Chapter 163 Enough is Enough? Impossible.
"President, I found this inside the vent of the girls' changing room!"
Tachibana Akane held something in her hand that resembled a remote-controlled car, fitted with a camera lens emitting a faint red light.
The crowd let out collective gasps of shock!
"Secret filming!"
"Someone was really filming secretly!!"
"Unbelievable... this is a crime!!!"
The girls at the scene reacted violently, and even the "saints" of Class B were no exception.
"Who exactly was it?"
"Why would someone do something so terrible?"
Ichinose Honami's brow was furrowed. Her usually gentle, smiling face had turned extremely stern.
"Where did this pervert come from?!" The Karuizawa trio looked on in shock. Although they had sensed things weren't simple from Hikigaya's instructions, they hadn't expected the truth to be this explosive!
"Catch them!"
"Beat them to death!"
Kamuro Masumi and Ibuki Mio were both rolling up their sleeves, ready for a fight.
"..."
Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes flickered, keenly divining the culprit's identity: "The culprit is someone from Class D."
As soon as these words came out, the anger of the girls flared up once again.
"Of course it's Class D!"
"Only they would do something so disgusting!"
Indignation filled the air, and the hostility even expanded to include the entirety of Class D. This left the Class D girls feeling both embarrassed and deeply resentful toward the culprit for making them targets of hostility from other classes for no reason.
"Wait a moment!
Please don't accidentally hurt innocent people.
The whistleblower, Hikigaya-kun, is also from Class D."
Ichinose Honami spoke up to defend Hikigaya.
"Yeah!"
"It was Hachiman-kun who told us to guard the changing room door!"
The Karuizawa trio snapped out of it and joined the defense.
"So that's how it was..."
The looks the girls cast toward Hikigaya gained a few degrees of goodwill.
Hikigaya, however, was indifferent to this. He turned his gaze toward Horikita Manabu: "President Horikita, now that the evidence is conclusive, we only need to investigate the purchase source of the remote-controlled car and camera to successfully find the culprit."
Horikita Manabu gave him a long, deep look.
If things proceeded this way, once the chain of evidence was formed, the lives of the perpetrators would be over. But at the same time, the points deducted from Class D would likely drop straight to the abyss, making it nearly impossible to climb back up!
Furthermore, the aftermath of the incident would cause irreparable damage to the school's reputation.
As the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu had to consider these numerous impacts.
"Gather all the boys from Class D first."
Horikita Manabu did not immediately pursue the culprit, clearly wanting to give the latter a chance to "turn themselves in." Hikigaya understood this perfectly, lamenting that President Horikita was a loyal man with a cold exterior but a warm heart.
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A moment later.
Hirata Yousuke arrived hurriedly, leading a large group of boys.
"What exactly happened?"
"We still want to play in the water."
Several boys had already changed into their swimming trunks, holding swim rings and volleyballs. Among them, Yamauchi and his group turned pale with fright the moment they saw the girls' changing room cordoned off.
'It really is these idiots!'
Hikigaya locked onto Yamauchi and the others at a glance.
"Someone installed peeping equipment in the girls' changing room. There is evidence indicating that the culprit is from Class D." Horikita Manabu didn't beat around the bush and explained the situation directly.
"What?!"
"Thi—this... how could this be..."
Hirata Yousuke was shocked, his hands clenched into fists.
"Peeping in the girls' changing room...?"
"Who is it? That's so immoral..."
"Exactly... how hateful."
Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji feigned composure, trying to state their own positions by attacking the culprit.
"The evidence has been collected.
A quick check will reveal the source of purchase for these items."
Horikita Manabu displayed the confiscated car and camera.
"!!!"
Sotamura Hideo's face went white instantly, and he began to sweat profusely. Because he had purchased the equipment personally, he would be caught red-handed as soon as it was checked.
"Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist!
Admitting it now is your only chance to reduce the impact, otherwise..."
Horikita Manabu issued the final ultimatum.
These words made Sotamura Hideo tremble with fear. His "good partners," Yamauchi and Ike, placed their hands on his shoulders from either side.
"Haruki, Kanji, I knew you guys wouldn't aban—"
"Turn yourself in, Sotamura."
Perhaps in a rush to draw a line, they even changed the way they addressed him to his last name.
"Good brother! Sacrifice yourself to save everyone!" Ike Kanji leaned in and whispered.
"I..."
Sotamura Hideo looked at the two in front of him in shock. He originally thought that his "good brothers" would stand firmly by his side. As the saying goes: share the joys and share the sorrows... Who would have thought that in this moment of crisis, his brothers would abandon him!
"..."
Sotamura Hideo's psyche collapsed, and he knelt on the spot: "The remote-controlled car and camera are mine..."
"The culprit is you?"
"Sotamura Hideo, you scum!!"
"Pervert! Why don't you just die!!!"
The girls were furious, turning their spearheads toward him.
"Since the culprit has been caught, then..." Horikita Manabu intended to settle the matter there, keeping the impact to a minimum.
"The culprit isn't just you, right, Sotamura?" Hikigaya suddenly spoke up.
"Hikigaya... enough is enough." Horikita Manabu's brow furrowed. A crime by a single person and a crime by a group were two different things in terms of impact.
"Sorry, President Horikita. I'm just someone who takes things seriously."
Hikigaya rejected the President's hint to control the situation. His dead-fish eyes coldly swept over Yamauchi Haruki, Ike Kanji, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
"Hey... what's that supposed to mean?"
"Hikigaya, without proof or evidence, don't go framing innocent people!"
Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji reacted violently, looking suspicious to anyone watching.
"Sotamura, I have to remind you: the charges and punishments for the mastermind and the accomplices are different..."
As soon as Hikigaya said this, it instantly ignited Sotamura Hideo's desire for survival.
"I, I..."
"I want to report! The mastermind who formulated the peeping plan was Ike Kanji, and the one providing advice was Yamauchi Haruki!!"
In an unexpected turn of events, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka blurted out the truth before Sotamura Hideo could.
"Ayanokouji, you bastard!!!"
"How dare you betray us!!!"
Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji both suffered a total mental breakdown.
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