Tokyoites don't have martial virtue

"Unbelievable! You really brought down the news department!"

Yuji Suzuki breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That really scared me to death in the end; you almost ended up being convicted..."

"I have to thank you all this time." Kyushu Makoto never hesitates to express his gratitude: "In the end, it was all thanks to you guys who gave me a shout."

"This is the profound truth that Master Kyushu taught me!" Tang Zegui proudly gave a thumbs up: "When faced with difficulties, just shout loudly and you can solve them!"

"You little rascal, you learn pretty fast~" Kyushu Makoto rubbed the chubby boy's head, unable to suppress a laugh:

"By the way, where's Mizuhashi-kun?"

"Huh?" Suzuki Yuujin suddenly remembered and asked in confusion, "I haven't seen him after school today. Where did he go?"

"Did he go home early?" Takatsuki Genji frowned in dissatisfaction. "He didn't even inform us. Let that good-for-nothing go on as he pleases."

"Never mind, I'll send him a text message later," Kyushu Makoto said with a smile.

"I'm treating you guys to ramen today, the extra-large char siu set meal we agreed on before."

"That's right! After such a hard-fought battle, we should have a celebration party and a big meal!" Takashi Tang clapped his hands and cheered. "It would be even more lively if Mizuhashi-kun were here too!"

"For Mizuhashi-kun, not being able to eat the ramen that Kyushu-kun treats him to is a kind of punishment, right?" Suzuki Yujin joked.

As the four were chatting, Makoto Kyushu was suddenly called to an office by a student council member.

The office was crowded with people, including several student union and discipline committee members, a few students who claimed to be "victims of the news department", some senior faculty members, and even the chairman of the board of directors sat in the main seat with a serious expression.

The core members of the news department and Minister Karakawa stood in the corner of the office, their faces stern and silent, like prisoners on trial.

In the following period, the parties held a brief meeting to handle follow-up matters and determine the punishment for the news department.

"According to Karakawa and several other people in the know, the newspaper club has been extorting and manipulating students for three years. The culprit should be Adachi Shin, who has been in the newspaper club for three consecutive years since his first year of high school." A student council member wrote and revised in his notebook:

"When Karasukawa was a sophomore, Adachi, who was about to graduate, saw her potential and supported her to become the head of the news club. He also taught her how to extort students from the news club."

An older faculty member sighed, "I never would have guessed that student named Adachi would do something like that!"

"However, Adachi and many of the victims have already graduated, making it extremely difficult to file a case and gather evidence," a disciplinary committee member said.

"However, our Disciplinary Committee believes that the News Department should still be held responsible for the mistakes made this year..."

"First, the news department should compensate the victims for their economic and emotional losses. Second, the news department should be reviewed again, and some of its powers on campus should be revoked, reducing it to the status of an ordinary club."

"Most importantly, Karasukawa Sakifumi, as the main culprit, should be severely punished..." A student council member regretfully adjusted his glasses.

"This probably can't be settled with a simple punishment, right? Perhaps it will require suspension... or even expulsion?"

Upon hearing this, Karasu Saki's expression turned noticeably grim, and she could only clench her fists.

"Actually, we teachers are in a difficult position too..." one teacher sighed. "Considering that Yagawa is already a senior in high school, would it be inappropriate to suspend or expel her now..."

"We will discuss the specific punishments in a meeting at a later date." Another senior teacher quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Mr. Chairman, is there anything else you would like to say?"

The chairman simply scanned everyone with a calm yet sharp gaze: "If there are no objections, let's leave it at that for now..."

"Excuse me, I have something to say." Just then, Kyushu Makoto politely raised his hand.

Everyone couldn't help but look at him strangely. Although Kyushu Makoto's current position was that of a "victim," in everyone's eyes, he was already a terrifying and mad dog who had single-handedly broken through the entire journalism club and turned the "class referee" awarded to him by the school into a "single-person club dismantling."

"The news club has greatly damaged my reputation, making me an object of ostracism throughout the school." Kyushu Makoto stared into Karasukawa Saki's eyes, his gaze dark and deep.

"I demand that all members of the news department spare no effort to refute the rumors about me until they are completely eliminated from the school. In particular, Minister Karakawa, I demand that you hold a school-wide apology meeting, explain the whole story in front of all teachers and students, and apologize in public."

“I…” Karasu Saki was startled, her eyes filled with hatred and anger.

“Kyushu, isn’t this a bit…” a teacher advised worriedly, “It’s better to handle this privately, after all, it involves the school’s reputation… Please understand, the school absolutely does not want this to happen…”

Kyushu Makoto shook his head, and instead asked the chairman, "Chairman, according to your proposed 'class adjudication' rules, the winning student can have the school grant them one reasonable wish, right?"

The chairman blinked and nodded, saying, "I did say that."

"Then I hope the school will agree to my request and allow Senior Karakawa to lead the journalism club in holding a public apology meeting," Kyushu Makoto insisted.

"However, I don't want this to affect the school's reputation, so the school has the right to refuse outside reporters to attend the hearing and can also prohibit students on site from filming and disseminating the footage."

"In that case, let's set this for next Monday's morning meeting and inform the teachers in charge of each class." The chairman readily nodded, ignoring the eager looks from the other teachers:

"It's getting late, let's call it a day."

Upon hearing this, the teachers and students in the office left one after another, leaving only Kyushu Makoto and the chairman of the board behind.

"I'm sorry, Chairman." Kyushu Makoto deliberately stayed behind to apologize to the Chairman, saying some polite words: "I acted on my own initiative, and I'm sure I've caused you a lot of trouble."

The chairman did not get up, but continued to scrutinize the boy with sharp eyes.

"It seems that the school rule of 'class refereeing' is a dangerous double-edged sword." After a long while, the chairman sighed, "I will not hold a second meeting for the time being."

“This time it was my fault. I accidentally went against the original intention of the class referee.” Kyushu Makoto sincerely put aside his pride: “However, in any case, I must thank the chairman for giving me this opportunity to clear my name and expose the evil deeds of the newspaper club.”

“I didn’t originally intend to punish you severely. Given your special circumstances, it’s understandable that you would work in that kind of place, as long as you don’t cause any major problems.” The chairman sighed and said helplessly, “On the contrary, the news department abused its power and made such a big deal out of a small matter, almost affecting the school’s reputation.”

"For the school, this is also a good lesson," Kyushu Makoto said, stroking his chin.

“Student clubs need to be strictly supervised by adult faculty and staff and should not have too much power. Moreover, schools should also establish channels for students to seek redress and voice their grievances; otherwise, many more students like me will probably spend their miserable high school years in grievance.”

“Indeed, I’ve learned a lesson from you, my student.” The chairman gave Kyushu Makoto a meaningful look and said, “You said you want to go to a prestigious university, right? Then work hard. You’ve met a good manager.”

The chairman is a smart man, and he can naturally see through the relationship between Kyushu Makoto and Manager Saito, but he doesn't say it out loud.

"Please rest assured, Chairman, I am honest and upright and will not do anything that would damage the school's reputation. I will definitely bring honor to the school." Kyushu Makoto smiled knowingly, took his leave, and departed.

......

As he left the office, Makoto Kyushu received a call from Manager Saito:

Hey, don't forget to come to work on time today! Don't get so cocky after winning some "class referee" competition that you forget about your job!

"Oh? You already know the result, Manager?" Kyushu Makoto chuckled. "So you stayed to see the end, Manager?"

[Since I had nothing better to do, I watched until the very end. Ah Cheng is really something else; if he were a lawyer, he'd definitely be the most disgusting one.]

"Is this... a compliment from the manager?" Kyushu Makoto scratched his head.

"But when the store manager testified, he said that you adopted me as your godson and even sponsored my college education, which really touched me! Could this be the store manager's real reason for letting me work in the store?"

"Of course that's a lie! How else could I help you get away with it? Don't get too cocky, you'd better get some work done today! No slacking off!"

After saying that, Manager Saito hung up the phone.

......

Kyushu Makoto walked to the school gate and saw the three rogues waiting for him.

Surprisingly, Mizuhashi's junior was also with them.

"Hey, Mizuhashi-kun?" Kyushu Makoto greeted him in surprise, "I thought you had already gone home!"

"Oh! Kyushu-kun is out!" Takashi Tang waved and greeted him. "We saw Mizuhashi while we were waiting for you at the entrance, so we pulled him over."

Upon seeing Makoto Kyushu arrive, Mizuhashi greeted him somewhat apologetically: "Congratulations on winning against the class referee, senior! Um... I'm really sorry, I fell and injured myself on my way here and spent a long time in the infirmary."

Mizuhashi looked a little tired, and there was a thick rectangular bandage on his forehead, so he was indeed injured.

"It's alright, it's not your fault." Kyushu Makoto naturally wouldn't blame someone for such a small matter, and said magnanimously:

"Let's go, I'm in a good mood today, I'll take you guys to eat ramen!"

"Oh! Are we going to Ichiran?" Takashi Karasawa asked impatiently.

"It's not Ichiran, but it tastes many times better than Ichiran," Kyushu Makoto said mysteriously.

Amid cheers, the five of them set off together towards "Kyushu Ichibanboshi" (the first star of Kyushu) under the setting sun.

44. Yuyin Broadcasting of the Ministry of Information

"Have you heard? That male escort student won the 'class referee' and even dropped a bombshell on the news department!"

"I heard that the 'Queen of News' actually surrendered! That's outrageous!"

When Kyushu arrived at school on Monday, he heard students whispering among themselves on the roadside.

High school students these days really love gossip. The results of the class refereeing were already circulating after just one weekend.

There is a class meeting every Monday before class, where the homeroom teacher usually explains recent school events to the students.

However, during today's morning meeting, Teacher Jiangniao didn't say anything.

She gave Kyushu Makoto a meaningful look, then announced, "Students, please line up and follow me to the auditorium in an orderly manner."

When the students of Class 2, Grade 2 arrived at the school auditorium, they found that almost the entire school's teachers and students were there.

Everyone stood in rows, some whispering to each other curiously, as if waiting for some kind of performance.

"Hey... what's going on... why were we suddenly called to the auditorium..." Tang Ze Gui asked Kyushu Makoto in a low voice.

"I reckon there'll be a pretty good show next~" Kyushu Makoto just smiled mysteriously.

A moment later, a tall, short-haired female student walked onto the podium under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Upon seeing her, Tang Zegui immediately whispered alertly, "It's Senior Karasu!"

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen students followed her onto the stage. These were all active members of the news department, and a few student council members also came up.

At the same time, the students in the audience began to whisper among themselves:

"They're from the news department. Did they call the whole school together to announce something?"