma also secretly gritted his teeth. Although this plan had failed, he still had to help his students gain experience so that they could grow from it.

That was why he had snatched the right to explain the situation before Horikita Manabu could clarify things.

Seeing that the matter was essentially settled, Horikita Manabu blinked slightly, refocused the seriousness in his eyes, and spoke: "Regarding the brawl between Class C and Class D, since it was initiated by Class C with the intent to distort the facts and persecute Class D member Sudo Ken, the three involved students from Class C are hereby sentenced to a two-week suspension. Sudo is to write a 3,000-word reflection for his use of violence. That is all."

Horikita Manabu's clear voice fell, finalizing the verdict.

Sudo was so moved that a line of hot tears streamed down his face. He wiped his nose, wanting to give the person next to him a hug, but realized it was the female student Horikita. He turned away, scratching his head in embarrassment, and ended up smearing his snot into his hair like hair gel.

His cheeks flushed red, and he reached out his other hand to shake Horikita's in gratitude. Horikita also gladly extended her hand, a smile gracing her face.

The three students from Class C looked as if their parents had died upon hearing the news. It wasn't that they were sad about the suspension, but rather that they would inevitably face a brutal beating from Ryuen afterward.

"Kushida-chan..." Ishizaki, who was slumped over the desk covered in injuries, let out a mournful cry, a trail of tears also streaming from the corners of his eyes.

Horikita Manabu was accustomed to such scenes; every time a disciplinary hearing ended, there were those who rejoiced and those who suffered. He hadn't felt much about it before, or rather, he had long since become numb.

But today, his mood was not as bright as the weather outside; he felt slightly disappointed.

As it turned out, this countermeasure—the butterfly-shaped recording brooch—was not entirely the result of Horikita's plan, as Ichinose had claimed.

He slowly stood up, reined in his wandering gaze, and looked down from his height at the poker-faced boy who had remained silent from beginning to end, having only "reminded" his younger sister. His expression was a mix of admiration and gravity.

Ayanokoji, just how strong are you?

I truly look forward to the day I can cross paths with you.