Classroom of the Elite: Crimson Usurper (Volume 2)

Chapter 5.1

 I went to the special building. This place had become increasingly hot and humid as the summer wore on. I quickly hid just as Horikita and Ayanokouji told me. Shortly thereafter, three guys showed up, all grumbling about how unbearably hot it was. They appeared happy, though, wearing optimistic expressions.

That was because the three of them had received emails from the class sweetheart, Kushida. Had the message contained an invitation to go on a date? Or perhaps, even more insane, a romantic confession? They were probably dreaming of such things. When they saw Ayanokouji, their fantasies were crushed.

"What's going on? Why are you here?"

Ishizaki, the group's leader, stepped forward to intimidate Ayanokouji. He was rather forceful when no one was around to see.

"Kushida won't be here. I asked her to send an email to compel you all to come."

Ishizaki looked incredibly ill-tempered as he closed the distance between us. "This isn't funny. What did you do this for, huh?"

"Talk to us? Why would we want to do that? Has the heat scrambled your brain or something?"

Ishizaki, who clearly was affected by the heat, grabbed his shirt and flapped it.

"No matter what you do, you can't hide the truth. Sudou called us over here and beat us up. That's our answer. Now he needs to quietly accept his punishment."

"I have no intension of arguing. That would be a waste of time. I fully understand that neither Class C nor Class D will retract what they claimed yesterday."

"So why do this? Are you going to abduct us, so we miss the trial? Or are you going to have a bunch of people surround us and threaten us with violence? It'll be just like that time with Sudou. Just give up. See ya later."

Understanding that Kushida would not be coming, the three turned and tried to leave, but one other person stood in their way.

"I think you guys might want to reconsider that idea, actually."

Ichinose, who'd been waiting for all of the players in this drama to appear, quietly stepped forward.

"I-Ichinose?! What are you doing here?!"

The Class C boys were shocked. Given the unexpected appearance of someone from Class B, their shock was reasonable.

"What do you mean? What if I said that I'm here because I'm involved in this case?"

"Ichinose, you're a celebrity." 

"Ha ha. Well, I guess I'm well known among the members of Class C."

Since the Class C students hadn't expected her to be involved, it looked like tension was rising between them. They were clearly starting to lose their composure.

"This incident had nothing to do with Class B, right? So butt out..."

"You're certainly right that Class B has nothing to do with this. But how do you feel about involving so many people in your lies?"

"We didn't lie. We're the victims. We are. Sudou called us out here and beat us up. That's the truth."

"So evildoers remain obstinate until the very end. It's about time for you to pay the piper!" Ichinose declared, making a wide-sweeping gesture with her right arm as she did so. "You lied. We can all see through you. You got violent in the end. If you don't want that fact to become public knowledge, withdraw your claim right away."

"Huh? Withdraw? Don't make me laugh. What, were you half asleep when you came up with that argument? You can't just claim something and make it true. Sudou started the fight. Right?"