You Will Regret This Ichinose! [27]
Sakayanagi Narumori rubbed his temples, looking exasperatedly at the student leisurely sipping tea in front of him.
Yes—after having his plan rejected, Uesugi was left with nowhere to vent his frustration.
So, he decided to repurpose his plan and turn his annoyance toward the school administration.
That's right. His rejection was entirely the school's fault.
If they hadn't created such a ridiculous special exam in the first place, he wouldn't have thought up that plan.
And if he hadn't thought up that plan, he wouldn't have proposed it.
And if he hadn't proposed it, Ichinose wouldn't have rejected it.
Therefore, the school must take full responsibility.
"This isn't my problem. It's the school's fault for designing such a flawed exam." Uesugi leaned back nonchalantly. "Besides, Director, you wouldn't want more than ten first-years to be expelled all at once, would you? That would be terrible for the school's image."
He wasn't wrong.
If a dozen first-year students got expelled in a single special exam, the entire philosophy behind Advanced Nurturing High School's education system would collapse. With only Classes A and B remaining, there would be no competition to foster the growth of exceptional students.
In previous exams, the school's expulsion rules were designed to prune weaker students and motivate the remaining ones—not to indiscriminately target them.
Not to mention, some of those potentially expelled students were likely talented athletes. The school would never admit a completely useless student without some redeeming qualities.
But the real problem was… no one else has ever come up with something this absurd before!
"Alright, what do you want this time?"
Sakayanagi let out a long sigh.
There was no point arguing. This situation was technically the school's fault for designing such a flawed exam structure.
When drafting the exam, no one had anticipated a Uesugi would appear.
At this point, the best course of action was to contain the damage by dealing with the source of the problem.
"Hmm… Right now, I can't think of anything in particular."
Uesugi stroked his chin, then suddenly had an idea.
"Oh, right! Write me an official statement that says, 'Uesugi will not have class points deducted for sleeping in class.' Ever since I figured out the S-System's secret, people have been giving me weird looks. Make sure it has the school's official seal."
"…Are you trying to take my job as Director?"
Sakayanagi's face darkened.
An official document with the school's seal… just so you can nap in class?
"Absolutely not. Pick something else. If I really signed off on that, the school's credibility would be permanently ruined."
"Then let's compromise. I'll convince my classmates not to cause trouble about it, and in exchange, you just… pretend not to see me sleeping in class. That way, no one from the other classes will find out."
Uesugi smoothly deployed the door-in-the-face technique—starting with an extreme request, then settling for something seemingly reasonable.
"If it's just not deducting class points for your usual behavior, that's acceptable."
After all, a single student couldn't significantly impact the class point system, and from Sakayanagi's own investigations, Uesugi spent most of his time either napping in class or gaming in his dorm.
As for skipping class entirely, that was already a privilege granted to student council members. Uesugi abused the rule, sure, but technically, he wasn't violating it.
"One more thing—the school has some empty classrooms near Class B, right? Give me one. I want to start a club."
Sakayanagi raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't that something the student council should handle? You just need a signed approval from them."
Uesugi sighed dramatically, throwing up his hands.
"Impossible. President Horikita is way too uptight. He'd never approve something he considers a 'waste of school resources.' Even if I somehow forged my own request and approved it myself, he'd catch it eventually when auditing the school's budget."
That's right—ever since Uesugi saw how much club budgets drained school funds, he had felt a deep sense of injustice.
What a waste of taxpayer money.
No—what a waste of MY money.
MY money! Gone! Spent on pointless clubs!
After much contemplation, he had come to a simple conclusion:
If the money was going to be wasted anyway… he might as well spend it first.
"So let's just cut out the middleman. Approve the club under the school's name instead of the student council. That way, Horikita has no authority to interfere."
Sakayanagi considered this for a moment, then nodded.
"An empty classroom isn't a big deal. The school can approve that."
"As for what equipment you need, just submit an official request. You are the student council's vice president—you should know the process well."
…Crap.
Uesugi barely managed to keep his expression neutral.
There's no way I can tell him I've only set foot in the student council office twice since the school year started…
"Alright, let's go with that," he said quickly, trying to move the topic along.
"I'll do my best to accommodate your club request."
"As expected of our esteemed Director! Your leadership is leagues ahead of that childish Horikita."
Uesugi smoothly laid on the flattery.
"One more thing, Director—don't you think the very existence of archived exam papers is fundamentally unfair?"
He casually shifted the conversation back to the special exam.
Since Class B students never relied on archived test papers, Uesugi saw no reason to let other classes benefit from them either.
Rather than letting his rivals exploit the system to skate through this exam, it was better to destroy the advantage altogether.
And if a few students got expelled in the process… well, that would just be a happy accident.
This time, they were the ones who failed their exam—not his fault at all.
"You don't have to tell me. I already plan to address that issue. There were indeed some major flaws in this special exam."
"I'll have the exam committee rewrite this test immediately. And from now on, archived test papers will no longer be part of midterms or finals."
"Perfect! That was all I had to say. Director, you truly are the backbone of this institution—Advanced Nurturing High School is blessed to have you at the helm!"
…
Having achieved his goals, Uesugi gracefully exited the director's office, showering Sakayanagi with praise the entire way out.
"Well then, Director—until next time!"
Uesugi flashed a bright smile and gave a friendly wave before strolling off.
Never let me see you again!
Watching Uesugi's satisfied grin, Sakayanagi felt a pounding headache coming on.
He sighed and reached for his teapot to calm his nerves.
…
Only to grab nothing but air.
Wait.
Where's the tea I left here earlier?
…
Suddenly, he recalled something Uesugi had casually mentioned when he first walked in.
"If you like it, go ahead and take some."
Sakayanagi fell silent for a long moment.
Then, he calmly pulled out his phone.
"Fire the entire exam committee responsible for this special exam."
With that, he hung up, feeling much better.
I might not be able to deal with that student, but I sure as hell can deal with you.