What Kikyō said wasn't wrong — she really was at the finish line then.
Since Suzune and Minori fell 50 meters from the finish line, it made sense that she couldn't hear their voices. This meant she couldn't be a complete witness.
If anything, this testimony actually supported Minori's false accusation, since turning around could be interpreted as Suzune checking her target's position before deliberately causing injury.
However, something about the way Kikyō looked at her seemed... off.
Then.
"But I think Horikita-san surely didn't do it intentionally." Kikyō said, "Ryūen-kun, please don't report this to the Student Council. If violence and injury are proven, all of Horikita-san's points would be invalidated, and her reputation could be completely ruined. I don't want that to happen. Isn't there some other way? Like using Points as compensation?"
"??" Suzune looked over in bewilderment.
What nonsense was Kikyō saying? This statement practically confirmed Suzune was at fault, that she had deliberately injured Minori.
Kikyō. Weren't you supposed to be a friend?
Though she knew this girl disliked her, Suzune never imagined she would betray her at a moment like this.
"Well, there is one solution." Kakeru said, "4 million Points. Just compensate Kinoshita with 4 million Points. After all, with her injury like this, her athletic career might be over. And because of her absence, my class will lose many points in this Sports Festival. All of this, Horikita, you must take responsibility for!"
He seized the opportunity, noting how strangely calm Suzune's demeanor was.
However, he glanced over at Minori.
"Waaah—I just want to keep running—" The girl promptly started crying again, looking quite pitiful.
Suzune: "..."
"Horikita, what do you think?" Sae said, "If we can't resolve this here, then with something like this happening, it needs to be reported to the Student Council."
In other words, was she suggesting they handle this matter right here?
Suzune took a deep breath.
"Though I've always been bothered about being placed in Class D, even thinking it was a mistake — but for you to try to frame me like this, you must think I'm too weak. And Kushida—" Suzune glanced in Kikyō's direction.
"What, what about me?"
"Our friendship ends here."
Kikyō: "..."
Damn. You wanted to be friends, and now you're the one ending it just like that?
However, Kikyō probably knew what Suzune was relying on. She immediately put on a pitiful expression and said:
"Horikita-san, you're being too harsh. Wasn't I trying to help you?"
"If you really wanted to help me, forget it." Suzune said, "And teacher, I don't want to continue this back-and-forth with Ryūen and the others. Kikyō can't be my witness, so I want you to be my witness."
"Oh?" Sae looked over.
And Suzune continued, "I want to apply to the Student Council to report Class D's Ryūen and Kinoshita for making false accusations against me. And Kinoshita-san, you maintain that I injured you, right?"
"Um..." Seeing her calm demeanor, Minori quickly looked toward Kakeru.
"Hey Suzune, intimidating our athletes isn't acceptable."
"I just want her testimony." Suzune said, "I've been carrying a voice recorder with me this whole time, keeping it in my pocket during the race, and it's been recording continuously. Kinoshita's claim that I said 'I absolutely won't let you win' doesn't exist. What the recorder actually captured was her repeatedly calling out my name. This evidence is enough to prove my innocence and their false accusations. So..."
She looked at Minori.
"Now, Kinoshita, are you still insisting that I deliberately injured you? If false accusations are established, you might face expulsion as punishment. I don't think the school will allow such a deplorable student to continue their studies." Suzune said calmly.
Though each word was clearly articulated, they carried an overwhelming pressure.
"Well—" Minori, who had been crying until now, became flustered upon hearing this and looked toward Kakeru.
Kakeru: "..."
Hmm. So that's how it is.
As if Suzune would have a voice recorder — it must have been Houtarou who gave it to her for protection. This explained why she remained so composed.
This gave him an uneasy feeling. Throughout the Sports Festival, Houtarou had appeared to be simply lazing around, doing nothing. Yet he had somehow prepared a voice recorder to protect Suzune.
Damn, had he seen through his plans again?
Kakeru was not in a good mood. The plan to extort points from Suzune no longer seemed appealing — he even felt somewhat threatened.
However, he noticed that Kikyō maintained her smile after Suzune's statement.
A smile...
Then he saw Kikyō discreetly give him an OK hand signal.
Which meant she had already taken care of Suzune's voice recorder herself?
Kakeru kept his expression neutral.
"That's easy to say. First of all, voice recorders aren't easy to get approval for. Chabashira-sensei, has anyone in your class applied for a voice recorder?" Kakeru said.
"Well, no." Sae hesitated.
She too realized the hole in Suzune's statement.
Voice recorders were classified as dangerous items requiring registration — students couldn't easily obtain them. Suzune's claim about having one might just be a desperate defense.
And now it had been exposed.
"Eh..." But Suzune shook her head slightly, "It seems you don't understand at all."
Saying this, she reached into her left pants pocket, apparently preparing to take out the voice recorder.
Sae looked over — everyone did — while Kikyō maintained her cute appearance.
But Suzune's expression changed before everyone's eyes. Though she remained outwardly composed, anxiety began creeping into her features.
Kakeru and Kikyō's eyes met. He understood.
As expected. Kikyō must have found Suzune's voice recorder and gotten rid of it. Without the recorder, Suzune had no way to prove her innocence. Victory remained on their side.
"My voice recorder... And my phone is gone too." After checking several times, Suzune finally realized what had happened.
The revelation was shocking — Kikyō hadn't just disposed of the voice recorder, but Suzune's phone as well.
Sae now understood that Suzune hadn't been bluffing about the voice recorder — she truly had one. But it was nowhere to be found.
They were one move too late.
"So your previous statement was just empty words." Kakeru said with relief, "And your attitude is unacceptable. I'll add another condition — kneel down and kowtow to me."
"Stop it, Kakeru, this is going too far!" Sae stepped in, unable to remain silent.
"Get lost!" Kakeru rudely dismissed her position as a teacher, "This is between us students. Horikita, you have three minutes to decide. If you don't make your choice by then, I'll take this straight to the Student Council. The whole school will know you're someone who injured others because you couldn't compete fairly."
Though he felt targeted by Houtarou, the prospect of extorting points from Suzune gave him some comfort.
And as Kikyō had mentioned, even after taking her points, they would have Minori spread rumors to destroy Suzune's reputation.
"Kikyō!" Suzune turned to her.
The voice recorder had been with her the entire way to the infirmary. If it was lost, maybe it had just been misplaced — they could search for it.
But now her phone was missing too. Throughout all of this, Kikyō had been the one supporting her. She was the most likely person to have tampered with everything.
"What did I do?" Kikyō put on an innocent expression, looking utterly wronged.
Suzune: "..."
She gave up. Trusting others so carelessly had been her mistake. Even though Houtarou had given her a tool for self-protection, she had failed to safeguard it.
Indeed, she really was a failure.
"Um..."
Just as Suzune was sinking into despair, a timid voice broke through. It belonged to someone who struggled with social interactions.
A figure appeared at the infirmary doorway, knocking softly.
"Is Chabashira-sensei here? I tracked your GPS location." The newcomer spotted Sae and stepped inside.
Though startled by the crowd inside, she approached the teacher, clutching several items.
"I found two phones from our class and a voice recorder in the bushes near the cafeteria. They appear to be Horikita-san's and Kushida-san's phones. Ah... Kushida-san, Horikita-san, you're both here! These belong to you."
Airi Sakura handed the phones back to Kikyō and Suzune.
"And here's the voice recorder." She added quietly.
Sae took the recorder as Suzune stepped forward to retrieve it.
Kikyō: "..."
Kakeru: "..."
Damn!
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