After Akane Tachibana got back to her feet, she rubbed the spot she'd just bumped and protested indignantly, "How can you just make assumptions about other people's relationships?"
"Sorry, Akane, Horikita."
"Forget it, Tachibana. Now you know what a terrible man he is, right?" Horikita Manabu shook his head, then looked at Amasawa Yuto. "Still, since we're chatting about gossip like ordinary students for once, I might as well ask: do you have a girlfriend?"
"Not at the moment."
Akane Tachibana looked smug. "I knew someone like you couldn't get a girlfriend."
"How about Suzune? My little sister is at least pretty, isn't she?" A glint flashed across Horikita Manabu's glasses.
"Please spare me. I couldn't handle looking after her."
Amasawa Yuto slumped in his chair and shook his head with his eyes closed.
Listening to such explosive conversation, Akane Tachibana's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Speaking of which, shouldn't Secretary Tachibana go comfort the students who just left? I think you were a little too harsh."
Of course, Amasawa Yuto didn't mean it.
He was asking Horikita Manabu whether what came next could be said in front of Akane Tachibana.
Horikita Manabu understood what he meant. "It's fine. They'll get used to my style sooner or later. Now, let's talk about you, Amasawa."
"I'm curious to hear the Student Council President's proposal." Amasawa Yuto adopted an attentive expression.
"How about joining the Student Council?" Horikita Manabu asked.
Akane Tachibana was surprised. She hadn't expected the haughty Horikita Manabu to personally extend an invitation to a first-year student.
"What's in it for me?" Amasawa Yuto asked, keeping his expression neutral.
He'd been considering joining the Student Council anyway, but readily agreeing on the spot clearly wasn't his best move.
"As I just mentioned, the Student Council has considerable power. It can even help determine the rules for school exams."
"You mean that if I join the Student Council, I can make the exam rules myself?"
"Exactly," Horikita Manabu confirmed.
"Come on. We can't make the rules for our own year."
It stood to reason that the school would impose limits. The Student Council couldn't possibly have more power than the administration.
"You're right. According to the rules, Student Council members can organize discussions to set exam rules, but they're not allowed to take part in discussions concerning their own year."
After saying this, Horikita Manabu changed tack. "However, the Student Council President and Vice President are exempt."
"Are you stepping down, President?" Akane Tachibana asked nervously. "Isn't it a little early?"
"No, I meant making him the Vice President. There's an open position right now, isn't there?" Horikita Manabu looked a little exasperated.
It seemed Senior Tachibana was a bit of a scatterbrain.
"It's not like you to offer me a Vice President position right off the bat," Amasawa Yuto said.
"Well? You'll be the first student in history to become Vice President as a first-year." Horikita Manabu said, "Don't worry. The Student Council President has the authority to appoint a Vice President directly. If I say you're the Vice President, then you'll be the Vice President."
His tone brooked no argument.
"I'd like to ask why you're being so harsh on this year's first-years," Amasawa Yuto said.
Ichinose and Katsuragi were clearly among the most talented first-years, yet Horikita Manabu had rejected them without hesitation.
As for the claim that "only the strong are allowed into the Student Council," it sounded more like an excuse.
Of course, he couldn't dismiss Senior Tachibana's competence just like that, but Amasawa Yuto really didn't think she was all that much better than Katsuragi or Ichinose.
It was like recruiting for a job. Say you're a table tennis champion, and one day you see a great position advertised that gives preference to the top eight finishers in the county table tennis tournament.
Would you think they'd hire you just because you were the champion? In reality, they wanted the person who came in eighth.
If that person had come in ninth instead, they'd change the requirement to the top nine.
They dug the hole to fit the radish.
Horikita Manabu was silent for a moment before replying, "How much do you know about the second-years?"
"Vice President Nagumo's year? I only know their Class A is frighteningly strong."
"So you've already met Nagumo. That's right, he's currently the Student Council's only Vice President.
"He was originally in Class B, but through his own efforts, he managed to lead his class up to Class A by the end of the first term. After that, he established absolute control over the second-years. You saw their points yourself."
Horikita Manabu looked troubled as he spoke of Nagumo.
"Nagumo believes in absolute meritocracy. He thinks there are people with real ability who, for various reasons, didn't make it into Class A and have been forced to compete between classes while dragging around a bunch of deadweight."
He had a point. Amasawa Yuto thought of Yuki, but listened quietly without arguing.
"He wants to turn this school into a completely meritocratic place, where anyone with ability can break free of their class and rise to Class A on their own. And the useless deadweight should leave this school. But that's unquestionably wrong. At the very least, it isn't what this school encourages."
Horikita Manabu's voice took on a solemn gravity. "No one is superhuman. In society, you can't solve every problem by going it alone.
"This school aims to cultivate young people who will lead the entire country and care about their nation—not self-serving individualists."
Amasawa Yuto understood the difference between Horikita Manabu and Miyabi Nagumo.
Horikita Manabu believed each class was a whole, that the strong had a duty to look after the weak, and that everyone had to advance together, sharing both honor and disgrace.
Miyabi Nagumo, on the other hand, believed that the weak held the strong back, and that the strong deserved better resources.
From the perspective of the greater good, Horikita Manabu was unquestionably on the moral high ground.
But for capable students in Classes B, C, and D, it was obvious that supporting Nagumo was the quickest route to Class A. It was far easier than leading their whole class up a level.
"So you want to use me to keep Nagumo's influence in check?"
It was obvious that Horikita Manabu's policies would win the support of ordinary students, but would alienate the capable ones with influence.
"I'm not expecting the first-years to take on Nagumo." Horikita Manabu sighed.
"It's just that if we let some ordinary students into the Student Council, they could easily be won over by Nagumo and become his supporters among the first-years. But you, Amasawa, wouldn't submit to him easily."
"Don't make it sound so noble. You're clearly using the rivalry between the two Vice Presidents and putting me in the middle to draw Nagumo's ire."
Amasawa Yuto had already seen through Horikita Manabu's intentions.
"I know it's a little unfair to you. But as I said, joining the Student Council would benefit you. Besides, the Student Council Vice President can directly appoint one Student Council member. If you want to appoint Ichinose and Katsuragi, I can't object."
Amasawa Yuto met Horikita Manabu's gaze.
He was trying to figure out why the man before him was doing this.
Judging by his attitude toward Horikita Suzune, Horikita Manabu should have welcomed Nagumo's reforms. Yet the opposite seemed to be true.
Amasawa Yuto couldn't quite read him.
After turning it over in his mind, Amasawa Yuto felt there was only one possibility.
"Are you really that worried your little sister will be expelled because of Nagumo's reforms?"
Before you continue