Classroom of the Elite Backed by Black Technology

Sudo scratched his head, clearly not having thought about why he had needed to do that.

"Even though I was furious about their accusations, of course I did it."

It seemed Chabashira-sensei had followed my instructions. Shuichi Kanda smiled.

In fact, Shuichi Kanda had learned about this at noon. Then, upon finding out that the Special Building had no surveillance cameras, he immediately came up with a countermeasure.

Honestly, having Chabashira-sensei—no... having Sae-chan's help really let us stay one step ahead.

Ayanokoji and Kushida both looked surprised, since Sudo had not told them about this earlier.

"I see. Then this is easy. There aren't any surveillance cameras in the Special Building, right? Then all you have to do is deny it. Since they're accusing Sudo of beating them up, they should produce evidence that Sudo hit them. Maybe they got those injuries from fighting among themselves."

Holy crap, there was a move like that?

It was as though a whole new world had opened up before Sudo and the others. Before, he had merely said what Chabashira-sensei told him to say. He had never expected this was how they would resolve it.

You Say I Hit You—Where's Your Evidence? ### At the end of the day, this was Class C's one-sided accusation. As long as Sudo refused to admit it, they had to provide evidence. And with no cameras there, what the hell could they use as evidence?

So the key to this matter lay with Sudo. As long as he could withstand the pressure and stubbornly deny everything, the other side could do nothing.

As for evidence, they could keep looking for it. If they found something, they could deal with it then.

Based on Sudo's account, though, there was definitely a problem with what he had done.

No matter what had caused it, the other side had been injured, and those injuries had been inflicted by Sudo. That fact alone was enough to get Sudo punished.

Even if the other side had struck first, at most he could drag them down with him. It would only end with both sides losing.

But now that Sudo refused to admit anything, the matter became much simpler.

Cause and effect—there could be no effect without a cause. Now Kanda had Sudo deny the cause itself, so where could the effect come from?

At the same time, Shuichi Kanda was curious why they had targeted Sudo in the first place.

"Come to think of it, why did they pick a fight with you?"

"This... maybe it was because of the Basketball club. The adviser told me he was going to make me an official player for the Summer Tournament."

An official player? That surprised Shuichi Kanda. Although this school's Basketball club was not among the very best in the country, it was a regular at the National Tournament. The fact that Sudo could become an official player in his first year was enough to prove both his skill and his hard work.

"Then congratulations in advance. But that makes the reason clear, too. I heard from Chabashira-sensei that outstanding club members can receive rewards. They were probably after that."

After discussing it for a few more minutes, they ultimately decided to stick with their previous strategy: Sudo would absolutely deny ever laying a hand on them.

If the other side had no evidence but kept spreading rumors, Sudo did not need to be polite. He could go straight to the Student Council and file a complaint that they were damaging his reputation.

After all, rumors counted as a form of bullying, and the Student Council certainly would not ignore it.

If they really did find evidence of Sudo beating them up, that was fine too. Shuichi Kanda would teach them another lesson in how the world worked. At worst, he could use the new technology distributed in June.

It was just that the thing was a little large, and once he claimed it, it would not be easy to hide.

Ryuen, copying my skills comes at a price. Do you think you're Kakashi?

Still, Shuichi Kanda could only say that June's black technology had arrived at exactly the right time.

Of course, Shuichi Kanda could directly use black technology to break the deadlock, but wouldn't that be too boring?

What Shuichi Kanda liked most was dealing them a fatal blow when they were at their proudest.

The next day, Class 1-D's Private Points still had not been distributed, but Chabashira-sensei announced the latest development.

"Today, I have something to report. A minor dispute occurred at the school a few days ago. Sudo, sitting over there, seems to have had a conflict with students from Class C. Simply put, they got into a fight."

"I didn't get into a fight. They're framing me."

Ever since receiving Shuichi Kanda's instructions, Sudo had become increasingly smooth when it came to denying everything.

But he sounded so certain—wasn't he hypnotizing himself at this point?

"You've all seen the situation. The Class C students say Sudo beat them up, but Sudo insists that he never did. And since there are no surveillance cameras at the Special Building where it happened, the matter has reached a stalemate."

However, most of the class did not buy that explanation, because they all felt Sudo was exactly the kind of person who would get into a fight.

He had caused the class quite a bit of negative impact over the past two months, so many were unwilling to believe him.

"I believe Sudo. But what will happen if this remains at a stalemate?"

Hirata Yosuke chose to believe his classmate, but he was also concerned about how things would proceed.

"Since the accusation was made by Class C, Class C should be the one to provide evidence. Therefore, the school has given Class C one week. If they fail to produce evidence, a verdict will be made on the grounds of false accusation."

As she said this, Chabashira Sae unconsciously glanced at Shuichi Kanda.

What a despicable guy.

"So we just need to hold out for this week?"

"If Sudo truly did not get into a fight, then naturally. But if Sudo lied, the investigation will continue."

Though she said that, most of the students in the class glanced at Sudo, clearly unconvinced.

Even so, they could not simply make Sudo confess. If they did, the Class Points that Class D had worked so hard to earn would be reset to zero.

They only had to look at what happened when Shuichi Kanda was beaten up before. Class A had lost 200 Class Points, while they currently had a pitiful 90.

"By the way, Class C has requested a confrontation over this matter during lunch break. Sudo, you'll need to go to the Student Council then."

Hearing that, Sudo grew a little nervous. Yesterday, when facing the school, he had managed to stubbornly insist that he had done nothing. But facing those three guys would probably be much harder.

Seeing Sudo's nervousness, Shuichi Kanda raised his hand at the right moment.

"Chabashira-sensei, Sudo has already appointed me as his full representative in this matter. May I go with him?"

"Yes, that's right. I've left everything to Kanda."

Shuichi Kanda's timely rescue moved Sudo greatly, and he immediately followed along with his words.

"In that case, the two of you will come with me to the Student Council room after school."

Soon, it was lunchtime. Before heading to the Student Council, Shuichi Kanda bought a roll of tape.

"Kanda, why are you bringing tape?"

Sudo looked puzzled.

"To tape your mouth shut, of course. If you start saying random things later, we'll be finished."

Sudo was left speechless by the jab. Honestly, he wasn't very confident in himself either. If they provoked him and he couldn't resist talking back, wouldn't that prove he had been lying before?

Shuichi Kanda had watched plenty of Conan episodes. How could he possibly let himself be tricked into revealing a flaw by their questioning?

So Shuichi Kanda chose to solve the problem at its source—by sealing Sudo's mouth.

All he had to do then was firmly insist that Sudo didn't know anything.

Even if they described the details of Sudo beating them up, it wouldn't matter, because Shuichi Kanda genuinely didn't know what those details were.

"Squat down."

"Okay."

Shuichi Kanda found Sudo's attitude rather strange. Since when had this guy become so obedient?

Still, he immediately wrapped several layers of tape around Sudo's mouth. Only after ensuring he couldn't get a single word out did he nod in satisfaction.

During lunch break, Shuichi Kanda led Sudo—whose taped-up mouth drew countless stares—to the Student Council room.

When they arrived, Chabashira-sensei was already waiting there.

She froze for a moment when she saw Sudo's appearance, then laughed.

"Sudo, what kind of look is that?"

"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"

Unfortunately, no matter how long he mumbled, he couldn't say a single word, and Chabashira-sensei couldn't understand what he meant.

"Come in with me."

As Chabashira-sensei pushed open the door, Shuichi Kanda saw that Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami, was already seated inside with the three alleged victims: Ishizaki, Komiya, and Kondo.

When they saw that Sudo's mouth had been completely and tightly taped shut, all three froze for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"HAHAHA! What kind of look is that, Sudo?!"

"This is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious."

"So you have a day like this too? Hahaha."

Sudo answered them with an angry glare.

In complete contrast to the three of them, their homeroom teacher Sakagami understood the other side's intention the instant he saw Sudo's sealed mouth.

Someone in Class D had already seen through their plan to make Sudo slip up and reveal the truth. To prevent that from happening, they had simply sealed his mouth shut.

"Quiet!"

Sakagami spoke, and the Class C trio's laughter came to an abrupt stop. They did not understand why Sakagami was so angry.

Chabashira smiled faintly at the sight and took her seat.

After a while, Student Council President Horikita arrived at the Student Council room with his little secretary, Akane Tachibana.

The moment he saw Sudo's strange appearance, he immediately understood what was going on. Then he spotted the utterly composed Shuichi Kanda and instantly understood whose idea this had been.

"Since everyone is here, let's begin."

After Horikita Manabu sat down, he wasted no words and directly announced the start of the confrontation.

"Please wait a moment. I believe unrelated personnel should leave before we begin." Sakagami kept his eyes on Shuichi Kanda as he spoke, making his meaning obvious.

"As the full representative of our party in this false accusation case, I am handling this matter on his behalf. My client has already told me everything that happened that day, so President Horikita may treat my words as Sudo's own."

Shuichi Kanda stood up and calmly defended his presence.

Sudo nodded frantically beside him in agreement.

"Accepted."

Having easily defused the other side's first attack, Shuichi Kanda sat back down.

"Members of Class C, you may state your case."

Then Ishizaki and the other two began furiously accusing Sudo, talking over one another in a complete mess, but Shuichi Kanda still managed to understand the gist of it.

Because of a minor conflict in the Basketball club, Sudo had called Komiya and Kondo to the Special Building. Afraid that Sudo might assault them, the two had brought their classmate Daichi Ishizaki along as a bodyguard.

However, since the conversation between both sides had not gone well, Sudo had started throwing punches, beating all three of them—including Ishizaki—by himself. Their injuries were proof.

After hearing Class C's account, Horikita Manabu turned his gaze toward Shuichi Kanda.

"What does Class D have to say?"

"It's completely fabricated. Sudo did go to the Special Building that day, and he did argue with them. But when he saw Ishizaki step out from the corner, he immediately realized something was wrong.

After all, if it really came to a fight, there was no way he could beat three people by himself. So he ran away at once, which was why he didn't have any injuries.

Furthermore, according to my client, it wasn't Sudo who called Komiya and the others to the Special Building. It was Komiya who suggested going there to settle the matter.

As for the injuries on the three of them, our side knows nothing about them."

"You're lying!"

"Sudo gave me these injuries!"

"That's right! He kicked us hard several times."

The accusations from the other side made Sudo's eyes blaze with anger, but because precautions had been taken beforehand, he could not get a single word out. He could only sit there and glare.

"Quiet!"

Once Horikita Manabu, seated at the front, spoke up, even the three of them had no choice but to shut up.

"Does Class C have anything else to say?"