Sae Chabashira stood at the doorway.
For the past two days, rumors had been circulating around school that Suzune was the Student Council President's sister.
The specific source was Chie Hoshinomiya.
Chie had asked if Sae had known about this all along, then questioned why she wasn't focusing more on class competition since she knew about Suzune's identity.
This was rather strange. Class B was far from Class A, so Chie should be concerned with Class A's matters.
Yet she kept meddling with Class D instead?
Yes. Their class had fallen back to Class D this time. This made Sae wonder about her friend's thinking. Since Sae herself had lost her fighting spirit, shouldn't that be good news for this devil woman?
After all, Chie had always been wary of her since their school days.
As for Suzune being the Student Council President's sister — Sae already knew this and had even used this information to pressure the girl.
But it was easily handled by the man behind Suzune... Houtarou Oreki.
The fact that this rumor continued to spread until now was abnormal. Considering how quickly Houtarou had dealt with her attempt to pressure Suzune, something was off.
From her perspective, there must be someone pushing this or something deeper at work.
And now, was it time for this rumor to be dealt with?
If so, that would mean the person who released the rumor had already achieved their purpose, right?
Sae pondered.
Yōsuke hadn't paid attention to her; he had his own work to do.
"Although I feel everyone probably knows I want to talk about Suzune Horikita's situation. That rumor was deliberately spread by someone." He placed both hands on the podium, as if making an appeal, "Someone did such a despicable thing. Do you all remember what happened at the Sports Festival? At that time, Kakeru Ryūen used underhanded means to bully Sudō-kun from our class, and it was Horikita-san who made efforts to help.
Even though we ultimately lost, we showed what we were capable of in the final 1200-Meter Relay. And this new semester, our class, which used to have the worst grades, didn't have a single failing student, so we became targets.
Although I hate to think this way, perhaps someone doesn't want us to succeed, so they're trying to divide us. But…"
Some people had already caught on. Yōsuke was trying to clear Suzune's name by shifting blame onto Kakeru.
The boys who had experienced the Sports Festival immediately recalled what kind of person Kakeru was.
[A foul? Oh, there's dust swirling around here, who can see anything? Even the cameras can't catch it! Everyone, press on with the attack!]
[My target is Sudō, if you don't want to get hurt, get out of my way!]
His reputation was absolutely terrible.
"So it's that bastard Ryūen again!" Ken, who had been bullied, immediately stood up.
He had suffered the most from Kakeru's bullying during the Sports Festival.
"Not just that, during the break someone saw Kōenji from our class being surrounded by Ryūen and his group." Haruka Hasebe added, standing up as if coordinating the performance.
"Yes, I... I... also heard about this." Her good friend Airi chimed in, also rising to her feet.
When Suzune was surrounded by those students, Airi had wanted to help. However, with her shy and introverted personality, she immediately backed down when someone glared at her.
Now, if she could help, she would definitely be willing.
"Hehe—" Rokusuke, who had just been suddenly used as an example, combed his blonde hair.
He already understood that Houtarou had probably made a move.
This approach was effective; soon voices questioning the rumor spread throughout the class.
"But Horikita-san really is the Student Council President's sister, right…" Someone objected.
The speaker happened to be the same person who had asked Suzune for test answers yesterday morning.
"Even if it's a rumor, we don't know how much is actually false. We were genuinely concerned about Horikita-san, yet she responded to us so harshly..."
"And now we're suddenly told she's being targeted because she worked hard for the class? Emotionally, we just can't accept that..."
Several girls stood up to speak. They were the same ones who had argued with Suzune yesterday.
Haruki, who had been foolish from the beginning, found himself with nothing to say — all his potential comments had already been made by others.
Suzune remained silent, her gaze fixed on Kikyō sitting in the front row.
Kikyō had many friends, and Houtarou had identified her as the mastermind behind this incident. Were these girls also following her direction?
Apparently, the voice recorder alone wasn't enough to keep Kikyō in check.
Suzune's first action upon arriving at school today was to walk past Kikyō and show her the voice recorder that had captured her incriminating words and actions during the Sports Festival.
So did Kikyō still have the freedom to direct these people?
As for Kikyō's current situation… she clearly had no freedom at all.
| Kikyō Kushida |
| Why did you start clearing up the rumors without notifying me? | | Weren't you going to clarify to her that I was just a scapegoat? | | She just came to the classroom today, then looked in my direction and showed me the voice recorder. | | This means she's completely unaware! She still thinks I'm the mastermind. | | She has that incriminating recording of me, if it gets released, I'm finished on the spot! | | This is terrifying, okay! |
She was frantically messaging Houtarou, begging for help.
She was scared.
Now that Suzune had calmed down, if she still believed Kikyō was the mastermind, wouldn't she feel justified in striking back?
Suzune was the type of person who struggled to understand others' emotions and could be extremely stubborn. There was a real possibility she might simply release the voice recording without considering the consequences.
This was the source of Kikyō's anxiety.
| Houtarou Oreki |
| Don't worry, Horikita is being rational now. |
Kikyō: "…"
Don't worry my ass!
Suzune had fled the classroom just yesterday — where was this supposed rationality coming from?
Kikyō realized her only option was to curry favor with her "enemy" to protect herself.
After all, she still maintained the appearance of being Suzune's "friend" in class. She had even passed up teaming with her best friend Mei-Yu for the paired exam to partner with Suzune instead. From everyone else's perspective, their relationship seemed quite solid.
With the rumors about Suzune circulating, Kikyō's lack of public support seemed increasingly suspicious. It was time to demonstrate her loyalty.
However, just as Kikyō — the perfect angel — rose to speak in support, Suzune herself began to address the class.
"Although I don't really want to bring it up, there are girls in our class who have significant grievances against me."
⍟⍟⍟
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