A Storm Is Brewing / Hidden Piece

With many people intentionally or unintentionally fueling the flames, the discussion on the forum continued to escalate and quickly shifted to Kitagawa Ryo and the Drama Club.

It can only be said that students on the internet are indeed prone to slipping, especially when their emotions are stirred up. Instead of reasoning, they only think about refuting the other party and saying, "Jin Chanzi, I won again."

What was once a seemingly unassailable argument was now being refuted one by one, with comments like, "If clubs with good grades can do whatever they want, why doesn't the school just shut down all the clubs that don't perform as well as the Drama Club?" or "Think about it another way: even pigs can fly if they're in the right place at the right time. If our club had such strong connections in the Student Council, we could also achieve good results. The reason we're not achieving results now is because, in addition to training, we also have to outwit and outmaneuver the Student Council." Such pronouncements quickly became rampant.

Then, some busybodies, or rather, 'well-meaning people,' immediately compiled a list of the privileges of the Drama Club.

As the saying goes, you won't know until you see it listed, and once you do, you'll be shocked.

Although many students, like the student from the Light Music Club who posted the initial post, vaguely felt that the Drama Club was frequently participating in competitions outside of school, many only belatedly realized, once the actual data was presented, that this club was indeed participating far too often.

As we all know, scarcity increases value. Due to the fully enclosed management model of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, most students have always been very enthusiastic about leaving the school. However, ordinary students can only leave the school twice a year through Special Exam, such as on Uninhabited Island.

Clubs don't get many opportunities to compete outside of school. Even for a large sports club like the Basketball Club, where Ken Sudō is, the only time they can reliably get a spot outside of school is the summer tournament. Smaller clubs like the Light Music Club often have to wait a long time before their applications are approved.

However, the Drama Club manages to consistently leave campus every two months, and sometimes even stays overnight. From any perspective, this frequency is simply excessive.

However, as the situation escalated to this point, it took a strange turn, almost as if the boss had given the online trolls two different plans at the same time. The topics on the forum were no longer being pushed forward in a neat and orderly manner as before, but instead began to diversify.

What Kitagawa Ryo was targeting was precisely this kind of post:

"They've gone out so many times, and each time for so long, I don't believe these people spend so much time off-campus just to participate in the competition!"

He doesn't have many weaknesses, but there are two that could be quite damaging to him as the acting Student Council. After all, some things are only a small amount when you don't weigh them, but once you do, they can be incredibly damaging.

This is one of them.

Chapter 456: A Storm is Brewing, the Mountain Fills the Tower

Generally speaking, as long as no serious fundamental mistakes are made, the school rules of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School are quite lenient for ordinary students. Ryuen Kakeru is quite qualified to speak on this point, after all, he has actually done things that actively tested the limits of the school rules, such as deliberately covering up the campus surveillance cameras. In the end, he always denied it and just paid a fine in Private Points or Class Points.

However, this default set of rules obviously does not apply to the Student Council, especially the Student Council. After all, power and responsibility are always two sides of the same coin. As the Student Council of ANHS, even if you cannot play a leading role, you should at least not knowingly break the law. After all, the Student Council also has a portion of the supervisory power shared with the school.

Miyabi Nagumo actually fell victim to this unspoken rule. After all, in truth, the wild boar incident she encountered was not nearly as serious as Ryuen Kakeru's deliberate sabotage of the surveillance cameras, and he was even a victim himself. However, since he was the current Student Council President, he could only be severely punished as a warning.

And the same is true for Kitagawa Ryo now.

Moreover, unlike Miyabi Nagumo, the two pieces of evidence he currently carries are much more troublesome, the kind that could lead to a major demerit or even expulsion from school.

First, there's the kitten that's still being kept in the dorm. After all, the rule against students keeping pets on campus is clearly written in black and white in the school rules and dorm regulations. However, there are ways to deal with this. Besides forcibly spending Twenty Million Personal Points to buy Hotaru a student status, as in the previous simulation, Asahina Nazuna also suggested that after something happens, the pet could be registered under the name of a teacher with whom they have a good relationship. After all, the school rules don't stipulate that faculty and staff can't keep pets.

As for why they went to the campus?

There's nothing we can do about it; cats are just like that—they'll run away if we don't keep an eye on them.

In addition, the second piece of leverage is the Drama Club -related matters that some people on the forum are trying to expose.

In his first semester after entering university, in order to earn Private Points and build connections with upperclassmen, Kitagawa Ryo took on the job of delivering things off-campus for students, along with the Drama Club. Later, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka even managed to sabotage the operation by using a third-year informant. Although Kitagawa Ryo noticed the scheme and avoided the trap, the business had to be shut down. Later, when he helped Katsuragi Kohei deliver gifts to his sister during summer vacation, it was purely on Kitagawa Ryo's whim, a result of his sister-complex and mutual appreciation.

In fact, this area has a very large untapped market. After all, the fully enclosed management system of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School means that the students there will have such needs, and these needs will create a corresponding market. Even if these are prohibited by the school rules, in a sense, the most profitable things are often these prohibited rules.

Theoretically speaking, the best time for Kitagawa Ryo to get rid of this mess was at the end of last year, when he received a exemption from expulsion. He could have exposed the incident himself, taken all the blame, and then used the reward from that Special Exam to successfully keep his studies.

But there was nothing he could do. The thought of leaving school and the team to celebrate his sister's birthday overwhelmed everything else. However, Kitagawa Ryo would never claim to be an overly rational person. After all, he had his moments of emotion all these years. Even if this boomerang had come back to haunt him, if he were given another chance, he would definitely still choose to use this precious opportunity to avoid expulsion to celebrate Hotaru's birthday, no matter how many times he had to do it again.

As for how to deal with this media attack, which is most likely launched by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Kitagawa Ryo is not entirely unprepared or clueless.

As the saying goes, to catch a thief, catch him in the act; to catch an adulterer in bed, catch them in the act. After all, more than half a year has passed since this incident, and many related clues have long since disappeared. Moreover, if this matter were to be exposed, those senior students who made the deal with him and the Drama Club would also be accomplices, so they should be more inclined to keep the secret.

However, looking at it from another angle, could it be that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is starting this old-fashioned trend now because he's found a witness willing to expose this?

With less than two months left until graduation for the third-year students, unless there is a dramatic reversal in the final graduation exam, the rankings of the four classes (A, B, C, and D) should already be completely settled. Under these circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising if two students were willing to take a gamble for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's prize, with classes C and D being particularly likely to be involved.

Moreover, knowing about this matter, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could even go to students who were not involved at all to directly testify, just like he encouraged Totsuka Yahiko to expose Chabashira Sae last year. As long as the matter is true, the identity of the whistleblower doesn't really matter.

Conversely, if the whistleblower is of high enough stature, then whether the allegations are true or false becomes less important.

At least on the Drama Club's side, all related materials and loose ends have been thoroughly cleaned up beforehand, so if anyone wants to cause trouble, they can only start with the person who made the deal.

Alternatively, it could be a record of Private Points transactions.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo opened Notepad on his computer and typed out the list of students who had made deals with their Drama Club back then, based on his memory. He first divided them into groups according to their grades and classes, and then sent the names of the second-year students to Asahina Nazuna, asking her to keep an eye on their movements.

On the third-year side, Kitagawa Ryo first erased several names from Class A. After all, he really didn't believe that any Class A Student Council would participate in such a thing at this crucial moment before graduation, when their class had such a huge advantage and was almost certain to graduate in Class A. Moreover, Horikita Manabu's management ability in the class was trustworthy, so it was indeed unlikely that there would be a mole.

The remaining names, in theory, should all be the focus of attention.

However, according to Kitagawa Ryo's thinking, he was more inclined to believe that these people hadn't betrayed him, because they were almost all in the same situation as Katsuragi Kohei. Among the students of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, the likelihood of a student willing to spend such a considerable amount of Private Points just to send a greeting of peace and blessings to their family Kitagawa Ryo the school was very low in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's opinion. He was more inclined to believe that Ayanokoji had just randomly picked another student who was willing to do this to identify him.

After all, it's quite remarkable that someone in an environment like ANHS can still keep their thoughts about the outside world in mind at all times.

The competitive system, financial system, and academic life here are completely different from those outside. It is easy for the students here to be subtly immersed in this deliberately constructed atmosphere. This is true for Miyabi Nagumo, as well as for Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie, who came earlier. These gains and losses within the school have occupied their entire vision, and they have completely forgotten that the three years here are only a part of their life experience. As a result, the latter has not been able to get over it even ten years after graduation.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was resting his chin on his hand in thought, there was a sudden, urgent knock on the door of the Student Council's office. However, before he could even say "Come in," the student outside had already pushed the door open and rushed in.

It was a red-haired, twin-tailed girl who was only remembered by Sakayanagi Arisu as the strongest fighter in Class A after Kitagawa Ryo transferred away, and when she got serious, even Sudo couldn't beat her.

"Ichika actually came to the Student Council?"

"Is it possible that Liang has been staying in the Student Council all this time?"

Normally, Amasawa Ichika would probably have teased Kitagawa Ryo about this topic again, but she wasn't in the mood for it now. As a fellow member of the Drama Club, she also immediately sensed the true direction of this situation.

"Does Ryo think that Arisu is the mastermind behind this?"

"While the first part might be true, the most critical part for us definitely wasn't her intention. It's more likely that it was Ayanokoji who was aware of these things as well."

After receiving Kitagawa Ryo's reply, Amasawa Ichika seemed a little regretful. She casually tidied her hair, which was a bit messy from running over, before walking to her desk and speaking in a low voice:

"If that's the case, wouldn't that be much simpler? At worst, we could just take down Katsuragi from their class as well."

Because Amasawa Ichika was present when Katsuragi Kohei and Kitagawa Ryo reached a consensus on their sister complex on the cruise ship last summer, she was well aware that the two had also reached a similar private agreement.

The meaning of "Amasawa Ichika" is very clear.

If the Drama Club's affairs weren't exposed, this would at most be considered a private matter between Katsuragi Kohei and Kitagawa Ryo, and would be forgotten. However, if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were to expose everything, this matter could become a card they could use to blackmail the other party, making them hesitant to act. After all, if the point transaction records were checked, Katsuragi Kohei would be completely unable to explain why he, as the class Leader, transferred more than 100,000 Private Points to Kitagawa Ryo at that time.

Amasawa Ichika spoke very quickly, after all, the White Room wasn't really a gym for pure muscle building, although the fitness effect was indeed top-notch.

"If this was indeed Ayanokoji's doing, then there are two possibilities. One is that he was completely unaware of the deal between Katsuragi and Ryo, which is quite likely, because Katsuragi wouldn't necessarily tell Ayanokoji about such a thing. The other is that Ayanokoji knew, and he might have exposed it to take the opportunity to damage Katsuragi's prestige. After all, he is now the Leader of Class C, while Katsuragi is the former. It's perfectly normal for the current leader to settle scores with the former."

"... I would lean more towards one."

Compared to Amasawa Ichika, Kitagawa Ryo clearly understood Katsuragi Kohei and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's personalities better. The situation described by Amasawa Ichika was highly unlikely, because after leading Class A to Class D, Katsuragi Kohei had already considered retiring, only staying because he couldn't find a suitable successor. Now that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was willing to take the position, their power transition should have been incredibly smooth, making the scenario Amasawa Ichika described highly improbable.

Therefore, Kitagawa Ryo is more inclined to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was completely unaware of the existence of this transaction. After all, the Drama Club's business at that time was all aimed at the upperclassmen. In the end, the First Year students in the first semester were in a state of enjoying school life and had no intention of thinking about their family and friends outside of school, let alone giving anything away. This is the classic misconception.

Moreover, although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka has been through nearly a year of school life, especially after last year's special Class Vote Special Exam, he has begun to work hard to expand his interpersonal relationships. However, the Ayanokoji of half a year ago still retained the mark of the White Room, which made him stand out from the others. He was only thinking about how to defeat him, and he didn't seem to be very interested in Katsuragi Kohei's family relationships and personal experiences. It is estimated that Totsuka Yahiko has already dropped out of school, knows more about this than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"So, what Ryo means is that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's AOE attack accidentally hit friendly forces?"

Amasawa Ichika blinked, and while asking the question, she reached out and took the teacup from his desk, gulping down two mouthfuls.

"It's just that this possibility is greater. After all, it's also possible that the witness prepared by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is Katsuragi, and he wants to have him testify against us."

Would Katsuragi agree to such a thing?

"It should always be considered as a possible scenario, no matter how low the probability is."

Kitagawa Ryo had barely exchanged a few words with Amasawa Ichika when the office door was hurriedly pushed open again, without even bothering to knock.

This time, it was Mizowaki, a second-grader, who came in.

Having likely become accustomed to seeing the Student Council alone with a girl in this room, Mizowaki completely ignored Amasawa Ichika without even asking a question and went straight to Kitagawa Ryo to report:

"President, there's a commotion in the club! Vice President Horikita and Vice President Sakayanagi are handling it, but I still think it would be best if you went too."

Well, a storm is brewing, and the mountains are full of signs of trouble.

Chapter 457: The Spy

There are many clubs in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, but the two most popular and largest are the Basketball Club and Soccer Clubs. So when Kitagawa Ryo arrived at the scene with Mizowaki, the first thing he saw were the students from these two clubs. A large group of tall, strong boys stood there, looking like they were about to accuse someone.

With a casual glance, Kitagawa Ryo noticed that the leaders of both clubs were mostly third-year students, while First Year students like Ken Sudō Hirata Yosuke could only stand at the back and try to mediate the fights.

There's no way around it; that's just how seniority works here. Unless you're exceptionally talented like Ken Sudō, First Year student won't even get a chance to join the club. Becoming a full member won't happen until your second year.

But you know what, quite a few of them were familiar faces; they were the students who had gotten a beating from him in the woods not long ago during the Mixed Training Camp Special Exam.

"Chairman Kitagawa is here--"

Before Kitagawa Ryo could even take a second look, Mizowaki had already dutifully shouted on his behalf, practically adding the suffix "There will be a clear sky, and the ANHS will be at peace."

However, Mizowaki's shout was indeed very effective, quickly attracting the attention of everyone on the field. The Student Council members, including Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu, seemed to have found their backbone and quickly moved towards him, thus forming a situation of confrontation between the two sides.

"Everyone, please calm down. If you have any questions or opinions, you can drop your letters into the suggestion box at the entrance of our Student Council. Of course, if you're worried about being caught on camera, you can also send an email to our Student Council's official email address. That's the convenience of the internet—everything is anonymous online."

After making a small joke to ease the tension, Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward:

"We can have the club's advisor report the problem to us, after all, that's what the advisor does. The seniors are about to graduate, they should focus on preparing for their exams. To personally handle this kind of thing shows a bit too much affection for the club."

Seemingly oblivious to the veiled barbs in Kitagawa Ryo's words, a third-grade boy quickly stepped forward, looking indignant.

"Even though we're graduating in just over a month, does that mean the unfair treatment we've suffered doesn't exist? You Drama Club and Student Council must give us an explanation today, or I won't be able to swallow this anger even after graduation!"

"So, senior, what kind of explanation do you want?"

Kitagawa Ryo, while giving the other party a perfunctory and bureaucratic response, continued to observe the students who had come to cause trouble.

He could actually predict that the Basketball Club and Soccer Club would be the most popular, since these two clubs already had a large number of members, and before the Drama Club emerged, they were the 'privileged' clubs that most frequently went out of school to participate in competitions. As for other reasons, it was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka Miyabi Nagumo.

Especially the latter. When Miyabi Nagumo first entered the university, she was a member of the Soccer Club and had even led the Soccer Club to win a major award. After joining the Student Council, she would still go to the Soccer Club to play soccer under the guise of giving guidance, even after becoming the vice president and then the president. With such a relationship, the Soccer Club had an easy time for the past two years, and it was only natural that they would be subtly influenced by Miyabi Nagumo's influence.

"We just want to know the truth, to find out whether the Student Council and the Drama Club colluded to do something against school rules under the guise of participating in a competition!"

"Yes, we just want to know the truth!"

How much longer are you going to keep this from us?

With a shout from the lead student, many of the students behind him joined in the commotion, creating an atmosphere that resembled a coup d'état.

"There's nothing shady going on between the Student Council and the Drama Club that you're imagining. All applications for off-campus competitions have followed proper and legitimate procedures. The relevant documents are currently on backup in the Student Council. If you'd like to see them, I can have someone print them out for you right now."

"You yourself were the head of the Drama Club before, who would believe you saying that?"

Upon hearing this, Mizowaki quickly stepped forward and patted his chest to assure him:

"I've been in the Student Council for almost two years, but I have nothing to do with the Drama Club."

"What's with the arrogance of a traitor?"

"That's right. They used to be Nagumo's lackey, but now that Nagumo has fallen, they've found a new master and are wagging their tails here."

Although he really wanted to yell, "Aren't most of the second-year students here traitors who betrayed Nagumo?", Mizowaki realized that the other party was actually trying to provoke him and then create a sense of urgency about the Student Council. So he held back and continued to explain politely:

"Our Student Council has never blocked your applications for Basketball Club and Soccer Club. It's just that your results in last summer's competitions weren't very good, and your instructors all said you needed more practice time."

It can only be said that the truth came out quickly. As soon as Mizowaki said this, the Basketball Club and Soccer Club fell silent for a long time. After all, their club performance during this period was indeed quite poor. Last year, Ken Sudō even complained to Kitagawa Ryo that he had only played one quarter after becoming a regular player. If he could have played the whole quarter, the basketball team would not have failed to win any prizes in the summer tournament.

But there was nothing they could do. Just like Ken Sudō's experience in the Basketball Club, Hirata Yosuke and Shibata Sō Miyabi Nagumo n't get any good opportunities in the Soccer Club either. After all, the club had reached a point where everyone, from teachers to students, had to revolve around this student who was no longer a club member. They were practically becoming the other side's playmates. Naturally, they were not used to it in formal matches.

"Can't we use competitions as practice?"

"Exactly, if we could play a couple more games outside of school, our results would definitely be much better than they are now."

"What you're doing is creating a vicious cycle. What can you possibly achieve by training on campus? You have to compete in matches."

"And don't try to change the subject. We don't care about our club. What we're asking now is what your Drama Club has been doing all those times you've left campus? Our Basketball Club goes out to play a game and comes back on the same day. We never have the chance to stay out overnight. Also, don't try to fool us with some awards. Beichuan was doing this kind of work before he entered the school. Everyone knows that, right?"

Faced with the students who had started to argue irrationally again and cleverly resorted to the tactic of 'ignoring the facts,' Kitagawa Ryo shook his head helplessly.

Just as the students started making noise again, a clear voice called out from the side, "Teacher, over here," which immediately quieted the scene down.

"Tch... What's so great about calling me 'teacher'?"

"I feel guilty."

Despite saying that, the students on the club's side all took a step back, no longer displaying their previous aggressive attitude.

To their surprise, the teacher who strolled over was not one of the teachers the students were familiar with. The students from all three grades whispered among themselves, asking around, but none of them knew the other's name.

"Ah... I'm Sima Kexian. Since I'm going to teach this year's new students, you probably don't recognize me. This is my teaching certificate."

With a face that bore a striking resemblance to Sakagami Kazuma teacher of Class 1-D, Sima Kexian simply pulled out his identification from his breast pocket, waved it briefly, and then put it back.

"At the same time, I'm also the Drama Club's advisor. I accompany and supervise the Drama Club whenever they go out of school, since I'm relatively free."

After making this weak and listless complaint, Sima Kexian shrugged and slowly continued:

"As for the rest, in my personal impression, the members of the Drama Club are always very well-behaved after leaving school, except for one time when they seriously violated school rules, so it wouldn't be surprising if they were expelled."

Before the upperclassmen, whose eyes lit up, could even ask a question, Sima Kexian, panting heavily, added the second half of the sentence:

"As a result, Minister Kitagawa used his own Protection Point to circumvent it; that's the situation."

"Teacher, are you really not lying? The Drama Club isn't just made up of Kitagawa, you can really have them all..."

Before the third-grade student could finish his question, he suddenly sensed a change in the demeanor of the seemingly listless middle-aged teacher opposite him; the teacher's gaze, sharp as a hawk's, fixed intently on him.