The day of the trial finally arrived. Over the few days since Kushida, Sakura and I had been to the shops, nothing in the case had changed. Despite her claims to help, Ichinose had been unable to find any new evidence, and apparently Kanzaki hadn't been as sympathetic to our plight, and Class B had followed his lead, putting in less effort to help than they probably would have with Ichinose in charge.
It was an interesting development. Even thought I was fairly sure that the majority of the class were much kinder than most students in the grade, and it seemed their bond of friendship still formed the basis of their class, without Ichinose as much in the forefront, the general class attitude had shifted slightly, enough to make them less willing to help others as much. It showed just how much a leader could influence their followers.
Horikita had decided that due to our lack of efforts to produce results, it was her god-given right to intervene slightly, blessing us with her superior intelligence to provide us with the already known fact that Sakura was a witness. It was annoying, the way she removed then inserted herself into the case on a whim, but I allowed her to have her moment of grandeur.
Despite this, we made no attempt to approach Sakura, and it seemed that while this disturbed Horikita, she kept herself out of it, seemingly believing that now her input was over she had no more interest in the case. I had been concerned about her actions, as they could be the one thing to possibly throw my plan off track, but it appeared that even though Sakura hadn't come to school today for unknown reasons, she wasn't going to do anything more to intervene.
Or so I had thought.
As the bell rang for the end of class, Kushida and I stood up, making our way to the door where Chabashira and Sudou were waiting.
"Let's do this!" As expected, Kushida maintained a positive attitude right up to the final moments.
But before we could leave Horikita interrupted us.
"Wait. I'm coming too."
Interesting. I hadn't expected her to intervene. Though I suspected her presence wouldn't have any impact on the trial at all, based on what Chabashira had told me earlier. But there was no way I would let her come along without a fight
"And why should we allow that? You've contributed nothing so far, so I don't see why your presence would be helpful."
"There's no need to be so negative Ayanokouji-kun. Horikita-san would be great to have along!"
"You've single-handedly butchered this entire case Ayanokouji-kun. I thought you were more capable, but it seems like I overestimated your abilities." So, she's come to rescue me? How adorable.
"Yes! If Suzune helps us there's no way we can lose!"
"Don't call me by my first name, Sudou-kun." It seemed she still had no intention of showing any kindness towards Sudou. In fact, I doubted she cared about saving the case, probably still wanting Sudou to fail. This was just a chance for her to regain some of the ground she lost against me in her delusion that we were competing.
"Fine. We don't have a lot of time, so come along if you must."
I couldn't really go against the other two, and Chabashira had been standing by impatiently, checking her watch constantly.
Chabashira lead us through the corridors of the school, and as we passed the faculty room, I saw confusion appear on Horikita's face. Unlike the other two, she hadn't been with us when we met with Chabashira to discuss the situation earlier today, and hence had no idea where we were going. It was foolish of her to insert herself into this situation without all the information, but that's just who Horikita is.
"Sensei, where are we going? We passed the faculty room already."
"The school has some complicated rules, but in cases such as these a settlement is reached between the homeroom teacher of the class in question, the concerned parties and the student council."
Horikita froze at the very moment she heard the words "student council". Chabashira turned and glanced sharply at Horikita's face.
"If you want to stop, now's the time, Horikita."
"Eh? What's going on?" It seemed Kushida didn't understand the situation, with Sudou looking just as confused next to her.
"Horikita's a bro-con, that's all" This didn't clear up anything, but it made Horikita get angry at me instead of nervous, allowing us to refocus and move on.
"Shut up Ayanokouji-kun!" Recollecting herself, she turned back to Chabashira. "Let's go. I'm fine."
We walked up three floors to the fourth, where a placard that read "Student Council Room" was affixed to the wall near the doorway. I hadn't been here since the first day of school, and by the way the other three were nosily looking around, I suspected they hadn't ever been here.
The five of us entered the room, to see it had been changed a bit since I was last here. Long tables had been arranged in a rectangular formation. At one of them, the three Class C students were seated, with their homeroom teacher Sakagami standing behind them. At the head table, two students were seated. The Student Council President Horikita Manabu, and to his side his loyal assistant and propaganda machine Tachibana Akane.
"Sorry we're late."
"It's before the scheduled start time. There's no need for apologies, Ayanokouji."
Manabu and I gave each other a short greeting. I could see him looking over our group, his gaze lingering questionably on Horikita, wondering why she had come. In turn, the younger sister was completely frozen, staring straight at Manabu, ignoring everything and everyone else in the room.
Giving her a prod, I moved our class to the last remaining table, where we took a seat. Sudou on my left, Kushida on my right, Horikita on the far end where she belonged, and Chabashira standing behind us, mirroring Sakagami.
Once Manabu was finished going over the papers on his desk, he looked up again, and began the meeting.
"Well then, I would now like to discuss the violent incident that occurred last Tuesday with the members of the student council, the involved parties and their homeroom teachers."
Standing, he moved over to another pile of papers on his usual desk and picked up what I assumed was the report for the incident.
"Both parties have had a chance to explain themselves and the situation. While most of the facts concur between stories, there are still some inconsistencies that need to be identified before we render judgement. For that reason, we would like you to identify which version of the events is true. Tachibana?"
Tachibana also stood up and turned towards us.
"Komiya-kun and two other members of the basketball club went to the special building after Sudou-kun called them there. There, they claim to have been beaten up in a one-sided brawl. Is this true?"
"What those guys said was a lie. I was the one that got called over to the special building," Sudou said. "That day, after practice Komiya and Kondou asked me to go to the special building. Honestly, I thought it was kind of annoying, but I also thought it might've been because they were always hostile towards me. So, I went to meet them."
Sudou wasn't one to mince words. The interesting part of Tachibana's statement was there was an error, one I could possibly exploit to destroy the case.
"That's a lie. Sudou-kun called us over to the special building."
"Don't screw with me, Komiya! You were the one who called me, you jerk!"
"Quiet Sudou. Remember your position here." It seemed the outburst from Sudou and Komiya was too much for Manabu to let slide.
"Right now, we're merely listening to what both parties have to say. Komiya-kun we ask that you too please show some restraint and not interrupt." Tachibana was much nicer with her warning.
"Puh, fine..."
"Both parties insist that the other called them over, so the accounts conflict. However, the stories share some commonality. There was a dispute between Sudou-kun, Komiya-kun, and Kondou-kun, correct?"
"I wouldn't call it a dispute. Sudou-kun's always picking fights with us."
"'Picking fights'?"
"Sudou's better at basketball than we are, so he's always bragging about it. We practice with everything we've got, but it doesn't exactly feel good when he makes fools out of us. So we often butt heads."
I didn't really know the details of Sudou's club activities, but when I saw the veins popping on his forehead, it was rather obvious that they were lying. Next, Secretary Tachibana spoke to Sudou.
"Not one bit of what Komiya said was true. Those guys are just jealous of my talent. When I practice, they constantly get in my way. That's the truth."
Naturally, both sides claimed that the other party was at fault.
"Both sides have given their grievances, but now we have to come to a judgment with the collected evidence."
"Sudou-kun beat us senseless. It was a one-sided fight."
Class C seemed intent on focusing the discussion on their injuries. The three students did seem to have black-and-blue faces. That was undeniable.
"That's a lie. They attacked first; it was self-defence."
The situation had fallen into an all-out yelling war. Even Kushida had gotten involved, if only to try and calm people down. I guess it was my turn to intervene.
"I have a few questions."
The entire room quieted down at my words. Manabu gave me a nod, signalling that I had the floor.
"Firstly, I noticed a discrepancy in Tachibana's report of the situation."
"You rude first year! Are you saying—"
"I'm not accusing you of anything Tachibana. You mentioned the three of them were members of the basketball club. Where did you get that information?"
Proving this error wouldn't achieve anything but it would hopefully cast enough doubt on the situation.
"That was in the report the Class C boys filed."
"Thank you. I was under the impression that Ishizaki wasn't a member of the basketball club. So why did you claim you were, and why were you with them at the fight?"
"That's... I came as a precaution. There were rumours that Sudou was violent. He's also in better shape than we are, physically. I had to go, didn't I?"
"So, you were invited later, Ishizaki, and Sudou didn't call you out, as you claimed. Meaning you aren't a part of the basketball club. Did you lie in your statement to the school then?"
"Well... not really... it was just easier to say this."
"Are these questions going anywhere. Whether Ishizaki is in the basketball club or not is of little importance compared to whether Sudou beat them up." It seemed Sakagami had decided to take a side and back up his students, rescuing them from peril. I hadn't seen that coming, but it made things much more interesting.
"I didn't beat them up! They started the fight, it was self-defence. They're just a bunch of wimps!"
"The moment that Sudou uttered those words, I saw Sakagami smile.
"Then can it really be considered self-defence when fighting against opponents of such unequal strength?"
"B-but, hey. I was fighting against three people! Three people!"
"But only the Class C students were hurt."
That was the crux of the problem. No matter how many inconsistencies I created in their story, Class C had still suffered from a fight that Sudou was involved in.
"I do have a question about that as well. It was a three on one, yes?"
"Yeah. So?" You need to guard your words more Kondou.
"I heard a rumour that Ishizaki was a bit of a delinquent in middle school." I had received this information from Kushida's network of spies, a very useful fact in this case.
"Ayanokouji, it does you no credit to level unjustified accusations at people."
"Very true Sakagami-sensei, but in this case it's relevant. I have some knowledge of fighting myself, as does the President. I understand that when you're fighting against multiple enemies, victory becomes exponentially more difficult. So I don't understand how you were defeated so handily, how the fight could be so one-sided, when you had a skilled fighter like Ishizaki-kun with you."
"Because we didn't intend to fight."
"The primary factor in triggering a fight is the collision of the 'energy' between opponents. In the event that you don't have any intention of fighting, or that you're nonviolent, the probability that you'll be hurt should be very low. Especially when there are three of you."
My argument was grounded in evidence and logic, rules and reasonability. Komiya however, fought back with a very obviously scripted response.
"That way of thinking doesn't apply to Sudou-kun. He's exceptionally violent. Even if we were nonviolent, he'd still be mercilessly violent. That's what happened."
He peeled off the gauze that covered his cheek, exposing the scrapes underneath. No matter how many reasonable arguments I made, his injury gave powerful evidence.
"Are you finished with your claims now, Class D?"
"Not at all Manabu." I ignored Tachibana's gasp of outrage at my disrespect, continuing on my train of devastating their arguments. "This situation is highly suspicious. Due to the nature of it, and even though the rumours are unfounded Ishizaki clearly has the body of someone who could fight, I find it very unlikely that the three of you were unable to harm Sudou in any way in a three on one, while being hurt as badly as you were. Which leads me to a specific conclusion."
"Oh? And what would that be?" Sakagami was grinning at me, daring me to try and win the case.
"It was a setup. Class C started the fight, then allowed Sudou to fight back without trying to defend themselves. They provoked the situation in order to trap Sudou and lied about it when reporting the situation."
"Hahaha" Sakagami clapped his hands at my claim. "An outrageous statement Ayanokouji. Students of my class have been injured by an out-of-control boy, and you level such accusations at them? You have no evidence, nothing to back you up yet you claim such a thing. Ridiculous."
"Sensei, I was under the impression that this was a conversation between students, trying to resolve the incident. How are we supposed to do so if you keep interrupting and fighting their battles for them? The only way that would be reasonable, to have you answer for them, would be if you were at the fight too, so please be quiet while I make my accusations."
Chabashira smirked at my putting down of Sakagami. "He's got you there, Sakagami. Shut up and let the boy talk." Once again, Chabashira took my side. It was extremely helpful to have a teacher aid you, much like Sakagami was attempting to help his own students.
"You also claimed we have no evidence. On the contrary, we do have a witness. One Sakura Airi saw the fight happen and can attest that the situation is as Class D claims, and that Class C are the ones lying."
I dropped the bombshell on the room, that only Kushida, Horikita and I had known.
"W-what?" Komiya seemed shocked at this.
"Is there a problem Komiya-kun? I think it would be great to hear from a witness. Are you saying that hearing the truth would be bad? You didn't lie, did you?" Once again Kushida came in with a devastating blow in a conversation. Her sweet words, mixed with sharp traps allowed for no response but agreement. There was no way to go against her.
"Ayanokouji, if you have a witness then why isn't she here today?" A reasonable question. Manabu had had enough of my running free over everyone and taken back control.
"She's indisposed unfortunately." He looked back at Chabashira, who nodded to confirm my words. Interesting. Chabashira had no idea where Sakura was, and instead was playing along with my plan. "However, I do have photos that she took, in order to prove that she truly was there."
I passed copies of the photos of Sakura to Manabu and the Class C students. After giving them a few moments to recognise the situation, I spoke up again.
"I know this isn't enough evidence to believe us, but it's proof that we do have a witness. I request a recess on the trial, until Sakura is well enough to confirm the story herself." This had been my goal all along. To get an extra day I had asked Sakura to stay home sick.
"Very well. You have one day, Ayanokouji. Tomorrow afternoon, we will reconvene at the same time, and witness or not, judgement will be determined." Manabu had had enough of the trial for the day and ended discussion for now. I had seen him massaging his temples a couple of times, fed up with the childish bickering between students and Sakagami. He really was a pitiful teacher.
Class C and Sakagami left the room, throwing glares at me as they did. They probably wouldn't take any action against me for this, though, as the trial was still as good as over in their minds. They simply had to wait one more day. Even Ryuuen would caution patience at this point.
"Chabashira, can I speak to you in private?" Both of us knew what this would be about, so she simply nodded and moved to leave. The four of us moved to follow her, Sudou still looking concerned, Kushida looking proud for some reason and Horikita still silent and eyes downcast like they had been for most of the meeting.
"Wait, Ayanokouji. I want a word."
I signalled for the others to go, and once they shut the door behind them Manabu questioned me.
"What are you planning to do?"
"What do you mean?" I asked."
"You planned to get a recess from the very start. It was a rather obvious plan." Of course, Manabu had seen through it. The only reason it worked was because I was dealing with morons from Class C. Against Ryuuen himself, if he had decided to come, the plan would have been much harder to execute.
"True, but I just wanted more time to think. I'm not exactly Zhuge Liang or Kuroda Kanbei. I don't have any plans."
"I don't believe that for a second. You may be unreadable, but I can tell you have no doubts. You know exactly how this case will go."
"Maybe"
We both stood there silently, Tachibana watching from the side.
"I guess we will find out tomorrow them. Off you go, Ayanokouji. Don't disappoint me."
I finally left the student council room and found Ichinose standing with my classmates and Chabashira.
"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun! How was it, meeting alone with the President?" It seemed she didn't show as much respect to him as most people, or at least was close enough to him to feel comfortable making small jokes.
"It's fine. I need to have a talk with Chabashira about something, so could you all meet me outside in a few minutes? I'm sure you have questions about the trial."
Not waiting for an answer, I moved off with Chabashira, and we made our way down to the faculty room, and eventually into her office, the same one I had found myself in on the first day of school.
"What's this about, Ayanokouji?"
"I think we both know."
I took a seat facing across from her.
"You want to reach Class A."
Chabashira sat there, shock on her face before bursting into laughter.
"You really are incredible Ayanokouji. To figure that out without any help, you really are the best student I've ever seen."
"It was pretty obvious if one pays attention. Sakagami was desperate to help his class, fighting their battle for them despite the school disapproving of such actions, meaning he has some incentive to do so. The only impact could be class points, so I assume teachers are rewarded for how their classes place."
"Go on."
"Despite this, you put little to no effort in, actually hindering our class in your distain for us. You genuinely hate class D yet seem to not care about raising up the classes. You think it's impossible. However, you assisted me today, displaying actions contrary to everything else you've done so far. You lied to the school about Sakura, not knowing why, and trusted me to win the case. You actually care enough to break school rules, more than Sakagami. For the first time since the start of the year, our class had a chance for success, and coincidentally you decided to get involved. To me that seems much too suspicious."
"You're right, Ayanokouji. More than anything, I want to reach Class A, enough to help you at the trial. Now I have a question for you. Will you aim for Class A?"
This was an interesting question. I had put a little thought into it, but never come to a concrete decision about whether I cared. In this moment I decided.
"Yes. I will drag this dysfunctional defect class all the way to Class A. What else is there to do to pass the time?"
"You will unite and lead the class, is that what you're saying?"
"No. I have no intention of doing either." This was contradictory to my previous statement.
"Then..."
"Can I count on your support sensei." This was essential. I believed that she desired to reach Class A more than anything else, more than anyone else. If she really wanted to, I could count on her assistance for support with many different things. "Will you back me up, help me to do things, if necessary, even if they go against the rules."
"You said you wouldn't lead them. So what do you plan to do then?"
"I have no intention of uniting the class. It's much more entertaining the way they are currently. Imagine the confusion when the most dysfunctional class the school has ever seen rises to the top. And it will be a more interesting challenge if Class D is actively fighting against me, unbeknownst to themselves. I won't be a leader or unite them together, but I will reach Class A."
For the first time in our conversation, Chabashira smiled genuinely.
"If that's the case, then yes. You can count on me Ayanokouji, as long as you work to bring us to Class A. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you drag that rabble along."
Excellent. With Chabashira on my side, there was so much more I could accomplish. And she would probably let it go if I ever berated the class again. I'm sure she would enjoy watching me do so.
"Well, that's all I wanted to talk about. I have other things to deal with now, so thanks for the time, sensei."
"Other things?"
"We still have to win the trial. I'm off to do so."
And with that, I left Chabashira to her thoughts. I still didn't know her motivation behind aiming for Class A and that was something I would have to figure out, in order to estimate how far she would go to help me. It was important to know where her line was, so I didn't cross it and get myself expelled.
I made my way out of the school building. Kushida, Horikita, Sudou and Ichinose were outside waiting for me. Ichinose and Kushida were conversing about nothing and seeing the barely noticeable strain on Kushida's smile I decided to rescue her from the torture.
"Ayanokouji-kun! What were you thinking, mentioning Sakura's name!" Horikita had spotted me, and apparently regained her usual sharp demeanour.
"If it was a mistake, you should have stopped me. I didn't notice you speaking up in there." Horikita had no right to question my actions, after sitting mute for half an hour.
"Hey, don't talk to Horikita that way! She did her best." It seemed that while Sudou had learnt from his previous lesson not to call Horikita her first name, he was still a little blind to her flaws.
"Well... you didn't really talk at all Horikita-san."
"Besides, is it really that big of a deal? They know her name, so what? It's not like they'll do anything about it. Realistically, the evidence Sakura has is circumstantial at best. I just wanted to buy another day."
"So, they really did call a recess until tomorrow." Ichinose had apparently heard most of what happened, but it seemed she hadn't quite believed it until I confirmed the story just then.
"Yes. We have one more day to find some evidence, before Sakura has to testify and the school punishes the guilty party."
"Hmm. Hey, did you know about Sakura when we met at the special building Kushida-san, Ayanokounji-kun? I saw her leaving just before you did, so did you lie to me?" A playful grin was on her face, but I could tell she was still calculating who I truly was. It was best to play it safe and wait for my guest to arrive.
"Yes. To be honest Ichinose I didn't trust you, so I kept the information hidden. I hope you can forgive me for such a betrayal." It was a reasonable decision to make, and the forgiving smile on her face told me she agreed.
"It's no problem, I probably would have done the same."
"So, what now, Ayanokouji-kun? How do you plan to recover from your mistake?" Horikita took another stab at me.
"Huh? Recover? What do you mean?"
"You messed up, mentioning Sakura. Now we have no leverage. How will you fix that?"
"Actually, I was just going to go spend time with a friend. This case is boring, so good luck to the rest of you."
"Ehh? Ayanokouji-kun you're just leaving us?" Kushida was surprised at this. I had made a big speech about how I would win, so abandoning it now would be unexpected.
"Wait wait Ayanokouji don't leave me! I don't wanna be suspended!"
This was ridiculous, where was she. I needed to get out of this stupid situation.
"Calm down Sudou, I'm sure you'll be fine. You've got Kushida and Horikita to help."
"For the last time I'm not helping!"
"Ne Horikita-san, why did you come today then? I wasn't expecting to see you when you came out." Ichinose to the rescue, interrogating Horikita and Sudou leapt to her defence, giving me a moment with Kushida.
"Are you really just giving up Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Of course not. I've got a plan I need to do now, that they can't know about. It will involve you, so just follow the messages I send when I do."
"Fine. I trust your plan. But why are you still here?"
Just then I heard the sound of rescue. The voice of my freedom and escape from these annoyances.
"It's been a while, kouhai-kun."
Everyone turned to see the new person approaching us. Long platinum hair framed a deadly grin and piercing red eyes.
Kiryuuin Fuuka had arrived to help me with the next part of my plan. Hands on her hips in her signature pose, she gave me a hungry stare.
"Miss me?"
Authors Notes:
Ask and ye shall recieve! Kiryuuin returns next chapter for much needed fun.
On a serious note, I have made the fatal error of reading fanfiction for a different series and now I've been slapped with an inability to write this story properly. Doesn't help I was reading 3rd person, so everything is screwy now. It's fun.
I've always felt the trial was weird in the books, and as far as I can remember Ishizaki is not a member of basketball club. Just feels like even though Horikita was set up as the leader in volume 2 she still really sucks, even more than usual.
As always, hope you enjoy!