Chapter 16 - Opening Attack

"I'm telling you! It wasn't like that!" Sudou roared. "There were three of them. They attacked me first! I just defended myself."

"But still, did you really have to beat them that badly?" Shinohara questioned.

"Yeah... They wouldn't be able to complain then." Karuizawa lectured.

"I couldn't hold myself back. They kept making fun of me and our class," cried Sudou. "Ah, I really messed up!"

"What's going on?"

While listening to all the commotion, Ayanokouji and I entered the classroom. Noticing us, Kikyou ran to us.

"Levent-kun... It seems something bad might have happened." Kikyou answered with concern in her voice.

I looked at Ayanokouji who gave me a blink of agreement.

Seems like the game had already began.

-

"I have an announcement for you all. There was a bit of trouble the other day, an incident between the student sitting there, Sudou, and some students from Class C. In short, there was a fight."

The classroom erupted. Depending on the degree of responsibility that Class C had placed upon him, Sudou could face suspension or even expulsion if things took an extreme turn. If that happened, then we might see a reduction in our class points.

"Umm. So why hasn't this issue been resolved already?" Hirata asked a rather reasonable question.

"The complaint came from Class C. They claim that the fight was one-sided. However, when we spoke to the accused, Sudou said that their claims were false. He insists that the students Class C called him over and started the fight."

"It wasn't my fault! It was self-defense! Self-defense, I tell you!" shouted Sudou as he shouldered his classmates' icy glares.

"But there's no evidence of that. Am I wrong?"

"What evidence? I don't have any."

"So in other words, we don't yet know the truth. Therefore, we have put our decision on hold for now. Our response, and the punishment, will come when we find out who was at fault."

"All I know is that I'm innocent. If anything, I ought to receive a settlement for my trouble."

"So speaks the accused, but I wouldn't say that you have a high level of credibility right now. If there is an eyewitness, as Sudou seems to believe, then the situation may change."

Kikyou stood up from her seat. "Everyone! Did any of you have witnessed the fight between Sudou-kun?" she announced.

....

Silence fell upon the gloomy classroom. Amidst of all the chaos, I looked at the actual witness who was down casting in silence. Sakura was a girl with low self-esteem and social anxiety. Suddenly forcing her out wouldn't do any good for her. Instead, it might have the opposite effect on her psychology. That's why I needed to think about this throughly.

"Too bad, Sudou. It appears there are no witnesses in this class."

"Looks that way," he grumbled.

When Chabashira cast a doubtful look at Sudou, he glanced downward.

"Anyway, that is all. We'll make our final judgment next Tuesday, taking into account any eyewitnesses and evidence. With that, let's end homeroom for the day."

Chabashira left, and Sudou followed right after her. He probably realized that if he stayed in the classroom, he'd lose his temper with someone.

As uproar enveloped the classroom, and things started to get out of hand. If we ended up losing points because of this, Sudou would most likely become the sole target of our class's frustrations.

"Levent-kun... What do you think of this?"

It was Horikita who asked that question.

"An attack, probably. And Class C was the first one to strike."

"I know that. But the question is, is it worth helping Sudou-kun?"

Horikita didn't realize how naive her question was. But I didn't want to answer that.

"I wonder."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Horikita, you may not see this now, but think of this from a long term perspective. Our current Sudou may not academicly stable, but he has potential for growth. His athletic abilities will without a doubt help us in the future. If you ignore that fact, then not only are we losing a valuable asset like Sudou, we're also losing three-hundred class points from his expulsion, which will completely deplete our class points. In short, if we lose this now, we're going down to square one times negative."

"In that case, how are you supposed to help Sudou-kun?"

"You've already noticed Sakura, didn't you?" I questioned.

"Yes. When Kushida-san stood up, everyone's attention was centered towards her... Everyone except for Sakura-san. Instead of looking at Kushida-san, she looked down. As if she felt guilty."

"You're correct. Sakura may or may not be related to Sudou's case. However..."

"Yes?"

"However, for now I want you to ignore Sakura. Focus on becoming the class leader. You must go in front of the podium and tell everyone to look for clues and other witnesses." I commanded.

"Huh? There's no way I'm going there. Besides, how could you be so confident that our classmates would agree upon this?"

"They don't have a choice. Explain the severity of our current situation. I'm sure they'd be more than convinced to help you with this case. Besides, we have Hirata who would do just about anything for his classmates. Not only that, his girlfriend Karuizawa Kei is the leader of the girls of our class. Which is why I think you shouldn't have any problem with this."

"I'm still not convinced. I mean why do I have to be the leader?"

"Then how about this? Let's forget about Class A. Let's make sure to enjoy our next three years playfully in Class D together, huh?"

"You... idiot! Fine! I'll go." Horikita rushed to the front, visibly irritated by my words. How cute!

Sometimes I just can't resist the urge to tease her.

Horikita reluctantly stood behind the podium and began her speech. I was impressed by how well she was able to articulate her thoughts. She announced exactly what I told her, but in a much better and more understandable way.

Horikita did her job, now it was my turn. I looked over at Kikyou who was seemingly staring at me. After noticing my gaze, she made excuse and came over to my seat.

"What do you want?" she rasped in a low tone.

"Meet me outside during lunch." I whispered.

"Why?"

"Let's go on a date. You and me a–"

"Huh? As if... Have you completely lost it, Levent?"

"I most likely did in the past. But jokes aside, I want you to help me convince someone."

"Someone? Who is that supposed to be? Wait! Does that mean–?"

I nodded in affirmative. It means exactly what it means.

__________________________________________________________________

It was lunchtime. Most of the students had already gone to the cafeteria to buy food. Some of them brought bento over to eat in the class. Of course, looking at someone else's bento made me drool over excessively. But that was not the time.

That's right, Levent! Don't you dare day dream about a cute kind girl offering to make a bento for you everyday!

"–vent-kun? Levent-kun? Oii, earth to Levent-kun!" Kikyou snapped me back to reality.

"Ah, sorry. I spaced out again."

"It's okay. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing remarkable. More importantly, where's Sakura?"

"That's why I called you. She looks like she's about to head outside."

"Alright then, after her!"

When we walked to her, Sakura seemed to be holding the camera. The evidence was stored in that device. Of course, we needed to persuade her into testifying. And unfortunately in order to do that, I...

"Sakura-san, wait! Can we talk for a moment?" Kikyou approached. "I have something to ask you. It's related to Sudou-kun. Do you mind?"

"S-sorry. I... I have something to do." Sakura tried to avoid her.

Seeing this, Kikyou grabbed her hand.

"Please, it won't take long! It's important!"

"Sorry I don't know anything! I don't know anything at all." Sakura tried to free her arm.

By doing so, she lost her balance and was about to fall down headfirst. Luckily, I was there to grab her by her blazer so she didn't. However, her hand lost the grip on the camera. She dropped it on the ground.

"Ah! I'm so sorry about that Sakura-san!"

I picked up the camera. When I tried to give it to her, she swiftly snatched it from me. Which was understandable, given what she does with her camera. But seemingly her camera didn't turn on. The fall must've damaged the camera. Just like how everything is supposed to be.

With a panicked face, Sakura ran away from us.

"Wait!" Kikyou tried running after her, but in vain. Everything went almost exactly the same as the light novel. But that's what I intended from the beginning.

__________________________________________________________________

On the weekend, Kikyou, Sakura and I were headed to the Keyaki mall. We walked inside and headed towards the electronics section. Unfortunately, there was only one store available that provided camera servicing. THAT store.

"Oh, boy. This is bad. I see. It's a power supply issue, huh? Power supply issue. That's bad... That's really bad..." the employee remarked. "Do you have your shoujo-wa(virginity)? I mean your shousho, shousho (warranty)..."

Listening to his highly suspicious choice of words, Sakura couldn't help but be afraid.

[Note: This part was taken from the anime. The employee said the word "Shoujo" which refers to "virginity". But then corrected himself by immediately saying "Shousho", which means "warranty". At least I think that's what happened. In that case that would explains why Sakura became scared and Ayanokouji became more suspicious].

"Did you bring the warranty with you?" Kikyou asked.

"Y-yes." Sakura reluctantly pulled the warranty card from her handbag. The employee carefully checked the warranty card.

"Ah, it's within the warranty card. You could get your broken part... replaced... free of charge." his eyes became narrow, burning with luscious intentions.

"You need to fill out this warranty form. We need your name, your address and... your phone number."

Sakura was visibly shaken from his look. She reluctantly held the pen on top of the form. But she didn't write anything. While holding the pen, her hand were shaking. She couldn't bring herself to write down her demise. I'm sure if she did, her life would be more than destroyed.

I guess I'm the protagonist now, huh

"May I?'

I took the pen from her hand and started writing down my credentials.

"When the repairing is done please contact me instead." I announced.

"W-wait, young man. The camera belongs to her, doesn't it? I'm not sure we could–"

"The manufacturer's warranty confirms the location and the date of purchase of the product. You just confirmed that warranty seconds ago. It doesn't matter who wrote their name on the warranty. There shouldn't be any legal issues with this."

"B-but are you sure?"

"Try it and you will see despair." is what I wanted to tell him.

But the employee became shocked for some reason. He looked at the form in order to avoid our gaze.

"W-well, I.. I guess we'll do that." he stammered.

After leaving the camera in his care, we left the mall to a nearby café. I ordered a lemonade, while both of them ordered Americano. well, Kikyou kind of ordered both for herself and Sakura. Sakura being the reserved girl she was, didn't bother protesting.

"Um, thank you for helping me today." Sakura bowed.

"It's fine. It was my fault to begin with. Also Sakura-san, could you talk to us normally, if you can? We're from the same grade, aren't we?"

"Understo–. I understand. I'll t-try."

Watching her try her best to hold conversation with others reminded me of myself in the past. But more than that, I was sitting on a café with two beautiful young ladies on my side. That naturally attracted many attention towards me. I felt several glares on my back.

Will I be assassinated today? Do I need to be on my toes every second?

Suddenly, Kikyou spilled some coffee on her hands. She went to the washroom shortly after, leaving me and Sakura alone.

That moment, huh?

...

...

...

Awkward.

I know the events are oddly similar to what had happened in the original plot. But the emotions of each characters aren't something I could control. If Sakura doesn't trust me, then there's nothing more I could do here. I guess plan B–

"Umm.."

Hmm?

"What is it, Sakura-san? Do you have something you want to say?"

"What do you think I should do?"

Huh? So she does trust me after all... Brilliant! That saves me all the effort.

"Is it regarding Sudou?  think Sakura-san should listen to whatever your heart says."

"My heart, huh?"

She went silent again for a brief moment.

"If I keep quiet, I think I will regret everything." she replied in melancholic tone.

Sakura was trusting me enough to tell me about her involvement in this case. But I needed to be sure.

"Why are you telling me this, Sakura-san?"

"Because you don't have scary eyes like the others."

Same dialogue begets same answers. Well it was to be expected. More importantly, for now, I was in Ayanokouji's position. But I'm not Ayanokouji.

"I see... Thank you for your kind words Sakura-san." I replied.

It was then when I saw Sakura smiling for the first time.

I don't know what happened, but for some reason, that smile made me feel light from the inside.

"Now, you said you would regret if you stay quiet, didn't you? Then, I think you already know your answer." I smiled at Sakura.

"But you shouldn't do it just because you have to. 'For Sudou-kun', 'For Kikyou-chan', 'For my classmates', no. You don't have to burden yourself with such pointless thoughts. Forget about everyone. Throw these thoughts outside the window."

"Throw them away?"

"Instead, I want you to do it for Sakura-san. You shouldn't testify for the sake of others. Testify for your own sake."

"For... my sake?"

"That should be more than enough, no?" I grinned at her.

"I see. Thank you, Levent-kun. You're very kind."

....

....

I'm sorry, Sakura. I don't deserve that compliment.

I intended to leave everything as it should be. In other words, Sakura, I would make you go through a traumatic event. I have multiple ways to divert that fate, multiple ways to ensure your safety.

But I would not do that.

In order to progress, I need to make sure you feel indebted to me. And there's no better way to do that other than becoming you "Prince riding the horse". Your personal development depends on this event. That's why, Sakura, brace yourself for what's about to come.

I'm sorry, but I'm the worst, most cruel person standing inside the school.

....

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