"Well, I'm going home with Miyuki later, so I won't be joining you for dinner."
Tatsuya Shiba quietly raised his hand and abruptly interjected.
"I'm not going either. Chiba Yeyou, you'd better win this woman over so she'll leave my brother!"
Erika Chiba loudly announced that she was not going, then deliberately leaned toward Chiba Yeyou's ear, shielding her mouth with her right hand as though afraid Mari Watanabe would hear. In reality, she barely lowered her voice at all, and after speaking, she gave Mari Watanabe a provocative wink.
"What nonsense are you spouting? I would never betray Shu!"
A faint blush crept onto Mari Watanabe's face. She slapped the table irritably, making several thumping sounds to express her displeasure.
"So it's just the two of us? That's no fun."
Hearing that neither of them wanted to go, Chiba Yeyou lost some of his enthusiasm too.
"Are you sure?"
"I don't treat people to dinner very often. Are you sure you don't want to seize this opportunity?"
Mari Watanabe suddenly smiled, looking at Chiba Yeyou with a hint of playfulness.
"Forget it. I'll just eat at home!"
With only the two of them, Chiba Yeyou was not particularly interested.
"We're pretty much done tidying up. Thanks, everyone!"
Mari Watanabe stretched.
"I really don't know how someone who just stood around watching has the nerve to say that."
Chiba Yeyou gave Mari Watanabe a scornful look.
"Exactly!"
"You can't even keep your own office tidy. I knew I couldn't trust someone like you with my brother!"
Erika Chiba was even more merciless. After all, she was still very unhappy with the woman who had stolen her brother.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"I moved several boxes, you know!"
As she spoke, Mari Watanabe even patted the box in front of her.
"You make it sound like you came to help us!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
"I've never seen anyone so shameless!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Chiba Yeyou spoke irritably, with Erika Chiba chiming in after him. Their back-and-forth left Mari Watanabe red-faced.
"I assume you two already understand why I wanted to recruit you!"
Mari Watanabe suddenly spoke as she looked at Tatsuya Shiba and Erika Chiba.
"Hey!"
"You're changing the subject, aren't you?"
Erika Chiba had finally gotten a chance to mock the wicked woman who had stolen her brother, only for that wicked woman to change the subject.
"I understand."
Tatsuya Shiba picked up a CAD and examined it.
"But as a measure concerning Course 2 Students, it's more likely to backfire."
"Why do you think that?"
Mari Watanabe looked at Tatsuya Shiba in puzzlement.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"How do you think those Course 1 Students who've always thought so highly of themselves will feel about suddenly being disciplined by Course 2 Students?"
Erika Chiba rolled her eyes at Mari Watanabe in exasperation.
"Oh!"
"Those 'Weeds' actually dare lord it over us 'Blooms'?"
"What gives them the right to discipline us?"
"Are they worthy?"
Erika Chiba put on an indignant expression, as though she had suffered some outrageous affront.
"You know, that's a pretty good impression!"
Seeing Erika Chiba like that, Chiba Yeyou could not help laughing.
Mari Watanabe did not laugh, however. A poker face did not laugh.
Mari Watanabe genuinely could not laugh either. This showed that resolving the conflict between Course 1 Students and Course 2 Students had become a matter of utmost urgency.
"That's why!"
"We thought that since your intake has only just entered the school, we could make some beneficial changes before your thinking becomes warped, allowing the new students to reduce the conflict between Course 1 Students and Course 2 Students and continually ease relations between them, thereby resolving the problem step by step."
Mari Watanabe looked as though she had everything under control.
"You've thought pretty far ahead!"
Chiba Yeyou could not help nodding.
"We never intended to solve this problem in a short time anyway."
Mari Watanabe spoke calmly.
"Actually, there is a way to improve relations between them in a short time."
Chiba Yeyou winked at Mari Watanabe.
"What way?"
Seeing Chiba Yeyou's expression, Mari Watanabe felt it definitely would not be a good one.
"Stoke the conflict between them. Escalate it and completely blow up the confrontation between Course 1 Students and Course 2 Students to get the school's attention. Then punish both sides equally, and their conflict won't be so intense anymore."
Chiba Yeyou spoke.
"No. Your method is too risky. It could just as easily make their conflict worse, especially by provoking resentment among Course 1 Students."
Unless some major incident occurred, even the school's intervention would be of little use, so Mari Watanabe rejected the proposal without a second thought.
"As things stand, this is the only method that can ease the conflict between Course 1 Students and Course 2 Students without leaving either side with so much resentment toward the other."
Mari Watanabe offered her analysis.
"Sure, things will get much better between them, but Tatsuya and I will end up making quite a few Course 1 Students resent us."
Erika Chiba pursed her lips.
"Besides, the new students will be unhappy about it too."
Tatsuya Shiba spoke calmly.
"They will?"
"But they haven't been poisoned by this discriminatory thinking yet, so surely there won't be that many?"
Mari Watanabe sounded a little uncertain.
"Perhaps. Just yesterday, I heard a declaration along the lines of 'I don't accept you!'"
Tatsuya Shiba spoke helplessly.
"That Morisaki guy?"
Click.
The meeting room door suddenly opened, and two men walked in, each wearing a small red shield on a black background on his left arm.
One looked rather rugged and had the air of a tough guy. The other was much quieter.
"Good evening."
"Good evening."
The two men who entered greeted them first.
"Huh?"
"Why are there so many people here?"
"Boss!"
"You're here too!"
The rugged man who had pushed the door open first sounded a little surprised.
"Chairwoman, today's patrol is complete. There were no disciplinary violations!"
The quieter man stepped forward and solemnly reported the day's work to Mari Watanabe.
Ignoring the quiet man's report, Mari Watanabe instead snatched several sheets of paper from the table, rolled them into a tube, strode up to the rugged man, and brought it down on his head.
"How many times have I told you!"
"Don't call me Boss!"
"How many times do I have to say it before you understand!"
"Is your head just for decoration?"
As though he had touched on the form of address Mari Watanabe least wanted to hear, she kept whacking him on the head.
"Please stop thumping me like that!"
The man hurriedly covered his head, complaining all the while.
"Honestly!"
Mari Watanabe sighed helplessly.
This fellow never learned his lesson. He knew he was wrong, but he would do it again next time!
He left Mari Watanabe feeling utterly helpless.
"Uh, anyway, Chairwoman, are these guys new?"
The Public Morals Committee member glanced at Chiba Yeyou and the other two as he slowly spoke.
"Ah!"
"They're recruits I went to great trouble to find!"
Hearing his question, Mari Watanabe spoke with a hint of pride.
"Let me introduce them. Tatsuya Shiba, Class 1-E!"
"Erika Chiba, Class 1-E!"
"Chiba Yeyou, Class 1-A."
Mari Watanabe introduced them one by one.
"I'm not under your Public Morals Committee's authority!"
Chiba Yeyou promptly reminded her.
"Although your position is still being discussed, you'll most likely become the Student Council president's private secretary!"
"Even if you're a Student Council member, I can still ask Mayumi Saegusa to lend you to us!"
"I do have that authority, you know!"
As Mari Watanabe spoke, she raised her index finger and gestured smugly at Chiba Yeyou.
"Speaking of which, the Student Council doesn't have a secretary position, does it?"
As far as Chiba Yeyou remembered, First High School's Student Council did not include the position of secretary.
"Exactly!"
"You need to pay attention to the term 'private secretary'!"
"Do you understand what 'private' means?"
Mari Watanabe gave Chiba Yeyou a playful wink.
A private secretary?
When there was work, do it yourself; when there wasn't, do...
"All right!"
Chiba Yeyou shook off the impression of private secretaries he had once held and nodded.
"Hello. Koutarou Tatsumi, Class 3-C!"
Koutarou Tatsumi looked at Chiba Yeyou's shoulders, then extended his hand and introduced himself.
"Chiba Yeyou, Class 1-A."
Chiba Yeyou shook hands with Koutarou Tatsumi.
"Midori Sawaki, Class 2-D."
He shook hands with Midori Sawaki as well.
"Are those two without emblems up to it?"
Koutarou Tatsumi also noticed that Tatsuya Shiba and Erika Chiba had no emblems on their shoulders and could not help asking doubtfully.
"Tatsumi, your remark may qualify as prohibited language."
"In this situation, you should call them Course 2 Students."
As Midori Sawaki spoke, he also looked toward Tatsuya Shiba and Erika Chiba.
"Hmph!"
Erika Chiba gave a soft, displeased snort.
Tatsuya Shiba remained expressionless and gave no response, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"You two will suffer for it if you keep thinking that way!"
"Between us, Hattori Gyoubu already took a tumble earlier."
Bracing one hand against the table, Mari Watanabe leaned forward as though sharing a secret. Both men looked astonished.
"Those two defeated Hattori Gyoubu?"
Koutarou Tatsumi looked at Tatsuya Shiba and Erika Chiba in astonishment, and both his and Midori Sawaki's gazes swept back and forth between the pair.
Both of them knew that Hattori had never suffered a defeat since enrolling.
"That's right!"
"In an official match, in a fair and square contest!"
As Mari Watanabe spoke, she looked over her two future subordinates with satisfaction.
"What? Hattori hadn't lost once since enrolling, and he actually beat him!"
Midori Sawaki spoke with a look of shock.
"To think you actually managed to make Hattori Gyoubu suffer two setbacks in a row. Impressive!"
"Looks like we've got two very reliable partners!"
Koutarou Tatsumi looked at the two of them with satisfaction.
His gaze happened to sweep over Chiba Yeyou, and he couldn't help thinking of his match with Hattori Gyoubu. Uh, that should have been called a total curbstomp, so it really couldn't count as a defeat. After all, they weren't even on the same level.
In Mari Watanabe's eyes, Chiba Yeyou was very mysterious, piquing her interest a little, though the one most interested in him was probably the president.
But thinking of how Hattori Gyoubu had been schooled by three people in quick succession, she couldn't help feeling that the poor kid had it rough.
Mm, have an extra bowl of rice when you get home!