In the afternoon, the school dismissal bell rang.
Kamuro Masumi stood up from her seat, ignored the strange gazes cast from all around, and walked straight out of the classroom.
A few minutes later, Kaedehara Tōru also slowly packed his things and followed her out.
The door to the Student Council office was much heavier than Kamuro Masumi had imagined.
Pushing open the door, inside the office, in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, Horikita Manabu sat upright behind a large desk.
Beside him, the secretary, Tachibana Akane, was looking down and recording something in her notebook.
And to their left, Yamauchi Haruki was sitting in a chair.
His face was full of undisguised smugness, and seeing Kamuro Masumi enter, the curve of his mouth widened even more.
That expression seemed to say, “You are done for.”
Yamauchi Haruki had already arrived; he was sitting in the chair opposite Kamuro Masumi, his face wearing uncontrollable smugness.
Seeing Kamuro Masumi enter, he even provocatively lifted his chin.
Kamuro Masumi ignored him and silently sat down on a chair opposite him.
“Everyone is here.”
Horikita Manabu’s voice rang out.
He glanced at his watch.
“Then, regarding Class D Yamauchi Haruki’s report of Class A Kamuro Masumi shoplifting at the school convenience store, we will now begin the final confirmation.”
He turned his gaze to Yamauchi Haruki: “Yamauchi-san, please restate your accusation and present your evidence.”
“Yes!
President!”
Yamauchi Haruki sprang up from his chair almost immediately.
He puffed out his chest, deliberately putting on a righteous look, as if he were an envoy of justice.
“I, Yamauchi Haruki of Class D, swear on my honor!
I saw with my own eyes that Class A’s Kamuro Masumi was stealing things in the convenience store!
She thought no one saw her and moved very fast, but I saw it clearly!
To prevent her from denying it later, I specifically used my phone to record a video!
All the evidence of the crime is on my phone!”
As he spoke, he handed the phone from his pocket to Horikita Manabu.
He seemed completely immersed in the role of the “partner of justice” he was playing, as if he could already see the scene where Kamuro Masumi was expelled and he received a reward for it.
Horikita Manabu listened to his statement, his face still without any ripples.
He seemed to have long anticipated that Yamauchi would be like this.
After Yamauchi Haruki’s impassioned statement ended, he just nodded slightly to indicate he had finished listening, then looked at the silent Kamuro Masumi. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Classmate Kamuro, do you have any defense regarding Yamauchi-san’s accusation?”
Kamuro Masumi’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Defense?
No, she couldn’t speak.
To speak was to lose.
She could only wait, waiting for the only person who might break this deadlock.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Just as the atmosphere in the office was about to freeze to the freezing point, a knock of moderate strength sounded.
“Come in.” Horikita Manabu’s voice remained cold and hard.
The door was pushed open, and a figure appeared in the doorway.
Kaedehara Tōru had an appropriately apologetic smile on his face, as if he were a student who had accidentally gotten lost and wandered in.
“Sorry, President, I seem to be late.
I was delayed by some personal business.
As another witness to this incident, I haven’t delayed your proceedings, have I?”
Seeing Kaedehara Tōru, Yamauchi Haruki’s smile became even brighter.
Reinforcements had arrived!
He straightened his back and glanced at Kamuro Masumi with a look that said, “Let’s see how you quibble now.”
“Kaedehara-san, is it?” Horikita Manabu’s gaze lingered on you for a moment.
At noon, Tachibana Akane had told him there was a witness who wanted to give a statement, and he didn’t refuse; after all, having someone provide a statement could facilitate the judgment, so he let Kaedehara Tōru come.
“Sit down.” He pointed to the empty seat next to Kamuro Masumi.
“You’ve come just in time; we’ve just started the questioning.”
Kaedehara Tōru sat down in the chair and even turned his head to smile and nod at the tense Kamuro Masumi beside him.
This action of yours made Yamauchi Haruki’s smile even broader; in his view, this was equivalent to the final step to crush Kamuro Masumi.
Horikita Manabu’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk, drawing everyone’s attention back.
“Kaedehara-san, since you are also a witness, Yamauchi-san claims that you have also seen this video he submitted as evidence, right?”
Yamauchi Haruki looked at you full of anticipation, already unable to wait to hear your affirmative answer and then witness the moment Kamuro Masumi completely collapsed.
“Yes, President.”
Kaedehara Tōru nodded calmly, “I was fortunate enough to see this video on Yamauchi-san’s phone at the cafe in Keyaki Mall during lunch break that day.
The content of the video is indeed as he described.”
The moment the words fell, Kamuro Masumi’s shoulders trembled violently.
And Yamauchi Haruki almost laughed out loud from his chair.
“However…”
Kaedehara Tōru’s tone changed, and the smile on his face faded, replaced by seriousness. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Precisely because I carefully watched this video, I discovered that this so-called ‘evidence’ submitted by Yamauchi-san contains extremely serious forged components.
In other words, he is using a carefully edited fake video to frame Classmate Kamuro.”
“Wh…
what?!”
The smile on Yamauchi Haruki’s face disappeared instantly, astonishment and anger intertwined.
He jumped up from his chair violently, pointing at your nose, his voice becoming sharp with excitement.
“Kaedehara Tōru!
What the hell are you talking about?
You clearly…
you clearly agreed with me!”
“Silence!”
Horikita Manabu’s gaze swept toward Yamauchi Haruki, and the latter immediately shut his mouth like a duck whose neck had been grabbed.
His face, flushed with excitement and anger, had turned an ugly liver color.
He was breathing heavily, staring at you fixedly, his eyes full of the anger of being betrayed.
Horikita Manabu’s gaze returned to Kaedehara Tōru.
“Kaedehara-san, you say he is framing her and that the video is forged.
This is a very serious accusation; what evidence do you have?”
“Of course I do.”
Kaedehara Tōru appeared unhurried, even smiling at Yamauchi Haruki’s man-eating expression.
He stood up and walked to Horikita Manabu’s desk.
“President, in order to explain the issue more clearly, may I borrow Yamauchi-san’s phone, that is, this ‘evidence’?”
Horikita Manabu looked at him, then at Yamauchi Haruki, said nothing, and just made a “please” gesture.
Kaedehara Tōru picked up the phone placed on the desk, skillfully unlocked it, and played the video.
Everyone’s eyes in the office were focused on that small screen.
“President, please look here.” You paused the video at the moment Kamuro Masumi’s hands were moving.
“Please notice this detail.
At the moment of classmate Kamuro’s hand movement, the reflection of the potato chip packaging on the shelf behind her shows a distortion that does not conform to common physical sense.”
He zoomed in on the frame and played it in slow motion; that extremely subtle flaw was clearly presented.
“Also, the background noise, the static here, is a typical trace of audio splicing.
And the change in the shooting angle; it could have clearly filmed the full face throughout, but it suddenly changes to only the lower half of the face later…
All signs indicate that this video is a ‘work’ that has been maliciously edited and pieced together.”