Jujutsushi 273.1
Chapter 273: Split Opinion 2
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
R1[1-3], R2[4-6]
Part 1
「Oi, Shimokawa, you’d better cut it out. You’re the sexual predator who attacked Kotori, after all.」
Asuna spoke sharply, her voice laced with unmistakable anger.
An eerie silence fell over the area for a long moment after that.
It was only natural—her words had just violated the unspoken taboo that kept the class in fragile order.
「H-hey, Kenazaki-san, that’s the last thing I want to hear from you!」
「Yes, you're going too far.」
Almost frozen in place, Shimokawa couldn’t bring himself to respond.
Instead, his friends Ueda and Nakai immediately rose to his defence, their voices cutting through the heavy air in swift protest.
Yet once spoken, words cannot be taken back.
And Asuna, for her part, had no intention of retreating.
「Silence! You’re no different yourselves. How shameless—to prattle on without the faintest flicker of remorse.」
「Asuna, that’s enough. Don’t say another word.」
「No, Ryōuko, I will speak! To stand idly by while such wretches drive Kotori to tears—such cowardice, I cannot abide!」
「Fueeeeeeeee… Asuna-chaaaan…」
Moved by Asuna’s resolute words, Kotori—eyes brimming with tears—threw herself into her embrace.
The sight of the valiant maiden and the fragile beauty clinging to each other was breathtakingly beautiful... yet it was still a violation of a sacred rule.
「…Hey, Class Rep, you’re not seriously going to let those words stand, are you? If you do, then surely it means—」
「I understand, Shimokawa-kun. Please, Asuna, calm yourself, I beg you.」
「I have done nothing, nothing that could be called a mistake!」
「No, that’s wrong. It violates the rules we set for the class. Bringing up past grudges is something you must never do.」
Eighteen classmates had gathered in the School Tower, bound together by a web of lingering resentments—beginning with Kotarō’s killing of Reina, and tangled further by countless other grudges.
The fact that they managed, however imperfectly, to unite and defeat Yamata no Orochi was only possible thanks to the rules established in their first class meeting.
Foremost among them was the rule to suspend all blame for transgressions committed during dungeon explorations.
By completely forbidding pursuit of each classmate’s sins—wrongs they all shared—the rules prevented disputes from escalating into catastrophic collapse.
Asuna’s words, calling Shimokawa a “sexual offender,” directly violated that long-standing pact.
「Cool your head. If this continues, it will truly lead to consequences that cannot be undone.」
「Even so, I cannot stand by and let Kotori be blamed!」
「This is a rule. A vital one, meant to keep our class unite————」
「————No, Ryōuko, that can no longer be called a rule.」
The one who interrupted was... Sakura.
Ryōuko’s startled expression showed the instant she realised that Sakura had chosen to side with Asuna.
No—this was more than just defending Asuna.
Sakura intended to shatter the very rules that bound their class—the fragile order they had been clinging to all this time.
「To begin with, it was Momokawa who created that absurd rule of pardoning all sins. Now that he’s betrayed us, you can see it for what it truly was. That rule was never meant to unite the class—it was nothing more than a cunning scheme to secure his own advantage.」
That much was true—Kotarō had gained the most from that rule.
After all, he had taken more lives than anyone else in the School Tower.
Reina herself had been slain right before Yūuto and the others’ very eyes.
It was an outrageous argument—one that not only swept aside the certainty of his guilt but even erased the possibility of the death penalty.
In the end, it had granted him a de facto acquittal for an unforgivable crime.
「Even so, dragging up old sins now is no reason to condemn him!」
「That crime has never been settled, has it? Atoning for one’s misdeeds is only natural… and yet those three, forgetting even such a simple truth, had the audacity to lay blame upon Kotori.」
「W–what is that supposed to mean… I just…」
「That’s right—just as Sakura says. You lot ought to learn your place!」
Assailed by the ferocious barrage of forbidden words, even Shimokawa fell silent.
The Class Rep, too, surely hadn’t expected Sakura to bare her fangs so brazenly.
With Sakura and Asuna attacking in tandem, the tide quickly turned—Shimokawa was now the one on the defensive.
「OI, WAIT RIGHT THERE!」
「Don’t you lot think you’re taking too many liberties with your words?」
The ones who raised their voices then were, surprisingly, the JuryMary duo.
「Nonomiya-san, Yoshizaki-san, standing up for them like this does you two no credit.」
「If you’re saying the Totempole Trio have no right to speak because they’re sex offenders, then I’ll be the one to say it. Frankly, I also think Takanashi is far too suspicious.」
「Instead of running to Kenazaki in tears, how about you speak for yourself, you woman who always holds back the truth until the very last moment?」
「WA!?」
Struck by an unexpected rebuttal from an unlikely source, both Sakura and Asuna were left speechless.
However, Nonomiya Julia and Yoshizaki Maria were by no means part of Sōuma’s faction.
They were simply girls in love—devoted to Tendōu Ryūuichi.
Yes—like Randōu Kyōuko, these two had always stayed close to Ryūuichi’s side.
For that reason, they had never once dirtied their hands.
Even when Yokomichi attacked them at the underground lake, it was Ryūuichi alone who faced him.
In other words, these two had never harmed nor slain a single classmate—they were the purest, most untainted among them.
「And what, pray tell, do the two of you mean by this?」
「Don’t tell me you’re planning to side with Momokawa as well?! You can’t be serious—not with a traitor like him!」
「Hmph, the same could be said about you lot. What if it’s you who’ve been conspiring with Takanashi all along to kill us?」
「Do you even realise how absurd your accusations are, Kenazaki? You’re the one who’s completely lost your senses.」
「Why, why do you doubt Kotori?! Momokawa’s betrayal is plain for all to see! You must not lend an ear to the wretched excuses of such a man!」
「You’re trying so hard it’s making you look suspicious, Sōuma. Come to think of it, wasn’t it you who smashed that old cell phone—the one Momokawa claimed was proof—without a moment’s hesitation?」
「Fool! That was clearly nothing but his trap! Sakura saw through it at once and destroyed it. For that, she deserves thanks, not blame!」
「And what, would it have killed you to wait and hear him out first? By smashing the evidence on your own, you’re the one who ruined our chance to resolve this peacefully, Sōuma!」
「You're mistaken, I ju————」
「Shut up! That’s a fact, and I won’t allow any other excuse————」
「————Everyone, stop it already!」
The heated quarrel between the girls was abruptly silenced by the Class Rep’s thunderous shout.
Once more, silence descended upon the meeting place—then Ryōko raised her voice again, crying out all the louder.
「This… This petty squabbling—what good could ever come of it?! Stop letting your emotions run wild! Can’t you see it will only end in bloodshed?!」
There was no one who could jest about which of them was truly being carried away by emotion.
Ryōko swept her gaze across her classmates, her breath ragged, a sharp glint flashing behind the lenses of her glasses.
「R-Ryōko-chan...」
「Don't worry, Minami. I'm really calm right now.」
Ryōko replied with the faintest of wry smiles to Minami, who had spoken out almost by reflex.
She must have known full well that raising her voice in anger any further would do nothing to change a thing.
「Yūuto-kun, be sure to speak firmly with Sakura and Asuna. Let them hear it directly from you.」
「But, Class Re――」
「Or are you trying to say that you agree with both of them?」
「...No, I understand. Sakura, Asuna, leave your seat for a while and cool your heads.」
「Big brother, co---」
「Wait, Souma, I ju————」
「Just do it. I'll go with you two. Cool your heads for the time being.」
Thus, Yūuto sought to reason with them, yet when their protests would not cease, he took each by the hand and, half by force, dragged them out of the room.
「S-Souma-kun.」
「Kotori, stay right here.」
Kotori, who had tried to slip out in Yūuto’s wake, was halted by Ryōko’s sharp voice. The very heart of the problem could not be allowed to leave just yet.
「Uh, but...」
「As class representative, I will hear every voice equally. Listen well, Kotori—I will not protect you more than I need to, but neither will I treat you unjustly. If you wish to clear yourself of suspicion, then speak for yourself.」
Struck by Ryōko’s uncompromising words, Kotori could do nothing but nod through tear-filled eyes.
「Shimokawa-kun, I must apologise. Sakura and Asuna were simply swept up in a clash of words, both letting their emotions run too high. It was never their true intent. Might you find it in yourself to forgive them?」
「Sigh… Whether I can forgive them or not will depend on how they choose to behave from here on.」
「They will offer a proper apology later for breaking the rules first. But I ask that you demand no more than that.」
「Ha~h, got it. It’s not as if I want to stir up trouble myself.」
Pressing Sakura and Asuna further over their fault would yield nothing good. Should they grow all the more stubborn, it would likely create a rift through the class—one beyond all hope of repair.
Though harmony within the class had already been shaken, even so, they couldn’t yet abandon the hope of holding everyone together.
「Nonomiya-san, Yoshizaki-san, my apologies. As for Sakura breaking the phone that held the evidence, it is a complicated matter. I must ask that you speak no further of it.」
「That’s not something you ought to be apologising for, Class Rep.」
「Well, we can set aside this problem for the time being—but sooner or later, the time may come when the truth must be laid bare.」