Seeing the atmosphere in the meeting room become awkward.
Horikita Manabu could only look at Secretary Tachibana.
"Please trouble Secretary Tachibana again to notify Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from First Year Class D to come here."
"Understood, I'll go notify him right away."
Now, the situation of Class D was laid bare.
The issue of those who were to be expelled, which originally needed to be resolved first, now became the easiest problem to solve.
Because re-examination was almost a certainty.
This way, with ample time to review, if they were lucky enough, they could reduce the number of expelled students by more than half in one go.
In that case, the school should also be able to accept such a result.
And now, the most pressing issue Horikita Manabu needed to resolve.
Was how to deal with Hirata and Ayanokoji.
Horikita Manabu glanced at Amane, who had returned to her seat and was whispering with Ichinose.
The reason she dared to stand up and protect Hirata was precisely because she had discovered a loophole in the school rules.
No, rather than a loophole, it was more like playing a word game and exploiting a loophole in the school's regulations.
The school's regulation states that anyone found cheating on an exam using purchased test papers will be expelled.
This rule originally had nothing wrong with it.
However, Amane did something that no one could have predicted.
She essentially split a single sentence into two halves.
Since Ayanokoji bought the test papers,
then, logically, Ayanokoji should accept the school's punishment.
But here's the problem...
What would you punish him for?
Ayanokoji did purchase the test papers, but he did not use them to cheat on the exam. Unless there's surveillance, it's hard to prove; his grades would only be subject to action if they were used for cheating.
Otherwise, merely buying a test paper is not enough to meet the school's disciplinary regulations.
As for Hirata, who committed the other half of the disciplinary violation, his responsibility shifted from 'purchasing test papers and using them to cheat' to 'simply using exam papers to cheat'.
With Amane's intervention, even Horikita Manabu felt the difficulty increase significantly.
Originally, it was a clear-cut case for expulsion, with a law to back it up.
But what has it become now?
The responsibility is split in two: Ayanokoji bears part of the responsibility for purchasing the test papers, while the other part falls on Hirata, whose dissemination and sharing led to the exam answers being known in advance by many, thus constituting cheating.
This means that...
If Ayanokoji's testimony is true...
Horikita Manabu would even have to find a way to fairly and severely deal with the two of them for their actions on campus, without causing unnecessary public controversy.
This is something that just hearing about it makes one feel a headache.
Yet, the instigator of all these changes looked completely carefree.
Will everything really go according to this little girl's wishes?
Horikita Manabu narrowed his eyes.
The final key to this matter is Ayanokoji.
If Ayanokoji admits that he bought the test papers but did not provide them to Hirata, then the punishment for Ayanokoji would only be limited to purchasing exam papers, and not intentionally aiming to cheat on the exam. If Ayanokoji admits that he actively provided them to Hirata, then what awaits Ayanokoji might be an extremely severe expulsion.
Amane also noticed Horikita Manabu's occasional glances at her.
Naturally, she also knew what Horikita Manabu was thinking.
However, this matter has now reached a point where it is somewhat beyond Amane's control.
It's unknown whether Ayanokoji will even admit to purchasing the exam questions.
Let alone whether Ayanokoji will try to shift the blame back to Hirata to avoid responsibility.
If that happens, all her previous efforts would be completely in vain.
Amane looked at her phone.
It would have been great if she could have talked to Ayanokoji beforehand.
Unfortunately... Horikita Manabu most likely wouldn't give her such an opportunity.
Not long after, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka arrived at the conference room with Tachibana Akane.
As soon as he entered, Ayanokoji's gaze went straight to Amane.
He keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the conference room was a bit strange.
Chabashira-sensei looked at Ayanokoji with a complicated expression.
She was wondering what he was thinking.
On the way, Ayanokoji's attempts to get information from Tachibana Akane all failed.
However, he did learn that Amane was opposing the Student Council and the expelled students to protect Hirata.
To some extent, she was quite an impressive presence.
So, what's the current situation, and how far has it progressed?
"Ayanokoji-kun, you don't need to be nervous. The reason we called you here today is just to ask you some questions. You just need to answer truthfully."
Hearing Horikita Manabu's opening statement,
Ayanokoji immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.
It must be said that Horikita Manabu had already been as benevolent as possible.
Even if he wanted to catch Ayanokoji off guard, he would still give him some hints during the questioning.
As for whether the latter could perceive it, that had nothing to do with Horikita Manabu.
Ayanokoji precisely sensed the meaning in Horikita Manabu's words.
So he immediately became alert.
Answer questions based on facts.
It sounded like a very ordinary phrase used during interrogations or questioning.
But when this phrase appeared, it meant that there might have been a disagreement on the 'facts' previously.
What was urgently needed now was his testimony or evidence to change the outcome.
And it also indirectly told Ayanokoji the seriousness of the matter.
Prompting him to think carefully before answering the questions.
Ayanokoji raised his hand with some difficulty.
"Asking questions is fine, but if possible, please ask about recent events. I might remember them more clearly. You see, my memory isn't that great."
Ayanokoji finished speaking and looked at Amane.
Amane didn't speak, but her gaze met Ayanokoji's.
That meaningful look made Ayanokoji start to ponder what kind of message Amane intended to convey to him.
Amane's fingertips seemingly idly drew something on the table.
"Although the question we're about to ask is about something that happened a while ago, I believe it's something you would never forget. Did you previously purchase the midterm exam papers from your first year from Shimizu-kun, a third-year student?"
Facing Horikita Manabu's question, Ayanokoji felt a sense of certainty.
It seemed there were only some issues with the test papers.
Ayanokoji naturally knew that his actions did not comply with school regulations.
Especially with transactions like this that leave transfer records.
Ayanokoji could say he had long anticipated this day would come.
"Yes, I purchased the exam papers from Shimizu-kun."
Seeing Ayanokoji admit his actions,
Horikita Manabu's face showed a satisfied smile.
It seemed Ayanokoji was still relatively reliable.
If Ayanokoji had pretended to know nothing at this point, denying that he didn't know anyone named Shimizu, Horikita Manabu's evaluation of him would have plummeted significantly.
Under the irrefutable evidence of transfer records being found,
Any defense would be useless.
This way, the subsequent questioning would be much easier, wouldn't it?
"But I don't think my purchase of the exam papers has anything to do with this midterm exam, does it?"
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