And the evidence was...
"This is…" Suzune was also shocked.
She hadn't expected there to be another voice recorder on her person. She hadn't even realized she was being specially protected.
At this moment, Kikyō's mood was far from pleasant.
Houtarou was entirely focused on helping Suzune — completely devoted to her cause and firmly on her side.
"Then what's your second condition for punishment?" Kikyō asked, her earlier confidence now deflated.
"While Horikita is at school, you have to maintain a friendship with her." Houtarou said, "She's not very popular in class, so you need to help with that."
So she would have to help boost Suzune's popularity and cooperate with her.
"...What do you mean? You're trying to turn me into her dog!" Her emotions flared, "I'm not that Kamuro girl!"
Houtarou was aware of the connection between Masumi and Kikyō — how Kikyō claimed Masumi as a friend, and Masumi thought well of Kikyō in return.
Yet this comment revealed how Kikyō truly viewed this "friend" in her heart.
"Should I submit this voice recorder right now then?" Houtarou said, "Right now Sudō is broken, Hirata was beaten, everyone's emotions are in chaos, so adding your breakdown probably won't get much attention."
But it would get attention — with the voice recorder leaked, she would be exposed as a traitor and even have to take the blame for Ken's breakdown.
This wouldn't just mean the collapse of her empire; she would become the class scapegoat.
Yōsuke valued class harmony and student unity above all else. For the sake of unity, they might force her to shoulder everything, making her the target of blame and bearer of all sins.
And who would want that?
"You clearly know I can't refuse." Kikyō said, her confidence now completely deflated, "So what's your third punishment?"
"It should be relatively simple for you." Houtarou said, "Earlier I had asked Horikita to take some photos of the girls, but to avoid being the bad guy, those photos were deleted. While I don't really care — but I still want to see them."
Want to see them, huh.
"Hehe—"
In private interactions with Houtarou, Kikyō was much more daring than her outward appearance suggested.
Of course, this didn't mean she would strip naked in front of him — she still had her sense of shame. Besides, this was more about revenge for trying to steal Suzune's man.
But now he was saying he wanted completely naked photos of her, and she had to take them herself.
Beyond the overwhelming shame, if she did this, she wouldn't just be handing over evidence — her future would be permanently tied to this man.
Kikyō: "…"
Fuck!
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
The break time passed quickly as students took their positions for the recommended events.
The afternoon schedule featured only four events. Houtarou would participate in the Mixed Gender Three-Legged Race and the All-Grade 1200m Relay.
The competitions began in sequence, starting with the Scavenger Hunt.
Unlike the morning's packed schedule, the afternoon competitions were more relaxed since not everyone participated. This led to larger crowds of both audience members and spectating students.
What caught everyone's attention, though, was how intensely the first-years were competing.
In Class 1-C, while Ken — who had dominated the morning's 100m race, 200m race, and hurdles — was notably absent, his classmates were giving it their all.
The girls, especially, were showing remarkable effort. One particular student participated in two consecutive Scavenger Hunts, followed by two tug-of-war matches.
"Kushida is really pushing herself—"
"But she's using up a lot of points by substituting in so many events."
"Did you see that? She looked fierce for a moment."
"No, you must be imagining things—"
"Maybe we should be trying harder too?"
Her dedication was providing much-needed support to Class C, which was struggling due to Suzune's injury, Ken's departure, and Yōsuke being punched.
Other classes were showing surprising developments as well, particularly Class 1-D.
"Ah— Charge—!"
Class 1-D's students were giving everything they had — and for good reason. Everyone, including Kakeru himself, had fewer than 2,000 points on their student IDs.
The central scoreboard displayed the current standings:
Red Team (A&D Alliance): 13,676 points
White Team (B&C Alliance): 11,200 points
This substantial gap meant Class D would secure +100 Class Points from the Sports Festival.
Yet their situation remained dire. Their Points from the Special Exam had been confiscated, and they owed Houtarou 4 million Points — with monthly repayments of 1 million Points starting next month.
In other words, everyone had become debtors. Every single Class Point was now crucial to their survival.
Then there was Class 1-B.
"Lucky... lucky! We thought Sudō from Class C would exploit the point card bug in the three-legged race, but he didn't participate. Our class point difference would have definitely widened if he had." Sō Shibata said.
"Yeah." Ryūji beside him nodded.
But unlike the simple-minded Sō, Ryūji's thoughts went deeper.
Initially, they had only worried about Ken exploiting points, but his absence brought a new concern: Houtarou.
Ryūji had noticed Houtarou was holding back. He worried that Houtarou might also be involved in point exploitation, but after one three-legged race, Houtarou stopped participating entirely.
This brought both relief and disappointment to Ryūji. It meant Houtarou's group was so well-off that these few points meant nothing to them — they didn't even need to try.
But for Class B, who couldn't afford any more losses, every single Class Point was vital.
However...
"Kakeru and his group have gone completely mad—" Ryūji said.
While the biggest threats — Houtarou and Ken — weren't exploiting points, Kakeru's group had gone berserk with their point exploitation.
Everyone had noticed the strange bandages wrapped around Kakeru's forehead and his terrifyingly cold expression. He exploited points with a desperate intensity they had never seen before.
They hadn't known this side of him existed.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
Meanwhile, in Class A.
"I'm very unhappy, Kamuro."
In Class A's camp, Arisu spoke.
The petite princess with silver-white short straight hair sat to one side, with her loyal Masumi standing beside her.
Her hands rested on her knees, a camera hanging from her neck.
She had received the camera from her father, hoping to capture photos of Houtarou in action. However, photo opportunities had been scarce.
Though Houtarou and Masumi had just won first place in the Mixed Gender Three-Legged Race with their excellent coordination, something felt off — lacking excitement.
It was clear Houtarou wasn't giving his all, holding back in this and other events.
"Isn't getting first place good enough?" Masumi offered a different perspective, "Getting ranked means points."
"You don't understand." Arisu said, "I forfeited all my events today, giving me plenty of free time, yet Oreki didn't come to see me once. He didn't even join me for lunch."
Masumi: "..."
Ah. So that was what truly bothered her.
But Houtarou was likely by Suzune's side now.
After all, Masumi had been tasked with getting food at lunch, only to end up doing the work for nothing, unable to eat with him.
⍟⍟⍟
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