"I didn't expect the hearing to take this long. Looks like we won't get results until this afternoon."
Kitagawa Ryo glanced at the clock on the wall, which now pointed exactly to noon. He stood up and stretched a bit, casually speaking to Horikita Suzune:
"Let's grab lunch first. You look pretty relaxed right now anyway."
"That's only because I was told to avoid involvement due to the incident being tied to our grade. I'm still doing the work of two people by myself in the student council."
Horikita stood and stretched as well, her graceful movements accentuating her perfect figure. She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, then turned her head to gripe:
"You shoved Sakayanagi into the student council, and now all you did was increase my workload."
As she said this, she let out a sigh, covered her face, and added:
"She managed to take half a month of sick leave. Besides just having her name on the roster, her presence or absence makes no difference. Luckily the upperclassmen in the council didn't press the issue. If this were any other club, she would've been kicked out already."
"Arisu really can't fill in the gap. You should be a bit more understanding."
Kitagawa Ryo walked with his hands behind his back toward the student cafeteria. Originally, the two slots he and Nagumo Miyabi had reserved were meant for Horikita Suzune and Ichinose Honami. But since Honami ended up giving up on her long-cherished goal of joining the student council, Sakayanagi Arisu ended up just filling in her name.
At the cafeteria, the two found an empty table and picked reasonably priced meal sets before sitting down to eat and chat. Since the cafeteria was a public space with many prying eyes, they tacitly agreed not to discuss anything sensitive. Instead, their conversation drifted through everyday topics.
Ever since joining the student council, Horikita had been dealing with various campus affairs: disputes over club budgets, processing applications to attend external competitions, and reviewing whether students who performed well in tournaments qualified to earn class points for their homerooms.
"So that's why you value Sudou so much?"
After discussing a recent club dispute hearing, Horikita raised her head and asked.
"Yeah. He's one of the very few—maybe the only—students in Class D who can contribute through club activities."
Kitagawa Ryo spoke calmly as he continued eating:
"Sudou needs a profound lesson and then genuine recognition from others. If he can achieve both, he'll become the backbone of Class D."
"Didn't expect you to rate him so highly."
"No wonder you were at the basketball club back then."
Horikita tossed out the comment casually. Kitagawa simply smiled without replying. After finishing their meals, the two walked side-by-side toward the dormitories.
When they reached Kitagawa's room, he pulled out his key and opened the door, only to find a girl sitting nonchalantly on the sofa inside. She was eating the dessert ice cream Ryo had made last night and stored in the fridge, while watching TV without a care in the world.
"Oh, you're back?"
"I don't think I've entered the wrong room. Pretty sure this is still my place."
Ryo casually kicked off his shoes and changed into slippers. Leaning against the other sofa, he called out:
"Kei?"
"Since I always have to come here to discuss things with you, and knocking every time is a hassle, I figured having a spare key makes sense."
Karuiwaza Kei twirled the key in her hand and tossed it to Ryo.
"If you don't like it, just take it back."
"You can keep it—just don't get caught."
Ryo tossed the key back. Kei smiled and put it away again.
Meanwhile, Suzune had changed shoes, knelt down to neatly arrange all three pairs at the door, and then stepped inside. Though there was room beside Kei on the sofa, Suzune naturally chose to sit on Ryo's bed instead.
"Suzune, how's the student council?"
Noticing Suzune's seating choice, Kei's eyes flickered, but she masked it well and asked casually.
"Tokito has already been expelled, and Yagami's probably not far behind. As for Yamauchi and Ike, their fates depend on the final decision, but the worst would probably be suspension."
Suzune briefly summarized the situation, then asked Kei with interest:
"By the way, you should know Yagami's original plan, right?"
"Yeah, Hoshinomiya-sensei told me."
Kei nodded, licking her ice cream slowly. Then she motioned toward Ryo:
"But Ryo should explain. He knows more than I do—after all, things have already gone beyond what Yagami originally intended."
Back in his own room, Ryo relaxed and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"To explain Yagami's plan, we should start with his background and personality."
"If I'm right, he's one of the White Room agents sent to assist Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."
Both Kei and Suzune understood Ryo's bet with Ayanokouji and were aware of the White Room's existence, so while they were surprised, they quickly accepted the idea.
"But Yagami wasn't just a helper. Although his mission was to assist Ayanokouji in defeating me, deep down he wanted to bypass Ayanokouji and take me down on his own."
Ryo lightly tapped the armrest of the sofa.
"In fact, he wanted to defeat both of us."
"That's why he created a plan targeting both Class A and Class D."
"As a student of Class 1-B, he quickly noticed the exploitable nature of his homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie. He promised to help her strike Class A in exchange for her support."
"Yagami's plan had two parts. The infirmary incident was only the first half."
"He lured Yamauchi and Ike to the infirmary using two backups—photos from Hoshinomiya and help from Matsushita Chiaki in Class D."
"He disabled the infirmary cameras, set up a voice recording of Kouenji, and created the illusion that Kouenji was there. Then he personally injured the two and sent Katsuragi an anonymous tip, drawing him into a confrontation with Class D."
Suzune was surprised.
"Isn't that exactly what the student council had deduced?"
"Yes. If the first half succeeded, it would've replicated the scenario where Katsuragi tried to settle things privately, because Yamauchi and Ike were supposed to have real injuries."
"And Yagami didn't fear failure. If the scam succeeded, Class A and D would feud. If it failed, they'd still feud."
"He picked Yamauchi and Ike because they were the easiest to trick and the ones most likely to antagonize Katsuragi. Katsuragi, being rigid, couldn't handle exaggerated and theatrical types like them."
Suzune nodded thoughtfully. She didn't know Katsuragi well, but he always seemed stubborn and inflexible despite his intimidating appearance.
"But that wasn't Yagami's endgame. His real target wasn't Yamauchi and Ike. In fact, he didn't even want them expelled. Their continued presence would be a burden to Class D."
"It was the basketball club, wasn't it?"
Suzune narrowed her eyes, starting to piece it together.
"Yes—Sudou."
"Sudou is highly valued by the coach and is likely to be selected as an official team member for the summer tournament. But his personality makes him unpopular, especially with students from other classes who envy his skills."
"Kito from Class A is the only one with similar athletic ability and has a basketball background. The others encouraged him to challenge Sudou."
"That afternoon, while Yamauchi and Ike were unconscious, the basketball club was buzzing. Yagami had his classmates stir rumors that Sudou was selfish and lacked teamwork, while praising Kito's synergy with others."
"Then they pressured Sudou into a 3-on-3 match against Kito."
"Sudou had no teammates—first-years disliked him, and upperclassmen feared losing their spot. He could only call Yamauchi and Ike—his only two friends."
"But they were unconscious in the infirmary."
Ryo nodded slowly.
"So Sudou, unable to reach them, faced ridicule and pressure alone. And if someone whispered—'Yamauchi and Ike were beaten up by Class A'—"
"Boom."
"The powder keg would explode."
Ryo knew Sudou's temper well. He might not even need that last push to resort to violence.
That would be the true rupture between Class A and Class D.
If Sudou acted out, the truth about the infirmary wouldn't matter anymore.
"That was Yagami's full plan. If it had worked, both Class A and D would've suffered badly."
Ryo sighed, went to the fridge, grabbed three juices, tossed one each to Kei and Suzune, and downed his own in two gulps.
"I already told Suzune the rest. Yagami's confidence stemmed from his teacher's support. But he underestimated her potential betrayal, which led to the plan's downfall."
Ryo cleared his throat and continued:
"Katsuragi's arrival actually helped Yagami. He thought it would strengthen Yamauchi and Ike's belief that Kouenji was behind it."
"But Yagami didn't expect that this would later become evidence of collusion between Class A and B."
"Next came collecting actual proof."
"I orchestrated Class C's event to let Yamada sneak into the infirmary incident unnoticed."
"Yamada was the one who recorded the earliest footage of Yagami, then met with Tokito and intervened in Class C's conflict."
"Tokito and Ryuuen were just red herrings. If Yagami had hurt Yamauchi and Ike as planned, Yamada would've caught it all on video."
"Unfortunately, Ayanokouji intervened in time. But he was tricked by the Tokito distraction and stole the wrong memory card afterward."
"It had already been swapped by Yamada. It was blank."
"Hoshinomiya faked the injuries. Ryuuen exposed the fraud."
"Then I brought Yamada to the basketball court to support Sudou and form a temporary team, preventing his outburst while gaining his gratitude."
"That's the full picture."
Ryo finally leaned back in relief.
Kei clapped playfully with the tip of her cone still in her mouth.
Suzune, after thinking for a moment, frowned again.
"One question. Why did Hoshinomiya betray Yagami and help you instead?"
She looked suspiciously at Kei.
"What did you offer her? Yagami might get expelled—that's not something she'd easily accept."
"What if she doesn't know?"
Kei licked the cream off her finger and grinned.
"Originally, Yagami needed to actually injure them. Now she just had to wrap some bandages. Safer for her—she should thank us."
"As for our offer..."
She pouted at Ryo.
"Let him explain."
"You'll find out next month, Suzune."
Ryo rested his head on his hand and looked toward the student council.
"Now it depends on their final decision."
Suzune didn't press further. She nodded thoughtfully.
"Ryo's plan dragged every class into this, but that also spread the blame. It's likely no one will get expelled—maybe just point penalties or suspensions."
As a council member, Suzune knew the school's rules.
Originally, Yamauchi and Ike's scam could've warranted expulsion. But with Yagami and Katsuragi's roles muddying the waters, blame became too diffuse.
"Don't worry. For some people involved, suspension is no different from expulsion."
Ryo leaned back and closed his eyes.
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[First-Year Class A Student: Katsuragi Kohei] - Failed to report relevant information during the student council investigation. Final verdict: 2-week suspension and deduction of 50 class points.
[First-Year Class B Student: Yagami Takuya] - Suspected of using violence that led to victim unconsciousness, and of planning student entrapment. Final verdict: 6-month suspension and deduction of 100 class points.
[First-Year Class C Student: Tokito Hiroya] - Suspected of violence resulting in serious injury. Final verdict: expulsion.
[First-Year Class D Students: Yamauchi Haruki & Ike Kanji] - Suspected of fraud totaling one million personal points (of which 110,000 have already been spent). Final verdict: forfeiture of all personal points, full compensation of the victim's losses, deduction of 100 class points, and 3-month suspension.
Note: During suspension, students must still participate in ongoing special exams.
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April 30th. Tomorrow was the official announcement of the class point rules and the updated point totals for each class.
Unusually, all four homeroom teachers wore the same gloomy expression in the staff room. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the D-Class teacher, Mashima Tomonari, was in the best mood of them all.
"...This is something else," Mashima murmured as he looked over the report in his hand. It showed the class points of each class after the first month.
When he first took over Class D, he had expected their class points to be zero. But what surprised him was this:
[First-Year Class A: 450 points]
[First-Year Class B: 424 points]
[First-Year Class C: 190 points]
[First-Year Class D: 0 points]
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