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

Chapter 145: Backstab

Hikigaya’s words were like a cold bucket of water, extinguishing the last remnants of hope Horikita had. It meant that her taking on all the responsibility was completely pointless, because the ultimate decision-maker was the student council. As long as the student council disagreed or didn’t approve, the matter would continue to be investigated until they reached what they considered to be the “truth.”

In other words, from the very beginning, Horikita’s confession had always been a self-deception!

Realizing this, Horikita stared at Hikigaya, unable to understand what he was trying to do.

Did Hikigaya not know how disastrous and damaging it would be for Class D if the student council continued their investigation?

Wasn’t taking all the responsibility exactly what everyone involved had hoped for as the “correct solution”?

Hikigaya, what exactly are you trying to do?!

It wasn’t just Horikita—Ichinose, Kushida, and even Ishizaki were all confused, not understanding Hikigaya’s intentions. Similarly, Ayanokouji seemed to have an inkling of what was going on, and his face darkened slightly.

In the face of Horikita’s almost tangible anger, Hikigaya remained unfazed and instead looked toward Tachibana, who seemed to sense Hikigaya’s gaze. She suddenly took out a document from her chest and placed it in front of Horikita’s brother. “President, this is a document that Hikigaya submitted this morning, and it needs your attention.”

Horikita’s brother turned to look at Tachibana, who gave a slight nod. He then opened the document, and after reading the contents, his pupils constricted slightly. He raised his head to look at Hikigaya, his eyes sharp with a hint of intensity.

“President, this is the application that Horikita and I entrusted Hikigaya with, to submit to the school last night.”

At that moment, Hirata, who had barely made his presence known until now, suddenly stood up and began explaining: “It’s like this—because of the fighting incident, Horikita and I realized that the fundamental problem was the lack of surveillance footage.”

“Afterward, Horikita also did some field research, especially regarding the special teaching building, which lacked security cameras. The building not only houses staff offices but also a science classroom containing chemicals, which poses a major safety risk.”

“So, Horikita and I approached Hikigaya from our class in the student council. In order to prevent similar incidents in the future and to address the significant safety concerns, we hoped the school could install surveillance cameras in the special teaching building. This application document was then submitted to Hikigaya for approval by the student council.”

At this point, Tachibana spoke up just in time, both explaining to Horikita’s brother and informing everyone present: “President, this application document was indeed submitted by Hikigaya this morning. Currently, there are indeed many safety risks in the special teaching building, and in order to prevent similar incidents, I also believe it’s necessary to install surveillance cameras. A preliminary review and response have been made, and I intended to present it to you for final approval after this afternoon’s meeting.”

The document also had Tachibana’s personal seal, confirming that the application had received her preliminary approval.

Student council matters follow a specific process.

For routine tasks and minor violations, Hikigaya himself has the authority to handle them. For more significant matters involving clubs, classes, or the school, these need to be reviewed by someone of Tachibana’s level first. She handles and filters out less important or everyday matters and then sends the remaining crucial documents and tasks to Horikita for final approval.

This system works well due to the small number of student council members, significantly improving efficiency and reducing individual workload and pressure. Of course, it also places high demands on the capabilities of each student council member.

The drawbacks are also very apparent, which is the potential for personal power to become overbearing!

At this point, Hikigaya followed up on Tachibana’s words and said, “After receiving Tachibana-senpai’s preliminary review, I explained the result to Hirata. However, due to some misunderstanding between us, Hirata mistakenly believed that this application had already received final approval from the student council. In reality, it was only ‘preliminary approval.’ I admit that I didn’t explain it clearly enough, which led to this mistake.”

Hirata also spoke up with a self-reproachful expression, “It’s not Hikigaya’s fault. I was too impatient and didn’t inquire about the details. I explained it to Horikita Suzune, and she mistakenly thought it had been approved by the student council, which is why she went ahead and installed the surveillance cameras.”

Then, the room fell into silence. Everyone appeared shocked, and Ishizaki even dropped his jaw, seemingly thinking, “Is it really possible to cover this up like that?”

“Wait! That’s not right! Even so, installing surveillance cameras is the school’s responsibility, it has nothing to do with Class D or the students!” Ishizaki shouted, which echoed the confusion of many others.

Regarding the installation of surveillance cameras, how could it possibly be something that Class D or the students should handle? This is clearly overstepping, and it doesn’t make sense!

“Yes, on this point, Horikita indeed overstepped her bounds. She made the mistake of thinking she was being clever by installing the cameras, which led to a series of problems afterward!” Hikigaya didn’t argue with Ishizaki; instead, he supported his point by pointing out Horikita’s mistake.

“Exactly, so Horikita’s private installation of surveillance cameras was indeed a violation!” Ishizaki yelled.

“That’s right, I’m not denying that it was a violation.” Hikigaya nodded.

“Ah?” This time, Ishizaki was the one who didn’t understand. So, what exactly is Hikigaya trying to do?!

At this point, some people started to catch on to the implication of Hikigaya’s words.

“Objectively, Class D’s act of installing surveillance cameras in the special teaching building was indeed a violation. But subjectively, Horikita did it because she ‘mistakenly believed that the application had been approved by the school,’ which is why she went ahead with the installation of the cameras.”

Ayanokouji looked enlightened, then glanced at Hikigaya, Hirata, and the others, “I’m understanding this correctly, right?”

Hirata nodded, and then apologized to Horikita’s brother and everyone present, “Yes, Horikita installed the surveillance cameras because she wanted to prevent similar incidents in the future due to the lack of surveillance and the safety hazards in the special teaching building.”

“In the process, the information I conveyed was very distorted, which led to this situation, turning something that could have been beneficial for the students and the school into a bad outcome. I must take a large part of the responsibility for this.”

By now, everyone finally realized what Hirata was trying to do. Since the installation of the surveillance cameras had already happened and couldn’t be changed, the new approach was to try to minimize the punishment for Horikita.