Chapter 42

"She is Airi Sakura from Class D," Horikita introduced emotionlessly.

"I was wondering who the witness could be, and it turns out to be a student from Class D," Sakagami wiped his glasses and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Is there a problem, Sakagami-sensei?"

"No, no, please continue." Sakagami-sensei and Chabashira-sensei exchanged glances.

"Could you please provide your testimony, Sakura-san?" Horikita requested.

"Y-yes... um, I..." Sakura couldn't form a complete sentence, and after struggling for a long time, nothing came out.

"Sakura-san..."

"It seems she isn't a witness after all. Continuing like this is just a waste of time."

"What are you in such a rush for, Sakagami-sensei?"

"Of course I'm in a rush. Meaningless things like this are causing my students pain! They are the life of the class, and they are very worried about causing trouble for their friends. Furthermore, they are wholeheartedly practicing for basketball. This precious time is being stolen from them. As their homeroom teacher, I naturally don't want to turn a blind eye."

Hahahaha! I wanted to applaud Sakagami-sensei, but I had to maintain a serious expression.

"That's true. Perhaps that is the case," Chabashira-sensei agreed.

"If things continue like this, it really can only be considered a waste of time. You may step down, Sakura."

Sakura tightly closed her eyes, as if regretting her own cowardice. Then...

"I really saw it...!" she shouted.

"It was the students from Class C who started the fight with Sudo-kun! That is the truth!"

She has some courage, but it's useless. I sighed; someone like her is still too green.

"Excuse me, may I speak?" I decided to be ruthless and kill this suspense-less hearing.

"I allow it," Horikita-senpai nodded.

"Sakura-san, as an eyewitness, why are you only coming forward now?"

"That is... um... because I didn't want to get involved..." Sakura kept her head down, not daring to look at me.

"Why say you didn't want to get involved?" I poked at the sore spot, applying maximum psychological pressure.

"...Because, I'm not good at talking to people..."

"I see, I understand. Isn't it unnatural for someone like you, who isn't good at talking, to suddenly step forward as a witness? It just looks like Class D colluded to have you provide a fake testimony."

"I think so too," Sakagami-sensei added.

"How could that be... I'm just telling the truth..."

"No matter how bad you are at speaking, you wouldn't lack the confidence to testify. Isn't the reason you're like this because of the guilt of lying?"

"No, that's not it..."

"Did your classmates pick you, the one without friends, to commit perjury? Who forced you to come forward? This is a school; if you are being bullied, tell the teachers and the Student Council President here, and it can definitely be solved. Was it Sudo? Or perhaps Horikita-san?"

Seeing me relentlessly attacking Sakura, Horikita couldn't help but raise her hand: "That's not it. Sakura-san is indeed not a person who is good at speaking. However, it is precisely because she truly witnessed the incident that she is willing to stand here like this. If not for that, even if we begged her, we wouldn't know if she would come forward. If we just needed someone to speak imposingly, don't you think we could have found someone else?"

"I don't think so. Class D also has excellent students. For example, someone like you, Horikita-san. You are trying to use someone like Sakura-san to make the fact that she is a witness feel authentic, aren't you? I don't think the President would believe a so-called witness played by a classmate with a shared interest."

"As for evidence... I have it!" Sakura stood up again.

"Bang," she slammed her palm onto the table.

"Is this... a photo?"

"This is proof that I was at the special building that day...!"

Secretary Tachibana walked to Sakura's side, exchanged a brief greeting, and took the photos.

"...President." After looking at the photos, Secretary Tachibana submitted them to the Student Council President.

Horikita's brother looked at the photos for a while, then laid them out on the table so we could see them too. The person in these photos had a very cute expression, completely unlike the current Sakura.

"I was... looking for a place without people to take selfies that day. The date is also printed on the photo as evidence!"

"So you're Shizuku! No wonder you looked so familiar!" I said, looking at one of the photos where Sakura wasn't wearing glasses.

"Shizuku?" Everyone looked at me, confused.

Her identity exposed, Sakura nervously rubbed her hands.

"She's an idol who uploads selfies; I used to follow her," I said, opening my phone to find the page. Well, I just appreciated them; I didn't do anything weird with her photos!

"So you're at this high school! What a coincidence... but, doesn't this involve leaking information to the outside world? President Horikita. Shouldn't the testimony of someone with such a lack of school discipline be disregarded?" I asked, pointing to a photo on the page that showed our school's dormitory.

"Kitazawa-kun! This has nothing to do with this matter!" Horikita looked like she wanted to punch me.

"Besides, are you really a fan of hers?"

"Fans have a sense of justice and principles too! Between an idol and my companions, I choose my companions. Besides, this was taken with a digital camera, right? Changing the date or post-processing is entirely possible."

"Is that so? What about this photo? Is this also post-processed? Do you want to take it for inspection?" Horikita slammed it in front of me aggressively.

"T-this is...!" President Horikita had just seen this photo too. It was a photo capturing the moment of the fight, taken at the perfect time.

"With this... I think everyone should believe I was there." After saying this, Sakura looked at me with lingering fear.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," Horikita smiled at Sakura.

"Fine, it seems the idol Shizuku was indeed at the scene that day. However, this static photo alone cannot tell who started the fight. And this cannot be definitive proof that you saw the whole thing. It's even possible that you were hiding at the scene as an accomplice to Sudo to film this..."

"Kitazawa! Don't go too far!" Sudo roared at me. If Ayanokoji hadn't held him back, he would have rushed at me just now. What a pity.

"See, Sudo-kun is used to using violence. I believe keeping someone like Sudo-kun at this school is a dangerous thing. To prevent him from hurting more innocent students and ruining our school's good learning environment, I implore the President to seriously consider dealing with this matter strictly. That is all." I smiled at Sudo.