Joining the Student Council

"Come on, open up... Say ah~"

On the rooftop, Bai Ye held a chicken nugget between his fingers, supporting it underneath with his other hand as he offered it to Horikita Suzune.

Horikita furrowed her brow slightly, then reluctantly opened her small mouth to accept the food.

She covered her lips with one hand and chewed slowly.

There was something uniquely charming about her refined, graceful manner.

Her ears were faintly red, and the way she sat there restlessly made it clear she was extremely unaccustomed to this situation.

After all, a boy was feeding her. She had never experienced anything like this in her entire life.

And his voice was so gentle that every word he uttered made her heart tremble.

After going through it twice more, she finally couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm full. You can eat the rest yourself."

"Oh."

Fortunately, Bai Ye didn't ask her to feed him. Otherwise, she would have been so embarrassed she'd have wanted to crawl into the ground.

With nothing else to do, Horikita watched Bai Ye eat.

He ate casually, without much fuss, yet Horikita could sense a natural air of nobility about him.

Calm and composed, free and unrestrained.

Horikita couldn't help asking, "What does your family do?"

It wasn't easy to fake such poise. He must have received a good education from childhood to develop it.

"Are you already checking up on my background?"

Bai Ye stopped eating.

"If you marry me, I'll tell you."

"Pah! Who would marry you?" Horikita blushed. "Can't you say anything normal?"

"Who else would you marry besides me? You can only choose me, can't you?"

"If I really married you, you'd bully me every day. Do you think I'm stupid?" Horikita rolled her eyes.

"Who's bullying whom, exactly?" Bai Ye said helplessly. "I've never suffered this many grievances in my life. Nobody ever dared treat me the way you do."

"From the way you talk, your family must be doing well?"

"More or less. About my past... don't ask. Let's eat."

Bai Ye gave up on table manners and dug into his food.

Horikita could tell he didn't want to answer, so she didn't press him.

After school that afternoon, Bai Ye went to the Student Council Office alone.

He'd wanted to ask Horikita Suzune to come with him, but she wouldn't even hear him out and had turned away.

So he had no choice but to face his future brother-in-law alone.

The student council secretary, Tachibana Akane, led him over to Horikita Manabu's desk. He remained calm as he said, "What does the president want an ordinary student like me to do?"

"First, fill out an application to join the student council."

At Horikita Manabu's words, Tachibana Akane took out a form and handed it to him, along with a pen.

Bai Ye reluctantly wrote down his name.

Resist?

To be honest, with his personality, he'd have flipped the table by now. But he knew that Horikita Manabu had actually helped him.

From what Chabashira had said earlier, he knew Horikita Manabu had realized he was lying and that Horikita Suzune wasn't really his girlfriend.

But Horikita Suzune had told him that Horikita Manabu had asked them to date.

From that, he'd concluded that Horikita Manabu had seen through his lie based on what Horikita Suzune had said, but hadn't called him out. Instead, he'd encouraged Suzune to get along with him.

Horikita Manabu hadn't gotten angry at him for lying. On the contrary, he'd helped him. Bai Ye ought to thank him, both out of gratitude and common decency.

That was why he was being so cooperative now.

After looking over his signature, Horikita Manabu said, "For today, have Tachibana Akane show you the ropes. Report in on time tomorrow."

"Yes, President," Tachibana Akane replied, though she looked at him with unmistakable hostility.

Then Tachibana led him into another room, closed the door, and spread a stack of documents in front of him.

"Take your time. These cover the student council's basic duties. Look them over first, and ask me if you have any questions."

With that, she went to the other side of the room, turned on her computer, and got to work.

Bai Ye opened the documents and began reading.

To be honest, going through this material wasn't much trouble for him. And by learning how the student council worked, he could find more ways to earn points.

Time passed slowly. By evening, he had finished all the documents and leaned back in his chair to rest.

Tachibana Akane glanced over, looking a little surprised. "You finished that quickly? You weren't slacking off, were you?"

"Of course not. Secretary Tachibana can quiz me on anything. I guarantee I'll answer."

With his former abilities, he wouldn't have managed it. But his brain now worked twice as fast, so reading the documents had been effortless—and he could remember everything he saw.

If he hadn't been thinking about ways to earn points, he would have finished even sooner.

"Then let me test you..."

Tachibana Akane asked him several questions in a row, and he answered each one.

His answers even showed an ability to apply the information to other situations.

The cute girl with the purple buns couldn't help looking surprised.

"Could you be a genius? No wonder the president..."

"Now you understand, Secretary Tachibana. You can't presume to guess what the president is thinking."

"You really do like taking advantage of every opening," Tachibana Akane said, frowning slightly, though she wasn't angry.

After all, he'd just praised Horikita Manabu. Even if there had been a jab at her in there, she didn't mind.

"You can go back now. Remember to report in on time tomorrow. Also, the school has a rule: once you join the student council, you can't join any other clubs. Keep that in mind."

"Then I'll be going, Secretary Tachibana."

"Go ahead." Tachibana waved her hand.

After he left, Tachibana Akane carried the documents back to the Student Council Room.

She reported what had happened to Horikita Manabu.

He listened in silence, his expression unchanged.

When she finished, Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses and asked, "Do you think he can serve as the next student council president?"

Tachibana Akane paused, then answered frankly. "He does have some ability, but the student council president has to be exceptional in every respect. It isn't a position just anyone can fill. Given his current grades..."

"His grades can improve over time. What else?"

"He's only a first-year right now. Even next year, he'll still be a second-year, so promoting him to vice president might be difficult..."

"That's what I thought too. However..."

Horikita Manabu looked out at the distant scenery. "The chairman told me that the next student council president could be chosen from among all student council members, with the entire school voting. What do you think?"

"I didn't know that was possible... But if that's the case, they could choose another member. Why does it have to be him?"

"You can search for his background online... Remember to search for the Jingu Group."

"Could it be..." Tachibana Akane covered her mouth, looking astonished. "President, could you be mistaken? It might just be someone with the same name..."

"No. The chairman also told me about it, so it's almost certainly him."

Horikita Manabu furrowed his brow.

Normally, with something this serious, those politicians would have blocked all the information long ago.

But it was still searchable online. Perhaps someone was deliberately spreading the news.

The other possibility was that those people didn't dare block it.

That was hard to believe.

Horikita Manabu's frown deepened.

He felt as though he'd been drawn into a conspiracy, and the person at its center might even become his brother-in-law.

But in the end, he shook his head.

If the sky fell, the tallest would hold it up. If even someone like the chairman wasn't afraid, what did he have to fear?

Besides, he didn't think Bai Ye was simple at all.

With his many years of experience judging people, he couldn't be mistaken.

If Bai Ye was a phoenix, sooner or later he'd spread his wings and soar into the blue sky. And that would be an opportunity for Suzune, too.