Chapter Ten: Extortion

When Miyabi Nagumo questioned him, Suzuki Toru readily gave his name.

At the same time, his gaze swept over Ichinose Honami. A whole host of desires had appeared above the girl, too.

[Threaten Ichinose: you wouldn't want everyone to find out you're a criminal, would you?], [Have Ichinose Honami give me a lap pillow], [Destroy Ichinose's Class B], [Expel a Class B student right in front of her], [Lick Ichinose Honami's feet until they're raw], [Get a kiss and a hug from Ichinose's mom]...

However, when his gaze fell on Miyabi Nagumo, the desires immediately took a different turn.

[Steal his girlfriend], [Take Miyabi Nagumo's childhood friend away from him], [Expel Miyabi Nagumo], [Make Nagumo's Class A hit rock bottom], [Lick his childhood friend's feet until they're raw right in front of him]...

While Suzuki Toru had grown numb to these desires, Miyabi Nagumo was wondering where on earth this guy had come from.

"So you're a first-year. Are you hoping to apply to join the Student Council, too?" Nagumo asked, his expression indifferent.

Suzuki Toru smiled faintly. "Going by what you said just now, I'm a Class A student. That should make me more qualified to join the Student Council than the other students, shouldn't it?"

Ichinose Honami's expression stiffened.

"Heh. You were eavesdropping on our conversation. Aren't you worried I'll reprimand you for invading our privacy?" Nagumo smiled on the surface, but his thoughts were in turmoil.

This was the Student Council Office, and the soundproofing was excellent. No one should have been able to hear anything through the door.

"Before that, I think you should listen to this." Suzuki Toru opened his palm. He had been holding a listening device all along, a reward he had obtained in a lottery draw.

It could pick up sound through walls and even connect to a phone to record audio. It was a high-tech device of unknown origin.

"Only the students in Class A are the best in this school..."

Their recent conversation played again in the office. Nagumo's expression grew increasingly gloomy, while Ichinose Honami still had no idea what was going on.

Nagumo, however, remained calm.

"What's the problem with any of that? As the Student Council Vice President, am I not allowed to learn the basic circumstances of an applicant?"

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush, senpai. I never said there was anything wrong with it." Suzuki Toru wore an amused smile. "On the contrary, I was planning to go back and tell my classmates, then share this recording with all the first-years."

Nagumo nearly lost his composure. This guy clearly knew what that would mean.

"Wait, why would you share it?" Ichinose Honami was even more frantic than Nagumo. The recording included her admitting to her crime.

If everyone found out, she wouldn't dare show her face again.

Suzuki Toru couldn't help feeling speechless at the naive girl. If she knew this was the kind of thing she couldn't let others hear, why had she said it in the first place?

Suzuki Toru simply said, "If I don't share it, how will the Student Council's justice and fairness be demonstrated? Especially your good deed, senpai. I imagine the Student Council President would be very pleased."

A cold glint flashed in Nagumo's eyes. He knew he couldn't let the recording reach everyone. It would damage his image among the first-years and undermine the Student Council's credibility.

More importantly, Suzuki Toru had brought up Horikita Manabu.

"Suzuki, are you threatening me?" Nagumo asked coldly. "Even if you invoke Horikita-senpai's name, I don't think you can do anything to actually affect me."

Suzuki Toru seemed lost in thought, then smiled again. "I suppose that's true. But what if I embellish the story a little? For example, a Student Council Vice President discovers a junior's dark past and decides to take advantage of her, forcing her into eighteen different positions. How do you think you'd handle that, senpai?"

Nagumo's face turned livid.

"You're spreading rumors. How many people would believe them?"

"The problem isn't whether it's a rumor. It's that this Vice President has plenty of scandalous stories about him, keeps getting involved with all sorts of girls, and has quite a few bad reviews. I think everyone would come to the right conclusion, don't you, senpai?"

Suzuki Toru remained calm as he finished. Even if Nagumo didn't care about his own reputation, he still had to consider the Student Council.

After all, the rumor was that the Student Council Vice President intended to take advantage of a junior girl. The Student Council couldn't afford any negative publicity, or its authority and reputation would suffer.

Then it wouldn't just be the students. Even the school would develop a poor impression of the Student Council.

Extortion

Ichinose Honami was a little confused. Was this junior talking about her?

But Nagumo hadn't tried to take advantage of her, so why was she saying this?

She had wanted to say something in Nagumo's defense, but his expression was so grim that she suddenly grew suspicious and swallowed the words in her throat.

Of course Nagumo looked grim. Suzuki Toru's rumor could be fatal to him.

Nagumo had plenty of negative reviews, especially when it came to his relationships with women.

Sometimes he flirted with girls from other classes; sometimes he went on dates with upperclassmen. Everyone knew he was a lecher.

If someone else were accused of taking advantage of a girl, they might be able to clear their name. But if it was Nagumo, people really might believe it.

"Looks like you've investigated me. You've done a good job with your information gathering." Nagumo stared fixedly at Suzuki Toru. "But I'm curious how you found all this out. Did you go around chatting up second-years?"

"No need to go to all that trouble. The phones the school gives us have a built-in student forum. Put up a bounty, and plenty of people will answer anonymously."

Suzuki Toru was a little disappointed. He had thought the bounty might lead to some crucial information, like the truth about the school.

Unfortunately, once people saw that his profile identified him as a first-year, they refused to answer no matter what.

At his words, Nagumo was briefly taken aback, then remembered the school's official forum. Students were more accustomed to using apps like Instagram, Line, and X, so hardly anyone used the forum.

He hadn't expected Suzuki Toru to gather information there. That surprised him.

And judging by Suzuki's words, he had even learned about the relationship between Nagumo and Horikita Manabu. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought up Horikita Manabu so abruptly.

"Heh... This year's first-years are pretty interesting." Nagumo tapped his fingers on the table, his earlier irritation gradually fading. "What do you want?"

Suzuki Toru thought for a moment. "You're making this difficult for me, senpai. I was just passing by, after all."

"Just passing by?" Nagumo didn't believe a word of it. It was a day off, and hardly any students would be in the school building.

Suzuki Toru smiled faintly. Of course, he had simply happened to see someone in the Student Council Office. As for why he'd been there to see it...

He had been planning to see if there was an opportunity to plant a listening device in the teachers' office or the Student Council Office. It was a high-tech reward, very small but effective.

He had planted one in Higuchi Madoka's room once, then heard Higuchi Madoka—who was unusually sharp-tongued toward him during the day—calling his name while she masturbated at night.

Yes, it could pick up voices even when placed outside the room.

It was a despicable thing to do, but winning was what mattered.

So at this moment, Suzuki Toru had happened to see Ichinose Honami enter the Student Council Office. He wasn't sure if that counted as good luck.

"Instead of asking about me, shouldn't you explain why you arranged to meet a junior on a day off, senpai?" Suzuki Toru sighed. "There's no one else around, just the two of you talking one-on-one, and you even had her talk about her past. Is this the Student Council's usual procedure?"

"Because Nagumo-senpai heard that President Horikita had rejected me, he wanted to ask me what had happened." For some reason, Ichinose Honami suddenly spoke up.

Suzuki Toru glanced at her. Did she still believe people at a time like this?

No, she was hoping he would believe Nagumo.

But there was no point.

Because Nagumo immediately shattered her illusion himself.

"Suzuki, I admit you're perceptive. But you guessed right, too. I really did want to make use of Ichinose. She might come in handy in ways I can't foresee."

Nagumo stated what he had in mind without hiding anything.

Now that he had gotten what he wanted, there was no need to keep pretending.

Besides, he had never liked playing dumb.

Ichinose Honami stared at Nagumo in shock. She couldn't believe he had been thinking that way.

"What do you mean by that, Nagumo-senpai?" She tried hard to maintain a smile, but only made her expression look stiffer.

Nagumo didn't even look at her. Since he had leverage over her, he could decide what to do with her later. Right now, Suzuki Toru seemed like the more dangerous one.

"Is that all you're planning, senpai?" Suzuki Toru mused. "Use a first-year's secret to get her to join the Student Council. If she's the only first-year who manages to become an officer, then she'll be the only candidate for Student Council President later, right?"

A handpicked Student Council President was probably valuable in her own right.

"Looks like you understand, Suzuki." Nagumo's face bore a fearless smile. "But let me make one thing clear: Ichinose is talented, but that's not the point. What matters is that she's worth keeping by my side as a personal possession."

Ichinose Honami pressed her lips together. She should have realized this, but she had chosen to trust Nagumo.

Now, hearing his words laid bare, she fell silent.

"Isn't there a problem with saying that in front of the person herself?" Suzuki Toru asked, pretending to be surprised.

"No. That's simply my taste, and it has nothing to do with anyone else. That's all." Nagumo raised his brows. "Tell me about yourself, Suzuki. You didn't choose to leave immediately. You came here to meet me, which means you want to make a deal."

Suzuki Toru wasn't surprised that he'd figured it out.

"How much are you planning to pay to get this recording back, senpai?"

"Fifty thousand Private Points."

"So the Student Council's credibility is worth only fifty thousand points to you, senpai." Suzuki Toru smiled faintly. "If I release this recording and hire a few rappers to go around banging gongs and drums, I'm sure the whole school will hear about your heroic deeds."

Nagumo snorted. "You're good at extortion, Suzuki. But do you really think you've got this in the bag? This recording is worth two hundred thousand Private Points at most."

Suzuki Toru couldn't be bothered to keep talking. He said, "One million Private Points."

Nagumo was taken aback, then his expression darkened. "That's an outrageous price. Even you first-years only get one hundred thousand Private Points this month. One million is far too much."

He didn't like being extorted, especially not in such a humiliating way.

"One million." Suzuki Toru didn't budge. "Pay up, or I'll upload it to the forum."

Nagumo almost laughed in exasperation. Did this first-year really think Private Points grew on trees?

He had spent a year at Advanced Nurturing High School, squeezing money out of his entire grade, and still only had nearly ten million Private Points.

How could he possibly hand over a tenth of his wealth just like that?!

"I can only give you five hundred thousand. One million is impossible." Nagumo raised his offer again.

Suzuki Toru sighed. "I hope you can be just as tough when you're facing questions from the students and the school."

As he spoke, he glanced at Ichinose Honami. The meaning was obvious.

Nagumo understood the hint. To avoid leaving evidence, he had even arranged for the school to turn off the surveillance cameras here, thinking he had everything under control.

Who could have known someone would run around with a listening device? Now he was in a difficult position.

The problem was that Nagumo was a member of the Student Council and represented its image. Just the fact that he had lured a first-year into revealing her dark past would be enough to give the entire first-year class a bad impression of him and the Student Council.