“The culprits are Kashiwagi and the two girls in her group. It’s not Natsume-san.”

“Haa!?”

“Eh…?”

“Wha!?”

The one who spoke up was, unexpectedly, one of my few friends…

Kato Susumu, the person who had been reluctant to get involved in this matter.

“Ka… Kato…?”

Kato glanced at me for a moment, then immediately shifted his eyes back to the teacher standing in front of the lectern.

“Huh!? Hey, you gloomy nobody!! What the hell are you saying that based on!?”

“Can you not talk out of your ass!? Seriously, it’s insanely irritating!”

“Yeah, that’s right, that’s right!!”

The girls immediately get angry when their names are suddenly brought up.

Their anger could be said to have gone through the roof. The three girls in Kashiwagi’s group glared at Kato with contorted, ugly expressions no girl should ever be making.

Although slightly intimidated by them, Kato continues to speak.

“You guys were all jealous because Sado didn’t pay attention to you, and because he became Sakurada-san’s boyfriend! That’s why you started harassing her! But you got carried away, and the bullying kept escalating until you couldn’t turn back… so you tried to pin it all on the class rep, Natsume-san! And since you didn’t like her either, you figured you’d drag her down along with her!!”

Kato spews everything at once, not allowing anyone to interrupt.

I did hear from Fuyunagi-san that Kashiwagi and the other two girls apparently had a crush on Sado.

Back then, when Fuyunagi-san was still publicly acting as Sado’s girlfriend, those three girls in Kashiwagi’s group would call her their best friend on the public.

But behind her back, they’d badmouth her, saying, “That fake, cutesy chick! She’s totally hitting on Sado, it’s so annoying!”—something Fuyunagi-san had complained to me about before.

Even though they hated her that much, I couldn’t help wondering why they never tried to bully Fuyunagi-san the way they did this time.

My guess is that they were probably scared of Fuyunagi-san’s influence.

Back then, Fuyunagi-san really was at the center of the class, radiating some kind of charismatic aura I couldn’t even explain.

If they had tried to bully someone like her, it’s easy to imagine how badly things would’ve gone for them once it got exposed.

At most, all they could do was complain about her behind her back.

But then, just when they thought Fuyunagi-san had finally broken up with Sado, he started dating Sakurada-san instead.

Perhaps they thought Sakura-san, who is somewhat lower in rank than Fuyunagi-san, would be okay, and their jealousy exploded.

And was all of this an attempt to blame Natsume-san for everything?

“Hah!!? Who are you calling jealous?!”

“Don’t go running your mouth like you know anything, you damn loner!!”

“Yeah, that’s right! Where’s your proof!? You’ve got nothing, so don’t stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong! Go on then, say something, you idiot!”

Kashiwagi and the other three girls lose their composure.

Kato looks slightly hesitant.

“Calm down, you three. But Kashiwagi and her friends have a point. Kato, do you have any proof that they’re the culprits? If you don’t, then you’re trying to pin the blame on completely innocent students. Do you understand that?”

“Tsk….”

“…Kato-kun… I really appreciate the sentiment… but don’t push yourself. I never intended to drag you into something like this.”

After the teacher said that, Kato faltered slightly.

And Natsume gently admonished him not to overdo it.

It was Natsume’s usual composed, cold tone.

But her voice was clearly trembling.

“…I’m fine… haaah… I’ve got proof!!”

“Hah…?!”

“Proof!?”

“Calm down, you three! …Kato… is it true that you actually have the proof!?”

“I do… right here.”

Kato takes out his smartphone.

He holds it up for the entire class to see.

“Huh?”

“…W-wait… seriously…?”

“The evidence is in here.”

These days, it’s common knowledge that smartphones have audio and video recording functions.

Back in the Showa era or the early Heisei period, something like this would’ve been unthinkable, but now we live in a time where everyone carries a camera in their pocket.

So if Kato holds up his phone and says he has evidence, anyone would naturally assume that undeniable proof is stored in there.

“There’s evidence in here that proves those three are the culprits…”

“Lies! Lies, lies, lies!! You’re totally lying!”

“We didn’t do anything! So yeah, debunked!!”

Kashiwagi and her friends kept throwing out these bizarre rebuttals at Kato, who was saying he had proof.

They hadn’t debunked anything at all, so why were they acting like they’d won the argument already?

Ignoring Kashiwagi and the others, Kato begins to operate his smartphone.

Realizing things were getting bad, someone in Kashiwagi’s group shouted:

“Cut it out, you bastard!!”

They hurled insults as they stood up, trying to snatch the phone from Kato, but Sado stepped in before they could reach him.

“Stop it!!”

“Ugh… Sado-kun…”

“W-what are you doing!? Move, Sado-kun!”

“Yeah! Move!”

“This is awful!! Everyone’s ganging up on us and treating us like the culprits! This is way too cruel!!”

Kashiwagi and her friends unleashed a rant so blatantly hypocritical it was like hurling a massive boomerang straight at themselves.

Their intensity was so overwhelming that Sado instinctively stepped back in fear.

Natsume tried to argue back with “You’re the last ones who should be saying that!?”

But Kashiwagi’s group snapped at her even harder, saying, “Shut up!! This whole mess is happening because you won’t admit it in the first place!”

The classroom devolved into complete chaos, like a scene straight out of pandemonium.

And then… a clear, refreshing voice cut cleanly through the chaos and took control of the room.

“Shut it… just watch Kato-kun’s video.”

Fuyunagi Shizuku… it was Shizuku-san’s voice.

Her voice immediately controlled the situation and brought silence to the classroom that had been so noisy until now.

“What are you doing, Kato-kun… hurry up.”

“Ah… yes!”

And so, Kato operated his smartphone, and a certain audio began to play.

“Ugh, Natsume is seriously annoying. She should just hurry up and admit it already.”

“Yeah, she’s so stuck-up, it pisses me off.”

“Hehehe! Nagisa pisses me off too. She stole our Sado-kun, and we’re letting her off this easy, aren’t we just total angels?”

“Seriously, this class has way too many awful bitches. Shizuku, Nagisa, Natsume… ugh, they should all just drop dead! Gyahahaha!”

“For real!”

“Hahaha!!”

On the small smartphone screen, the girls appeared like little demons, their behavior utterly grotesque, as they scribbled all over a desk and cut gym clothes apart with scissors.

The three girls in question turn bright red with embarrassment.

Kashiwagi, the center of the group of three, shouted “Stop it! Stop it!” as she tried to snatch Kato’s phone away.

I stood up and stepped in front of her to shield Kato.

Sado stepped forward beside me as well.

Other boys joined in and held Kashiwagi back, leaving her unable to move.

She continues to shout excuses even at this point, saying “Aaah… no, no, no!! You’ve got it all wrong!!”

Even now, even after everything, she was still trying to make excuses.

The gazes of the students throughout the classroom turned cold and harsh as they looked at them.

At this point, it was obvious to everyone who had started all of this.