Mark Twain Was Right

"While watching the OAA today, I suddenly noticed that Airi's flexible thinking ability seems to be deducting points."

"Well, it's normal that Arisu and Suzune are both gaining points."

Sakura Airi was quite unfazed by this, as the scoring system differed from other categories. The score for flexible thinking was somewhat of a trade-off, since in Japan, interpersonal circles are, to some extent, structured like a pyramid. Many students intentionally create different levels, and terms like "negative" or "high-class" commonly found in light novels and manga originate from this. There have even been works like "The Weak Character Tomozaki-kun" that specifically develop this core concept in detail.

If Sakura Airi were willing to try to compete for the position of class Leader in Class A after Kitagawa Ryo transferred away at the end of last year, the school would most likely continue to generously give her extra points in this regard.

"Has Airi never considered competing with Arisu or Suzune for the position of class Leader?"

"I have neither the talent nor the ambition in this area, nor do I have any chance of winning this election. I would only make the already chaotic class even more chaotic."

When confronted with Kitagawa Ryo's question, Sakura Airi readily admitted her shortcomings:

"Suzune and Arisu can both do it better than me."

"But I think Airi has always had the talent and the potential to win this election; what she lacks is simply the mindset."

Unlike the Sakura Airi he glimpsed in Karuizawa Kei's second simulation, Kitagawa Ryo has always held a highly positive attitude towards the Sakura Airi in this timeline.

On one hand, this is due to past inertia. After all, for a long time before, he was the only supporter of Sakura Airi, whom he brought into the entertainment industry, whether you call her a manager or a fan.

On the other hand, Sakura Airi truly deserves such praise.

The entertainment industry has never been a pleasant place. Even Karuizawa Kei, who was reborn, faced long-term cyberbullying and felt physically and mentally exhausted as a result. Sakura Airi, who is more famous, is no exception.

That's why she was able to remain calm when faced with those Malice and filthy messages from stalkers upon entering school. No one is born this way; time and the experiences it brings are always the sharpest carving knives.

"Yes, Liang is right, maybe I have these too."

After being so bluntly affirmed by Kitagawa Ryo, Sakura Airi herself asked him a question in a self-deprecating tone.

Ultimately, if we only talk about the election, all the abilities and promises ultimately point to popularity. Just like how Horikita Suzune, who is excellent in every aspect, struggles so much in Class A, what she lacks is this. And everything Sakayanagi Arisu did in the previous Mixed Training Camp Special Exam was to obtain this.

This is precisely what Sakura Airi grasp but never actually reached out to obtain.

"But, just like Liang said, I simply don't have that kind of thought. Leader has never meant anything to me."

"So Airi is satisfied with the current situation?"

"Would Liang want me to be satisfied?"

Upon hearing Sakura Airi's question, Kitagawa Ryo instinctively gasped, his steps faltering, and he turned to look directly into her eyes as he replied:

"I want to hear Airi's true thoughts."

"That's my honest thought..."

Sakura Airi lowered her thoughtful eyes, but did not give herself an answer immediately.

To be honest, just as Kitagawa Ryo knew and analyzed last night, she has always been a child who really hopes, no, should be said to yearn to communicate with people, to be needed, to be expected of, and to be recognized. Even under her timid exterior in the past, she hid an urgent desire to receive positive feedback from others.

It was precisely because of this mindset that she was able to embark on the path of becoming an idol under the guidance of Kitagawa Ryo, and persevere in it.

As she grew into a well-known idol, receiving a series of positive reviews from countless viewers and industry insiders, Sakura Airi's needs were essentially met. After that, it was only natural for her threshold to rise.

Just like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the thresholds related to needs are things that fluctuate with circumstances. After achieving lower-level satisfaction, it is natural to pursue higher-level satisfaction.

If Sakura Airi was initially delighted by the sudden increase in praise and recognition, then after she became famous, as her threshold for appreciation rose and negative emotions surged, the only ways Sakura Airi truly craved, and the rare opportunities to feel that excitement again, were a few and far between.

In other words, this 'several' can also be replaced by 'one'.

Only one of its kind, and only one person with it.

Of course, this does not mean that Sakura Airi's popularity has dwindled to the point that she can only receive support and recognition from Kitagawa Ryo alone.

But as she experienced larger stages and more audiences, Sakura Airi, increasingly exhausted and on the verge of collapse, also realized one thing more and more clearly:

His support and recognition alone are enough to overshadow the crowds and excitement of ten thousand, one hundred thousand, or even one million people.

Or rather, this was the very reason she became an idol in the first place.

Just as some extreme fans always hold the idea that they don't want their idol to become too popular and to remain confined to a small circle, Sakura Airi, as an idol herself, has also had similar thoughts.

When Kitagawa Ryo was the only one in the audience, she was his idol alone.

When the audience grew larger, she was still able to spot each other's unique support color shining brightly in the crowd.

But as the crowd roared and cheered, Kitagawa Ryo became a drop of water swept into the sea of people, a tree lost in the forest.

From this perspective, Kitagawa Ryo's answer was not wrong, because Sakura Airi's decision to graduate from idol school and transfer to ANHS of Education stemmed from a sudden and rapidly spreading sense of fear that arose from the depths of her heart at a certain moment.

"I..."

Sakura Airi was still hesitating.

As mentioned above, because the positive feedback Kitagawa Ryo could give her exceeded the sum of hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people, conversely, the negative feedback he could give her was also magnified to such an extent that it would engulf and submerge everything like a tsunami.

That's why Sakura Airi is so hesitant, because authenticity always means imperfection, but everyone wants to show their most perfect self to their crush. Just like how she still won't admit that all the idol support clothes that Kitagawa Ryo mysteriously lost during middle school were taken back by her without permission.

But at that moment, another fact clearly emerged in Sakura Airi's mind.

That means if they don't take this step, their relationship will return to square one.

It had been three months since she last tasted that wonderful positive feedback. It was during the preparations for the Cultural Festival, when Kitagawa Ryo, who was short-handed, asked her to help research and bake a new menu for a dessert shop.

It wasn't winter yet.

Spring is almost here.

A season passes by like sand slipping through your fingers.

How many more of these precious seasons, which could be wasted so easily, are left for them?

The moment she realized this, Sakura Airi finally spoke her true thoughts to Kitagawa Ryo.

As if anticipating her choice and subsequent answer, Kitagawa Ryo spoke simultaneously with her, as if in a question-and-answer session.

"... I want to help Shang Liang."

"I want Airi to help me."

"And... I'm sure I can help Ryo."

"I also believe that Airi can help me."

If this were in the context of an RPG game, the two of them would probably already be hearing notifications and music indicating a new member has joined the team. But realistically, they should have been on the same team from the start.

Seemingly having confirmed something through Kitagawa Ryo's two sentences, Sakura Airi raised her head and continued to express her feelings to him with a firm tone:

"From the very beginning, Liang got one thing wrong."

"After graduating as an idol, I didn't choose to attend ANHS because I wanted to experience campus life as an ordinary student. Rather, if I really wanted to celebrate youth, ANHS wasn't a good choice at all, was it?"

"Ryo might indeed feel that I'm physically and mentally exhausted from my idol activities over the past few years, which is why I want to break away from the identity of Shizuku and Sakura Airi. I don't deny that myself."

"But every stage of life is not something that can be cut off and discarded at will. Didn't Liang herself say that those past feelings and experiences were never meaningless? On the contrary, they are precisely what make up who we are today."

"Therefore, I am both the idol Shizuku who has already graduated and Sakura Airi who is standing in front of Ryo now. They are both me, because my feelings remain the same."

"It was Ryo who transformed me from Sakura Airi into Shizuku, and then from Shizuku back into Sakura Airi."

"Please take responsibility for this."

That's what she said.

Chapter 500: Mark Twain was right.

"So, starting today, Airi is officially joining our group, which feels like it should have a party name but we've always felt it's unnecessary and haven't come up with one yet. Anyway, our goal is to support Suzune to become the Student Council."

"What a long name..."

"Actually, there's only one thing to do: get everyone to vote for Suzune- nyan."

"What's the deal with this verbal tic?"

"No, this isn't a verbal tic, it's just a suffix in 'Suzune' (Suzune), which forms a word with 'Suzune' (韻音). The correct punctuation should be 'Please vote for Rin' (韻音) more often,' not 'Please vote for Suzune, meow.'"

"What should I do if I feel like my explanation has only made things worse?"

"Do you know why Suzune is keeping the fact that she performed in the musical 'Cats' at that year's Cultural Festival three years ago? By the way, Hotaru and I were her instructors back then."

"... So this is actually the style of a strategy meeting?"

"I have lost faith in myself and the future of the Student Council."

Inside the Drama Club's activity room, the Horikita Suzune group, which had expanded from a three-person team to a four-person team, maintained a fairly cheerful atmosphere of teasing and banter. Sakura Airi had just been brought in today, quickly adapted to the environment and seamlessly joined in the teasing as well. After a while, the group put away their playful and joking thoughts and began to discuss the matter seriously.

"First of all, I need to make it clear that since this Student Council election also uses anonymous voting, barring extreme circumstances, most students will have control over their own votes, not to mention the unexpected involvement of the Investment and Finance Classroom."

"Therefore, this Student Council election is actually quite similar to last year's Sports Festival. Every student is very proactive. We can't just focus on getting promises from class Leader. We have to fight for every single vote. I can't even guarantee 100% that Class B will give all their votes to Suzune in this election, and the same goes for Ryuen from Class D."

In fact, looking at all of Tsukishiro's actions during his time as Acting Chairman, it is clear that he has been intentionally or unintentionally guiding something, especially in influencing each individual student.

On the bright side, this allows each student to fully utilize their initiative, cultivate their independent personality and thinking ability, and encourages many students who previously only followed the general trend of the class and acted according to the instructions of the class Leader to start acting as individuals.

Conversely, this is also sowing discord between individuals and the class. In the past two semesters, apart from Class B, which was united or at least showed unity, the other three classes in the First Year all experienced internal conflicts, disagreements, and backstabbing incidents to varying degrees. Even Class D, which originally had the upper hand over the entire class like a tyrant, had to be dealt with by Ryuen Kakeru using a combination of carrot and stick tactics, employing debt contracts to stabilize his position.

"That's one of the reasons why I hope Suzune can go from class to class and club to club to campaign for votes. At least she needs to create an opportunity to talk directly with everyone, so that she can possibly move them."

After Kitagawa Ryo finished speaking, Horikita Suzune nodded in agreement.

"Yes, this election is definitely not a competition that can be decided by a few class or grade Leader sitting down and discussing it. Every vote is something we need to win. Just as there might be students in Class 1-B who don't vote for me, there might be students in Class 1-D who are willing to vote for me."

Amasawa Ichika chewed her bubble gum and quickly joined the conversation:

"Of course, the main reason is that there are only so many students in all three grades at ANHS, so this meticulous approach is feasible. If the number were several times larger, it would be beyond our capacity."

As she spoke, she glanced at Sakura Airi beside her with a grin.

"Actually, we were still racking our brains yesterday about how to win over these swing voters. Now that Airi, the problem should be easier to solve."

"But we need a reasonable approach. I can't really have to tell every single student, 'Please support Suzune, thank you, meow! Please support Suzune, thank you, meow!'"

Sakura Airi readily accepted Amasawa Ichika's high regard, but she was still a bit troubled about the specific promotional methods.

"Simply provide a screenshot of your vote for Suzune to enter a prize draw, with prizes including but not limited to Shizuku's autograph, limited-edition support clothing, etc..."

Amasawa Ichika lightly touched her lips with her finger, and in no time she burst out this long string of words.

"Stop, stop, stop! Where did you learn all this?"

"Hey internet surfing, oh yeah, did you guys see any posts about the Tokyo Tower on Valentine's Day a couple of days ago...?"

"Ahem, this is the time for the Student Council election campaign meeting. Amasawa Ichika, please refrain from bringing up irrelevant matters."

Kitagawa Ryo quickly coughed twice to interrupt Amasawa Ichika's instigating chant, and then turned to Horikita Suzune to express his thoughts:

"In my opinion, the students of ANHS Student Council mainly expect the new Student Council Student Council President to accomplish something and what specific benefits it can bring them."

"Take our Valentine's Day celebration we just held recently, for example. Just based on that alone, even if Nagumo were to come back and compete with me now, he would still lose all the votes to me."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo turned his gaze to Sakura Airi again:

"Airi is an idol with extremely high popularity who has already graduated, and in the past year she has never actively identified herself as such in front of others. So, under these circumstances, what would her fans among the students of ANHS most like to see?"

"Kids, I'm back! (Charge one to Resurrection...)"

"If you mention those stale internet memes again, I'll confiscate your keys."

"That's definitely the performance of Airi's temporary Resurrection that I'm most looking forward to--"

That's roughly the idea.

Kitagawa Ryo snapped his fingers, then added:

"But we must attribute the credit for this to Suzune, and create an atmosphere that only by electing Suzune and making her the Suzune council president will there be more similar entertainment activities and performances, and only then can Idol Shizuku be temporarily Resurrection."

"In short, it boils down to one sentence: sparing no effort to add an aura of 'capable, renowned general!' to Suzune."

Just as the discussion among the group was getting into a good mood, a sudden message interrupted Kitagawa Ryo's train of thought.

"I need to get back to the Student Council first."

After reading the details of the information, Kitagawa Ryo reluctantly stood up from his seat:

"Suzune is with me too."

"What's wrong?"

"There's a new development in Hashimoto Masayoshi's case."

"To be precise, he took the initiative to expose what happened on the Uninhabited Island last year."

In fact, Hashimoto Masayoshi's case has never been limited to just the emotional dispute with a second-year student. The intentional assault case that occurred on a deserted island last summer also remains unresolved, and in the end, it was only temporarily brought to a close with the resignation of the then chairman of the board, Sakayanagi Shigemori.

Whether it was who pushed Hashimoto Masayoshi and caused him to fall off the cliff, or whether the homeroom teacher of Class A at the time, Chabashira Sae, leaked exam questions to the students in her class, the school has not been able to find conclusive evidence to this day.