Sudo Incident

Ishizaki, as Ryuuen's loyal underling, followed him every day and reported all sorts of things. One day, Ishizaki casually mentioned that Sudo from Class D had become a regular member of the Basketball Club.

That was the first time Ryuuen assigned them a task: he had Ishizaki take a few classmates from the Basketball Club to pick a fight with Sudo from Class D.

It was a simple and crude plan—have Ishizaki and the others provoke Sudo, get beaten up one-sidedly, and then extort Class D.

The plan went smoothly. To prevent the incident from being caught on camera by Sakura Airi from Class D like in the original story, Ryuuen specifically arranged for Kushida Kikyo to distract Sakura while Ishizaki carried out the plan.

The Student Council was efficient. The day after Ishizaki got beaten, they launched an investigation and held the first hearing.

This was Ryuuen's first time seeing Horikita Manabu. He sat in the middle seat with a stern expression, wearing black-rimmed glasses. Besides sharing the same surname, he also had the same hair color as Suzune. Behind him stood Tachibana Akane, a senior with purple hair tied into two buns. Though her official title was Student Council Secretary, she was essentially Horikita Manabu's assistant.

Ryuuen's unabashed staring caught Horikita Manabu's attention, but he said nothing and simply followed the procedure.

"Komiya, Kondo, and others from Class C have reported that Sudo from Class D violently assaulted them, causing serious injury." Horikita Manabu's voice was flat as he scanned everyone from Class D present, pausing just a second longer on Horikita Suzune.

"I told you, it was self-defense, self-defense! They started it—they were jealous I became a regular first!" Sudo stood up from his chair and slammed his hand on the table.

"I understand." Horikita Manabu's voice carried no emotion, acknowledging Sudo's anger without judgment.

Ryuuen knew Class D would try to drag the hearing out to a second or third session, buying themselves time to investigate and resolve the incident.

He was confident that even without Sakura Airi's photos, Ayanokoji would find a way to get Sudo through this safely.

The sooner this was settled, the better. Ryuuen didn't expect to topple Class D with this incident—he just wanted to plant a thorn in their side.

Following Ryuuen's instructions, Ishizaki retorted, "We just wanted to exchange some basketball tips with Sudo. He threw his weight around. We're all injured, but Sudo came out unscathed. We demand compensation from Class D."

Not demanding compensation from Sudo, but from Class D. Both Horikita Manabu and Ayanokoji realized from Ishizaki's words that this wasn't a simple violent incident—it was premeditated.

"The three from Class C claim they wanted to discuss basketball skills with Sudo but were beaten. Sudo denies this, claiming he was called out by the three from Class C and provoked by them. The accounts are inconsistent. The only confirmed fact is this: Sudo's actions resulted in injuries to Komiya, Kondo, and Ishizaki." Horikita Manabu reviewed the records in his hand, reading out the claims and situation of both the accused and the victims.

"Does Class D have a defense or evidence? Please speak."

At that moment, Horikita Suzune was still spacing out, her head down, lost in thought.

"They're just jealous of me!" Sudo kept shouting.

"Order! Let the defense speak!" Horikita Manabu's glare forced Sudo back into his seat.

With time so tight, Class D hadn't prepared anything. Horikita Suzune hadn't even known Horikita Manabu would be there, so she was especially tense. Ayanokoji analyzed the situation—he'd been dragged in by Chabashira at the last minute. At this stage, he hadn't yet made a deal with Chabashira and had no intention of aiming for Class A. Even if he had some ideas, he couldn't act on them easily.

Just as Ayanokoji's hand was about to touch Horikita Suzune's waist to give her a little jolt, Ryuuen spoke up.

"I don't like wasting time. You don't need a defense. No matter what started this, it won't change the outcome. Given that Sudo is unharmed while my classmates are beaten, I, on behalf of Class C, demand Class D pay ten thousand points in medical and emotional damages to Ishizaki and the other two. Then we'll drop the charges." Ryuuen's words carried weight.

The demand was too good—so good that Chabashira, Class D's homeroom teacher, couldn't believe it. She'd already suspected this might be Class C's scheme. If they won, the worst case was Sudo getting expelled, Class D losing a lot of Class Points, and their class reputation taking a huge hit. But Class C was only asking for ten thousand points and would drop the charges—it was essentially a private settlement.

Strange. Too strange.

Ten thousand points—a student's monthly income. But for Sudo, who spent recklessly, he didn't have that much. Class D wasn't unified yet; pooling money could raise the ten thousand points, but it would create a lot of negative fallout in the class.

"Why should we pay for Sudo's mistakes?"

"Yeah, yeah, a violent freak like Sudo should just drop out."

There would definitely be plenty of complaints in the class. So the best option was for Ayanokoji and Horikita Suzune to cover the compensation.

Weighing the pros and cons, as Class D's representative, Horikita Suzune said just one word for the entire hearing: "Fine."

Everyone was happy. Ryuuen achieved his goal, Sudo dodged a bullet, and the Student Council finished their job. But many present couldn't figure out the real purpose of this incident. If it was just for ten thousand points, there was no need to go through all this trouble.

Horikita Manabu was thinking. Ayanokoji was thinking. Even Ishizaki was wondering what his boss Ryuuen was really after. But Horikita Suzune was thinking, "At least I didn't embarrass myself in front of my brother."

After borrowing five thousand points from Ayanokoji, Horikita Suzune scraped together ten thousand and transferred them to Ryuuen.

"Now I've got your contact info, Suzune." Ryuuen twirled the Student ID Card in his hand like a pen.

Horikita Manabu frowned at Ryuuen. That "Suzune" was far too intimate, blatantly exposing Ryuuen's ulterior motives.

Horikita Suzune frowned too. "They really are family—even their frowns look the same," Ryuuen thought to himself.

"Don't call me Suzune. We're not that close." Horikita Suzune's voice was icy as she quickly distanced herself from Ryuuen. She didn't want her brother to think she had a good relationship with him.

Ryuuen didn't care and led Class C out first.

"Boss, you're not into that Horikita from Class D, are you? What about Shiina?" Ishizaki had heard what Ryuuen said to Horikita and thought the whole scheme was just to pick up girls.

Ryuuen stopped and stared at Ishizaki. "I'll take both."

"Tch, player." Ishizaki and the others only dared think it—saying it out loud would definitely get them beaten.

Back in class, Ryuuen transferred the ten thousand points to Ishizaki and the others. They'd gotten hurt for this mission, so a little compensation was only fair. It was their earnings anyway, and Ryuuen didn't care about the points.

But those points thrilled the three of them. Not because of the amount, but because Ryuuen had given it to them. In their eyes, it was a reward from him—an acknowledgment of their mission and their abilities!

Ryuuen wasn't thinking that far ahead. He was already plotting how to mess with Class D in the next exam.