After returning to the Student Council together, Kitahara and Horikita sat in their chairs and listened as Secretary Tachibana gave her report.
"The hearing for the dispute between Class 1-D and Class C has been scheduled."
"Is that so," Horikita said flatly.
Unlike Horikita, Kitahara looked shocked. "So soon? When is it?"
Looking at Kitahara, Tachibana Akane was furious. After all, he was the one who had taken the president away that day.
So she replied sarcastically, "You'll be presiding over this hearing. Don't tell me you're not prepared yet."
Realizing she was scolding him, Kitahara smiled and said, "Tachibana-senpai, this could help the president earn points."
"Really?" Hearing that it could help her, Tachibana Akane turned to Horikita.
"Mm, it's true."
After hearing her president confirm it, Tachibana Akane's gaze toward Kitahara softened a little.
She explained, "The hearing is scheduled for after school tomorrow."
"Got it." Now that he knew the exact time, Kitahara quickly took his leave and headed back. After all, he still needed to prepare.
When Kitahara returned to his dorm room, the phone rang before he even had a chance to sit down and rest.
As soon as Kitahara picked up, he heard Yanagihara's voice through the receiver.
"Hehe, I didn't expect you to have such a strong sense of justice, Kitahara. I'm impressed."
"..." Yanagihara's words left Kitahara confused. He had no idea what she meant.
Then he asked, "What are you getting at, Yanagihara?"
"Hehe, why were you with President Horikita today, Kitahara?" Yanagihara teased.
"How do you know? You didn't have someone follow me, did you?" As soon as she mentioned him being with Horikita, Kitahara knew she already knew what had happened that day.
"Wait, no. You weren't having someone follow me. It was Ayanokoji, wasn't it?" Before Yanagihara could reply, Kitahara continued.
"Hehe, who knows? As far as I'm concerned, you're more interesting than Ayanokoji."
"Tch. If you don't want to tell me, then forget it," Kitahara said, unwilling to keep going back and forth with Yanagihara.
"I heard you're presiding over the hearing tomorrow afternoon, so I wanted to congratulate you in advance," Yanagihara said.
"You didn't make any arrangements for this, did you?" Kitahara didn't ask how she knew the exact time. He only asked, uncertainly, whether his guess was right.
"Who knows? If you're willing to ask me nicely, I might tell you." Yanagihara gave a soft laugh as she sat on her bed.
Kitahara, on the other end of the call, was already fuming. He couldn't believe Yanagihara had become like this, though she had always been this way to some degree.
"I don't think you arranged anything. With your personality, you'd want to defeat him fair and square."
Having calmed down, Kitahara replied evenly.
"Oh, Kitahara, you really do understand me. Are you sure you don't want to work for me? I think we could—"
Before Yanagihara could finish, Kitahara said goodbye and immediately hung up.
On the other end, Yanagihara saw that the call had ended and gave a helpless laugh.
"Looks like Kitahara still needs a little more training. But we have plenty of time to take it slow."
Early the next morning, Horikita stared intently at Ayanokoji in the Class D classroom.
At that moment, Kitahara was still battling his sleepiness.
"What's wrong?" Ayanokoji asked, looking at her as she stared at him.
"Did you spend the weekend with Kushida?"
"Yeah. I spent some time with her because of Sakura."
"Though I couldn't guarantee she'd provide any information," Ayanokoji replied.
"Is that so?"
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?"
"You just look a little scary right now."
"Do I? I always look like this. I was just thinking about how you've started acting on your own."
"When I ask you to do something, you're reluctant, but you were quick to agree when Kushida asked. I'm just calmly analyzing the difference." Horikita looked at him with a serious expression.
As they stared at each other, Kitahara casually remarked, "Could it be because you didn't see your brother yesterday, Horikita? After all, on the school forum, there's even our—"
Before Kitahara could finish, Horikita's glare silenced him.
"When did you get here?" Horikita asked, turning to Kitahara.
"Right when Ayanokoji said you looked a little scary," Kitahara replied.
After he finished speaking, Horikita fixed him with another icy stare, then continued, "Never mind. The Student Council has set the hearing date for Sudo's case."
"When is it?" Ayanokoji asked.
"After school today. And he'll be presiding over it." Horikita turned her gaze to Kitahara.
"Then let's begin the hearing into the assault that took place last Tuesday. I, Kitahara Seiichi, the Public Morals Committee member of the Student Council, will preside over this meeting." Kitahara spoke from his seat.
"I'm surprised the Student Council president came in person for a dispute like this. How unusual."
Chabashira spoke up.
"I'm usually busy with other matters, and although I may not be involved in certain matters, I still need to attend in principle. I'm also here to assess the abilities of the new members." Horikita looked at her as she answered.
"Is that so? Being Student Council president must be hard."
I didn't expect the Student Council president to show up in person too. I thought Kitahara would be the only one here. Looks like Horikita won't be able to show what she can do this time.
Ayanokoji thought as he looked at Horikita.
"Enough small talk."
"I hope this hearing will determine which side's account is the truth," Kitahara said, cutting them off.
He took control of the proceedings again.
Just as Kitahara opened the record sheet to explain things, the Class C homeroom teacher beside him spoke up.
"President Horikita, this negotiation is between Class C and Class D. And as far as I know, Kitahara, who's presiding over it, is in Class D."
Before Horikita could respond, Kitahara spoke up, already prepared.
"Mr. Banjo, you're worrying too much. Even though I'm presiding over this hearing, the president is right here. Do you think I could persuade someone appointed by the school?"
"Or do you not trust the school's judgment?"
"Well..." (How am I supposed to answer that? The school pays my salary. I can't exactly question its judgment.)
"Don't worry, Mr. Banjo. I'll handle this fairly. After all, I was appointed to the Public Morals Committee by the Student Council."
"Seeing Class C's students get hurt makes me feel partly responsible too, so I'll pay closer attention to Class C from now on."
"What do you think, Mr. Banjo? Can I begin now?"
Kitahara looked around the room as he spoke.
When he saw that nobody had anything else to say, Kitahara officially began the hearing.