Heading to the Student Council Room

Amasawa Yuto came to the teachers' office again today.

Mashima was happy to see him; after all, Amasawa Yuto was a top-tier student who scored full marks on his exams.

"It's like this, Mashima-sensei. Regarding the phone number matter from last time, I have a few more things I'd like to ask."

"You mean when you asked about the number of digits in the student phone numbers? What do you want to ask today, Amasawa-kun?"

"I want to know if every phone card issued by the school is tied to a specific person, or if there are anonymous, unregistered cards?"

Mashima thought for a moment. "That shouldn't be the case. Student numbers are special ten-digit sequences, and the numbers issued each year are all recorded in the registry. One number corresponds to one student. The numbers for teachers and staff must also be reported and recorded by the school."

"If I'm calling a school-issued mobile phone, can I only use a school phone to do it?"

"That's correct. For those with a cooperative relationship with the school, we provide them with school phones for communication. Outside phones cannot call school phones directly, and even with school phones, they can only communicate with each other within the school."

Seeming to feel he had said a bit too much, Mashima waved his hand, signaling that Amasawa Yuto should leave.

"I'd like to ask one more thing. If I spend points, could you help me look up a number, Mashima-sensei?"

Mashima was taken aback. "Ah, yes, that's possible. It costs 10,000 points."

Amasawa Yuto hadn't expected it to be so easy, and he paid the points.

Mashima wore a meaningful expression as he took out his notebook. "Whose phone number does Amasawa-kun want to look up?"

That meaningful look made Amasawa Yuto feel a bit strange, until Hoshinomiya, the homeroom teacher for Class B, poked her head in from the side.

"Eh? Which girl's number does Amasawa-kun want to look up? Could it be Honami? Oh my, how youthful~"

So that was it. Students who wanted the contact information of their crush but were too shy to ask directly could have the teachers look it up for a fee.

"Please help me check who this phone number belongs to."

Amasawa Yuto recited the phone number. It was clearly different from what the two teachers had expected, and Hoshinomiya looked somewhat disappointed.

Amasawa Yuto wanted to leave the office, but he ran into another student who was just about to enter.

"Eh, Amasawa-kun?"

"Ichinose, are you here to see Hoshinomiya-sensei?"

The person entering the office was none other than the leader of Class B with the pink hair, Ichinose Honami.

"Ah... yes. I wanted to ask where the student council room is. I want to join the student council."

"Honami, you're here~ The student council president is in the student council room today~" Hoshinomiya's voice rang out from behind. "As for the student council room, it's on the third floor of the third-year school building~"

"Ah, thank you, Hoshinomiya-sensei!"

"Are you heading to the student council room now?"

"Yes. Are you going too, Amasawa-kun?"

"I'll go with you." Amasawa Yuto recalled the email he had received from Horikita Manabu this morning.

"I will be in the student council room today. You may come find me."

"Actually, I asked Hoshinomiya-sensei yesterday and the day before if the student council president had any free time, but it seemed he was very busy and never had a moment. Finally, today, I'm finally able to go and apply to join the student council."

The two walked side by side. Ichinose seemed quite relieved and was in rather high spirits.

"You got a perfect score on the previous quiz, Amasawa-kun. That's really amazing!"

"Your grades are quite high as well, Ichinose."

"I basically had no idea how to solve the last few questions... That's why I think you're even more amazing, Amasawa-kun! Oh, and about that matter from before, thank you."

"If you're talking about the points, don't worry about it. Class B paid for the information; I didn't do anything."

"That's not true. It was thanks to you that Class B was able to maintain the gap with Class A. After that, you weren't targeted by Class A, were you?" She seemed a bit worried. "Are your points still enough?"

It felt as if she were a mother fussing over her child.

"Don't worry, Class A doesn't know what I did."

"I see..."

After the two walked in silence for a while, Ichinose suddenly spoke up again.

"Did you know, Amasawa-kun? In this school, if you save up twenty million points, you can transfer to any class you like."

"Yeah, or you can use them to cancel one expulsion penalty."

"Then... if... if you were to transfer, which class would you choose?" She asked, sounding as if she were filled with hope, yet treading carefully.

"I don't have any thoughts of transferring at the moment. I'm doing just fine in Class A, and one of the leaders of the class, Arisu Sakayanagi, is my childhood friend."

"That's true... ahaha..." She seemed a little disappointed.

"But since it's all hypothetical, I think your Class B is quite attractive."

"Eh?" Like a rollercoaster of emotions, Ichinose's eyes widened.

"I get the feeling that you are all very harmonious. Everyone is friendly and gets along well. I really like the atmosphere in Class B. You really are leading a great class, Ichinose."

"Not at all... I... actually, it's all thanks to everyone else..." Ichinose seemed a bit shy from the praise.

The two arrived at the third floor where the student council room was located, only to be surprised to find someone had arrived even earlier than them.

"Katsuragi?" Ichinose looked surprised.

"Hm? Amasawa, Ichinose? Why are you two together?" Katsuragi Kohei looked at the pair arriving together, his eyes filled with deep suspicion.

Just seeing these two together was enough for him to imagine all sorts of scenarios.

"Don't overthink it. We're here for the same reason as you—to see the student council president," Amasawa Yuto spoke up first.

"That's right, aren't you here for the same thing, Katsuragi?" Ichinose immediately noticed the form in Katsuragi's hand; it was a student council application form.

"Mm, I see." Having been called out, Katsuragi was left momentarily speechless.

It seemed that just as Morishita Ran had said, Katsuragi was the type of person who put all his effort into defending against others, while his offensive capabilities were quite immature.

The moment the other side countered even slightly, he immediately lost his composure.

"Katsuragi, you..." Ichinose looked at him suspiciously. "Were you practicing what to say once you entered the student council room?"

"That's none of your business. We are in different classes, after all."

"That's hurtful, Katsuragi. Is it impossible for us to be good friends just because we're in different classes?"

"Hmph, think what you want. I'm going in."

"Then I'm going in too," Ichinose said, sounding a bit stubborn.

"Hmph, fine. Let's go in together. When the time comes, I will prove to the student council president that I am superior to you, Ichinose."

The two knocked on the door of the student council room at the same time.