Chapter-03 · EP-055
Episode 55: Condemnation
After leaving the nurse's office, I headed to a certain place.
I was furious. I'd reached my limit with Majima and Haijima.
If they were going to wield the authority of nobles, then I'd use nobles too.
So I came to the student council room.
Knock, knock.
Just as I was about to open the door, it opened from inside.
"What do you want?"
"Uh…"
Who was this person?
"I'm Yamagata, the student council vice president. And you?"
"Shirou Ichinose, Class 1-D. Is the student council president… Kujo-san here?"
"Kazuma is here, but what for? Do you have an appointment? We're busy right now. If it's not urgent, come back next week."
"It's urgent!"
I tried to push past Yamagata to enter, but he hurriedly stopped me.
"Wait, wait! We're really busy right now. We have to finalize each club's budget this week; we're wrestling with the ledgers. Don't bother us!"
"I'm really in a hurry too! Please let me see the president!"
As I argued with Yamagata at the entrance, a voice came from inside.
"Yamagata, who's there?"
I peered past Yamagata into the room and called out.
"Kazuma-san! It's Ichinose!"
"Shirou Ichinose? What do you need?"
"Kazuma, we don't have time to entertain visitors! Even last weekend, you left in the middle of work because your sister was in danger! That's why the budget approval is even more delayed!"
"He's the one who saved my sister. At least let me hear what he has to say. Come in, Ichinose."
"Excuse me!"
I passed Yamagata, who was making a sour face, and entered the student council room.
"Have a seat."
"No, I'm in a hurry, so I'll stand. Sorry, but Kazuma-san, could you come with me right now?"
"Hey, wait a minute!"
Yamagata, hearing my words, hurriedly tried to stop me. He wanted to say not to take Kazuma away when they were busy.
Kazuma asked me.
"What's got you so flustered? What do you need from me?"
I explained the situation as concisely as possible.
"Actually, just now my classmate Kyoya Murasakimura was attacked by Haijima from Class 1-B and his underlings, and he's seriously injured. Immediately after, another classmate, Akaishi, rescued him and took down Haijima and his gang. Then Haijima falsely claimed he was attacked by the two of them, played the victim, and caused a commotion, which many people witnessed. Even though Murasakimura and the others said it wasn't true, Haijima used his authority as a noble and said he'd have Murasakimura expelled. After that, our homeroom teacher Majima showed up, but he took Haijima's side and blamed Murasakimura. Majima can't be trusted. Kazuma-san, please help us."
Hearing my explanation, Kazuma's expression grew serious.
"Did you witness the scene yourself?"
"No, I arrived after Akaishi had already rescued Murasakimura."
"I can't know the truth just from your account. Don't you think it's possible that what Haijima-kun says is true?"
"No way. Murasakimura isn't the kind of guy to lie."
"But Murasakimura-kun is the one who picked a fight with all the nobles at the entrance ceremony, right? With that hot-headed personality, it wouldn't be surprising if he started it."
"No, absolutely not. He's quick to anger, but he hates injustice, and he's patient. …Probably."
As I spoke, I realized I was describing my image of Murasakimura and lost a bit of confidence.
Perhaps seeing through that, Kazuma smirked at my face.
"I don't intend to side with either party. Even if it's the person who saved my sister."
"I'm not asking you to side with us. I just want you to make a fair judgment."
Hearing my words, Kazuma placed his hands on his knees and stood up.
"Yamagata, I'm leaving the rest to you."
"Kazuma! You did the same thing on Friday…!"
"Let's go, Ichinose!"
"Yes!"
And so, I gained a powerful ally and headed to the guidance office.
When we entered the guidance office, Majima looked up, stunned.
"Kujo-san… what brings you here?"
"I was called by this Ichinose-kun. By the way, I heard you just said Ichinose-kun was expelled too. That wasn't a mishearing, was it? What's the meaning of this?"
"Well, you see, these guys attacked Haijima-kun and the others from Class 1-B and injured them, and Ichinose was also involved."
"Is that so?"
Kazuma asked me.
"There's no way! When I got there, everything was already over, and a crowd had gathered."
"That's what he says."
"No, I heard it from the victim, Haijima-kun! He said he was attacked by you three!"
"Majima-sensei, regarding that story, Ichinose-kun says that it was Haijima-kun who did the attacking, and that Akaishi-kun here came to the aid of Murasakimura-kun, who was being assaulted."
"That's a lie! Kujo-san, don't be fooled by him! Ichinose! How dare you say such things!"
"Hmm. Just hearing the accounts, I can't tell which is true. Where is Haijima-kun now?"
"W-well, Haijima-kun is the victim, so I sent him home first."
"You sent him home? Without hearing his story in detail?"
"I heard his story thoroughly. All that's left is to decide the punishment for these guys."
"Punishment aside, you haven't even confirmed the facts yet, have you? Weren't there any witnesses?"
"The witnesses are Haijima's companions. They were also attacked."
"Those aren't witnesses; they're the involved parties. If Haijima-kun is lying, his companions would go along with it, wouldn't they? So there are no third-party witnesses."
Just then, Murasakimura spoke up.
"That's right. They took me to a place with no one around, and I was attacked."
"Don't lie!"
"Kujo-san, it's the truth! And Akaishi-kun only came to my rescue! He's not at fault. Please help him not be expelled!"
Hearing that, Akaishi also pleaded with Kazuma.
"I did throw punches. I admit that. But Murasakimura didn't; he was just being attacked. It's absurd for him to be expelled!"
"Now, now, both of you calm down. Majima-sensei, what's this about expulsion?"
"Well, um, since a violent incident occurred, I think the only option is to expel these two."
"You think? The way you said it, it sounded like the expulsion was already decided. Murasakimura, what did Majima-sensei tell you?"
"He said we were expelled…"
"Majima-sensei told you that you were expelled?"
Murasakimura nodded.
"Majima-sensei, do you have the authority to do that? If you're going to expel a student, it has to be decided at a staff meeting, doesn't it? And what do you mean by announcing it to the students before a decision is made?"
"No, I never… They're lying."
Majima wouldn't change his story. This was exactly why I had Professor Jonouchi write a medical certificate for Murasakimura.
"Murasakimura! Where's the medical certificate?"
"Ah, it's over there…"
Murasakimura pointed to where torn paper was scattered on the floor.
"Ah, Majima, you bastard! You tore it up! Murasakimura, I didn't have it written just so you could show it to him!"
"S-sorry."
Majima hurriedly tried to gather the pieces, crumpling them.
Kazuma quickly stopped him.
"Majima-sensei! Show me!"
"This isn't something to show…"
"I said show me!"
"Eep!"
Majima cowered under Kazuma's forceful presence.
Kazuma walked over and snatched the torn certificate.
He smoothed it out and read it silently.
"Murasakimura-kun seems to have suffered a severe head injury. And there are signs of being beaten all over his body."
"Haijima-kun and the others must have fought back desperately. But they had more serious injuries."
"Then do you have their medical certificates?"
"Well, no, because their injuries were serious, we didn't have time to get such things…"
"I'll ask Professor Jonouchi later. However, it's written here that there were no marks on Murasakimura-kun's fists indicating he punched someone."
"Perhaps Professor Jonouchi missed it."
"Why would she? She specifically checked the condition of his fists and noted it."
"Well…"
Having apparently grasped the situation, Kazuma began to pass judgment on Majima.
"Majima-sensei, if I recall correctly, you were hired at this academy on the recommendation of Baron Haijima, weren't you?"
"Th-that has nothing to do with this…"
"It has everything to do with it, doesn't it? Since you're protecting the baron's son."
"…"
Majima couldn't retort.
"Come to think of it, your poor work attitude has been a problem lately, hasn't it? Such as when Ichinose-kun was injured, you abandoned your supervision duties and were drinking coffee up on the surface?"
"Th-that was Ichinose's fault for getting injured! Normally, no one gets seriously hurt on the first floor!"
"But it happened. You were supposed to be supervising for exactly that reason. That's not all. I hear that this month you're on duty for after-school dungeon supervision. But I've also heard you've never shown up?"
This was news to me, so I asked Kazuma.
"What's this supervision duty?"
"It's a duty where a teacher stands at the entrance after school to check who enters the dungeon and respond to any incidents. Teachers take turns each month, but I received a report that this month, no one has been at the entrance."
"Huh? There's such a duty? I've gone into the dungeon a few times after school, but I've never seen Majima there."
"So I hear, Majima-sensei."
"W-well…"
"You also seem to have been complaining about Murasakimura-kun causing trouble at the entrance ceremony and Ichinose-kun getting injured in the dungeon, saying you don't need students who cause problems?"
"Wh-who told you that?"
"I've heard it from several teachers. They say that Majima-sensei doesn't fulfill his own responsibilities and always blames the students for the problems."
"That's a lie!"
"Haa, enough, don't you think? I'll report this matter to the principal. Let's go, Murasakimura, Akaishi."
"Ah, um, what about us?"
"You've done nothing wrong, so why would you be expelled? Let's go."
As we left the room, I looked back. Majima was standing there with unfocused eyes, laughing, "Hahaha."
Walking down the hallway after leaving the guidance office, Murasakimura muttered.
"…Thank you, Kujo-san. You saved us."
"No thanks are necessary. I only did what was right. …Regarding Majima-sensei, I'll have my father, Duke Kujo, file a formal complaint with Baron Haijima. Without the baron's backing, he probably won't be able to stay at this academy."
Murasakimura fell silent, unable to find words to reply.
Amidst this, I couldn't help but snicker.
"What's so funny? Happy to have your revenge?"
"No… it's just… Duke Kujo filing a complaint… chuckle… Kujo… complaint… pfft…"
"…"
"…"
Murasakimura and Kujo both sighed.
"This is no time for joking…"
"Seriously."
"S-sorry. But it just struck me as funny…"
I apologized, my shoulders shaking. Then, finally, the two of them smiled just a little.
That smile was the mark of our small victory.
This concludes Chapter 3.
Thank you for reading this far.
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Chapter 4 will be posted starting tomorrow at 7:00 PM.