Bab 149: Chapter 149 – Sudo’s secret is revealed
"Karuizawa-san? Karuizawa-san, are you okay? Nothing's wrong, right?"
Karuizawa was slightly dazed but snapped back to reality when her close friends gathered around her. She broke into a radiant smile, "I'm fine. What could happen to me? That guy didn't even hit me."
Relieved that she had dodged the blow and hadn't shown any embarrassment in front of Yukio, Karuizawa felt a genuine sense of relief deep inside.
Sudo, witnessing this, also sighed in relief, puzzled why his punch had fortunately missed. If it had hit, he wouldn't have known what to say.
"Now that no one's hurt, let's drop it and move on," he grumbled, "Enough with the nonsense, everyone! She's fine, isn't she? Back off, stop crowding around me!"
The members of Class D weren't happy. "What, no apology? Even if you're terrible, you need to have some limits, Sudo!"
"I've never seen anyone as despicable as you! Jerk!"
Running out of patience, Sudo glanced at the two shouting boys who immediately shut up. Satisfied, he stepped forward, "I apologize, okay? Can you stop nagging now and go back? It's lunchtime, and we should practice for the afternoon events. The sports festival isn't over yet!"
Seeing Sudo's unrepentant demeanor, the students of Class D were infuriated. They wanted to confront him physically but didn't dare, just muttering to themselves.
However, others might dare to step up.
Yukio, who had been observing from a distance, now approached: "Sudo, your skills have really improved lately." Although his classmates didn't understand why he would join the fray instead of just watching.
But with Yukio stepping in, they followed him without question.
Seeing another group gather, especially led by Yukio, Sudo's brief calm flared into anger again: "What's it to you?!"
Before Yukio could respond, Ishizaki and the others quickly intervened: "Watch your mouth, Sudo!"
"How about it! Want to have another fight? I'll wait for you at the usual spot!"
"Hey, hey," Yukio pulled back an eager Ishizaki, still wearing a slight smirk, "Ishizaki, fight this guy who tried to sneak photos in the girls' changing room? Careful, he might take advantage of you."
The time-bomb had been buried long enough—it was time for it to explode.
"!" Unable to hold back his anger, Sudo was haunted by the memories of his failed attempt to secretly take photos at the end of summer vacation.
Despite just coming from a strenuous pole-toppling match and the midday sun beating down intensely, Sudo couldn't shake the chill that crawled up his spine.
It felt like the sunlight could not bring him any warmth; every ray felt like a blast of cold wind, chilling his skin and making his whole body stiff, as if he were trapped in a block of ice.
Having been initially furious, he suddenly remembered—the biggest leverage against him was firmly in Yukio's hands. He had no right to act so confidently in front of Yukio.
Reminded by his leader, Ishizaki's expression changed instantly; what started as aggression turned into derision. "Haha! Yukio-san's right. What's the point of fighting this freak? I'd dirty my hands."
Huh? A juicy piece of gossip? And it's a big one!
The bad boys of Yukio's class were particularly interested in this. "Sudo tried to take photos in a changing room? Which one, Yukio-san?"
"Ew, that's just disgusting! What's the full story, Yukio-san?"
Not just them, but also the students from Class D, aside from Sudo's two cronies Ike and Yamauchi, kept their distance, unwilling to be near Sudo. "He's the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low!"
"To think he'd do something so disgusting? Ugh, it makes my stomach turn. We should never have pooled points to help him."
"No, no, it's not what it looks like, you guys, let me explain…" Sudo panicked, waving his hands frantically trying to cover up the truth, all the while desperately looking to Yukio for help.
But why would Yukio care about him? Originally, he was just enjoying the chaos within Class D—the more disarray, the better, as long as it wasn't his class involved.
However, the moment Sudo swung his fist at Karuizawa, Yukio had already decided to detonate this bomb.
He had planned to keep this damaging secret about Sudo buried a bit longer, only using it if Horikita started gaining power in Class D and threatened his own class's standing.
But he couldn't wait any longer. In Yukio's view, Sudo was merely a pawn, not even worthy of being called an enemy.
When Sudo swung his fist at Karuizawa, one of his own, he became an enemy. There was nothing left to discuss; the swiftest expulsion was the correct way to handle an enemy.
"Oh? You think this is explainable?" Yukio appeared unthreatening, his eyes twinkling with a humor that only made Sudo sweat more. "Come on, Sudo, explain it to everyone. Let's hear it."
"Let's hear your great explanation about what happened at the end of summer, when we went to the large swimming pool. To prevent you from denying it later, I made sure the school surveillance captured everything, including the spy cameras in your group's large backpack."
Karuizawa gazed adoringly at Yukio as he commanded the situation.
Kushida, also mingling in the crowd, remembered the incident since the backpacks Sudo's group carried that day were suspiciously large, not at all suitable for a simple pool visit but rather for a camping trip.
Seamlessly aligning with Yukio, Kushida chimed in, "Su, Sudo-kun, that day you invited me to the pool was to... to..."
Kushida didn't need to finish; others were quick to fill in the blanks.
"Wait, what?! Sudo, you and Ike and Yamauchi were planning to spy on Kushida-san?"
The girls were particularly intolerant of spying: "Disgusting! Just go die, you three perverts!"
"How could there be people like you in the world? You were about to be expelled, and Kushida-san helped you with a lot of personal points! No gratitude, instead, you wanted to... oh, it's just vile, I can't even say it!"
With their secret out, Ike and Yamauchi, too, found themselves ostracized by their classmates, standing on the outskirts, sweating and panic-stricken, at a loss for what to do.
Sudo was a mess. Anger, regret, anxiety, and helplessness—all these emotions mingled as he endured his classmates' relentless insults and accusations.
His mind was a tightrope, increasingly taut until it snapped.
"Enough!" Sudo clutched his head and yelled skyward, "Shut up, all of you! I'll just apply for withdrawal, okay? Will that satisfy you? Can you shut up now?"
***
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