Since it was his own application he had submitted earlier, Toru Hasegawa had no room to refuse now.
Of course, he didn't want to refuse, either.
Generally speaking, only people who were extremely enthusiastic joined the Student Council. After all, aside from working like a horse for the school, there wasn't much in it for them.
But the guy in front of him had said at the club fair that "the Student Council at this school is entrusted by the school with the right and the duty to change its regulations." That was what had truly interested him.
"Tachibana, step outside for a moment."
Manabu Horikita had just finished welcoming Toru Hasegawa to the Student Council when, the very next second, he gave Secretary Tachibana the order.
"Huh?" Secretary Tachibana was a little surprised, but she immediately did as Manabu Horikita said and left the Student Council Office.
Sakayanagi Arisu, who saw Secretary Tachibana come out alone, covered her mouth in surprise:
"Did something happen in there?"
"I don't know." Secretary Tachibana didn't offer Sakayanagi Arisu any useful information. She just stood by the door, looking glum.
She really hated the feeling of Manabu Horikita shutting her out like this.
"What do you think of Suzune...?"
Once Secretary Tachibana had left, the cold expression on Manabu Horikita's face—the one that said he had everything under control—vanished abruptly, replaced by a complicated look.
Suzune... He meant Suzune Horikita, right?
Toru Hasegawa immediately thought of the beautiful girl with long, straight black hair.
Sorry, even though he'd taken 90,000 of her points, he hadn't been the one to bring this up.
With that in mind, Toru Hasegawa replied, "Her personality's a little twisted, and she seems to have some kind of special feelings for you."
"It's my fault. I never thought she'd follow me all the way here." Manabu Horikita let out a rare sigh. "If possible, I'd like you to look out for her."
So that was why he'd sent Secretary Tachibana out, Toru Hasegawa thought.
The fewer people who knew he was giving his little sister special treatment, the better.
"Even if that means going against the school's system of class competition?" Toru Hasegawa raised an eyebrow, smiling as he spoke.
Everyone had their own selfish motives. There was nothing strange about that.
But the Student Council President still had to be hiding something.
"You only need to do your best." Manabu Horikita corrected himself. "In return, I can pay you one million points."
"...Daga, kotowaru!" One million private points was a lot, but Toru Hasegawa thought there was a better way. Looking Manabu Horikita in the eye, he said seriously, "The one who tied the knot should untie it. When it comes to your sister, it's best if you handle it yourself."
He could see what was going on. The guy in front of him was a seriously twisted sister-complex type.
When it came to his sister, he'd offered to pay a million private points without even blinking.
"...I can't."
After a moment of silence, Manabu Horikita spoke.
"Why?" Toru Hasegawa was genuinely puzzled now. He thought this was the kind of problem that could be solved with a simple face-to-face conversation.
What was the big deal?
"Suzune has always been chasing after me. I can't put any more pressure on her."
At his question, Manabu Horikita gave him an answer.
Toru Hasegawa couldn't help rolling his eyes. What was that supposed to mean...?
He was starting to think this brother and sister were both weird beyond belief.
She chased, he ran; they were locked in a love-hate relationship.
"I understand what you mean, but is this really a good idea? Having me fix your sister's twisted personality and all."
"It's fine. As long as Suzune can change." Manabu Horikita understood that Toru Hasegawa had already agreed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"...What's this supposed to mean?"
Seeing the two million private points transferred to him, Toru Hasegawa could hardly believe it.
Hadn't they agreed on one million? How had it become two million?
And Manabu Horikita had handed it over without even blinking, as though one million and two million made no difference to him.
"I have high hopes for you, so I raised the price on my own."
The two of them signed a written contract.
"Aren't you worried I won't keep up my end of the deal after you graduate?" Toru Hasegawa pressed his lips together, feeling as though he were dreaming.
Had he already achieved financial freedom at this school?
Manabu Horikita replied, "I don't think you're that kind of person. And a year... should be enough time for you, right?"
"You really have a lot of faith in me." Toru Hasegawa smiled. He wasn't even sure of himself, yet Manabu Horikita had already decided to put his hopes in him.
"I trust my judgment."
"By the way, there's one more thing I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
Toru Hasegawa stared straight into Manabu Horikita's eyes. "Besides just now, have you ever smiled at anyone else at this school?"
"..."
It seemed Manabu Horikita hadn't expected Toru Hasegawa to ask that. He fell silent.
Then the room went quiet.
"Not going to answer? Then I'm leaving."
Toru Hasegawa stood up to go.
"You're even more impressive than I thought."
Manabu Horikita suddenly spoke, and Toru Hasegawa stopped in his tracks.
"So, what's your answer?"
"I'll give your suggestion some serious thought."
Strictly speaking, this was their first time meeting, yet Manabu Horikita calmly accepted a lecture from a younger student he'd just met.
"I just think that if you keep going like this, you'll definitely regret it."
With that, Toru Hasegawa left without looking back.
As soon as he closed the door, Secretary Tachibana stopped him.
"The Student Council President... What did he say to you?"
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't."
As if soothing a child, Toru Hasegawa walked around Secretary Tachibana. She stamped her foot, but didn't press him further.
"Looks like you wouldn't tell me even if I asked."
"You're pretty self-aware." Toru Hasegawa glanced at the frail girl. "Come on, Sakayanagi."
Sakayanagi Arisu sighed. "You still haven't forgiven me?"
Secretary Tachibana's eyes widened with curiosity. She focused her attention, determined to get the latest gossip firsthand.
"Are you saying that what happened with Kamuro and Hashimoto wasn't your doing?" Toru Hasegawa gave a cold laugh.
Yesterday morning, how could Kamuro Masumi have known he had 400,000 private points? Only Sakayanagi Arisu knew that. So why had she told Kamuro Masumi?
It didn't take much thought to figure it out.
Sakayanagi Arisu really was rotten to the core.
As for Masayoshi Hashimoto, Toru Hasegawa didn't believe he'd approached him without Sakayanagi Arisu's instructions.
He'd simply turned the tables on her. Now those people probably all had their own little schemes behind the scenes.
"Also, that homemade lunchbox you made that day was completely half-hearted. I didn't see any sincerity in your apology at all."
If Sakayanagi Arisu had truly wanted to apologize, she should have known the basics of making a lunchbox. But she'd made a complete mess of it. It was obvious she'd just been going through the motions.
"..."
Sakayanagi Arisu was left speechless by Toru Hasegawa's words, and fell silent.
"Anyway, you should get Kamuro to come pick you up. I'm leaving."
Toru Hasegawa walked away without hesitation.
A long while later, Sakayanagi Arisu left as well.
It wasn't that she couldn't get around on her own. She'd come here alone for the interview that morning, after all.
It was just... a little inconvenient.
"Wow... This year's first-years... It's only been a week since school started, and things are already this heated?"
Secretary Tachibana stuck out her tongue and turned to walk into the Student Council Office.
"President Horikita..."
"Just call me Horikita. There's no one else here now."
"Huh?!" Secretary Tachibana struggled to hold back the urge to jump up and down.
Manabu Horikita tried to soften his expression. "You told me earlier that Hasegawa took 200,000 points from you because you'd done something wrong, right?"
"What about it?" Secretary Tachibana asked cautiously.
Rather than have the class discover her points were gone when they needed to use them, Secretary Tachibana had decided to admit her mistake to Manabu Horikita herself.
Manabu Horikita told her how much he'd just spent. "I just gave Hasegawa ten times your amount."
That meant two million private points.
Secretary Tachibana froze in place. Her good mood from moments ago vanished, and she grew anxious.
"Did President Horikita get threatened by him too?"
"No. It was part of a deal I made with him... Would you like to see?"
As he spoke, Manabu Horikita tried to smile. It felt awkward, since he hadn't used those muscles in a long time.
Toru Hasegawa had gotten 200,000 private points from Akane Tachibana because she'd done something wrong.
Akane Tachibana had only interacted with Toru Hasegawa once: when she'd accepted his application at the club fair.
And Manabu Horikita had actually known all along that Akane Tachibana had feelings for him.
Considering what Toru Hasegawa had just said, his insight was probably enough to figure that out, too.
Then the answer was simple.
He'd been looked down on by Toru Hasegawa. There was a girl who liked him right by his side, yet he'd never once smiled at her.
And letting someone get a little closer to him was the first step toward changing.
"Maybe I've been just like Suzune all along."
Watching Akane Tachibana, who could barely hide how happy she was, Manabu Horikita's thoughts raced.
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