The person standing outside the restaurant was none other than Horikita Manabu, the student council president, who had already met most of the first-year students during the club recruitment event.
Despite it being after school hours, he was still dressed impeccably in his uniform—his tie perfectly straight, and every button neatly fastened. However, what stood out the most were the two large plastic bags he carried, one in each hand, filled to the brim with groceries from the shopping center.
It seemed like he had simply been passing by while shopping.
Unfazed by the stares of onlookers both inside and outside the restaurant—some curious, some amused—Horikita stepped forward, his steady gait exuding authority. The plastic bags rustled against his trousers as he moved, yet from his composed posture, one might have thought he was carrying something far heavier—like two golden hammers rather than just groceries.
Stopping two meters away from Kure Ragna, he looked straight at him and spoke in a calm, unwavering voice.
"I am Horikita Manabu, the student council president."
"Oh…"
Kure Ragna nodded, his expression serious.
"I am the overlord of the universe, and my name is Boros."
For a moment, silence filled the restaurant.
The silver-haired girl sitting next to him smirked, suppressing her amusement as she casually reached across the table. Without a word, she took Kure Ragna's bowl and used a colander to scoop up the cooked mutton and beef rolls from the hot pot, as if completely unfazed by the unfolding situation.
Horikita Manabu, partially obscured by his square-framed glasses, furrowed his brows ever so slightly.
"Boros…?"
It wasn't a name he recalled from any student records.
After a brief pause, he seemed to realize something and his sharp gaze shifted to the sunglasses perched on Kure Ragna's face.
"Kure Ragna… correct?"
"Huh?"
Kure Ragna raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
"You memorized the names of every student in the school? Even the first-years?"
"Not all," Horikita replied, adjusting his glasses. "Roughly eighty percent."
"That's disturbing…" Kure Ragna made a dramatic expression of exaggerated disgust.
"Among the first-years, you are the only one with mydriasis," Horikita continued. "Wearing sunglasses indoors made it easy to deduce your identity."
His expression remained neutral as he added, "More importantly, our school prohibits fighting between students. Let go of him—" he motioned toward the student pinned beneath Kure Ragna's foot, "—or the disciplinary consequences will escalate."
"Fighting is prohibited?" Kure Ragna tilted his head, grinning.
"But this is self-defense, isn't it? Or does your school have rules that override national law? Who exactly wrote these policies—some clueless bureaucrat with a hedgehog for a brain?"
"Self-defense is, of course, permitted," Horikita replied evenly. "Provided your actions fall within reasonable limits."
Kure Ragna snorted. "So you need proof, right? Well, if you're looking for evidence…"
He pointed toward the waitress still standing nearby, menu in hand, looking a little shaken by the situation.
Horikita followed his gaze.
Before he could speak, the restaurant doors suddenly swung open again.
A girl with purple hair tied in a bun rushed inside, carrying two large shopping bags of her own. She exhaled in relief when she spotted Horikita.
"President! So this is where you went. You walked off so quickly all of a sudden—"
Then, noticing the tension in the room, she blinked in confusion before turning to the waitress.
"Uh, I'm Tachibana, the student council secretary. Can you tell us what happened here?"
The waitress took a deep breath and composed herself before explaining the situation.
Horikita listened carefully, nodding slightly.
"I understand the circumstances now. Indeed, Kure Ragna, your initial actions qualify as self-defense. However—"
"However?"
Kure Ragna raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the sudden shift in tone.
"However, your justification only applies up until you knocked down Yamada Albert. After that, according to the testimony, Ryuuen and his group did not continue attacking you—yet you proceeded to strike them anyway. If you cannot provide a reasonable explanation, your actions will be classified as a fight rather than self-defense."
"An explanation?" Kure Ragna scoffed. "You want an explanation? Fine."
He leaned back slightly, his voice laced with amusement.
"After I knocked them down, they realized they had messed with the wrong guy. So, they did what any cowardly thug would do—they tried to run. But before leaving, they made sure to threaten me, saying this wasn't over and that I should 'watch my back at school.' If that's not enough of an explanation, then I don't know what is."
Horikita hesitated.
"You just shut up!"
Kure Ragna's sudden outburst made everyone flinch.
"You want to tell me that doesn't count?" His voice rose. "Look at these guys! Look at how practiced they are at intimidation! You can dig up their junior high school records and see for yourself what kind of people they are!"
"Don't give me that 'it hasn't happened yet' nonsense. I call this a punch to prevent a hundred punches!"
His voice echoed through the restaurant.
"Or would you rather wait until I end up in some alley with a knife in my gut before you decide to take action?"
"Besides, where was your so-called student council when they surrounded my table earlier? Now that they're the ones on the floor, you conveniently show up like some NPC that only triggers after the event is over?"
"Justice may be late, but it should never be absent! Late justice isn't justice at all!"
He jabbed a finger toward Horikita.
"Can you guarantee that you'll be there in time to stop them next time? Are you willing to bet my safety on that?"
Tachibana, who had just arrived, was left speechless.
"And don't tell me to 'reconcile with suffering.' I refuse to be some tragic victim for the sake of maintaining peace! If someone makes me suffer, I'll make sure they suffer in return! That's the only way to stop this cycle!"
"Tell me, should good people be the ones getting blamed here?!"
"In the end, this is just bullying honest people!!!"
His final words rang through the restaurant, causing a stunned silence.
Then, with an annoyed expression, Kure Ragna turned back to the table.
Still fuming, he grabbed the bowl that Sakayanagi Arisu had taken earlier, lifted it, and unceremoniously shoveled the steaming hot mutton and beef rolls into his mouth.
Slamming the bowl down, he grumbled, "Damn it. Ruined my mood."
"..."
Horikita Manabu remained silent.
He glanced at the beaten-down students of Class C, sprawled across tables and the floor.
Then, he recalled Kure Ragna's words.
Dying? Reconcile with suffering? Being threatened with a gun? Bullying honest people?
For the first time in a long while, Horikita Manabu regretted showing up.