After leaving Ayanokouji's room, Hirata noticed that Hikigaya seemed like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
"Did you two plan this in advance?"
Before Hirata could speak, Horikita suddenly asked. She had already sensed something was off back in the room, especially with Hirata. Even though she didn't interact with him much, she knew about his personality—he was the kind of person who always tried to do the right thing.
Normally, Hirata would have at least tried to say something in Sudou's defense. But instead, he had fully agreed with Hikigaya's approach without any resistance.
"We just had a brief talk."
Hikigaya answered casually, then turned to Hirata.
"Hirata, I'll say it again—if you really want to prevent Sudou from getting expelled, you need to understand that there's always a price to pay. You can't have it both ways in this school."
"I… I understand."
Hirata sighed. "No matter what, as long as we can stop Sudou from getting expelled, we can figure out the rest later."
After Hirata left, Hikigaya was about to return to his room when Horikita called out to him again.
"Hikigaya, have you thought about what happens if Class C refuses to accept this settlement?"
"Oh? Looks like you caught on pretty fast."
Hikigaya glanced at her, slightly impressed.
"Sudou's fight was clearly a result of his past behavior catching up to him, but I also know that Class C deliberately set him up. Given that this is a perfect chance to get him expelled, I don't think the mastermind behind this will just let it go."
Horikita analyzed the situation calmly.
"Looks like your way of thinking has improved."
Hikigaya's compliment didn't seem to affect Horikita's expression much, but she unconsciously clenched the hem of her skirt.
"You've heard of the 'tyrant' from Class C, right?"
"You mean he's the one behind this?"
"Pretty much."
Hikigaya briefly explained the key figures in Class C, including Ryuen and Ishizaki.
"That's why I never expected Class C to settle just based on this evidence."
Hikigaya's face remained neutral, but for some reason, Horikita felt a chill run down her spine. Instinctively, she asked, "Then… what's your plan?"
With no eyewitnesses willing to come forward and no other solid evidence, could just a few photos really solve Sudou's problem?
"This is exactly why I'm here."
Hikigaya pulled out a document and handed it to her.
"What's this?"
Horikita opened it and immediately saw the title—*Medical Injury Report.*
"That day, when Class C reported the incident to the student council, I was the one who treated their injuries…"
Ishizaki and the others had suffered serious injuries. Hikigaya could tell how bad it was just from the way Tachibana Akane had rushed him to help with their wounds.
There was no doubt that Ishizaki and the others had been beaten up badly. Their injuries were real. The wounds clearly showed they had been violently attacked.
But Hikigaya had also noticed something strange.
The injuries were serious, but some of them showed signs of *secondary* or even *tertiary* damage. That meant they hadn't been caused by a single fight—some of the wounds had been made worse later on.
"So I went to the school infirmary again and asked Hoshinomiya-sensei, the homeroom teacher of Class B who was on duty that day, about Ishizaki and the others' injuries."
At the same time, Hikigaya, using the name of the student council, requested an injury report from Hoshinomiya-sensei regarding Ishizaki and the others. Maybe it was because of the student council's authority, or maybe because the injuries on Ishizaki and the others were suspicious, but the report was incredibly detailed. It even included records of them returning for follow-up treatments and bandage changes.
Sure enough, while the injuries were caused by punches and kicks, many of them were due to secondary or even multiple impacts.
Horikita finally understood where Hikigaya's confidence came from. While this report couldn't completely disprove Class C's statements, it was enough to make the school question their testimony. That alone was enough to change the final outcome of this dispute into a "both sides take equal blame" situation, leading to a forced settlement.
"In the end, it won't be a matter of whether they want to accept it or not. They'll have no choice."
Hikigaya spoke calmly.
"So… the things you said to Sudou earlier in the room, they were all lies?"
Horikita frowned slightly, even more confused about Hikigaya's intentions.
In reality, with this injury report, Sudou wouldn't have to give up basketball at all. Class C would have had no choice but to compromise in the end anyway.
"If everything in this world came without a price, what do you think would happen?"
Hikigaya looked at Horikita coldly.
"And besides, you said it yourself. The way this situation unfolded—you can call it a trap set by Class C, but the real problem is Sudou himself."
Horikita fell silent, acknowledging Hikigaya's words. If Sudou got out of this without any consequences, that would be unfair to the other students. Honestly, if it weren't for class points and the fact that Sudou's athletic abilities might be useful for advancing to a higher class, Horikita wouldn't have bothered with him at all.
To put it bluntly, Horikita was also caught up in the desire to move up. If she wanted to use Sudou's strengths, she had to tolerate his flaws.
It was all about weighing the pros and cons.
"So you deliberately cut off the eyewitness testimony, leaving Sudou with no way out so that he'd have to rely on this report in your hands…"
Horikita finally pieced it together. Especially now, holding this injury report, she realized—Hikigaya had foreseen this outcome from the very start?
"You knew this would happen all along…"
Once again, Horikita felt a deep sense of defeat. She and Hikigaya were the same age, yet his thinking and foresight always seemed to be ahead of hers.
How was she different from him?
"This is just a matter of having different information."
But Horikita shook her head firmly.
"Hikigaya, you don't need to comfort me."
After leaving those words behind, she turned and walked away, looking a little dejected.
…
After Horikita and Hikigaya left, the once lively room was now quiet, with only three people remaining. Kushida had planned to leave too, but Ayanokouji called out to her. The two of them glanced at Sudou, who sat on the floor, looking completely defeated.
"Sorry, Ayanokouji-kun, I don't really know how to help in this situation."
No matter how much Kushida tried to comfort him, Sudou didn't react. He just sat there in a daze.
Ayanokouji looked at Sudou, then suddenly asked, "Kushida, did you notice anything strange about Hirata just now?"
"Huh? Strange? What do you mean?"
Ayanokouji nodded as if recalling something from earlier.
"When Hikigaya and Hirata were talking, didn't you feel like there was some kind of silent understanding between them? I feel like there should be a better solution."
"A better solution?"
Kushida looked confused.
"W-What solution?!"
Suddenly, Sudou snapped out of his daze, grabbing Ayanokouji's wrist. His bloodshot eyes and desperate expression made it clear—he was clinging to whatever hope he could find.
"There is a way, but…"
"Ayanokouji, do you really have another way? Please, I'm begging you! We're friends, right? I can't lose basketball… Basketball is everything to me!"
Sudou was almost begging Ayanokouji for help, someone he normally wouldn't even take seriously. That alone showed how desperate he was.
Kushida's face briefly showed a hint of disgust, but it disappeared so quickly that no one noticed.
Ayanokouji didn't respond right away, as if he was thinking about something.
"Sorry, it's getting late. I have other things to do."
Kushida, now looking impatient, said, "See you tomorrow," before leaving the room.
Now, only Ayanokouji and Sudou remained. Sudou had already given up, but Ayanokouji suddenly spoke, looking him in the eye with a blank expression.
"Sudou, if this ends in a way that makes Hikigaya unhappy, would you be okay with that?"
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