Inside the Kouiku Student Council room, Horikita Manabu sat in the president's chair. Tachibana stood behind him to his right, while Ying stood in front of the desk. On the desk lay Ying's membership application and personal information.
"Baiye, you'll be the Kouiku Student Council's treasurer from now on. I look forward to working with you."
"Yes, BOSS!" Ying snapped to attention and saluted Horikita Manabu.
"Actually, the Student Council isn't as strict as you might think. In private, we don't need to use honorifics with each other. Once Vice President Miyabi Nagumo gets here, we'll start the morning meeting." Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses.
"Yes, BOSS!" Ying said, then casually sat down on the sofa.
"Baiye! The president hasn't told you to sit down yet!" Seeing how brazenly Ying had made himself comfortable, Tachibana angrily scolded him again.
"It's fine, Tachibana. In private, we can all be more casual with one another. You can sit down too." Horikita Manabu spoke to the somewhat annoyed Tachibana.
Tachibana huffed at Ying and sat in the spot farthest from him.
"Um... senpai, you really don't have to hate me this much." Ying scratched his head helplessly as he spoke to Tachibana.
"Hmph. I haven't accepted you yet. I don't know what the president sees in you, but to me, you're just an ill-mannered, weird, and hopeless student." Tachibana turned her head toward Ying as she spoke.
Horikita Manabu and Ying both sighed.
"Knock, knock. President Horikita, I'm here." After a crisp knock, a young man's voice came from outside.
"Come in," Horikita Manabu replied calmly.
The person who entered was a young man with short blond hair. He stood tall, and his eyes brimmed with confidence. So this was Miyabi Nagumo, Ying thought.
Nagumo bowed to Horikita Manabu, greeted Tachibana, then finally turned to Ying with a cheerful smile.
"You must be Baiye Ying, the person President Horikita's been paying so much attention to lately. No, I suppose I should call you Treasurer Baiye now. I'm Miyabi Nagumo, the Student Council vice president. I look forward to working with you." He smiled and held out his hand to Ying.
Ying was a little surprised. Was this really Miyabi Nagumo? He didn't seem much like the person Ying remembered. He was putting on quite an act.
"Now that everyone's here, let's begin today's meeting. First, we'll discuss Baiye Ying's admission to the Student Council..." Once Nagumo had arrived, Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses and announced the start of the meeting.
After the meeting, Nagumo said he had a lot to do as a second-year and took his leave. Tachibana remained standing behind Horikita Manabu to his right. Ying was just about to say goodbye when Horikita Manabu called out to him.
"Baiye, wait a moment. There's a personal matter I'd like to ask you about." He glanced at Tachibana, signaling for her to leave them alone. Tachibana took the hint and went out, leaving Ying and Horikita Manabu in the Student Council room.
Ying felt a little helpless. Why did it seem like there had been so much going on lately?
Horikita Manabu looked at Ying's reluctant expression and asked, "Aren't you curious why I asked you to stay?"
Ying made a couple of random guesses. He didn't really care what Horikita Manabu wanted him to do. "Maybe you want me to talk some sense into a few people."
A flicker of surprise crossed Horikita Manabu's eyes.
"You know?"
Know what? Ying was baffled. Had he somehow guessed right with a couple of random words? If Horikita Manabu wanted him to talk sense into someone, could it be... her?
"Could it be your younger sister?" Ying asked cautiously.
"I won't ask how you knew. Since you've already guessed, I won't beat around the bush. What I'd like to ask you about is my younger sister, Horikita Suzune." Horikita Manabu gestured for Ying to sit down again.
Then Horikita Manabu explained what he wanted: "My younger sister, Horikita Suzune, has looked up to me since she was little. I suppose she enrolled in this school to earn my recognition. But I don't want her to follow in my footsteps. I want her to live for herself and create a life of her own. Now that you've intervened, Class D knows how the class assignments work. I imagine she's upset about being placed in Class D. You're in the same year, while I'll be graduating soon. For the time you have left here, if you can spare the effort, could you give my sister some guidance? Help her stop following in anyone else's footsteps and become her own person."
After hearing Horikita Manabu's heartfelt speech, Ying could only think that there was a reason Horikita Suzune had turned out this way. If Horikita Manabu had so much as told her what he thought, she wouldn't still have been so fixated on her brother all the way through college. Was this the ultimate riddler?
"BOSS, I can help you with that. But I have one condition." Ying stood up, folded his arms, and addressed Horikita Manabu.
"Go ahead."
"Before you graduate, you have to tell your sister exactly what you think, without changing a single word."
"Is that so? So that's what you think." Horikita Manabu smiled with relief. "I understand. I accept your condition."
"Then I'll be going, BOSS. See you after school." With that, Ying walked out of the Student Council room.
After school, Ying was about to head to the Student Council room to take care of his duties as treasurer when Kanzaki suddenly stopped him.
"Baiye, Hoshinomiya-sensei is looking for you. She wants you to come by her office."
Huh? What did Hoshinomiya want with him? Was she still thinking about that?
Puzzled, Ying made his way to the first-year teachers' office. Before he could even go in, he heard voices from inside.
"Chabashira-sensei, please confirm once more whether I really was assigned to Class D, and whether there was an error in the scoring criteria." The woman's voice sounded angry.
"Horikita, I'm sorry, but your placement in Class D wasn't a mistake on our part. You're simply that kind of student, so you were bound to be placed in Class D."
Uh... It seemed like he'd come at a bad time. Maybe he should come back later.
"Ying, what are you doing outside the office? Don't tell me you're planning something naughty~."
Hoshinomiya-sensei had somehow appeared behind Ying. She smiled as she sized him up.
Ying: ...
"Hehe, I'm just teasing you. Sae seems busy with Class D matters in the office, so it wouldn't be nice to barge in and interrupt them. Let's go to my counseling room together!" Before Ying could react, Hoshinomiya-sensei had already pulled him into her private counseling room.
"Um... what did you want to see me about, sensei?" Ying asked nervously.
"Oh, don't be so tense, Ying. You got into the Student Council just one week after school started. I'm so happy to have such an excellent student. I've even been dreaming about you these past few days."
"Sensei, you're giving me too much credit. No matter how excellent a student is, they'll always be a student to their teacher!"
"Hehe, you're so funny, Ying. But there is something I'd like to ask my adorable student to do for me~." Hoshinomiya-sensei held a finger to her lips, putting on a pitiful expression.
"P-please... go ahead." Seeing Hoshinomiya-sensei like this only made Ying more nervous.
"Could you make sure Sae's Class D has no chance of reaching Class A~? If you can do that, I might be willing to give you what you want~."
Ying could only say that anyone who failed to understand such an obvious hint had to have something wrong with their head.
Ying grinned. "Hehehe... Hoshinomiya-sensei, you said it yourself. Don't go back on your word. I have quite an appetite."
Seeing Ying like this made Hoshinomiya-sensei falter, but she quickly steeled herself and said, "Don't worry. If you can do it, I definitely won't break my promise!"
"Ha ha ha! All right, I want it now." As he spoke, Ying took a few steps toward Hoshinomiya-sensei.
"W-wait... Not now!" Hoshinomiya-sensei took a step back, intimidated by Ying's air.
"It's fine. Think of it as a deposit. I won't ask for much. Heh heh heh." As he spoke, Ying reached into his pants pocket.
"W-well... all right. I hope you won't go back on your word, Ying. You have to make sure Sae's Class D has no chance of reaching Class A!" Hoshinomiya-sensei nervously closed her eyes.
"Don't worry, sensei. You can count on me." Then Ying pulled it out.
Ying was pretty handsome, so this didn't count as being taken advantage of. That was what Hoshinomiya-sensei thought.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, what are you doing? Hurry up and take out your Student Terminal. Just pay me 300,000 Personal Points for now. That's not too much for you, is it?"
Hoshinomiya-sensei opened her eyes in confusion. Then she saw the Student Terminal being waved in front of her, and her face instantly went dark. So my body isn't even worth 300,000 Personal Points!?
After paying the points, Hoshinomiya-sensei glared at Ying and left without looking back.
Ying: ??? Did I ask for too much? Maybe I should charge less next time...
Before you continue