SWNOVELXO Chapter 130
Chapter 130: The Deliberation Begins.
In the student council meeting room, after Hikigaya entered, Tachibana quietly approached him and whispered, “Are you okay? You look like something’s wrong.”
Hikigaya shook his head. “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Tachibana-senpai.”
Hikigaya adjusted his mood and sat beside Tachibana with a neutral expression. He was there as a temporary secretary responsible for taking the meeting minutes, so in this deliberation, he was just a bystander with no right to speak.
Tachibana, as the presiding officer, began with a brief introduction of the dispute and its background. During this time, Hikigaya noticed Horikita’s state. She appeared distracted and absent-minded.
Usually, Horikita could handle any situation with confidence, but at this moment, she had her head lowered, occasionally glancing at Hikigaya and then at Horikita Manabu, who was seated at the front of the meeting table.
Seeing Horikita like this, Hikigaya couldn’t help but recall the moment they had encountered on the small path near the dormitory that one night. When facing her brother, Horikita Manabu, Horikita had acted in the same hesitant and distracted way, as she did now.
Although Hikigaya wanted to remind her, as the minute-taker, there was little he could do.
After Tachibana finished explaining the general situation, she turned toward Class D and began asking questions. Since Horikita seemed distracted, Sudo took the opportunity to speak up, claiming he had been slandered by the students of Class C and insisting that he had acted in self-defense.
On the other hand, Ishizaki from Class C also spoke, saying that although they had arranged to meet Sudo, they had not expected him to use violence when they disagreed. Their injuries were the best proof of that.
Both sides were accusing each other of being the first to strike, but it was clear that the purpose of the deliberation was not to argue over who struck first, as they had already heard this testimony in the previous meeting.
At this point, Horikita Manabu, who had been silent, interrupted the argument. “There’s no need to argue further. From the injuries of Class C students and Sudo’s past behavior, we have reason to believe that you attacked Class C students unilaterally. The previous judgment was based on this fact.”
“Wait, that’s unreasonable! I told you, it was self-defense!!”
Sudo’s emotions seemed to flare up again, but the next moment, he was subdued by Horikita Manabu’s cold words. “If it’s the same testimony as last time, then I believe this deliberation should end here. There’s no need to waste more time.”
At this moment, Tachibana turned toward Class D and asked, “Has Class D found any new testimonies or evidence? If there is no new testimony, the deliberation will proceed based on the previous judgment.”
“Wait, wait! We have new evidence that proves the students from Class C are lying!”
Suddenly, Horikita, who had been ‘offline,’ seemed to come back to life. Hikigaya could clearly see that it was likely Ayanokouji, sitting next to Horikita, who had reminded her.
Horikita then asked several pointed questions to the students of Class C, but they responded evasively, clearly prepared. Seeing this, Horikita took out a medical report.
“Everyone, please look at this. This is the injury report issued by the school infirmary. According to the report, most of the injuries on the students of Class C were caused by secondary injuries, some of them even multiple times. The specific details are also listed, showing that the injuries occurred with a certain time gap between them. This suggests that the injuries were not caused in the same time frame. If we believe your statement that Sudo attacked you unilaterally, how do you explain this situation? Are you saying that after Sudo attacked you, he came back later to attack you again because he wasn’t satisfied?”
After presenting the injury report, Horikita began questioning Ishizaki and the others in a rapid series. The three of them exchanged glances but couldn’t respond, only repeating “Sudo attacked us first.”
In fact, many people in the room had already noticed the discrepancies. After Horikita Manabu checked the injury report, he passed it to both the Class D and Class C homeroom teachers. Tachibana generously handed it over to Sakagami-sensei from Class C. Sakagami-sensei, with a serious expression, looked at it, then turned to Ishizaki and the others, as if everything was already understood.
Sure enough, Sakagami-sensei suggested a settlement, stating that both sides had made mistakes. Therefore, both students would face suspension. Sakagami-sensei seemed to understand the “expulsion predicament” that Sudo was facing, so he recommended keeping the suspension for both sides within two weeks.
At this point, everything seemed to be heading in a positive direction. No matter how you looked at it, at least Sudo wouldn’t be expelled for missing the final exams due to suspension.
Just then, Hikigaya suddenly noticed someone’s gaze on him—it was Horikita. They exchanged a glance, and even though no words were exchanged, Hikigaya had an unexpected understanding of Horikita’s thoughts. It was as if they shared a silent understanding.
Sakura’s sudden appearance indeed surprised Horikita. While Sakura’s testimony as a witness, along with the injury report, had a strong chance of clearing Sudo, Horikita didn’t pursue that because she understood that Hikigaya wanted to protect Sakura.
However, Horikita hadn’t noticed Ayanokouji’s actions. Ayanokouji subtly tapped Sudo on the shoulder.
“No! The dispute was started by Class C from the very beginning! We also have a witness!”
Sudo suddenly shouted.
Horikita immediately turned around, her eyes wide as she stared at Sudo. Sudo thought Horikita was expressing approval, and he excitedly said to Horikita Manabu, “President, we found the witness from that day at the special education building…”
At this point, even though Horikita was unwilling, she had no choice but to proceed.
Sakura, trembling like a frightened hamster, stood up, glancing at Hikigaya in the distance. Upon seeing him, the girl seemed to gain some strength, and although her words were hesitant, she still bravely described what she had witnessed that day—the scene of Sudo fighting with the Class C students.
“So, this Class D student is saying that we from Class C started it?”
After hearing Sakura’s testimony, Sakagami-sensei sneered, and his gaze, cold and oppressive, fixed on Sakura. The girl felt a chill run through her body and nearly collapsed on the spot.
At the same time, everyone noticed how Sakagami-sensei specifically emphasized that Sakura was a Class D student.
Seeing Sakura’s distress, Sakagami-sensei turned to Horikita Manabu. “Everyone has seen it. Do you really believe this Class D student’s testimony is credible? And now, only after standing up as a witness, it’s hard not to suspect that this is a tactic by Class D to ‘clear their name,’ and this student is also from Class D, right?”