"It seems the situation is quite clear now."
As if summarizing the discussion, Kouenji began to speak.
"In this exam, the students at the bottom are fighting for their own survival. Whether it's trying to get others expelled or targeting Rotten-eye Boy's personal points, these are perfectly reasonable strategies. However, some have been swayed by other classes and, under Littlegirl's orders, directly went after Rotten-eye Boy. Such behavior is both foolish and utterly disgraceful."
From the start, Kouenji had maintained a neutral stance, yet every word he spoke leaned in Horikita's favor.
The reason was simple—he himself was a prime candidate for expulsion. As long as he followed Horikita's lead, the class would focus their judgment on Yamauchi instead, effectively diverting any danger away from himself.
In short, everything he did was for self-preservation.
"A worthless traitor like him—whether he survives this time or not, sooner or later, he'll end up dragging the whole class down."
"Wait a second! I never betrayed the class!" Yamauchi screamed hysterically. "And didn't everyone agree to vote against Hikigaya? Why am I the only one getting blamed?!"
"Still don't get it? It's because you were the first to betray your classmates and join forces with the enemy."
Horikita's expression was as cold as ice as she mercilessly condemned his actions.
"Just as Kushida and Kouenji said, if Hikigaya really had twenty million points, the first thing we should've done was discuss it with him properly. But that thought never even crossed your mind."
"W-Well, we can talk about it now! As long as Hikigaya hands over the money, no one in the class will have to be expelled!" Yamauchi argued, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"...Are you even thinking straight? How could things possibly be that convenient?"
Even Horikita was momentarily stunned.
She wasn't angry—just utterly speechless.
"In the end, you were the one who ruined any chance of a peaceful resolution. And it wasn't even to protect yourself—you simply fell for the enemy's sweet words and chose to betray your classmates. Given that, it's only natural that you are now the most unnecessary person in this class."
"Hahaha, well said." Kouenji clapped again. "I find Horikita-girl's suggestion to be quite delightful. I simply cannot tolerate attending class with a traitor. I'll support you."
With someone openly backing Horikita, the class atmosphere shifted.
At this rate, few would dare to stand up for Yamauchi.
"Wait! You've all got it wrong!" Yamauchi shouted in desperation. "Sakayanagi-chan only told me about the twenty million points! How does that count as working with her? And if Hikigaya just hands over the money, wouldn't that solve everything?!"
Horikita's gaze remained icy. "Do you really think you have the value to demand that? Especially as a traitor like you... Besides, isn't it simply because you know you wouldn't hand over the money if it were you, so you just assumed Hikigaya would be the same way?"
Her words weren't just directed at Yamauchi—they were for everyone in the class.
Nobody had even considered the basic idea of "talking things through." They had all silently accepted the idea of forcing Hikigaya to pay up.
"I understand that some of you may not like what I'm saying. If you want to write my name down, go ahead—whether it's Yamauchi, Hikigaya, or anyone else. But I believe it's important to express my opinion. Please take that into account before making your decision."
Horikita understood.
Just as Yamauchi's actions disgusted others, she herself might face resentment for taking this stand.
Some might see her as an instigator stirring up conflict within the class.
But at this moment, no one could stop her momentum.
Still, there was one voice of opposition.
"Horikita, hold on... I get that Haruki made a mistake."
Sudo's expression was grim. Normally, he would listen to Horikita without question, but this time, he had to speak up for his friend.
"But does he need to be expelled for it? If he realizes his mistake and makes up for it, wouldn't that be enough? And besides..."
He hesitated, glancing at Hikigaya before quickly looking away as if guilty.
"I know this isn't fair to Hikigaya... but aren't we all classmates? If he does have the money, isn't it only right for him to contribute to the class?"
His words weren't pleasant to hear, but Hikigaya knew that most of the class felt the same way.
He wasn't even blaming them for it.
He admired Sudo a little—at least the guy had the guts to say it out loud.
"Sudo, I won't criticize your opinion," Horikita said, shaking her head. "But this isn't just about money. Since this is a special exam that affects all of us, the responsibility of raising 20 million points should belong to the whole class. There's no reason Hikigaya alone should bear the burden. Let me give you an example."
"M-Me?"
"In the Preferred Student Exam, many of us—including you and me—received a large number of personal points. Could you give them up for your classmates without hesitation?"
"...No."
"And you often talk about earning rewards from basketball. Have you ever thought about contributing those points to the class?"
"...No."
Sudo had only bragged about those things to impress Horikita, but now they were being used to refute his argument.
The truth was, everyone understood this logic.
If they weren't willing to do it themselves, they had no right to force someone else to.
But even knowing that, Sudo was still struggling. Yamauchi was his best friend—he couldn't just sit back and watch him get expelled.
"One more thing. Suppose you were in Hikigaya's position, and your classmates—without even asking—decided to frame you just to force you to hand over your points. How would you feel about them?"
"Ugh... I'd... I'd hate them."
Sudo let out a bitter laugh before stepping back in defeat.
"Sorry, Haruki... I can't do anything for you. And Hikigaya... I'm sorry."
"Oh, don't worry about it."
Even though Sudo's voice was heavy with guilt, Hikigaya simply waved it off, as if it was nothing.
After all, they were never really friends. No apology was needed.
Besides... as much as he appreciated Horikita speaking up for him, he felt this whole situation was being blown way out of proportion.
Still, he was grateful.
Because taking this stance was no easy task. If she hadn't braced herself for being hated by the entire class, she wouldn't have had the courage to stand at that podium.
"It looks like the decision has been made."
The silent onlookers—like Kouenji—were now ready to pass judgment.
There were still three days left until the vote, but deciding early wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"W-Wait, wait! Just hold on!"
Naturally, Yamauchi resisted desperately, shouting to stop things from progressing further.
"Voting against me is ridiculous! We all agreed to vote against Hikigaya, didn't we?!"
"You still don't understand your mistake." Horikita let out a deep sigh. "I wasn't going to bring this up... but fine. While this may be personal, there is one most, most, most unforgivable reason why I nominated you."
She wasn't just showing determination—her expression was pure fury.
Using three consecutive "mosts" made it clear that this was no ordinary matter.
Everyone in the room could sense it.
Fixing her gaze firmly on Yamauchi, Horikita spoke slowly and clearly:
"Regarding the incident during summer break—there's something you can't confess to the class, isn't there? Am I wrong?"
"S-Summer break?!"
At the mention of those words, Yamauchi's heart skipped a beat. But he forced himself to stay calm.
"What are you talking about? I don't have anything to feel guilty about—"
"If you won't say it, then I will."
Horikita scanned the crowd below before speaking in a clear voice, "Although several months have passed, everyone should still remember the peeping incident at the pool during summer vacation."
Of course, there was no way anyone could forget.
Not only were the girls deeply disgusted by the peeping incident, but even the boys resented it, as it caused the class to lose all of its points, leaving them with zero income for months.
As a result, almost no one sympathized with Ike, who was expelled.
Now, bringing up this old matter wasn't just to beat a dead horse.
"At the time, only Ike was expelled, but that was the school trying to downplay the situation. The lenient punishment didn't mean he was the only culprit."
As Horikita spoke, Yamauchi's face gradually turned pale.
Fortunately for him, he wasn't the only one in trouble this time.
"Apart from Ike, the other participants were Yamauchi Haruki, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Sotomura Hideo, correct?"
"Huh?!"
The moment those words left her mouth, an uproar erupted in the classroom.
Among those shocked was Hirata, who stared at Ayanokoji in disbelief.
However, unlike the other two who had been named and were visibly panicked, Ayanokoji remained composed, fully demonstrating the qualities of a masterpiece.
No matter how many people stared at him, his expression remained emotionless.
His thoughts were simple.
His reputation was already bad enough—what did it matter if it got a little worse?
Besides, arguing now would be pointless. Since Horikita was bringing this up in public, it meant she had solid proof. Otherwise, she wouldn't jump to conclusions so easily.
Moreover… Ayanokoji had expected Horikita to take action in this exam, so he never planned to intervene in the first place.
And since he wasn't the main target, wasn't it best to just sit back and watch the clowns perform from the audience?
But what he never expected was that Horikita would bring up the incident from summer break…
In the end, he ended up becoming one of the clowns himself… Was this Hikigaya's influence on Horikita again?
His first instinct was to suspect him.
Ayanokoji subtly glanced in Hikigaya's direction, only to see that the latter also looked genuinely surprised.
It didn't seem like he was faking it… Did I misjudge the situation?
In reality, Ayanokoji was only half wrong.
Hikigaya had no such intention. He had just been pestered by Matsushita earlier and casually mentioned a few names he had in mind.
What he didn't expect was that those three would follow the clues and completely analyze his thoughts.
Well, life was full of unexpected twists.
"Hey, hey! Stop spouting nonsense!" Yamauchi naturally refused to admit anything. "Horikita, do you even have proof?! The school didn't punish us, which means we were innocent! Seriously, what nonsense are you talking about?! This is infuriating! Doc, Ayanokoji, you guys agree with me, right?!"
He tried to pull the other two accused into his camp, but while Ayanokoji remained silent, Sotomura suddenly stood up.
"I—I'm sorry, everyone!"
Yamauchi turned to him in shock as Sotomura lowered his head in guilt.
"I must have lost my mind back then… I was wrong, and I caused trouble for everyone. I'm truly, truly sorry!"
"Wait, Doc, you never even go to the pool, right? You don't even attend swimming class." A student raised a doubt.
"I wasn't at the scene, but I provided the recording equipment," Sotomura confessed everything without hesitation.
After he finished, he let out a deep breath, looking relieved.
"I know some people won't forgive me, and I don't expect them to. If you want to vote against me, I'll accept it without complaint. This is the only thing I can do now."
Many students showed conflicted expressions.
On one hand, his actions were inexcusable. On the other hand, the incident was long past, and he wasn't the mastermind—continuing to pursue it seemed pointless.
Moreover, since the school trip, Sotomura had clearly matured.
Not only had he dropped his strange verbal tics, but his overall demeanor had also grown more composed. His willingness to take responsibility now was proof of that.
By contrast, someone else remained as stubborn as ever.
"So it was Doc?! See?! I was framed!"
"Yamauchi-kun, could you use your brain before you speak?" Horikita glared at him with disgust. "I confirmed this with my brother, the former student council president. There's no possibility of a false accusation. And if you don't believe me, you can ask Hikigaya-kun, who is also a student council member."
Hikigaya hadn't expected to be dragged into this, but before he could react, Yamauchi was already shouting again.
"Yeah! It's Hikigaya! He and Horikita are working together to frame me!"
Yamauchi desperately tried to muddy the waters, even pulling Sudo into it.
"Ken, you saw that, right?! Horikita is covering for Hikigaya! Since when did the two of them get so close?!"
"Haruki, you…"
Sudo did feel like Horikita had been talking to Hikigaya more recently, but this wasn't the time for that.
With no other choice, he reluctantly said, "Uh, Horikita, let's just drop it. I tried to talk Haruki and Ayanokoji out of it back then, but maybe it was the mood, or maybe the weather was too hot… They didn't mean to—"
"Wait a minute!" Horikita suddenly interrupted him. "Sudo-kun, didn't you say you weren't involved in this?"
"Yeah, I flat-out refused!" Sudo immediately clarified.
However, that didn't ease Horikita's expression.
Her eyes widened slightly as she slowly spoke. "So… You knew about it and didn't stop them?"
"Huh?"
Sudo was stunned for a moment before instinctively replying, "How was I supposed to stop them?"
"You could've just punched each of them once!"
For someone like Horikita, it was rare to see her this emotional.
But it made sense.
Aside from the loss of over 200 class points, the incident nearly caused Class D to collapse entirely. The whole class had been thrown into chaos.
Looking back now, Horikita felt both relieved that she had stepped up and deeply fearful of what could have happened.
One misstep and Class D would have been doomed.
"No, Horikita! I just—"
Sudo tried to explain, but Horikita wasn't listening.
"You're always so eager to fight, but when it mattered, you were useless." She scolded him harshly. "If you had just stood your ground and opposed them, do you think Yamauchi and Ike would've dared to ignore you?"
"But… But we're friends."
"Precisely because you're friends, you should've stopped them!"
At this point, Horikita was so frustrated that she had forgotten her initial goal. She was getting angrier and even turned on Ayanokoji.
"Ayanokoji-kun, can you stop pretending to be an outsider? My brother said you only joined them to stop them, but even if that's true or not, you took down Albert Yamada from Class C. Are you seriously telling me you couldn't handle those two? Have you gotten addicted to playing the fool?"
"…Horikita, scolding me won't change anything. Don't forget what you're supposed to do."
Ayanokoji remained calm, but no matter how composed he acted, everyone still saw him as guilty.
And Yamauchi, seizing the opportunity, shouted, "Don't believe him, Horikita! He's just pretending! Ayanokoji was excited during the planning! He even said that once he got the video, he'd lock himself in his room and 'generate electricity like crazy,' and told us not to disturb him!"
After a brief pause, Yamauchi finally blurted out what was really on his mind.
"So don't just blame me! Ayanokoji is the real mastermind! He's the one who should be expelled!"
His voice was so loud it echoed into the hallway.
At that moment, as if someone had pressed the pause button, the entire classroom fell into a dead silence.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Right then, the morning bell rang.
The discussion was forcibly brought to an end.
And with that, the classroom erupted into chaos.