Just as Ayanokoji and his group were heading to find Mashima-sensei, Totsuka Yahiko, who was among the Class A crowd, immediately spotted Hashimoto Masayoshi, covered in mud, mixed in with the group.
"Katsuragi-kun, isn't that Hashimoto? Because of him, we lost five class points this morning. Looking at him, he probably went to defect to Class D in the middle of the night."
Totsuka stared resentfully at Hashimoto's back, telling Katsuragi beside him how terrible Hashimoto's behavior was.
Katsuragi knew Totsuka was intentionally fanning the flames, but from Hashimoto's current performance, Totsuka's analysis was clearly the most reliable. However, in plain sight, Katsuragi Kohei, as Class A's leader, had to display the magnanimity and generosity befitting his status.
"Don't talk nonsense! The situation isn't clear yet, don't jump to conclusions. As a classmate, I always trust Hashimoto-kun's character; he's not the kind of guy who would betray the class's interests."
Katsuragi righteously scolded Totsuka, but the worry in his eyes only increased.
Since returning to Class A, Katsuragi was confident that Hashimoto had no opportunity to access the key card, but Class A's key card had previously been kept by Totsuka Yahiko, which made Katsuragi somewhat worried that Hashimoto might have already peeked at the names on it.
If Hashimoto were to trade the names of the key card holders with Class D, Class A's situation would immediately become extremely dangerous.
"I'll go see what they want with Mashima-sensei. Perhaps as part of Class A, we can also help."
Katsuragi said this symbolically to those around him before walking towards Mashima-sensei's living quarters.
Each class had its respective homeroom teacher stationed at its camp, but they did not interfere with class activities and decisions. They merely ensured that students would not be subjected to violence during exams.
Currently, except for Hoshinomiya-sensei from Class B, who was recalled to the school's temporary base on the island to serve as medical personnel, all other teachers lived in the same camp as their students.
Mashima-sensei was no exception.
As Class A's homeroom teacher and the actual person in charge of this special exam, Mashima-sensei was bound to act with Class A.
"Chabashira, is there something you need today, bringing so many students to see me?"
Mashima-sensei looked at the group behind Chabashira and couldn't help but feel curious. Such a large-scale gathering seemed to indicate that something significant had happened, prompting him to give it his full attention.
"I'm just accompanying them as a witness. The one who truly wants to see you is him, Ayanokoji. Just tell Mashima-sensei what you need to say, and with Mashima-sensei here, he will handle this matter impartially."
Chabashira-sensei's words made Mashima-sensei smile wryly and shake his head.
"Chabashira, we've worked together for so long, don't you know my personality? I always deal with matters, not people, so you can rest assured. I will treat all matters fairly. If you are dissatisfied with my judgment, you can continue to report it to the school or apply for Student Council intervention. In short, this is not a tribunal nor a one-man show. You can speak boldly if you have something to say."
Mashima-sensei looked at Ayanokoji with encouraging eyes.
"It's like this: last night, while we were on patrol, we found someone secretly eating our leftover ingredients. After checking, we found that Hashimoto-kun was so hungry that he resorted to such behavior."
Upon hearing that it wasn't a violent incident, Mashima-sensei felt a slight sense of relief, but the next second he realized the seriousness of the problem.
Under what circumstances would someone from one class be so hungry that they would run to another class to steal food?
"After questioning, we learned that Katsuragi-kun had adopted a nearly bullying disciplinary method, strictly forbidding Hashimoto-kun from eating, which led to Hashimoto-kun being forced to flee due to hunger."
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