A battered boy said through trembling pain:
"Ryuen..."
"Someone might have seen everything..."
"When I was fighting Sudo, I felt like there were people around..." Before he could finish, the big Black man standing beside him stepped in front of him and said:
"Bad boy."
Then he added a few more wounds to the boy's body.
As the boy continued to howl, the wound on his head began bleeding again.
The man grabbed his head and pressed it expressionlessly in front of Ryuen.
"You're looking more and more like a victim." Ryuen slowly poured the drink in his hand over the boy's head as he spoke mockingly.
The boy could only endure the pain as he looked at Ryuen and said:
"Th-thank you..."
"Hmph. Make sure you follow the plan." Ryuen paid no attention to his injuries and spoke coldly.
"Yes, boss..."
But at another booth, a blue-haired girl stared coldly at Ryuen.
"It's all Sudo's fault. This is such a mess," Ike complained to Yamauchi.
"We're going to have to get by on zero points again this month..."
"That guy should just drop out already."
"Exactly." The girls around them chimed in as well.
Horikita quietly watched the scene and said calmly:
"Do you think so too? Do you also think it would be better if Sudo dropped out?"
"I don't really care." Ayanokoji said, propping his head up with one hand as he sat beside her.
"But what about you? As one of the people who reached out to help her, do you really want to give up?"
"Our class has zero points now. If we lose points because someone drops out, there won't be any points left to deduct." Horikita calmly analyzed the situation they faced.
"Maybe," Ayanokoji replied.
"What? That irritating tone of yours sounds a little like Kitahara."
"Because we can't rule out the possibility that points are being added or deducted without our knowledge," Ayanokoji continued, ignoring her teasing.
"What do you mean?"
"The formula just hasn't been revealed yet. Maybe we're still losing points."
"If someone drops out, perhaps the points won't be deducted now, but will be at some point in the future."
"Maybe the condition for moving up to Class A is that nobody drops out."
After hearing his analysis, Horikita fell silent for a moment.
Seeing that she was about to waver, Ayanokoji continued:
"We don't know how the school's system works. If our goal is to move up to Class A,"
"I think we need to eliminate every possible risk. Besides, Sudo's athletic ability and her standing in the club could prove useful in the future..."
"So you think I should still help her?" Horikita said, understanding what he meant.
"..." Ayanokoji simply nodded in silence.
"Is that so..." Horikita looked at Ayanokoji, then turned her gaze toward the empty seat where Kitahara usually sat, lost in thought.
"Everyone..." Hirata said as he stepped up to the lectern.
"I'm willing to trust my classmates. I think we should work together to look for clues about the witness."
After Hirata finished speaking, Karuizawa Kei, his "girlfriend," chimed in:
"That's right. I agree, too."
Seeing that the two pillars of the class had both spoken up, the others could only nod.
"I feel the same way. We have to believe in him first." With the room in this state, Kushida, the class's "little angel," spoke up as well.
"If even Kushida thinks so..."
"Then I'm totally on board." Yamauchi and Ike, who had spoken first, chimed in without missing a beat.
"Hey, Horikita and Ayanokoji, you'll help out too, right?" Kushida walked over to them and asked with a smile.
"After everything you've said, I assume you'll help Sudo, considering someone just said all that a moment ago." Horikita gazed out the window.
"No, I don't want to move up to Class A." Ayanokoji spoke up.
"Of course you'll help. Thank you!" Kushida said happily, as though she hadn't heard Ayanokoji's answer.
"Yeah." With no way to avoid it, Ayanokoji could only agree.
"And you, Horikita..."
Horikita ignored her question and left the classroom coldly.
After watching her go, Kushida could only say:
"Let's do our best on our own..."
Meanwhile, at the student council, Kitahara had been complaining all day and was still going:
"President, don't do this to me! I really can't handle something like this!"
"Why don't you ask Yanagihara instead? With her abilities, she'll definitely take care of this smoothly."
After hearing Kitahara's complaints, even Horikita Manabu finally lost patience following a whole day of being subjected to his nonstop barrage.
"If you keep refusing, who knows how long it'll be before your club gets an activity room."
"Ahem. President, actually, I think this is a responsibility I ought to take on as a member of the Public Morals Committee. I'll do my best to complete the task."
Looking at Kitahara, who had changed his tune in an instant, Horikita Manabu couldn't help regretting his decision.
He should've threatened him like that from the start instead of ignoring him. Then Kitahara wouldn't have kept pestering him from yesterday afternoon until now.
"Good. At least you understand."
"What's your take on the situation? You've already gotten a general idea of what's going on," Horikita Manabu said, looking at Kitahara.
"Uh, President, do you want an objective answer or a subjective one...?"
"Start with the subjective one." Looking at the irreverent Kitahara, Horikita Manabu was a little speechless. He didn't know why the Kitahara he saw now was completely different from the person he'd investigated.
He was nothing like the person Kitahara appeared to be in Class D.
"Heh, President, here goes. I think this whole thing is Sudo's fault. After all, he's beaten me up twice, so I think he has a violent streak. Besides... I'm sure he's always been... By the way, President, could you...?"
"All right, that's enough." Hearing Kitahara stray further and further off topic, Horikita Manabu knew it was nothing more than revenge.
After all, he knew the two of them hadn't actually fought; they'd only had a bit of a disagreement.
"Now give me the objective version."
"Oh, actually, this was just a probe by Class C against Class D." Kitahara answered bluntly.
"So you think Class C set a trap for Class D." Horikita Manabu smiled as if this was exactly what he'd expected.
"Uh... President, you don't have to put it like that. There's no way Ryuen's methods would fool you."
"Then how are you so certain?" Horikita Manabu looked steadily at Kitahara.