Securing Evidence

After school, Hoshino didn't linger. He packed his schoolbag and left the classroom.

Behind him, he heard Hirata and Kushida talking in the classroom, seeming to want to get everyone in the class to look for clues. Good thing he'd gotten out quickly.

During breaks, he'd occasionally heard comments like, "Why not just make him drop out?" and "He's nothing but a problem if he stays anyway." Sudo was indeed at fault, so it wasn't surprising that most people felt that way. Even Hoshino had begun to wonder whether it had really been a mistake to let Sudo stay last time.

Most people didn't have much of a favorable impression of Sudo. They were basically only putting up with him for Hirata and Kushida's sake, and perhaps for those pitiful few points. What could he say? With an attitude like that, it'd be hard to gain anything. After all, there was no way Ryuen was completely unprepared!

Still, it didn't seem to have much to do with Hoshino. He hadn't been counting on those few points anyway. But if the camera had caught anything, he could at least use it to get some benefits from Ryuen.

On the third floor of the club building, Hoshino took the camera he'd left there a few days earlier out of a broken box in the corner. It was already covered in a thick layer of dust. He wiped the dust off the screen with his hand and pressed the power button over and over, but it didn't respond at all. It seemed to be completely out of battery.

When had it run out? Had it managed to record anything?

"Ugh..." Hoshino looked at the camera in his hand, which was "barely recognizable," and sighed. Now he really could only leave it to fate!

He took some paper out of his schoolbag and gave the camera a quick wipe. After wrapping it up, he put it in his bag and headed to the Student Council Room.

"Hoshino, what do you think about the matter with Sudo?" President Horikita asked thoughtfully, looking at the report in his hands.

"...What do I think?" Hoshino had been busy with the documents in front of him. When President Horikita suddenly spoke, he looked up in surprise.

"Yes. If you were in charge, how would you handle it?" President Horikita put down the report and turned to look at Hoshino.

"...Um, I'd... suspend him for two weeks? Make him pay some compensation? As long as it doesn't affect the next exam?"

Hoshino was a little confused. He didn't know what President Horikita meant.

Still, if Hoshino had to handle it, that was probably what he'd do—assuming he didn't have the footage in hand, of course!

In fact, Hoshino didn't think the incident had that much of an impact. As long as Sudo wasn't expelled, most other punishments would be acceptable.

Class D had so few Class Points to begin with. They weren't exactly going to miss a few. Let them deduct them; at most, they'd also pay some medical expenses. After all, it was three against one. Hoshino couldn't imagine what other tricks Class C might have up its sleeve.

Of course, it wasn't that Hoshino was afraid of trouble. It was just that there was no point in going head-to-head if he didn't have any solid evidence.

They hadn't found any clues at the start, so if they were going to put in the effort to look for them now, they'd have to pay some price, right? And even if they won, what would that get them? At most, they'd prove that the other side had made a false accusation and provoked Sudo first. The three students from Class C might get suspended for two weeks and lose some Class Points. To put it plainly, that kind of punishment just wasn't worth it.

It was an indisputable fact that Sudo had injured three students from Class C! Even if Class C was punished, it wasn't as though Sudo could get off without any blame!

Besides, with Sudo's personality, if he didn't change, he'd definitely cause bigger problems in the future. If paying some price this time could teach him a lesson, then it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"...Yes, I think I understand." President Horikita thoughtfully shifted his gaze.

Seeing that there didn't seem to be anything else, Hoshino lowered his head again.

"...You're certainly able to keep your cool." Vice President Nagumo looked over with interest. Hoshino was calmly writing up documents.

"...It just seems like there isn't much for me to do. There's nothing I can do about it, anyway..." Hoshino thought for a moment without even looking up.

"...Heh heh heh. Who knows?" Vice President Nagumo seemed to be implying something, the same frivolous smile still on his lips.

On his way back from the Student Council Room, Hoshino was thinking about Ryuen when, as he passed a fountain, he suddenly spotted the curious pair of Ayanokoji and Kushida.

They were sitting beside the fountain, taking a break. Yamauchi and Ike were sitting nearby, looking exhausted. The group was chatting about something, probably how their information gathering had gone that day.

"Hey, Hoshino. Done with your Student Council business?" Ayanokoji spotted Hoshino passing by and waved to him.

"Yeah! How's it going on your end?"

"Not great. We haven't found anything." Ayanokoji stood with one hand on his hip and looked at Hoshino helplessly.

"Hey, Hoshino, did you hear any clues in the Student Council?" Kushida stood up beside the fountain.

"...Nothing much. The Student Council just confirmed some of the review procedures. There wasn't anything useful." Hoshino thought it over, but couldn't think of any clues.

"Ugh, maybe Sudo's lying!"

"Yeah, maybe!"

Ike and Yamauchi, sitting nearby, seemed ready to give up too.

As soon as he got back to his dorm, Hoshino took the camera out of his schoolbag. He gave it a quick clean and plugged it in, hoping it wasn't broken.

Half an hour later, Hoshino tried turning it on again. This time, the camera booted up without a hitch.

He found the automatically saved video and repeatedly fast-forwarded through it, searching. At last, he found the incident from that time:

The three students from Class C had arrived early and were waiting there. After a long while, Sudo finally showed up, looking displeased.

"Hey, what did you call me here for? I've got training to go to."

"Heh heh, you're not going to make it to training! You idiot. I don't know what kind of tricks you used to become a regular player..."

"Huh? What are you talking about? That's nonsense! If you can't become a regular player, it's because your skills are terrible..."

"Hey, if you hadn't pulled some kind of trick, how could you have beaten us?"

"You're disgusting. How can an idiot like you even be a regular player?"

"You..."

"..."

Hoshino didn't know what to say. All this over such a trivial matter? Hoshino, who had never been interested in anything, didn't know what to make of it.

Maybe basketball was important to Sudo, but over something so trivial... Hoshino really couldn't relate.

All he could say was that Sudo had too short a temper. He was too impulsive!

Still, the other side had indeed provoked him first, and they had indeed thrown the first punch. Looking at it that way, Sudo had grown a little, after all! Hoshino suddenly felt a little relieved.

At the very end of the video, a girl with pink hair appeared in the corner of the screen. She didn't seem to be wearing glasses like she usually did, though...

"Huh? Why is Class B involved too?"

The next morning, as Hoshino passed by the sports field, he suddenly spotted an unexpected notice on the electronic bulletin board nearby:

Witnesses to the incident at the club building, or anyone with relevant information, please contact Kanzaki of Class 1-B.

Why was this connected to Class B too? Hoshino was baffled.

How had a fight between Class C and Class D ended up involving Class B?

Rumor had it that Ichinose was very kind and loved helping others.

Could Class B have gotten involved for that reason?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Hoshino shook his head and put it out of mind. Even an idiot had limits!

If that was the case, then things really were complicated. Class B was involved too!

But the video he'd watched yesterday didn't seem to have anything to do with Class B. Hoshino suddenly felt completely lost.