Classroom of the Elite: 真のエリート (Shin no erīto)

Chapter 8

"I let you see something so embarrassing..." Sakura, walking next to me, had stopped crying. She now wore a sheepish smile.

"It's been such a long time since I cried in front of someone. I feel a little relieved, actually."

"I'm glad. When I was a kid, I used to cry in front of people all the time."

"I had no idea that you were like that, Kamiyama-kun. That's completely unlike the image I have of you."

"Yeah, I cried a lot. Maybe 10 or 20 times in front of other people."

I'd been frustrated and embarrassed, but I'd been unable to stop crying. However, people who cried could grow stronger and move forward. Sakura seemed to be the type who bottled up her feelings. This incident might have been an important step forward for her.

"I was really happy...when you said that you believed me."

"It's not just me. Horikita, Kushida, and Sudou do, too. All of our classmates believe you."

"Yeah... But you came out and told me directly, Kamiyama-kun. You said it."

Sakura wiped her eyes once again, probably because the tears blurred her vision. "You gave me courage. I was happy," she said, with a small smile.

When I heard that, I felt relieved. Even if we could've saved Sudou just by forcing Sakura to come forward and pushing her into an uncomfortable situation, it wouldn't have been a perfect solution. The two of us lapsed into silence. Neither of us was very good at making conversation. However, it didn't feel strange or unpleasant nor was it awkward

"U-um, well... I don't think I should be saying this now, but..."

Just as we neared the entranceway, Sakura opened her mouth.

"Actually... I... Right now..."

"Yahoo! You're really late, huh?"

Ichinose and Kanzaki were waiting for us by the entranceway. They must've been on tenterhooks about the trial's results.

"Were you waiting for us?" I asked.

"We were wondering what happened."

I stopped and turned to Sakura. "Sorry, Sakura. Can we continue this later?"

Sakura opened up her shoe locker and looked inside. She turned her face to me. "Oh, no, it's nothing. I just...wanted to say that I would try my best. I'll be brave." With this quick answer, she lowered her head and left.

"Sakura?" I tried to stop her, but she hurried out the door.

"I'm sorry. Was this a bad time?" Ichinose asked.

"No, it's fine." after that, I described the events that had transpired in the student council room.

"I see. So, you rejected the compromise, huh? Class D is insisting on Sudou's innocence until the very end?"

"Well, if Sudou even got as little as one day's suspension, Class C would win." In other words, the compromise had been a trap. A sweet trap set to lure us to our defeat. The two of them didn't seem convinced, though. Kanzaki in particular insisted that we'd made the wrong choice.

"The fact remains that he hit the other students. Your opponents conceded because of corroboration from the witness and her evidence. You should've accepted the compromise."

"But as Kamiyama-kun says, Sudou's suspension would be a loss for Class D. If Sudou were suspended due to his bad behavior, then his chances of being a team regular would probably vanish. He'd be back to square one."