"You didn't go to the Student Council that day, did you? He said I didn't deserve his praise, and that you were the one who did, so..." Sakayanagi Arisu got straight to the point. "It's really just a small thing, isn't it?"
"Ah! You call that a small thing?" Yagami Shizuka was displeased. "Unbelievable. How dare he say that about you? He can say it about me, but saying it about you is too much. No way—that calls for an explanation. He has to apologize."
"Forget it, forget it. I'm not that angry, actually, and he's already apologized." Sakayanagi Arisu didn't want things to get out of hand.
The Student Council president had come all this way to apologize. It would be unreasonable to keep giving him a hard time.
"How can we let that go? He has to apologize. Hurry up and apologize," Yagami Shizuka urged.
"I'm sorry," Horikita Manabu said again.
"Louder."
"I'm sorry!" Horikita Manabu had no choice but to raise his voice.
As Yagami Shizuka fiddled with a pen between his fingers, he said, "No, no. If you put it like that, it sounds as if I'm forcing you. You need to give a reason for apologizing.
How about this!
You also need to take back what you said to my Arisu earlier. My Arisu was the biggest contributor. How could she not deserve your praise? She doesn't care about your praise, but you still have to say it."
After glancing at Yagami Shizuka, Horikita Manabu addressed Sakayanagi Arisu respectfully. "I'm sorry! I overlooked things before and investigated in the wrong direction. Class A achieved such results thanks entirely to you. I made a careless judgment without getting to the bottom of things. I sincerely apologize!"
"Hmm, that's a decent attitude. Arisu, are you satisfied?" Yagami Shizuka smiled.
"I guess so. Let's leave it at that." Sakayanagi Arisu was nearly scared out of her wits.
Had the Student Council president been possessed?
He didn't look like someone who'd been beaten up, realized his mistake, and come to apologize.
"All right." Yagami Shizuka didn't want to make a bigger fuss. "Since he's so sincere, and you've forgiven him, we'll let it go."
He waved a hand. "You can leave. Be more careful next time. You can say whatever you want about me, but if you say anything about my Arisu, you'll regret it."
Horikita Manabu let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for forgiving me."
With that, Horikita Manabu turned and hurried out. At the door, he left with Tachibana Akane, who looked panicked and kept glancing back toward Yagami Shizuka.
"President, what on earth was that about?"
"Just pretend nothing happened." Horikita Manabu quickened his pace again. He didn't dare provoke Sakayanagi Arisu anymore. He'd rather walk the other way if he saw her. Sakayanagi Arisu was a minefield.
All that over one sentence. She'd really gone that far.
As soon as Horikita Manabu left, the classroom grew noisy again.
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Why would the Student Council president come here to apologize? And his attitude was..."
"He seems scared of Sakayanagi Arisu."
"No, he's scared of Yagami Shizuka!"
Class representative, what happened that day? Did the Student Council beat you up?"
"No, we just exchanged a few words." Katsuragi Kohei was at a loss. How could anything like that have happened?
"Didn't you just hear Sakayanagi Arisu? She was angry because the Student Council president praised Yagami Shizuka instead of her, but Yagami Shizuka was angry too—and even angrier than she was!"
"Could Chairman Sakayanagi have pressured him? But there's no way the chairman would step in over something like this, right?"
"This was Yagami Shizuka's doing, wasn't it? Otherwise, he wouldn't have apologized only to Sakayanagi Arisu and not to the class representative."
Quite a few people guessed that Yagami Shizuka was involved. Since even the Student Council president had taken a serious hit, they were even less willing to offend Sakayanagi Arisu.
They'd rather pick a fight with Yagami Shizuka than get on Sakayanagi Arisu's bad side. Otherwise, they might end up in a world of pain.
Would someone really go that far for another person?
Sakayanagi Arisu fixed Yagami Shizuka with a piercing gaze. "Did you do something?"
"Of course not. Horikita Manabu probably felt guilty and suddenly had a change of heart." Yagami Shizuka gazed up at the ceiling, showing no shame at all about lying.
"Thank you," Sakayanagi Arisu murmured, her voice soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"Hm?"
"I said, thank you!" Sakayanagi Arisu raised her voice, her cheeks turning faintly red.
"Yeah. Next time, don't keep it to yourself. If anyone dares bully you, I'll teach him a lesson."
Yagami Shizuka didn't deny it anymore. "Even if it's the Student Council president."
"All right!" A deeper blush spread across Sakayanagi Arisu's cheeks. Yagami Shizuka's words had touched her.
Even the most hard-hearted person could still be moved.
"There's something else I want to tell you." Yagami Shizuka wanted to strike while the iron was hot.
"What is it?"
"Last month, Kiryuin-senpai borrowed some money from me, remember? She plans to take me out for fun and pay me back while we're at it. I happen to have something to discuss with her. It's really important—it concerns the midterms and the points I still need, so..."
Yagami Shizuka looked at Sakayanagi Arisu pleadingly, afraid she wouldn't agree. He even explained the whole story from beginning to end.
"That's all?" Sakayanagi Arisu had thought it was something serious. Still, she was happy that he'd asked for her permission over something like this.
She waved a little hand. "Approved. You're allowed to spend up to fifty thousand."
"I won't need that much. She said she'd pay."
"Fine. Do whatever you think is best."
At that point, a male student sitting behind Yagami Shizuka couldn't take it anymore. "I want to report someone! These two are openly attacking us with their public displays of affection in the classroom. Is anyone going to stop them?"
Yagami Shizuka and Sakayanagi Arisu looked at each other. Was this really a public display of affection?
Had it made everyone angry?
Who knew? At any rate, Sakayanagi Arisu was in a pretty good mood.
Then they'd better keep it down a little.
They fell silent.
After school.
Yagami Shizuka saw Kiryuin Fuka again, dressed in a breezy summer outfit.
Normally, people ought to choose their clothes according to the temperature.
Women were a little different, since they cared about looking beautiful.
That was the case with Kiryuin right now. If she was cold, why was she wearing a lightweight short-sleeved top that left one shoulder bare?
If she was hot, why was she wearing sheer black stockings?
"Hey, underclassman! We meet again!"
As soon as she came downstairs, Kiryuin ran over. She looked Yagami Shizuka over, a strange glint in her eyes, then slapped him on the back. "Not bad. You've gotten a lot sturdier lately."
Yagami Shizuka nearly got knocked to the ground by the blow. He marveled at how terrifying Kiryuin was.
"Ahem! Senpai, how could you tell?"
"I can guess your weight from that one smack. Last time, you were probably only about ninety pounds—a scrawny little thing.
But now..."
She circled Yagami Shizuka, inspecting him closely. "At least one hundred and twenty."
She grabbed his arm to examine it, then gave it a squeeze. "Your muscles are really solid. Have you been doing some kind of brutal training?"
"Not really! I've just been exercising lately, so it's only natural that I've gotten stronger."
Yagami Shizuka found her claim that she could tell someone's weight with a single smack terrifying. Was that some kind of superpower?
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