"Results of the in-class voting special exam was tempered with."
A long silence followed after that statement from Horikita.
The atmosphere in the classroom was thick with tension, almost palpable as Horikita's words hung in the air.
It was after classes on Friday, and the usual hum of students packing up and chatting had long since faded. The sun was low, casting long shadows through the windows, giving the room an almost eerie feel.
Horikita stood at the front, her posture rigid, her expression unreadable. She had just dropped a bombshell: "The results of the in-class voting special exam were tampered with."
Around the room, four pairs of eyes focused on her, each filled with a mixture of shock, confusion, and suspicion.
Other than her, there were Akito, Yukimura, Haruka, and Ayanokouji present in that classroom.
Their expressions, except one of them, were a mix of disbelief and unease, reflecting the gravity of what Horikita had just revealed.
"Are you sure?" Yukimura asked Horikita to confirm if what she said was true or not.
"There is no doubt about it. I don't really know how it was done, but most probably something related to the electronics involved in the exam process were probably used. And the suspect is Yamauchi-kun." Horikita declared confidently in front of this group of students.
The first one to react was of course Yukimura himself.
"What? You mean, that Yamauchi Haruki did this?" Yukimura asked again.
"Is there any other Yamauchi you know?" And Horikita confirmed that the suspect was indeed Yamauchi Haruki from class 1C.
It was no wonder that Yukimura doubted her statement.
Everyone in their class was aware of how Yamauchi behaved in class usually and how far could he think before, but now, not only his behavior has changed, he is involved in some most important aspects like special exams which can alter class positions.
Before, he used not to bother with such special exams, but now he is?
Then again, it was also possible that like before, he is being controlled by someone like Sakayanagi, and did all these according to her instructions.
To clear this doubt Yukimura asked Horikita in a round about way.
"No, but, how can you say that so confidently? I mean, is he even able to do something like that?"
"I understand what you are trying to say, but according to all the evidences, he is the most suspicious one. And most probably, he is not being controlled by anyone. He did all these of his own volition." However, Horikita denied all his doubts, which meant Yamauchi was the mastermind.
"...I can't believe this. By the way, what are these evidences you speak of?" Curious about the proof, Yukimura wanted to know what exactly were those.
Others listened to this back and forth intently.
Akito was dumbfounded, but Haruka didn't waver, her expression being as stern as it was before.
It was because she already had some idea about it, from her prior investigation.
And she is aware of this evidence that Horikita mentioned, because she herself gave the idea to her.
Horikita paused for a long time before speaking up.
"I have not obtained the evidence yet. There is a chance that he might try to hide it, if words got out. So I am waiting for the right moment."
Horikita said that there was a chance Yamauchi might try to hide the evidence if he got any word about what she was doing, so she is just waiting for the right moment to obtain that peice of evidence.
"....Right moment?" Yukimura voiced his doubt.
"Alright, here is our plan. Today I will send a message in our class group, that was created for the year-end special exam to remain inside the class, after class hours tomorrow, that is Saturday. There I would present a written request to the class, addressing Chabashira sensei and school authorities, for a rechecking of the results of the in-class voting special exam. After that everyone present would sign on it, which would make roughly around 34-35 signatures."
Horikita continued after picking out a piece of paper and a pen.
"I believe that they would consider rechecking if we have this many students' participation."
Then she started writing something on the paper she took out.
"It's simple, but let me explain. Each student of each class was allowed to give 3 praise votes and 3 criticism votes. Moreover, each of them was allowed to give a praise vote for a student of another class. That means each one of us from our grade, had 4 praise votes and 3 criticism votes in total. Do you understand that much?"
At her explanation, everyone nodded their heads.
"So, if we consider a praise vote as +1 and a criticism vote as -1, then what is the resultant of all the votes you got?"
As she asked Yukimura answered her question following her explanation.
"4 praise and 3 criticism means 4-3, which equals to +1 per student."
Then Horikita continued to explain.
"Yes, that implies each one of us was allowed to give 1 praise vote after the cancelling out. And as our grade has a total of 160 students, if we add and cancel out all the votes of the final result of that special exam for all of the students in our grade, what should be the final answer."
As if something clicked in his brain, Yukimura answered this time with a sense of realization on his face.
"....It would be +160."
"Exactly. That means, if somehow after rechecking, it amounts to anything other than +160, then the whole result must have been compromised." Horikita said keeping the pen and paper on the desk.
"...That makes sense." Akito also agreed with her explanation.
"Yes, it does. And, as per our request, maybe rechecking would be done by the next Monday. At that time, I would obtain the proof and show it to Chabashira sensei." Horikita proposed the complete plan to them.
However, Akito Miyake had his own doubts. So he asked the final question to Horikita, if all this they shall do, would even amount to anything and give any valuable result.
"....Are you sure things would go that smoothly?"
Horikita, then straightened her posture and as if in a commanding voice asked another question to him.
"Akito-kun, are you perhaps doubting that the result of final voting is legitimate and our own classmates betrayed us to expel Sakura-san?"
"It's not like that, it's just...."
Seeing his hesitant face, Horikita finally softened her tone a bit, and declared the final verdict.
"There is no need to worry, Akito-kun. In fact, now I am more than 100% sure that our classmates are telling the truth, and the result has, indeed, been compromised. You all just have to cooperate with me in this. We will win for sure."
***