The Transformation of Manabu Horikita

Since he was the one who submitted the application, Toru Hasegawa had no room to refuse now.

Of course, he didn't want to refuse, either.

Generally speaking, only the most enthusiastic people joined the Student Council; after all, there were no real benefits other than acting as a beast of burden for the school.

However, the guy in front of him had said during the club orientation, "The Student Council of this school is endowed by the administration with the right and mission to change the rules," which was the reason he was truly interested.

"Tachibana, step out for a moment."

The moment Manabu Horikita finished welcoming Toru Hasegawa to the Student Council, he gave that order to Secretary Tachibana.

"Eh?" Although Secretary Tachibana felt a bit surprised, she immediately obeyed Manabu Horikita and left the Student Council office.

Seeing Secretary Tachibana come out alone, Sakayanagi Arisu covered her mouth in surprise:

"Did something happen inside?"

"I don't know." Secretary Tachibana didn't reveal any useful information to Sakayanagi Arisu, just standing at the door, looking sullen.

In truth, she really hated this feeling of being excluded by Manabu Horikita.

"What is your opinion... of Suzune?"

After Secretary Tachibana left, the cold, "everything is under control" expression on Manabu Horikita's face vanished instantly, replaced by a complex look.

Suzune... Suzune Horikita, was it?

Toru Hasegawa immediately thought of that quintessential long-haired black-haired beauty.

Sorry about that, although I took 90,000 private points from you, this wasn't a topic he had initiated himself.

Thinking this, Toru Hasegawa said, "Her personality is a bit twisted, and it also seems like she harbors some kind of special emotion toward you."

"It's my fault; I didn't expect her to follow me all the way here." Manabu Horikita sighed, a rare occurrence. "If possible, I hope you can look after her a bit."

No wonder he had to send Secretary Tachibana away, Toru Hasegawa thought to himself.

Asking him to give his sister special treatment—the fewer people who knew about this, the better.

"Even if it means going against the class competition system that the school upholds?" Toru Hasegawa raised an eyebrow, smiling mockingly.

Everyone has selfish motives; that wasn't strange.

But the Student Council President likely had something else he hadn't said.

"You just need to make a personal effort." Manabu Horikita corrected his statement. "For this, I can pay you 1 million points."

"...Daga, kotowaru! (But I refuse!)" Although 1 million private points was a lot, Toru Hasegawa felt there was a better way. He stared into Manabu Horikita's eyes and said seriously, "The person who tied the knot must be the one to untie it. When it comes to your sister, it's best if you handle it yourself."

He had figured it out: the guy in front of him was a twisted sister-complex.

For his sister's sake, he had offered to spend 1 million private points without even blinking.

"...I can't do that."

After a moment of silence, Manabu Horikita said.

"Why?" Now Toru Hasegawa was truly confused; he felt this was a problem that could be solved with a simple face-to-face conversation.

It wasn't that big of a deal.

"Suzune has always been chasing my shadow; I cannot exert any more influence on her."

Facing his question, Manabu Horikita provided an answer.

Toru Hasegawa couldn't help but roll his eyes upon hearing this. What kind of nonsense was this...

He now felt that this pair of siblings were the strangest of the strange.

She chases, he runs; they are caught in a cycle of mutual obsession.

"I understand what you mean, but is this really okay? Having me correct your sister's twisted personality and all that."

"It's fine, as long as Suzune can make a change." Manabu Horikita understood that Toru Hasegawa had actually agreed, so a faint smile appeared on his face.

"...What is the meaning of this?"

Seeing the 2 million private points transferred to him, Toru Hasegawa felt a sense of disbelief.

Wasn't it supposed to be 1 million? How did it become 2 million?

And he had sent it directly, without even blinking, as if there were no difference between 1 million and 2 million to him.

"After all, I have high expectations for you, so I raised the price on my own initiative."

The two of them signed the written contract.

"Aren't you afraid that I won't continue to fulfill the contract after you graduate?" Toru Hasegawa pursed his lips, feeling like he was in a dream.

Had he already achieved financial freedom in this school?

To this, Manabu Horikita's reply was: "I judge that you are not that kind of person, and one year... should be enough for you, right?"

"You really have a lot of confidence in me." Toru Hasegawa laughed. He wasn't even sure about himself, yet Manabu Horikita was already expecting results.

"I trust my own judgment."

"Right, there is one more thing I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

Toru Hasegawa stared fixedly into the eyes of Manabu Horikita: "Aside from just now, have you ever shown a smile to anyone else in this school?"

"..."

Seemingly caught off guard by such a question from Toru Hasegawa, Manabu Horikita fell silent.

A heavy silence followed.

"Not going to answer? Then I'm leaving."

Toru Hasegawa stood up, ready to depart.

"You are even more exceptional than I imagined."

Manabu Horikita spoke suddenly, causing Toru Hasegawa to halt his steps.

"So, what is your answer?"

"I will give your suggestion serious consideration."

Strictly speaking, this was their first meeting, yet Manabu Horikita calmly accepted being lectured by a first-year student he had just met.

"I just feel that if things continue like this, you will definitely regret it."

Having said that, Toru Hasegawa walked away without looking back.

The moment he closed the door, he was intercepted by Secretary Tachibana.

"Student Council President... what did he say to you?"

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't."

As if humoring a child, Toru Hasegawa brushed past Secretary Tachibana. She stomped her foot, but did not pursue the matter further.

"It seems even if I wanted to ask, you wouldn't tell me anyway."

"At least you have some self-awareness." Toru Hasegawa glanced sideways at the frail-looking girl. "Let's go, Sakayanagi Arisu."

Sakayanagi Arisu sighed: "Are you still not going to forgive me?"

Secretary Tachibana widened her eyes in curiosity, focusing all her attention, determined to get the inside scoop.

"Are you implying that... the business with Kamuro Masumi and Masayoshi Hashimoto wasn't your doing?" Toru Hasegawa gave a cold laugh.

How could Kamuro Masumi have known yesterday morning that he had 400,000 private points? The only person who knew that was Sakayanagi Arisu, and why would she tell Kamuro Masumi?

A little thought made it obvious.

Sakayanagi Arisu's true colors were truly wretched.

As for Masayoshi Hashimoto, Toru Hasegawa did not believe for a second that his attempts to approach him were without Sakayanagi Arisu's instructions.

It was just that he had turned the tables on them; by now, those people must be harboring their own secret agendas.

"Also, that handmade bento from the other day lacked any real effort. I didn't see a shred of sincerity in your apology."

If she had genuinely wanted to apologize, Sakayanagi Arisu would have known the basics of preparing a bento, but the reality was that she had made a complete mess of it, clearly just trying to fool him.

"..."

Sakayanagi Arisu was rendered speechless by Toru Hasegawa's words and could only fall silent.

"Alright, you should call Kamuro Masumi to come pick you up; I won't be keeping you company any longer."

Toru Hasegawa walked away directly.

After a long while, Sakayanagi Arisu also left.

It wasn't that she lacked the ability to move on her own, just as she had come here alone for her meeting this morning.

It was just... slightly inconvenient.

"Whoa... these first-years... it's only been a week since school started... is the atmosphere really this volatile?"

Secretary Tachibana stuck out her tongue and turned to walk into the Student Council office.

"Student Council President..."

"You can just call me Manabu; there's no one else here."

"Eh?! Eh?!" Secretary Tachibana forcibly suppressed the urge to jump for joy.

Manabu Horikita tried to soften his expression: "You told me before that because you made a mistake, Toru Hasegawa took 200,000 points from you, right?"

"What about it?" Secretary Tachibana asked cautiously.

Rather than being discovered missing when the class needed to use private points, she had chosen to confess her mistake to Manabu Horikita; that was Secretary Tachibana's approach.

Manabu Horikita revealed his recent expenditure: "I just handed over ten times that amount to Toru Hasegawa."

That is 2 million private points.

This left Secretary Tachibana stunned in place for a moment, her good mood from just a moment ago vanishing into thin air as she grew anxious:

"President Horikita, were you also threatened by him?"

"No, this is part of a deal I reached with him... would you like to see it?"

As he spoke, Manabu Horikita attempted to offer a smile, though it felt stiff from lack of practice.

Toru Hasegawa had obtained 200,000 private points from Akane Tachibana because the latter had committed a mistake.

The only intersection between Akane Tachibana and Toru Hasegawa should have been during the club orientation, the time when she accepted his application form.

And Manabu Horikita was actually well aware of the feelings Akane Tachibana held for him.

Combining this with what Toru Hasegawa had just said, given the other party's insight, he likely knew about this as well.

The answer, then, was quite simple.

He had been looked down upon by the other party; despite having a girl who liked him by his side all this time, he had never once shown her a smile.

And allowing someone else to delve slightly into his inner heart was the first step he was willing to take toward change.

"Perhaps I haven't been any different from Suzune all this time."

Watching Akane Tachibana, who could not hide her joy at all, Manabu Horikita's thoughts drifted in a flurry.