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Tachibana Akane returned to her seat, delighted.

After two years together, she knew Horikita Manabu well.

If he hadn't outright refused, it meant he would go tomorrow.

But that clearly wasn't like him.

So was it a club?

Or a first-year student?

She seemed to have found a promising angle of attack.

Humming a little tune, she started thinking of a reasonable excuse to "go on a date" after tomorrow's club fair.

Knock, knock.

Just then, someone knocked at the door.

Horikita Manabu closed the file in his hands and set it to his right.

He straightened his appearance before speaking.

"Come in."

The door creaked open, and two people entered.

Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji greeted them politely.

Then they introduced themselves.

"I'm Ichinose Honami from Class 1-B."

"Kanzaki Ryuji."

Tachibana Akane led them to the seats and invited them to sit.

She poured them both a glass of water, then asked with curiosity,

"What brings you two to the Student Council?"

Ichinose Honami explained the reason for their visit.

After hearing her out, Tachibana Akane felt a little fondness for Ichinose Honami, out of her affection for someone close to her.

After all, the person she liked was remarkably similar to Ichinose Honami, and Ichinose Honami was pretty, too.

Horikita Manabu felt much the same.

Out of curiosity, he even asked her a question.

"You have a younger sister?"

"How did you know, senpai?"

This girl really was much like me.

She was just as capable, and she had a younger sister, too.

She had also become her class's leader through her own charisma and ability.

If Ichinose Honami weren't a girl, he might have thought he'd met another version of himself.

But that was clearly a misunderstanding caused by an information gap.

It was true that Ichinose Honami had become a leader through her charisma and approachability.

But her ability?

She'd gained it after learning the hard way not to accept information from Tanaka Yukishin as a free bonus. She'd figured out for herself that the real meaning of the phrase "In this school, points can buy anything" was exactly what it said.

"So, kouhai, do you need us to roughly assess the value of the information you've gathered?"

"That's right."

Horikita Manabu turned over the things Ichinose Honami had just said in his mind several times.

Four suggestions.

The first was to give up on Class A—or on the whole class.

There was no doubt that this suggestion was extremely valuable.

But it was difficult to put a price on it in practice.

The difference between the high and low estimates was too large.

In the end, he valued this suggestion at one million points.

The second suggestion was to establish a database and classify the students.

Two million points wasn't unreasonable.

On the contrary, if Class B did it well, it could even be worth twenty million.

The third suggestion was to increase revenue and cut expenses. There was no disagreement there.

Three million points, easily.

The fourth...

This suggestion carried a significant risk when it came to putting it into practice.

If it went poorly, her classmates might hold back when giving feedback, out of consideration for Ichinose Honami's feelings.

That could distort the information and reduce the results.

But if it went well, two serious problems might arise.

Horikita Manabu couldn't tell whether Tanaka Yukishin had offered this advice out of kindness or malice.

Problem One

A high-EQ response would turn her into a confidante for her classmates.

A low-EQ response would make her a garbage bin.

Of course, Ichinose Honami was so beloved and trusted by her classmates that she wouldn't end up in the same situation as Kushida Kikyo.

But she would inevitably suffer enormous psychological pressure.

If she couldn't take it and buckled under the strain, that would be a real joke.

Problem Two

After receiving feedback, she would have to address hidden risks and conflicts.

The actual aim of this suggestion was to greatly strengthen Class B's cohesion.

But even if Ichinose Honami had maxed out her personal charisma and approachability,

if she lacked the necessary skills, she might handle things poorly and intensify internal conflict.

In that case, she'd be better off not getting involved.

Like the first piece of information, this one had a wildly unpredictable range of outcomes.

When Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji's footsteps faded at the end of the corridor,

Horikita Manabu pressed his knuckles against his brow, his grip tightening threefold.

The metal frames of his glasses glinted coldly beneath the ceiling lights. Suddenly, he slumped into his leather swivel chair, spinning his pen between his fingers until it blurred.

"You should drink some water."

Tachibana Akane pushed a thermos cup toward him.

The pen clicked against the rosewood desk. In the glass window, Horikita Manabu's face looked uncertain.

Outside, the wind high above the ground was tearing the clouds into shreds.

"Tachibana, add Ichinose Honami of Class 1-B to the temporary watchlist."

Tachibana Akane pulled her student ID terminal from her suit's inner pocket and quickly swiped her thumb across the screen.

When a new page opened in the notes, she suddenly stopped. As she looked up, the strands of hair by her ear swayed.

"Reason for monitoring? I remember you said you weren't planning to recruit any first-years into the Student Council this year, President."

"Since you remember that, you shouldn't forget there was another condition."

Tachibana Akane began tapping the terminal's virtual keyboard faster, her nails making tiny, crisp clicks against the screen.

"Oh, so you have high hopes for Ichinose. Then why is it only temporary? You..."

She suddenly cut herself off. Horikita Manabu's movement as he removed his glasses to wipe them carried an unusual hesitation.

Tachibana Akane noticed the little finger of his right hand twitching slightly. It was a physical reaction the president only showed when faced with something uncertain.

"Because her words and actions haven't been consistent."

After learning some of the school's truths through the Sender incident,

she had gathered information and thought it over.

That was what an ordinary person would do.

Horikita Manabu took Ichinose Honami seriously because, aside from their similarities, she had shown enough ability through her words.

But after Horikita Manabu had analyzed one of her suggestions,

if Ichinose Honami had really relied on her keen observation, divergent thinking, discernment, decisiveness, and courage

to confirm the true meaning of "In this school, points can buy anything,"

and then found a capable upperclassman to strike a deal with,

before coming to the Student Council to have the value of her information assessed,

she should have been able to draw parallels, extend her thinking to the other suggestions, and gain new insights.

Then she would have agreed with his assessment.

But what about Ichinose Honami?

It was hard not to be suspicious of her and Kanzaki Ryuji's apparent disagreement.

What she'd said might not have been entirely true.

"President, don't you think you might be expecting too much of her because she's so much like you?"

It was the first day of the school year.

Ichinose Honami's understanding of the school, based on the Sender incident, was too shallow and one-sided.

In that situation, she shouldn't be judged by an old hand's standards.

She was still a new student adjusting to the school.

Tachibana Akane thought Ichinose's performance was perfectly normal.

Horikita Manabu shook his head.

How could he not have thought of that?

"That's why she's on the temporary watchlist, not ignored or placed on the long-term watchlist."

"We'll see how Ichinose does after a month. If she isn't in Class A, it'll prove that part of what she said just now was false."

Tachibana Akane nodded, then changed the subject and vented about Miyabi Nagumo.

"It's all Miyabi Nagumo's fault. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have to spend any extra effort on this, President."

"People say you're the most outstanding Student Council president since the school was founded. If this school is all about strength, why does he have other school administrators backing him?"

Tachibana Akane didn't deny that Miyabi Nagumo was capable.

But he wasn't as good as Horikita Manabu.

And one was in Class 3-A while the other was in Class 2-A.

What right did a prospective Student Council president have to challenge the current one?

"Because my being the most outstanding isn't universally agreed upon. Some of the administrators think the competition is too gentle right now."