While Symon and Hiyori were chatting in their minds, the four homeroom teachers had already approached.
Glancing at Honami Ichinose and Kikyō Kushida, who were directing the transfer of the injured, and at the Class C and Class D students cleaning up the debris of desks and chairs, the teachers exchanged speechless looks.
The students might not realize it, but the teachers knew very well:
in such a short amount of time, to organize personnel from four different classes for mobilization and cleanup, they themselves had little room to contribute now, aside from post-incident investigation and assigning blame.
Just as this thought occurred to them, Arisu Sakayanagi seemed to notice and gave a slight bow with a smile, saying, "Have you finally arrived, teachers? In that case, I'll be taking my leave."
With that, Sakayanagi headed back to the Class A classroom, her cane tapping rhythmically—da, da, da—against the floor.
Dealing with such trivial matters didn't align with her personal aesthetic. There would always be time to chat with Hiyori-chan; there was no need to rush it at this moment.
As she walked, Arisu Sakayanagi calmly lifted her gaze and swept it across the Class D students standing in the hallway, suddenly noticing a brown-haired boy with an indifferent expression and calm eyes.
He looks just like...
No, it was definitely him—the masterpiece of the educational experimental facility, the "White Room": Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
The little princess's lips curved, a glint of amusement flashing in her pale violet eyes—it was the delight of a predator chancing upon new "prey."
After Sakayanagi left, the aftermath of the incident didn't have much to do with Hiyori Shiina. After being asked a couple of questions, she was quickly let go by the homeroom teachers.
After all, she had only temporarily taken charge of Class C and the incident scene. By the time the mess was cleaned up, Hiyori and Symon hadn't had a chance to conduct any post-incident investigation, so they knew nothing when asked.
Once Mr. Sakagami left with the Class C boys, the second afternoon period began on time, followed by the end of the school day.
Not long after school ended, a soft, clear female voice sounded punctually over the broadcast: "Will Hiyori Shiina of first-year Class C and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji of first-year Class D please report to the Student Council office. I repeat..."
Hearing her name, Hiyori looked up in surprise. She listened to the school broadcast again to confirm she hadn't misheard, then rose from her seat, hugged her school bag, and walked out of the classroom at a leisurely pace.
Inside the Class C classroom, among a group of girls, Saki Yamashita watched the girl depart, then nudged her deskmate with her arm and whispered with a light laugh, "Don't you think Hiyori-chan was amazing today?"
"Right? Right?!" Nanami Yabu nodded emphatically.
From the back seat, Minori Kinoshita spoke with a look of disdain, "Hmph, so it's 'Hiyori-chan' now? I'm pretty sure I heard you two badmouthing her behind her back last time."
"We did not!" the two turned and said in unison.
"Hmph! You know very well what you did."
Meanwhile—
In the Student Council room, Manabu Horikita sat at the head seat, reading a written report on a major violent incident while waiting for all relevant parties to arrive.
On his left and right were the two student council vice presidents—Miyabi Nagumo of second-year Class A and Ikuto Kiriyama of second-year Class B—also reading the report.
Further down were the seated homeroom teachers of first-year Classes C and D, as well as several first-year students who had just come from the nurse's office.
Among them:
Class C was led by Kakeru Ryūen, with Mio Ibuki seated beside him, and Daichi Ishizaki and Albert seated furthest down. All four had bandages or gauze on them, their arms crossed as they sat in cold silence.
Class D was loosely led by Yōsuke Hirata, with Suzune Horikita beside him, and Ken Sudō and Haruki Yamauchi seated furthest down. Several of them wore bandages or slings and were glaring angrily at the Class C group.
As the two groups faced off, the door to the Student Council room was pushed open, and Secretary Akane Tachibana led Hiyori Shiina and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji in to take their seats.
With that, all parties involved in the incident were present. Manabu Horikita put down the investigation report, scanned the room, his gaze pausing for a moment on Suzune Horikita's face, and began:
"I am the Student Council President, Manabu Horikita of third-year Class A. We will now deliberate on the major violent incident that occurred today in first-year Class D. I will be presiding over this meeting. Let's begin."
"Wait, I have an objection."
As everyone was listening to the opening statement, Kakeru Ryūen raised his hand and was the first to challenge, looking at Manabu Horikita and saying coldly:
"As far as I know, Suzune Horikita is the student council president's younger sister, isn't she? Is this really appropriate? I shouldn't have to explain the principle of recusal due to kinship, should I?"
At his words, everyone present was taken aback and turned to look at Manabu Horikita. Seeing him nod in acknowledgment, Vice President Miyabi Nagumo immediately stood up and said with a smile:
"Since the president's family member is involved in this incident, how about I preside over the rest of the meeting?"
"Very well." Manabu Horikita calmly vacated the head seat.
As the two exchanged seats, Hiyori Shiina, Kakeru Ryūen, and Suzune Horikita simultaneously focused their attention on Miyabi Nagumo:
So this must be him, the Student Council President's (brother's) rival within the council. To think he'd step forward so easily.
Everyone sat down again, and Miyabi Nagumo introduced himself to the assembly: "I am the Student Council Vice President, Miyabi Nagumo of second-year Class A. I will be presiding over the remainder of this meeting."
After the announcement, Miyabi Nagumo got straight to the point. Holding the document in his hand, he read aloud: "Regarding this incident, Class C claims: the incident was caused by Class D's Horikita and Ayanokōji, who first initiated bullying behavior towards Class C's Shiina in the library."
"Two days after the incident, Miss Ibuki learned that Shiina had spent a large number of points on self-defense items, and therefore went to Class D, where a verbal altercation occurred with others."
"Afterward, because Class D's Sudō and Yamauchi initiated physical violence first, Ibuki acted in self-defense. Ryūen and others, who were passing by, discovered their female classmate being ganged up on by Class D boys and subsequently got involved."
"Class C's collective and individual demands are as follows: Horikita and Ayanokōji are to compensate Shiina with 800,000 points. Sudō and Yamauchi are to compensate Ibuki with 500,000 points. Furthermore, they demand that the school administration deal strictly with the four individuals: Horikita, Ayanokōji, Sudō, and Yamauchi."
After stating Class C's claims and demands, Miyabi Nagumo turned to the Class D side: "Class D's Horikita denies engaging in bullying behavior with Ayanokōji against Shiina, pointing out that it was a simple verbal dispute that was stopped by Class C's Ryūen."
"Hirata and others claim: the violent incident occurred because Class C's Mio Ibuki initiated verbal abuse against the Class D group, and the violence escalated further after Ibuki was the first to wield a weapon."
"Class D's collective and individual demand is to bear no responsibility for this violent incident and to demand that Ibuki be dealt with strictly."
At this point, Nagumo displayed the report in his hand and asked with a smile, "Now, is there anything you'd like to add?"
"I do." Mio Ibuki raised her hand and said with some impatience, "I was being ganged up on by two boys at the time. I only retaliated with a desk and chair because I had no other choice."
This was the story Ryūen had taught her. Although she was unwilling to admit she was at a disadvantage in the fight, saying it now would certainly do more good than harm.
"There's no need to point that out specifically; Class D's claim does indeed have that issue."
Nagumo waved his hand with a smile. Seeing that the Class D group had nothing more to add, he had Akane Tachibana, who was standing by, play two surveillance clips for everyone to see—
The first clip showed Horikita and Ayanokōji blocking Hiyori Shiina's path twice, followed by Ryūen arriving with his people and standing in front of Hiyori Shiina.
The second clip showed Mio Ibuki kicking open the Class D classroom door and confronting Horikita, after which Sudō and Yamauchi rushed forward. Ibuki retaliated with a weapon, and the fight subsequently expanded, with her ending up at a disadvantage.
Watching the surveillance footage and recalling Nagumo's summary of both sides' claims, Hiyori Shiina finally understood what was happening. She whispered to Symon in her mind, "Mr. Ghost, Ryūen-kun must have intentionally escalated this, right?"
"He's clearly using this as a pretext, and it's also a clear attempt to probe."
Following Hiyori's perspective and calmly watching the surveillance footage, Symon made this assessment in his mind:
"From what we've seen so far, the school administration prefers student autonomy within the academy. The Student Council's power is astonishingly large, far exceeding that of the teachers. And that Miyabi Nagumo is Manabu Horikita's rival."
"Although his methods are a bit dirty, Ryūen has already achieved his goal."
Hiyori asked, confused, "Isn't he afraid the school will hold him accountable?"
Symon chuckled teasingly, "The surveillance footage has no sound. Judging by the visuals alone, Kakeru Ryūen looks like a champion of justice—wherever a girl is being bullied, he's there to stand up for her."
On the monitor, the footage happened to show Ryūen leading his people into the Class D classroom, shielding Mio Ibuki behind him.
Seeing this, Hiyori Shiina couldn't help but curve her lips into a smile, finding it hard to stifle her laughter. "I guess... you're right..."
_____
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