39 Chapter 39

Please calm down, Komiya-kun. Right now, we're merely listening to what both parties have to say. Also, please show some restraint and don't interrupt."

"Puh, fine..."

"Both parties insist that the other called them over, so the accounts conflict. However, the stories share some commonality. There was a dispute between Light-kun, Komiya-kun, and Kondou-kun, correct?"

"I wouldn't call it a dispute. Light-kun's always picking fights with us."

I raised my eyebrow as he said that. I wasn't worried at all, but I did find it quite amusing to listen to whatever story they were trying to spin. Especially knowing that I would get to destroy it soon.

"'Picking fights'?"

"Light's always doing little things to mess with us. Stuff like shoulder-checking us as he walks past and saying derogatory things to us. He even kicked Kondou's chair out from under him as he was sitting down in the cafeteria once."

I forced myself to stifle a laugh. I suppose, to build a convincing argument, they would have to set up some background from before the incident took place. Otherwise, it would be hard to believe that I'd just call them out to assault them for no reason. They were trying to make me out to be a bully, huh?

I kept my composure and remained silent, and simply looked over at Komiya as he gave his account.

"Is that true, Light-kun?"

"No. Don't be ridiculous. I didn't even know them until they called me out to the special building." I replied calmly.

"Both sides have given directly conflicting stories, then, but now we have to come to a judgement with the collected evidence."

"Light-kun beat us senseless. It was a one-sided fight."

Class C seemed intent on focusing the discussion on their injuries. The three students did appear to have black-and-blue faces. That was undeniable. A surprisingly clever strategy. It probably wasn't theirs, though.

"If Class D has no further proof to offer, would you mind if we continued the proceedings?"

Ishihara-sensei started to look worried. Undoubtedly, from her perspective, it probably did look like I just senselessly beat down the Class C students. If the student council and the teachers continued to sit in complete silence, their judgement would almost certainly be merciless.

"It would seem there's no objection, given the arguments we've heard thus far." The student council president finally spoke. Horikita-senpai seemed as though he wanted to draw a conclusion as soon as possible.

"Regardless which party called the other over, the fact remains that it was a one-sided fight between Light and the other students. We can clearly see that from the injuries they sustained. We have no choice but to come up with a conclusion based on that."

"Say, student council president-kun, what would the penalty be if this incident, along with Class C's injuries, all turned out to be a fabrication?" Tachibana-senpai twitched at my nonformal addressing of Horikita-senpai.

"In that case, there would be harsh punishments given to Class C. On top of suspension and class point deductions, expulsion would not be off the table either."

As he uttered that, I saw the Class C students pale slightly out of the corner of my eye. Sakagami-sensei's expression also darkened somewhat. I wondered whether Horikita had noticed it or not.

"I see," I said, intending to pass the baton to Ryuzaki. "In that case..."

Ryuzaki, clearly picking up on my intentions, reached down and grabbed the bag I had placed next to our chairs. He hoisted it up and placed it down on the table beside him.

"To answer the earlier inquiry, yes, we do in fact have some proof to offer," he said as he reached into the backpack.

Class C looked at each other nervously. I couldn't help but crack a smile. This was going to be fun.

"How about I start with these?" Ryuzaki said, spilling a multitude of A3 sheets onto the table.

"Hmm?" Horikita hummed curiously as he looked at the pages.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sakagami-sensei asked in confusion.

"They're the various school buildings that my classmates and I have mapped out. The red dots each represent a surveillance camera." Ryuzaki explained. "Do you notice anything odd about this one in particular?"

Ryuzaki picked out the map of the special annex and held it up, displaying it to the student council and teachers. Ishihara-sensei suddenly adopted a look of understanding. Has she deduced all of my plan just from this? If so, she's a very sharp woman, sharper than she appeared.

"That building pretty much has no cameras whatsoever. What is your point?" Sakagami-sensei spoke up for his class sternly.

"The fight took place in this building. In that case, there's only one conclusion to make, isn't there?"

"Are you saying that this fight was premeditated, and that the orchestrator specifically chose this building because of the lack of surveillance?" The student council president asked, clearly picking up on Ryuzaki's implication.

"That's right," he replied matter-of-factly.

Sakagami-sensei clearly didn't get it yet though, as he laughed in response.

"This is ridiculous. If anything, aren't you just admitting to your own guilt? You're clearly the only ones who've planned far enough to locate all the cameras on school grounds."

"Don't be silly. Why would I present evidence that works against me? Think about it like this. If you're going to frame someone for assaulting you in a place without cameras, you need some other evidence to incriminate them. Following that logic, the organizer of this incident could only be from Class C, couldn't they? Your excessive visible injuries perfectly fit the criteria."

"Isn't all of this nonsense just you attempting to pardon your friend's actions? Everything you've said so far could've easily been thought-up in hindsight."

Ryuzaki's eyes, the twin orbs of deep black, gazed right into Sakagami-sensei. I guessed that his thoughts were probably similar to mine. This teacher would go as far as to lie on his students' behalf, even if it meant supporting immoral schemes like these. In other words, he is an accessory to evil.

"That's true." Ryuzaki said flatly, invoking some surprise around the room. "However, the main point of me saying all this wasn't to convince you. In fact, I just want you to see my thought process."

A silence befell the room as everybody pondered what he'd said. The Class C students in particular looked lost as they attempted to comprehend his words.

"Class D," the student council president spoke up, seemingly understanding the situation. "Your claims are clearly leading up to something. Can you stop wasting time and get on with it?"

"Of course," Ryuzaki replied politely. "Recently, Class C students have been harassing students from every other class, not just ours. Once my class heard of this, we came to a hypothesis. Ryūen Kakeru, the leader of Class C, is deliberately trying to start a fight and frame his target as the perpetrator."

"That's all a lie! You're just trying to—"

"Let me finish." Ryuzaki commanded, cutting Komiya off. "After finding this out, we mapped out all places on the school grounds. It's obvious that a plan like the one Ryūen had come up with would only work if there were no witnesses or camera footage, so once we'd mapped out everywhere we sat down and pinpointed the most likely place Ryūen would've chosen to execute his scheme."

Ryuzaki spread out the A3 papers in a neat fashion, arranging them all side-by-side so they can easily be viewed by the teachers and student council. We're almost at the good part!

"In particular, this building stuck out as an especially obvious choice." Ryuzaki put his finger on the page mapping the special annex. "Coincidently, Lelouch, who we'd assigned this building's mapping to, noted that it was especially hot and stuffy in the special annex. In other words, it'd be harder to think rationally and keep a lid on your temper there should an altercation take place."

I noticed that the Class C students looked uncomfortable as Ryuzaki dug up all of their plans. Although Horikita-senpai had told us to 'get on with it,' he didn't stop Ryuzaki from carefully explaining every detail. He was probably evaluating him right now.

"So, we deduced that Ryūen would lure his target out to the special annex, the perfect building to frame someone in. Of course, the easiest move would've been to just avoid the special building and all Class C students. However, if we'd left it alone then another class would've surely fallen victim to this plot instead. Some of us found that unacceptable."

I felt like Ryuzaki was specifically referring to me with that last part. I didn't mind, though. Justice must be served to those who commit foul acts. Even children know that much.

"The other option, then, was to expose the scheme instead." Ryuzaki finally got to the good part, and reached into the backpack once more. "I bought this specifically for the occasion."

In his hand was the device he'd spent 20,000 of his points on. A high-quality camera. The Class C students gulped as he pulled it out, apparently deducing what was on this camera. I finally decided to make my move.

"Class C," I said, drawing everyone's attention to myself. "I'm going to give you a choice."

Sakagami-sensei eyed me suspiciously, while the student council president raised his eyebrow. I ignored them, though, as I was far more focused on the amazing situation in front of me. I felt a smile emerge on my visage.

"Knowing that you'd lure me out to the special annex, Ryuzaki set this camera up there recording video in advance. In other words, we have video proof that all of my actions were in self-defence, and that your injuries are fabricated."

My grin grew even more as I watched the Class C students pale.

"You get to decide whether you think I'm bluffing or not! If you willingly withdraw your complaint now, we won't pursue you, but you'll also never know if I was bluffing! You might just be throwing in the towel even though I really do have no defence! Alternatively, if you don't withdraw, and it turns out I do actually have proof, then I won't allow you to escape. Even if you withdraw after I present the video, I'll just put in a complaint of my own about how you attempted to frame me using fictitious injuries!"

"You... You're just playing a game here, aren't you?" Sakagami-sensei stammered eventually.

"Yes! That's right! Remember, you three might even end up getting expelled if you make the wrong choice here! Will you risk it all for the sake of your little scheme? Or are you going to back out under the pressure? Decide, now!"

If I were a character in an anime, my eyes would definitely be glowing a deep red right now