Chapter 41

"We were unhappy with how much effort he put in, so we often clashed over it."

"Nothing Komiya says is true. Those guys are just jealous of my talent. They kept getting in my way while I was quietly training. That's what happened." Sudo held back his anger as he replied.

"Since the two sides' accounts don't match, we'll have to make a judgment based on the evidence we have." Secretary Tachibana summed up the situation.

"Sudo beat us until we were in a terrible state. And he did it all one-sidedly." Kondo pointed to the injuries on his body.

"That's a lie too! You guys attacked me first. I was acting in self-defense!"

Things were going perfectly according to Ryuen's plan. Maybe Shiina and I shouldn't have come to watch. I started thinking about how to trick Shiina into having dinner with me later. With my super bodyguard Ibuki away today, this was a great opportunity.

"If Class D has no further testimony, we'll have to proceed as we are. Is that all right?" Secretary Tachibana seemed to think this was a waste of time and was ready to move on to a ruling.

"It seems there's no need to argue further." The Student Council President, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "Regardless of which side called the other over, the injuries make it clear that Sudo was the one who beat the other side. We should have no choice but to base our decision on that."

I didn't know why Horikita was still spacing out, but it was great that Sudo was going to be expelled without a fight. That's right, brother-in-law! Do the right thing and expel him! I'm counting on you! Wait, why had I called him that?

"W-wait! I won't accept this! It's only because those guys are a bunch of weaklings!" Sudo said, nearly hysterical.

"You're claiming self-defense against opponents who are clearly weaker than you?" Teacher Sakagami laughed dismissively.

"W-what? There were three of them! Three!" Sudo was still somewhat intimidated by the class.

"And yet only the Class C students were injured," Teacher Sakagami pointed out coldly.

"Ah!" Horikita suddenly let out a very girlish cry, startling me. It turned out Ayanokoji was pinching her waist. What a pervert! Stop it! Or... let me do it!

"W-wait... what are you... st-stop!" It seemed Horikita felt the same way I did.

"Horikita, get a grip. If you don't fight back, we're going to lose," Ayanokoji said helplessly.

Then don't touch her! You're obviously taking advantage of her!

"Mm..." Horikita seemed to finally understand the situation. "...Excuse me. May I ask a question? Would that be all right, President?"

"You may. But please speak up sooner next time."

Horikita slowly pushed back her chair and stood. "You said earlier that Sudo called you to the Special Building. Who exactly did he speak to, and what reason did he give for calling you there?"

"Why are you asking that now?" Komiya and the others exchanged glances after saying this.

What a sly girl. Was she trying to find a loophole? I smiled faintly, waiting to see what Horikita would do.

"Please answer," Horikita pressed, and Secretary Tachibana nodded in agreement.

"I don't know why he called me and Kondo over. We were changing after club activities when he came up and said, 'Come meet me in a bit.' I guess he just didn't like us or something. Why does that matter?"

"Then why was Ishizaki at the Special Building too? He isn't a member of the Basketball Club, so this shouldn't have had anything to do with him. I find his presence suspicious."

Heh. We were ready for that question, of course.

"Well... just in case. There were rumors that Sudo was violent, and he's bigger than we are, so we brought along our good friend Ishizaki. Is that a problem?"

"In other words, you thought there was a chance he might attack you?"

"Yes."

"I see. So you brought Ishizaki, who was known for fighting back in middle school, as a bodyguard—to help you take on Sudo if things got dangerous."

"We only brought him to protect ourselves. Besides, we didn't know Ishizaki was famous for fighting. We brought him because he's a dependable friend."

"I have some experience in martial arts. Because of that, I know that facing two or more opponents makes a fight exponentially more difficult. Since you had Ishizaki, an experienced fighter, with you, I find it hard to believe you were beaten one-sidedly."

"That's because we weren't planning to fight! Kitazawa-kun even reminded us in class that violence was prohibited!" Ishizaki jumped in.

"Objectively speaking, a fight usually begins when both sides' force collides and they cross the distance between them. That's when things turn into a brawl. If your opponent had no intention of fighting or made no attempt to resist, the chances of three of you getting hurt this badly should be very low."

"That kind of general logic doesn't apply to Sudo. He's extremely violent, and he took our lack of resistance as a good thing, coming at us without mercy. This proves it." Ishizaki peeled the bandage off his cheek, revealing a skinned wound.

As expected of Ishizaki, who fought so often—he could pull off this kind of self-inflicted injury! The facts spoke for themselves. Horikita's questions hadn't changed anything, and I didn't even need to speak up.

I glanced at Shiina. She seemed to be daydreaming, her attention fixed on the bookshelf nearby.

"Is Class D finished?" As expected, Horikita-senpai looked just as if she'd been forced to listen to a load of nonsense.

"...It's true that Sudo injured them, but the first ones to attack were Class C. As evidence of that, there's..."