Chapter 2: The Student Council President’s Inclination

EARLY IN FEBRUARY, after our time at the school camp was over, we returned to the Advanced Nurturing High School. First-year Class A student Sakayanagi Arisu was in the student council office. She placed her favorite hat upon the desk and sat face-to-face with Student Council President Nagumo Miyabi, from second-year Class A.

"The student council office looks a little gaudy now, doesn't it?

Nothing like how it used to be," said Sakayanagi.

Putting it nicely, she was being sincere. The student council office could previously have been described, at best, as being stuffy and formal. Now even the wallpaper had been changed, and a large number of small items that looked like Nagumo's personal effects had been brought in. Rather than a student council office, it looked like Nagumo's own room.

Which was precisely what Nagumo wanted: to show his authority. Or so Sakayanagi mused.

"Don't tell me that Horikita-senpai encouraged you to join the student council," said Nagumo. Sakayanagi surely didn't have any other business with the council. Why was she here?

"Unfortunately, it seems that I didn't meet his standards," she said. "I wasn't invited to join."

"His mistake."

"Does that mean you're different, Mr. New Student Council President?"

A faint smile crept onto Nagumo's lips. "I am. I would gladly welcome you aboard. Of course, you'd be my personal property, at best." He lightly patted the head of a stuffed rabbit that sat nearby.

Was Nagumo fond of stuffed animals? Maybe a girl who hung around him was?

Personal property, he said. In other words, he didn't care about her

talents, but was assessing her on looks alone. Sakayanagi could've pretended not to notice, but…why not press him a little? "What would I have to do for your seal of approval, President Nagumo?"

"Demonstrate an appropriate level of skill for me. You know, it's not too late for you to join us. You could come over to my side, Sakayanagi."

"I could," replied Sakayanagi, smiling broadly. "But I won't. I don't think one organization could support two leaders. More importantly, I couldn't bear the thought of crushing the dignity of the upperclassmen."

"Two leaders, huh?" he repeated. So this first-year thought herself to be Nagumo's equal? Or perhaps even greater?

But Nagumo didn't take the bait, didn't get angry. Far from it: he smiled.

"What interesting first-year students we have this year," he said. "Ryuuen and you are quite unique."

Almost nobody at this school would consider making an enemy out of the student council. More than a few students tried to buddy up with them to climb the ranks to Class A. Others would just try to stay out of the council's way. But Sakayanagi and Ryuuen didn't hesitate to bare their fangs at anyone…and they didn't show a shred of mercy.

"I can't really say that's a wise way of living," Nagumo added.

There probably are students who would have some respect for those who made enemies on all sides, but Nagumo wasn't like that. He esteemed those who were sometimes willing to discard their pride and use their power in order to get ahead in the world.

Nagumo's words hung in the air for a moment before his phone, sitting on a nearby desk, vibrated once. Twice. Thrice—

"Is this a bad time?" asked Sakayanagi.

"No. I choose how I spend my time, and I'm devoting it to you right now. Don't worry about it."

"My, it must be difficult being so very popular. All these incessant messages, hm?"

"If you want to respect my time, why don't we get down to business?

You don't want to be appointed to the student council? Fine. So what business do you have with me that requires clearing out the entire room? I have a prior engagement with another first-year after this, so I'd appreciate it if you cut to the point."

"I see. Then I suppose I'll keep this brief, hm?"

Sakayanagi's expression didn't change, even though Nagumo had intentionally mentioned meeting with a "first-year." But despite her appearance, Nagumo was sure he'd piqued her interest.

"I've come here today to ask you for one favor," said Sakayanagi. "It's regarding a member of the student council, Ichinose Honami, from first-year Class B. I will be mounting an attack against her. It's quite possible that things might get…rough."

"I'm aware. And?"

Nagumo urged her to continue speaking. Everything Sakayanagi had said so far, she'd already told him in a previous meeting between the two of them. Of course, virtually no one knew that meeting had even taken place.

"She is the sole first-year serving on the student council," Sakayanagi said. "Which makes her a likely candidate for the future student council president."

Nagumo nodded. "As long as no other first-year students come forward to join the student council or no exceptionally talented new faces appear, yes. She's pretty much a shoo-in."

"Yes, I suppose that's true."

In other words, losing Ichinose would be bad for the student council… and for Nagumo.

"As my way of thanking you for the other day, I thought I'd inform you of something in advance. In a worst-case scenario, it is quite possible that Ichinose Honami-san will be expelled. I must ask you to please pardon that," declared Sakayanagi, showing no hint of fearing Nagumo.

"I don't recall ever giving you permission to go that far, Sakayanagi."

For the first time since their conversation started, the smile had vanished from Nagumo's face.

"Yes, you told me to stop bullying Ichinose-san, President. However, I was thinking I might play a little rough."

"Ichinose is my personal property, and I plan on, ah, cherishing her. I gave you permission to weaken her, no more."

"I'm well aware. But you should be aware that things don't always go as planned."

Nagumo stared at Sakayanagi sharply. Some might even call it a glare.

But Sakayanagi coolly shook off his gaze.

"So…you won't mind, would you? Even if she does happen to be expelled?"

Nagumo shifted slowly in his chair, moving his elbows from the armrests. "Quite a bold girl. You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"That's just the way I am."

"Tell me one thing. You could have just gone ahead and done this without getting my permission. And yet you came all the way here, dutiful as you are, to ask me? You don't want to make an enemy out of me. Is that right?" asked Nagumo, not remotely buying Sakayanagi's claim that she was doing this to thank him.

"Interpret it however you wish; I do not mind." "Don't lie to me. I want to hear your honest opinion."

Nagumo didn't need her flattery. He wanted to know her true

intentions.

"The student council at this school possesses more power than I'd thought. If the student council…" She paused. "No, if Student Council President Nagumo took direct action to protect Ichinose-san, that would be troublesome. Even for me."

Ah. So Sakayanagi didn't want him to protect Ichinose. Nagumo flashed his bright white teeth in a grin, seemingly satisfied. Even though she'd expressed it in an indirect way, she was saying that she didn't want to make Nagumo her enemy.

"Seems like the information I gave you has been useful," he said. "Yes. Thanks to you, I was able to strike Ichinose-san where she was

weakest. I'll be making even more effective use of that information moving forward."

"All right, then," said Nagumo. "The student council will… tolerate everything that you're going to do from here on out."

"When you say that the student council will tolerate my actions, is it safe to assume that includes you?" Sakayanagi hadn't missed the fact that Nagumo had deliberately omitted some words when he made his promise.

"…Heh. Well, there'd be no way for me to back out if I specifically said that I, too, was part of that, as someone on the council. What are you planning to do?"

"You'll just have to look forward to finding out. That's all I'll say." No, revealing her strategy to Nagumo would do her no good—

Sakayanagi was sure of it. The man who sat before her was a weasel. Even now, he was ready to throw one of the student council's major players under the bus.

"By the way," she continued, "I don't have too many opportunities to speak with you one-on-one, so there's something else I'd like to ask you"

"What's that?" asked Nagumo.

"I'm not saying it's likely, but…let's say the situation worsens. Let's say drastic measures become necessary. Why, a student might try to resolve things with brute force, President. What do you think of that?"

Sakayanagi knew how to deal with resourceful types like Katsuragi, Ichinose, or Horikita. An act of violence, on the other hand…that would be a problem. Sakayanagi would be helpless against such a thing. She wouldn't stand a chance.

"You're not well-equipped to deal with the kind of person who'd make a last-ditch attempt to overpower their opponent through force, huh?" asked Nagumo.

"It's not my forte." She did suffer from a physical handicap—that couldn't be helped.

"Unfortunately, I don't particularly dislike the use of force, myself.

And fighting is entirely unavoidable for us students, don't you think? I have no intention of cracking down on it like Horikita-senpai did. Really, now,

why can't we just laugh off a little skirmish now and then?"

Surely this would put Sakayanagi, who couldn't fight, at a bit of a disadvantage…but no, her concerns were about something else entirely.

"Hm. In that case, President Nagumo, I'd like to ask you about an issue from some time ago. The fight that broke out between first-year Class D and Class C. If you'd been in power at the time, would have you handed down a different judgment than the previous student council president?"

The business with Sudou, Ishizaki and his guys. Which side threw punches? And which got beat up? The case had been fought over whether there were security cameras there to pick up what happened. Nagumo hadn't been directly involved in that incident, but he had to know about it, given how closely he always shadowed Horikita Manabu.

"Let's see…well, I wouldn't let the people involved off the hook after they dragged our entire school into their mess, but I don't think I'd go so far as to call for expulsion. I wouldn't push for class points or private points to be docked either. My choice of punishment would be suspension.," said Nagumo. "That is, ah, just my opinion as a representative of the student council."

No matter how tolerant the student council chose to be, the school had the final say in the matter. Sakayanagi probably was fully aware of that fact, too. They might wield significantly more power than your average student council, but they were still students, at the end of the day. They couldn't forget that part.

"I see. How magnanimous of you," said Sakayanagi.

And that magnanimity would just so happen to make intimidation and violence a school-wide reality in the future. Sakayanagi would have to take that into account.

"If you're feeling uneasy about that, I can always get some second- years to accompany you."

In other words, the second-years in question would overwhelm the first-years by force. The student council president's proposal essentially endorsed such a course of action.

"My thanks, but that won't be necessary. I prefer to fight my battles

with only the pieces I hold in my hands."

What Sakayanagi wanted to know was how far she could go before it wasn't safe anymore. Just knowing that she could counterattack after being targeted was enough for her to go on.

"Satisfied?" asked Nagumo.

"Quite." Sakayanagi slowly stood, grasping her cane. "Ah, that reminds me—"

"You still have something you want to talk about?" asked Nagumo, adding that he couldn't give her much more time. Ignoring him, Sakayanagi kept going.

"This is merely me rambling now, but I happened to hear something quite interesting. Something about a student who was thinking of purchasing private points from third-years who are about to graduate, I believe.

Purchasing the points that the school was going to collect and convert into currency after graduation. A powerful strategy, don't you think? A winning strategy."

The idea had come up during a conversation between Kouenji and Nagumo a few days ago, at the school camp. Although only boys had been around to hear it, Sakayanagi certainly could've heard it from one of the guys. In fact, it was almost inevitable they would want to share that information with her.

"Well, I made sure that strategy can't be used anymore…not that it's some novel concept that only Kouenji came up with or anything. More than a few students have thought about buying off surplus points from third-year students nearing graduation." Nagumo sneered. "It's been done many times before, yes. Which is exactly why the school announces the limited-time rule for 'purchasing their remaining private points upon graduation' from students in their third year. It's customary."

"Is that so? According to what I and others are told of the rules, private points are forfeited upon graduation. They become worthless. If that's the case, no wonder some third-year students consider entrusting their private points to an underclassman they're close to."

Many drops made an ocean. Even just inheriting private points from a few individuals would allow certain students to collect quite a hefty sum. It

was no wonder that Nagumo had caught on to what Kouenji was doing, even at such an early stage.

"Normally," she continued, "this information is only disclosed to third- year students. Ignoring the matter of how you, President, came to know about it in your second year… I know why you discussed it so brazenly in front of all those first-years. You intend to have this limited-time rule changed, no?"

"I only did that because Kouenji seemed capable of paying more than the school itself offers. He was trying to monopolize points. That's foul play."

Openly announcing it in front of a group of boys from all grade levels made the school aware of the problem. A loophole in the rules. It was highly likely that additional rules would be put in place to discourage students from transferring private points.

Normally, no matter how wealthy a family someone came from, there was no guarantee they could cough up that much cash for points at graduation. Kouenji, however, was a rare exception.

It was clearly stated on the official website of the Kouenji conglomerate that Kouenji Rokusuke had accumulated an obscene amount of personal assets by his first year in high school. Even if he could go back on his deals, many would think it well worth the gamble with that much money on the line.

"However," said Sakayanagi, "the wealth he was born into could be considered one of the abilities at his disposal. Is he not allowed to put it to use?"

"By that logic, wouldn't anticipating his actions and forestalling them also be an exercise of abilities?"

Sakayanagi chuckled, lightly tapping her cane with every laugh. "I suppose so."

"From the beginning, I've never liked the school's rule about being able to move up to Class A with twenty million points. I'd like to have them revise it, if possible. But then again…even if the system were to disappear in the future, I suppose it wouldn't apply to you first-years."

The school had clearly already informed Sakayanagi and the other

first-year students of the rule's existence. They couldn't just withdraw the rule now that students were putting so much strategic thought into accumulating 20 million points.

"But there's never been a student who managed to accumulate 20 million points all by themselves, has there? If the rule is nothing more than a formality, then there's no need to worry about it, is there?" asked Sakayanagi.

"It just means that you can't save up the points by yourself."

"Yes, but saving up as a class also seems rather meaningless. Some students feared another class might send their spies to infiltrate their own, but that's not realistic. Even if a student from a lower class were somehow sent up to infiltrate Class A, they would naturally just betray their original, lower class after joining the superior one."

"True, there's no real benefit in deliberately trying to drag down a strong class. But who knows? There could be students out there with a strong sense of justice who'd stay loyal to their allies."

"But even so," said Sakayanagi, "it's not like the upper-ranked classes would simply hand information over to a new student who suddenly joined them. And the way this school is set up, any trouble you cause tends to come back to haunt you. If you intentionally sabotage your own class, you'll be expelled yourself. Am I right?"

Sakayanagi knew her stuff. Nagumo granted her a satisfied nod. "I'll give you one friendly bit of advice. I don't exactly dislike your

aggressive attitude, but if you start making enemies on all sides now, you're

going to have a tough time later. Don't you think it'd be wiser for you to earn the trust of the people around you? It's not too late."

"And then use that trust as a weapon to achieve victory?"

"It's a far more efficient strategy." After all, nothing cut so deep as a knife in the back from a trusted friend. That was a fatal blow right there.

"Hmm. If you're telling me to build trust, then perhaps you've been too quick to toss aside the trust that you've so carefully built up yourself. As you just said, wouldn't it be far more effective to save that to use at the last minute?" asked Sakayanagi.

That declaration of war against the former student council president,

made at the school camp …that had been a betrayal of trust.

"I threw away that trust?" asked Nagumo, looking as though he was holding back laughter. "I certainly lost the trust of Horikita-senpai and the students of third-year Class A. But nothing has changed with the second- or third-years from the other classes. The first-years will come to understand that soon too."

All of this was bluffing and hubris from Nagumo, Sakayanagi thought for a moment, but…perhaps not. Even breaking the rules that were established under Horikita Manabu had been part of his plan from the beginning. The second-years might've come to a consensus on the matter beforehand.

"And I would like to set the record straight, Sakayanagi. I recognize your ability. If you wish to join the student council at any time, I will allow it."

"Thank you very much. I'm glad I came here today. I think I understand you now, President Nagumo. At the very least, I'm relieved to see that we seem to be more compatible than I was with the former student council president." She bowed her head politely and stepped out of the student council office.

Nagumo followed. "You forgot your hat."

"Oh, my. Thank you very much." Sakayanagi bowed her head once again. "Now, if you'll please excuse me—"

"Sakayanagi, what do you know about Ayanokouji?" asked Nagumo suddenly.

"Ayanokouji…? I believe I've heard that name before. A first-year student, correct?"

"Yeah, I—it's nothing. Never mind," said Nagumo. If Sakayanagi didn't know, there was no point in talking.

Sakayanagi took a bold step forward. "I can do some investigating, if necessary. Hm?"

"Nah, I said too much. Forget it." "I see."

On her way off from the student council office, Sakayanagi ran into a lone female student. Someone whom even a loner like Sakayanagi knew quite well. It was Kushida Kikyou, from first-year Class C. "Hello, Sakayanagi-san."

"My, what a coincidence. Do you happen to have some business in the student council office?"

"Mm. I was thinking about applying to join them. Were you thinking of doing the same thing, Sakayanagi-san?"

"Something like that. Now, if you'll please excuse me…" "See you later."

Sakayanagi found it strange that Kushida would want to join the

student council now, of all times. It would normally make sense for an honor student like her to join the council, but the timing made her suspicious. What Nagumo had done during the special exam was widely known, even among the girls.

The senior students knew the student council president well, and it wasn't surprising in the least that first-year students would have their suspicions about Nagumo's actions. If she knew about Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's true, hidden nature—if she were cooperating with him—it was possible she'd been sent here to investigate Nagumo.

But then again, considering Ayanokouji's personality, he probably wouldn't get so carelessly involved with Nagumo. Not at this stage.

Kushida Kikyou. She of the spotless reputation, that paragon of virtue. "E he he he he. It's people like that, though, who always shock

everyone by turning out to be the villains," muttered Sakayanagi.

At the very least, she didn't believe that Kushida was purely benevolent.