An Unconventional Mixer, a Farcical Uproar

Four days later.

Uh...

It wasn't that Uchiha had been dragging his feet. Mainly because... Ayanokoji had kept an eye on him for four whole days, even following him to the bathroom. Who would have the mood to do anything else?

He finally found an opening.

Following Horikita Manabu's instructions, he went to the Student Council's new member registration area.

This was the administrative building, clearly much more upscale than the dorms.

It was located in the first-floor lobby.

This place was specifically responsible for assessing new applicants to the Student Council.

The assessments were extremely strict.

Written tests, interviews, psychological evaluations, stress tests—not a single one could be skipped.

Those with special needs could even apply for specialized combat assessments.

After all, when some students caused trouble, reasoning was useless. They could only be subdued with fists!!

That was right. Student Council members had the authority to act first and report afterward!!

Three people stood in the corridor.

Two girls and one boy.

They were newcomers who had just passed the assessment. Their faces still showed exhaustion, but each of them could not help feeling proud of themselves.

Trial after trial, and they had overcome them all.

They were among the rare few selected from hundreds to cross the "single-log bridge"!!

Uchiha looked them over and consciously took his place at the end of the line.

Not long after.

A blond upperclassman with narrow eyes and an effeminate-looking face walked over.

He held three lists in his hand.

"First, let me introduce myself."

"I'm Nagumo Miyabi from Class 2-B, the current Student Council vice president."

"Congratulations on passing the assessment and joining the Student Council."

The four of them nodded.

Nagumo Miyabi opened the list. "Roll call begins now."

"Ichinose Honami."

"Here!!!"

"Sakayanagi Arisu."

"Here."

"Katsuragi Kohei."

"Here!"

"..."

Very spirited!!

Nagumo Miyabi looked at the four figures standing shoulder to shoulder before him and nodded in satisfaction.

Four...

Wait, four?!

Only then did Nagumo Miyabi notice the boy standing ramrod straight beside them.

Uchiha had his left hand pressed against the seam of his pants and his right hand raised in salute.

"Hello, Vice President. Uchiha Jiahao of Class 1-D, reporting for duty."

Nagumo Miyabi: "..."

Everyone else: "..."

Nagumo Miyabi flipped through every list several times, yet he found no duplicate names!!

So...

Who the hell was this masked guy?!!

The bald Katsuragi frowned. Who was this?

The blond upperclassman looked puzzled. "Are you a newcomer too?"

Uchiha nodded calmly.

"Mm."

Nagumo Miyabi lowered his head to check the roster. After looking for quite some time, his expression gradually darkened.

"Your name isn't on it."

Just then.

The "cheering squad" entered.

Yamauchi charged in at the front, followed by a group of sleazy-looking boys.

"Didn't Uchiha say there'd be pretty girls? Where are they? Where?"

Then.

He looked toward the group of girls led by Kushida, and his eyes went wide.

Mua~

Whatever, let's start with a blown kiss~

So Uchiha hadn't lied to him. There really were pretty girls here!!

Kushida was stunned. Unease churned in her heart, and she felt like she had been tricked.

"He told me to bring my besties to this mixer. Could the guys we're meeting be..."

The orange-haired girl glared darkly at Yamauchi and the other boys, fighting the urge to turn around and leave immediately!!!

These were the high-quality mixer prospects he had mentioned? What kind of crooked melons and cracked dates were these?!!

Uchiha, just you wait!!

Speak of the devil, and there he was right in front of them?!

Drawn by the commotion on the Student Council side, everyone looked over.

"What is Jiahao doing now?!"

"I remember he didn't take the Student Council assessment, did he?!"

"Definitely not. These past few days after school, I kept seeing him elbowing a banyan tree..."

"Holy shit, isn't this guy trying to force his way into the Student Council? What a bandit!! A fucking ruthless bandit!!"

The three newcomers all reacted differently.

Ichinose opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. She knew Uchiha and more or less understood his way of doing things. She figured he was just fooling around...

Sakayanagi's eyes flickered. From the horse-faced man, she had learned that this was the guy who had egged him on to strike up a conversation with her. As the mastermind behind it all, she would settle the score with him later!

Katsuragi's brow furrowed even deeper. In this assessment, he was currently ranked third.

The three of them had spent four days together, so they had a general sense of who was good at what, who excelled in which areas, and who was weak in others.

Only he truly understood how difficult this assessment had been. If the blond upperclassman had not been greedy for money and he had not used the power of his wallet, he probably would have already been eliminated.

Yet he had never seen this Uchiha, this newcomer who had dropped out of nowhere.

Katsuragi looked at the masked boy, his tone still relatively restrained.

"If you didn't pass the assessment, you should wait to the side for the relevant Student Council members to verify things."

"You must have come to the wrong place. This is the registration area for those who passed."

In his eyes, Uchiha was a passerby who had wandered into the wrong place.

But he was more inclined to believe that Uchiha had been eliminated and had come here to play dumb and seek attention—a vain Jiahao.

And the timing was wrong too.

He was several days late.

The assessments began every Tuesday and ran for four consecutive days each week, continuing until the end of April.

Uchiha glanced at him.

"This is the Student Council's new member registration area, right? I'm not in the wrong place."

[Guts +66]

[Guts +48]

[Guts +156]

[...]

Uchiha glanced at Yamauchi and Kushida. As expected, they had not disappointed him!!

This pair of "crouching dragon and fledgling phoenix" had brought quite a few people to the "mixer"!!!

If he wanted to farm Guts, he needed a big scene with lots of people!!

What?!

Katsuragi's gaze sharpened. He still dared to lie?

At that moment, Nagumo Miyabi confirmed it.

"Uchiha, your name really isn't on the list. Are you sure you haven't come to the wrong place?!"

He had flipped through the documents in his hands over and over again.

After all, only these three had passed. There was no way he could have made a mistake.

More importantly, he was one of the examiners and had supervised the entire assessment. Uchiha had not been among this round's participants.

How strange.

He could only assume the other boy was an impostor.

Uchiha said, "One of your people invited me here."

Huh?!

Nagumo Miyabi asked, "Who?"

Uchiha had originally wanted to name Horikita Manabu.

But considering that he seemed to have gotten in through the back door, it was fine if people criticized him, but he might end up giving the president a bad reputation. Better not.

Besides, most of what he said now was nonsensical anyway.

Uchiha wore a profound expression.

"The man ranked third in overall ability."

"..."

"...???"

The entire lobby fell silent.

Everyone in the lobby was stunned.

Third in overall ability?!

Who was that?!

The way Nagumo Miyabi looked at Uchiha changed.

I'm the publicly recognized eternal third place. I invited you here?!!

First was President Horikita, second was Kiryuuin Fuka, and I was third. No problem with that, right?

Spouting blatant lies—wasn't he obviously putting on an act?!

[Guts +184]

[Guts +191]

[Guts +227]

[...]

Uchiha was delighted inside.

The Student Council was a great place!

Any random dispute gave him far more than before!!

"..."

Nagumo Miyabi suppressed his discomfort.

To be honest, he was an extremely arrogant person who liked comparing himself with the president.

Now that Uchiha had brought up the ability rankings, he once again felt inferior and dejected.

Still, that aside.

Student Council assessments were strict. Not just any stray cat or dog could join.

This crazy guy was putting on airs, and Nagumo Miyabi almost wanted to laugh. He even claimed he had been invited.

What bullshit was that?

What, was the chairman his relative?

Before Nagumo Miyabi could speak, Katsuragi could no longer stand it.

"We went through four days of assessments, eliminations, practical combat, and endless torment. We completed every single procedure."

"If you really were specially invited, then show us proof!! If you can't, then get lost!!"

In his view, Uchiha was making trouble for no reason and trying to scam his way in!

"Proof?"

Uchiha's heart was as still as water.

"This isn't a criminal investigation. What proof do you need?"

"I don't have anything, but I can..."

"Treat you to a punch."

"?"

The bald man instantly saw red.

Who the hell are you trying to fool?!

Katsuragi had never seen anyone this good at putting on an act. He laughed in fury:

"What proof do you have? You think you can muddy the waters in a place like the student council? Get lost! Go as far away as you can! Don't stand here making a joke of yourself!!!"

He couldn't produce a single shred of evidence, yet he kept insisting he'd been invited?!

What a fucking joke!!