"Manabe-san, how are you? What happened here? Did someone use violence against you?"
Seeing Manabe so weak from vomiting that she was slumped on the ground, Sakagami-sensei, with a look of 'concern,' quickly went to Manabe's side and deliberately asked in a loud voice.
Sakagami-sensei's three questions immediately gave him the initiative. The first question about Manabe's physical condition was a prelude to the subsequent accountability.
Manabe's condition in no way looked like it was caused by illness. Based on Sakagami-sensei's experience, it was highly likely to be related to that person named Miyako Amane.
Class C had repeatedly suffered setbacks at her hands. If her momentum couldn't be curbed now, Class C might never again be qualified to oppose her.
So, after seeing Manabe, Sakagami-sensei intended to use the injured Manabe to completely escalate the situation.
Thus, the second question was to hand over the right to explain the situation to Manabe, to maximize his own speaking power.
A single event can have different interpretations from different perspectives. From Manabe's perspective, there was no doubt that her testimony would favor her side. At that time, he could preemptively seize the initiative, and once he had the initiative, things would be easy to handle.
The third question was the most fatal. If Manabe had indeed suffered violence and immediately identified the perpetrator, he could have Miyako Amane apprehended on the spot, or even disqualify her from the exam.
In this way, Class D, having lost Amane as its core, was completely insignificant in Sakagami-sensei's eyes.
As for whether the final investigation result would show that Amane used violence... did that matter?
Investigations also take time. By the time the process was complete, Amane would have missed this special exam. What's the big deal if he just bowed and apologized in the end?
Unfortunately, Manabe did not grasp Sakagami-sensei's meticulous thoughts.
She even found Sakagami-sensei's long questioning very verbose.
"I'm fine, Sakagami-sensei. Quickly punish that irresponsible Student Council member who is protecting a classmate!"
Manabe stood up, leaning against the wall, and pointed at Amane, shouting loudly.
But she didn't see Sakagami-sensei frown inadvertently.
A simple "I'm fine" allowed Amane to escape accountability, and even later, he couldn't accuse Amane of using violence. Manabe herself said she was fine; does this look like someone who has suffered violence?
"Sakagami-sensei, it must be very hard to lead a class like this, right?"
Amane had seen through all of Sakagami-sensei's little tricks. Manabe was still naively hoping that Sakagami-sensei would stand up for her.
Facing Amane's teasing, Sakagami-sensei counterattacked without changing his expression.
"I think everyone in Class C is pretty good. Speaking of hardship, who doesn't know that your Chabashira-sensei is the hardest-working person in the first year?"
Sakagami-sensei's rebuttal was indeed true. After all, Class D's problems had been continuous, almost without stopping. Speaking of hardship, Chabashira-sensei also seemed quite busy.
However, after Amane got everyone moving, Chabashira basically no longer had to worry about Class D's affairs. Meanwhile, Sakagami, at his age, still had to clean up after the immature members of his class. Compared to that, it was clear who would be more burdened now and in the future.
Amane smiled and said nothing.
Sakagami-sensei saw the mischief in Amane's smile, but as a teacher, he couldn't flare up in public, so he could only endure it silently.
At the same time, Sakagami-sensei refocused his gaze on Manabe. Manabe seemed to have just said that she wanted him to help punish Amane for protecting a classmate?
"Miyako-san, if you've been here all along, do you know what happened here? And what's this about Manabe-san saying you're protecting a classmate?"
Sakagami-sensei directly asked Amane to answer this question.
On the surface, it seemed he was giving Amane the initiative, but in reality, it was just another one of Sakagami-sensei's little tricks.
As mentioned before, when a person recounts events, they often subconsciously narrate them in a way that favors themselves. This is especially true when it comes to assigning responsibility, where there's a subconscious desire to shift blame and make excuses as much as possible.
Sakagami-sensei's purpose in letting Amane speak first was to make Amane beautify her own actions. The more Amane distorted the facts and made excuses for herself and her classmates, the greater Amane's responsibility would be after the investigation.
"Hmph, nothing happened here. It's just that Manabe-san misunderstood the rules."
Amane's displeased snort scared Manabe into hiding behind Sakagami-sensei.
This action made Sakagami-sensei feel ashamed.
His own student didn't even have the courage to confront Amane face-to-face, yet still wanted to defeat her? Isn't this just asking for trouble?
Since she knew she wasn't a match, she shouldn't have provoked Amane, that troublesome person.
Sakagami-sensei didn't know Amane's background because he wasn't very familiar with Fujiwara Rin either.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the other three teachers had also not mentioned this matter, and some opportunities to learn about Amane's background were all missed by Sakagami. For example, when accompanying the surveillance investigation, Sakagami found it troublesome at the time and declined, citing discomfort.
This led to Sakagami-sensei's assessment of Amane being surprisingly the most objective: troublesome.
Anyone who encountered Amane had to think about how to minimize losses in the aftermath, rather than how to make Amane pay a price.
Ryuuen's three failures had already explained many issues. If Manabe had evidence of Amane using violence or other leverage, she might have been able to contend with Amane. Now, with no leverage and being accused by Amane of misunderstanding the rules, even Manabe herself was terrified. So, what was the point of provoking her?
Sakagami-sensei didn't even need to know the full story to know that the final outcome would likely be Amane's victory.
If Amane had started to explain what happened, Sakagami-sensei would have felt that Amane lacked confidence.
But now, Amane's arrogant demeanor clearly showed that she was waiting for Manabe to crash and burn. Sakagami-sensei was already thinking about how to defuse this conflict.
But just then, Manabe suddenly took two steps forward and pointed at Amane.
"Sakagami-sensei is here, and you still want to push the blame onto me? Koenji peeked at my information slip's answer and answered the question first, causing the Monkey Group's exam to end. That scoundrel Koenji stole what I deserved, and you're still protecting him. Now you even want to distort the facts. Do you think everyone's eyes are blind?"
It sounded like it should have been an impassioned accusation, but because Manabe somehow became timid whenever she made eye contact with Amane, her voice also started to get smaller. The result was that this weak and timid speech not only lacked any force.
It sounded more like she was pouting at Amane.
This made Sakagami-sensei almost unable to watch.
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