Chapter 40

The other side had set Hirata up, and even the forceful Karuizawa was powerless to do anything but start complaining again. [garbled text] Yume seemed to have made some progress, at least. That fat, lewd Ichinose wouldn't be hounding me every day anymore. Still, I didn't think they stood a chance of beating me, a half-baked lawyer, at the hearing organized by the Student Council. There had been plenty of other interesting things lately. For instance, Kobashi, who'd kept in touch with me by email, told me that her best friend Shiranami was planning to confess to Ichinose. I was absolutely stunned. The ratio of girls to boys at this school was so lopsided that girls were falling for other girls. As a man, I felt terribly guilty. "If it's Ichinose, she'll definitely turn her down. She's not the type to give up an entire forest for one tree," I replied to Kobashi. Later, things took an even more melodramatic turn. Ichinose found herself a temporary boyfriend to fill the role, and it was none other than Ayanokoji, the gloomy pervert from Class D. Still, the guy was on the handsome-guy rankings, so I guess that was acceptable... It's not like I was jealous! I wasn't! Honestly, girls these days! So shallow! Also, it seemed that the meddlesome rich girl Ichinose, at the suggestion of the utterly forgettable Kanzaki, had put out a notice offering a huge reward for a child—cross that out—for witnesses. Well, it looked like Ryuen's rumors hadn't amounted to much. Next time I went after Class D, I'd try to keep Ichinose busy with something, so she'd stop getting in the way. Maybe there wouldn't be a next time... Sudo's expulsion was practically a done deal. There was no way the current members of Class D would go into debt to bail him out twice in a row. I'd already submitted testimony that worked against Sudo, too. Confident of victory, I headed to the hearing with Shiina and Ishizaki. Each side was allowed two companions to attend alongside the plaintiff and defendant, so we weren't breaking any rules. "Kitazawa... Did you really have to drag me along?" Shiina's face was full of disdain. "I've told you, you need to take part in more class activities! Besides, this affects the interests of everyone in the class, so the girls need a witness, too. Isn't that right, Sakagami-sensei?" I cunningly invoked a cause Shiina couldn't refuse. "Indeed. Shiina's abilities are certainly worth looking forward to," Sakagami-sensei said with a smile. "More importantly, isn't Ryuen coming? He must be confident!" "It's a trivial matter. There's no need for the class's leader to show up!" "I see. Just don't underestimate them! Class D is no pushover this year." Sakagami-sensei hinted at something. "Oh? Now I'm really looking forward to it!" We soon arrived at the Student Council Office, where a cute third-year student asked us to take our seats. Student Council President Horikita Manabu was already sitting at the head of the table. "Kitazawa Minya, Class 1-C. You really can't sit still, can you? Your name's been making the rounds among the upperclassmen ever since you enrolled," President Horikita said. "It's just an empty reputation, nothing worth mentioning. Sorry for the trouble! We're the victims here, so I hope you'll see that justice is done, President." I answered politely. "The Student Council will, of course, deliver a fair judgment." Horikita Manabu didn't say much else to me. Before long, Class D's homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, knocked and came in. The three students with her were Horikita, Ayanokoji, and Sudo, the central figure in the incident. "We're late," Chabashira-sensei said, unexpectedly politely greeting Sakagami-sensei. "It's not time yet. Don't worry about it." "Have you met before?" Horikita and the others didn't seem to know Sakagami-sensei. "He's Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami-sensei. And..." Chabashira-sensei turned her gaze toward Horikita-senpai, who was seated at the far end of the office. "He's the Student Council President." Horikita's older brother didn't even glance at his sister as he read through the documents in his hands. Horikita, meanwhile, looked over at her brother. I watched the strange siblings with curiosity. "Why is it always you?" Horikita sighed at me after taking her seat. "I'd rather it weren't me either, Horikita-san. Today, I'm here for my classmates' interests. This is Shiina-san, who's here for the same reason. I have a feeling you two will get along..." I introduced Shiina to Horikita. But the Student Council secretary, Tachibana, apparently didn't want to waste any more time and cut me off. "Without further ado, regarding the violent incident that occurred recently, we'll now hold a cross-examination between the Student Council, the people involved in the incident, and the homeroom teachers. I, Tachibana, the Student Council secretary, will preside over the meeting." "It's unusual for the Student Council President to come in person for a dispute of this scale. Normally, it's just Tachibana who shows up." This was information Chabashira-sensei provided. "My regular duties keep me busy, and although I don't take part in some matters, it's generally preferable for me to attend. Besides, the school has entrusted me with the responsibilities of the Student Council." "So this is just a coincidence?" Chabashira-sensei smiled as if implying something, but Horikita's brother didn't so much as flinch. Horikita, on the other hand, sitting across from me, was clearly shaken. It seemed the goddess of victory had chosen to side with Class C today without a moment's hesitation! After that, Secretary Tachibana gave a clear summary of the incident. "...Given the circumstances outlined above, we hope to determine which side's claims are reasonable." As she spoke, Tachibana first looked toward Class D. "The two members of the Basketball Club, Komiya and the other student, claim that Sudo called them to the Special Building, where he provoked and assaulted them without cause. Is that true?" "Those guys are lying. I'm the one who was called to the Special Building!" Sudo immediately denied it. "Then, Sudo, can you tell us what happened?" "After practice with my club ended that day, Komiya and Kondo called me to the Special Building. I thought it'd be a pain, but I'd been fed up with their attitude for a while, so I went to meet them." Sakagami-sensei and I exchanged a smile. Sudo really was the ultimate example of a teammate who only made things worse. "That's a lie. Sudo called us out, and that's why we went to the Special Building," Komiya, the student who'd been named, retorted without backing down. "Don't mess with me, Komiya. You're the one who called me out!" "I don't remember that." Sudo stood up and angrily slapped the table, while those of us from Class C sat still. "Sudo, please calm down. We're only hearing both sides of the story right now. Komiya, please refrain from interrupting as well." "Hmph, fine..." Sudo sat back down. "Both sides claim that the other called them out, so their accounts don't match. However, there does seem to be some common ground. There was a dispute between Sudo, Komiya, and Kondo, correct?" "It wasn't so much a dispute as Sudo constantly coming over to pick on us." Komiya answered according to the version Ryuen had instructed him to give, skillfully mixing lies in among the truths. [garbled text] "What do you mean, 'pick on you'?" "He's better at basketball than we are, so he'd often come over to brag about it. We trained hard because we didn't want to lose to him, but he looked down on us..."