The Loophole in Class C

Compared to the recent vicious stalking and voyeurism incident, the matter involving Sudo and the others seemed trivial by comparison.

Everyone in the Student Council who knew about the incident had been placed under a gag order; it was strictly forbidden to spread the news, likely out of consideration for the school's reputation or fear of inciting unrest among the students. Although some people had witnessed parts of it that day, fortunately, they did not know the full details.

Because of this incident, the workload of the Student Council had increased significantly. They had to re-examine various hidden risks throughout the school, and the task of vetting some of the school's faculty and staff also fell upon them.

The number of school faculty, as well as the staff at the shops, cafeterias, and other facilities, was quite substantial. Although Hoshino felt that what they were doing now didn't seem to have much significance—after all, without an in-depth investigation, one couldn't really see anything from superficial information.

Once again, Hoshino experienced a work experience that felt like "going to war."

"President, how long is this going to take?" Vice President Nagumo shook his hands, the usual smile gone from his face, and complained with a look of resentment.

"Sigh—after all, that kind of thing happened..." Secretary Tachibana looked up, her face full of exhaustion.

"...Let's put in a bit more effort." President Horikita's attention remained fixed on the documents in front of him.

"Alright!"

"Yes!"

"..."

"Buzz..." Just then, Hoshino's phone vibrated, and he took it out.

"Huh? Dropping the charges? Now?" Standing before the desk, Hoshino looked at the message on his phone, feeling confused.

"Eh? What, what?" Hearing Hoshino's words, Vice President Nagumo suddenly perked up, looking over with an interested expression.

It wasn't just Vice President Nagumo; the gazes of President Horikita and Secretary Tachibana also turned toward him in unison.

"President, it seems to be an email from Class C, saying they want to drop the charges." After a brief moment of surprise, Hoshino stood up and walked to President Horikita's desk.

"...Let's go, let's take a look." President Horikita remained expressionless, but there was a hint of curiosity in his tone as he left the Student Council room with Hoshino.

As for the others, they could only look enviously at the backs of President Horikita and Hoshino before throwing themselves back into their work...

This deliberation, which didn't really count as a formal one, progressed particularly quickly.

The main reason was that one of the parties involved was there to drop the charges, so there was basically nothing else to agonize over.

After simply filling out the forms, stating the reason for dropping the charges, and settling the compensation for the damaged equipment and the medical expenses for the other party's injuries, the matter was concluded quite easily.

The only strange thing was that this time, only the three people involved from Class C were present, while from Class D, there were only Ayanokoji and Horikita.

What was going on here?

Although there were some points of confusion, this was certainly not a good time to ask questions.

"Let me confirm once more: both sides have chosen to reconcile and drop the charges, correct?" As they reached the final procedures, Hoshino looked up at both sides, feeling a bit uncertain.

"Yes!" Horikita said with a sense of momentum, a complete change from her previous dejected state.

"Ye... yes..." Ishizaki's side was somewhat dejected, and the other two seemed to fear Ayanokoji and Horikita, their eyes darting away when they looked at them.

That's not right, how could it be like this?

Hoshino racked his brain, but there didn't seem to be any logical reason for it.

If there was no solid evidence, then Class C's chances of winning were already exceptionally high; at the very least, they shouldn't have admitted defeat so easily! Something was wrong, very wrong!

"Alright, your application to drop the charges has been accepted." Although he didn't know what had happened, Hoshino still conscientiously carried out the work of the Student Council.

"Okay! Thank you!"

After bowing slightly to President Horikita, Ayanokoji and Horikita left the meeting room, followed closely by the three from Class C, who also left after offering their farewells.

"...Hoshino, what do you make of this?" Looking thoughtfully in the direction where everyone had left, President Horikita turned to Hoshino, who was organizing the reports, after a moment.

"Hmm—to be honest, I can't understand why Class C would do this." Called by name, Hoshino looked up and said after a brief moment of thought, "...Could it be that Ayanokoji and the others obtained new evidence?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Hoshino suddenly paused. That didn't seem very likely either. Obtaining evidence against the other side and then choosing to reconcile? No matter how you looked at it, that sounded absurd!

"..." President Horikita did not answer, but silently turned to look out the window. Downstairs, the voices of Horikita and Ayanokoji seemed to drift up...

"Sigh—I'm so tired!"

Having just returned to the dormitory, Hoshino collapsed onto his bed, exhausted.

He had been "dragged" back to work by President Horikita, even though he had wanted to sneak away!

He took out his phone and browsed the official website and forums. There didn't seem to be any major news recently; the most attention was still on this matter with Sudo. As for the stalking incident involving Sakura, it seemed that due to a lack of evidence, it quickly ceased to make any "waves."

Closing the page, he scrolled aimlessly.

Suddenly, one message caught Hoshino's attention.

It was the message from the afternoon notifying him about dropping the charges; the number seemed somewhat familiar.

But judging by the tone, it didn't seem like Ayanokoji or Horikita.

Was this sent by Class C? Hoshino suddenly discovered a blind spot, sat up abruptly, and examined it carefully.

Following that, Hoshino formed a certain hypothesis: this must have been sent by Ishizaki! During the previous few times he had transferred points, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of Ishizaki's number a few times.

"So it was a notification from Class C..."

Muttering to himself, he suddenly remembered the method Vice President Nagumo had mentioned last time for catching someone in the act.

A flash of insight crossed his mind, and Hoshino suddenly seemed to understand something.

It must have been Horikita and Ayanokoji who schemed against Ishizaki and his group, right? For instance, by bluffing them, claiming the school had already obtained evidence; as long as they didn't give them time to notify Ryuen, and since they were the ones lying, if they were threatened with expulsion, they would likely fall for it easily!

But that doesn't seem right either! Ishizaki had scouted the location with Ryuen, after all! He shouldn't have been so easily convinced!

Wait! Could it be that video of his?

Did Ryuen not explain it clearly to them?

...Although it was hard to believe, considering Ryuen's style of doing things, Hoshino suddenly felt that this explanation was inexplicably persuasive.

Come to think of it, the way Ryuen ruled his class really did have some significant issues!

He was the only one formulating strategies while everyone else simply executed them; if any situation arose, he could only rely on the real-time reports of those executing his orders?

How should I put it? It reeked of a "dictator"! It was no wonder that someone would find a loophole to exploit!