The Mask Slips

The Trial Part 2

The second part is mainly the trial. If you want you can skim through it quickly but there are some new dialogue and subtle hints.

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We approached a room that had a placard which read "Student Council" affixed to the wall near the doorway. Chabashira-sensei knocked, and we went inside.

Even though Horikita winced, she immediately followed us. Inside, long tables had been arranged in a rectangular formation. The three students from Class C had already arrived and were seated. Beside them sat a bespectacled male teacher who looked around to be in his thirties.

"Sorry we're late," our sensei said.

"No apologies are necessary, You arrived before the scheduled time."

"Have you already met?"

Sudou, Horikita, Kiyotaka, and I did not know the teacher.

"This is Sakagami-sensei, the homeroom teacher for Class C. Now then, that is the student council president."

Chabashira-sensei pointed to a lone male student that was seated in the back of the room. Horikita's older brother, without even acknowledging Horikita's presence, pored over the documents on his desk. Horikita directed her gaze at her brother for a short time, but when she realized she wasn't his focus, she lowered her eyes and sat down in front of the Class C students.

"Well then, "I would now like to discuss the violent incident that occurred last Tuesday with the members of the student council, the involved parties, and their homeroom teachers. You may begin the proceedings, student council secretary Tachibana."

Secretary Tachibana, a woman with short hair, slightly bowed.

"Of course, considering the magnitude of this dispute, there are times when the student council president will take over. There are several abnormal things about this incident. Other than that, the bulk of the proceedings will be handled solely by Tachibana, as usual."

"Because I am quite busy, there are certain agenda topics upon which I will defer. As a general rule, though, I would prefer to attend to these issues, as I'm entrusted to lead this student council."

"So this was all by chance?" Chabashira-sensei smiled as she said that, but Horikita's older brother never wavered. On the contrary though, Horikita, the tsundere, couldn't hide her trembling. The odds certainly were not in our favor. In fact, I couldn't think of any other scenario that could be as disastrous as this. Because of his presence, Horikita couldn't demonstrate her usual prowess here.

Secretary Tachibana summarized the situation from both sides in an easy-to-understand manner.

"Based on the aforementioned facts, we would like for you to identify which version of events is valid." After completing her explanation and the preface to the proceedings, she turned her eyes toward Class D.

"Komiya-kun and two other members of the basketball club went to the special building after Sudou-kun called them there. There, they claim to have been beaten up in a one-sided brawl. Is this true?"

"No way in hell. What those guys said was a lie. I was the one that got called over to the special building." Sudou said.

"That day, after practice, Kondou and Komiya asked me to go to the special building. To be honest, I thought it was annoying, but I also thought it might have been because they were always hostile towards me. So, I went to meet him."

Sudou wasn't the type of person that would sugar-coat his words. Normally, Horikita would have been disgusted by his casual way of speaking, but judging from her trembling, his words didn't reach her ears.