Seeing this, Ryuen Kakeru stopped short, his hand reaching for the other person's neck.
As he looked at the dazed, distraught expression on her face, his eyes suddenly cleared. He had nearly forgotten that the only reason he had come was to find out whether Class D had a strategist hidden among them.
Now that he knew the answer, there was no need to investigate any further.
"Foolish." Ryuen muttered to himself, patting his head, clearly irritated by his own rash behavior.
Luckily, he had stopped in time. Otherwise, the consequences would have far outweighed any benefit.
But just as he was about to withdraw his hand, a furious shout interrupted his thoughts.
"Horikita!"
Ken Sudō roared, his eyes bloodshot. He no longer cared that Ishizaki and Albert's towering figures blocked his way. He knew that if he struck first, he would definitely be expelled—but so what?
"Move aside, all of you." To avoid dragging his classmates into this, Sudō pushed away the people trying to help and stepped forward alone. He clenched both fists, gathered all his strength, and swung at the two men in front of him with all his might.
Boom! The force of his punch sent a ripple through the air.
Ishizaki and Albert instinctively raised their arms to block, ready to wait for the other side to strike first. That way, even if the school punished them, they could claim self-defense.
But when the sound of the punch had faded, the two of them were stunned. "Why didn't we feel a thing?"
They took a closer look, then turned their heads and realized, with some amusement, that Sudō had somehow managed to miss them from point-blank range.
"I thought you were supposed to be tough," Ishizaki sneered.
"Haha, I didn't know your eyesight was even worse than mine." Albert, who was usually taciturn, adjusted his sunglasses and burst into laughter too.
But was that really what had happened?
When Sudō realized he had somehow already slipped past the two men, he stopped caring about anything else. He hurried over to Horikita Suzune and stood between her and Ryuen.
"Boss, we've got a problem."
Ishizaki and Albert stared blankly. After their sluggish minds finally caught up, they realized that Sudō had already gotten past them.
They could no longer laugh. They started to chase after him, but then saw that the boys and girls of Class D had taken the opportunity to surround them. They neither attacked nor let the two leave the circle.
The same thing had happened to them so quickly...
When he saw the two men give him apologetic looks, Ryuen didn't blame them. His own face was filled with confusion.
He had clearly seen Sudō's fist come within inches of his underling. With a blow that powerful, even Ryuen himself could hardly have deliberately missed. So why had Sudō's punch gone wide?
As a notorious street brawler in the past, Ryuen had been in countless fights. That was precisely why he found it even harder than most to accept such an outcome that defied all expectations.
At that moment, unwilling to accept what had happened, he thought of countless possibilities.
But even the one that seemed most likely was something he could hardly believe himself.
"...Unless someone shoved his body with unbelievable force at the exact moment he struck, changing his trajectory."
"But at that speed... so fast the eye couldn't even catch it?"
"Hahahaha!" Ryuen laughed at the possibility he had come up with.
But could that really be what had happened?
Ryuen glanced at Sudō. Just then, Rinya, who had been quietly watching, saw the scene reach another stalemate. Finding it somewhat boring, he couldn't help speaking up with an amused air.
"Hey, I'm just saying—she's like this because of you, and you're still hiding in there watching the show. That's a little heartless, isn't it?" As he spoke, the boy kept his eyes on his palm.
Everyone turned toward him at the sound of his voice, utterly confused. Even Ryuen, who had been eager to find out who had solved the mystery, couldn't help looking amused when he saw the boy talking to himself. He figured the guy had to be crazy.
"Heh, you're right on time." Just as Rinya was about to continue, he seemed to sense something and glanced in a certain direction. After a brief moment of thought, he swallowed the words he had been about to say, to give someone the reward he had planned.
Just then, the crisp clatter of high heels on the floor interrupted everyone's thoughts.
"Clap, clap..."
As a steady round of applause rang out, everyone froze. In their line of sight stood a woman in a secretary's uniform, her long legs on full display. Her sharp gaze swept across everyone present.
"Oh? Why did you stop? I just came by to take a look. Don't mind me."
Her voice was utterly emotionless. The students of Class D, who had been looking expectantly at the sight of their homeroom teacher's arrival, were instantly deflated. The complaints caught in their throats seemed impossible to voice.
In the corner, Sato bit her lip. She wanted to stand up and report them, but Karuizawa Kei, who had only just started to recover, clamped a hand over her mouth. Then she said earnestly, "Don't... Maya, calm down. You absolutely can't do something that foolish."
"Mmph, mmph..." Her best friend wasn't standing up with her to expose the bad guys. Instead, she was scolding her. The red-eyed girl felt unbearably wronged.
Karuizawa couldn't help feeling sorry for her, but when she remembered those painful memories she wanted to forget, all she could do was continue trying to talk her down.
"Maya, don't be upset, okay? Someone will punish them for what they did under the surveillance cameras. We really can't get mixed up in this huge mess. If they find out, our school life will become very, very difficult."
But when she saw Ryuen, the culprit, stroll right past their homeroom teacher, Chabashira, with his two underlings—and Chabashira didn't say a word, even looking at them with even more disgust—
Sato, whose temper was stubborn at the best of times, could no longer hold back her feelings. She tore herself free of Karuizawa Kei's grip, stood up, pointed at the three of them, and shouted angrily, "Teacher, didn't you hear what they did when you were on the phone?"
"Maya, stop!"
Karuizawa tugged at her hand, signaling her to calm down. But seeing the fear in the other girl's eyes only stirred up even more anger and hurt inside her.
Before Chabashira could say anything, Sato continued to shout, "Teacher, does Class D have no rights at all? They barged into our class and did whatever they wanted. They made Karuizawa cry and hurt Horikita Suzune, then used violence to leave our class representative in this state. Aren't you going to do anything?"
Facing the girl's complaints, Chabashira folded her arms and gave a cold laugh. "Oh? Are you finished?"
Before you continue