Identity Exposed

As Sudo Ken's rampage unfolded, the other Class D students who had been watching with a mindset of amusement quickly wiped the smiles off their faces.

Sudo Ken strode aggressively over to stand beside Kouenji Rokusuke, silent, every muscle in his body taut, looking ready to throw a punch at any moment.

"That's enough. Everyone, please calm down." The one who stepped in at this moment was Hirata Yosuke.

"Sudo-kun is still on probationary suspension. If you cause another violent incident, there will be no room left for negotiation." Hirata Yosuke grabbed Sudo Ken's hand, but even that couldn't stop his movements, so he could only continue to reason with him.

Hearing those words, Sudo Ken finally sobered up a little.

"...Tch."

Sudo Ken shot a glare at Kouenji Rokusuke, then turned and left the classroom. Before he exited, he slammed the door shut with force, the loud bang accompanied by a roar of frustration.

"Kouenji-kun, I won't force you to help, but scolding him like that wasn't right either." Hirata Yosuke looked at Kouenji Rokusuke, his eyes full of helplessness.

"Unfortunately, I haven't done anything wrong. Not once, from the moment I was born until now." Kouenji Rokusuke shook his head lightly, then glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Ah, it's about time for my date. I'll take my leave."

No one had anticipated that this class discussion would devolve into such a state. Class D's enthusiasm plummeted to freezing point, and the other students who had no real connection to Sudo Ken abandoned any intention of helping.

Maybe letting this guy get expelled would be better for Class D. That was the thought held by most of the students.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, seeing that Class D's investigation had stalled, couldn't help but point out a key detail—the school's surveillance cameras.

That's right. People like Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki hadn't even realized there were two tiny cameras in the classroom. They hadn't even considered how the school recorded their rule violations.

But even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't piece together any useful clues with the information he had. Because Sudo Ken himself didn't know that Ryuen Kakeru, in order to increase the severity of the school's punishment, had privately beaten Ishizaki and the other two again, making their injuries even worse.

The group went to the scene of the incident. After a careful inspection, they confirmed that the place where Sudo Ken had hit people had no surveillance.

"I'm not surprised by that. If there were cameras here, the school itself could have sorted out both sides' responsibility, and there would be no need for Sudo to provide his own evidence." Horikita Suzune had come along to investigate after hearing about the cameras. But she had already figured out the key point on the way, so she wasn't surprised to find no clues there.

As long as the three participants from Class C stuck to their unified story, Sudo Ken, who had indeed injured someone, was in an absolute disadvantage in the case.

Time quickly arrived at the next Monday, with only one day left until the involved parties faced off.

However, something else had happened during the past week—Sakura Airi's identity as "Shizuku" had been exposed.

The first to discover Sakura Airi were third-year students, since they had relatively comprehensive information. Among them, a male student from Class C who claimed to be a devoted fan of "Shizuku" approached Sakura Airi.

The incident took place in the student cafeteria. Fortunately, Shinohara Satsuki, Matsushita Chiaki, and other newly made friends happened to be by her side at the time, stepping in immediately to share the pressure.

But they were also shocked that the usually quiet and introverted Sakura was actually "Shizuku," an idol with huge popularity online.

Although this senior was a relatively rational fan who only came to politely ask for a photo and autograph, the cafeteria was crowded and the commotion was considerable, so the news quickly spread throughout the entire school.

Most of Class D didn't realize at first that Sakura Airi was their own classmate. It wasn't until the next day, when they came to the classroom and deliberately took a closer look, that they discovered they had such a student in their class.

At the back of the classroom, Ike Kanji suddenly remembered something.

"Hey? Yamauchi, didn't you say Sakura confessed to you?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also turned his head, because he remembered that line too.

"Huh? Did I say that? Did I say it or not?" Yamauchi Haruki panicked slightly and quickly started playing dumb.

"I knew you were lying. She's a famous online idol! How could she possibly like a guy like you?"

"I wasn't lying, I just got it wrong. The one who confessed to me wasn't Sakura, it was a girl from the next class. An ugly girl with a gloomy personality, so I don't really remember her. Ah, I got a message on my phone." Yamauchi Haruki casually made up a lie, then pulled out his phone and pretended to fiddle with it.

"But you really can't tell, can you? Sakura-san usually disguises herself like this, but she's actually a beauty like 'Shizuku'." Ike Kanji also took out his phone and scrolled through the photos "Shizuku" had posted online.

Last night, in their small group chat, they had even questioned whether the photos were heavily edited. Today, they confirmed that Sakura Airi actually had a great foundation, she had just been hiding herself with an unremarkable appearance.

"Should we go ask for an autograph?" Ayanokoji thought for a moment, then spoke.

Running into an online celebrity like this, asking for an autograph was probably what a normal person would do, right?

"Uh..." Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki looked at Sakura Airi, who was surrounded by a crowd of girls, and didn't have the courage.

Meanwhile, Shinohara Satsuki, Kushida Kikyo, and others were gathered around Sakura Airi, helping her out. The former acted out of friendship, the latter out of a sense of responsibility.

Fortunately, over the past few weeks, Sakura Airi had been interacting with Shiraishi Makoto, Shinohara Satsuki, and the others. Her social anxiety had eased to some extent. Although she still couldn't always keep up with the conversation, she was no longer shy enough to run away.

Under this protection, the buzz around Sakura Airi died down considerably after a few days. Most people were just curious, and hardcore fans weren't that common in this school. But thanks to her excellent photography skills, Sakura Airi gradually gained some popularity in Class D and made a few friends she could talk to.

Everyone's main focus was still on Tuesday's dispute resolution.

At 3:50 PM on Tuesday, several members of Class D headed to the faculty office.

Hoshinomiya Chie watched as Chabashira Sae led Sudo Ken and the others out of the office, a sly smile curling at the corner of her lips. She could tell that the faces of Class D's group were completely devoid of smiles. It seemed they still hadn't found the decisive evidence to turn the tables.

On the other hand... thinking this, Hoshinomiya Chie's mood improved greatly. If the rules hadn't required non-involved classes to stay out of this meeting, she would have wanted to join in the fun.

"How many beers should I drink tonight?" Hoshinomiya Chie hummed a little tune as she packed up her things.

Meanwhile, Class D's group arrived at the student council office.

The three involved students from Class C were already in the office. Besides them, Class C's homeroom teacher Sakagami Kazuma and Ryuen Kakeru were also sitting nearby.

And in the seats belonging to the student council, there were three more people.