"Enough..." Although Sogo Doma's explanation was logical and convincing—probably?—unfortunately, hardly anyone bought it. Shizuka Hiratsuka said, "Doma, Ms. Takahashi already said it. Rumi's behavior really does leave people at a loss for words, but..."
Hearing that, Sogo Doma picked up where she left off. "But this phenomenon is far too abnormal?"
"..." So this brat did know what abnormal meant? No, rather, he really did know...
"The question is..." As everyone continued grumbling internally, Sogo Doma went on, "Ms. Takahashi, did you call Hiratsuka-sensei here to resolve this abnormality?"
Ms. Takahashi said, "Eh? I..."
"Hah..." Shizuka Hiratsuka said, "Are you about to call someone a tool again? Doma, don't forget that this situation only happened because of last time..."
"No..." Before she could finish, Sogo Doma shook a finger. "That's not what I'm going to say. What I want to ask is, does resolving this abnormality mean restoring everything to how it used to be? Letting the bullies keep bullying? Letting the isolated keep being isolated?"
The moment he said that, everyone fell silent. "..."
Ms. Takahashi said, "No, that's not it. I... we just wanted to, wanted to..."
Her awkward appearance did not soften Sogo Doma's heart. He pressed on, "You just wanted what?"
"We just wanted to know what caused Tsurumi to change so much..."
"And then?"
"And then, of course, figure out whether this change is good or bad..."
"Hah?" Before Ms. Takahashi could finish, Sogo Doma began teasing her. "Isn't it just that her influence has grown? She hasn't led anyone in bullying their classmates, nor has she broken any school rules..." How bad could this situation possibly be?
But before he could finish, Shizuka Hiratsuka could not help saying, "Don't make it sound so trivial. Zaimokuza..."
"He has eighth-grader syndrome!" Sogo Doma still insisted.
"Um..."