After school, Konoe said goodbye to Hirata and headed for the Student Council Signboard, feeling a little nervous.
"Knock, knock-knock." He gave one light knock, then two more. Konoe tried to be as polite as possible, hoping the girl with the bun inside—Tachibana Senpai—would cool down.
"Come in." A clear male voice answered. It had to be the Student Council President.
Konoe entered the room. It was surprisingly spacious, with a sofa, desk, and computer, as well as two small rooms off to the side that might have been a kitchenette and the Archive Room.
Only two students were inside. One was Horikita Manabu, seated by the window in the center of the room, apparently working on some documents. The other was standing beside him and handing him a document. It was Tachibana Senpai.
"Good afternoon, Horikita Senpai, Tachibana Senpai."
"Konoe, please have a seat. Tachibana."
The last word was a cue to Tachibana. She merely glared at Konoe, then went to pour tea without saying a word.
"Konoe Hirakawa, I heard you did well on the Mini-test. Do you have any particular insights into studying?" Horikita Manabu set aside his work and looked at Konoe attentively.
"You've got the wrong idea, Horikita Senpai. I just happened to have done similar problems before. It wasn't any special insight so much as luck." Konoe smiled and scratched his head, wearing an utterly harmless expression.
"Heh... Luck, you say? Since the school first opened, plenty of students have gotten Full Marks on the first Mini-test. I was one of them. But a Class D student getting Full Marks? That's unheard of." Horikita Manabu gave a cold laugh. He clearly didn't believe Konoe's explanation.
"...Looks like I got pretty lucky."
"Let's say that's what happened, then. Konoe, would you like to join the Student Council?"
"Huh? Uh... I'm not sure what you mean." The unexpected invitation left Konoe confused.
"Just as I said at the Club Fair, the Student Council needs Fresh Blood."
"...I don't understand what you see in me. Even if I'm good at studying, that doesn't mean I can handle Student Council business, does it?"
"First, you're mistaken about the difficulty of those three Mini-test questions. The final one wasn't something you could solve just by being good at studying. And I didn't choose you solely because of the Mini-test. You also figured out the school's rules on the very first day."
It seemed Chabashira had told Horikita Manabu about it. Or perhaps Chabashira also had to identify "outstanding" students for the First Month Assessment.
"Even so, our Class D only scored 110 points, so..." Just then, Tachibana Senpai brought over the tea she'd prepared. Konoe took a small sip.
"I don't need your leadership. I need your understanding and ability to get things done. Of course... if the day comes when I really need you to lead, I'll personally guide you."
"...As Horikita Senpai said at the fair, I'm no more confident that I can take on the Student Council's mission and other people's expectations. So, about this..."
"30000 Points. That's how many points the Student Council currently offers per month for the general affairs position. You can be responsible for the points. And as long as there's nothing important going on, you can do whatever you want once you've finished your assigned work. Normally, you'll just need to follow my instructions and do your job."
It seemed Chabashira had told Horikita Manabu everything.
"..." Konoe was still conflicted. As he sipped his tea, he weighed the pros and cons.
"This is your only chance, Konoe." Horikita Manabu's words reminded Konoe of the deal Chabashira had first offered him, as well as what she'd said when he left the Guidance Room.
"...I still haven't forgiven you for what you did before, and now you're hesitating even after the President personally invited you!" Tachibana Senpai, who had been silent until now, piled on the pressure.
"...Fine, I'll join. But let me make this clear: I'm not good at serving tea."
As soon as he said it, Tachibana Senpai glared at him.
"Heh. You just have to follow my instructions. Tachibana, is that all right?"
"Of course. The President's decisions are always right. Hmph... Since you're joining the Student Council, I'll magnanimously forgive you." Tachibana Senpai put on a show of anger, though the second half of her sentence sounded completely different from the first.
"Although you've already been chosen, you still have to go through the process. Fill out an application form, then come in for an interview and complete a test. Don't worry—even if you leave the test blank, that's fine."
Unless a candidate turned up who was far more talented than Konoe, Horikita Manabu wouldn't change his decision lightly.
"No problem, President. Since Class D has some special circumstances, I need to tutor them a little. So, please excuse me for today. Once I've officially joined the Student Council, I'll be at your service."
Konoe took his leave of the President and prepared to go.
"And Tachibana Senpai, I'm really sorry about today." Before Tachibana could respond, Konoe dashed out.
"Tachibana, what happened?"
"President, listen! That underclassman is so rude..."
Konoe hurried back to the classroom. Only thirty or forty minutes had passed, so most of the students were still there.
"Konoe! You're here!" Hirata greeted him happily. "Did anything happen?"
"Nothing much. I cleared up a small misunderstanding. By the way, are all the students who failed the last Mini-test here?"
"Uh... Actually, only Sudo and the other two are missing. Sorry, I couldn't get all three of them here."
"That's not your fault, is it? Let's focus on what we can do first!"
"You're right. But what are you planning to do next?"
Konoe first asked the students with good grades about their study plans for the test. They divided their study time by subject, spending each session on a different one. The students studied independently in groups, with the stronger students leading each group. Since some students had weaker subjects, the groups were flexible despite being organized by subject.
"Looks good. Let's go with this, then."
"Yeah, I think this plan works. Yukimura and the others came up with it."
Hearing his name, Yukimura adjusted his glasses. "Pleased to meet you, Konoe."
"Pleased to meet you too, Yukimura. I'll follow your plan. Since we're studying in groups, I'll go join someone I know first."
With that, Konoe headed over to Hasebe.
She'd scored 52 on the last Mini-test, nearly twenty points above the passing mark, so technically she didn't need to attend the tutoring session. But she was weak in a couple of subjects, especially Japanese and social studies. And when she heard Konoe would be coming to help, she decided to stay.
"Gaga, I'll help you study!"
Ignoring the surprised look from the girl studying beside Hasebe, Konoe said what he'd planned to say. Just as he'd expected, Hasebe was delighted. "Sure! I'm counting on you, Hirata!"
"I didn't know you and Konoe were so close, Hasebe." The girl who spoke was Matsushita Chiaki. She was strikingly beautiful and had a mature air about her, like a girl from a distinguished family. She often hung out with Karuizawa as part of a small group.
"W-We're all right," Konoe replied. "By the way, aren't your grades pretty good? You were around the middle on the Mini-test, but you seem like you're good at studying."
"Not really. I actually wanted to study with Kei, but she went to find Hirata."
"Yeah, she cruelly abandoned us over here." The one who chimed in was Sato Maya. Her score was only a little above the passing mark. She was also part of Karuizawa's group, and like Karuizawa, she was a gyaru.
"Looks like I'm the only one in this study group who failed. Sorry..." That was Mori Nene. She had light brown hair and seemed like a quiet girl.
"It's fine, leave it to me! I came in first, after all. And Mori's score isn't bad, so you'll catch up soon." Konoe encouraged her. It looked like the four girls in front of him made up a group. Since Karuizawa was studying with Hirata, Hirata had added Hasebe to this group.
"Huh... Konoe seems easier to get along with than I expected. We're counting on you, then," Matsushita said, surprised.
"Could you help out too, Matsushita? If things are going well here, I'd like to check on the other groups as well." Konoe still needed to look in on the other students who had failed.
"Hey, are you trying to be a hands-off manager?" Sato teased.
"Ahem... What kind of thing is that to say? I'm just helping the other students too. All right, let's get started!"
Konoe gave an awkward cough, then quickly began tutoring them.
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