Chapter 131: What the Hell?! Shimizu Yuto, Why Is It You?!
Chabashira suddenly realized, to her disbelief, that she had grown accustomed to preparing three meals a day for Yuto and Airi.
Had that troublesome boy somehow trained her?
Hoshinomiya watched Chabashira's expression gradually worsen and smiled happily. Whenever her best friend was in a bad mood, her own mood improved.
"Don't think so much, Sae-chan. Let's go drinking and forget about those troublesome students."
"You're paying?"
"Of course~" Hoshinomiya agreed cheerfully.
...
Ryuen was speaking with Ishizaki over the phone.
"Shimizu Yuto never mentioned a settlement? What exactly is he planning?" Ryuen frowned deeply.
Although everything at the student council hearing appeared to have gone smoothly, Ryuen could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.
"Boss Ryuen, you're overthinking it. Shimizu Yuto has no options left. Our plan will definitely succeed," Ishizaki said carelessly.
"Ishizaki, the second hearing will begin before four tomorrow afternoon. Make sure Komiya and Yamawaki remain cautious until then."
"Don't let Shimizu threaten or bribe them," Ryuen ordered.
"Don't worry. Everyone wants Shimizu Yuto expelled. There's no way he could persuade us."
Ryuen faintly heard Komiya and Yamawaki agreeing in the background.
After hearing their confident replies, Ryuen finally relaxed.
...
After leaving the student council office, Manabu examined his Line conversation with Yuto.
Before Yuto and Chabashira entered the hearing, Yuto had sent him several messages.
He said that he already possessed evidence proving his innocence, but asked Manabu to remain silent during the hearing, postpone the final judgment, and announce a severe punishment for whichever party was lying.
"Shimizu, I did exactly as you requested. Now let me see what you intend to do next," Manabu murmured.
...
While walking down the street, Yuto called someone. A flat voice soon came through his phone.
"Shimizu?"
"Ayanokouji, are you free tonight?" Yuto asked with a smile.
"I should be. What's wrong?" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka asked while lying inside his dorm room.
"I need your help. Come and assist me tonight."
"Fine, but can I ask what I'll be doing?"
"You'll act as my assistant and help me control the situation. That's all."
"I see. You somehow managed to explain nothing at all."
"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to do anything frightening, and there won't be any danger," Yuto assured him.
"All right. Contact me later."
"Mm."
After securing Ayanokouji's help, Yuto called Kikyo.
"Yuto~" Kikyo's sweet and cheerful voice was tinged with a slight hoarseness, likely from her night as a female knight.
"Are you up?" Yuto asked with a smile.
Kikyo, lying across Yuto's bed, swung her fair, slender legs back and forth. She replied with a beaming smile, "I'm already up. And the breakfast you brought me was delicious, thank you."
"You're welcome. Kikyo, can you think of a way to get Yamawaki out? I'm planning to have a chat with him tonight."
"Hmm..." Kikyo tilted her head, lost in thought.
"As for the reward, I'll give it to you later tonight at the student dormitory."
"You can forget about that! My waist is still sore!" Kikyo blurted out unconsciously as she pondered a plan.
A sweet smile playing on her lips, she complained, "Yuto, your stamina is just too much... You didn't stop all night..."
"Where is your mind wandering? The reward I mentioned is that I'll buy you some clothes and bring them to the dormitory for you," Yuto teased.
Yuto had bought clothes for both Airi and Kei, but not for Kikyo. It was about time he purchased an outfit for her too.
After chatting sweetly for a while, Kikyo confidently promised that she would find a way to lure Yamawaki out that evening.
"Kikyo, make sure no one else learns about the meeting, especially Ryuen, Ishizaki, or Komiya," Yuto warned.
"Mm, calling him out without anyone noticing will be difficult, but I'll do my best. Leave it to me, Yuto."
"I trust you completely with this."
"Hehe."
Kikyo showed a sweet smile. Yuto's trust made her extremely happy, and she became even more determined to bring Yamawaki to him.
After ending the call with Kikyo, Yuto continued toward the detached apartment. Along the way, he unexpectedly received a call from another little angel.
This one was a genuine little angel—Ichinose Honami.
"Shimizu, are you all right?"
The moment Yuto answered, Ichinose hurriedly asked the question.
"Huh? Why wouldn't I be all right, Ichinose?" Yuto asked in confusion.
"I was returning to the dormitory from Keyaki Mall when I happened to meet Hoshinomiya-sensei and Chabashira-sensei. Hoshinomiya-sensei said you were in trouble," Ichinose explained.
"I wouldn't really call it trouble—"
"How is it not trouble? You might be suspended!" Ichinose interrupted loudly.
Yuto showed a subtle expression.
Was this strawberry-blond beauty a little too concerned about him?
Ichinose realized she had raised her voice and immediately apologized.
"Sorry, Shimizu. I spoke too loudly. Where are you now? I'll come to you."
"What would you come here for?"
"To help you find eyewitnesses. Aren't you searching for someone who can prove your innocence?"
Her immediate offer made Yuto smile.
"I've already found the evidence I need, so I appreciate the thought."
"Really?"
"Of course. This concerns whether I'll be suspended. Why would I lie about it?"
"That's true."
"Then I'll hang up."
"Mm."
Ichinose stared at her phone with a relieved expression. All the panic inside her disappeared.
She did not understand why hearing about Yuto's trouble from Hoshinomiya had frightened her so badly.
She had immediately said goodbye to the two teachers, called Yuto to confirm the situation, and offered her help.
Why was she so worried about him?
"Because Shimizu is my friend. Of course I'd worry when my friend is in trouble," Ichinose murmured.
Using that excuse, she justified her excessive concern and convinced the heart that had been completely stirred by Yuto.
...
At 8:10 that evening, Yamawaki left the first-year dormitory with gauze still attached to his face and excitedly headed toward Café Dia.
Yamawaki believed his romantic spring had finally arrived!
Earlier that afternoon, a girl in his class named Manabe Shiho had told him that a very busty and cute girl was looking for him. She seemed interested in him and wanted to be friends, so she asked him to meet her at Café Dia tonight at 8:30.
Yamawaki immediately asked who she was, but Manabe refused to reveal her name. She claimed the girl was shy and said Yamawaki would recognize her because she would be holding a flower.
So Yamawaki was convinced that his chance at romance had finally arrived.
However, he was slightly nervous about the injuries on his face. What if they frightened the girl?
"This is all that damned Ryuen's fault! My face wouldn't be injured if it weren't for him!"
Still complaining, Yamawaki reached Café Dia and pushed open the door.
The cafe was not particularly famous, so there were few customers during the evening. Its dim lighting also forced Yamawaki to inspect each person individually for the promised flower.
He soon noticed someone twirling a flower in one corner of the cafe.
Unfortunately, the person was leaning against the back of the sofa. Yamawaki could only see a hand and the flower, leaving the supposed girl's face completely hidden.
In fact, he could not even tell whether the person was male or female.
'Found her!'
Ayanokouji watched Yamawaki walk toward Yuto with a delighted expression. He slowly rose and followed behind him.
"Hello, are you the— What the hell?! Shimizu Yuto, why is it you?!"
Yamawaki's joyful expression instantly froze.
The person twirling the flower was not a girl at all. It was that bastard Shimizu Yuto!
"Yo, you made it." Yuto greeted him with a smile, then threw aside the fake flower. "Sit down. I need to speak with you."
"Go to hell!"
Yamawaki cursed in humiliation and anger. Even an idiot could understand that no girl was interested in him and that Yuto had deceived him into coming here.
He immediately turned to leave, but Yuto spoke leisurely.
"Ayanokouji, stop him for me."
"Understood."
Ayanokouji calmly blocked Yamawaki's path.
"Move!"
Yamawaki angrily reached out to shove him aside.
Ayanokouji lightly stepped away from his hand, caught his arm in the same motion, closed the distance, and twisted it firmly behind Yamawaki's back.
"Ah!"
Yamawaki cried out as Ayanokouji restrained him.
Yuto watched in surprise. As expected of someone raised in the White Room, Ayanokouji subdued him with remarkably clean and efficient movements.
"Bastard, let me go— Ptooey!"
The furious Yamawaki spat out the fake flower Yuto had pushed into his mouth.
"Stop shouting and disturbing the other customers. I'm not planning to harm you. I only want you to watch a video."
Yuto took out his phone and played the footage Chabashira had recorded.
Yamawaki only needed one glance before he became unable to look away. His expression rapidly changed from fury to terror.
The video clearly showed him, Ishizaki, and Komiya surrounding and attacking Yuto.
Yuto was extremely satisfied by the change in his expression.
"That's enough, Ayanokouji. Release him."
"Mm."
Ayanokouji let go of Yamawaki's arm.
Now free, Yamawaki showed no intention of leaving. He stared at the smiling Yuto with a mixture of fury and fear.
"Shimizu Yuto... Did you already know we would ambush you there? Is that why you arranged for someone upstairs to record everything?"
"That's right." Yuto casually put away his phone.
Despair filled Yamawaki. His entire body seemed to lose its strength.
"Then why didn't you show that video during today's hearing?"
"It's enough to prove that we didn't receive these injuries from you, isn't it?"
"The reason is simple."
Yuto lifted his drink and took a sip. Under Yamawaki's tense gaze, he smiled pleasantly.
"I want all of you expelled."
"W-What?!"
Yamawaki stared at him in disbelief.
Had this person just swallowed poison?
Why else would such vicious words emerge immediately after he took a drink?
"What do you mean, Shimizu Yuto?!"
"You still don't understand? Your brain really is terrible."
Yuto's insult made Yamawaki furious, but Yuto held decisive evidence against him. He could only swallow his anger, his face turning red.
Yuto smiled refreshingly at him.
"Would you like me to mercifully explain it?"
"...Yes."
"To put it simply, the three of you attacked me, but I escaped without injury. That offense alone probably isn't serious enough to have you expelled."
"However, all three of you lied during the student council hearing today."
"Now recall what the student council president said at the end."
Yamawaki instinctively remembered Manabu's final declaration.
[Both parties have guaranteed that their statements are true. In other words, either Class D or Class C is lying.]
[Dragging the school administration into a deliberate falsehood is an extremely serious offense.]
[If the truth is established, we must consider expelling the party that knowingly lied.]
As Yamawaki recalled those words, his pupils trembled violently.
It felt as though his entire body had fallen into a frozen abyss.
…
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