Amid the Chaos, Blades Hidden from Sight / Chapter 127: Before the Hearing, Winds Gather

This pressure was clearly too much for Sato Maya to bear, so she hid behind Karuizawa Kei again.

"Is Horikita Manabu trying to threaten the victim?"

Sato Maya took two steps Hoshino En and walked to Karuizawa Kei's side, where she and Sato Maya were shielded behind her.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapters 126 and 118: Amidst the chaos, swords and blades concealed themselves.

"This is just a routine inquiry; the Student Council needs to provide a reason for it."

Despite the obvious abnormality of Hoshino En, Horikita Manabu showed no fear. He maintained his sharp edge, his eyes fixed on Hoshino En and Karuizawa Kei Sato Maya.

"Why is the application being submitted only now? According to regulations, the Student Council is not obligated to accept disputes from the past without concrete evidence."

"Because I'm worried--"

Sato Maya suddenly shouted.

Upon hearing her voice, Karuizawa Kei and Hoshino En stepped aside to let her step forward.

Despite trembling under the Student Council's imposing presence, this unassuming hot girl tried her best to suppress her trembling and fear, and whispered.

"Because I'm worried that if the dispute drags on, it will affect the distribution of Private Points. Our class is basically living off those few points this month."

"As for now..."

She glanced at Karuizawa Kei, then hid further behind her.

"I wasn't originally planning to say anything, but Karuizawa encouraged me, saying that if there's anything, I should just talk to the Student Council, and they'll uphold justice so I wouldn't have to suffer alone... That's why I said it."

"Besides, I think my previous worries are now unnecessary. Whether Private Points this month is no longer a big question."

Her voice trembled noticeably, and it didn't seem fake.

"Do you have any evidence to support your claim?"

"How could such a thing possibly exist!"

Karuizawa Kei stepped forward again, shielding Sato Maya behind her, her face displaying the typical "unreasonable" expression of a gyaru (a Japanese girl who is often perceived as arrogant or unreasonable).

"The other party must have taken advantage of the absence of cameras to make their move. Sato couldn't have anticipated that someone would do that to her, so how could she have taken any prior evidence?"

"Do you really need evidence to conduct a review? If I had evidence, I'd go directly to the school and demand that bastard be expelled! What's the point of your review then??"

Her aggressive attitude towards Horikita Manabu displeased Tachibana Akane, but seeing Sato Maya's unusually gloomy Hoshino En, she couldn't bring herself to say anything to accuse her.

She now feels like she's part of an ineffective, bureaucratic system where everyone is passing the buck. She had initially joined the Student Council genuinely wanting to do her part for the students and the school, at least to be fair and impartial in handling class disputes and conflicts between students, judging based on facts without favoritism or bias—something that hadn't changed even after Nagumo and Horikita Manabu had a falling out.

Why do I feel like I'm playing the villain now?

"There's no problem with conducting a review, but whether you ultimately win the case depends on the outcome of the review. I won't show any favoritism towards you based on your one-sided account."

"Furthermore, I will inform all classes about this matter again after the deliberations conclude tomorrow, so that this matter will not affect tomorrow's deliberations."

"Do you really think we brought up this review just to prevent tomorrow's review? You underestimate us!!"

Horikita Manabu's intention was clearly that they wanted to use this matter to interfere with tomorrow's deliberations, which undoubtedly made Karuizawa Kei even angrier.

"Since you're not going to get involved, then we don't need you, the Student Council, to uphold justice!!"

After saying that, she pulled Sato Maya and turned to leave, the loud slam of the door making the Student Council Office tremble.

The Student Council and the Student Council Secretary looked at the remaining person.

Hoshino En maintained her serious expression.

"Horikita Manabu, I also have a younger sister, so I find it even harder to tolerate something like this happening than most people."

"Although you look down on Horikita- san, what if I were to inflict the same, or even greater, pain upon her—"

At this point, although the movement was slight, he still noticed that Horikita Manabu's hand trembled slightly.

"Will you still be able to remain calm then?"

After saying that, Hoshino En turned and left, gently closing the door behind him.

Horikita Manabu: "..."

"Karuizawa, shouldn't we tell Hoshino- san the truth?"

On the way back to the classroom, Sato Maya glanced at Hoshino En, who was following behind her and Karuizawa Kei, and whispered something to Karuizawa Kei.

"He seemed to genuinely believe I was almost assaulted by that Tokito, and he was quite angry about it."

"He already guessed this. The best thing for us is to keep things as they are and not say anything."

Karuizawa Kei wasn't too worried. She guessed that Hoshino En could guess her thoughts, and Hoshino En's reaction just happened to match her purpose.

"But now the Student Council has rejected our appeal, so what should we do next?"

Sato Maya rubbed her shoulders. These past few days, she had not only been mentally preparing herself, but also, as instructed by Karuizawa Kei, had rubbed the area around her private parts until it turned red, all to create the illusion that she had vigorously washed her body and covered up the marks after almost being defiled.

This could have been used as circumstantial evidence against Tokito Yuya, but since the Student Council is refusing to accept it, this circumstantial evidence has been rendered useless.

So what should we do now?

"We'll wait for tomorrow's deliberation. Hoshino -kun has already accomplished our goal for today."

"What we need to do now is to solidify the fact that [you were almost assaulted by someone from Class 1-C], making this [event without evidence] an [unshakeable fact] in the public eye, thereby damaging Class C's reputation."

Although Class C, under Ryuen Kakeru's leadership, was already notorious among the first-year students, that could still be described as a strategy or plan Ryuen Kakeru used to deal with enemies. But this matter is different. Once it is confirmed, the character of Tokito Yuya, and even the entire Class C, will be questioned. Loss of credibility and group targeting are the least of their concerns.

Moreover, the Student Council just rejected their appeal. Even if they publicize this matter extensively, the Student Council doesn't have enough grounds to deny the legitimacy of their actions.

Even if Horikita Manabu were to check the surveillance footage, he wouldn't find any evidence to refute their claims.

Based solely on the surveillance footage, what they described is highly likely to have happened: on the afternoon of the 31st, Tokito Yuya and Sato Maya did indeed enter the grove one after the other, at a certain interval.

As for whether there was any contact between them, whether there was any conflict, or whether the incident involving Sato Maya's complaint occurred—there is no evidence to confirm this.

"Based on the victim's post-traumatic reaction and your influence as a [gal], you'll need to maintain this state of fear for another 3 to 5 days. For the next few days, walk with us to and from school, and I'll have Hoshino- san accompany you to protect you."

"As for Tokito too much. But if you happen to run into him, be sure to glare at him with hostility. Continue this for about a month, and then you can treat him like he's invisible."

Karuizawa Kei Sato Maya on the next task. As the center of the vortex, she was the one most likely to make a mistake, so she could not afford to fail.

"As for how to publicize this, I'll arrange for Matsushita and Shinohara to do it."

First Semester of First Year:

Before the deliberation of Chapters 127 and 119, a turbulent situation arose.

The next day, June 7th.

Afternoon--

For people in other classes, this is just an ordinary search↑": Yi}@ˉ▲]⊥ Tuesday; but for the first-year Class D who is in the whirlpool, this is the fateful day that determines whether they will continue to be forced to chew wild cabbage roots.

However, before the deliberation began—or more precisely, starting yesterday—rumors began circulating among the first-year students that [a boy in Class 1-C molested a girl in Class 1-D, but the Student Council not only rejected the victim's appeal but also showed favoritism towards the perpetrator].

If this is a counterattack by Class 1-D against Class 1-C, why are they including the Student Council in their attack? But if this isn't an action by Class 1-D, then who would launch an offensive against Class C at this crucial juncture when Class C and Class D are about to begin their deliberations?

"Tsk, is that Katsuragi? Using such disgusting tactics."

At least Ryuen Kakeru leans towards the second guess, and he has already identified the murderer.

By using such rumors to push Class D to the opposite side of the Student Council in public opinion, if Class C ultimately wins the review under such circumstances, then the rumors may be confirmed, and everyone in Class C will be labeled as [an accomplice of a molester].

Even if Class D wins in the end, rumors may circulate among the students that "the Student Council will be pressured by public opinion and have to favor Class D," thus confirming the previous conclusion that Class C will still be nailed to the pillar of shame and criticized.

Class D has no reason to mess with the Student Council. Class B is full of innocent lambs who would never do such a thing. The only people who would resort to such despicable tactics are Ryuen Kakeru and the people from Class A.

However, the girl from Class A is currently engrossed in a [dating game] and is having a passionate fling with the Gloomy Starry Eyes from Class D, so she has no time to interfere in the class competition; the only person who could do such a thing is the current class representative of Class A, Katsuragi Kohei.

"Hmph, I didn't expect that guy to be capable of something like this... He's quite capable, isn't he? I'm even more excited now."

Ryuen Kakeru looked up at the ceiling, his gaze seemingly passing through the floors, and saw the smug guy in the classroom.

"That's good. This is the kind of prey I should tear apart with my own hands."

However, one thing at a time, even though he might fall into Katsuragi's Open Conspiracy, he wasn't going to suffer another loss at the hands of Class D for no reason.

"Hey! You guys, you better watch your step!"

He looked at the three men standing to the side, who still bore obvious and serious injuries, and warned them.

"If anything goes wrong and the review process goes awry, I won't let you off the hook."

His words caused Ishizaki, Komiya, and Kondo to tremble uncontrollably.

Horrible... so scary... I'll die!!!

"Yes, we understand."

Ishizaki replied in a trembling voice, while the other two were so frightened they couldn't even speak clearly.

"Go ahead, come to the usual spot after it's over. I want to hear the results as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, in Class D downstairs, the three people who were to attend the deliberation were also preparing to leave.

Strangely, the atmosphere in Class D, which was usually not exactly harmonious and lively but at least maintained a semblance of harmony, was now very odd: all the students remained quiet, even the usually noisy boys, including Yamauchi Haruki, Ken Sudō, and Kanji Ike, who had been persuaded to Hirata Yosuke —even when they spoke, they kept their voices very low; and their eyes would occasionally dart towards the corner of the classroom.

Although that person's expression remained as gloomy as it had been for the past two months, the students in Class D 6D could clearly sense that Hoshino seemed to be angry.

"Is it because of what happened with Sato?"

Wang Meiyu asked in a low voice to Kushida Kikyo, who was sitting next to her.

The incident involving Sato Maya was no secret among the girls in Class D. Apart from Karuizawa Kei associates, the other students didn't know the truth. They all thought that Sato Maya Tokito Yuya, and they were all very angry, except for a pink-haired girl who was holding her camera and sitting trembling in her seat.

After Sato Maya's appeal was rejected yesterday, they noticed that Hoshino En's demeanor had suddenly changed, as if... she was suppressing anger.

The pressure emanating from this Hoshino En was even greater than the pressure Hoshino Enishi felt that morning when she was angry with Yamauchi Haruki. As a result, all the students in the class consciously lowered their voices, afraid of disturbing this living devil who could easily [grip the table] and become his target, ending up like Yamauchi Haruki that day.

When asked this question, Kushida Kikyo couldn't answer. She was a little agitated, and the veins on her forehead were throbbing slightly.

"Well, probably, but why are you asking me, Xiaomei?"

"Aren't you and Hoshino -kun on good terms?"

Wang Meiyu suddenly leaned close to Kushida Kikyo's ear and whispered something in her ear.

"Actually, I saw it all that day, the scene where Hoshino -san went into Kikyo- chan's room."

Although she kept her voice very low, Kushida Kikyo was still extremely nervous, as if a secret had been revealed. Her body immediately tensed up, goosebumps rose, and her skin stood on end.

We've been found out? Why didn't Hoshino tell me?

Didn't he notice either?

"After I got back that night, I was still worried about Kikyo- chan, but I was too embarrassed to go back, so I peeked into your room from the doorway."

Because the room was right across the street, Wang Meiyu could still see what was happening in front of Kushida Kikyo's door even from her own room.

"Then I saw Hoshino use his Key Card to open your room door, and I also remember that he was the one who carried you to the infirmary and took you back to your dorm."

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

He was actually peeping into his own bedroom! How perverted!

No wonder Hoshino didn't notice; who would have thought someone would do something like that for no reason!

However... well... this is all Hoshino's fault; he was just too careless!!

Are you two secretly dating?

Wang Meiyu suddenly asked in a low voice.

"How is that possible?!"

Kushida Kikyo immediately retorted loudly.

Her voice broke the silence in the classroom, and everyone turned to look in her direction.

Seeing that her classmates were staring at her, Kushida Kikyo realized that she had lost her composure.

"Cough cough--"

She coughed twice, trying to cover up her panic, and then leaned close to Wang Meiyu's ear to explain in a low voice.

"Hoshino and I aren't in that kind of relationship. He forgot to return the Key Card to me when he took me back to the dorm this morning. He only remembered it then, so he specially brought it back to me. There was no other meaning behind it."

"As for taking me to the infirmary and then back to my dorm, that's because only he and Karuizawa saw me fall. He saw that my foot was badly swollen and was worried that it would get worse if left untreated, so he rushed me to the school clinic. The reason for taking me back to my dorm was the same. We don't actually have any other relationship."

"All I can say is that he's more attentive than the other boys, and he's not very good at gauging the appropriate distance between boys and girls."