Ichinose, who had been playing beach volleyball just moments ago, was drawn by the commotion and turned to look.
"It's in the direction of the restrooms, right?" Amikura said from beside her.
"Do you think something happened? I'll go check." Shiranami said, getting ready to head over.
"Wait. Now's not the time to worry about the line over there. Focus on the game—focus!" Ike said, red-eyed, as he blocked her path.
Watching from the side, Kushida asked Ayanokoji, "What's gotten into Ike?"
"I don't know. Maybe he ate something that upset his stomach."
"That looks like Kitahara," Kanzaki said, looking toward the person pushing his way out of the crowd.
"What? Is that Kitahara?" Hearing Kanzaki, Ichinose and the others looked over. When they saw it really was him, they all waved to him.
After squeezing out of the crowd, Kitahara let out a long breath and started toward the changing room, without noticing them waving.
Seeing Kitahara hurry off like that left Ichinose and the others puzzled.
And with the possibility that something had happened in the restrooms, Ichinose and the others quickly discussed what to do.
They said goodbye to Horikita and the others, then hurried after Kitahara to find out what had happened.
The students from Class D across from them were confused when the students from Class B suddenly left.
At the back, Ayanokoji noticed that Kitahara had run in the direction of the changing rooms. He turned to look at Ike and the others, who stood there, at a loss.
But he didn't feel like doing anything more.
He already had a good idea what had happened, but there was no way to change things now. Kitahara had already gone over there.
So their only chance was to head to the scene and see whether there was still a good opportunity to deal with things.
It didn't have much to do with him, but he still needed to protect himself. He took out his phone and sent Chabashira a message.
"Then why don't we go see what's going on?" Kushida suggested from beside him.
"Mm..."
"I won't forgive you! Don't just barge in, you guys! Didn't you see the sign on the door saying 'No Entry'?" Sudo said to Ryuen and the others. Sotomura had warned him, allowing him to arrive in time.
"I didn't see it. I go wherever I want—that's who I am." With that, Albert, standing beside Ryuen, stepped forward to drive Sudo away.
"Fighting among the dregs of society. How ugly."
"Is that Sakayanagi?"
"I wasn't talking to you. Take your dog and get lost."
"Oh, then perhaps I should keep you as a pet, too."
While they were arguing, Kitahara ran up and asked, "What are you doing here?"
When Ryuen saw Kitahara, a mocking smile tugged at his lips. "Well, well. If it isn't the Public Morals Committee member from the Student Council. What are you doing here?"
"Hm?" Kitahara was momentarily confused by Ryuen's attitude.
He'd gone out of his way to emphasize Kitahara's position.
Did Banjo tell him about what happened at the review meeting? Kitahara wondered.
When Kitahara didn't answer, Ryuen continued:
"Heh. Kitahara, are you here to see your former classmates? Guarding this lousy door like a loyal watchdog, are you?"
Before Kitahara could respond, Sudo glared at Ryuen, veins bulging on his forehead as he prepared to charge at him.
"Heh. Haven't you learned your lesson from your last failure, Ryuen?"
At Kitahara's words, Sudo, who had been furious, realized he'd lost his temper again.
"Hmph..."
Just then, Ichinose and the others hurried over. Seeing the tense scene, Ichinose furrowed her brow slightly and stepped forward. "Everyone, please calm down. Whatever the problem is, we can talk it out. There's no need for this. We're all—"
Before Ichinose could finish,
Ryuen sneered. "Hmph. This has nothing to do with you, Ichinose. Don't stick your nose into it."
"..."
"What are you arguing about?" Horikita Manabu said as he climbed down from the second floor.
"Although this place is open to the public as an entertainment facility, don't forget that it's still on school grounds."
"Well, well. If it isn't the Student Council president." Yanagihara smiled when he saw him.
Sudo, still standing where he was, grew even more nervous when he saw Horikita Manabu.
"All right, please step aside. The Student Council received a report that someone falsely claimed the changing room was being cleaned and intended to install a camera inside to spy on people."
Horikita Manabu's words made everyone around them tense up.
But Ryuen folded his arms and said with a mocking smile, "Mr. President, we were just passing by and decided to see what sort of secret this 'No Entry' area was hiding. Who knew Sudo would act like a rabid dog and lunge at us?"
Horikita Manabu studied Ryuen's expression, saw no sign he was lying, then turned to Yanagihara across from him.
Playing with a strand of her hair, Yanagihara said casually, "President, I only just got here, so I have no idea what happened."
"I see. Kitahara, tell me what's going on."
"Uh... President, I just got here too, so I don't know the details. But I can confirm that they really didn't know about this."
Kitahara paused, then continued, "That said, there are some suspicious things at the scene."
"The 'No Entry' sign on the door has been tampered with, and there are messy footprints on the ground. So someone must have sneaked inside."
After hearing Kitahara's explanation, Horikita Manabu nodded, then turned to Sudo again.
"Please step aside. The Student Council needs to inspect the room."
But Sudo was already standing there in a daze. After all, the president's words had made it clear that someone had reported their plan.
Seeing Sudo's state, everyone already knew the outcome.
"Ugh, you're not getting out of this now. You just got through one crisis, and now you've gone and done something stupid again. Even Ayanokoji can't do anything for you this time."
From what the president had just revealed, Kitahara had already figured out how Ayanokoji had gotten out of trouble.
After all, the only person who could contact the Student Council president and help him so relentlessly was Chabashira-sensei.
Looks like she's ready to abandon them and put more pressure on Class D, so they can rise to Class A.
"Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and come in," Horikita Manabu said from the doorway as Kitahara was thinking.
"Oh... I'll be right there."