Sudo's expulsion was revoked the next day. Chabashira-sensei had walked in and announced this vital piece of information. Yosuke and Chiaki both turned to look at me, asking me what in the world I had done to achieve that. I shook my head saying that I hadn't done anything. My statement was absolutely true; I hadn't done anything to revoke Sudo's expulsion. But I had a fair idea of what might have taken place.
Horikita was the one who had payed her Private Points to buy one mark for Sudo's test paper, hence cancelling his expulsion. I knew this was the only possible option.
However, this was something that fueled my suspicions even more. I was sure Ayanokoji and Horikita had left the class together yesterday. Since it is unwise and rude to contact a teacher after school hours, I inferred they must have visited Chabashira-sensei then. Which would mean Ayanokoji was also with Horikita at the time of the point transfer with sensei, though I couldn't be too sure of the last part. All these unanswered questions and variables favored Ayanokoji, and I wasn't able to form any hypothesis as to why Horikita was the one who was taking credit.
Another reason of my suspicion was how Horikita had gathered the points required to pay for Sudo's mark. The new month had just begun, and everyone had definitely spent a large number of points already. If marks were that cheap to buy, everyone would be paying and getting out of failing grades. Was there someone else who had shared the cost? Ayanokoji, perhaps?
Was I overthinking it? Maybe Ayanokoji is just a normal student after all. Maybe he tagged along with Horikita because she had no one to call a friend. Maybe he was just accompanying her, and had nothing to actually do with it? Unless I find more concrete evidence and justification that Ayanokoji is indeed involved in the class affairs from behind the scenes, I had to go along with him just being a side character. Innocent until proven guilty.
Sudo was looking at Horikita like his savior, which she indeed was. Looks like she had found herself her first admirer. Too bad it had to be someone from the Idiot Trio.
Slowly, I could see it. Horikita was slowly making her way to the top of the class hierarchy. She had initially come off as distant, cold and unforgiving, but as she continued to help the class, she was gaining the trust of her fellow classmates, one by one. Yosuke was happy to see her development as well, and stated that he would love to work along with her in pursuit of reaching Class A. I nodded along with Yosuke, and while I did, I caught Chabashira-sensei's gaze on me, and when our eyes met, she averted her eyes, and left homeroom.
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I was contemplating whether to reveal my identity to Kikyo Kushida or not.
I was having a brainstorming session in my room ranging various topics, including Ayanokoji's actions, Horikita, and more importantly, Kushida. I had come to a conclusion that since Class A was the target, we must first overcome the hurdle of making it to Class C. I had heard that Class C was under a dictatorship rule, but their leader was unknown to me. It would be much easier to ascend to Class A if we focused on small targets first. Also, I had come to realize that class alliances would be of high strategic importance in the future. Sensei had never told us anything about how to gain Class Points as such. It was only known that Class Points would be awarded depending on our academic and physical performances.
Which would mean that Class D was at an overwhelming disadvantage, since our class consisted of most of the average to below average students.
I could not see a reason why this would be so. It almost felt like the school was designed to make Class D fail. If you're not given chances, you cannot possibly hope to reach Class A. This meant that there must be some other way to gain Class Points, something that was not based solely on academics and sports.
And that is why I believed strengthening our relations with Class B should be of utmost priority. We cannot directly confront Class A, as they see no benefit in supporting a lower-end class. Class C was out of the option. Class B seemed to be the wisest choice, since they would also benefit from toppling their nearest rivals, Class C. This would however, mean that we would have to eventually break our alliance in the future, when Class Positions change.
Which is where Kushida comes into play.
She has already established herself as the most popular girl in the grade, and she had friends from all the different classes. She would be of prime importance in forming Class Alliances. To do so, I must reveal myself to Kushida, or we cannot hope to form good bonds with Class B.
If I revealed myself, I would lose out on one of the greatest advantages I had over her, and it could lead to a lot less potential options in the future. I had to think this through properly before making a move.
I could wait for the situation to change as well. There was no reason to make a hasty decision; it could lead to complications later. I set the matter aside for now.
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The next day was very interesting.
Chabashira-sensei walked into class, with an exasperated look on her face.
"Sudo, it seems you have run into trouble with some boys from Class C. They've filed a complaint against you, stating that you beat them up after calling them to the special building. Is that true?"
The entire class turned to look at Sudo with disgust, and Sudo vehemently denied all accusations.
"I didn't do it! Those Class C bastards called me to special building and picked up a fight! Self defense, I tell you, self defense!"
"But their accusations are different", sensei retorted, "they said that you called them to the building, and single handedly beat the 3 of them up. They even have injuries all over their face and torso to back up the claims."
"They're all foul mouthed liars! I didn't even beat them up that bad! They're lying!", Sudo was on the verge of losing his cool, but Horikita stepped up.
"Sudo, there's no point in denying them. Whether you really committed these atrocities or not, we must find a way to deal with it." A cold statement with no sugarcoating. This woman was the exact opposite of Kushida.
"But Horikita, those Class C bastards will the-"
"Try to understand, Sudo-kun. Denying these accusations will not get us anywhere. We must try to find evidence that you really weren't a part of this entire ordeal."
Sudo tried to say something back, but stopped before he could. He seemed to understand what Horikita was getting at, so he shut his mouth and sat back down on the chair, his hands on his head. Horikita had managed to get Sudo under her control, and that was no easy feat.
"Well, I'll leave the rest of it up to you, then", sensei said, "there'll be a hearing between the 2 classes a week from now. If Sudo is found guilty of his actions, then there could be a possibility that he will be expelled. Gather your evidence." With that, Chabashira-sensei ended homeroom and left the class.
"Why do you always have to make it so hard for us?", Yamauchi asked, his question directed at his friend.
"I told you already, I didn't do anything!", Sudo protested, "these guys are trying to frame me!"
Hirata stepped in to clear the confusion. "Now then, Yamauchi-kun, there's no point in blaming Sudo-kun for it, is there? As he said, Class C might be trying to frame him, and get him expelled from school. So we shouldn't jump to conclusions. We must try to help Sudo-kun. Horikita-san, can I ask you to please take charge of this case?" Horikita did not say anything, but she did not deny either.
"Fine, I'll help out. However, Sudo-kun, it is extremely inconvenient for the rest of us to keep backing you up like this. You must learn to stay calm and rational in these situations."
Sudo grumbled back a half-hearted answer, and class ended for the day.
I decided this was a good time to strike. Horikita was slowly being recognized by the class, and I had a few points I could add to the case.
"Horikita-san, mind if I help you out with this?", I approached her and asked. Horikita was initially surprised.
"Why do you want to help us out, Takeyama-kun? You usually turn a blind eye to class affairs."
She had irked the girls of her class.
"Hey, Horikita-san, that was rude!", "Yeah, don't speak to Takeyama-kun like that!", "He's trying his best to help, isn't he?". Hah. I have the power of harem on my side, Horikita.
"I'm not saying you're not welcome. But it just feels out of place for you to suddenly insert yourself into class affairs, that's all."
"I understand where you're coming from, Horikita-san. But I think I have a few points that I could add on to help our case." Horikita agreed, and I was added to the group, along with Ayanokoji and Sudo.
I turned to face the class. "First of all, is there anyone in the class who saw the scene unfold firsthand? A witness?"
No one in class had been in the special building that time, so none of them confirmed. I sighed, and turned to Horikita, "It's hard to start without a witness. For now, I think it's advisable to head over to the special building, and check out the crime scene. Maybe we can gather more information there."
Horikita agreed, and we decided to meet at the special building at 4:00 pm.
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The second floor of the special building was hot. There was no ventilation, and most of the windows were closed, leading to a stuffy and suffocating building. It was a big change from the usual air conditioned hallways and classrooms the school building had, and was the reason the special building was usually avoided.
Horikita, Ayanokoji and I were currently on the second floor, looking for any clue that could help our case.
"See anything of interest?", Horikita asked.
Ayanokoji and I shook our heads, and continued to look for something that could serve as potential evidence.
"There are no cameras on this floor", I said, after a thorough examination. Horikita has also noticed this anomaly.
"Does that mean the Class C students purposely dragged Sudo here and provoke a fight? Because there were no cameras?", Ayanokoji asked.
"That seems unlikely. If their main intention was to portray themselves as victims, then why would they want to do it in a place where there were no cameras? Wouldn't it make sense to do it where cameras could record the entire incident?", Horikita said.
"I agree with Horikita-san. If they really are victims as they claim, then they should have carried out the operation in a place where there were cameras to record. It leads me to believe that Class C did in fact call out Sudo here, and provoked him.", I said.
"I think that is the case."
We looked around a little more to find anything that would pique our interest, but nothing caught our eye. We decided to call it a day, and proceeded to head out.
"Hmm? Ayanokoji-kun and Horikita-san?"
I turned around to see the beautiful, pale skinned girl, the leader of Class B, Ichinose Honami, call out to them.
"Ichinose-san? What're you doing here?", Ayanokoji asked. It looked like they were already acquainted. Horikita, on the other hand, was wary of this unforeseen presence, and immediately upped her guard. I could infer that Horikita did not trust Ichinose. I, on the other hand, did not have a chance to talk to Ichinose before. I had been in the library eavesdropping their conversation about the average score on the surprise test, but I hadn't actually made contact with anyone in Class B, except Hoshinomiya-sensei. Nothing to be proud of.
"Ahh, I just came here because I heard Class D was in a fix", Ichinose said, "it seems Class C has lodged a complaint against Sudo-kun, so I thought I could investigate a bit!"
"I do not see the reason why you need to investigate, Ichinose-san", Horikita started, "it makes me suspicious of Class B's actions". Damn you Horikita. You're already screwing our relations with Class B. Stop already.
"No, no! Nothing like that at all! I just wanted to see for myself. I know Sudo-kun wouldn't do something like that, so it seemed highly likely that this was a plan of Class C." It looks like Ichinose was well informed of the class affairs. She was a leader, after all. "And I don't think we've met before!", she said, looking at me, "I'm Ichinose Honami, from Class B. I'm glad to meet you."
"I'm Keisuke Takeyama. Pleasure."
"Takeyama-kun? Oh, you're the one Hoshinomiya-sensei keeps on talking about! 'That handsome young man from Class D, Takeyama!' It seems you're already well acquainted with sensei."
"You're such a womanizer, Takeyama-kun", Horikita said, looking at me, "I didn't know you were on such good terms with Class B's homeroom teacher."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just happened to meet her in the Staff Room. Nothing else happened, rest assured."
"Ichinose-san, are you planning to help us out on our case to save Sudo-kun?", Horikita flawlessly changed the topic.
"Of course! All of you are my friends, and friends always help each other out!", Ichinose said, with an adorable smile. "I'll try to gather information from my friends in Class B, and I'll check if any of them had been a witness at the scene. I'll do everything I can to help!"
Such a sweet girl.
"Guess that works for us. Thank you, Ichinose-san", Ayanokoji spoke. I had forgotten he was still with us.
"Alright then! See you later, Ayanokoji-kun, Horikita-san, Takeyama-kun!". With that, Ichinose Honami turned the other way, flipped her fragrant strawberry-blonde hair and walked away with a smile on her face.
"I think we should leave as well", Horikita said, "it's getting dark. There's no point staying here any longer."
With that discussion, we left the special building.
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A/N's:
I usually like detail.
Most of my chapters are a bit slow, and I like to add monologues of the person I'm writing in perspective from. Do you guys think I should change it? Up the pace? Or is it good the way it is? Thanks for reading this chapter!