The First Class Committee Meeting and a Special Guest

Faced with Maya Sato and Matsushita Chiaki playing off each other, Tatsuya Sakuya could only respond helplessly.

"All right. Since you're here, take a seat."

Their sudden visit gave Tatsuya Sakuya something to think about.

Maya Sato's presence made sense. Her math was probably only a little better than Karuizawa Kei's—and only a little.

Matsushita Chiaki was another matter.

She had scored well on tests, but usually hid her abilities and never let on how good she really was.

Some called her a lesser female version of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Her potential fell short of his, and she had also earned a reputation for being evenly matched with just about anyone.

Tatsuya Sakuya pulled over the swivel chair from his desk, then brought out two small folding stools he kept beside the wardrobe.

Room 217, usually occupied by him alone, suddenly had three girls with very different personalities crowded into it. The room came alive.

"Yay! All hail Secretary Shiba!"

Maya Sato cheered and immediately pulled Matsushita Chiaki down onto one of the stools.

"Just so we're clear, I'm only going over the basic problem types and variations from the actual midterm paper."

"Got it, got it. As long as I don't get expelled, I'll do anything."

Maya Sato nodded repeatedly.

Tatsuya Sakuya opened the paper and placed a finger on a major calculus problem.

"Let's start with this problem combining limits and derivatives. The approach to these is usually pretty fixed. The first part normally asks for the derivative and critical points. Sato, do you remember the differentiation formula?"

Maya Sato bit her pen cap and shook her head blankly.

"Um... I'm completely lost when it comes to differentiating composite functions. And I've totally mixed up L'Hôpital's Rule..."

"If you've mixed it up, first check whether the denominator approaches zero. Don't just memorize it blindly."

Tatsuya Sakuya patiently wrote out the steps on a sheet of scratch paper.

"Look here. Separate the outer and inner functions, differentiate the outer one first, then multiply by the derivative of the inner one... See?"

"Wow... Breaking it down like that really does make it seem easier."

Matsushita Chiaki leaned in, apparently studying the scratch paper, though she was assessing him for other reasons.

She had kept her abilities hidden from the class. Beyond joining in for the fun of it, she had come to observe up close the boy who had taken the lead in Class 1-D by such a wide margin.

She wanted to know whether this secretary was truly capable or just a fraud. If he was the latter, she had no reason to follow his lead.

Not to be outdone, Karuizawa Kei pointed to a math problem and leaned toward Tatsuya Sakuya.

"Hey, how do you do this one? You went too fast last time. I couldn't follow at all."

"I didn't go too fast. You fell asleep, didn't you?"

Tatsuya Sakuya called her out without mercy.

"I was recharging my brain!"

Karuizawa Kei puffed out her cheeks in protest.

More than an hour later.

Maya Sato stretched at length, then slumped over the desk and groaned.

"Ah... I can't do any more. Studying is too painful."

"But the method is much clearer to me now."

Matsushita Chiaki closed her notebook and gave Tatsuya Sakuya a polite nod.

"Sorry for the trouble today, Shiba."

"Helping our classmates is part of my duty as secretary of the Class Committee."

As Tatsuya Sakuya gathered the scratch paper, he looked at the exhausted girls before him.

A practical, troublesome problem came to mind.

Tutoring these three girls had already taken a fair amount of his time.

But Class 1-D had forty students. Aside from a handful of top performers like Horikita Suzune and Yukimura Teruhiko, problem students such as Sudo Ken, Ike Kanji, and Yamauchi Haruki had even weaker foundations than Karuizawa Kei and the others.

Now that they had the actual exam paper, most of Class 1-D would probably study even less and stake everything on it.

If anyone failed and got expelled because of that, they would surely blame him for it.

He tried putting himself in the shoes of some of Class 1-D's more extraordinary thinkers.

One-on-one tutoring simply wasn't efficient enough.

He only needed to remind them to study harder and, if possible, organize study groups where several students could learn together.

Then even if the worst happened and someone was expelled, they could hardly pin it on him.

He needed to get the newly formed Class Committee running as soon as possible and put it in charge of organizing study groups for the midterms.

Let Hirata, Horikita, and Kushida share the burden. Then I can slack off more effectively—no, oversee the whole operation more effectively.

With that decided, Tatsuya Sakuya stopped hesitating.

Rather than wait until tomorrow to hash it out in the classroom, he could strike while the iron was hot: call the core committee members to Room 217 and hold their first official meeting.

"Karuizawa."

Tatsuya Sakuya turned to Karuizawa Kei, who was putting away her stationery.

"What?"

"Don't rush off tonight. Sato and Matsushita can go back to their rooms if they're tired, but you need to stay."

Tatsuya Sakuya held up his phone.

"I'm holding the first Class Committee meeting here in Room 217 tonight. It's time we discussed a few things."

"Huh? You're having the committee meeting right here?"

Maya Sato blinked, then gave them a knowing, gossipy smile.

"Then we really shouldn't hang around. Kei, make sure you 'support' our dear Secretary Shiba~"

"Maya, quit talking nonsense."

Karuizawa Kei's cheeks reddened, though she couldn't quite hide her pride at being given an important task.

After seeing Maya Sato and Matsushita Chiaki out, Tatsuya Sakuya posted a summons in the newly created Class Committee Line group.

He also sent someone else an invitation to Room 217.

Tatsuya Sakuya: [Class Committee meeting, tonight at 8:20, Room 217. Please be on time.]

Replies came in soon after he sent it.

Hirata Yousuke: [Got it. I'm already at the dorm. I'll be there in five minutes.]

Kushida Kikyou: [Got it, Shiba~ I'll be right over! (^▽^)]

Horikita Suzune alone said nothing. A few minutes later, she finally sent a curt reply: [Understood.]

Watching the group chat, Karuizawa Kei sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs, and gave a little snort.

"Horikita's as arrogant as ever. I doubt she'll cooperate with you."

"I don't need her to cooperate with me. Cooperating with everyone else is enough."

Before long, another knock came at the door.

The others arrived one after another.

The already modest dorm room quickly felt cramped.

"Sorry to make everyone sit on the tatami, but let's begin today's meeting. I've also invited a special guest."