It was the trial day.
The trial was to be held after school in case the prosecution went long, so there wouldn't be any disruption with our classes. Sudo, Horikita, Ayanokouji, Chabashira-sensei, and I all walked to the third floor of the school.
The student council room was on this floor, along with all the third years. As we made our approach to the student council room, passing third-years gave us disturbed glances. I assumed everyone by now had caught wind of the incident that happened with the first years, which warranted these looks toward us.
We finally arrived at our destination. Without any words, we all stepped into the coveted student council room.
It was pretty lackluster, to be honest.
There was a massive U-shaped desk with seats all around, and there were some bookshelves here and there, but nothing that really stood out.
I looked to the head of the table, which sat the student council president. Manabu Horikita. It seemed he was appointed judge of this trial, so appealing to him could result in the best outcome for us. But; I assumed he wouldn't fall to such cheap flattery.
Stood over his right shoulder was another third-year. She was a shorter individual with purple hair tied into two buns. She held a clipboard in her hands, most likely, she was the President's secretary.
And there was one more person I didn't know. A boy close to my height with light yellow hair sat beside the President. I assumed he must be of high status within the student council, if he wasn't there would be no need for him to be here.
The 'victims' in the case had not arrived yet. So we took our seats at the table.
To my left was, Ayanokouji, who sat beside Horikita. There weren't enough chairs on our side for everyone, so Chabashira-sensei stood behind me.
No one had said a word since we entered the room. The tension in the air restrained anyone from speaking too early. I took a short glance at Horikita. She sat there nervously, twiddling her thumbs, not taking the chance to glance at her older brother.
5 minutes or so later, the Class C gang showed up.
They sat across from us with their sensei. They all did seem to be pretty injured from the fight. Which, I found rather peculiar. It's been roughly 8 days since the incident, and to look this beat up that much later was suspicious.
"My name is Tachibana Akane, in front of me is Student Council President Horikita Manabu, and to his right is Vice President Miyabi Nagumo. We shall commence the trial that these three Class C boys, Ishizaki Daichi, Komiya Kyogo, and Kondo Reo, were called to the special building after club activities by Sudo Ken, in which they were mercilessly beaten up. The parties may start their deliberation."
"That's bull!" Sudo roared. "You all called me out to the building and picked a fight with me, not the other way around."
"That's a flat-out lie," Komiya refuted.
"Oh yeah! You were just jealous I'm a first-year starter and wanted to injure me! Too bad you're all weak anyways!"
"Sudo, that's enough," I steeled my gaze toward Sudo, "the less talking you do here, the better the results will be."
"But..."
"That's enough."
If Sudo kept demonstrating his aggressive behavior in front of the President, it would be easy for him to side with the opposition.
"Since it seems this is a case of, "he said she said," we would like to know if any of the parties have sufficient evidence to prove their claims," Tachibana said.
"Obviously!" Ishizaki declared, "just look at our injuries!"
"You all indeed seem to have sustained far more damage than Sudo-kun. Is that all your evidence?"
"All you'll need," muttered Ishizaki.
"Class D?"
It was our turn now, if we provided our evidence, I knew we would have a solid chance of winning this. I turned to Horikita, she was the one appointed to lead the charge. But; she sat there, lifelessly. The presence of her brother bore a huge toll on her. To sit there and barely look alive was going to the extreme.
"Ha," Ayanokouji let out a small sigh. He then reached out and grabbed Horikita's side.
Horikita jumped up in a mixture of pain and shock, letting out slight yelps as Ayanokouji held on to her. She quickly shook off Ayanokouji's grip and gave him an embarrassed stare.
"Without you, we don't have a chance," what Ayanokouji did may seem small and insignificant, but that one statement and stimulation proved necessary to bring the fight back to Horikita.
She readjusted her uniform quickly and gazed straight at her elder brother.
"May I ask a few questions to the opposition?"
"You may proceed," Tachibana responded.
Horikita turned to glance at the others sitting across from us.
"Now, may I ask you, did you know why Sudo may have called you to the special building?"
"No, he said he just wanted to talk," Kondo said.
"Then what was the need for Ishizaki-kun, he isn't part of the basketball club, so why bring him? Did you know that in earlier years, Ishizaki-kun was labeled as a delinquent and a good fighter? So, you must've brought him for a reason."
"... we were worried," Kondo replied with some nervousness in his voice.
"And why is that?"
"Well, look at Sudo. He's known for aggressive behavior, so we just wanted protection."
"So, you were aware, there was going to be a fight, even though Sudo only called you to the building to talk."
"We wanted protection, that's it," Komiya replied.
"That is fair. Not knowing what may happen does bring nervousness. But; I cannot understand the degree of your injuries."
"You saying we faked them?" Ishizaki's voice grew louder with his anger.
"No, not entirely. I am accustomed to my fair share of martial arts. I personally know that with more opponents, the fight gets exponentially harder. So, even if Sudo-kun may be strong, the degree of your injuries compared to his seems suspicious. Also, do not forget you brought someone who's known to be a fighter."
Horikita laid out major flaws in their plan. Something anyone with half a brain could understand. I'm sure these points wouldn't be overlooked.
"How about, to get this trial over with, Sudo-kun here takes a two-week suspension, and my boys take a one-week suspension. It saves us all time because this case is going nowhere," said their sensei.
"No." Horikita replied flatly, "we will not accept anything but Class C taking responsibility for this act. I am well aware of Sudo-kun's flaws."
Sudo looked at Horikita with a surprised face.
"He is ill-tempered, an annoyance, and does not think rationally. But, a suspension or even expulsion will do nothing to help in changing his attitude. Sudo-kun needs time to reflect on his attitude and actions that placed him in a situation like this. Once he recognizes and works on those, it will prove far more beneficial than any punishment."
"Now," Horikita took a breath and continued, "Class D would like to call in their witness for the incident."
The boys across from us let out a gasp, they probably thought they were in a secluded spot where no witnesses would be. That was a mistake.
Sakura then walked into the room and took center stage.
She didn't look up at anyone and was noticeably shaking while she stood there.
"Did you see the incident?" asked the President.
"Y-y-yes... I did..."
"What class are you from?"
"C-Class D."
Almost immediately, the sensei from Class C shot up his hand.
"Yes, Sakagami-sensei?"
"President, is it alright if I ask this witness some questions?"
The President replied with a slight nod.
"Now, girl, I want to know why you didn't come out right away regarding this event?"
This was what I was worried about. A Class D witness this late into the game was bound to seem suspicious. And Sakura was not an extremely outgoing individual, so she would seem the perfect bait to play as a witness.
"Because... I..."
"Is it because they forced you to?" Sakagami-sensei further pressured the timid Sakura, "it seems rather odd a witness from Class D surfaced at this point in the case, so did they force you to lie and testify?"
"Excuse me, Sakagami-sensei," I interrupted before Sakura could answer, "I don't think you need to be a part of this discussion. With all respect, and I mean that without any respect, this is an incident between the students. I see no need for a teacher's intervention. You're a witness to the events transpiring right now, nothing more. So Sakagami, please refrain from speaking again," I said; with a smug smile.
"Fukumoto Akio!' Tachibana's voice grew loud towards me, "have more respect for a sensei."
"Yes," the President continued, "I agree this is a matter between students, and the teachers need not intervene. But, Fukumoto say it with more respect."
"Sorry," I gave a quick reply to continue the trial. I looked at the Vice President. It seemed he was amused by the situation at hand, as a small smile crept onto his face once the interruption had finished.
"Now, Sakura-san," Tachibana turned her attention to the witness, "do you have any proof of seeing this incident?"
"Y-y-yes..." Sakura held in her hands a memory card. It seems like she had caught the incident on her camera. Our opponents let out another gasp, the development of the situation had begun to lean in our favor.
The memory card was taken and plugged into a projector. I did not expect to see what popped up on the screen.
It was obviously a private photo of Sakura in a tasteful outfit, needless to say, some people's attention in the room was glued to the screen.
The President flipped through some photos and arrived at the evidence.
A photo. Which showed Sudo and Ishizaki in the background in an all-out fight.
This was it, the proof we needed.
"Sakura-san, this photo does have proof of the incident occurring," Sakagami spoke up again, "but I'm afraid it's not sufficient proof. A video cannot be altered. While a photo is easily altered."
"Oi, who said you could speak?" I called out to the sensei once again.
"Tch, it would be good to teach this boy some manners, Chabashira-sensei," he returned my remark with a glare.
Chabashira-sensei gave no response, just a slight smile.
"Now, I see that there is proof a fight did take place," the President continued, "but it does not prove who started the fight, which is the keystone in this whole trial."
There was a pause as the President continued to deliberate about the outcome of the trial.
He turned his gaze toward the Class C boys, "is your story true? Did you ever lie?"
"N-no we didn't lie," Ishizaki replied.
"And you, Class D, did you ever lie? Is your story true?"
"Indeed, our story is true, we never lied," Horikita gave a firm response.
"Ha," the President let out a sigh, "I've decided to postpone the conclusion of this trial to Thursday. Since no side seems to want to take the fault, come to Thursday's trial with sufficient proof. Expulsion is still a possibility."
Looks like we were given some more time to find proof. But, it's not like anyone was going to back down now, and the chances of finding new evidence were slim.
"You are all dismissed," Tachibana addressed everyone in the room.
We let the Class C gang exit first, as a fight was more likely to break out now with the tension running high.
Once we were allowed to go, we all exited at the same time. It was a little after 4pm, so I decided to head home.
"Where are you going?" Horikita called out to me as I walked away from everyone.
"What's the point in staying? It's past 4pm, and I'm tired."
I turned on my heels and started my walk to the dorms.As I was leaving, I noticed Sakura and Ayanokouji stop to talk with the Student Council President and his secretary. Remembering what happened in the alleyway that night left me with a feeling of anticipation for what would happen between Horikita and Ayanokouji. Nevertheless, I let them be and walked away. He can deal with it.
I made it outside in the school courtyard when I felt a presence following me.
"Ohhhhhh Kouhai, I want to speak with you."
An arm wrapped around my shoulder as the man approached me.
"Vice President Nagumo, how can I help you?"
"Stop with the formalities. Call me Nagumo-senpai."
"That's still a formality," I deadpanned.
"Ha! You're a smart one," Nagumo gave me a playful jab to the side as he said it.
"So, how can I help you?"
"Does it seem like I want something? I just wanted to talk to my junior, that's all."
Nagumo's voice and mannerisms were frightening. He acted as if he was your best friend for life, but there was a sense of malice and violence laced with every word he spoke.
"Let's sit on the bench," Nagumo gestured to a bench nearby.
"You wanted to talk," I sat on the bench to the left of Nagumo.
He leaned his arms onto the back of the bench and made himself comfortable. Honestly, this guy was weird.
"That was pretty impressive back there."
"I don't know what you mean?"
"You didn't say much, but I could see it in your eyes," Nagumo continued, "you already analyzed the whole situation, the possibility of your victory, the likelihood of a setup, and the disadvantage of having the witness. Also, there was how you spoke back to sensei, now that was funny."
"I think you're giving me too much credit Nagumo-senpai..."
"I know what you are," Nagumo's cheery voice dropped to a low hush. His face lost his smug smile and turned to one of extreme seriousness.
"Ah... don't give me this "ghost student" treatment again."
"Ghost student?"
I guess not everyone knew about that term.
"Never mind," I waved off my past statement. "How do you know what I am?"
Nagumo let out a small chuckle. "You see. There are very few people who grab the attention of the President. I am lucky enough to have grabbed his attention."
Weird.
"You," Nagumo leaned closer to me, "are one of those students too. I heard of two first-years who caught his attention. I'm still in the process of finding out the other, but I know you're one of em." He was most likely referring to Ayanokouji. I hope he never finds him, it would save Ayanokouji a lot of stress to not deal with him.
"What does that have to do with you, senpai?"
"Well, I have this feud with the President. I so badly, want to ruin his life. And for him to take notice of you, means I have some more fun left for me before I graduate."
The things Nagumo was discussing were heavy topics, not ones that should be discussed out in the open like things. This either proved Nagumo's absurd amount of arrogance or confidence he had.
"So, my junior, you better keep your guard up and make sure my last few years here will be enjoyable," Nagumo faced me with his signature smug smile.
"Oh Nagumo-kun, what are you doing to this poor kouhai?"
A girl with a phenomenal figure walked our way, she had lengthy silver hair and piercing crimson eyes.
"Nothing, Kiryuin," Nagumo's face turned to one of disgust as she approached us.
"Hmm, are you sure?" The one named Kiryuin stood right in front of us, teasing Nagumo.
"He hasn't done anything. Don't worry, senpai."
I stuck my hand out to greet this new person.
"Fukumoto Akio, Class 1-D."
The lady in front of me returned the gesture with a similarly smug smile, "and I am the spectacular Kiryuin Fuka, Class 2-B. A pleasure to meet you."
"I'm leaving," Nagumo got up from his spot and left the two of us at the bench.
"Oh, someone's a coward~," replied Kiryuin.
"Tch, I don't want to deal with you, Kiryuin."
"Fine by me. I'll just get to know my favorite junior now."
Nagumo walked away from us. I didn't know whether to be glad Kiryuin got rid of Nagumo or if it was worse to be alone with Kiryuin.
"Thank you for getting rid of him. I'm in your debt now," I said jokingly.
Kiryuin suddenly placed one of her hands on the bench directly behind me, she leaned in close to me, her body hovering only a few centimeters in front of mine.
"What are you doing, Kiryuin-senpai," I said, staring directly into her eyes.
A strand of her platinum hair fell over her shoulder and onto me as she brought herself closer to me.
Her right hand was cupping the side of my face, and her mouth was dangerously close to my ear. Close enough that I could feel the warm sensation of her breath on my skin.
"You seem to have caught some interesting people's eyes, kouhai. Nagumo's, the President's, and now mine. I'm excited to see how you will progress."
Kiryuin dropped her right hand from my face and reached into my pants pocket.
She fumbled around for a second but eventually took my phone out. She got me to open my phone, which she put in her contact.
"Now," still leaning close to me, "you have my contact information. If you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask me, kouhai-kun."
Kouhai-kun. That's the nickname she gave me.
Kiryuin stood back up and tossed my phone back to me, placing her hands on her hips in one motion.
"Now, what do you say in return?" Kiryuin called out to me.
"Thank you, Kiryuin-senpai.
She let out a small chuckle before responding, "I hope we talk soon, kouhai-kun," and with that, Kiryuin left me alone on the bench.
I think I sat on that bench for 15 more minutes. The events that transpired were unlike anything I'd ever seen. To say my heart was racing might be an understatement.
But, the acquisition of a senpai's help may prove extremely valuable in the future.
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It was Thursday now, the day of the trial part 2.
Sudo, Chabashira-sensei, and I sat in the student council room.
The opposition hadn't appeared yet. The meeting had begun 10 minutes ago, for them to be this late had to have meant they were being held up.
And I knew exactly why.
With the help of Ichinose, Horikita and Ayanokouji planted fake cameras in the special building and got those Class C idiots to come to meet them.
Honestly, when I first heard the plan, I assumed they knew no cameras were there. But I'll have to wait to hear about the outcome. Ayanokouji and Horikita were banking on using their confusion and the heat in the special building for the Class C gang to redact their complaint.
I just had to sit and wait for the results.
After another 10 minutes of waiting, the Class C gang, surrounded by Horkita and Ayanokouji, entered the room.
"We... we... withdraw our complaint," the group bent down in respect to the President.
He let out one big sigh and turned to his secretary, "have Class C's complaint redacted."
"On it."
"You may all leave then."
Once we were granted dismissal, we all went out into the hallway. Sudo ran off saying something about club activities, while the Class C gang just bolted.
"I assumed it went as planned?" I asked the two left with me.
"Yes. Ayanokouji-kun and I convinced them to withdraw the complaint. It worked flawlessly."
"Good, now we can relax," I said, leaning back against the wall.
Just as I said so, a boy with familiar magenta hair walked past us with his head down.
He walked past all of us, stopping a few feet away.
"How'd you do it?"
"What?" Horikita asked.
"How'd you play those idiots?"
"Do I need to explain it to a stranger?"
"Kuku," the boy slightly turned his head back in our direction with a devilish grin, "next time, you'll have me as your opponent."
Then he walked away without another word.
I let out a sigh. From one problem to the next, I guess. With Ryuuen on our radar now, we wouldn't have much time to relax.
Nagumo stepped out of the council room. Oh c'mon. One after another.
"You two leave. I want to speak privately to my junior," Nagumo said as he pointed to me.
Ayanokouji and Horikita left without any complaint left us. But, Horikita did turn back to look at me with a worried expression.
Nagumo got closer to me, within arm's reach.
"What can I do for you, Vice President?"
"I'm impressed. You may have been in the council room, but to get them to withdraw their complaint is quite impressive."
"You overestimate me senpai. My friends did all the heavy lifting."
"Uh, huh..."
Nagumo lunged forward at me and placed his forearm against my neck. Trapping me between the wall and him.
"Isn't this a little aggressive," I said nonchalantly to him.
"The fact you caught so many people's attention this early is impressive. But watch out for Kiryuin, she's a loose canon, no one can control."
"Why tell me that?"
"Just call it friendly advice," Nagumo chuckled.
"As friendly as choking a junior?" I quickly fired back at him.
Nagumo stepped back and released his hold on me.
"You know, you're a funny guy," he then started to walk away, "don't disappoint me."
He left me with such fantastic parting words. This school was definitely interesting, I guess, I'd get to have some fun entertaining people then.
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AN's:
KIRYUIN IS HERE
make sure to vote for one of the best cote girls lol
hope your all doing well.
gotta jet