Seeing Kushida Kikyo actually take out her phone, Yamauchi Haruki felt his scalp go numb.
He desperately wanted to snatch it, open her chat history with Kaoru, and let the entire class see it with their own eyes.
But the more fearless Kushida appeared, the more hesitant and uneasy he became.
What if their chat history contained no evidence of betraying the class?
If no proof was found, Yamauchi Haruki would become the target of everyone's attacks—a bully who tormented their little angel and made her cry.
Yamauchi swallowed hard, his eyes darting around nervously as he stammered, "Th-this kind of thing wouldn't be discussed over text! You can meet in rooms, so it's obvious you must have talked face-to-face!"
As he spoke, he began to believe his own excuse, gradually regaining some confidence.
Kushida Kikyo's expression grew even more sorrowful, her voice trembling. "If visiting a boy's room implies an impure relationship, then what about the time I, Yamauchi-kun, Ike-kun, and Sudou-kun held a celebration party in Ayanokouji-kun's room?"
As if reminiscing about those times or expressing her resentment toward him, the girl lowered her head, as though trying to hide her tears.
"Hey, Haruki, even I can't stand this anymore. The little angel is the little angel—it's normal for her to get along well with boys!"
As his close friend, Ike Kanji was the first to jump in, showing clear dissatisfaction and disappointment toward him.
That's right—how could the little angel possibly be some guy's plaything?
She's the little angel, after all!
Yamauchi Haruki was stunned.
Faced with numerous disapproving glares, he tried to salvage the situation.
"What are you talking about, Kanji? Weren't you furious with the Class A guys before? And didn't you initially tell us that little Kikyo must have been played by him?"
Ike Kanji, caught off guard by the retort, flushed red and snapped, "Don't talk nonsense! I never said anything like that!"
In truth, Yamauchi regretted his outburst the moment the words left his mouth. Why attack an ally at a time like this?
But seeing Ike sweating and blustering, a sense of satisfaction surged within him. Serves him right for jumping in unexpectedly—might as well drag him down too!
"Even if Kikyo isn't involved, Karuizawa definitely is! She must have evidence on her!"
Yamauchi suddenly pointed at Karuizawa Kei.
Although he hadn't personally seen her entering or leaving Kaoru's room, he was certain she was involved.
He had suspected it during the training camp, and this semester, he was almost sure—after all, he'd occasionally seen Karuizawa Kei on dates with Kaoru at the Keyaki Mall.
Even if they weren't dating, their relationship was at least ambiguous.
Furious at the accusation, Karuizawa Kei immediately fired back, "What evidence do you want? Do I have to explain who I'm with to someone like you?"
"Who knows if you two are—"
Just as Yamauchi was about to continue waving the class banner to pressure Karuizawa, Horikita Suzune's voice cut in from behind.
"Enough, Yamauchi-kun. Even if Kushida and Karuizawa have some kind of relationship with someone, you have no evidence to support your claims."
Seeing Horikita Suzune's indifferent expression, Yamauchi Haruki instinctively panicked.
"I-I do have evidence, isn't it obvious?" Yamauchi Haruki stammered, racking his brains as he spoke.
"Karuizawa wasn't in her room last night."
Karuizawa Kei's heart skipped a beat.
She was certain no one had followed her last night—how did Yamauchi Haruki know about this?
Kushida Kikyo, who had been pretending to cry, paused abruptly.
She subtly glanced at several female classmates and noticed some looking uneasy, clearly surprised that Yamauchi had brought this up.
Instantly, whispers broke out around them.
Horikita Suzune swept a glance at Yamauchi Haruki, but her gaze settled on the faces of the entire class.
Some were merely spectating, some wore expressions of shock, while others couldn't conceal the disappointment in their eyes.
The essence of this exam was to forcibly expel one person.
No one wanted to be expelled themselves, so they needed a seemingly reasonable justification to collectively target someone without hesitation.
As long as there was someone more suitable than themselves to take the fall, would they care about the specifics of the reason?
Thus, even if Yamauchi Haruki's claims were full of holes, and even if some realized he was spouting nonsense, since the expelled person wouldn't be themselves, everyone thought this way—shifting responsibility away from themselves.
Horikita Suzune estimated that nearly half the class harbored such thoughts, and for the first time, she felt strangely at ease.
This was the first time she had truly understood the class's atmosphere—this peculiar tension that had hung over everyone since the very second Chabashira Sae announced the voting exam.
Everyone had developed faint hostility and wariness toward former friends and classmates, forcing them to instinctively band together for warmth while simultaneously seeking a target most could agree on.
As long as everyone attacked that target, they themselves would be spared.
"I'm sorry, Yamauchi-kun, but I can't agree with you based solely on a few words," Horikita Suzune spoke up.
"Ultimately, these are just your conjectures. You actually don't have any decisive evidence, do you?"
"I-I see! You're covering for them!"
Perhaps because Horikita Suzune had left a deep impression on him before, Yamauchi Haruki seemed particularly lacking in confidence.
Horikita Suzune frowned. "In that case, let me ask you: What is the evidence that Karuizawa-san and Kushida-san betrayed the class?"
"O-Of course it's because they're on good terms with those guys from Class A!" Yamauchi Haruki argued stubbornly.
"Think about it—those guys already have girlfriends, yet they often get so close and go to their rooms. Isn't that strange?"
"How could you... that's too much, Yamauchi-kun..." Kushida Kikyo's little pearls of tears threatened to fall again, evoking pity from onlookers.
"So this is how you see me..."
Yamauchi Haruki's eyes widened.
She was using that trick again? Wasn't that just too unfair!
Sure enough, several girls rushed to comfort Kushida Kikyo, while others glared angrily at Yamauchi Haruki.
"Hey now, you guys—" Yamauchi Haruki tried to salvage the situation, but Horikita Suzune cut him off.
"This alone doesn't prove they've betrayed the class. Who spends time with whom shouldn't require special explanation to everyone. By that logic, wouldn't Ichinose-san have betrayed her class too?"Her words left Yamauchi Haruki momentarily speechless, even stirring thoughts of retreat in his heart.
"Taking a step back, even if they had betrayed the class, we weren't attacked by Class A," Horikita Suzune said calmly.
"During the sports festival, we were teammates with Class A. Would they have deliberately leaked our competition roster?"
This was truly difficult to refute.
Yamauchi Haruki had already realized he had walked into a dead end.
"During the partner exam, Class A didn't attack us, and we even gained 100 Class Points. During the training camp, Class A didn't do anything to us either. So what exactly did they betray?"
Faced with Horikita Suzune's imposing demeanor, Yamauchi Haruki involuntarily took a step back, his face full of panic.