"The resultant number of votes was supposed to be 160, but it turned out to be 159. That's because Yamauchi Haruki didn't put his praise vote for a student of another class."
A wave of pin-drop silence followed after the statement made by Chabashira.
Every student from class 1C believed that if there was any type of discrepancy in the resultant number of votes, then it would have been their victory.
However, everything fell apart when Chabashira declared that it was merely a mistake made by Yamauchi Haruki as he didn't put his praise vote for a student of another class, resulting the total number of votes to be 159 instead of 160.
It was simply unbelievable.
Horikita was hoping that after rechecking, the highest number of criticism votes would have been casted for Yamauchi, but this result said otherwise.
As a result, her cool demeanor faded into nothingness.
"W-What are you saying, sensei? Was the rechecking done properly?" Horikita stammered while, trying to confirm this unexpected development in her plan.
"If you are asking about the transparency of the rechecking process, then let me tell you that, it was done by third year homeroom teachers in the presence of school's authorities. So, there is no doubt about this result."
Chabashira paused before continuing.
"Whether minor or not, the discrepancy was caused by Yamauchi Haruki, which is an undeniable fact. Thus, it was decided that some actions would be taken against him for breaking exam rules. But, it seems like he is not present inside the class right now. So, when he arrives, send him to the staff room immediately. That's all."
Chabashira's words were completely undigestible for the students.
Yamauchi Haruki didn't cast a praise vote for a student of another class.
It was clearly against the rules of this exam and he would be punished accordingly.
However, thinking about it deeply, even if he casted his vote right now, the results for other class wouldn't change.
Therefore, it was deducible that his punishment would not be as severe as expulsion.
But, the most important thing was that everything the students including Haruka, Horikita, and Sotomura had done went in vain, with their utter loss.
The victory that was in sight of them, turned out to be a mere illusion.
At the center of all this, Horikita Suzune stood still, unable to think anything.
Then, suddenly as if trying to hold onto straws, she stopped Chabashira on her way and showed her the tablet that Sotomura was holding.
"Please see this, sensei. It's a script for getting into the program for calculating votes of our school, that we found from the pen drive from Yamauchi-kun's bag. It should be clear that he messed with the results somehow."
Chabashira glanced at the tablet, her expression unchanged as she skimmed through the lines of code that Sotomura had uncovered.
The classroom was silent, every student holding their breath, hoping that this new evidence would turn the tide in their favor.
After a few moments, Chabashira handed the tablet back to Horikita, her face still devoid of any emotion.
"So? What are you suggesting?" Chabashira asked Horikita.
"I am requesting the school to perform a deep and through investigation on digital footprints and login history of this portal on the exam day. I am not sure but, Yamauchi-kun most probably used the login credentials of an I.T. technician to get into our school's admin page, and ran this script to alter the results. It would definitely clear things up. Don't you think unauthorized entry like this is illegal in the first place? This should be enough to expel him even if Sakura-san can't come back."
Her tone was that of a desperately thirsty person in search of water.
Everyone was shaken too.
In the meantime, Chabashira thought of something.
"Alright. If you are that certain about it, do it with my tablet."
Chabshira handed over her own tablet after booting up the school's app.
The instructor's login page was already open and the program for calculating votes was there too.
However, it's access was only given to school's authorities and examiners appointed by the acting director Tsukishiro.
Looking at the hesitant face of Horikita, she gave her words of assurance.
"Don't worry about the consequence. I would take full responsibility if anything happens. Here is the program that was used for vote calculation, though it's not accessible for me. That would be the same for the I.T. technician you are talking about. So, if by running this script on this program, it becomes accessible to me, then I guarantee you that I would fully support you all to get to the depth of this matter."
After Chabashira said that, Horikita felt like this was the last chance to redeem herself from this mess.
She handed over the tablet to Sotomura, who knew how to do it.
Then, he plucked out the pen drive from his own tablet and put it inside Chabashira's to run the script on the already booted school's app.
As Sotomura inserted the pen drive into Chabashira's tablet, the tension in the room reached its peak.
The students of Class 1C watched intently, their emotions a mixture of anxiety and hope.
They were aware that this was their last chance to turn the situation around, and they clung to the possibility that Sotomura's expertise could uncover the truth.
Sotomura's fingers moved rapidly across the screen as he accessed the files on the pen drive and prepared to run the script.
The seconds ticked by slowly, each one feeling like an eternity to the students.
Finally, Sotomura hit the command to execute the script.
The tablet's screen flickered for a moment, and a new window appeared, showing lines of code as the script began to interact with the school's voting program.
Everyone held their breath.
Suddenly, Sotomura's expression changed.
"What happened Sotomura-kun? It's working, isn't it?" Horikita asked.
"No, actually, the app shut down automatically." He said with a confused face.
Then, something started on the tablet, as Sotomura turned it to show to the whole class and Chabashira.
"I don't know what's happening, but it seems like a video file is playing."
As Sotomura turned the screen to show to the whole class, everyone's eyes were fixed on the tab's screen.
Meanwhile, the screen remained blank for a few seconds, before some noise was heard.
As the whole class was silent, the sound coming from the video was audible to everyone.
A familiar figure appeared in the video, sitting still, with some frilly and flashy clothes.
Everyone was shocked and baffled after seeing it, including Chabashira herself.
That person, without saying anything, just sat still, without much movement too.
Another voice was heard from behind, perhaps someone, who was recording the video.
"Airi-chan~ Say something! Recording has already started!"
"H-huh!? Then say that beforehand! Geez!"
"HaHaHa! Well, I am heading ahead then."
"G-Got it. See you later, Yomiuri-senpai."
Nobody could understand what was happening there.
But it seemed like the person who was recording the video, just left that room, leaving this familiar person wearing unfamiliar clothes.
Then, she looked directly at the camera, with her expression changed, started speaking up.
'Sakura Airi' was the only name that came to everyone's mind, after seeing the person in this video.
"Hi. Haruka-chan. How are you doing?"