The next two days were the weekend, but Hikigaya barely had any time to rest because of student council and club activities. Even though it was supposed to be a break, he spent almost the entire time on campus—he was basically a corporate slave, but for school.
Still, there was at least one pleasant surprise. He and Tachibana Akane got permission to leave the school for a short time. Even though it was only for two hours and they were just going as club supervisors, it was enough to get Hikigaya excited for a while.
As for Sudou's dispute, the hearing was scheduled for Monday after school.
Hikigaya handed the injury report to Horikita. If Class C refused to settle, that document could become a key piece of evidence. He trusted that Horikita would know how to use it in negotiations.
On Monday morning, Hikigaya saw Horikita at school, but she looked like she was in a bad mood.
"Did negotiations with Class C go badly?"
Horikita sighed and nodded.
"They refused to negotiate."
As expected. From the start, Hikigaya doubted Class C would agree to a settlement so easily. But what Horikita said next left him just as puzzled.
"They somehow found out we don't have a witness. Because of that, they won't even talk to us. No, they won't even *meet* with us."
Horikita let out another sigh.
"I guess we'll have to settle this in the hearing later."
Her words made Hikigaya's expression turn serious. A vague sense of unease crept into his mind.
—
After school, Hikigaya arrived at the student council room. Inside, Ishizaki and other Class C students were already waiting, along with their homeroom teacher, Sakagami-sensei. Not long after, Horikita and Sudou also arrived.
Other than Sudou, the defendant, Horikita was present as his representative. She seemed to be looking for someone, her face clearly showing her frustration.
Hikigaya glanced at the time and walked over to her.
"It's about time."
Horikita was already annoyed that Ayanokouji hadn't shown up yet. Just then, he finally arrived—late as usual.
"Ayanokouji, what took you so—"
Horikita stopped mid-sentence. She had just noticed Chabashira-sensei walking in behind him. And behind her was—
"Sakura?"
Hikigaya stared in shock at the girl who had just entered the room. Without thinking, he asked,
"What are you doing here?"
"Y-Yes, Horikita-san said that Hikigaya-kun was in trouble and that I needed to be a witness for this dispute… S-So I came. A-And also, about the camera…"
As she spoke, Sakura suddenly looked uneasy, as if she wanted to say more but hesitated.
Hikigaya quickly turned to Horikita, but to his surprise, she looked just as confused. Meanwhile, Sudou, overjoyed, grabbed Ayanokouji in a hug and shouted, "This is great! Ayanokouji, you really found a witness! I'm saved!"
Ayanokouji expressionlessly pushed Sudou away, looking like he wanted nothing to do with this. "You got it wrong. It was actually Horikita who found the witness. I was just passing the message."
"So that's how it is! I knew you wouldn't give up on me, Horikita!"
Sudou looked at Horikita with gratitude after hearing Ayanokouji's words.
"Hey, Ayanokouji, what did you do? Why…?"
Horikita was full of confusion, as if she had no idea what was going on. Just as she was about to question Ayanokouji, she suddenly seemed to realize something and turned to Hikigaya, who now had a dark expression that made him look terrifying.
"Hikigaya, I—"
Horikita took a step forward to explain, but before she could say anything, Tachibana Akane came out of the meeting room and urged everyone to hurry inside because the hearing was about to start. Horikita had no choice but to swallow her words.
"Hikigaya-kun, d-did I do something wrong?"
Sakura also noticed that Hikigaya didn't look right and nervously asked in a small voice.
Hikigaya took a deep breath, forcing a small smile to reassure her. "It's fine. Just tell them exactly what you saw. Nothing else matters."
"Okay!"
Encouraged by Hikigaya's words, Sakura also took a deep breath, nodded firmly as if hyping herself up, and followed the others into the meeting room.
Now, only Hikigaya was left in the hallway. If anyone saw him at that moment, they would notice a cold and terrifying look on his face.
He had done all of this, not just because of a certain cold-faced but warm-hearted older brother, but also because he wanted to keep Sakura out of this. Yet in the end, she still got dragged in.
According to Sakura, it was "Horikita" who found her, saying that Hikigaya was in trouble or something similar, making Sakura believe it and convincing her to testify as a witness.
But judging from Horikita's reaction just now, this seemed very suspicious. Besides, he and Horikita had already agreed to keep Sakura's identity as a witness a secret. He didn't believe Horikita would suddenly betray him like this.
The only people who knew Sakura was a witness were Hikigaya and three others. That meant there were only two suspects left.
Kushida was a possibility, but it was unlikely unless she was ready to go all out against him. Based on her recent behavior, that didn't seem to be the case. That left only one other person—Ayanokouji!
And Hikigaya was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
"Ayanokouji…!"
Hikigaya clenched his fists. He could already piece everything together—Ayanokouji had likely used Horikita's name to approach Sakura and then used vague wording or careful phrasing to guide her into stepping forward as a witness.
Too bad for him, Ayanokouji didn't know about the private agreement between Hikigaya and Horikita. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have used Horikita's name. And on top of that, Hikigaya had also figured out who leaked information to Class C to sabotage their negotiations.
After all, only a few people were in the room at the time!
Hikigaya could also guess Ayanokouji's goal—it was all for Sudou! Hikigaya had cut off the witness option to push Sudou into a corner, but Ayanokouji had found a way around it!
Thinking about this, Hikigaya couldn't help but feel a surge of anger!
But he wasn't angry just because his plan had been ruined, nor was it because of the betrayal itself.
What truly made him furious was that Ayanokouji had dragged Sakura into this just to achieve his goal!
And he even used Horikita's name to cover his own tracks?
Did he really think I was that stupid?!
一 一 一 一 一
You can read 30 advanced chapters on
pat reon.com/GMadman
一 一 一 一 一