Chapter 42

"She's Sakura Airi from Class 1-D," Horikita introduced without emotion. "I was wondering how there could be a witness. Turns out she's a student from Class D." Sakagami wiped his glasses and couldn't help laughing. "Sakagami-sensei, do you have a question?" "No, no. Please continue." Sakagami and Chabashira exchanged a glance. "Could you please give your testimony, Sakura?" Horikita asked. "Y-yes... Um, I..." Sakura couldn't string a sentence together. She struggled for a long time, but nothing came out. "Sakura..." "It seems she wasn't a witness after all. If we keep this up, we'll just be wasting time." "Why are you in such a hurry, Sakagami-sensei?" "Of course I'm in a hurry. This meaningless business is causing my students pain! They're the life of the class, and they feel awful about making so many of their classmates worry. Besides, they've been practicing basketball with all their heart. Someone is taking away that precious time from them. As their homeroom teacher, of course I can't just stand by and watch." Hahaha! I wanted to applaud Sakagami-sensei, but I had to work hard to keep a serious expression. "That's true. Perhaps that's exactly the case," Chabashira agreed. "At this rate, it really does seem like a waste of time. You may leave, Sakura." As if regretting her own cowardice, Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. Then... "I really did see it...!" she cried out. "The students from Class C were the ones who started the fight with Sudo! That's the truth!" She had some courage, but it was useless. I sighed. She was still far too green. "Excuse me. May I say something?" I decided to mercilessly crush her and put an end to this hearing, whose outcome was never in doubt. "Go ahead," Horikita-senpai said with a nod. "Sakura, as an eyewitness, why are you only speaking up now?" "Well... um... because I didn't want to get involved..." Sakura lowered her head, not daring to look at me. "Why didn't you want to get involved?" I pressed the point, putting her under as much psychological pressure as I could. "...Because I'm not good at talking to people..." "I see. I understand. You're not good at talking to people, yet you suddenly come forward as a witness. Doesn't that seem unnatural? It just looks like Class D coordinated their stories and got you to give false testimony." "I agree," Sakagami-sensei added. "How could you... I'm just telling the truth..." "No matter how bad you are at talking, you wouldn't lack the confidence to testify. Isn't the reason you're acting this way that you feel guilty because you're lying?" "No, that's not..." "Did your classmates choose you, since you have no friends, and bring you out to give false testimony? Who forced you to speak up? This is a school. If you're being bullied, you can tell the teachers and Student Council President here, and they'll surely be able to help. Was it Sudo? Or Horikita?" Seeing me relentlessly attack Sakura, Horikita raised her hand. "That's not true. Sakura really isn't good at talking. But she's willing to stand here because she was actually there when the incident happened. Otherwise, even if we asked her, we couldn't be sure she'd come forward. If all we needed was someone to speak confidently, don't you think we could have found someone else?" "I don't think so. Class D has plenty of outstanding students. Someone like you, Horikita. You're using someone like Sakura to make her claim of being a witness seem credible, aren't you? I don't think the Student Council President would believe a so-called witness who's a classmate with a shared interest." "I have proof..." Sakura stood up again. She slapped her palm down on the table with a thud. "Are these... photos?" "Proof that I was in the Special Building that day...!" Secretary Tachibana walked over to Sakura, exchanged a brief greeting, then took the photos. "...President." After looking through them, Secretary Tachibana handed the photos to the Student Council President. Horikita's older brother studied them for a moment, then laid them out on the table so we could see. The person in the photos had an adorable expression, and looked nothing like the Sakura standing before us now. "That day... I went somewhere deserted to take selfies. The date the photos were taken is printed on them, too!" "So you're Shizuku! I was wondering why you looked so familiar!" I exclaimed, looking at one of the photos of Sakura without her glasses. "Shizuku?" Everyone looked at me in confusion. Exposed, Sakura nervously rubbed her hands together. "She's an idol who uploads selfies. I followed her for a while." As I spoke, I pulled out my phone and found her page. Well, I only admired her. I hadn't done anything weird with her photos! "So you go to this high school! What a coincidence... But this could count as sharing information with people outside the school, couldn't it, President Horikita? Shouldn't we reject the testimony of someone with so little regard for school rules?" I pointed to a photo on the page that showed one of our school's dorm rooms. "Kitazawa! This has absolutely nothing to do with this matter!" Horikita looked like she wanted to punch me. "Besides, are you really her fan?" "Fans can have a sense of justice and principles, too! Between an idol and my friends, I'll choose my friends. Besides, these were taken with a digital camera, right? The dates could have been changed, and the photos could have been edited afterward." "Is that so? What about this photo, then? Was it edited, too? Why don't you have it examined?" Horikita slapped it down in front of me, brimming with confidence. "Th-this is...!" The Student Council President had only just seen the photo himself. It showed the exact moment the fight started, captured at just the right time. "This... I think everyone should believe that I was there," Sakura said, then glanced at me, still shaken. "Thank you, Sakura," Horikita said with a smile. "All right. It seems the idol Shizuku really was there that day. But this single still photo can't tell us which side threw the first punch. Nor is it conclusive proof that you watched the whole thing from start to finish. You might even have been helping Sudo, hiding at the scene to take this photo on purpose..." "Kitazawa! Don't go too far!" Sudo roared at me. If Ayanokoji hadn't grabbed him, he would've charged right up to me. Too bad for him. "See? Sudo is accustomed to using violence. I believe keeping someone like him at this school is dangerous. To prevent him from hurting more innocent students and damaging our school's positive learning environment, I urge the president to seriously consider taking strict action. That's all." I smiled at Sudo.