I parted ways with Zyriot and Shimizu, returning to E Class.

I wasn't sure what to expect upon entering the classroom, but I could feel the tense atmosphere inside while standing outside the door. I quietly took a deep breath.

Once entering the classroom, I would have to argue my way to survive. I would need to convince everyone else of my innocence using the videos Yogen and Mikitaka uploaded. I'll admit, I was nervous, but that was because I wasn't good at talking to others.

To make up for it, I would need to show them my conviction. If I even faltered for a second, they would latch onto that weakness and rip me to shreds for it. They could hurl whatever abuse and accusations at me, but as long as I kept a level head and belief in my own innocence, it wouldn't affect me one bit.

I steeled my mind as I pushed open the door.

When I entered, everyone's gazes fell on me. Their stares were silently judging me with their own personal thoughts. They were either allies or enemies, and I couldn't tell which was which, except for a small handful I trusted in.

Without any words being exchanged, I walked straight to my seat. As I did, Matsushita got up and blocked me.

For the first time, I saw a hateful expression on Matsushita's usually smiling face.

"Excuse me."

Even as I said that, Matsushita wouldn't budge. He put his phone in front of me.

"Did you betray E Class?"

Unexpectedly, this was the angle Matsushita was attacking me with next. Soon, Sakigamiya stood up in support.

"Takanori... I can't believe you could be so low..."

I hadn't anticipated an argument of this sort to play out. I thought I'd have to fight tooth and nail to clear my name, not deal with another rumour. Confused about what this was about now, I decided to ask them about it.

"Where's this coming from?"

"Isn't it obvious? This video that was posted on the app today."

Matsushita pointed at his phone. Displayed on the screen was Yogen's video. Slowly, I pieced the puzzle together. It seems like they were accusing me of betraying E Class because I had gotten an A Class student to stick up for me.

I guess it makes sense why they shifted to this argument. It was unfathomable that I, someone who was alone and hated, could somehow convince an A Class student to work together with me. Unfortunately, they've blatantly ignored Yogen's capricious personality that enabled her to do this without reservation.

Regardless, Matsushita minimising her role to being an anonymous A Class student actually benefitted him as most people wouldn't check the specific details of the person who posted it, such as their motives or their personality. Just leaving it at "they were from A Class and helped Takanori" was more than enough to make people suspicious of me. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

He probably did this because if we continued discussing whether or not I was guilty, I'd have the advantage with the all new evidence which came out recently. He recognised this was a losing battle and gave up on it. That's why, by switching the topic to this, he was essentially making me fight on his turf once more.

It was a sly but clever tactic to change accusations. However, they had given me something vital for my plans in the long term. And it was a chance.

A chance to fight back.

"That video? The one showing that you blatantly lied in front of the class? What about it, Matsushita-san?"

I decided to hit him with the first bullet I loaded ever since I concocted the plan. Posting this surveillance footage would show everyone that Matsushita had lied yesterday when retelling the events that had happened Monday morning.

"I never lied. Don't shift the goalpost."

A bitter taste emerged in my mouth as he said that. He had already shifted the goalpost in his favour, yet prevented me from doing so myself.

"Yesterday, you said that I went in first to save Shimizu-san, but as you can clearly see in the video, you were the one that went in first. You blatantly lied in front of everyone to make me look worse."

Matsushita looked at me with a perplexed snarl.

"Takanori, I find it hilarious that you're accusing me of lying when you're doing it yourself right now. Everyone, do you remember what I said yesterday? I described it exactly like the video. I went in to save Shimizu-san from Hashimoto-senpai, while Takanori tagged along to make himself look better."

Sakigamiya was the first to nod in agreement, which made the others in the class also nod along.

This guy... he even managed to sneak in a passive aggressive insult at the end. I thought he'd lie and say he forgot what had happened exactly, hence the botched retelling, but instead he's trying to gaslight me into thinking it never happened.

He was gaslighting me to achieve three things: throw me off, dodge the question, and save his image. By making me doubt my memory, he was trying to make my mental game weaker than his. Matsushita had full belief that he was right and that I was wrong, and nothing could shake that. However, he had severely underestimated my own mental fortitude.

I'm a loner who spent all of his middle school days as shut-in. I've endured more humiliation than anyone else has. My mind was the strongest.

Furthermore, he couldn't be the trustworthy class representative if a such smear as lying was on his reputation. The fact so many people agreed with Matsushita is just proof of how effective his ikemen image is. After all, most people don't remember events that don't concern them, and yesterday's argument during homeroom, while shocking, only directly affected me.

To everyone else, it was the same as eating breakfast or watching a mediocre show. They forgot what happened, and now that they've been challenged to remember it, they'll remember the version of events presented by the more trustworthy person. Between me and Matsushita, they trusted him more. It's only natural they'd remember it the same way Matsushita described it as.

Unluckily for Matsushita, I trusted my own memories more than I trusted him. I clearly remember the events of yesterday because they were so traumatic. Without a doubt in my mind, Matsushita had definitely lied to save himself.

That's why, instead of fighting a pointless battle, I decided not to pursue the point any further and let the argument take a different course. One that would favour me.

OST: Youkoso Jitsuryoku Main Theme 2

"See? Now quit beating around the bush and answer me."

"I would, if I understood what you were talking about. Could you explain what's going on?"

Though, I anticipated Matsushita's next response because I already knew what he was accusing me of. That's why I prepared a lightning fast reply to embarrass him in front of everyone else.

"You worked with an A Class student, obviously. You betrayed our class!"

"I thought you wanted me out of this class. So why is it a problem if I "betray" you?"

Matsushita was caught off guard by my snappy response. His face tightened up, creating fresh wrinkles on his forehead. Steeling himself, he dived headfirst into battle.

"Grr... what did you tell them? Both A Class and D Class, as well as the 3rd Years! You've worked with them behind the scenes to orchestrate this, didn't you? What the hell do you gain from screwing with our class, Takanori?"

Talk about jumping the shark. Matsushita's somehow twisted the story to make it out that I somehow masterminded the whole situation so E Class would be in shambles before our war.

This massive leap of logic was such a stretch, I wondered how many hoops he had to jump through to reach this conclusion. He probably thinks I'm a spy for D Class and that I've been feeding information to them, or something ridiculous like that.

"I gain nothing from all of this happening except these scars and bruises. Everything's that happened is real, Matsushita-san. I haven't made a conspiracy to betray E Class, or anything crazy like that. All the evidence is right there, in front of you. You can piece together what's happened if you look on the forums, which you clearly have."

With the videos Yogen and Mikitaka posted, this misunderstanding would be easily untangled by anyone who thought about it for more than a second. Even if you had difficulty putting the pieces together, you could check the comments underneath the post. They succinctly explained the truth and did the work for you. There was no excuse not to know.

"It doesn't matter if you hit Shimizu-san or not anymore. You still hit Ritaka-san. You still worked with Yogen-san from A Class to gather this footage. You've proven yourself to be a violent and untrustworthy person."

"What evidence do you have that I'm untrustworthy? Also, you can't call me violent because I punched someone once. Did you already forget why I did it? I punched him to save Yukina."

"It doesn't matter if your intentions were noble. You still resorted to violence like an animal. All I want from you is to tell me what you did to get an A Class student to side with you. You must've sold out our class to gain her trust. There's no way you could buy her help with points. Not only that, D Class is suddenly changing their tune and saying you're innocent, all while now being buddy-buddy with you, despite the fact they mercilessly beat you up. What did you do to gain their trust too, huh?"

"By being a decent human being?"

Matsushita grabbed my collar. I flinched, not expecting his level of force from him.

"Answer me seriously, Takanori. Or else."

"...and here I thought you said violence was for animals."

"I didn't lay a hand on you. I only grabbed your shirt."

"And that's not violent?"

"I'm not leaving a physical mark on you. That's the difference. Have you seen the damage done to Ritaka-san's face? You're horrible, Takanori."

I sighed, dropping this aspect of the argument. I wouldn't win in a comparison of violence. Pointing out this hypocrisy was more than enough for me.

"What are you going to do if I don't answer then? If you can somehow send me to another class, you'd be doing me a favour. The only thing you can do is expel me. Are you really going to go that far to get rid of me? And if you are, what are you going to do to ensure it? Face it, Matsushita-san. We're stuck together in this class, whether you like it or not."

"I know I can't do anything about you, a mole in the class. That's why I'm asking you to tell me what you did to gain A Class and D Class's trust."

I wanted to confirm his true intentions. What did Matsushita have to gain from getting me to tell him how I gained their trust? Then, I realised.

"Are you going to make use of that for yourself?"

This was the only thing I could think of. The reason why he was so adamant on getting me to tell him.

There was no way I'm going to let myself get belittled into becoming his pawn. If that happened, then my plan of becoming leader would sink entirely.

That's why, depending on what he answered, I may or may not show him mercy.

"Of course I am. If we have relationships with the two strongest classes, alongside our current alliance with B Class, we'd be unstoppable! With your ties, I'd be willing to forgive you for your misdeeds, up to a point. If you're useless now, I'll give use to you."

I see.

So that was the choice he made.

Right now, the person staring me down wasn't the Matsushita everyone knew.

It was the real Matsushita.

In that case, I'll have no regrets doing this.

No, scratch that.

I will never regret this.

Because I will become leader of this class.

"Unfortunately for you, Matsushita-san."

I raised my hand and grabbed the wrist he was using to hold my collar with.

"I have no intentions of ever working with you, who backstabbed me."

I tore Matsushita's hand off my clothes. Matsushita staggered back, surprised by my raw strength.

Adjusting my collar and tie, I looked over to Yukina, Nora, Mitsuba, Yukimura, Katsumi, and Akihiro.

Seeing them calmed my nerves, if just a little.

"After all, I'm not the loner you think I am. I have friends in this class."

With that cue, Yukina understood what I wanted when we met eyes seconds earlier. Making a racket, she stood up in support for me, slamming her hands on the desk.

"That's right! I stand with Yuu!"

Following her lead, Yukimura and Mitsuba stood up without hesitation.

"Screw you, Matsushita! From now on, I'm following Takanori."

"The end of the ikemen era is now, baby! Who's with us?! Tanaka-san? Nora-san?"

Tanaka looked scared to stand up for me. However, seeing his two closest friends get up, he did as well.

"T-Takanori-san might not be a bad guy after all, de gozaru!"

Nora, who didn't even need to consider Mitsuba's call, stood up while putting both his hands on his chest.

"I... I believe Takanori-kun is innocent!"

Unexpectedly, Akari was the next to take action. Katsumi also stood, recognising what was happening.

"This situation is a mess, but from what I've seen... I think Yuuto is the victim here. Isogai-kun, you were really harsh on him on the beginning, you know?"

"Exactly, he's done nothing wrong! He was framed for all of this! You guys should give Takanori-kun a second chance, he's a really good person!"

To my surprise, Demiza also stood up and turned towards me. She clapped her hands above her head and bowed it deeply.

"Takanori-san, sorry for ever doubting you for a second! I should've known better than to believe those stupid rumours!"

Seeing this outpouring of support for me, Akihiro reluctantly got up, getting over his fear of crowds for my sake.

"...sorry, Isogai, but I'm with Takanori for this. He's done nothing wrong. If anything, he's helped me and a bunch of other guys out these past few days."

Kouji silently stood up in the back. Rinbayashi was the last to stand. She sent a chilling gaze my way.

"This speaks for itself. Takanori-san isn't guilty."

Rinbayashi's sound judgment swept through the room. It was a powerful direct blow to Matsushita, who was now surrounded on all sides by people who believed in me and not him.

"You guys... believe Takanori over me?"

Matsushita was in complete disbelief as he looked around at everyone standing up for my sake.

"Kou-san... Taiga-san... Rinbayashi-san too... w-why?"

Seeing that Matsushita was losing ground against me, Sakigamiya slammed her desk loudly to catch everyone's attention.

"If you side with Takanori, you're all traitors of this class! Can't you guys see that he's pulling the wool over your eyes?! I'm with Isogai-san, how about the rest of you?!"

With that threatening and desperate declaration from Sakigamiya, a few students looked like they wanted to sit down, in particular Tanaka and Katsumi. However, they continued to stand, even when things got more tense.

Yamaguchi got up, smirking at how the dynamic of the class had dramatically shifted.

"I'm with Matsushita-san. There's no way Takanori got that support without doing something underhanded, right? C'mon, you can tell us what he did to gain your trust. If he's done something wrong, I'll beat him up for you."

Yamaguchi cracked his huge fists. However, Yukimura growled, stepping in front of Yamaguchi fearlessly.

"Oi, if you go round trying to hurt my friends, I'll make you regret it, bastard."

"That scumbag is your friend?"

"Yes he is! He's better than a sack of leeches like you!"

Yukimura was about to throw a punch at Yamaguchi, who was willing to take it. However, Yukina intervened, grabbing Yukimura's arm at the last second the best she could.

"Y-Yukimura-kun, calm down! You're still on thin ice with the school council... another trial could mean expulsion!"

Understanding this was a stupid thing to do, Yukimura lowered his fist with a grunt. Yamaguchi snickered at him.

Ayano stood up next to voice his opinion, which was extremely rare.

"It's not that I don't like you, Takanori-san. It's that I can't possibly ever agree with your way of doing things. I'm sure Hana feels the same way."

Ayano also spoke on behalf of Kita, who was absent today. To me, it just sounded like he still believed in the rumours.

Hono and Misogi stood next. I expected this because they were Sakigamiya's friends and wouldn't betray her so easily.

"I'm with Isogai-kun."

"M-me too."

The two gyaru, Fujimura and Suzuki, stood up next to voice their support.

"This is kinda obvious, but I'm with Isogai-kun for this."

"Mhm. I don't like Takanori anyways."

Ikesugi got up next, looking down at his feet. It seems our thin connection of being loners couldn't win him over alone.

"This is stupid. But if I have to pick a side... I'm sticking with Matsushita."

Kiba got up next. I wasn't sure where she would stand in all this, but it makes sense that she'd choose Matsushita over me.

The last two to stand was Tadokoro and Kawaguchi. They seemed to be torn on who to side with. Though, considering my limited interaction with them, I already guessed which side they would join.

Kawaguchi stood up with a heavy sigh. He put a hand on his neck, unable to look at either me or Matsushita in the eyes.

"I... I don't want to pick a side, you two. Is it really okay to let E Class be torn apart like this just before the war?"

Gathering courage in his chest, Kawaguchi finally looked at both of us with disapproval in his eyes.

"This is... this is exactly what D Class wants, you know! They're the most united class, while we're slowly becoming another B Class clone! If we're divided, we don't stand a chance against them!"

"That's why D Class set Takanori up to do this. They used him to divide our class. You can't trust him, Kawaguchi-kun."

Matsushita, who had regathered his composure, extended his right hand to Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi wavered, shaking his head.

"I don't want to do this either. Seeing E Class be torn apart like this... it hurts, especially for me. As class representative, I feel like I failed... I wasn't able to keep us all together. I... I just wanted to ascend to A Class with everyone else."

"We can still ascend together! Just make up with Takanori-san and brush this incident under the rug! It doesn't matter who's right or who's wrong anymore! We won't survive if we're fighting between ourselves!"

Kawaguchi pleaded for this huge break up within the class to be fixed. While that would be ideal, especially since the war is coming up, in the grand scheme of things, this would be a major setback for me.

If me and Matsushita resolve things here, leadership of the class would automatically return to him as he's the male class representative. This drift in the class is the perfect storm I needed to work towards gaining complete leadership of the class.

While it's not the most pretty way to gain leadership, I could force Matsushita into a battle by making him recognise me as a proper threat to his leadership. The easiest way to do that was show how my influence had grown to the point half the class was on my side and not his. Matsushita knows this, which is why he's so shocked by their support.

After that, I just had to convince the other half that I was better. To do that, I would become the commander and lead our class to victory against D Class in the war. If that happens, then there's the possibility we could surpass them as soon as next month. When that happens, they'll have no choice but to recognise me as the superior leader.

Even if not all of them support me, as long as the majority of the class believes in me, that's fine. I can deal with the stragglers later.

"Kawaguchi-san. It's not as easy as "forgive and forget"."

I used harsh words in order to show my resolve to split the class in two. I know Matsushita doesn't want to lose control, so this divide in the class would hurt him greatly.

"What do you mean, Takanori-san...? O-of course it is!"

"No. You saw it with your own two eyes, haven't you? Just how badly I've been treated this past week."

Kawaguchi nodded yes reluctantly.

"But still, it was just a bit of hate, it can't be—"

"I was physically assaulted. I received death threats. I was ostracised by nearly the entire school. Both Matsushita-san and Sakigamiya-san had the power to stop this and use the evidence to protect me. Instead, they chose to believe the rumours and threw me to the wayside without a second thought. Do you think I can simply forget that all of this happened?"

I set the picture perfectly clear for Kawaguchi. I wasn't going to back down because of what I was subjected to from these false rumours. I wanted compensation for the damages. And that compensation would be control over E Class.

"We didn't protect you because we truly believed you were in the wrong back then, Takanori. There's no way we'd go out of our way to protect a bad person."

Matsushita hounded me with another weak argument. The smallest dogs really do make the most noise...

"You could've also not jumped the gun and remained impartial until more information was released. Would've saved me a lot of unnecessary hate."

"You would've received hate either way. We can't prevent people from telling you to kill yourself, can we?"

For some reason, Kouji's headphones suddenly fell to the floor, making a loud clacking noise. He lingered standing up for a few seconds, letting everyone stare at him.

"Sorry."

Lethargically, he muttered an apology and picked them up with an irritated face. I wonder what had gotten into him.

Meanwhile, Kawaguchi bit his thumb and turned away from our bickering. He looked frustrated, agitated.

"Fine... Matsushita-san, how about you?"

"Of course I'd be willing to make up with Takanori. Like I said, his out of nowhere connections with A and D class would be a great asset for our class."

"I refuse to be used by you."

Without thinking, I accidentally let that slip from my mouth. I realised I was getting too heated as well.

"So... you two won't make up?" Kawaguchi muttered in defeat.

"That's right."

"As long as Takanori remains obstinate, we'll never be able to unify again."

"Then... I'm joining Matsushita-san's side."

Kawaguchi finally made his choice. He got up, standing behind Matsushita.

"Good decision." Sakigamiya nodded.

"Are you sure about this, Masaru?"

Akihiro, Kawaguchi's best friend, reached out in a last ditch effort to prevent them from becoming enemies.

"I don't know what you see in Takanori-san, Aki. Matsushita-san's right. He's being obstinate."

"He's not. Isogai's also been obstinate. When the rumours first came out, he stubbornly stuck by them. He didn't give Takanori a second chance back then, so why should Takanori give Isogai a second chance now?"

"I understand, but for the sake of the class, it's better to side with Matsushita-san. He wants unity. Takanori-san doesn't. It's as simple as that."

"I see... I respect your decision, partner."

Akihiro and Kawaguchi bitterly said their farewells to each other.

Everyone was now fixated on the final person to choose a side in the class: Tadokoro. She silently sat in her seat with a lowered head.

"C-can I... stay out...? T-there's twelve people on each side... if you include Kita-san... s-so me joining a side would be unfair to the other..."

She was terrified by what was happening. Tears dripped from her blue eyes. Even though she wasn't particularly close to anyone in this class, she was still heavily affected by what was happening to us.

I couldn't stand to see her get upset over this mess I inadvertently created. She didn't deserve this. That's why I made the decision for her.

"Tadokoro-san. Join Matsushita-san's side."

Everyone in the class was shocked by my declaration. Tadokoro raised her head, tears overflowing from her eyes.

"E-eh...?"

"I'm being serious. You should join Matsushita-san's side, Tadokoro-san."

"H-huh? Takanori, are you insane?!"

Yukimura was the first to chide me for this decision.

"For the sake of fairness, it's better if Tadokoro-san joined Matsushita-san's side. Kita-san is never present in class, so it's more like twelve vs eleven. Tadokoro-san would even it out to twelve vs twelve."

"Huh, trying to play fair? This is what I mean by being underhanded... you're trying to use this "kindness" to try and bring her over to your side. Nice reverse psychology."

Matsushita cynically analysed the situation. While this was an angle you could absolutely approach, I honestly wanted to keep the sides fair so Matsushita wouldn't complain later. Besides, Tadokoro would be easy to convince to join later down the line. I wouldn't be losing much here.

"I don't care what side she joins. You can have her."

"Either you're confident that you're better than me or you think Tadokoro-chan is useless. Either way, I'll leave the decision up to her, instead of trying to boss her around."

Even in this crucial situation, Matsushita could still put on his nice guy act. It was both sickening and impressive.

"O-okay... I-I'll join Matsushita-san's side..." Tadokoro mumbled unhappily.

"There you have it."

The class had been split up into two. The Takanori group and the Matsushita group. We'd now be fighting each other for supremacy over the class.

With this visible divide between the class now present, everyone returned to their seats uneasily. Matsushita continued to stare at me spitefully for a few minutes before leaving.

I walked to my desk and sat down, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Yukina turned to me excitedly with a smile.

"Yuu, that was incredible!"

"Huh...? What was?"

"Everything! The way you took action so suddenly... you looked really cool."

Yukina became bashful as she said that. I shook my head in disagreement.

"I was terrified, honestly..."

Even though I tried to ignore it, while confronting Matsushita, my heart wouldn't stop pounding in fear and my legs wouldn't stop shaking. I had to hide my hands in my pockets in order to cover up my weakness.

I thought I wouldn't be afraid when facing him, but the way his eyes leaked pure hatred while looking at me was so out of character for him, I actually felt fear. I had an easier time confronting Mikitaka in the newspaper club than I did confronting Matushita.

"Also..."

Yukina pouted. It was surprisingly cute.

"H-huh?"

"I... I don't approve of you working with Yogen-san."

I half-expected this disapproval from Yukina, considering how badly Yogen treated her yesterday. Considering I couldn't talk to Yukina about it this morning, this was the perfect chance to apologise because she brought it up. This probably meant she was ready to talk about it, only if slightly.

"I understand. I'll try not to resort using her again, for your sake. She might've helped me out, but at the same time, the way she treated you yesterday was uncalled for."

It seems Yukina wasn't expecting this, as she looked surprised. Before she could reply, I continued, feeling my anxiety rise to my stomach like butterflies.

"Yukina... I'm sorry for not doing more for you yesterday. I was useless and couldn't protect you, even though you've saved me a thousand times before."

I quietly expressed both my gratitude and regrets at once.

"It's okay. I understand why you did what you did now. I'm also sorry for acting so cold to you afterwards..."

"You just wanted space, I don't mind. But thanks. It's reassuring."

"Still, I can't help but wonder how you got Yogen-san's attention..."

There was a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"It's... a long and hard story."

Just as I was about to explain it to Yukina, Chabashira-sensei entered class, signalling the start of homeroom. I guess I'll have to save it for another day.