Cafeteria Commotion

"Shiraishi, want to go eat together?"

When assigning dormitories, the school tried to place students from the same class on the same floor whenever possible, so at mealtimes, students would go knocking from door to door.

"Give me a moment. I only have two steps left." Shiraishi Makoto wrapped up the problem he had been working on.

Some of the boys from Class A had not gotten up yet, while others did not plan to visit the cafeteria and intended to eat instant noodles or bread they had bought in advance. In the end, only nine people planned to go to the cafeteria.

As the group entered the cafeteria, they spotted a long line at the mountain vegetable set meal counter from afar.

"Those are Class D students, right? Their situation is really miserable." Watanabe Norihito looked at the scene and sighed quietly.

Even students who were the most out of touch with information could clearly understand Class D's circumstances from the rumors spreading around the school.

Although the school did not provide a detailed breakdown of points, everyone could refer to the average circumstances of classes from previous years. Anyone who looked into it would think that without The Idiot Trio, this year's Class D could probably have saved two or three hundred points during the first month.

That made the other students who had been dragged down seem especially pitiful. For the past two, perhaps even three months, they had received no points at all and could only eat mountain vegetable set meals.

After choosing what they wanted to eat, the group found an empty table and sat down.

Before they even began eating, a noisy argument suddenly erupted nearby.

"Is that Class C and Class D?" One student immediately recognized the two sides in conflict.

The students from the two classes had already squared off against each other. A dispute had clearly broken out.

"I'll go take a look." As a Student Council member, stopping conflicts on campus was Shiraishi Makoto's duty. Besides, an inexplicable sense of foreboding rose within him.

"Seriously, I told you it was an accident. Who told the lunch lady to fill the soup so full?" The Class C girl held up her tray, her tone brimming with impatience.

"What kind of attitude is that? You spilled soup on my shoes!" The Class D girl was furious.

Hearing that, Shiraishi Makoto instinctively looked down at her feet. One of her white shoes was covered in large yellow grease stains.

"Seriously, you people from Class D are such a pain." The Class C girl wore an expression of being utterly fed up. "Sorry, okay?"

Naturally, the Class D students could not accept the Class C student's completely insincere apology.

"What kind of attitude is that?" The blonde girl with a ponytail was the first to stand, blocking the Class C girl's path.

"What do you mean, we people from Class D are such a pain? Explain yourself!?" Several other Class D students also rose from their seats.

"What, do you want to fight?"

The Class C students were not intimidated in the slightest and showed no intention of backing down.

"All of you, stop right now. I'm Shiraishi Makoto from the Student Council. The Student Council is taking charge of the scene." Shiraishi Makoto quickly stepped forward, inserting himself between the two classes and preventing the situation from escalating further.

"The Student Council is here?" Upon seeing Shiraishi Makoto, the Class D students immediately spoke up. "Shiraishi, you have to be fair to us."

"That's right, that's right. Class C has gone too far."

"Everyone, calm down first. I still don't know the full story." Shiraishi Makoto said, "Please have both sides introduce yourselves. I'll make a record."

"Come on, is there really any need to make such a big deal out of this?" Perhaps because she knew the Student Council truly had the authority to impose punishment, the girl involved, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, softened her voice. "I only spilled soup on her shoes. It's not like I did it on purpose."

"This is the Student Council's procedure for handling disputes. No matter how minor the matter is, the rules must be followed." Shiraishi Makoto rejected her protest and obtained the names and statements of both parties.

The two people involved were Manabe Shiho from Class C and Mori Nene from Class D.

However, it was impossible to determine right from wrong based solely on their accounts. In the end, he could only apply to the cafeteria administration to retrieve the surveillance footage.

The footage showed that the Class D student had been sitting there eating when several Class C students passed by while chatting and laughing. During their horseplay, someone shoved Manabe Shiho, and the unfinished soup and leftovers on her tray happened to spill onto Mori Nene's shoes.

There was no direct evidence, but this was Class C, led by Ryuen Kakeru.

It seemed they had made it through the Midterm Exam and now had the time to start pulling little tricks.

"Based on the surveillance footage, Manabe, you did not appear to have intentionally spilled the soup. However, the fact that you dirtied Mori's shoes is indisputable." Shiraishi Makoto looked at the two of them and delivered his ruling. "While the circumstances do not constitute damage to another person's property and do not require point compensation, you must apologize to Mori. If you refuse, it will be considered malicious provocation, and the Student Council will handle it according to school regulations."

"Fine..." Manabe Shiho glanced at Shiraishi Makoto, having lost her earlier arrogance. "Sorry, Mori. I got your shoes dirty."

"Be more careful next time." Perhaps because Shiraishi Makoto was handling the matter, Mori Nene did not press the issue any further.

"That concludes the mediation. Since everyone from Class C has finished eating, please leave as soon as possible. Neither side is to make any further excessive moves." Shiraishi Makoto brought the matter to a close and watched the Class C students leave the cafeteria.

"Thank you very much, Shiraishi." The Class D students approached, and the blonde girl at the front spoke.

"No need to thank me, Karuizawa." Shiraishi Makoto waved his hand. "It was just routine duty. Go back to your meal with peace of mind."

As he walked back to the area where the Class A students were sitting, Shiraishi Makoto became increasingly convinced that this incident had not been accidental.

Ryuen Kakeru's later scheme involving the "Sudo Ken Assault Incident" had also been laid out over a long period. Komiya and the others had been able to easily lure Sudo Ken to the Special Building because they had provoked him repeatedly over time.

So this should have been the stage where he cast a wide net. Ryuen Kakeru wanted to find people in Class D who were easy to target, so he was frequently creating conflicts.

But honestly, Shiraishi Makoto still did not know why Ryuen Kakeru was targeting Class D. Whether at this point in time or in the original novel, his motives were bizarre.

Class D had no Class Points, had no prior conflicts with Class C, and currently posed no threat to Class C whatsoever.

After thinking it over, he could only come up with a few possible reasons.

First, because he ruled his class through violence, some students in the class still did not fully submit to him. He needed to attack another class and win a major victory to solidify his position, so he intended to start by squeezing the soft persimmon that was Class D.

Second, someone was secretly cooperating with him and wanted him to attack Class D. The only person Shiraishi Makoto could think of at the moment was Sakayanagi Arisu.

Third, after the previous two months, Ryuen Kakeru had noticed that Class D had a hidden "capable person" and wanted to use this attack to probe their true identity.

All of those reasons were possible, but Shiraishi Makoto had no evidence to support any of them. If it was the second or third reason, that would be manageable. But if it was the first, then the possibility of Ryuen Kakeru launching an attack on Class A was not zero either.

"Everyone, be careful lately. Class C may be up to something." Shiraishi Makoto lowered his voice. At the same time, he opened the class group chat, recounted what had happened today, and added:

"When going out recently, please try to travel with classmates. If you encounter a dispute or anything unusual, remember to start recording audio or video immediately and protect your own safety."