With that settled, we reconvened in the classroom during our lunch to discuss strategy. Horikita had been reluctant to participate, but thanks to Kushida's persuasive tears, she'd agreed to join. As for the person of interest himself, even if Sudou said he didn't care and compromised, he could easily become obstinate in critical situations. While I thought about how he might become difficult at any time, I kept silent.
"Can we really prove Sudou's innocence tomorrow?" Kushida asked.
"Of course we will. It's obvious that I was set up. I'm definitely innocent. Right?" Sudou said.
They simultaneously looked to Horikita for her opinion. Horikita simply ate her bread in silence, either because she was unable to answer or because she found discussion to be annoying.
"Hey, Horikita. What do you think?" Sudou, clearly unable to read the room, drew nearer to Horikita.
"Don't bring your dirty face so close to me."
"I-It's not dirty." Sudou was shaking. Maybe he was hurt by that unexpected jab?
"I can't help but be mystified by your belief that your innocence can easily be proven. Although you've gained evidence that works in your favor, you're still in a very disadvantageous situation."
"But we have a witness who knows I'm innocent, and the other guys were real jerks in the past. That should be enough, right? Those guys are bad news." Sudou, completely blind to his own shortcomings, arrogantly crossed his legs and nodded in agreement with himself.
"Ah, hey, wait a second! I'm still reading that! Give it back!"
"It's fine, isn't it? I paid for half of it, anyway. I'll give it back later."
Ike and Yamauchi scrambled over a weekly manga magazine. I guess they'd been quietly reading manga while we had our important meeting. Considering their bitter tears over having absolutely no points at all, I found it kind of amazing that they still managed to buy a magazine each week.
"Huh?" Kushida, seated beside me as the Ike/Yamauchi spectacle unfolded, appeared deep in thought. "Perhaps..." she murmured.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Ah, nothing. It's nothing. There was just something on my mind."
I didn't understand what she was getting at, but Kushida pulled out her phone and began looking up something.