A Pact and Joining the Student Council

"You bastard, get that look off your face." Sudo couldn't hold back. He stepped directly in front of Kushida, then looked at the silent classmates.

"What are you all thinking?"

What were they thinking? Quite a few people lowered their heads, perhaps ashamed of the secret delight they'd felt just moments ago.

"Ryuen, please don't joke about something like this. It isn't funny," Hirata said coldly.

"Heh. So, have you made up your minds? Are you buying or not?" Ryuen looked at the reactions of the Class D students, scoffed, and waved the exam paper in his hand again.

"How do we know whether this exam paper is real or fake?" Horikita Suzune stepped forward and challenged him.

"This contract guarantees that if the exam paper is fake, I'll be expelled." Ryuen's face darkened as he spoke. What was that weirdo thinking, using his name in the guarantee?

He was certain the exam paper was real, but it still annoyed him to no end.

"..." Horikita Suzune said nothing more. She took the contract from Ryuen and read it carefully.

"Don't waste my time. Are you buying or not?" Ryuen urged them impatiently. Did these idiots think they still had a choice?

"We accept, but the points..." Hirata was about to agree when Horikita suddenly cut him off.

"No. We can't sign this contract."

The terms of the contract weren't complicated.

Party A guaranteed that the exam paper provided was the B paper for the first midterm exam of the first year. If the paper proved to be inauthentic, Ryuen would be automatically expelled.

All benefits generated by the Class Points earned by Party B's class before the second-semester exams would belong to Ryuen.

"If we sign this contract, our class won't earn any points this semester."

"What? How can they do that!"

Class D erupted. Didn't this mean they'd have to keep eating the mountain-vegetable set meals and relying on free supplies until next semester?

"So what? That's no different from your current situation, is it?" Ryuen sneered. "You are the 'excellent' zero-point class, after all."

"We're at zero points now, but that doesn't mean we'll stay at zero forever." Horikita Suzune stared at Ryuen, her gaze icy.

"Maybe. Perhaps you'll get lucky and earn a few Class Points," Ryuen said indifferently. Then he planted a foot on the desk in front of him.

"You think you have a choice? Either you pay one hundred thousand points and everyone in Class D signs the contract, or you gamble that you won't be the one expelled during the midterms. How about it?"

"I won't let a single person in our class be expelled," Hirata said firmly. "I'll find a way to raise the points, but it'll take some time. We'll sign the contract."

"Good. Then start signing. Teacher Sakagami, please witness this."

"Sure." Kazuma Sakagami nodded with a smile. His class would have no trouble passing the exam, and Class D had nearly fallen apart over a single midterm. If he hadn't needed to maintain his authority as a teacher, he would have jumped for joy.

Signing the contract took some time. Even the students with good grades who didn't want to sign had no choice once they saw the looks their classmates gave them—especially those who weren't confident in their own grades. Their eyes seemed to ask, Do you want to abandon me here?

Ryuen found it especially satisfying to see Horikita Suzune sign the contract with such an unwilling expression.

Three people weren't in the classroom. All the other students signed the contract.

"Although a few students haven't signed, it won't make much difference. School rules state that a class-wide contract takes effect as long as more than ninety percent of the class signs it."

With the contract settled, Ryuen handed the exam paper to Hirata without hesitation, then left Class D with his people and headed straight to the library.

They still had a study session to attend.

"Hm, isn't Sawahara here?" When they arrived at the library, Ryuen was surprised to find that Sawahara wasn't there.

"It seems something came up for Sawahara," Shiina told Ryuen.

At that moment, Sawahara was at the Student Council. Things had turned out a little differently from what he'd expected.

"President, why am I a member of the Student Council now?" Sawahara looked at Manabu Horikita, who was seated behind his desk.

"Is something wrong, Secretary Sawahara?" The corners of Manabu Horikita's mouth lifted slightly. He was in a very good mood.

"You know what I mean, President," Sawahara said. "I should have been dismissed from the Student Council by now."

To deal with the possibility that many Class D students might be expelled, the original plan had been for him to "steal" the midterm exam paper from the Student Council and hand it to the first-year Class D students.

However, President Horikita believed that would damage the Student Council's credibility. After all, letting someone stroll in and steal things was hardly reassuring. So he'd told Sawahara to join the Student Council, steal the paper as a member under the pretext of helping the students, and then be dismissed from the Council.

Now they were stuck at the final step.

"Secretary Tachibana, have you received any reports about the midterm exam paper being stolen?"

"No, I haven't," Tachibana replied in keeping with the president's wishes. She was delighted to see the junior who had tricked her before in a bind.

"I hereby confess that I stole the midterm exam paper," Sawahara responded at once. They wanted a report? Fine. He'd report himself.

"In view of Secretary Sawahara's willingness to admit his mistake, I'll commend him for taking responsibility and temporarily suspend him from his secretary duties. Don't forget to come here after school next Monday for the Student Council meeting," Manabu Horikita promptly ruled.

The meaning was obvious. Manabu Horikita was using this opportunity to make him a member of the Student Council.

Seeing that the decision couldn't be changed, Sawahara had no choice but to agree. Then he left the Student Council.

"President, why are you so determined to have him join the Student Council?" Tachibana asked after Sawahara had left. She didn't understand why the president valued this junior so much that he'd gone to such lengths to bring him in.

"He's exceptional—even more so than Nagumo," Manabu Horikita said of Sawahara. "And he's dangerous."

Even Miyabi Nagumo wouldn't do something like this: abducting more than ten students and forcing the school to make concessions...

Watching Sawahara now reminded him of Miyabi Nagumo last year. He didn't know when that outstanding junior had started becoming increasingly extreme.

He didn't want something like that to happen again. It was for the sake of the school's stability, and to keep this junior from going down the wrong path. He needed to keep Sawahara where he could see him.