As for skipping class, that was one of the Student Council's privileges. It was being abused a little, but strictly speaking, it wasn't against the rules.
"There's something else. There should be an empty classroom near our class, right? Let me have one. I want to start a club."
Sakayanagi Narimori asked curiously,
"Isn't that the sort of thing your Student Council should handle? Surely a few signatures from the Student Council would be enough."
Uesugi Gen shrugged helplessly.
"That's impossible. President Horikita is so stubborn that he'd never allow such a waste of school resources. Even if I submitted the request myself and approved it, he'd still notice something was off when he investigated the school's budget later."
That was right. Ever since Uesugi Gen had seen how much funding the various clubs at Kōiku received, he'd been heartbroken. How could they waste taxpayers' money like that? That was his money—his money! Those clubs were just throwing it away.
So after giving it some thought, Uesugi Gen had decided to join in himself. If he spent all that funding first, then it wouldn't go to waste.
"In that case, why not go straight to the source and bypass the Student Council? We can use the classroom in the school's name. Then there's nothing that stubborn President Horikita can do about it."
Sakayanagi Narimori thought for a moment, then opened his eyes.
"An empty classroom is no big deal. The school can approve that."
"As for what equipment you need, just fill out an application form and submit it to the school for approval. As Vice President of the Student Council, you should know how this works."
No, no, no. Uesugi Gen's expression nearly cracked. Surely he couldn't tell him that he'd only gone to the Student Council office twice since the start of term.
"Anyway, let's leave it at that. I'll do my best to accommodate your proposal for a club."
"As expected of the Chairman of Advanced Nurturing High School. You're certainly generous—nothing like a childish man such as Horikita Manabu."
Uesugi Gen skillfully buttered up Sakayanagi Sumimori.
"There's something else, Chairman. Don't you think the very existence of past exam questions is completely unreasonable?"
Uesugi Gen abruptly shifted the topic back to this Special Exam.
After all, there was no way his Class B students would look at past exam questions. If his own class couldn't use them, Uesugi Gen wasn't going to let students from other classes use them either.
So rather than let the other classes discover the past questions and use them to get through this Special Exam,
it was better to destroy them outright. If he was lucky, one or two students might even get expelled.
If they failed the exam themselves, they couldn't very well blame me, could they?
"You don't need to tell me. I was going to do the same. There are indeed some serious flaws in this Special Exam."
"So I'll have the exam committee rewrite the questions for this Special Exam. There won't be any more past questions for midterms or finals, either."
"Well, that's everything I wanted to discuss. You really are the Chairman, through and through. Advanced Nurturing is lucky to have you."
Having gotten what he wanted, Uesugi Gen put to good use the art of flattery he'd learned from Hoshinomiya-sensei. He buttered up the Chairman as he walked out of the Chairman's Office.
"Then I'll see you next time, Chairman."
Uesugi Gen waved goodbye to Sakayanagi Narimori with a smile, then left in high spirits.
No. I never want to see you again!
Watching Uesugi Gen's cheerful, farmer-like smile, Sakayanagi Narimori felt a headache coming on.
He decided to pour himself some tea to calm down, then casually reached toward the corner of his desk.
...His hand closed on empty air.
Huh? Where was the tea he'd put here?
He seemed to remember Uesugi Gen saying something polite when he'd arrived.
'Take some with you if you like it.'
Sakayanagi Narimori fell silent for a moment, then suddenly pulled out his phone.
"Tell the exam committee to fire whoever was responsible for writing the questions for this year's first-year Special Exam."
After saying that, Sakayanagi Narimori hung up, feeling refreshed.
If I can't deal with the students, I can at least deal with you.
Ichinose, You're So Naive That You'll End Up Crying When Someone Bullies You
At that very moment, Uesugi Gen was in the middle of a major crisis.
Someone had cornered him.
Yes, what goes around comes around. After he'd given the school a hard time, it was his turn to be given a hard time.
Ichinose Honami,
the girl who had shamelessly exposed his grand plan in class earlier was now standing outside his room.
This is bad!
Uesugi Gen stood at the corner of the stairwell, covering his forehead with one hand.
Thank goodness he hadn't taken the elevator straight up, or he would've run right into Ichinose.
To be honest, Uesugi Gen had no idea how to face the girl before him.
He hadn't even figured out how to answer what she'd said in class.
Looking back, it was seriously embarrassing. He, the mighty Uesugi Gen, had been driven away by the wicked Ichinose.
Technically, they still had class that afternoon. If he waited half an hour, he'd have to leave anyway.
But that wouldn't be like Uesugi Gen. It'd make it seem as though he was afraid of her.
So Uesugi Gen slowly poked half his head out and watched Ichinose.
He had to admit, she was very pretty.
Her waist-length hair fell like a waterfall. She had a curvy figure, rounded hips, pale thighs, and little white socks peeking out above her loafers. Her cheeks were slightly flushed with emotion.
What a sight to behold.
As if she'd sensed something, Ichinose suddenly turned her head.
Their eyes met.
Stare!
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
Like a fish slipping back beneath the surface, Uesugi Gen slowly withdrew his head.
He turned awkwardly and prepared to run.
Anywhere would do—the Chairman's Office, Hoshinomiya-sensei's nurse's office, or the new clubroom he'd just applied for.
He just had to get away first. His instincts told him that being caught would be a huge pain.
Smack!
He'd only taken two steps when Ichinose grabbed his hand.
Are you the Flash? We both have C in physical ability, so how are you so much faster than me?
Yes, thanks to Hoshinomiya-sensei giving him special help, Uesugi Gen had looked through the admission records of most of the students in Class B.
It definitely wasn't because he was trying to find Ichinose's weakness or anything.
"Could we talk for a little while?"
Her voice was soft, and her tone carried a hint of pleading. Like willow fluff drifting in the breeze, it was both unsteady and full of life.
Uesugi Gen had no choice. He could handle other girls with ease, like they were balls in his hands, so why was he completely helpless when it came to Ichinose?
"Let's talk in my room."
Uesugi Gen and Ichinose walked one after the other to the door of Room 404.
The whole time, Ichinose held tightly onto Uesugi Gen's hand, afraid he'd run off at any moment.
Inside Uesugi Gen's room,
Ichinose sat on his bed with her knees hugged to her chest, quietly watching him.
"Tea or juice? I don't have coffee."
"Tea is fine."
Neither of them spoke first. They just sat there, looking at each other.
"If you don't say anything, I'm leaving."
Looking at Ichinose's bright eyes, Uesugi Gen was the first to give in.
Ichinose suddenly panicked.
"No, you can't leave."
"Then say something. What is it?"
"Uesugi, sit down... A little closer."
Once Uesugi Gen sat closer, Ichinose moved closer to him too, until their arms were pressed tightly together.
Uesugi Gen had never been this close to Ichinose. He could even make out the scent of her hair and perfume.
Ichinose grabbed his hand and held it tightly, her voice soft but resolute.
"I'm sorry. I've wanted to apologize to you for a long time, Uesugi."
"You don't have to apologize. This is your life. If you've given up on yourselves, there's nothing I can do."
"No, actually... Part of why I rejected your plan was that I didn't want students from the other classes to be expelled."
Ichinose gave a self-deprecating smile.
"You must be disappointed. The leader of Class B is this kind of person."
Uesugi Gen replied without expression,
"You didn't need to tell me that. You've been like this since the first day of school. I'd find it unbelievable if you actually wanted them expelled."
"Is that so? You really do know me, Uesugi."
Ichinose squeezed Uesugi Gen's hand and gently leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Uesugi. Could I lean on you for a little while? Just for a moment."
Then Ichinose spoke as if reminiscing.
"My family is just my mother, my younger sister, and me. My sister is two years younger than I am."
"Even though my family isn't well-off, I've never thought of myself as unfortunate. On the contrary, I've always felt lucky. From elementary school through junior high, I received help from all kinds of kind people—classmates, teachers, and older adults—and that's how I grew up."
"Even the reason I came to Advanced Nurturing High School and met everyone was that my homeroom teacher told me the entrance and course fees would be waived."
"That's why I wanted to help everyone as much as I could, just like the kind people who helped me. Even if it was only a little."
"But if you got them expelled, Uesugi, it would leave a stain on their records. That would make it much harder for them to continue their education or find jobs in the future."
Listening to Ichinose, Uesugi Gen gave a cold snort.
"So you abandoned your own classmates for people who have nothing to do with you?"
"No."
Ichinose tightened her grip on Uesugi Gen's hand and answered seriously,
"It's because you're here, Uesugi."
"Because I've always believed—believed that no matter what, you'd lead our class to graduate from Class A."
"Of course, part of it was that I was afraid you'd be expelled."
"But another part of me thought that you probably came up with this one-and-done plan because you're too lazy to compete with the other classes."
"That's why I selfishly rejected your plan."
Before you continue