Class C's Weakness

Since such a vicious stalking and surreptitious photography incident had just occurred, Sudo and the others' case seemed insignificant by comparison.

Everyone in the Student Council who knew about it had been ordered to keep quiet. The incident was strictly forbidden from being made public, probably to protect the school's reputation or prevent panic among the students. Some people had seen parts of what happened that day, but fortunately, they didn't know the details.

The incident had also greatly increased the Student Council's workload. They had to inspect the school again for potential hazards, and the task of checking some of the school's staff had fallen to them as well.

The school faculty, along with the staff at the shops, cafeteria, and other facilities, added up to a considerable number of people. Hoshino felt that what they were doing now didn't seem to serve much purpose. After all, without a thorough investigation, there wasn't much to learn from superficial information.

Once again, Hoshino experienced that kind of work that felt like "fighting a war."

"President, when are we ever going to finish this?" Vice President Nagumo shook out his hands. His usual smile was gone, and he complained with a resentful look.

"Sigh... After all, something like that happened..." Secretary Tachibana looked up, her face exhausted.

"...Let's keep at it." President Horikita's attention remained on the documents in front of her.

"Okay!"

"Right!"

"..."

"Bzz..." Just then, Hoshino's phone vibrated. He casually took it out.

"Huh? Withdrawing the complaint? Now?" At his desk, Hoshino stared at the message on his phone, confused.

"Eh? What is it?" Hearing Hoshino, Vice President Nagumo suddenly perked up and looked over with interest.

It wasn't just Vice President Nagumo. President Horikita and Secretary Tachibana also turned their attention toward him.

"President, it seems to be an email from Class C. They say they want to withdraw the complaint." After a moment's surprise, Hoshino stood and walked over to President Horikita's desk.

"...Let's go and see." President Horikita's expression didn't change, but there was a hint of curiosity in her voice as she led Hoshino out of the Student Council Room.

The others could only watch President Horikita and Hoshino leave with envy before returning to their work...

This hearing, if it could even be called one, moved unusually quickly.

The main reason was that one side had come to withdraw its complaint, so there wasn't much left to argue over.

They filled out the forms, including the reason for withdrawing the complaint, compensation for the damaged equipment, and the other party's medical expenses. Then it was all wrapped up.

The only odd thing was that Class C had sent just the three students involved, while Class D was represented only by Ayanokoji and Horikita.

What was going on?

Hoshino had some questions, but this clearly wasn't the right time to ask them.

"Just to confirm, both sides have chosen to settle and withdraw the complaint, correct?" As they reached the final step, Hoshino looked up at both sides, still uncertain.

"Yes!" Horikita spoke with impressive conviction, a far cry from her earlier dejected state.

"Y-yes, of course..." Ishizaki, on the other hand, looked crestfallen. The other two seemed somewhat afraid of Ayanokoji and Horikita, their eyes darting away from them.

Something was wrong. How could this be happening?

Hoshino racked his brain, but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Without solid evidence, Class C had a very good chance of winning. They shouldn't have given up so easily! Something was off—very off!

"All right, your withdrawal request has been accepted." Though he had no idea what had happened, Hoshino carried out the Student Council's duties properly.

"Thank you!"

After bowing slightly to President Horikita, Ayanokoji and Horikita left the meeting room. The three students from Class C followed close behind. After saying their goodbyes, they left too.

"...Hoshino, what do you make of this?" President Horikita gazed thoughtfully in the direction the others had gone. After a moment, she turned to Hoshino, who was organizing the report.

"Hmm... Honestly, I can't figure out why Class C would do this." Hoshino looked up when she called his name and thought it over briefly. "...Maybe Ayanokoji and the others found new evidence?"

As soon as he said it, Hoshino paused. That didn't seem very likely either. They had evidence against the other side, yet chose to settle? That didn't make much sense!

"..." President Horikita didn't answer. She simply turned toward the window, where the voices of Horikita and Ayanokoji seemed to drift up from below...

"Sigh... I'm exhausted!"

Back in his dorm room, Hoshino collapsed onto his bed, looking worn out.

President Horikita had "dragged" him back to work again. He'd been hoping to sneak away!

He took out his phone and browsed the official website and forums. There hadn't been any major news lately. The most talked-about topic was Sudo's case. As for the incident involving someone secretly photographing Sakura, it seemed to have quickly died down due to a lack of evidence.

He closed the page and browsed aimlessly.

Suddenly, a message caught Hoshino's eye.

It was the message from that afternoon notifying him that the complaint had been withdrawn. The number seemed familiar.

But judging by the tone, it didn't seem to be from Ayanokoji or Horikita.

Was it from Class C? Hoshino suddenly spotted something he'd missed. He sat bolt upright and examined the message closely.

Then he arrived at a tentative guess: it had probably been sent by Ishizaki. He seemed to remember catching a glimpse of Ishizaki's number a few times when transferring points.

"So it was Class C that sent the notice..."

He muttered to himself, then suddenly remembered the method Vice President Nagumo had mentioned for catching someone in the act.

A flash of insight crossed his mind. Hoshino suddenly thought he understood.

Horikita and Ayanokoji must have set a trap for Ishizaki and the others! Maybe they'd bluffed, telling them the school had already obtained evidence. If they'd made sure the others had no chance to notify Ryuen, then, since they were the ones lying, threatening them with expulsion should have made them fall for it easily!

But that didn't quite add up! Ishizaki had gone to scout the place with Ryuen! He shouldn't have believed them so easily!

Wait! Could it have been the video he'd recorded?

Had Ryuen not explained things clearly to them?

...It was hard to believe, but given Ryuen's way of doing things, Hoshino found the explanation strangely convincing.

Thinking about it, there really were some major problems with the way Ryuen controlled his class!

He came up with the strategies himself, while everyone else simply carried them out. If anything happened, he could only rely on the people executing his plans to report back in real time.

How should he put it? It was downright dictatorial! No wonder someone had found a way to exploit the gaps!