Act 17: Scene 1

The following day started off rather strange for the students of Class D, mainly because of their teacher.

No, it was nothing too out of the ordinary. It's just that the entirety of Class D were surprised with what they were hearing from Chabashira-sensei this early in the morning, during their homeroom no less.

"I have nothing to discuss with you for today's homeroom. You're free to spend the rest of the period doing whatever you want."

Almost everyone looked at her in surprise, to the point that they almost thought they were hearing things.

But after a few moments of letting her words register in their minds, reality began to sit in and their mortified expressions quickly morphed into looks of delight. It's like they were children who had been gifted with their favorite candy.

"Really, sensei? We can do whatever we want?!"

"Starting the day with a free period? Man, this is the life!"

"This is exactly what I needed after staying up late watching my favorite show! I'm just going to sleep until our next teacher shows up!"

"This is, like, the first time we'll be having a free period! I'm not gonna waste this chance at all!"

"However..."

With just one word, Sae ended their moment of happiness in a matter of seconds.

"That doesn't mean you won't be monitored. It is still homeroom and as such, I expect you to behave as if I'm here, teaching all of you. If you don't behave, well, I'm sure you already know what happens if you do that."

In typical Sae fashion, the woman left an intimidating message for her students and none of them could even say anything afterwards.

And of course, all of them indeed knew what would happen if they didn't behave. It's a mistake that they have to avoid as much as they can, if they still want to keep the points that they've earned in the past month.

None of them wanted to go back to having 97 points.

"In the meantime, why don't you take this time to do something meaningful with the time given to you? Like searching for more evidence of your classmate's innocence," she told them, taking a glance at Akito who wasn't fazed by that remark. "You only have less than a week to help him, you know? Make the most of it. You do know that the reason why you still haven't received your points for this month is because of this incident, correct?"

Many of the students groaned at that. Some boys in particular were more displeased with this because they weren't really dedicated to helping their own classmate and simply wanted this issue to be over with.

But now that their own points were at stake, they had no choice but to take this a lot more seriously than before.

Haruka grimaced, not because of their due points but because of the reminder that they only had four days left before the trial. And within the three days that they have spent searching, they made no significant progress in their investigation.

Kokoro and Nene were hit with a wave of nervousness, before they took a glance at Akito. Both girls were scared of what might happen to him if they fail to prove the young man's innocence in time and they had a feeling that whatever it is, it won't be pretty.

That fateful day was looming closer and closer...

"Chabashira-sensei."

Everyone's eyes went towards the black-haired girl who sat at the back right beside Ayanokouji, as she raised her hand into the air.

"What is it, Horikita?"

Suzune brought her hand back down. "In case that we aren't able to find evidence and Miyake-kun does get expelled, what will happen to us? We lose one classmate and that's it?"

That was a question that piqued everyone's interest. For most of them, they were genuinely curious about what would happen if Miyake wasn't with them anymore. There were also some who were already scared of the answer, because they could suffer the same fate.

Meanwhile, there were a few boys who were eager to hear Chabashira's answer because it involves the scenario of a guy being expelled.

If there were less of them, that means they have more chances to win over the girls! Plus, Miyake was a fairly popular guy among them so with him gone, their female classmates would pay more attention to them, right?

"What is Horikita-san doing...?"

On the other hand, Haruka was about to speak up and ask her classmate why she would ask a question like that as if she was giving up, but the girl immediately noticed Akito raising his hand to stop her. It's as if he knew Haruka was going to react to this and quickly moved to calm her down.

Like his classmates, he was curious about what would happen to Class D if he does get expelled even though it wouldn't concern him anymore in that scenario.

Chabashira folded her arms. "Then you won't like the consequences. I can't disclose what will happen, but I would advise you to keep an eye on your points. This class currently has 212 points, right?"

Most of the students nodded.

"Well, if it happens that Miyake is expelled as a result of the trial, then you can expect that you won't like what will happen to the points you receive after that."

Almost immediately, the students of Class D became worried. What did their teacher mean by that? Is she saying that their points will be decreased once this is over? Even though they haven't gotten any amount from the school yet? Could it be that they'll lose all their points if their situation doesn't get any better?

Yosuke raised his hand, a concerned expression showing on his face. "Sensei, is expulsion really the only punishment that can be given to whoever's guilty? No matter how we look at it, expulsion is such a heavy punishment and it's hardly fair for the one being punished."

"Well, the lightest punishment that he can possibly get is a two-week suspension," the woman explained. "However, because the school is very strict regarding matters like bullying and violence towards other students, it's more likely that an immediate expulsion would be the final judgment."

Akito sighed and shook his head. He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about the possible outcome of this whole situation, but he still felt confident that the truth will come out and it's the fact that he was innocent.

Plus, he had the support of Haruka and his classmates, even if it didn't involve everyone in the room.

"I'm curious, Chabashira-sensei. You seem like you're already convinced that Miyake-kun was the one who instigated the fight when the trial hasn't happened yet. Does this mean that the Class C students who pressed charges against him have found evidence that Miyake-kun started it?" asked Horikita.

Upon hearing that question from Suzune, everyone turned towards Chabashira-sensei once again. Especially those who are helping Akito in finding evidence to prove his innocence.

Did those Class C students actually find evidence? If they did, then how can it be possible? Akito wasn't the one who started the whole conflict! There's no way that there can be evidence against their classmate when he was the victim!

"I haven't heard anything from their teacher but from how your class doesn't appear to have any sort of lead so far that can prove Miyake is innocent either, I wouldn't hold my breath if he's the perpetrator of the whole incident."

Haruka, Kokoro, and Nene all let out collective sighs of relief. Despite their teacher's harsh words, Akito wasn't pronounced guilty yet and his enemies didn't have any evidence they could use against him.

They were still safe, at least for now. But this did mean that they needed to hurry, otherwise their efforts to save their classmate so far would be for naught. Three days have passed, and they still weren't any closer to finding any leads.

With that, Sae then picked up her clipboard and faced her students once more for a final statement.

"Once again, I expect you all to behave while I am not here. I'll see you all during our class later on."

As soon as Chabashira-sensei left the classroom, Horikita immediately stood up from her seat and marched over towards a certain someone, who raised an eyebrow at the very serious look on the former's face.

"H-Horikita-san...?"

"We can't afford to waste time, Kushida-san. We have to go now."

That was all that Suzune needed to say before grabbing Kikyo's wrist, and then began to walk out of the classroom with the other girl in tow.

"A-Ah, hang on a second! Shouldn't we tell Ayanokouji-kun what you're planning first?" The beige-haired girl asked, having a bit of trouble catching up with her 'friend' to the point that she almost tripped.

"He already knows and you know that, now let's be off."

Ignoring the further pleas coming out of Kushida's mouth, Horikita led the two of them out of the classroom, completely unaware of their classmates watching them leave together with curious looks on their faces.

"Is it just me... or are those two friends?" asked Hondo, raising an eyebrow at the strange scene that just transpired before their eyes.

"I mean, didn't Kushida-san say that she was with Horikita-san yesterday when we were all searching for that witness?" replied Sotomura.

"Did she? I wasn't really listening yesterday. Doesn't she hate Kushida-chan or something?"

"Wait, where did you get the notion that she hates Kushida-chan? I don't think she does," Miyamoto added.

Maezono nodded. "I agree, I don't think Horikita-san hates her. I've been seeing them talking to each other a lot these past few weeks."

"Yeah, I wonder why you're all surprised by this. They worked together while searching for the witness in Miyake-kun's case." Minami added.

Hondo grinned, thoroughly pleased with this turn of events. "Maybe Kushida-chan finally got through to Horikita, then! What an angel..."

Yamauchi was immediately overcome with surprise. "Wait, seriously? Has the Ice Queen finally warmed up to us?"

"Dude, have you been living under a rock? She literally had her own study group for the midterms and I think none of them complained about her, which means that she's a good teacher and she's warmed up to us!" Miyamoto butted in.

"What?! Sudo, is that true?!"

Several pairs of eyes then turned towards Sudo, who was caught off guard at the sudden attention.

"Eh? Uh, she was fine, I guess... I thought Horikita would be unbearable because of her attitude, but things turned out fine..." he muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he thought back to those study sessions he participated in as a part of Suzune's group.

Kayano frowned at him slightly. "That's a bit rude, Sudo-kun."

"What? You can't really say I'm wrong, you know?"

"Sweet! That means she's now available to be taken! I always thought Horikita-chan was cute, hehe. I wonder what it's like to be her boyfriend," Yamauchi grinned as his imagination began to run wild.

Shinohara threw him a look of disgust. "You're a disgusting pig. I hope you die already!"

Yamauchi instinctively moved away, even though his seat was nowhere near the girl. "W-What the hell's your problem?! Ike, help me out here, man!"

He turned to his friend who was sitting behind him but much to his horror, Ike just turned his head away as if he wasn't seeing anything.

Truth be told, he would like nothing more than to help his friend deal with the ugly witch but after Satsuki treated him to an afternoon snack a week ago, he didn't really want to be on bad terms with the girl again. It's the least he could do in return for that sweet gesture, even if they aren't really 'friends', per se.

"I'm just gonna stay out of this one..."

"Wha—?! You traitor!" Yamauchi cried as he felt betrayed, while Shinohara smirked in satisfaction.

While everyone else was pretty loud with their reactions to Horikita and Kushida leaving, Kiyotaka silently watched the whole scene unfold from where he was with a look of interest.

"I definitely didn't expect Horikita to just pull Kushida with her and then leave without saying anything else," he thought to himself. "But I guess Chabashira-sensei's words were just that impactful towards her. I'm still surprised that she has shown dedication in helping Miyake, though. Ever since she found out about what happened to him, she has lent her support in finding evidence for his case. I wonder if the old Horikita would do the same..."

Kiyotaka thought about it for a brief moment, before shaking his head almost immediately.

"Nah, she probably wouldn't. If there's anything I've learned from that girl during our early days here, it's that she didn't care about anyone except for me. And that only changed when she accepted Kushida as a friend. But then again, she might. After all, she believes that the only way for her to reach Class A is to work with her classmates."

"Senpai," a familiar voice cut into his thoughts, bringing the young man back into reality.

Kiyotaka only sighed as he turned his head to face the girl who was also his roommate (which nobody else knows, thankfully). Earlier, she was only sitting by the door where she was normally found but for some reason, she was now here and looked like she's planning to tell him something.

"What is it now, Amasawa?" he asked, already having a feeling that he wouldn't like whatever it is that comes out of her mouth.

"Do you mind if I go after them? I'm interested in how Horikita-senpai's plan would go~" she asked in a cute tone while leaning forward with her hands behind her back.

He gave her a blank stare.