This sentence was like a bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly exploding within the serious atmosphere of the Student Council office.
The air seemed to freeze.
The expressions on the faces of the three Class C students changed like a palette, moving from shock to shame and irritation, then finally flushing red. Even the Class teacher, who had been watching the show from the side, had the playful smile on his lips stiffen for a moment.
Even on the iceberg-like face of the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu, a subtle, almost imperceptible ripple appeared.
Although Natsukawa Sosuke had long anticipated the content of this script—after all, he had written the line himself—when he actually heard Horikita Suzune recite the sentence in her cool, deadpan, and utterly emotionless voice, he still nearly burst out laughing.
He could feel Horikita Suzune beside him tense up instantly after delivering the line.
Horikita shot a fierce sidelong glance at Natsukawa.
She saw the man lowering his head, his shoulders subtly shaking, clearly trying to suppress his laughter.
Just as expected! This guy just wanted to make her look foolish in front of her brother! He had previously boasted to her that this was a linguistic strategy for "getting the jump on the opponent" and "breaking down their psychological defenses"—it was all total nonsense!
A wave of shame and indignation washed over her, but since the deed was done, she could only grit her teeth and continue the performance.
"You... what nonsense are you spouting!" Ishizaki Daichi was the first to react, retorting in furious embarrassment. "We just didn't want to escalate things! We didn't actually want to fight!"
"Oh?" Horikita Suzune sneered, launching her next attack according to the second line of the script. "If you couldn't win, couldn't you have run away? Or did Sudo need to turn around and buy you oranges? You think you have to stand at attention just because you're told to take a beating?"
"You...!"
The three Class C students were furious, their faces turning green from the merciless sarcasm. Just as they were about to retort, Horikita Suzune gave them no chance whatsoever.
She took out the USB drive that Natsukawa had given her from the document bag.
"Student Council President, I request that the contents of this USB drive be projected onto the screen."
Horikita Manabu stared deeply at his sister, then nodded to Tachibana Akane.
Soon, the USB drive was connected to the equipment, and the projection screen on the wall lit up.
"Alright." Horikita Suzune's voice regained its calm tone. She stepped forward, holding a laser pointer. "Since the 'motive' cannot be easily proven, let us examine the 'facts' themselves."
Her first screenshot was a campus map, on which two lines of different colors marked the locations of the Class C classroom and the Special Instruction Building.
"According to the testimony of the three students, you were provoked directly by Sudo at the basketball court before heading to the Special Instruction Building. If that is the case, why did you not take the shortest route marked by the red line, but instead took a large detour along the blue route, which has far more surveillance blind spots?"
"Th-that's... that's because we wanted to call Ishizaki over to avoid being alone and subjected to violence by Sudo!" Komiya Yōgo quickly argued.
"Is that so?" Horikita Suzune switched to the next screenshot, which showed the three of them sneaking around at the end of a small path.
"Does this behavior of looking around nervously and deliberately avoiding the sight of others really suggest you were going there to 'have a good talk'?"
"We..."
"Next question." Horikita gave them no time to think, switching the screen again. "The descriptions of the conflict process provided by the three students are astonishingly consistent. From the very first sentence Sudo-kun spoke, to the sequence of his actions, and even the use of certain interjections—everything is identical. I must ask, how did the three of you manage to possess such a perfectly'shared memory' of a sudden, chaotic brawl, as if you had memorized a script beforehand?"
This question struck the three students like a heavy hammer. Their faces began to turn pale.
Just then, the Class teacher for Class C, Sakagami Kazuma, finally couldn't sit still anymore.
"Horikita-san, your claims are nothing but subjective conjecture!" He adjusted his glasses, his tone carrying a hint of professorial authority. "My students experienced the same event; isn't it normal for their testimonies to be similar? Are you implying that they colluded to openly lie in front of the Student Council?"
"Sakagami-sensei, I did not say that."
Not a hint of panic appeared on Horikita Suzune's face. She glanced down at the document in her hand, where the counter-strategy for this exact situation was clearly written in bold font.
She took a deep breath, and when she looked up again, her eyes had regained their sharpness.
"I acknowledge that shared experiences lead to similar memories. However, Sakagami-sensei,'similar' and 'completely identical' are two entirely different concepts."
Her voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly throughout the office.
"Three people observing the same chaotic conflict from three different perspectives are bound to notice different details, recall different sequences of events, and even use different words in their descriptions. Their testimonies are not similar; they are 'completely identical,' as if printed by a copier. In psychology, this is precisely the strongest proof that testimony has been contaminated or, rather, rehearsed beforehand!"
Sakagami Kazuma's expression froze. Clearly, he hadn't expected Horikita to be capable of saying such a thing.
Horikita Suzune pressed her advantage, switching the projection to the final few screenshots and animated images—the flaws in their injury claims that Natsukawa had found in the surveillance footage.
"Finally, let's look at the facts. Ishizaki-san, you claimed to have sprained your left wrist, yet after leaving the scene, your left arm swung freely, showing no sign of pain."
"Kondō-san, you claimed your abdomen was severely struck, yet while walking, your core was stable and your gait was vigorous, completely unlike someone with an abdominal injury."
"There is a massive, unexplainable contradiction between your physical condition and the description of injuries in your infirmary reports!"
"Th-that's... that's because we were too nervous at the time and didn't feel the pain!" Ishizaki made one last desperate struggle.
"Is that so?" A cold arc curved on Horikita Suzune's lips. "Then, in order to verify the truthfulness of your testimonies and to eliminate all reasonable doubt, I hereby formally submit a request to the Student Council for isolated questioning!"
"Under the supervision of the Student Council, the three witnesses will be separated and subjected to independent, cross-examination regarding every single detail of the incident! If the memories of the three of you are truly flawless, then surely, no matter how detailed our questions are, your answers will perfectly match, won't they?"
This sentence became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Upon hearing the four words "isolated questioning," the faces of the three Class C students instantly turned ghastly pale.
Their seemingly perfect, pre-arranged script could not withstand this kind of formal interrogation. Moreover, they had been so focused on rehearsing the script recently that they had completely forgotten the original, true sequence of events.
Sakagami Kazuma wanted to say more, but seeing his three students—who dared not look up and were sweating profusely—he could only slump and close his mouth.
The entire office fell into dead silence.
Horikita Suzune stood alone in front of the projection screen, facing everyone from Class C.
At the head of the conference table, Horikita Manabu watched his sister eloquently state her case and argue logically. In his perpetually cold eyes, a faint, rare hint of a smile flickered.
He then coldly glanced at Natsukawa Sosuke, who had been sitting quietly in the corner like an outsider the entire time, before slowly speaking, breaking the silence.
"I agree to Class D's request."
"This hearing is suspended. Effective immediately, the Student Council and members of Class D will conduct isolated questioning of the three Class C students."
....
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