Secretary Tachibana, You Wouldn't Want...

"I'm thinking of joining the Student Council. Want to come with me?"

Toru Hasegawa asked Sakayanagi Arisu. Kamuro Masumi had already finished filling out her application for the Art Club and returned.

At that, Suzune Horikita instantly lost her composure.

She had only just spent 90,000 personal points, and now he was turning around and saying he wanted to join the Student Council.

Wouldn't that mean she'd wasted her money?

In an instant, Suzune Horikita began to suspect she'd been tricked.

Toru Hasegawa noticed her expression and felt a little exasperated.

Just because he wasn't going to discuss her with her older brother didn't mean he wasn't joining the Student Council. Those were two separate matters, all right?

But he couldn't say that to her face right now, and Suzune Horikita obviously couldn't confront him about it in front of everyone.

All she could do was watch how things unfolded.

"Well, it was worth waiting here for you, Kamuro. You can go back now."

Sakayanagi Arisu put extra emphasis on the word "worth," but Toru Hasegawa let it go in one ear and out the other, pretending not to notice.

Kamuro Masumi looked as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She hurried out of the First Gymnasium, taking two steps at a time.

"All right, let's go, Ayanokoji. Do you want to join the Student Council too?"

Sakayanagi Arisu asked with great interest. She was extremely curious about this.

"...No, I'll pass." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka denied it outright. After giving Suzune Horikita a brief glance, he left.

At last, only three of them remained. Toru Hasegawa quickly said, "I wonder what the Student Council at this school is like. Ah, if only I could join."

His performance was a little exaggerated. Toru Hasegawa hoped Suzune Horikita would catch his meaning.

He couldn't tell whether Suzune Horikita had understood. She left with a stony expression.

"Did you just say something to her?" Sakayanagi Arisu had noticed that Toru Hasegawa's words were somewhat unusual.

Toru Hasegawa smiled faintly. "We should hurry and fill out the application."

Seeing that he wasn't willing to answer, Sakayanagi Arisu didn't press him. The two of them went over to the table representing the Student Council.

The person collecting applications there was Secretary Tachibana, the host of the club orientation.

As soon as she saw them approach, her expression darkened a little.

Toru Hasegawa noticed and felt a jolt of unease, thinking of a possibility he didn't like.

No way. Could it really be that?

"Fill out the application here."

Secretary Tachibana took out a sheet with a printed form and placed it in front of Sakayanagi Arisu. There was nothing in front of Toru Hasegawa.

"Um... I'd like to apply to join the Student Council too," Toru Hasegawa said timidly.

At that, Secretary Tachibana's face immediately fell. "You should know that our Student Council doesn't welcome people with naive ideas."

"Do I look naive?" Toru Hasegawa glanced down at his clothes.

There was nothing wrong with them. Everyone was wearing the same school uniform.

"You can tell at a glance. You deliberately interrupted the atmosphere President Horikita had created earlier. I bet you did it just for fun, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Anyway, please leave. I don't think you meet the requirements to join our Student Council."

Secretary Tachibana delivered her final warning. Sakayanagi Arisu didn't seem inclined to speak up for Toru Hasegawa; she simply watched with an amused smile.

"So, does President Horikita know about this?" Toru Hasegawa finally lost his temper, despite his usually easygoing nature. "Or is this just your personal opinion?"

"This..."

Secretary Tachibana immediately began to stammer. President Horikita had left as soon as he finished speaking. How could she know whether he knew about this?

"I can be pretty petty, you know. I'll absolutely go tell President Horikita on you. I'll say Secretary Tachibana wouldn't even let me fill out an application."

Secretary Tachibana: "..."

"And besides, you don't have the authority to stop me from joining the Student Council. If I'm going to be rejected, it should be President Horikita who rejects me personally," Toru Hasegawa added.

Seeing that she still wasn't responding, he decided to deliver the final blow.

He took out his phone and unlocked it. The screen clearly showed that it was recording.

"Secretary Tachibana, you wouldn't want President Horikita to find out you were abusing your authority, would you?"

Seeing that he even had concrete evidence in hand, Secretary Tachibana couldn't hold it together.

"Fine, I'll give it to you! I'll give it to you, okay?!"

Her eyes grew misty, and she looked on the verge of tears.

Toru Hasegawa: "..."

He hadn't expected Secretary Tachibana to be so fragile. A few words had already gotten such a dramatic reaction out of her.

And did she really have to make it so obvious that she liked Manabu Horikita?!

"All right, all right. I'm just standing up for my legitimate rights. You only have to give me the application."

"Really?"

Secretary Tachibana had already taken out an application and placed it in front of Toru Hasegawa.

"Of course not. On top of that, you'll have to compensate me for emotional distress." Toru Hasegawa kept a straight face. He thought he could get something extra out of this. "Don't worry, I'm not a monster. Just give me 200,000 points."

Secretary Tachibana: "???"

Fortunately, the Student Council's table was quite far from the other clubs. Otherwise, someone else would have heard him.

"This is only a warning. If abusing your authority only means having to do what you should have done in the first place, you won't learn your lesson."

He had always hated this sort of abuse of privilege—especially when the person wouldn't even offer the bare minimum of fairness.

"Also, I know you like President Horikita, but have you ever considered whether he'd really want you to do something like this?"

Unable to refute Toru Hasegawa's words, Secretary Tachibana silently pulled out her phone, deeply regretting what she had just done.

But it was too late now. He was clearly trying to extort her, and she had handed him the leverage herself.

200,000 points... wasn't an unbearable price to pay.

But had she really made it that obvious?

Toru Hasegawa had gained his fifth friend: Secretary Tachibana from the Student Council.

He was pleased to see that the balance in his personal account had risen to nearly 490,000 points.

That included 100,000 from the school, 100,000 from Sakayanagi Arisu, 90,000 from Suzune Horikita, and the 200,000 Secretary Tachibana had just given him.

"You've certainly put on quite a show for me, Hasegawa~"

What had just happened had given Sakayanagi Arisu an even deeper understanding of Toru Hasegawa.

All in all, she was finding it harder and harder to let him go.

He was a piece on the board who would undoubtedly prove immensely useful once she had him in her hands.

To use her favorite game of chess as an example, if she was the king, then Toru Hasegawa would be the queen.

"Honestly, all I see is one hassle after another."

Toru Hasegawa sighed helplessly, as if he weren't the same person who had just been so pleased about the points added to his account.

"So that's why you don't want to work under me?"

"Obviously." Toru Hasegawa rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving."

Who would have thought that a gray cane would suddenly stretch across his path, pressing against... a rather sensitive spot.

Toru Hasegawa couldn't help taking a step back, his expression turning strange.

"What are you doing?"

"Would you mind having another meal with me in the cafeteria? It's such a hassle going alone~"

Sakayanagi Arisu's cheeks flushed slightly. She hadn't done it on purpose!

"You can buy something at the convenience store. The cafeteria isn't the only place that sells food," Toru Hasegawa said, flatly refusing.

"But I want to eat in the cafeteria. Eating those convenience-store bentos too often is bad for you."

"Well..."

"And now that Kamuro has gone back, you wouldn't really leave me to go to the cafeteria alone, would you?"

Sakayanagi Arisu put on a pitiful expression. Toru Hasegawa knew there was virtually a 100 percent chance she was putting on an act, but the problem was that he really did fall for this sort of thing...

"...Fine. But I'm telling you now, this is the last time."

He had clearly said before that he would never again go out of his way for her. But when the moment came, he still gave in.

"Of course."

Sakayanagi Arisu instantly dropped the act. She had found a way to make use of Toru Hasegawa.

Seeing how quickly she had changed her tune, Toru Hasegawa wasn't surprised. The two of them headed off to the Student Cafeteria together once again.