"Aren't Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun strangely quiet?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Well, I don't particularly mind it. It's honestly better than their usual obnoxiousness."
"Are those bandages?"
"Did a fight happen...?"
Ike and Yamauchi were stiff and nervous the whole morning. The bruises on their faces were also noticed by everyone. Since most of our classmates weren't aware of the catastrophe that was about to hit us, everything went on normally for the rest of the day.
"Ike, Yamauchi, come to the faculty with me."
After our last homeroom, Chabashira-sensei called them out with her usual expression.
"Sensei, can we come along?" asked Hirata. Horikita and Kikyou stood up along with him.
"Oh, the class representatives? If you want to get involved, Ike and Yamauchi would have to give their consent," Chabashira-sensei replied as she looked at the two of them for confirmation.
"Yes... Please let them come," said Ike.
"Alright, let's go then."
When the five of them left, the class instantly erupted.
"Ayanokouji-kun, what was that?!" asked Satou.
"I knew something was up. Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun were acting weird all day..." commented Matsushita.
"Like, they were nervous as hell for whatever reason," added Karuizawa.
I got up and tried to fill them in.
"Everyone, do all of you remember that one case with Ken?" I asked.
"You mean the one where you speculated that Class D wanted to frame Sudou-kun for violence?" asked Okitani.
"Yeah. As it turns out, I was right. And now, Ike and Yamauchi are their targets," I nodded.
My words created an uproar.
"Hey, what the hell happened, Kiyotaka?!" asked Ken.
"Yeah, 'targets'? How...?" followed Haruka.
"Hondou and Miyamoto were involved too. I asked for their help so we can prevent anything from happening, but Class D predicted my plan... It's my fault," I replied.
"O-Oi... Why are you blaming yourself, Kiyotaka? What happened, exactly?" Akito was confused by my actions.
"N-No! You weren't at fault, Ayanokouji! You got everything right... We were just the wrong people for the job," said Miyamoto.
"Yeah... Those Class D punks tried to use— no they did use violence against Kanji and Haruki, and we got threatened with it." Hondou and Miyamoto took the blame for themselves. I thought they used this opportunity to look good in front of the class. However, I observed their expressions and judged their genuine self-disappointment. After all, their buddies were in danger of getting expelled now.
Since the class got even more confused, I got straight to the point.
"To give context to Miyamoto and Hondou's words, I assumed that they'd probably do something similar to what they did with Ken. They will isolate their targets, lead them into an inconspicuous place with no cameras, then fabricate the situation into anything they want," I narrated. "I'm sure everyone has noticed Ike and Yamauchi's behavior last week, right? With Kinoshita-san and Manabe-san from Class D."
"Yeah! They were really excited about those Class D girls."
"So they really thought they'd get themselves a girlfriend?"
"Like, isn't that pretty pathetic?"
"And gross."
"Hahaha, I know right!"
"And two of them at the same time? It's obvious that something was up."
Woah, I just asked for your observation. Calm yourselves, girls. But then again, it's not like I can't understand where they're coming from. Miyamoto and Hondou weren't fond of hearing their friends get badmouthed, but it's not like they can defend Ike and Yamauchi and justify their actions. After all, since we presented our theory on Ken's case, they should've been able to tell that something wasn't right with Kinoshita and Manabe's timing.
"Well, Kinoshita-san and Manabe-san used their confessions as cover to lead Ike and Yamauchi into their trap..."
I proceeded to tell them everything that transpired yesterday, up until the moment when the class representatives arrived to ask what happened.
"S-Sexual assault?"
"Isn't that pretty bad?"
"Are they gonna get expelled?"
Their confusion turned into worry. I'm sure some of them didn't really care about Ike and Yamauchi being in trouble. A lot of our classmates were more worried about our class points, but of course, they wouldn't voice their thoughts.
At that moment, Matsushita stood up.
"You seem to be taking the blame, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Yeah, it was my mistake. I didn't think Class D would turn the tables on us. I was careless," I replied.
Matsushita was frowning. Apparently, she didn't like my words.
"I... don't think any of us has the right to blame you, not even Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun. After all, you did what you had to do... and they brought this onto themselves, anyway," she Matsushita.
"That's right, Ayanokouji. They were at fault."
"They should even be grateful to you."
"Miyamoto-kun and Hondou-kun, too. You two shouldn't blame yourselves."
Our classmates decided to speak out their thoughts.
"I have to admit. Kanji and Haruki may be my friends, but if it wasn't Ayanokouji, Soshi, or my fault, then those two's stubbornness should be blamed for this..." said Hondou.
"I failed to help them back when we tried to prevent this thing from happening, so I want to do what I can now, but no matter how frustrating it is, all we can do is leave everything to Horikita-san," added Miyamoto.
He's right. Chabashira-sensei's meaningful look told me that Class D's plan is indeed in motion. Once the investigations start, only Horikita can act as Ike and Yamauchi's lawyer of some sort. It's all up to her now.
————————————————————————
Inside the faculty room, the five of us stood in front of Chabashira-sensei who was sitting behind her desk. Ayanokouji-kun told us everything that we needed to know yesterday, but as expected, I would've felt a little better if he had been present.
"I assume that you have an idea of what has happened?" asked Chabashira-sensei.
"Yes, Class D accused Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun of sexually assaulting Kinoshita-san and Manabe-san. Is that right, Sensei?"
"You're right, Horikita. It's as you've said. Now tell me, is it true?" Chabashira-sensei looked straight into Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun's eyes.
"No! They lied. We didn't do anything."
"We're innocent, Sensei!"
"Hmm... I see." Sensei narrowed her eyes. "Well, regardless of the truth, you two are in deep trouble right now. The grievance procedure is almost finished. We've interviewed every student who was involved in the incident. The only ones remaining are you two, the suspected main assailants."
Chabashira-sensei explained with her arms crossed.
"Sensei, what will happen after Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun are interviewed?" asked Kushida-san.
"We'll hold a hearing tomorrow, after class. You can bring one additional person to act as the defendants' representative. If you lose, Ike and Yamauchi will be suspended at best. Your class points would be compromised as a result."
"That's horrible... They didn't even..."
"Kinoshita and Manabe didn't want to make this public since they were afraid of the unnecessary attention. Based on their actions, it really felt like they were scarred. If you two really are innocent, then they're quite the actresses. Sakagami-sensei was especially convinced."
Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun could only look down in resentment.
"We'll leave it to you, Horikita-san... I don't think it'll be easy, but please do your best to help Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun," Hirata-kun pleaded.
If Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun are penalized, our class points will suffer. I'll do what I can to prevent that.
"I'll try my best," I nodded before looking at Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun. "Be consistent and only tell the truth. Don't say anything unnecessary."
"Yeah, 'will do."
"Alright..."
Since only the two of them will be interviewed, the three of us decided to head back.
"I wonder why Ayanokouji-kun didn't just tell them to avoid contact with Manabe-san and Kinoshita-san...?" I pondered.
"Kiyotaka-kun told me that it would yield a worse result since he thought Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun wouldn't be convinced. He also said that even if it was practically an obvious plot, there's still a chance they really were interested in Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun," answered Kushida-san.
"He also considered their feelings. That's why he opted to keep an eye on them in secret. Ayanokouji-kun was thoughtful... It's unfortunate that Ryuuen-kun saw through his plan, but Ayanokouji-kun's knowledge of Class D is limited so it couldn't be helped," added Hirata-kun.
"Even if it didn't show in his face yesterday, he must've felt responsible. He apologized and blamed himself," Kushida-san said with a worried expression. I always loathed her fake acts of kindness, but this time, I felt like her unease was genuine.
"If anything, it's Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun's fault," I sighed.
Somehow, everything still felt strange to me. Ayanokouji-kun wouldn't make such a sloppy plan. He isn't someone who could be seen through easily.