"Then—"
"Objection! We have witnesses from the Basketball Club who were training on the court at the time. These are their statements, obtained during an investigation by Kiriyama, the Student Council vice president, with him as a witness."
Just as Secretary Tachibana was about to ask Class D to provide evidence, Class C presented its witnesses first.
A statement bearing the signatures of several Basketball Club members, including the vice president, was placed on the table. They were all club members who were dissatisfied with or jealous of Sudo.
If this incident had taken place a month later, the credibility of this statement would have plummeted.
That was because it was still early in the school year. Sudo and the others had only just joined the club and hadn't yet established ties of mutual interest with the upperclassmen.
There had been no disputes or conflicts of interest, so this statement carried considerable weight.
"Does Class D have any evidence to refute Class C's account? If not, we'll accept Class C's version of events as the cause of the incident."
Looking at the statement handed to her, Secretary Tachibana thought Class D was in serious trouble.
"Those guys are lying! I've never liked them!"
When Sudo saw how the other Basketball Club members had joined forces to frame him, he angrily slammed his fist on the table.
Everyone in Class D was also furious at Sudo's blunt, unfiltered outburst. No matter where they went, people couldn't stand a useless teammate.
"We also have a statement from Basketball Club members regarding this incident. Although it wasn't witnessed by a Student Council officer, the Student Council can send someone to verify its authenticity right now."
Hirata also produced a statement signed by several Basketball Club members. But nobody from Class D noticed that the people from Class C all wore faint smiles when he brought it out.
"My side has one more decisive piece of evidence to submit to the Student Council regarding the cause of this incident. However, I'd like Secretary Tachibana to verify the authenticity of Class D's statement before playing it."
Ryuen, standing behind Ishizaki, handed Secretary Tachibana a voice recorder.
After some time, Secretary Tachibana's representatives finished verifying both sides' statements.
"After verifying the evidence provided by both sides, the Student Council will accept Class C's evidence and deem Class D's evidence invalid. I'll now play the audio evidence provided by Class C."
"Why—?"
Just as Kushida was about to ask why, the audio Secretary Tachibana played gave her the answer.
It was a recording of Class D members bribing Basketball Club members with points to give false testimony.
The only part of the incident that involved outsiders had been under Ryuen's close watch from the very beginning.
Class D had offered a hefty number of points, but some members of the Basketball Club had already made an agreement with Ryuen.
When Class D went looking for help from other club members, those members would approach them with a voice recorder and offer to "help."
Class D had even been led to seek help from the Basketball Club in the first place.
After learning of Class B's efforts the day before, Ryuen had anonymously provided a lead pointing to the Basketball Club.
Then Class B passed the information on to Class D. As expected, Class D went there and fell right into the trap.
"You people in Class D would stoop to something as despicable as perjury? You've got no shame!"
Once the audio finished playing, the people from Class D began hurling accusations at Class C, using the momentum to keep Class D under pressure.
Even Horikita Manabu gave Horikita Suzune a disappointed look.
"Next, we'll discuss what actually happened during the pursuit between the two parties involved in this incident.
"The surveillance footage shows that the defendant continued attacking the plaintiffs during the chase. Therefore, the Student Council will proceed on the basis of the plaintiffs' account. Does the defendant have any new evidence to submit?"
This part of the chase was probably the hardest to dispute, since it had been captured on camera the whole time. Even the kick with which Sudo had violently broken down the door had been recorded in perfect clarity.
After watching the surveillance footage, the people from Class D said they had no evidence to present.
"Now we come to the most important part of this incident: what happened after the students from both sides entered the Traditional Literature Club's Activity Room.
"The defendant will make a statement first. You may submit evidence, but it must be genuine. If the defendant commits perjury again, the Student Council will rule against them and impose the maximum compensation demanded by the plaintiffs."
Since Class D had already committed perjury, Secretary Tachibana's attitude toward them had changed.
After all, what kind of real victim would commit perjury? If this had been an actual court, the Class D students would already be behind bars.
"When I went in, I really didn't hit anyone! You have to believe me! They did it to themselves.
"And that president of whatever club it was—I don't even know him! How could I have hit him?
"When I went in, I saw all three of them lying on the ground, with blood everywhere. Then he brought over a chair and smeared blood on my hand!"
At this final stage, Sudo put all his strength into defending himself.
But words without evidence to support them were feeble. Although Sudo looked furious, he wasn't convincing in the least.
"If Class D has no evidence—"
"We have evidence! There has to be evidence that can prove I'm innocent! Lots of students from other clubs came to the door to watch. Some of them took pictures. There must be witnesses who can prove I'm innocent!"
Sudo kept repeating the same few things. Unable to listen any longer, Secretary Tachibana spoke up and brought the discussion back on track.
"Can Class D provide the Student Council with witnesses and photographs as evidence?"
"Sorry, we couldn't find them. But if you give us a little more time, we'll definitely be able to—"
"Fine! We'll give you one more day! I want to see how you can twist the truth!"
The witnesses Sudo mentioned, along with the photos they had taken, were exactly what Class D and Class B had spent all these days searching for.
What they didn't know was that those so-called witnesses were all Class C students. If their photos were presented as evidence, Sudo would be finished.
If Class C settled the matter completely now, they wouldn't be able to reap the greatest benefits. So when Hirata asked for more time, Ryuen immediately agreed, planning to reach a private settlement with Class D over the next day.
Before you continue