I Know Some of You Aren't Convinced / Sakayanagi's Crushing Defeat

Aoyama realized he wasn't that kind.

Chapter 163 I know some of you don't agree with me

Let's Sanada. He has a gentle personality and is very popular in the class.

It seems that apart from Machida, who is hostile, it doesn't affect him much who comes to power. Aoyama doesn't seem to be seriously giving his votes to Sanada.

I feel that even if Sanada were elected, he would likely decline the offer.

"Nishikawa Ryoko."

"Aoyama Shiki".

"Aoyama Shiki".

Ten minutes later, after collecting the blank sheets of paper from the students one by one, Katsuragi shuffled the sheets in front of everyone and then projected them one by one onto the big screen.

For each projected image, he would read out the circled name and tally it up on the whiteboard.

"It seems like a lot of people chose you; they must be blind."

Staring at the tally marks under Aoyama Shiki on the whiteboard, Kamuro casually launched into a sarcastic remark, it was unclear whether he was mocking Aoyama more or the students of Class A.

A smug smile appeared on Aoyama's face. "Well, you still chose me, Kamuro. It's not very nice to criticize yourself like that."

"I didn't choose you. You were the one who shamelessly pestered me in the first place, okay?"

Kamuro initially thought Aoyama was referring to the voting, but upon seeing Aoyama's mischievous smile, he realized what Aoyama was referring to.

Since the start of the semester, Kamuro has felt that Aoyama is a troublesome guy. If it weren't for him always hanging around her, the two of them would never have had a deep connection.

"So you admit you chose me? I'm so honored."

"Yes, yes, I was blind to choose you as a friend. You should think about how to give your acceptance speech first."

Faced with Aoyama's suddenly aggressive gaze, Kamuro awkwardly turned his head away, looking at the empty wall.

On the whiteboard, only three names could be combined to form a tally mark. Nishikawa had one and a little more, Sanada had two, and Aoyama had the most with four.

Of the forty students in the class, a full half voted for Aoyama Shiki, the undisputed traitor of Class A.

Even though Aoyama is extremely selfish, they cannot deny Aoyama talent. His resounding victory in the two Special Exam shows that he is not only exceptionally good at academics and physical abilities, but also has extraordinary intelligence.

They hoped that Aoyama could unite the turbulent Class A and then march north to reclaim the top.

"Let's find someone else, Katsuragi."

Before Katsuragi could finish reading, Aoyama stated that he had no interest in the leadership position of Class A.

Once you're in a position of power, you have to take responsibility. With embezzlement and Sakayanagi keeping an eye on him and reporting him, the leader of Class A is just a liability to him.

It's tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw it away.

"As long as it's not Sakayanagi or a puppet of Sakayanagi, Kamuro and the Kamuro will do their best to cooperate."

"My point is simple: it's not enough to just have Sakayanagi."

As long as it's not someone as reckless as Sakayanagi who takes the stage, Aoyama doesn't care much. After all, Sakayanagi is the only one who dares to fight him without considering the consequences.

Katsuragi shifted his gaze to the second-place vote-getter, "Sanada- kun, what do you mean?"

"I don't have that ability. Compared to the leaders of other classes, I can't even make the most basic decisions."

With a wry smile, Sanada continued, "Regarding this Special Exam, without Classmate Sakayanagi's reminder, I wouldn't have even imagined that the VIP in each group would follow a certain pattern."

"I don't consider myself a bookworm who only knows how to read books, but I don't think I'm a genius either."

Everyone has a scale in their heart.

Comparing himself to the leaders of each class, Sanada realized he couldn't beat them, much less Aoyama, who was clearly Aoyama.

Aoyama wants to make a lot of money, then he will definitely continue to accept commissions from other classes.

"Students who are interested in taking on leadership roles, please stand up."

Withdrawing his gaze from Sanada, who had refused, Katsuragi calmly looked at the students of Class A and asked them a question.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds, until a minute passed, and apart from whispers among the students, not a single student stood up.

Nishikawa, who came in third in the vote, also declined Sakayanagi's offer to stand up for him.

The most valuable quality in a person is self-awareness. She knew where her votes came from, and she also knew that she was not up to the position of leader. If she became a puppet of Sakayanagi, Aoyama would not cooperate.

She didn't want to become the third leader to lead Class C down to Class D.

The other students shared similar thoughts with Nishikawa.

"It seems everyone knows that being a class leader isn't easy." A hint of disappointment flashed across Katsuragi's face. "But I think you should also know that without a class leader to unite us, our class's situation would be even worse."

"So I have a suggestion: hire Aoyama as the leader of Class A, with two million personal points per month."

Katsuragi had two plans for this class meeting: if he could elect a leader whom Aoyama approved of, he would assist him; if he couldn't elect one and Aoyama was unwilling to take the role, then he would ask Aoyama to take it on.

Getting something for free is unacceptable, but paying for it is always possible.

"Two million a month? That's all the class funds, isn't that a bit too much?"

"It's so embarrassing to have to pay someone to be the class leader."

As soon as Katsuragi finished speaking, the students in Class A began whispering among themselves. Thanks to the fact that no one was willing to be a leader, they couldn't openly refute him.

The students present already understood that Class A was a complete mess, all show and no substance.

Even with a great stat sheet, if you can't utilize it, you'll only get beaten up.

Seeing that no one stood up to take the lead, Katsuragi continued, "If there's money to be made, you wouldn't pass it up, would you, Aoyama?"

"I only need one million per month, but there's a condition." Aoyama tapped his fingers on the table, thinking quickly, "I'll guarantee the Class Points won't continue to decrease, but I can't guarantee the class will be number one."

"Even if my request is clearly not the optimal solution for Class A in the Special Exam, everyone else must listen to me."

With a fixed income like a salary, not a single penny would become illicit money. Therefore, Aoyama needed permission—permission from the students in Class A to turn a blind eye to his betrayal of the class's interests.

He wanted to clarify things so that no one would use this against him later.

"If you're not satisfied, you don't have to renew the contract. I think we can give it a try."

Before the other students could say anything more, Katsuragi stated that he agreed to Aoyama's conditions and, incidentally, advised the students not to object by mentioning that the contract could be terminated at any time.

After waiting for a while, and with no one objecting, Aoyama temporarily became the leader of Class A and went up to the podium.

"I know some of you disagree with me, that's okay."

"After I fail, you can choose another one."

With a calm gaze and steady tone, Aoyama spread his hands expressionlessly.

He knew that only a few students in the audience truly recognized him as their leader; the rest had only agreed to be his leader because they were following the momentum created by Katsuragi.

"Until then, you all have to listen to me."

Chapter 164 Sakayanagi's Sakayanagi

"Stand before me, Hashimoto."

Standing straight on the podium, Aoyama coldly beckoned Hashimoto to his side.

After becoming the leader of Class A, he naturally had the obligation to punish Hashimoto, the so-called traitor of Class A.

"Do you have anything to say about your affair with Ryuen, the leader of Class C?"

Looking down at the gloomy and uncertain Hashimoto from his elevated position, Aoyama spoke indifferently after creating a sense of disparity in their presence.

He could expel Hashimoto at any time, but that wouldn't be the most profitable approach. He would prefer Hashimoto to turn on Sakayanagi and bite him back.

"No further words, please proceed immediately." With a sigh, Hashimoto closed his eyes.

If he had known that Aoyama would become the leader, he would never have been tempted by Sakayanagi's offer. However, given the internal and external troubles facing Class A at the time, he couldn't see any hope of graduating from Class A.

If he can't graduate from Class A, then dropping out or not is meaningless to him.

All he can do now is pray that Sakayanagi will keep his promise and that Aoyama won't come knocking on his door after graduation.

"No matter what Sakayanagi Arisu promises you, I will find you after graduation."

"Confess who's behind this, and I'll allow you to stay at the school, but you'll be spared the death penalty, though you won't escape punishment."

Just as Hashimoto was waiting to drop out of school, he heard Aoyama's words, one light and one heavy. The first sentence could only be heard and understood by himself, who was standing next to him.

If Aoyama had said that revealing Sakayanagi would resolve the matter peacefully, he certainly wouldn't have believed it. But since Aoyama still imposed punishment, it meant that the matter was over after the punishment, and there was no reason to pursue it further.

To be honest, he was tempted. If it weren't for the influence of the Sakayanagi Family, he wouldn't have hesitated at all.

How could he not feel resentful that Sakayanagi pushed him out to take the blame? If he had made a mistake and Aoyama found out, that would be one thing, but to be expelled for doing nothing wrong is something no one would be happy about.

"Aren't you afraid of retaliation from the Sakayanagi Family?"

"The Chairman's personality is nothing like Sakayanagi Arisu's. As long as he doesn't resort to violence, everything is negotiable." Aoyama replied to Hashimoto in a similarly low voice.

Before inflicting real damage on Sakayanagi Arisu, Sakayanagi Narimori wouldn't take it seriously at all.

This is a child's business, why is an adult in such a hurry?

"It was Sakayanagi Arisu me. I didn't betray the class at all. I have a recording."

After a fierce internal struggle, Hashimoto decided against entrusting his future to the unreliable Sakayanagi.

Staring intently at Sakayanagi, whose expression had drastically changed, he took out his phone and handed it to Aoyama. Having no trust in anyone, he naturally always kept a backup plan.

Sakayanagi could no longer remain calm. "Hashimoto Masayoshi, think carefully before you speak. Making baseless accusations against your classmates will have consequences."

She never expected that Hashimoto would dare to secretly record audio, and she had no idea what he recorded or how much he recorded.

"You clearly failed, yet you're trying to shift the blame onto me. I don't trust your promises."

As Aoyama smiled faintly, Hashimoto unlocked the folder's password, and soon the recording of their secret plot from the previous night was slowly played in the instantly quiet room.

Sakayanagi Arisu's disgraceful behavior after the defeat was etched into the minds of the students in Class A.

The room remained unusually quiet after the recording finished playing. Aoyama, who had attracted everyone's attention, did not confront Sakayanagi, but instead focused his gaze on Hashimoto, who had retrieved his phone.

"There's a barbershop on board; keeping your head bald for three years shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

After thinking for a while, he finally came up with a punishment that would make Hashimoto remember it well, which also happened to be something he didn't like about boys having dyed their hair blonde.

"Can we try a different approach?" Hashimoto asked, his eyes wide.

What do you think?

Calmly deciding on Hashimoto's punishment, Aoyama, amidst everyone's anticipation, turned his gaze to Sakayanagi, whose eyes were vacant and who truly resembled a doll.

The moment the recording ended, it was impossible for Sakayanagi to return to the position of leader.

If a leader fails, she pushes her subordinates to take the blame. No one will believe a leader like that, unless her Chairman father goes crazy and gives each member of Class A Twenty Million Personal Points, asking them to accompany his daughter in her madness.

"Take care of yourself."

That's all for today, dismissed.

Contrary to what the students in Class A had expected, Aoyama's gaze lingered on Aoyama for only a moment before shifting away.

Having lost the right to be his enemy, Sakayanagi no longer needed to attack him in a smug manner.

Soon, the once lively conference room was left with only Aoyama and his two companions, plus Sakayanagi, who was sitting there in a daze.

Perhaps out of respect for her father, the Chairman the board, the students, feeling they had been mocked, did not speak ill of Sakayanagi before leaving; they only looked at her with a degree of contempt.

"You win, Aoyama."

As Aoyama led Kamuro Yamamura toward the door, Sakayanagi, pale-faced and silent, called out to Aoyama.

Now that things have come to this, she can no longer deny it.

"I didn't expect you to be so stupid," Aoyama said without any sarcasm.

He genuinely felt that Sakayanagi's attempt to find a scapegoat was incredibly foolish, and he never expected Sakayanagi to suddenly give him the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.

To order Hashimoto someone like Hashimoto, who's all about whoever feeds him, without taking any precautions at all—that's less arrogance and more stupidity.

Moreover, in order to avoid losing his leadership position, finding such a useful tool Hashimoto to take the blame is simply picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon. I wonder if Sakayanagi's scales are broken.

"By the way, how did you borrow those ten million personal points from Nagumo?"

Aoyama recalled the screenshots that Sakayanagi had posted on the School Forum. He still didn't know under what pretext Sakayanagi had borrowed the money from Nagumo, or how many people had signed contracts with Nagumo.

"Is that stupid? This is the first time someone has called me that." Without offering any rebuttal, Sakayanagi's feelings were incredibly complex. "As for the ten million, you can rest assured, it was a loan I made in my personal capacity."

Aoyama quickly realized Nagumo's reason for borrowing money. "He used the Chairman's daughter's name again?"