The students were relieved to have completed the special examination, which included a long waiting period.
"Thank you all for your hard work. The results will be announced tomorrow, but today is the last day of class. The day after tomorrow is the start of the winter vacation, so don't get too carried away. That's all for today."
Chabashira-sensei's words of appreciation for the students' hard work brought us to the end of the school day. All that remained was to wait for tomorrow's closing ceremony.
Many of the students would be free from the heavy examination time and would be able to fly freely. Some of the students were discussing how well or poorly they had solved the problems, but Horikita didn't take the initiative in organizing their opinions and evaluating them. The question of how many points one could've gotten was also what the opponent wondered. They decided that it'd be meaningless to find out, since the results would be announced tomorrow.
"You know…"
Kei quietly came near me and talked to me in a small voice.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I think it's about time for me to forgive you…"
She hesitantly brought up the topic.
But soon after, Horikita came to my seat.
"Ayanokouji-kun, may I have a word?"
"I'm sorry, Horikita-san, can we do this later?"
"I wish I could do that, but unfortunately, it's a student council matter.
Kiriyama wants us to gather in the student council room right now."
As if to confirm that it was true, Horikita showed me the message on her cell phone.
Behind Horikita stood a smiling Kushida.
"Sorry Kei, we'll talk after this is over. Call me anytime."
"Umm… yes. Have a good day."
I left Kei behind and left the classroom with Horikita and Kushida.
"I can't believe that just when I thought the special exam was over, the student council is back on the case."
"Nagumo-Senpai is there too. They don't have to comply with the rules, do they?"
"I don't think so. Even if they are no longer involved in the student council, they are still senior students. And this time, it's about Kiryuuin-senpai. You mean that case, right?"
"I see. That's what this is about."
I realized that this was an expected event that I had discussed with Kiryuuin several times last night. However, it was a surprising development that Kiriyama came to tell this to Horikita.
The original plan was for it to be just Kiriyama, Nagumo and myself at Kiryuuin's urging.
"Hey, hey, hey. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, Kushida-san and..."
"Well, let me explain this time. I have something to tell Horikita too."
"Something to tell me?"
"I've got some third-party testimony in this shoplifting case."
When I arrived in front of the student council room, I found two first-year students.
Aga from Class A, and Nanase, who had joined the student council with Kushida, were also there.
It seemed that the entire Student Council had increased to the lowest number of people I had anticipated, and that the incident had been mixed up with a different scenario that someone else had envisioned.
"It's kind of my first job for the Student Council, so I came running as the secretary."
She was holding her notebook with a sense of importance
"Is that for the records?"
"Yes. I heard that the secretary's job was to write everything down."
"Yes, but the notebook for the meetings is kept in the student council room, isn't it?"
"Oh, really? I bought it myself..."
It seems that she was so enthusiastic about serving the student council that she got ahead of herself.
"Well, it's not a big problem, if you have a receipt, please submit it at a later date. I'll pay for it."
"Okay. I'm sorry."
Horikita told Nanase that she'd pay for the notebook from the student council's budget.
"Shall we go in anyway?"
Nagumo seemed to have already arrived at the student council office and was waiting inside with Kiriyama.
<Illustration>
Nagumo wasn't in the president's seat, where he always sat, but was standing.
"I'm sorry, Horikita. The second years must be tired after the Special Exam."
"That's fine. But you mentioned Kiryuuin-senpai..?"
Horikita asked Nagumo, not mentioning what I had explained to her, since he didn't know anything about it.
"Yeah, Kiriyama contacted me and told me to prepare the place, since Kiryuuin is going to file a complaint against the student council."
"Kiryuuin wants to file a complaint against the student council...?"
That's new to me. File a complaint against the student council? I wonder why Kiryuuin took that route.
"Even so, did you invite Ayanokouji as well, Kiriyama?"
"He was one of the people who was there, so I decided that it was necessary.
I made the decision because I didn't want people to spread rumors about me without knowing what they were talking about."
"Well, whatever. It's a bit of a lucky break to be able to observe Suzune's first performance."
Saying this, Nagumo urged Horikita to sit in the student council president's chair.
"...Excuse me"
Bowing politely, Horikita sat down.
"I guess you chose Kushida as the vice president after all."
"Yes. I had thought about asking Aga, a first-year student who was already enrolled, but I decided that Kushida-san, who had a better grasp of the school, would be more appropriate. Is there a problem?"
"No, I have no complaints about the selection by the student council, president."
Horikita took her seat as student council president, and Kushida, the newly appointed vice president, sat down with a serious look on her face.
"But she's got a lot of guts to be late after calling us here."
A few minutes later, Kiryuuin Fuuka entered the room as the last person to attend the deliberation.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, new student council president."
"Please have a seat."
"No, thank you. I will talk to you standing up. That's all right, isn't it?"
"Okay. Now then, I'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Ask me anything."
"I understand that you have decided to file a complaint against the student council."
Horikita proceeded with the conversation, continuing to act as if she hadn't been told anything.
"Complaint?"
Kiryuuin tilted her head curiously, but Kiriyama immediately urged her to continue.
"We're already pushing the time because of your tardiness. I want you to proceed without wasting time."
"My, you're so impatient. Well, let me explain the background to you again."
Kiryuuin was almost made out to be a shoplifter by Yamanaka, a third-year class D student, while Kiryuuin was shopping at Keyaki Mall after school.
Fortunately, Kiryuuin noticed and stopped the shoplifter as she was about to slip the bag into her pocket. The shoplifting itself ended in a failed attempt.
"I just can't believe Yamanaka acted out of personal resentment."
Kiryuuin gave Nagumo a sidelong glance.
"When I questioned Yamanaka, she confessed that she had been instructed to commit the crime by a certain person."
"Who is this person?"
"Nagumo Miyabi, the former student council president here."
The first-year student council members, who had just heard about this for the first time, looked at Nagumo with astonishment.
There had been several incidents centering around Kiryuuin Fuuka.
Or, rather, acts that should be called 'incidents', whether they were committed by Yamanaka him herself or not.
If it was the former, we need to hear what happened and punish her. If it's the latter, we'd still need to find the real culprit.
We ought to let them see whether or not she can affront her first tempest without a hitch as the president of the student council.
"Kiryuuin-senpai said this, but does Nagumo-senpai have any objections?"
"Of course I do. Unfortunately, Kiryuuin, I did not give Yamanaka such instructions. If such an incident gets out, my credibility will be damaged. There isn't a single advantage."
"I don't know. I know you've always wanted to have a serious fight with me, but I haven't fought with you for three years. I wonder if you resent me for that. Or you may have wanted to incite me to accept the match."
So far, like before, we were on a parallel track.
"It's true that I was interested in a match with you. But my interest in you has long since disappeared."
"He-he. Is that really the case?"
They didn't accept each other's claims.
"Kiriyama-senpai is a classmate of Kiryuuin-senpai, and he has supported Nagumo-senpai for a long time as the vice president. What do you think of both sides of the argument?"
Horikita asked Kiriyama, whom she had chosen as a familiar third party.
"I understand that Kiryuuin's upset that she was almost made to look like a shoplifter, but I don't think Nagumo is involved in this case. If Nagumo was serious about this, he would've chosen a better and more effective way."
"Don't you think that's just you buying into Nagumo too much?"
Kiryuuin smiled wanly, put her hands on her hips and countered Kiriyama.
"Considering what Nagumo has accomplished at this school, it's obvious that it's not a matter of overconfidence."
"So why did Yamanaka-senpai try to cause this incident? Did she grow resentful towards Kiryuuin-senpai without realizing it, and then decide to do it? If so, why did she try to pin the blame on Nagumo-senpai? What do you think about that?"
"I don't know the truth, but it's hard to believe that Yamanaka did it alone."
"I don't think she did it alone."
"Yamanaka's position is quite low among the third-year students. Even if it wasn't Nagumo, it was quite possible that she could be manipulated into acting in return for private points, for example."
Kiriyama claimed that neither Nagumo nor Yamanaka, but a third party was lurking in the dark.
"If this is true, it means we need to start identifying the real culprit."
"Yes, but it will be difficult to identify. When Kiryuuin asked her to confess, she didn't tell the truth and mentioned Nagumo's name. This is something you can only do if you are prepared to do so."
"Do you know why, Kushida-san?"
At this point, Horikita asked Kushida, who was listening to the conversation.
"Trying to pin the blame on Nagumo-senpai in the third year is only a disadvantage for Yamanaka-san. And yet, if she said it… it means that she is hell-bent on protecting the real culprit."
"That's right. It means that she's more afraid of the real culprit than of Nagumo, who she should've feared the most."
"I don't understand. I can't think of any student who is more frightening than Nagumo. They just want to force us to believe that there is a real culprit, don't they?"
For Kiryuuin, who continued to suspect Nagumo, Kiriyama was just another person on Nagumo's side.
The fact that Kiryuuin was saying that it was difficult to identify the real culprit only made us distrust her more and more.
"You are the one who is assuming that I am the culprit, aren't you?"
"There aren't any candidates, so I have no choice."
"I'm going to ask you both to please be quiet. It's obvious that the two of you aren't going to solve any problem by talking to each other."
As Horikita pointed out, Kiryuuin and Nagumo's discussion was endlessly parallel.
"How about you, Kiriyama-senpai, how would you handle this matter?"
"I think we should avoid further inquiry and pursuit. However, what Yamanaka did was an unforgivable act, even if it was only an attempt. Once again, she should have to apologize to Kiryuuin and pay her as much compensation as possible. We think that such measures are acceptable."
"So there's no need to report this to the school?"
"If Yamanaka committed the crime alone, we should do so. But if the real culprit isn't found, even if you report it to the higher-ups, Yamanaka alone will bear all the blame. Am I right?"
"That's right. Even if the school investigates, the real culprit won't necessarily come to light."
The conclusion was already set that Nagumo was innocent, but perhaps this was one of the appropriate places to reach a point of compromise.
"All I want is an apology from the real culprit."
"I'm just saying that I knew you wouldn't be able to do it, or do you think you'll get to the real culprit? I don't recall hearing anything new in the last few weeks. Or did you get some good information from Anazai, whom you threatened with assault?"
Kiryuuin shrugged her shoulders in response to Kiriyama's statement. He was not believed to have sustained any injuries or anything like that, but there was no doubt that the manner of attack was rather gray. Although there was some room for sympathy, Kiryuuin wouldn't be happy to have her feelings challenged.
"Ayanokouji-kun, I heard that you contacted Asahina-senpai the other day."
At this point, Horikita turned the subject to what she had just been told.
"Through Asahina-senpai, I asked the third-year students about the whole situation. I tried to find out what kind of contract Nagumo-senpai was forcing the third-year students to sign and what kind of relationships they have."
"Before coming to the student council room, I received a report from Ayanokouji-kun. And by talking with Asahina-senpai, he also investigated Yamanaka-senpai in detail."
"Oh? That's Ayanokouji for you, no wonder I put my confidence in him and relied on him."
I'd already reported this to Kiryuuin, but she deliberately claimed to have never heard of it before.
"Did you influence Ayanokouji, Kiryuuin?"
"Are you dissatisfied, Nagumo?"
"No, but if that's the case..."
Nagumo tried to continue as if he had something on his mind, but he quickly closed his mouth.
"I'm sorry, this is your first case as student council president."
He showed his watchful eye again, saying that he would not do anything rash.
"It seems that Ayanokouji-kun couldn't meet Yamanaka-senpai, but someone else appeared in front of him instead. It was Tachibana-senpai, from the same third year class D as him. Why did he appear, when he was supposed to have nothing to do with this? It seems that it was to prevent Yamanaka-senpai from telling the truth."
"Yamanaka and Tachibana were connected?"
Nagumo asked Horikita, acting as if he knew nothing about it.
"Ayanokouji-kun said that when he asked Tachibana-senpai about the truth, he got the same reply: that he was instructed by Nagumo-senpai to put the goods in Kiryuuin-senpai's bag."
"Of course, I didn't have such a conversation with Tachibana. In fact, I don't even remember hearing him speak for the past month. The real culprit might be Tachibana."
"Well, you have no choice but to say so."
It is inevitable that Kiryuuin would respond to Nagumo in this way.
"Does Kiryuuin-senpai have any deep connection with Tachibana-senpai?"
"Pretty much none. I can say that he has no more relation past Nagumo."
"In other words, he has less motive than Yamanaka-senpai to be the real culprit."
"Does this mean that Tachibana-senpai, like Yamanaka-senpai, was ordered by someone else?"
Nanase, who had been taking notes of the proceedings up to this point, asked Horikita this question.
However, Horikita didn't answer the question and remained silent.
Everyone must have been surprised, as they had expected an immediate answer.
"That's not the end of the report you received, is it? Please tell me the rest of the story, Ms. Student Council President."
Kiryuuin urged her to continue, but Horikita didn't answer.
That's understandable. Because I haven't told her the crux of the matter.
I only gave her the same level of information as Asahina, who was in the same room with Tachibana the other day.
If you want to ask for help, I will give you a hand.
But first, I want to see where Horikita's thoughts would lead to.
"Nagumo-senpai says he is not the culprit. On the other hand, Yamanaka-senpai and Tachibana-senpai consistently say they were ordered by Nagumo-senpai. This is a clear contradiction."
"One of them must be lying."
"It's normal to think so. But first of all, I would like to believe both sides of the story."
"I think it's difficult to believe the contradictions in the statements."
Nanase, who continued to take the records of the meeting, stopped her pen and muttered.
"Usually that's true, but what if both parties aren't really lying? Wouldn't there be no contradiction if a certain condition was added?"
In the course of the conversation, Horikita seemed to have come up with a possibility.
"The real culprit told Tachibana-senpai that he was asked to do a job by order of Nagumo-senpai. Tachibana-senpai and Yamanaka-senpai believed this mysterious person's words, and that is why they continue to appeal to him, but the request is a criminal act. Normally, one would start by asking Nagumo-senpai to confirm whether the orders they were receiving were true or not."
It's normal to want assurance that you would get something in return.
"But they didn't. Why is that? I think it's because Yamanaka-senpai and Tachibana-senpai thought that the real culprit was also worthy of their trust. A mouthpiece of Nagumo-senpai, and one who holds power."
There is only one person in this school who could make such a statement.
"The real person behind this case is not Nagumo-senpai, but Kiriyama-senpai, the vice president."
All eyes turned to Kiriyama at once.
"Me? How did you come to that conclusion?"
Kiriyama calmly expressed his doubts about his name being mentioned.
"Did you not understand what I just explained? That conclusion is the most obvious when you organize the information."
"There's no guarantee that the information Ayanokouji has given you is true.
I have a guaranteed ticket to Class A from Nagumo. I'd never do anything to cause a rebellion."
As Kiriyama explained his position, an unexpected person reached out to him.
"I think the student council president's theory is interesting, but Kiriyama is right. This is the main reason why I don't doubt Kiriyama. No domesticated dog would dare to bite its master."
"Then, may I call Yamanaka-senpai and Tachibana-senpai as witnesses now?"
Horikita tried to confirm Nagumo's refusal.
"You are the student council president. You can do whatever you want."
"I see."
"Wait."
Then Kiriyama interrupted her.
"Do the witnesses already know that they are to be called here?"
"No. I'll contact them now and negotiate."
Kiriyama glared at Horikita, and then at me, who was now involved in the case.
If it hadn't been for the theory that Kiriyama was the real culprit, I probably would've been able to survive without attracting attention.
However, in order to clear these suspicions that had emerged, I wouldn't be able to avoid a barrage of questions.
I wonder if both of them can hide Kiriyama's involvement without any prior discussion in a meeting where all the major players are present. It's not easy to keep lying in this situation.
"Is there anything wrong with calling them out?"
Horikita asked Kiriyama.
If they don't want to be dragged out into the open, drag them nonetheless.
That's the quickest and simplest way.
"Well..."
"What's all this panic about, Kiriyama? You're not involved in this, so just stand by."
Nagumo asked Kiriyama in a lighthearted manner, but I could see the will in his eyes. He didn't seem to suspect Kiriyama until now, but he seemed to have sensed that the wind had changed direction.
"...Got it. Let's stop this now."
Kiriyama, realizing that there is nothing more to be done, appeals as if he has given up.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means that there's no need to call witnesses. I admit that it was me who instructed Tachibana this time."
"I didn't know it was you. Let's hear your reason. Why did you do this?"
Kiriyama seemed to have come to his senses and didn't show any signs of panic.
"I'm sorry Kiryuuin, but it had to be you, in order to achieve my goal."
"It had to be me?"
"Nagumo sent me a message, telling me to do a job to earn points, and Tachibana accepted readily. The end of the second semester was near and he was in a great hurry. He didn't even suspect it."
It was no wonder that he believed it from Kiriyama, the former vice president, who was also a close associate of Nagumo.
"The plot of the lie goes like this: if it were possible to frame Kiryuuin for shoplifting without her realizing, I would give Yamanaka a ticket to Class A. If she failed, of course, it would be invalid, but she'd still get points."
"That's a bold lie. If Yamanaka had succeeded, your lie would have been exposed immediately."
Nagumo was right. Tachibana and Yamanaka would have immediately gone to demand their reward tickets. And Kiriyama's false message would have been known to everyone in no time.
"We were in the same class for 3 years, I know Kiryuuin's character and ability very well. It was impossible for someone of Yamanaka's caliber to plant the item without being noticed."
That's why it had to be Kiryuuin. He chose someone by whom the plant would definitely fail to work on.
"So they knew from the beginning that they would be discovered. But I don't understand. It's too elaborate for the sole purpose of making me angry, and it doesn't benefit you."
"The goal was to frame Kiryuuin-senpai as a shoplifter. So you were wrong about that idea."
Nanase repeatedly nodded her head while writing in the notebook.
"That's right. When you questioned Yamanaka, and Nagumo's name came up, I knew that you would first make an appointment with me, a classmate, to go directly to Nagumo. My real goal was to arrange the time for the appointment and to hit a certain point in time."
Since I was present at that time and given the circumstances, Kiriyama's goal was immediately apparent.
"It seems that Kiriyama-senpai's objective was to destroy the student council election in advance."
"That's Ayanokouji for you. No wonder Horikita-senpai put her trust in him."
Nagumo, who had been sorting out the situation, also agreed with Kiriyama's aim and purpose.
"He wanted to dig into Honami's wounds, who has a history of shoplifting, so that she would withdraw."
"Yeah, I could've pointed out the problems from her past personally, but I decided it was too delicate. Kiryuuin hates such sins, and I knew that she would spit out words that would pierce the heart of the uninformed Ichinose without mercy."
Kiryuuin gave Kiriyama a light round of applause in spite of her disgust.
"It seems I have been dancing with you, Kiriyama. I've got you by the horns."
It seemed that Kiriyama, who had studied under Horikita Manabu and served as Nagumo's right-hand man as vice president, was sure of his aim and prediction. Kiryuuin's ability was as strong as Horikita Manabu's, but she was an eccentric and solitary person who had no friends. Therefore, she was very fragile in terms of information warfare.
"What was most unexpected was Ichinose's decision to abandon the student council election at that stage. If I'd known that early on, I wouldn't have taken the risk."
The election would have gone to Horikita, even if the shoplifting had not been brought up.
"Why, Kiriyama? Why did you take this risk to try and sway the election?"
"I couldn't stand your selfishness. What would've happened if Ichinose didn't want to resign from the student council and had held the election for the student council as it was? You would've been in a fight with Ayanokouji and bet a lot of your private points on it. Also, you wouldn't have hesitated to buy votes with points in order to win."
Nagumo certainly had a lot of money. It wouldn't be surprising if they would've adopted a vote-buying strategy if they knew they were struggling.
"I don't know. You're the one who decides who wins, so why does it matter what you do with the money you have?"
"It doesn't matter? I certainly got my ticket to Class A from you, but do you know how much of a mental burden that's put on me? My classmates envy and resent me every day. It's unbearable."
The look in his eyes as he glared at Nagumo contained serious anger that Kiriyama had never shown before.
"The private points you put into your own sideshow could be better spent on your peers, so that more students could be moved up to Class A. However, you put all the private points, which are soaked with the blood and sweat of the third-year students, just for your own greed and desire to fight? Give it a rest, you fool."
Kiriyama's goal was to prevent the unnecessary outflow of private points.
"I didn't know you were thinking about others. I thought all the people I've given tickets to were self-centered meritocrats, who think it's alright as long as they graduate from Class A."
Nagumo praised Kiriyama, as if he were impressed.
Whether or not everyone would take this as a compliment is another matter.
"It's just unpleasant to see any more unnecessary fights among third-year students."
"I understand what you're trying to say, but are you ready to betray me, Kiriyama?"
Nagumo had the authority to revoke his rights. No ticket to class A would be left in Kiriyama's hand if he disobeys.
"It is an action based on a contract. Do whatever you want."
"Let Nagumo decide the punishment for Kiriyama. That'll be enough for punishment."
Kiryuuin concluded and quickly left the student council room.
"Wait, Kiryuuin-senpai."
"I thought we're done, student council president ?"
"No, it doesn't work that way. I don't think Nagumo-senpai personally has the right to judge Kiriyama-senpai. Besides, there's still a mystery."
"Mystery? Is there anything left?"
"Kiriyama-senpai tried to frame you for shoplifting. And, when that was discovered, you tried to bring it to the student council's attention. The purpose was to force a stop to the student council election, and to make Ichinose-san recall the trauma of shoplifting and withdraw from the election."
This assumption, including his confession, wouldn't be wrong.
"However, there was no need to take such a risk. If they wanted to stop the election, there were many other ways. If you wanted to take advantage of her shoplifting past, you could have approached Ichinose-san and asked her to withdraw from the election; out of sight, out of mind. That way, it would've been safer and more secure."
"It's hard to believe that Kiriyama didn't think of this, isn't it?"
Kiryuuin, intrigued, returned to her original position.
"I wonder why he took such a risk. Maybe Kiriyama-senpai was prepared to be identified as the real culprit here?"
Kiriyama didn't answer, but just looked at Horikita, the student council president.
"I thought that you wanted to make this matter public and raise the issue.
The fact that you've gathered here today, not only me, but also all the members of the student council and Ayanokouji-kun... You said at the beginning that this was all directed by Kiriyama-senpai, didn't you?"
I thought it was Kiryuuin who suggested the idea of appealing to the student council, but when asked by Horikita immediately after entering the room, she tilted her head, probably because it was Kiriyama's idea. It was Kiriyama who encouraged her to talk, in order to spread these doubts.
"Horikita. It's strange that, for a moment, I saw your presence overlap with that of Horikita-senpai."
As if to commend the correctness of her guess, Kiriyama conveyed it to her.
"I wasn't sure how well it would work, but you're right. The number of students complaining about Nagumo is increasing day by day. When I told him about it, he wouldn't listen to what I had to say. Am I wrong?"
"Maybe."
Nagumo didn't deny, but rather affirmed.
"Nagumo-senpai, I think there was plenty wrong with the way he did it, but the truth is the truth."
"What do you think, Nagumo? Are you going to put all the responsibility for your selfishness on Kiriyama?"
"I guess so. I'd assumed that I had nothing to do with this, but I guess I can't say that from what I've heard."
Nagumo removed his gaze from Kiriyama and looked at Horikita, wondering what conclusion she'd draw.
"So, because this is a student council matter, you are the judge and jury."
"...Are you sure you don't mind if I make this decision?"
"You're not just a decoration sitting there, are you? I'll go with your decision."
What kind of judgment would Horikita, who had witnessed everything, make?
"Then, as president of the student council, I'd like to say this: first of all, Kiriyama-senpai, I would like you to extend a deep apology to Kiryuuin-senpai for this incident. Whatever the background circumstances may have been, the fact that you tried to pin the crime on Yamanaka-senpai and Tachibana-senpai, who had no relation to this, should be taken seriously. However, since it's inevitable that a report to the school will lead to serious consequences, we'd like you to reflect on your actions by voluntarily suspending yourself from school for a week or so."
The student council didn't have the right to suspend or expel a student. The approval of the school was essential to make such a decision. Voluntary suspension suited that purpose.
It didn't matter if he'd fake a sick day or not, he just had to stay in the dormitory and reflect on his behavior.
"I know you are entitled to deprive Kiriyama-senpai of the right to move to another class, but please promise not to do so."
"That's a bold request."
"You can refuse, but you will abide by my decision, won't you?"
"I can't blame Kiriyama this time either, but is that all?"
"No, if we end it like this, we can't be sure that something similar won't happen again. From now on, the private points collected from the third-year students must be used only for the third years. I'd like to add this condition as well."
So far, Nagumo had done whatever he liked from his throne.
He must have used many private points without our knowledge, and spent a lot of money playing with fire against Horikita Manabu and other grades. The student council decided to forbid them from doing so in the future.
"If that's the will of the student council, I'll go along with it."
"I thought you wouldn't accept that condition."
"Basically, what Suzune, or rather the student council president is saying, is reasonable."
Is she a much more capable student council president than I thought?
"Are you really convinced by that, Nagumo?"
"You have the power to undermine me."
Or perhaps Nagumo bought into Kiriyama's true nature, at least the one aspect that he showed.
"Are you really going to let what happened end like this?"
"I've learned a lot from this as well. Apparently, I have no luck."
Nagumo's face looked bored, as if he'd given up on something. However, he didn't want to say anything more. On the other hand, Kiriyama's expression didn't show any sign of resignation or sense of relief at the revelation of the truth.
Something else was on his mind. It wasn't hard to see that he was looking ahead to the future.
"This is the end of the matter. Please don't tell anyone else about this incident."
With the declaration of the student council president, this entire series of incidents has been resolved. However, I don't know if this is really the end of everything. What was Kiriyama's meaningful expression at the end?