Bang!
Just as all the students present were caught up in the emotional atmosphere, a sharp sound rang out. It was the sound of Sakayanagi's cane striking the ground.
Judging by how loud it was, Sakayanagi had clearly made the noise on purpose.
"Everyone, could you stop lying to yourselves? All of you in Class A, could you stop making me laugh?"
"What a boring farce. You even went into unnecessary detail about your past. Are you trying to make people feel sorry for you? No matter what your circumstances were, stealing is still stealing. There's no room for sympathy when it comes to crime."
Faced with Sakayanagi's accusations, Ichinose did not avoid her gaze. Instead, she smiled while looking straight at her.
"You're right, Sakayanagi. What I did was wrong, and nothing can change that."
"Since you admit that you committed a crime, it's entirely possible that you may steal the large amount of private points you currently possess when graduation draws near."
It was practically common knowledge that Ichinose held a huge amount of private points. Everyone also knew that the money had actually been collected by the students of Class B and entrusted to Ichinose for emergencies.
"That's true. I can't argue with what you're saying, Sakayanagi. I made a mistake in the past, so I have no way to prove that I won't make another mistake in the future."
Ichinose accepted Sakayanagi's accusations with a smile. However, just as Sakayanagi was about to keep pressing her, Ichinose suddenly tilted her head.
"But what does any of this have to do with you, Sakayanagi? Even if I really do betray my classmates someday, the only victims would be the students in Class A. It wouldn't have anything to do with you, a student from Class B, would it?"
"Heh. I'm only worried that you've deceived the students in Class A." Sakayanagi seemed not to have expected Ichinose to argue back. "After all, you're a criminal. Everyone in Class A, I think you should understand by now, right?
"As long as someone like Ichinose continues to lead you, your class has no chance of winning."
At this, the corners of Kamio Tatsuya's mouth lifted slightly.
Sakayanagi had started clinging to the fact that Ichinose was a criminal. That meant she was basically out of ideas.
She called herself a genius, but apparently this was all she had.
"Yes, but Sakayanagi, the current Class A is us. Even though I'm someone who committed a crime in the past, I still led Class B up to Class A."
That left Sakayanagi completely speechless. She looked as if she wanted to snap back at Ichinose, "You only reached Class A because of your own abilities?"
"Didn't you get lucky and reach Class A because of a certain troublemaker running around causing problems everywhere?"
Kamio Tatsuya laughed wildly to himself when he heard Ichinose's answer and saw Sakayanagi's expression.
It was the strongest possible response to what Sakayanagi had just said.
Weren't you the one who said we had no chance of winning?
But the current Class A is us.
At the same time, he was surprised and relieved by the change in Ichinose.
This version of Ichinose was much better. Kamio Tatsuya had always thought there was something wrong with the Ichinose who apologized with a forced smile at the slightest provocation.
Still, Kamio Tatsuya could tell that Ichinose was putting on a brave face. She was probably extremely embarrassed right now, and probably wanted to run away from this place as soon as possible.
But even so, she continued to stand there, facing her classmates, facing Sakayanagi, and facing most of the first-year students.
The onlookers around them had probably never imagined that Ichinose, who usually seemed friendly and easygoing with everyone, could be this aggressive.
"Hmph. It's only a temporary victory. Don't forget that you still have two years until graduation."
That was all Sakayanagi could do now—throw out threats.
"Then please wait and see. And Sakayanagi, you've misunderstood one thing. My wish isn't to reach Class A. I only want to graduate from this school together with everyone in my class."
As she spoke, Ichinose turned around to face her classmates.
"Everyone, I know this is shameless of me, but are you willing to help me make this wish come true?"
After hearing Ichinose's appeal, the students of Class A immediately responded in support, although a few of them did look somewhat uncomfortable.
Clearly, even within Ichinose's class, not everyone shared her feelings.
That was only natural.
Everyone had desires. That was perfectly reasonable.
"Ichinose, are you saying you don't want to compete for the Class A position?"
Just as the atmosphere in Class A was becoming more harmonious, an out-of-place voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. It sounded serious, with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Shimada?"
The person who stepped forward to question—or perhaps challenge—Ichinose was a girl with a high ponytail and a dyed streak in her hair.
The people around her were surprised by what she said. In the eyes of the Class A students, Shimada was usually quiet and not very talkative.
"No, that's not what I said. I'm not giving up on my wish to graduate from Class A, and I'll continue working toward it.
"What I mean is that if I have to choose between graduating from Class A and protecting my classmates, I'll choose to protect my classmates. Even if that means we don't reach Class A, I'm okay with it."
Ichinose briefly explained her position. Shimada nodded.
"In that case, I support you."
Most of the Class A students looked happy at Shimada's words.
"Thank you, Shimada."
After Shimada spoke, the atmosphere in Class A settled down again. That was the last thing Sakayanagi wanted to see.
"What a touching scene. But I hope you haven't forgotten that Ichinose is a thief. She could betray you at any critical moment."
"Even so, until Ichinose betrays us, we'll continue to believe in her."
Kanzaki stepped forward at that moment. Ichinose had done what she needed to do. From here on, it was up to her classmates to shoulder the burden for her.
And it wasn't just Kanzaki. Every student in Class B stepped forward and shielded Ichinose behind them.
No, it wasn't only the students of Class B. Quite a few students from Classes C and D who had been watching were also moved by the scene before them.
"Heh heh heh." Sakayanagi laughed. "I see. You've successfully tricked Class B. But just as you said earlier, a criminal's past doesn't simply disappear."
"Yes, I'm not planning to run away from it."
"Really? Perhaps one day in the future, rumors like 'Ichinose is a criminal' will spread around the school again."
"Even if that happens, I won't change." Ichinose's gaze was firm.
"In that case, I won't hold back."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Sakayanagi's mouth.
"About that, Sakayanagi, I've already reported the matter to the student council."
"Reported it? Reported what?"
Sakayanagi sensed that something was wrong.
"The recent rumors about me have been disrupting my life, so I asked the student council for help."
Ichinose calmly explained the situation.
Sakayanagi looked toward Kamio Tatsuya at the edge of the crowd, hoping to get an answer from him.
"She's telling the truth. The rumors haven't spread on a very large scale this time, but if they aren't stopped, even worse rumors may follow.
"If that happens, the school's order could be disrupted. Neither the school nor the student council would want to see that happen.
"So my advice is that the rumors about Ichinose should stop here. Of course, you're free to ignore me. There hasn't been an official announcement yet."
Kamio Tatsuya did not strictly order anyone present to stop spreading rumors about Ichinose. He simply explained the student council's position from a neutral standpoint.
He had not made any of this up. At noon, he had already informed Nagumo about Ichinose's request for help.
That was right. He had done it on purpose.
It was obvious that Nagumo was behind the whole thing. He wanted to use Sakayanagi to crush Ichinose, then appear at the right moment to comfort her and play the hero.
Unfortunately for him, Kamio Tatsuya had intercepted his plan long ago.
On top of that, Kamio Tatsuya had openly told Nagumo what he had done. His purpose was to make it clear: I've ruined your plan again.
Once you choose to become enemies, there's no reason to hold back.
Indecision would only make you look foolish.
But what could Nagumo do?
Kamio Tatsuya had made it very clear in his message: if Nagumo ignored Ichinose's request, even more rumors might spread throughout the school.
This wasn't a prediction. It was a threat.
As long as Nagumo dared to refuse, Kamio Tatsuya could order the students of Class C to spread even more rumors around the school.
For example, that Student Council President Nagumo had many lovers at school.
Or that Nagumo's childhood friend didn't like him at all.
He could also spread the rumor that the chairman of the school was named Sakayanagi, and that Arisu Sakayanagi had been assigned to Class A through favoritism. In reality, she supposedly had no right to enter Class A at all.
After all, strictly speaking, Sakayanagi was partially disabled and could be considered defective. She should have been assigned to Class D instead.
Nagumo probably wouldn't care much about the first two rumors. But the third one was the rumor Kamio Tatsuya truly wanted to spread.
To disprove that rumor, Sakayanagi would have no choice but to make the school step forward and issue a clarification.
But since the rumor itself questioned the school, the students would not easily believe the school's own statement.
To protect the school's reputation, there was only one thing the school could do: publicly reveal the rules used to assign students to classes.
That was exactly what Kamio Tatsuya wanted.
He had originally planned to spread the rumor himself, but Ichinose had acted too quickly. Before he could even begin, she had decided to confront Sakayanagi head-on.
As for why the school needed to protect its reputation, that was because every rule in the school was built on that reputation.
Just imagine it. If the school could not be trusted, would the students still believe that graduating from Class A would really let them choose the jobs and universities they wanted?
Once that doubt appeared, and the school itself became untrustworthy, the S System would probably collapse in an instant.
The students' conflicts would disappear, and everyone would unite against the school.
That was only the mildest possible outcome. Things could easily develop into a situation that was even harder to control.
The school had been established with government funding. If something like that happened, the people running the school would inevitably be punished.
As for why Kamio Tatsuya had chosen this method, it was because he had received a message two days earlier from Naruyoshi Sakayanagi, Arisu Sakayanagi's father.
The message said that Naruyoshi was under investigation for certain reasons and had temporarily lost his position as chairman. The wording strongly suggested that his political enemies had taken action against him.
The new chairman was also his enemy.
So Kamio Tatsuya wanted to give the new chairman a big gift right from the start.
As for whether this would affect Naruyoshi Sakayanagi, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't worried at all.
Arisu Sakayanagi had indeed been placed in Class A only after passing the school's strict screening process. He had confirmed that himself.
Sakayanagi truly possessed unmatched skill in certain fields, so there was nothing unreasonable about assigning her to Class A.
Chess, for example.
If Sakayanagi chose to pursue it, she could undoubtedly become one of the top chess players in Japan, or even in the world.
And yet, at this school, Kamio Tatsuya had manipulated her again and again. That was because Sakayanagi's real flaw was that she simply wasn't suited to being a leader.
At least, she wasn't suited to leading this school.
"This may make you angry, but I still want to say it. If I've committed a crime, then let the law punish me instead of you acting as the one who carries out the punishment."
Ichinose's words once again caused Sakayanagi's expression to stiffen.
She couldn't understand why the timid Ichinose from before had suddenly become so forceful, so shameless.
To be clear, in this school, shamelessness wasn't entirely an insult.
Just then, one of the onlookers suddenly cried out.
"The student council account just posted a statement."
"What?"
The students instinctively took out their phones and opened the school forum.
"In recent days, students have been using slander and malicious rumors as a means of attacking one another. So far, these rumors have already had a serious impact on the lives of certain students.
"If this continues, it will disrupt the school's discipline. The school does not want these malicious rumors targeting individuals to continue spreading, so the student council will take emergency measures.
"From now on, anyone who spreads meaningless rumors will be punished. Possible punishments include suspension and the deduction of class points. If the rumors cause serious consequences, the person who started them will be expelled."
Once the student council's announcement was posted, happy smiles immediately spread across the faces of the Class A students.
Sakayanagi, on the other hand, looked gloomy.
"Hmph. The school has finally decided to take action." Sakayanagi let out a cold laugh. "Let's go. Now that the school has stepped in, there's no place for us here anymore."
Having understood the situation, Sakayanagi ordered her classmates to withdraw. The students of Class A left in a noisy, excited group.
Although they had risen to Class A, this was the first time they had truly defeated their opponents in a direct confrontation. Naturally, the students were all fired up.
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