The news that Ayanokouji had beaten up—cough, I mean, fought—Ryuen spread through the entire school that very day.
Even though Nagumo didn't plan on pursuing the matter, a fight involving five people wasn't something that could be ignored.
And thanks to Kanda Shuichi's handling of the situation, the student council announced the incident on the school website at around six in the evening.
The moment first-year students saw the news, the whole grade exploded.
The name "Ayanokouji Kiyotaka" had undoubtedly become the center of discussion in every class.
He single-handedly defeated four of Ryuen's toughest fighters, including the towering Albert and the ruthless Ryuen himself.
Even though Ayanokouji usually kept a low profile, making people doubt if this really happened, a photo of Ryuen with injuries on his face quickly spread—no one knew who shared it.
On top of that, the credibility of the student council made it impossible for students to dismiss the news.
The two hottest topics were: "Ryuen finally got beaten up" and "Who is Ayanokouji?"
It was obvious that Ryuen's ways had already made a lot of first-year students unhappy, so now that someone had stepped up and taken him down, people couldn't help but feel excited.
As for the other question—who is Ayanokouji? It just showed how invisible he had been in the first-year social circles. Even though he had performed well during the sports festival, not many people had paid attention to him.
The next day, classes continued as usual, unaffected by Ayanokouji's fight with Ryuen.
The moment I walked into the classroom, I could tell that Class D was a lot livelier than usual.
"You're here early, Horikita."
"Well, after something like that, it was hard to sleep in," Horikita said, looking a little worried.
We had just secured our promotion to Class C next month, and then this happened. And the one who caused it was none other than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka—the guy who had always seemed like just another background character.
She had been keeping a close watch on Sudou, making sure he didn't get into trouble. And yet, instead of the hot-tempered Sudou picking a fight, it was Ayanokouji—the calm and quiet one—who ended up in a brawl with Ryuen.
Aren't you supposed to be someone who avoids conflict?
Didn't you want to stay unnoticed?
Then why would you go and do something like this?
"Don't worry. This won't result in any class point deductions."
"How do you know that?"
The moment Horikita asked, she realized it was a dumb question. He was the student council vice president—of course, he would know things like this.
"Then do you know why they fought in the first place?"
Horikita changed the question.
"Well…" Kanda Shuichi smirked. "You know how Ryuen was trying to find out who planted a listening device in his class, right?"
"You're saying Ayanokouji was the one who planted it?"
"Exactly," Kanda Shuichi nodded. "Once Ryuen found out, he tricked Ayanokouji into going to the rooftop with a fake love letter and planned to take him down. He even disabled the security cameras to cover it up. But he never expected Ayanokouji to be that strong, and in the end, Ryuen and his guys got beaten instead."
After hearing Kanda Shuichi's explanation, Horikita didn't know what to say.
"If Ryuen already knew Ayanokouji planted the device, why did he still go after Takahashi yesterday?"
"Maybe to scare Ayanokouji."
"That's so childish."
Horikita sighed and then suddenly realized something. She turned to Kanda Shuichi with a suspicious look.
"How do you know all this in such detail?"
"Because… I was the one who told Ryuen that Ayanokouji planted the listening device in Class C."
Kanda Shuichi's words left Horikita stunned.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because Ryuen kept being annoying about it. When you think about it, this whole thing happened because Ayanokouji wasn't careful. So, there was no reason for anyone else to take the fall for him."
"Well… that's not exactly wrong," Horikita sighed, unable to argue against it.
Before long, the warning bell rang. As usual, Chabashira-sensei entered the classroom right as it went off, but today, she seemed to be in a particularly good mood.
"I have something to announce today. Though, I'm sure most of you have already heard—Ayanokouji got into a fight with Ryuen and his group from Class C."
"So it's true after all!"
"The student council sent out the notice. It was pretty reliable, wasn't it?"
"No, I just couldn't believe it."
The class immediately erupted into chatter again, with students sneaking glances at Ayanokouji as if seeing him in a new light.
"The student council has decided to hold a review meeting after school today. Ayanokouji, don't forget to attend."
"Alright, I got it."
Ayanokouji's response was calm, showing no sign of concern.
"Um, Chabashira-sensei, will our class lose points because of this?"
"That's not clear yet. If Class C decides to file a complaint, then it's possible. After all, Ryuen's injuries are pretty obvious."
Hearing that, Yamauchi Haruki couldn't hide his excitement.
He was the one who asked the question in the first place, hoping to stir up resentment against Ayanokouji. If that happened, it would increase the chances of Ayanokouji being expelled in the event of a forced withdrawal exam.
After school, Kanda Shuichi grabbed his bag and headed to the special classroom.
The review meeting was being held in the same location as last time—one of the classrooms under the student council's control.
"Wait, I'm coming too."
As soon as he stood up, Horikita called out to him, clearly still uneasy about the situation.
"Alright, let's go." Kanda Shuichi didn't refuse. "Are you coming too, Ayanokouji?"
"Hope I'm not intruding."
With that, Ayanokouji followed along.
"Horikita, you really don't need to worry. Ryuen and his group couldn't win even with four against one. If he still had any pride, he wouldn't file a complaint against Ayanokouji."
"Even so, I want to see this through to the end."
Since Horikita was firm on her decision, Kanda Shuichi didn't argue.
When they arrived at the special classroom on the fourth floor, they found Ichinose already waiting outside the door.
"You're here early, Honami."
"Yeah, I was really surprised by all this, so I came as soon as I could."
Ichinose nodded, then curiously glanced at Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. She knew of him but wasn't particularly familiar with him.
"Ayanokouji-kun, you're amazing. I never would've thought you could take down Yamada. Are you sure there's no mistake here?"
Ayanokouji remained silent.
Yeah… Just like how the guy next to you doesn't look like someone who could take Ibuki down in one move.
"Has Class C not arrived yet?"
Kanda Shuichi turned to Ichinose, deliberately trying to keep her and Ayanokouji from interacting too much.
"Not yet, but they should be here soon."
Just as she finished speaking, a group of people appeared around the corner.
Leading them wasn't Ryuen but Shiina Hiyori, whom they hadn't seen in a while. Behind her were Ibuki, Ishizaki, and Albert.
"Long time no see, Shiina. Ryuen's not coming?"
"Yeah, Ryuen said he wasn't feeling well, so he took the afternoon off."
Not feeling well? Kanda Shuichi had seen him at lunch, and all the swelling on his face was gone—he didn't even look like a beaten-up mess anymore.
He probably just felt too embarrassed to show up.
Kanda Shuichi smiled slightly but didn't call it out.
"Now that almost everyone is here, let's head inside. I'll be presiding over today's hearing. Honami, you'll be taking notes."
"Understood, Vice President Kanda."
Ayanokouji glanced at Kanda Shuichi but remained silent. The mastermind was now sitting in the judge's seat—how was this even fair?
After entering the room, Kanda Shuichi took the main seat, while Ichinose stood behind him.
The members of Class C and Class D also took their seats, followed by Chabashira-sensei and Sakagami-sensei from Class C, who entered shortly after.
"Now that everyone's here, let's begin."
After Ichinose officially started the session, Kanda Shuichi turned his gaze toward Class D.
"We'll now begin the hearing regarding the violent incident that took place yesterday on the first-year building's rooftop. I'll be asking questions to clarify exactly what happened. Let's start with Class D."
"Ayanokouji, why were you on the rooftop at that time?"
"I received a love... letter, asking me to go to the first-year building's rooftop at 5 PM."
Ayanokouji calmly answered and took out the letter he had found in his shoe locker that morning.
Ichinose took the letter from Ayanokouji and handed it to Kanda Shuichi.
After reading it, Kanda Shuichi nearly burst out laughing. This was supposed to be a love letter?
It looked way more like a challenge letter!
"This letter... honestly, it kind of reads like a challenge. Any comments from Class C?"
"It's not a challenge letter. To be precise, it's a love letter. Our classmate Ibuki put it in Ayanokouji's shoe locker."
Shiina, speaking on behalf of Class C, gave the response.
There was no point in denying it. A simple handwriting comparison would prove the letter was written by Ibuki.
Kanda Shuichi then turned his attention to Ibuki.
"Yeah, I wrote it." Ibuki admitted without hesitation.
"Alright, then could you explain why you wrote this letter?"
Kanda Shuichi's question made Ibuki open her mouth, but no words came out.
Too embarrassing!
Confessing to Ayanokouji like this was way too embarrassing—there was no way she could say it out loud!
So instead, she reached out and lightly nudged Shiina's waist. Shiina got the message and stepped in for her.
"A girl writing a love letter to a boy—there's only one possible reason for that," Shiina said with a gentle smile. "Of course, it was a confession."
A confession?
Shiina, do you even hear what you're saying? Ibuki confessing to Ayanokouji?
Ishizaki's face was already twitching as he struggled to hold back his laughter.
Aside from Class C, almost everyone in the room turned to look at Ibuki, then at Ayanokouji.
One question popped into their heads—since when were these two a thing?
"Alright then, Class C, could you explain what happened after Ayanokouji arrived on the rooftop?"
"When Ayanokouji got to the rooftop, Ibuki confessed her feelings to him, but he coldly turned her down.
Feeling embarrassed, Ibuki tried to attack Ayanokouji, but he knocked her out on the spot.
Then, when Ryuen saw Ibuki get taken down, he jumped in to get revenge, but as expected, he wasn't a match for Ayanokouji."
Hearing Shiina's version of events, Horikita Suzune could only think—what nonsense.
They had clearly lured Ayanokouji to the rooftop to gang up on him, yet somehow, in Shiina's retelling, it had all started because Ibuki got rejected?
But she couldn't argue against it. After all, the whole thing began because Ayanokouji had secretly planted a bug under C-Class's podium.
Spying on other classes was against school rules, and if it got exposed, there would definitely be consequences—not just for Ayanokouji but for D-Class as well.
And according to Kanda Shuichi, Chabashira-sensei had also been involved. If the truth came out, it would put D-Class in a bad position.
So all Horikita could do was sit silently and listen to Shiina make things up.
Meanwhile, Kanda Shuichi smiled, curious to see how far Shiina would take this ridiculous story.
"Then why was Ryuen on the rooftop?"
"Because he also likes Ibuki. But then he found out she was planning to confess to Ayanokouji."
"And what about the cameras?"
"Ibuki was too shy, so she covered them up."
Kanda Shuichi was about to lose it.
Shiina, you really are something. You've read too many books, haven't you?
And now Ryuen likes Ibuki?
Before saying that, maybe you should check Ibuki's face right now.
No wonder Ryuen didn't show up—he probably couldn't handle the embarrassment of being associated with this nonsense.
"Does D-Class have anything to say?"
"It's just like C-Class said. After I rejected Ibuki, she suddenly charged at me. I thought she was trying to hit me, so I defended myself. Then Ryuen and the others tried to fight me, so I fought back."
Ayanokouji, you actually admitted it?!
Well, not that it matters—both sides had things they didn't want exposed.
"Let me get this straight…" Kanda Shuichi raised a hand to stop them from talking. "So Ryuen had feelings for Ibuki, but Ibuki confessed to Ayanokouji instead. After getting rejected, she lashed out, only to get taken down. Ryuen then jumped in to fight Ayanokouji after seeing the girl he liked get beaten up, but he got beaten up too. That about right?"
"It's embarrassing, but yeah, that's how it went," Shiina Hiyori admitted with a smile.
What kind of messed-up love triangle is this?
Why not take it a step further and say Ryuen was actually in love with Ayanokouji, but Ayanokouji accepted Ibuki's confession, so Ryuen lost his mind and tried to kill him?
"Got all that, Honami?"
"Yes!"
"D-Class, do you have anything to add, Ayanokouji?"
"No, nothing."
Ayanokouji shook his head. For him, this was the best outcome.
"In that case, it's clear that C-Class started the fight and that they had the numbers advantage, meaning Ayanokouji acted in self-defense."
"In theory, yes. But I hope Vice President Kanda will consider Ryuen's emotional state—he wasn't thinking clearly after seeing the girl he liked get hit—before making a final decision."
Since C-Class had already admitted their wrongdoing, D-Class couldn't push any further.
Even though C-Class had set a trap to beat up Ayanokouji, in the end, he was the one who had beaten them up. And Ryuen's injuries weren't minor, either.
It would be best if this matter could settle down peacefully.
Class C and Class D both wanted to avoid further trouble since they each had dirt on the other. Meanwhile, the student council wanted a complete record of the incident.
Since Class C had provided a seemingly reasonable version of events, there was no need for any of the three sides to pursue the matter further.
"In that case, I'll announce the punishments for both sides. Of course, this is also the student council president's decision," Kanda Shuichi said, dragging Nagumo into the situation. "Since this incident didn't cause any major consequences, no class points will be deducted for the fight. However, since Class C blacked out the surveillance cameras, you'll be responsible for cleaning them. Make sure it's done quickly. As for medical expenses... if you choose to fight, you have to accept the consequences. Handle it yourselves."
"Also, every student involved in the fight must write a 10,000-word reflection paper. It must be completed by this Friday after school. Honami, you'll be in charge of collecting them."
"Understood!"