A Ruthless Extortion

On the way back to the dormitory, Manabu Horikita wore a grave expression. He truly could not fathom why things had turned out this way.

Why had his innocent, well-behaved, clever, and adorable younger sister turned into this?

And that nonsense about doing it all to catch up to him? What a load of rubbish!

"Senior Horikita, I know you might be under a lot of pressure, but even so, using violence against your juniors is wrong, isn't it?"

Suddenly, a familiar, mocking voice drifted over from behind Manabu Horikita.

He spun around sharply, only to find Katsuya Shinjo aiming his phone directly at his face.

Click! (Shutter sound)

"Shinjo. When did you appear there?"

"Who knows? Maybe just now, or maybe I've been here from the very beginning..."

After a mere 0.05 seconds of thought, Manabu Horikita reached a conclusion: the other party definitely possessed evidence that could ruin him.

In other words, he would have to sign an unequal treaty to settle this matter.

"It seems Class D of your year is truly full of hidden talents. Speak, what do you want from me?"

Katsuya Shinjo snapped his fingers.

"Talking to a smart person is so simple. Everything I want is pretty much on this list. As long as you agree to my demands and use your position as student council president to advertise my Odd Jobs Agency... I can pretend I'm just having a dream right now."

Manabu Horikita took the notepad that Katsuya Shinjo always kept updated. When he saw the dense list of home appliances and household goods, even his perpetual poker face twitched violently.

Although the school allocated an astronomical sum of money to clubs every year, the Odd Jobs Agency was merely a bizarre, unestablished club that might even disrupt school order.

"These items don't seem to have anything to do with your Odd Jobs Agency, do they? Even if I am the student council president, I can't possibly..."

"Are you sure they don't? Clients who come to the Odd Jobs Agency might suffer from psychological issues at any time, like anxiety or tension. The equipment I'm asking for is all for the sake of the guests. Only when they are relaxed can I properly begin my club activities."

At this point, Katsuya Shinjo deliberately altered his voice:

"Well, after all, you are the student council president. Although the school strictly prohibits violence, you surely have ways to circumvent the punishments that come with it, right?"

Manabu Horikita pushed up his glasses, his expression unmoving. It was true; setting aside his years of accumulated influence, the student council possessed the power to interfere with school regulations. He would never be expelled for hitting someone.

"You might not be afraid... but what about your sister?"

"Heh, if your sister found out that her brother was going to be skinned alive by the school for hitting her, I'm afraid she would immediately beg me to let her trade her life for yours."

"Saying she intentionally walked into your fist, so being hit was entirely her own fault, and demanding to drop out of school herself to protect you..."

Hearing this, how could Manabu Horikita not realize what the other party was planning!

He was clearly using his idiot sister to threaten him, yet he had no way to stop it!

Suzune Horikita could choose to drop out; that was her freedom. But she could not drop out in this manner. If she did, what face would he, as her brother, have left to see her?

And yet, he cared for this sister, but he could not let her see that he cared!

This had formed a dead end.

Katsuya Shinjo poured more oil onto the fire, using a pitiful, whimpering voice:

"Wuwuwu, Brother... Suzune... can only do this much for you... It's all my fault, Sister has held you back..."

Before he could finish, Manabu Horikita's iron fist smashed toward Katsuya Shinjo's face, but it stopped dead, hovering just half a centimeter away.

Katsuya Shinjo stared straight at him. If Manabu Horikita were someone so easily provoked into a rage, it would only prove that the student council president was nothing special.

However, it was clear that while Manabu Horikita was angry, he remained very rational. This move was nothing more than a test for Katsuya Shinjo.

"Your conditions... I can accept them, and I can fight for the maximum amount of club funding for you. But I have one condition... If you don't accept it, then do whatever you want."

"Let's hear it."

Katsuya Shinjo was here to extort, not to make an enemy of Manabu Horikita.

He knew the value of knowing when to stop.

"I will use my position as student council president to promote your Odd Jobs Agency. However, you must complete one unconditional request for me every week."

"As long as it doesn't violate my professional principles, no problem."

Katsuya Shinjo was quite easy to talk to, now that the other party had promised so much.

"Principles?"

Manabu Horikita didn't think such a despicable person could have any principles. But perhaps it was precisely because he was this kind of person that he could build an Odd Jobs Agency that danced on the edge of the rules.

Katsuya Shinjo held up four fingers:

"For requests, there are four things I do not do."

"First, if I can't do it, I don't do it. Second, if the request comes from someone I dislike, I don't do it. Third, if it violates the most basic moral bottom line of humanity, I don't do it. Fourth... if I don't want to do it, I don't do it."

"You must do it for me!!"

Manabu Horikita's tone suddenly turned harsh. If the first three could be barely accepted, wasn't that fourth one just playing him for a fool?

Even he, a veteran of countless battles, couldn't help but take several deep breaths to steady himself.

"I can agree to the first three terms, but you must complete the commission. Otherwise, I will consider your club activities to have failed, and your funding will be frozen."

"Well... fine, fine... there's really no helping you. I'll just treat this as me setting a precedent for you."

It's clearly me who's setting a precedent for you!!! If you hadn't used Suzune to threaten me, how could I possibly have agreed to these absurd conditions?

"You slick-tongued guy, just make sure you don't drop the ball when the time comes."

"Heh, don't you worry about that. Huh? That's strange, why did I come out tonight? Oh... it seems I came to buy a drink. My, Manabu Horikita, what a coincidence, running into you here."

Manabu Horikita looked coldly at the feigning Shinjo before him, and he had to admit, it was fortunate that the vice president currently giving him a headache wasn't this guy.

A much more formidable opponent than any petty villain or hypocrite... a despicable and cunning fence-sitter!