Koji's Stubborn Mouth

"Thank you for the offer, President."

You En declined, explaining that the Kyudo Club hadn't yet called him over for activities. Until he understood how the school's clubs operated, he wouldn't sign up for too many at once.

Horikita Manabu showed no regret at being refused twice, merely nodding:

"Good. Very rational."

He shifted the topic to the matter at hand. "But I have a question about what you just said.

From your personal perspective, how do you think the Student Council should rule on this matter?"

You En glanced at Horikita Suzune and spoke his true thoughts:

"I certainly don't want to see a friend schemed against, or even subjected to something terrible.

So my stance on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is just two words: expulsion."

Horikita Manabu nodded, then turned to Horikita Suzune:

"Do you understand?"

Horikita Suzune didn't grasp it. Her expression showed confusion, along with a hint of timidity—an emotion she only ever displayed before her long-admired brother.

Horikita Manabu said nothing more to Horikita Suzune. Instead, he looked at You En:

"So what are your thoughts?"

You En said nothing further. Horikita Manabu's attitude was already clear—he had his own plans.

"Entirely at the Student Council's discretion."

Horikita Manabu nodded. "Alright. But I can't just take your word for it.

The Student Council will conduct an investigation and gather evidence. Come back in a while."

You En took his leave and exited.

Horikita Suzune wanted to say something, but in the end, she rose, bowed respectfully, and left, catching up to You En.

"Why is it like this?"

You En said, "Because there are procedures to follow. Since the Student Council is an organization, it must have structure and rules. Maybe under a few presidents it would fall into chaos, but with your brother in charge, it definitely won't."

"Of course."

Horikita Suzune nodded in agreement at first, then seemed to have something she wanted to say but couldn't quite voice.

You En smiled. She was still easy to read.

"You think that because you're his biological sister, he should take your feelings into account, right?"

"..."

Horikita Suzune felt as if he had seen right through her. She had indeed vaguely entertained that thought.

"There's nothing wrong with thinking that. But Horikita Manabu is handling this as the Student Council President, so he doesn't want to do that."

You En recalled the president's speech to the new students at the opening ceremony, and the day he knocked out Ayanokoji for tailing his own sister, and said:

"Besides, it's not like he hasn't helped you as a brother. It's not that he doesn't care about you. He probably just keeps public and private matters very separate. So from a family perspective, it might sting a bit."

Horikita Suzune's expression returned to normal.

"After hearing you say that, I actually feel a lot better. I don't need the President's favoritism. My brother doing this is only natural."

"This isn't over yet,"

You En said, looking at the puzzled Horikita Suzune with a smile.

"Even though it looks like we're letting things slide, we're not actually forgiving the other side. We're giving face to the Student Council.

Before it can ensure a proper trial for this matter, the Student Council—as a non-official organization—has to maintain its influence among both the school administration and the student body. It won't take cases lightly."

Horikita Suzune didn't quite understand.

"Why? Isn't the Student Council supposed to handle incidents like this?"

You En explained patiently:

"Because without enough evidence, this matter would just fizzle out in the end, damaging the Student Council's credibility. Whether it succeeded or failed, it would hurt the Council."

Horikita Suzune thought it over and realized he was right.

If they succeeded—disciplining Ayanokoji without sufficient evidence—people would surely say Horikita Manabu abused his authority.

If they failed, people would think the Student Council couldn't protect the victim.

Horikita Suzune didn't want to become a burden to her brother.

"Then let's just drop it."

"Drop it? How could we possibly drop it?"

You En flashed a brilliant smile that made Horikita Suzune's skin crawl.

"Provoking the organization that manages you is a very stupid choice. Classmate Ayanokoji still lacks some understanding of how society works."

The school and Student Council here were different from the original. Though the people were the same, the structural framework and nature were completely different.

From a procedural standpoint, this matter could indeed be handled without leaving any evidence, and in principle, it falls under "innocent until proven guilty."

But pulling something like this, provoking someone's older brother and sister-in-law—

if they humbly admit fault and accept punishment, fine.

If they go against the student council, just wait for the show. There are countless ways within the system to make life miserable without leaving a single flaw to pick fault with.

As for You En himself, he'd definitely jot down a note about Ayanokoji in his little book.

The reason he's not acting now is simply a matter of limited strength—that's the fact. If you're not as good as someone, you're not as good. No point in being shy about it.

For an ordinary former research-grad wage slave, a lifetime light novel master, to take on a scaled-down urban soldier king—that's a bit too tough.

Might as well go fight Sukuna.

Horikita Suzune looked a bit worried: "Won't this affect them?"

You En said, "Relax. If they're in that position, they understand the game better than you do."

Horikita Suzune felt relieved but still puzzled. The other party was the same age, not much younger than Horikita Manabu.

"Why do you all know so much?"

"From reading books."

You En made an excuse. He couldn't exactly say he'd encountered many similar situations in his past life.

"Ding—"

The phone rang. Probably Ichinose calling.

You En pulled out his terminal and saw it was indeed her.

"Let's go. They're already waiting for us."

Meanwhile, in the Student Council Room, after a brief silence, Tachibana Akane couldn't help but speak up:

"Wouldn't this kind of handling be too harsh on her?"

"What's this supposed to be?"

Horikita Manabu's face showed no expression.

"Since she doesn't plan to drop out, in this school, she'll face malice far deeper than this. Let her get used to it early. If she decides to withdraw before the end of the month, that would be for the best."

Tachibana Akane said nothing more. "So how do we handle this matter?"

Both she and the president knew the truth—whether it was real or fake, fact or fiction, they could tell at a glance.

"The means available to first-year students can't investigate this, nor can they gather solid evidence,"

Horikita Manabu, as president, had already skimmed through all the first-years' personal data and backgrounds.

"For now, the one with the highest combat power or overall personal strength should still be Ayanokoji. But at this rate, it's only a matter of time before he's overtaken or caught up to."

Tachibana Akane understood this, but the fact remained: "His foundation should let him improve faster than the others, right?"

"Arrogance and complacency lead to stagnation—that's the greatest enemy. He thinks he's reached the peak of humanity, but he doesn't realize it's just one corner."

Horikita Manabu said, "In a society built by intelligent groups, to accomplish something, besides personal skill, two other points are crucial. Ayanokoji still has major flaws."

Tachibana Akane recalled the test she'd given You En earlier.

"Maybe by second year, You En will catch up to him."

"Akane, you've got it backwards."

Horikita Manabu said, "Ayanokoji only has this one semester as his chance. After this semester, it'll be hard for him to pose any threat."

Tachibana Akane could see You En's extraordinary qualities, but she didn't rate him that highly. Though she'd spent three years at this school, experienced countless things, and had her own "legend,"

compared to Horikita Manabu and Qiao Heng, it was worlds apart.

Maybe they had some trait known only to themselves—kindred spirits, perhaps.

Tachibana Akane thought, but she returned to reality:

"What's the plan for handling this?"

"First, call Ayanokoji over for questioning."

Horikita Manabu's expression was unreadable, always wearing that indifferent look.

"Understood, President."

Tachibana Akane worked on the computer.

In the dormitory, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka received an unofficial message.

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Hello, I am the secretary of the Advanced Nurturing High School Student Council. According to our investigation, you are suspected of drug abuse, intentional poisoning, and inciting a fellow student to commit a crime, among other acts.

To conduct a fair and thorough investigation into this matter, we require you to provide the relevant information and documents for review."

He double-checked the sender—it was indeed from the Student Council.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, having prepared himself, arrived at the Student Council Room.

Facing the questioning of Student Council Secretary Tachibana Akane, he answered smoothly, mostly replying with "I don't know" or "I'm not aware," flatly denying any involvement in the matters.

Even when presented with somewhat substantiated evidence, he defended himself, arguing that the authenticity was insufficient, that he hadn't done those things, and that he had merely happened to purchase the medicine—since how those items ended up in the cafeteria was unclear to him.

Tachibana questioned him several times, but the answers she got from Ayanokoji were always the same. Maintaining her official demeanor, her attitude wasn't overly harsh, but offering him a friendly face was out of the question.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka figured he wouldn't face too severe a punishment, unless Horikita Manabu or someone nearby decided to abuse their authority.

If that happened, he could report them to the school administration and get a chance to meet the real higher-ups.

"That's enough. You may go."

Horikita Manabu nodded.

"Mm."

Ayanokoji walked out of the Student Council Room, feeling like he might have miscalculated something. Why was he getting off without any punishment at all?

Was it that Horikita Manabu didn't care about Horikita Suzune, or that the Student Council's rules mattered far more than she did?

Back at the dormitory, Ayanokoji opened the door to his room and reached for the light switch, but found that pressing the button several times did nothing.

Pulling out his phone, he saw a notification: the student dormitory's power supply had malfunctioned. Most students had already had theirs fixed, but a small number still needed to wait.

"Twenty-four third-years without power, seven second-years, and one first-year?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at the name of the sole unfortunate first-year student on the list.

It was his own.