Miyabi Nagumo's Little Moves

The next day, Ichinose Honami received instructions from the Student Council and went to the Student Council Office for an interview.

But surprisingly, even though Ichinose Honami now understood the school's rules of competition, Horikita Manabu still didn't let her join the Student Council.

When she returned to class, she immediately went to Shiraishi Makoto and explained what had happened.

"Why is that? Someone as capable as Ichinose can't even pass the screening?" Hamaguchi Tetsuya frowned from the seat behind them. He couldn't understand what the Student Council President was up to.

From what they'd observed, there were around ten or twenty upperclassmen on the Student Council. That suggested the requirements for joining shouldn't be especially strict. Yet Ichinose hadn't made the cut, which was highly unusual.

Shiraishi Makoto put down his phone. To keep himself from forgetting things again, like how he'd once forgotten to ask about Private Points, he now recorded his to-dos and all the information he'd gathered on his phone, checking them whenever he needed to. After thinking for a moment, he asked the others, "What about the other classes?"

"No one from Class A has gone yet. But things in Class A are a little complicated. They seem to have two leaders right now." Kanzaki Ryuji stood nearby.

"Class C... It's hard to say what they're like. There's a student named Ryuen Kakeru who seems to be trying to rule the class, but his methods are violent," Shiranami Chihiro said quietly.

"Nothing unusual with Class D. Their leader should be Hirata Yosuke, right?" Hamaguchi Tetsuya rubbed his chin. "But I asked Ando to talk to Kushida from Class D and find out. It might not be accurate."

"I've heard of Kushida. She's made a lot of friends in just the few days since school started. She seems like the type who 'wants to be friends with everyone,' so she wouldn't lie about something so easy to verify." Shiraishi Makoto nodded slightly. Kanzaki Ryuji had suggested gathering information about each class. As the saying went, know yourself and your enemy, and you'll never lose a battle. Kanzaki Ryuji had taken responsibility for gathering information on their greatest enemy, Class A, while students from their class had been assigned to look into the others.

"How about you give it a try, Shiraishi?" Ichinose Honami suggested. She'd always thought Shiraishi Makoto was better suited to running for the Student Council. He might not be the best at studying, and he lacked experience dealing with people, but he'd quickly noticed and understood the rules of this school. That meant he'd probably be a better fit for the Student Council.

"Me..." Shiraishi Makoto hesitated.

He had two reasons for hesitating. Joining the Student Council meant going head-to-head with Miyabi Nagumo, and he'd also been overwhelmed lately trying to catch up on his studies.

The sciences, which were more or less universal around the world, were fine. He'd studied them before taking the university entrance exams, so picking them back up wasn't too difficult. But subjects that depended on accumulated knowledge, like Japanese history and literature, gave him a real headache.

The problem was, he couldn't easily ask his classmates or teachers about those subjects. A lot of what he didn't know might genuinely be considered "common knowledge," and asking about it would raise questions about whether he was even Japanese. So he could only go to the library after school, look up specific topics, and copy them into a notebook to memorize.

Still, the benefits of joining the Student Council, especially becoming its president, went without saying.

"I'll go see tomorrow. I might not get in, though." Since the OAA System hadn't been updated yet, as it would be in their second year, Shiraishi Makoto didn't know what his enrollment profile looked like or whether he'd impress Horikita Manabu.

But based on his guess, Horikita Manabu's choice of members probably had little to do with their enrollment profiles. Horikita Manabu didn't want anyone joining the Student Council mainly because he was worried the new students might be unable to stand up to Miyabi Nagumo and would either run away under the immense pressure or side with him. So the key to joining the Student Council was to show the resolve and ability to stand up to Miyabi Nagumo.

But one thing was certain: once Horikita Manabu's year graduated, Miyabi Nagumo would naturally turn his attention to the lower years.

It was only a matter of time before they clashed with Miyabi Nagumo. It was definitely better to seize more initiative while they were still in their first year.

"Ichinose." Someone suddenly called out to Ichinose Honami. On closer inspection, it was a classmate standing by the door, calling to her. Outside the classroom stood an unfamiliar student from another class.

Ichinose Honami walked over. The student said something to her and left. Ichinose returned with a puzzled look on her face.

"What happened?" Ichinose Honami made no effort to hide what she was thinking, so everyone could tell something was wrong.

"That upperclassman just came to pass along a message. He said he hoped I'd go to the Student Council Office after school this afternoon." Ichinose Honami knitted her brows, her voice tinged with confusion.

From their perspective, it was certainly strange. The Student Council had just rejected her application, and now they were asking her to come back. It was hard to make sense of.

But Shiraishi Makoto knew that Miyabi Nagumo was trying to deceive Ichinose Honami.

Whether Miyabi Nagumo was acting on his attraction to her or wanted to support a puppet class in the first year and thereby control the lower years, he had no good intentions.

There was no reason to bring it up now, though, and Shiraishi Makoto hadn't yet managed to learn much about Miyabi Nagumo. But Ichinose Honami was already very different from her counterpart in the original story, so she should be able to spot the trap Miyabi Nagumo had set.

"Pay close attention when you go this afternoon. If anything seems wrong, come back and discuss it with everyone," Shiraishi Makoto reminded her, albeit indirectly.

"Got it." Ichinose nodded gently.

But Miyabi Nagumo sending someone also indicated that Horikita Manabu probably had something else to do that afternoon and wouldn't be in the Student Council Office. That meant Shiraishi would have to wait until tomorrow to apply for the Student Council.

For today, he'd better focus on studying.

Class B was in very good shape. The students with relatively poor grades were quietly working hard, while those with room to spare had begun gathering information about the other classes to prepare for the competition ahead.

After school, Ichinose Honami went to the Student Council Office, while Shiraishi Makoto went to the library alone.

After finding the reference books he needed, Shiraishi Makoto picked a corner and started studying. Before long, another figure entered the library.

The silver-haired girl wandered between the bookshelves for a while, then took out a book she wanted to read. As she looked for a quiet place to sit, she noticed Shiraishi Makoto in the corner.

That first-year boy seems to have been in the library yesterday, too. The silver-haired girl committed Shiraishi Makoto's appearance to memory, then sat down not far from him.