The Socially Anxious Witness

"Or perhaps you could look forward to seeing the others shine?"

"That's true... After all, there are plenty of people in this class who want to make it to Class A."

Chabashira was already considering Horikita and Ayanokoji. She wasn't made of money, and if she had to turn to Shinjo whenever anything came up, her funds would eventually run dry.

By then, Ayanokoji might still be keeping his abilities hidden, Horikita might not have grown at all, and Chabashira wouldn't have the means to hire Shinjo. Class D would truly be finished.

"Then I hope things work out for you. To be honest, I also hope Sudo makes it through this safely. After all, I'd hate to lose a good friend like him."

Chabashira stubbed out the cigarette in her hand.

"Isn't it the 8,700 personal points you'd hate to lose?"

Shinjo smiled and said nothing. The two things weren't mutually exclusive.

Meanwhile, Kushida and the others were searching for witnesses who might have seen what happened.

Since they were on closer terms with Class B, they decided to approach Ichinose first.

"Mhm... I understand what happened. Don't worry, I'll go back and ask my classmates right away. If I hear anything helpful, I'll let you know immediately."

"Thanks, Honami!"

"No problem. We're all friends, after all. And if things really happened the way you described, then the students from Class C went way too far!"

After parting ways with Ichinose, they approached some students from Class A and some Class C students they were on speaking terms with, but none of them had much luck.

The worst was Class C. One girl even stood up Kushida, though she hadn't wanted to. If Ryuen found out she'd secretly gone to meet people from Class D, she'd likely be punished severely.

Friends were important, but protecting yourself was obviously more important.

So, after all that effort, Sudo's case had made no progress at all.

Still, perhaps hard work did pay off.

Two days later, early in the morning, Kushida somehow got word of a witness. It was none other than Airi Sakura from Class D.

But Sakura suffered from severe social anxiety. It was obvious from the way she usually kept to herself, hunched over when she spoke, and avoided looking people in the eye.

"Sakura, could I borrow a little of your time?"

"I... I... I'm sorry, I have plans..."

"Actually, I have something really important to talk to you about. It's about Sudo..."

Before Horikita could finish, Sakura desperately tried to run away. Surrounded by a crowd of unfamiliar classmates, she felt as though her pores were opening and she couldn't breathe.

"No... I don't know anything... No..."

And so Horikita's first attempt to talk to her ended in complete failure. It was only to be expected. Even a normal person would have trouble having a proper conversation with Horikita, let alone someone with social anxiety.

But even if Kushida took Horikita's place, the outcome would actually be the same.

Sakura tried desperately to avoid the subject, but Kushida pressed her a little too hard. In the commotion, the camera Sakura had been clutching slipped from her arms and hit the ground.

"No... It's broken..."

"Huh? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's... it's okay. I'm the one who dropped it..."

With that, Sakura fled from everyone's sight once more.

"Are you kidding me?! Why did the witness have to be that gloomy girl of all people?!"

Sudo angrily kicked a desk.

"Sudo! We're only guessing that she's a witness. You can't call her gloomy!"

"Fine... I take it back. But this is really bad!!!"

Just then, Sae Chabashira walked into the classroom and called out to the students at the back.

"Sudo, Horikita, Ayanokoji, and Shinjo. You lot, come with me right now. The school is holding a public hearing about Sudo's case."

The four exchanged glances, then followed her out. When they reached the meeting room, they found the Class C students already waiting there.

Apart from the three students who had been beaten black and blue by Sudo, the only other person there was their homeroom teacher: a bespectacled, middle-aged man named Kazuma Sakagami.

"Well, well, the violent delinquent's here~"

Ishizaki gave Sudo a mocking whistle, making Sudo flush with anger.

"What did you say?!"

"Don't tell me you're planning to use violence again?"

"You!"

Kazuma Sakagami adjusted his glasses and spoke with a mocking expression.

"Hmph. What an ill-mannered student. Did your teachers only teach you how to fight?"

Chabashira wasn't the sort of teacher who blindly defended her students, but Sakagami's words had clearly insulted her too.

"The facts haven't been established yet."

"Sometimes the facts are simply the facts. No amount of arguing against them will do any good."

Clearly, Sakagami knew what had happened. But was that simply the sort of person he was, or was he just matching his students' style?

There was no denying that this teacher and Ryuen were birds of a feather.

After the two groups had waited there for a few minutes, two figures slowly approached from the distance.

When Suzune Horikita recognized them, her body gave a sudden jolt. She hadn't expected to run into her older brother at a time like this.

She had boasted to him last time that she would make it to Class A, yet in less than a month, she had already caused him trouble again.

The usually strong-willed Suzune Horikita looked utterly dejected.

She didn't dare look at her brother. In fact, Manabu Horikita hadn't looked her way even once.

Instead, he stared at Shinjo for a long while.

The girl beside him with her hair in two purple buns was, needless to say, Akane Tachibana.

"I didn't expect you to be handling this."

Chabashira and Manabu Horikita went way back. She admired him for his ability, ambition, and sense of responsibility.

Manabu Horikita spoke in a calm, slightly resonant voice.

"Conflicts between students are generally handled by the Student Council. As it happens, I'm not busy right now."

That's probably not the whole story... Is he still worried about his sister? Come to think of it, is this guy actually a tsundere?

"With the Student Council President himself handling the case, I'm sure we'll get a fair hearing!"

The Class C students looked delighted. There was no doubting Manabu Horikita's abilities, and if the Student Council President himself was handling the case, then at least Class D couldn't bribe the judge.

Manabu Horikita had everyone take their seats. Class D sat to his left, and Class C to his right. The two teachers sat at the ends of their respective groups, near the door.

Akane Tachibana stood respectfully just behind Manabu Horikita's shoulder.