"But right now, I still haven't used my authority as Student Council President to expel a student," Horikita Manabu said.
As he spoke, Horikita Manabu fixed his burning gaze on Nakano Yuu again.
"..." Nakano Yuu.
He'd already said not to look at him when saying such outrageous things.
Take it back already!
"Forget it," Horikita Manabu said. "I believe in putting strength above all else. As Student Council President, I'll offer some support, but that doesn't mean I support your way of thinking."
"Since you asked about the Student Council, I can give you the Secretary position."
The Secretary position?
In the original, this Student Council President might have given the position to the original male protagonist.
And now he was offering it to him, too?
That made Nakano Yuu a little uneasy.
After all, he had no desire to take over the original protagonist's role. He really didn't want to be in Class D.
Still.
"If I agree, the Secretary position is mine?" Nakano Yuu asked.
"That's right," Horikita Manabu replied. "As Student Council President, I'll be fair and seek out talent. If you have what it takes, I'll give you the position."
"You said it," Nakano-kun said. "Give me a few minutes."
"? What are you planning to do?" Horikita Manabu asked.
He knew Nakano Yuu wanted money, and that his talk of wanting Horikita's sister expelled was just to provoke him. He didn't actually mean to do it.
But Horikita Manabu had refused to give him money. Did he have another way?
"I'm going to call Ryuuen from Class C," he said.
As he spoke, he made two calls right in front of Horikita Manabu. "Yeah, it's me... That's right. This time I'm not selling information, I'm selling a position. What position? The Student Council Secretary, obviously. Joining the Student Council gets you access to a lot of information. It's really useful for your class. 200,000 points? You think I'm that cheap? 300,000? Are you trying to pay me in pocket change?"
"Broke-ass. You can't even scrape together a million, so I'm not selling it to you!"
"Send me Katsuragi from Class A's number," Nakano Yuu said.
After that, he waited another two minutes before getting a new number.
Then he called again.
"This is Nakano Yuu from Class D. Ryuuen should have told you. I happen to be with the Student Council President right now, and he's decided to offer a Student Council Secretary position."
"Of course I'm not recommending you for free. The teacher said points can buy anything, so what's strange about buying a position? Katsuragi, please stay calm. You want to hold on to Class A's standing, right? Yes, I want a million. Do you think you could join the Student Council normally, given your abilities? Fine, then I'll sell it to Sakayanagi. I'm sure she'll snap it up... Oh, you agree? Still a million, but you want to pay in installments... Hmm... Then I'll find someone else. I'm sure they'll... Pay me next month? That works. A million, then. Hold on, I'll turn on speakerphone."
With that, Nakano-kun turned on his phone's speaker in front of Horikita Manabu.
"Student Council President Horikita," Katsuragi Kohei from Class A said through the phone, "I'd like to ask whether you would approve my joining the Student Council on the recommendation of Nakano Yuu from Class D?"
"..." Horikita Manabu rolled his eyes, but held back his annoyance. "Approved. You can report to the Student Council tomorrow."
"Understood, President! I was on the student council in middle school, so I'm looking forward to continuing in high school. Thank you for giving me this opportunity!" Katsuragi sounded very excited over the phone.
Nakano-kun exchanged a couple more words with him, then hung up.
"You're obsessed with money!" Horikita Manabu said, exasperated. "But I've given you the Secretary position, and how you handle it is none of my business. However..."
His gaze shifted to his younger sister.
"You don't need to be so stingy with your points at this school. Points circulate, and if you don't spend them on yourself, someone else will swindle them away," Horikita Manabu said.
Nakano Yuu kept up his meek act.
He knew Horikita's brother was hinting at him.
"Suzune, if you want to survive at this school, you have to fight hard. I'll graduate next March, and when I do, I'll take you with me."
As he said this, he transferred 500,000 points to Horikita Suzune.
He'd said he had no points, yet he could still transfer 500,000 to his sister.
Horikita Manabu, weren't you going a little too far?
Nakano Yuu watched Horikita Manabu's retreating figure, but Horikita Manabu turned and left without being affected at all.
P.S. Today's update! Please vote, please vote, please vote!
First Meeting with Sakayanagi Arisu!
Although he was the Student Council President and the strongest student in the school, Horikita Manabu himself might not have had many points left.
He'd transferred 500,000 points to his sister, but the amount was rather interesting.
He'd just told his sister not to be stingy and to spend when she needed to, and said he'd take her with him when he graduated. Since he had only ten months left until graduation, that 500,000 worked out to 50,000 points in living expenses per month.
If she didn't hold back, she could easily spend all of it.
So Horikita Manabu had planned out his sister's living expenses for the year.
This had two implications. First, he didn't expect Class D to be able to provide her with living expenses. Second, he'd given his sister just enough to get by. There was nothing left to squeeze out of it.
But still.
Did he have to be so stingy?
Nakano-kun had spent several days deliberately treating him like a big fish to reel in.
Yet now, even counting the money from selling the Secretary position, he had only a little over a million points. He was still a long way from the 20 million points he wanted to transfer to another class.
As he was thinking about this,
"Beep beep."
Nakano Yuu saw that he'd received a message on his phone.
It was from Horikita Manabu, whom he'd added as a friend.
Horikita Manabu: Is all you want points?
Nakano Yuu: Class D is what it is, as you've seen. It's probably the most ridiculous class since the school was founded. Unless there's a monster in this class, it can't be led.
Horikita Manabu: ...
Horikita Manabu: Aren't you that monster?
Nakano Yuu: No, no, please don't say something so terrifying. Even if Class D takes off or whatever, I'm not interested.
Horikita Manabu: Are you trying to save up 20 million points to transfer classes?
Nakano Yuu: Yes. I have to graduate as a member of Class A. Gathering 20 million points is the best value for money.
Horikita Manabu: Have you considered getting someone else to pay?
Nakano Yuu: ? You mean having another class gather 20 million points to buy me?
Horikita Manabu: It's possible. If you show them what you can do...
Nakano Yuu: No, no, let's forget that idea. I like taking the initiative. I don't like being forced.
Horikita Manabu: ?
Nakano Yuu: Never mind. You can't get anywhere with that kind of talk around here. So, President Horikita, anything else to say?
Horikita Manabu: Today, I gave you the Student Council Secretary position, and you sold it for money. You acknowledge that, right?
Nakano Yuu: Yes.
Horikita Manabu: You just need to acknowledge that you owe me for it. I can give you another 500,000 points. I don't have many of my own left.
Nakano Yuu: Is that to look after your sister?
Horikita Manabu: Stop trying to take advantage of her. Suzune is still very naive.
Nakano Yuu: Yeah. She gave me all her points after just five minutes, over information that was about to expire. I didn't expect that either.
Horikita Manabu: ...
Horikita Manabu probably couldn't keep the conversation going. After transferring 500,000 points, he stopped replying.
Nakano Yuu didn't mind. He could use his connection with Horikita Manabu to make more money during the forest exam later, so this was just the groundwork.
After obediently tapping the button to accept the transfer, Nakano Yuu turned to Horikita Suzune.
Horikita Suzune was sitting in a chair.
But.
"I'm so weak," Horikita Suzune said, looking dejected.
That was how she'd acted in front of her brother earlier. "I kept insisting I was excellent, only to be judged an idiot in Class D."
Oh, oh, oh.
That was certainly an honest assessment.
So she felt ashamed of accepting the points her brother had given her and thought she'd caused him trouble?
"Then drop out!" Nakano Yuu said.
"Do you have no sympathy at all?" Horikita Suzune glared at him.
"I'm just saying out loud the conclusion you don't dare voice. You're already thinking of giving up, aren't you?" Nakano-kun spread his hands and shrugged.
Horikita Suzune pressed her lips together and said nothing more.
Clearly, Nakano-kun had guessed right.
That was rather unusual. After spending just a few days together with Horikita, he could already read her thoughts.
Was she simply too naive, or were they far too compatible?
Nakano-kun glanced at the 500,000 points her brother had transferred.
500,000 points were enough to buy 200 decent lunches, or even hire his little sister for 500 hours.
Out of respect for her brother—
"But deep down, you must be unwilling to give up, so I have another option for you," Nakano-kun said.
"What is it?"
Horikita looked at him.
"A way for you to regain your confidence," Nakano Yuu said.
"Could it be..." Horikita Suzune had an idea. "Are you going to give my money back?"
She'd seemed so timid in front of her brother partly because that was simply her nature, and partly because she'd been swindled out of all her points by Nakano-kun in less than five minutes. That only made her feel more ashamed.
If she got the money back, at least she wouldn't feel so awful.
"Of course not," Nakano Yuu said matter-of-factly. "What kind of idea is that? Like a gambling addict who loses everything, then whines that they're done and wants their money back?"
"My suggestion is that we work together."
"I need a lot of points, and my goal is to save up 20 million. But couldn't you do the same?"
"20 million points can be used to avoid expulsion once, and you can also transfer to the class you want," Nakano Yuu said. "So transferring to Class A is possible, too."
"But my brother said he'd take me out of school with him when he graduates..." Horikita's sister said, showing little motivation.
If she was going to graduate in a year anyway, there was no point in trying to get points or move up a class.
"See? You're just a little sister," Nakano Yuu said. "Your brother cares about you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given you enough living expenses for a year."
"In other words, under his protection, he's chosen to take you with him when he graduates, because he'll have to leave school then."
"That means he thinks you need his protection. But if you can gather 20 million points, at least you can cancel out one expulsion penalty. Do you know what that means?" Nakano Yuu coaxed.
"It means..." Horikita Suzune's lovely brows curved slightly downward. Her voice had lost some of its firmness, too.
"It means you've already shown your brother what you're capable of," Nakano Yuu said, voicing her unspoken thoughts for her. "And isn't earning your brother's recognition what you want?"
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