The Mask Slips

Unexpected Witness

The next morning, students hastily exchanged information with each other. Those from Kushida's group and those from Hirata's group had spent yesterday searching for a witness. Although Yamauchi and Ike hated ladies' men like Hirata, they were quite excited about all the girls who hung around them and tried to chat with them.

Kiyotaka and I were alone but this time it was different since some of the students would glance at me from time to time with sympathetic expressions.

It seems like the rumor of yesterday's skirmish had spread like wildfire. This was good since it would throw Ishizaki and his goons into the spotlight. His true nature was exposed in front of a crowd.

My friend, Kiyotaka, resting his face on his hand, was staring out of the window with a bored expression while Horikita was nonchalantly preparing for class. Sudou, the person of interest, hasn't arrived in class yet.

"Man, is it even possible to prove that those Class C guys were in the wrong?" Ike asked.

"As long as we can find a witness, it's not impossible. We just have to keep giving it our all, Ike-kun."

"Before we give it our all, to begin with, is there even a witness? I recall Sudou saying he thought someone might've been there. Couldn't that be a lie? I mean, he is violent, and he does provoke people."

"Were not going to make any progress if we keep doubting him. Am I wrong?"

"I guess, you're probably right about that, but... if Sudou is in the wrong, then our hard-earned points are all going to be stripped away, right? Our dreams of screwing around to our heart's content will be destroyed!"

"Then it would be a good idea for everyone to start saving up again," Hirata said. "It's only been three months since we started here."

Our hero didn't waver as he delivered his amazing speech. The girls immediately blushed in response. Karuizawa wore a particularly proud expression, perhaps because she was the one that was chosen to be his girlfriend.

"I do think our points are important. They're tied to our motivation, right? Because of that, I'll defend our class points to my last breath. Even if it's only 87 points." Karuizawa said this with distinct conviction.

"I understand how you feel. However, it can be dangerous to cling to our points and lose touch with reality. The most important thing is to treasure our friends as much as possible."

Ike, who considered Hirata to be a goody-two-shoes, eyed him with suspicion. "Even if Sudou is at fault?"

Being punished when you had done nothing wrong. That was very obvious. However, Hirata nodded in a heartbeat. It was as if he believed self-sacrifice was unimportant. It seemed like Ike was pressed by Hirata's noble intentions because he immediately looked downward.

"Hirata-kin, although what you said was reasonable, I still want my points. The students in Class A get nearly 100,000 points every month. I'm super envious of them. All the girls in their class buy tons of stylish clothes and accessories. Aren't we at the bottom of the barrel compared to them."

People looked bitter when Karuizawa pointed out the massive gap of points between our classes.

"Why couldn't I have been in Class A from the start? If I were in Class A, I would probably be loving every second of my student life."

Before I knew it, the meeting to save Sudou turned into a grievance session, with students pleading for a way out of the class. Horikita spontaneously laughed in response to Ike and Karuizawa's delusions. I couldn't blame her, there was no way those two would have started in Class A. Horikita immediately took out a library book and started to read. I glanced at the title which read Demons. Horikita has good taste in books.