There is something wrong with Hikigaya’s classroom of the Elite, as expected

Chapter 138: Smoke Bomb

Hikigaya sat alone beneath a large banyan tree. Outside, under the scorching midday sun, the basketball court was blazing hot. Now that it was July, the temperatures had become almost unbearable. However, in the cool shade of the tree, Hikigaya found the heat somewhat tolerable.

Checking the time, he saw that there were still thirty minutes left in the lunch break. He then sent a message to someone using the contact information he had just received from Komiya. After setting his phone aside, he quietly waited.

It wasn’t long before a dark figure in the distance began approaching quickly under the sweltering sun.

“Hey, Hikigaya! What do you want? If you’re here to negotiate on behalf of Class D, forget it!”

Ishizaki’s voice was loud and brash, just like his personality. He was straightforward and direct, though some might call it simple-minded.

Hikigaya glanced at the aggressive-looking Ishizaki and calmly said, “What if I told you this was about your expulsion?”

“Tch, whatever. I’m not falling for— Wait, what?! Expulsion?!”

Ishizaki’s expression stiffened, his eyes widening in shock. Clearly, the word expulsion had caught him completely off guard. But after a moment, he recovered and snapped, “I knew it! You’re up to no good again, Hikigaya! You scheming liar, trying to trick—”

Before Ishizaki could finish, Hikigaya gestured for him to shut up and then played an audio recording from his phone.

“Alright, this recording is now starting. To ensure fairness and transparency, and to respect personal privacy, do you both consent to being recorded voluntarily?”

“Agreed!”

Two voices answered in unison.

“I am Komiya Kyogo, a first-year from Class C. Regarding last week’s fight in the Special Building, I was forced by Ishizaki Daichi through violent threats. Fearing retaliation, I had no choice but to follow his instructions, fabricate a statement, and provide false testimony… Everything was orchestrated by Ishizaki Daichi!”

“I am Kondo from Class C…”

Aside from the names at the beginning, the rest of Kondo’s statement was identical—confirming that in the Sudo conflict case, Ishizaki had used violence to coerce Komiya and Kondo into coordinating false testimony.

“W-What is this?!”

Ishizaki’s face turned pale as he pointed at Hikigaya, his voice trembling. “Why is there a recording?! No—wait! Komiya and Kondo… they betrayed us?!”

Beads of sweat covered Ishizaki’s forehead and even his back.

“This… This has to be fake! Yes, absolutely fake! There’s no way Komiya and Kondo would dare betray Ryuen!”

“Oh? If it’s real, though, then you’re in serious trouble. Not only did you use violent threats, but you also instructed them to fabricate testimonies and deceive the school and the student council. As the main perpetrator, these charges alone are enough to get you suspended until the summer break. Oh, and just so you know—if you miss the final exams, you’ll be expelled.”

“…Huh?”

It was as if the sky had come crashing down on Ishizaki. How did he suddenly become the main culprit? And how had things escalated to expulsion so quickly?!

“Ishizaki, let me give you some advice. If you can’t figure a way out of this, maybe you should ask that arrogant fool for help. I’m sure he’s nearby… Isn’t that right?”

Ishizaki’s eyes widened in horror. “H-How do you know about Ryuen?!”

“You idiot, Ishizaki!”

At this moment, an impatient female voice came from behind Hikigaya. A short-haired girl with blue hair, Ibuki, walked out from the corner of the building.

“If it were me, I’d have guessed it too. There’s no way Ryuen would let you come alone to this meeting. That’d be like serving yourself up on a platter!”

Behind Ibuki stood Albert, wearing black sunglasses, and Ryuen, his face looking particularly grim.

“Hey, dead fish eyes, just say it—what exactly do you want?”

“It’s simple. Let’s put an end to this right here.”

“Hah? Right now, it’s your Class D and that guy Horikita who won’t let go of us!”

Ryuen sneered coldly.

“I don’t want to repeat myself. Understand?”

“Y-You! Don’t think that just because you have Komiya’s recording, you’re untouchable! In the end, all they have to do is deny—”

Before Ishizaki could finish his sentence, Ryuen kicked him to the ground.

“Shut up, idiot!”

Ryuen turned back to glare at Hikigaya, his eyes locked on him as if trying to detect any flaws in his expression. But no matter how hard he stared, he couldn’t see through Hikigaya’s poker face. In the end, Ryuen squeezed out two words through gritted teeth:

“Deal.”

“Ryuen, seems like you’re not entirely brainless.”

Leaving this remark, Hikigaya got up and walked away.

Only after Hikigaya’s figure disappeared did Ishizaki shakily get back on his feet and protest indignantly, “Ryuen-san, Komiya and Kondo betrayed us! We can’t just let them off like this!”

Hearing this, Ryuen cursed, “Ishizaki, no wonder Ibuki calls you an idiot.”

“If I hadn’t agreed just now, you’d already be on the verge of expulsion! That dead fish-eyed bastard was just testing whether I would save you!”

Ryuen was furious. Because of Komiya and Kondo’s recording, Class C had now admitted to falsifying testimonies, and the blame had been pushed entirely onto Ishizaki. He was made out to be the mastermind, while Komiya and Kondo were merely victims coerced by violence. Even if they faced punishment, it would be significantly lighter. But Ishizaki? That was a different story. Now that things had escalated to this point, there was a real chance Ishizaki could actually be expelled!

Ryuen didn’t particularly care if this idiot got expelled, but the real issue was that an expulsion would cost Class C 300 class points!

No matter what, Ryuen couldn’t afford to let Ishizaki’s stupidity cost them 300 points.

“Can’t we just have Komiya and Kondo deny the recording later?”

Ibuki suddenly asked.

Given Ryuen’s dominance over Class C, forcing Komiya and Kondo to comply shouldn’t be difficult. This whole fight situation had already proven that they were under Ryuen’s control—despite being beaten to a pulp, they hadn’t dared to resist his orders.

“Hah… If we did that, we’d actually be walking right into that dead fish-eyed bastard’s trap! The moment Komiya and Kondo deny the recording, then everything we’ve said so far loses all credibility. And with how strict the school has been recently, there would only be one possible outcome.”

Ryuen glared in the direction Hikigaya had disappeared, grinding his teeth.

“All three of you—suspended until summer break, then expelled.”

“So you’re saying… we’re completely caught in his trap?”

Ibuki looked irritated. That meant they had completely lost the initiative. As long as Hikigaya wanted to, he could get Ishizaki expelled at any time!

Ryuen didn’t answer Ibuki. His expression darkened as if deep in thought, and after a moment, he scoffed.

“Hikigaya only wanted to make me back off. If he truly wanted to expel Ishizaki, he wouldn’t have needed to call both him and me here!”

“I see! That means Hikigaya doesn’t actually have full confidence in expelling me! Then what the hell are we afraid of—”

Ishizaki suddenly had a revelation.

“Idiot!”

“Moron!”

Ryuen and Ibuki both snapped at him in unison.

Ishizaki froze, his face stiffening in embarrassment, completely clueless about what he had said wrong.