“Then Sudō, please tell us what really happened.”

“After practice, Komiya and Kondo called me to the Special Building. It felt suspicious, but their attitude toward me was always bad, so I went out to settle things properly.”

Sudō spoke honestly and clearly.

If it were the old Sudō, he would’ve said he got mad or that he went to settle it with them.

It was good that I warned him in advance.

“That’s all a lie. Sudō called us to the Special Building.”

“Don’t lie, Komiya. You called me first!”

“I don’t remember that.”

At Komiya’s shameless attitude, Sudō nearly slammed the desk, but at my glance, he barely held himself back.

“Both sides claim they were called, but there is something in common. It seems there was bad blood between Sudō and Komiya and Kondo?”

“Bad blood? Sudō always picked fights with us.”

“Picked fights, how?”

“Sudō is better than us at basketball and always bragged. We tried hard not to lose, but he kept treating us like idiots, so naturally we clashed.”

I don’t know the details of their club activities, but seeing the vein bulge on Sudō’s forehead, it’s clear this story is fabricated.

I kept signaling Sudō to calm down and when it was his turn to speak, he suppressed his anger and answered calmly.

“Everything Komiya said is a lie. They were jealous of my talent. When I was practicing quietly, they always interfered.”

Naturally, both sides’ opinions clashed.

This is where Class C played their card.

Their visible injuries.

“If the claims don’t match like this, we have no choice but to judge based on the evidence so far.”

“We were beaten badly by Sudō. One-sidedly.”

Those injuries…

Sudō probably didn’t inflict all of them.

Ryūen must have used violence to make them look like perfect victims.

Still, it’s true Sudō did hit them, so there’s no way to refute it.

“That’s a lie too. You threw the first punch. That was self-defense.”

Meanwhile, Horikita kept her head lowered, showing no reaction.

And as Sudō started to lose control and stopped paying attention to my signals, if I didn’t stop this now, we’d lose our chance.

But this incompetent woman next to me is frozen because of her brother’s presence.

Damn it…

To think a variable like this would appear.

This is really irritating.

“Unless Class D has new testimony, we will proceed as is.”

If this silence continues, the verdict will be decided.

To stop that, I need Horikita to step up.

Of course, I could step in myself.

But since I entrusted all preparation of Sudō’s defense to Horikita, my defense would be mostly improvised and less persuasive than her prepared arguments.

For my victory, I need your words.

“Then there is no need to proceed to full deliberation.”

For the first time, the Student Council President, who had remained silent, spoke.

His expression was clearly disappointed in Horikita.

Or rather, like he expected this.

“Regardless of who called whom, the fact that Sudō assaulted the others is clear from the injuries on their faces. We can only draw our conclusion based on that.”

“W-wait! I can’t accept that! They were weak so they got hit! Ah—!”

Damn it.

In his impatience, Sudō blurted out something stupid.

Sakagami-sensei smiled.

“So you claim self-defense against opponents much weaker than you?”

“Hey! There were three of them, three!”

“But only the Class C students are injured.”

This is bad…

This is completely deviating from my plan…

And the root of it all is the incompetent woman beside me.

You dare…

“Horikita Suzune.”

At my cold words, the room fell silent.

My voice was colder than usual, filled with raw disgust.

Horikita snapped out of it and looked at me.

I stared straight at her and continued.

“What do you think you’re doing right now? You told me you’d do your utmost to save Sudō. And I entrusted you with his defense. So why are you sitting there with your head down?”

The murderous intent and pressure I radiated made not only the Class C students but also Sudō and the teachers tense.

Tachibana-senpai froze in confusion and the Student Council President stared at me even more intensely.

The most flustered person here was undoubtedly Horikita.

“This is your last chance. Use everything you prepared. If you stay silent again and act like a loser, I’ll admit my own lack of ability, declare defeat to Class C… and argue for Sudō’s expulsion.”

At that, Sudō jumped up.

“Ayanokoji! What the hell are you saying?!”

“And another thing!”

As my voice rose and my killing intent intensified, even Sudō collapsed back into his chair.

I stared at Horikita Suzune with ice-cold eyes.

“As payment for tarnishing my flawless ability, I will, one by one, drive Class D students to expulsion in the most vicious way possible without breaking the rules. You will be the last one left and you will watch it all. And your classmates will think the cause of their expulsion… is you.”

Tachibana-senpai regained her senses and tried to stop me.

“W-what are you doing! Leave at once! Such nonsense in a sacred hearing—!”

“Stay quiet, Tachibana.”

“W-what… how could you…”

“I want to hear more.”

The Student Council President looked genuinely intrigued.

I continued my cold warning to Horikita.

“I’m the one who crushed Class A. B and C are nothing. And Class D? Those worst of the worst incompetents? I can crush them easily and mercilessly. If you want to protect everyone from me, lift your head and start the defense now. You won’t get a second chance.”

I could feel Horikita trembling.

But this wasn’t fear.

It was rage.

I had only spoken facts.

If Horikita doesn’t act, I will destroy Class D.

And she knows that only she can save her classmates now.

“…Fine. I’ve heard enough of your answer. Student Council President, we acknowledge all of Sudō’s fault in this incident—”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

And now is the perfect moment to exploit Horikita Suzune’s hostility toward me.

“Do you think I’ll let a traitor do whatever she wants?! I won’t let you use Sudō or Sakura ever again! I won’t let you manipulate anyone again!”

Good.

This is finally the picture I wanted.

I immediately relaxed my expression and showed everyone my most beautiful smile.

Then I said to Tachibana-senpai.

“I apologize for the disturbance. Horikita Suzune would like to ask a question. May she?”

“W-what is this?”

“Permission granted. But speak quickly next time.”

Before Tachibana-senpai could even finish speaking, the Student Council President approved it.

He looked… amused.

Horikita fully regained her composure and stared at the Class C students.

“You said Sudō called you to the Special Building. Who exactly did he call and for what reason?”

Komiya and Kondo, still shaken by my killing intent, couldn’t answer right away.

“Answer.”

“Ah… y-yes! I don’t know why he called us. After club activities, while we were changing, he said to come see him later… maybe he didn’t like us or something? But what does that matter!”

Komiya raised his voice as if to show he wasn’t intimidated.

“Then why was Ishizaki there too? He isn’t a basketball club member and has nothing to do with this. It seems unnatural for him to be there.”

“That’s… just in case. Sudō has a reputation for being violent. He’s way bigger than us. Is that a problem?”

“So you expected violence?”

“Yes.”

“So you brought Ishizaki, who was famous for fighting in middle school, so you could respond if needed.”

“That was just to protect ourselves. That’s all. And Ishizaki was famous for fighting? We didn’t know that. We just brought a reliable friend.”

Horikita questioned them calmly.

“I have some knowledge of martial arts, so I can tell that fighting multiple opponents multiplies the difficulty. It’s hard to believe that all of you, including Ishizaki who is experienced in fights, were beaten one-sidedly.”

“That’s because we had no intention of fighting.”

“Objectively speaking, a fight develops when the ‘energy’ of both sides clashes and crosses a certain threshold. If you had no will to fight and offered no resistance, the probability of all three of you being injured to that extent is extremely low.”

A logical argument based on reasoning and rules.

But Komiya has visible evidence, so it doesn’t hit as hard.

“That kind of common sense doesn’t apply to Sudō. He’s extremely violent and attacked us relentlessly even when we didn’t resist. That’s why we look like this.”

When the gauze was removed, horrific scars were revealed.

Compared to Horikita’s logic, it was a weapon several times more powerful.

Still…

To do that to classmates…

Ryūen, you really are vicious.

“Is that the end of Class D’s argument?”

The Student Council President’s cold words.

The look in his eyes said it would’ve been better if she’d said nothing.

But at the same time, it was bait for the final move I had prepared.

In response, Horikita countered.

“It is an undeniable fact that Sudō struck them. However, the side that started the fight was Class C. As evidence, there is a witness who saw the incident from the very beginning.”

The Class C students didn’t look surprised.

What is this…

Did Ryūen even anticipate that I’d produce a witness?

“Then have Class D’s witness enter.”

That’s fine.

This hearing isn’t the stage where I win.

It’s enough to plant doubt that Class C may have started the fight.

After that…

We’ll walk the path I prepared for victory.

Thinking that, I moved my pawn to the final square of this chessboard.

“First-year Class D, Sakura Airi.”

Now, my final chess piece.

Give me testimony worthy of my victory.