A Helping Hand from the Future Daughter of Classroom of the Elite, Chapter 48

Now that Shirogane had joined the Student Council, wouldn't she be able to abuse her authority—no, openly keep an eye on him and exploit his weakness?

She'd been at Sakayanagi's beck and call for a month and was exhausted, so she hadn't had time to think about her kleptomania. But over the past couple of days, the urge had become hard to resist. Now, though... So her kleptomania really had to go. Immediately.

"That's... Class 1-C—no, Class 1-B's Shirogane."

There were people in the other classes who knew Shirogane, too.

In Class D's area, Kushida had met Shirogane. In fact, she'd worked for him for free, filling in information about the students in Ichinose Class.

What a raw deal.

"Horikita, you know that Shirogane, right?" A cute girl with a single ponytail, standing behind Horikita Suzune, suddenly spoke to her. "I saw you meet him in the Shopping District. Twice."

"..." Horikita.

Horikita and Shirogane had only met twice, but how had Karuizawa seen them both times?

"He must have earned the Student Council President's approval," Horikita Suzune said.

When it came to her older brother, Horikita was undoubtedly timid. But she was still firm with ordinary students.

As for Shirogane, she acknowledged his abilities. So it made sense that he'd earned her brother's approval.

Besides...

She'd received a message from her brother, asking to meet that evening.

For Horikita Suzune, this would be a major challenge.

As his younger sister, she thought she knew her brother fairly well. So if she didn't show him her abilities, he might ask her to drop out.

The Student Council President was speaking, and the second-years below were watching closely.

Although Miyabi Nagumo was the Student Council Vice President, the president hadn't asked him to stand on the platform with him today. So he was standing obediently at the front of his class.

Still, he probably knew what President Horikita was planning.

Yesterday at noon, President Horikita had called Kiriyama in for a meeting. When Kiriyama returned from the Student Council, he'd seemed a little excited.

It was obvious.

Horikita Manabu was planning to invite Kiriyama to join the Student Council. And the fact that Kiriyama had been swayed suggested that President Horikita had offered him a high-ranking position.

Most likely, the Vice President position.

In other words, the president had noticed him proactively trying to build ties with First-Year Class A at the start of the school year to win their votes.

With that in mind, Nagumo figured the president respected ability. Kiriyama obviously wasn't qualified to join the Student Council as Vice President, so if the president was trying to win him over, it had to be to keep Nagumo in check.

Just as he'd expected.

"Now, could Kiriyama Ikiba of Second-Year Class B please come to the platform?" Horikita Manabu said.

Some of Kiriyama's classmates in the Second-Year Class B line looked at him with eager eyes.

"Kiriyama!"

"Congratulations on becoming Vice President!"

Kiriyama was the representative of their class.

But he hadn't performed well in the Special Exam during the second half of last year, and in the end, all he could do was watch as Nagumo's class overtook them.

Then, at the start of their second year, they'd suffered another crushing setback. Their gap from Class A had grown from just 300 points to 500, and by the end of last month, it had shot past 600 and was close to 700.

They'd even ended up in the terrifying position of having to face three classes with just their own.

They couldn't do anything about the situation. Nagumo had ability, and he was also the Student Council Vice President. He had too many advantages.

And they had nothing.

But now, things had turned around.

Their class would have what Nagumo had. Maybe they could finally pull themselves together and fight their way back.

"Nagumo."

The students in Second-Year Class B were excited, while those in Second-Year Class A looked worried.

Clearly, some of them had realized that Second-Year Class B might launch a counterattack.

They'd only been in Class A for a few months. They hadn't even had time to settle in.

So some students immediately looked toward Nagumo.

"Don't worry," Miyabi Nagumo said, looking utterly unruffled.

That wasn't quite true.

Everything was going according to plan.

The president was a little surprised. After Nagumo joined the Student Council, he'd started giving speeches that espoused a philosophy completely different from the president's. The president supported class competition, while Nagumo championed individual ability above all else. Their beliefs had become directly opposed.

The president had certainly noticed that Nagumo had taken the initiative to handle matters and make contacts as soon as the new students arrived, and had started paying attention to him.

The president had also surely noticed that Nagumo had leaked information to First-Year Class A, which had led to the school deducting points from him.

And the president had surely realized that there was something wrong with the second-years' Special Exam results that month. Nagumo had influenced the allocation, driving his own Class A to join Classes C and D in ganging up on Class B, leaving Kiriyama's class completely unable to score points. Class B was already at a disadvantage, and Nagumo would likely swallow it up in the end. Then he'd be able to control the entire second year.

That was exactly the kind of situation the president didn't want to see.

But...

President, did you know that, for all your excellence in every area—and even though you're hailed as the best Student Council President in history—you have a weakness, too?

The president was an earnest and upright person. He was perceptive, but he only knew how to defend against underhanded tactics. He wasn't good at using them himself.

So...

As long as Nagumo didn't break any rules outright, the upright Horikita Manabu wouldn't expel him from the Student Council. He'd come up with some other way to keep him in check.

That solution would most likely be to put Kiriyama on the platform as a counterweight to him.

Not only would that suppress Nagumo, it could also help ease the second-year's unification under one person.

But, President, you had no idea that Kiriyama had already been bought off by him.

Even if Kiriyama got some power, he could only struggle a little. It was still hard to say whether he could lead his class to graduate as Class A.

But Nagumo could offer Kiriyama 20 million points. With 20 million points, he could transfer classes or avoid the penalty for dropping out. So as long as he had those points, Kiriyama could ensure he graduated as a member of Class A.

Faced with an uncertain future and a guaranteed one, Kiriyama was a smart man.

So Kiriyama was already on Nagumo's side.

And so...

Once you put Kiriyama on the platform, you'll have made your biggest mistake, Horikita-senpai.

At that point, both Student Council Vice Presidents would be on Nagumo's side. Even if President Horikita Manabu didn't want him to become Student Council President, there'd be nothing he could do about it.

Nagumo continued to keep his composure.

Meanwhile, Student Council President Horikita Manabu continued speaking from the platform.

"Three new students have joined the Student Council this time."

"The first is Ichinose Honami of First-Year Class C," Horikita Manabu said.

Ichinose, who had been standing at the front of her class, stepped forward.

"I'm appointing her as a Disciplinary Committee Member."

Oh.

A Disciplinary Committee Member!

It was a low-ranking position, but 99 percent of the students didn't even qualify to join the Student Council.

So no one had much of an objection. If anything, many probably thought that if even Ichinose could only become a Disciplinary Committee Member, then the Student Council must be incredibly strict.

And to the upperclassmen, the president giving a new student a position on the Disciplinary Committee was a perfectly reasonable result.

After all, the new students hadn't had much of a chance to show what they could do yet.

"Next..."

Horikita Manabu looked at Shirogane Miyuki and Kiriyama, who were already standing behind him.

"Shirogane Miyuki of First-Year Class B. His class climbed from Class C to Class B in its first month, breaking a school record," Horikita Manabu said.

Below, Katsuragi's thoughts were already racing.

Even if the president said that, Shirogane had only been given a general affairs position.

The Student Council had very strict standards.

Or rather...

Why had Ichinose been allowed to join the Student Council, too?

As Katsuragi thought about it, he grew increasingly confused.

At the time, he, Yahiko, and Ichinose had all been rejected by Horikita Manabu. But now, he and Yahiko were still on the outside, while Ichinose had been allowed in.

Or had Ichinose not left that day? Had she stayed and tried again, eventually getting permission to join?

Or had the initial rejection actually been a test devised by President Horikita?

Did that mean that if he'd stayed, he might have had a chance to join the Student Council, too?

Clearly...

The more he thought about it, the more complicated it got.

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

Katsuragi-kun wasn't as calm as he appeared. After all, he'd genuinely wanted to join the Student Council.

"Oh my, it seems the Student Council President has a good eye," Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly said.

Aside from Shirogane's classmates, she was the first person from another class to congratulate him.

"That's just a general affairs position—it's only a little higher than Ichinose's position as a Disciplinary Committee Member—" Totsuka was about to respond, but then thought better of it.

He rather liked Ichinose, and saying that would feel like putting her down.

Then Yahiko heard Horikita Manabu continue with the announcement. "I'm specially appointing him as secretary."

He'd been appointed secretary.

The position of secretary was different from the others. It was already one of the main executive roles.

It was only a little below Vice President.

"..." Nagumo's expression grew serious as he stood below.

Shirogane Miyuki.

Nagumo knew the name, of course. But Shirogane came from the former Class C, had dark circles under his eyes, and looked fierce, like a delinquent. As far as Nagumo was concerned, he was a low-grade student, someone he didn't want to deal with.

But...

Now Shirogane had earned the president's approval. Yes, approval. Did that mean Nagumo had been wrong about him all along?

Still...

Nagumo quickly found another way to convince himself.

Perhaps the president thought Kiriyama alone wasn't enough to counter him, so he'd brought in a new student to help Kiriyama. In other words, the president was determined to support Kiriyama and keep Nagumo in check, even if it meant bringing in a first-year.

Thinking of it that way, the president really had gone to a lot of trouble.

Nagumo felt a little sorry for him.

Then, suddenly, Nagumo relaxed again.

"And next is Kiriyama Ikiba of Second-Year Class B," Horikita Manabu said. "I also recognize his abilities."

"So I've invited him to join the Student Council," Horikita Manabu said.

Standing on the platform, Kiriyama straightened up.

Below, Nagumo kept his face stern, but in truth, he was waiting for the president to hurry up and announce Kiriyama's appointment as Vice President.

The moment the president announced it, he'd lose.