Withdraw the Lawsuit

"Your information was accurate. The student council has already taken action, and there were indeed photos in his luggage. On behalf of that student and the student council, I thank you."

"It was nothing."

"That student herself had already sensed something. Her online idol account hasn't been updated in a while."

"What do you mean?"

"She expressed her gratitude to the student council, but I declined. This credit belongs to you."

"You didn't..."

"I showed her our chat history. But don't worry—I deleted everything above, so she didn't see it."

"...You really have a twisted sense of fun."

"Takes one to know one."

Qiuyue: (...This is Horikita Manabu? He feels different from the original story somehow.)

Ever since Kushida made contact with Sakura, the atmosphere in the class had grown tense.

When Qiuyue saw Kushida and Sudo break into smiles, he knew the negotiation had succeeded.

The bell for lunch break rang.

Sakura stiffly followed Ayanokoji, Horikita, and Sudo as they left.

Qiuyue and the rest of the class watched them go until their figures disappeared. Then Qiuyue quickly returned to the dorm.

Back in his room, Qiuyue immediately locked the doors and windows, pulled out the earphones from the drawer, and put them on.

"Sorry, Chairman. I lied about the battery being low. There's enough charge to last through this whole incident."

Qiuyue began listening to the audio from the earphones.

The scene shifted to the student council office.

"Now, we will deliberate on the violent incident that occurred last Tuesday. I, student council secretary Tachibana, will preside over this meeting."

"I hope we can determine which side is telling the truth."

"Shall we begin?"

"Begin."

"Both sides claim the other called them over. The accounts are contradictory."

"However, one fact is confirmed: due to Sudo's actions, Komiya, Kondo, and Ishizaki suffered fractures to their upper arms."

Qiuyue: (...They never should have admitted to the fight in the first place. Once you admit to hitting someone, Sudo can't possibly be found innocent. The only way to make this go away is to have the charges dropped.)

"I'll fast-forward. The meeting's final result is another postponement—both sides are to gather evidence."

Ah, this is driving me crazy!

Qiuyue slowly took off the earphones.

"The meeting's over. Just like in the original story. Next step is to trick Class C into dropping the charges."

"In the original, Ichinose helped. Ayanokoji didn't help Ichinose with the confession this time, so I wonder if she'll still do this favor."

"Will it be like the anime, with Horikita and him tricking Class C? Will Ayanokoji really expose that weakness?"

"My pinhole camera is still running. If he shows his face, I'll record it, and that might be enough to get him expelled."

"Even without audio, if I catch him installing the fake camera, that's enough."

Qiuyue opened the tablet connected to the pinhole camera, started recording, and stared intently at the screen.

"There! It's Horikita. He's installing the camera. There should be someone else. Where?"

Three bandaged male students appeared in the frame. They glared at Horikita with displeasure and confusion.

Horikita said something that made their expressions turn angry.

Though all three were furious at whatever Horikita said, none of them did anything rash. They simply turned back the way they came.

But on their way back, someone blocked their path and spoke with righteous indignation.

"What!? It's Hirata!?"

"Damn it. Even if it were Kushida, I'd be ready to report this video. But why Hirata? No, Hirata can't be expelled yet. I still need him for the Uninhabited Island incident."

"Without Hirata, Class D right now is just a bunch of scattered sand. I can't afford even the slightest mistake in the bet with the Chairman."

In the footage, all three looked irritated. Between the heat and the hassle of the Sudo Incident, nothing about this was pleasant.

As the conversation went on, it was clear the three from Class C were losing ground.

Then Hirata pointed in a direction. All three looked, and visible panic set in.

It was a camera that looked exactly like the school's surveillance cameras—and it was running.

The three from Class C were drenched in sweat, scrambling to make excuses.

"What a shame. If I could read lips, this would be like watching a silent film."

Horikita and Hirata began coordinating. One sentence each, they talked circles around the three from Class C.

The other two from Class C couldn't hold back any longer and started voicing their opinions to Ishizaki.

Though Qiuyue didn't know what was being said, he could roughly guess—those two wanted to quickly confess to the school and avoid expulsion.

In truth, even if they did that, they wouldn't be expelled; they'd just end up suspended along with Sudo.

Next, Horikita and Hirata continued to bamboozle the three from Class C, offering them a convenient choice: drop the charges against Sudo.

Ishizaki still hesitated, mulling it over for a moment before pulling out his phone from his pocket and pressing a few buttons, as if intending to call someone.

Seeing this, Horikita darted forward and snatched the phone away.

Already agitated, Ishizaki instinctively grabbed Horikita by the collar and raised his other hand.

Horikita calmly lifted the phone in her hand and said something.

Ishizaki glanced at the surveillance camera nearby, his face turning pale, and lowered his raised hand.

From Qiuyue's angle, he could just see the screen on the phone in Horikita's hand.

That's right, Ishizaki had indeed been trying to contact someone—the phone was on the dial screen, and the name on it was:

"Ryuen Kakeru"

Ishizaki hung his head, muttering under his breath, probably cursing.

The other two seemed to have defected, both starting to persuade Ishizaki from beside him.

Ishizaki clenched his teeth tightly, his fists balled up, but in the end, he relented and let go.

Qiuyue thought: (Sigh... no matter how many times I see it, this method is too flimsy and risky.)

(Good thing these three are idiots; anyone else and it wouldn't have worked.)

(They wanted to call Ryuen but got stopped. If Horikita were truly confident, she wouldn't have blocked the call—that step already gave her away.)

(And Hirata came instead, so did Ayanokoji notice something? Or did he just not want to show up himself?)

A knock sounded at the door.

"Hm? Who? At a time like this?"

Qiuyue thought: (At this moment... who could it be?... Who would come looking for me? Too coincidental, right at the point of tricking Class C, and most importantly, Ayanokoji isn't in the frame.)

(What's he plotting? Could it be him outside the door?)

Qiuyue confirmed the recording was still running, then slid the tablet into the drawer, locked it, and pocketed the key.

He walked slowly to the door, placed his hand on the doorknob, and turned it gently.