The next day after school, when the new members of the student council had been decided and the study session for the special exam started, Horikita was immediately called by Nagumo and was heading to the student council office. I thought I'd never hear from him again, but...
"I was asked to bring you with me."
She displayed a message from Nagumo and pointed the screen at me as she came to tell me.
"I have a stomach ache like yesterday. I'll have to pass."
"Then it can't be helped. But if you can't come, they'll call you back later, right?"
"Let's meet and get this over with."
It was quite possible that after a long gap of time, I'd be burdened with more tedious tasks again.
She immediately got up, intending to go to the student council office, but she stopped.
"Kushida-san is coming with us too. Let's wait a little."
It seemed that she was going to introduce the new members at the same time.
I looked around for Kushida thinking she was in the class, but she was already gone.
"Maybe we should go ahead and wait for her at the office." I left the classroom with the exasperated Horikita.
"You don't want to go with her?"
"I know we'll spend more time together once the student council starts its work anyway."
Well, that was why they'd want to spend less time together in unrelated areas, even for just a second.
"It's troublesome when grudges are formed and last without reason, okay?" "If you were a bit more easy-going, who knows what would've happened." "Wouldn't that have been worse? It's dangerous to let someone else take control all the time."
She was right that Kushida needed to be reined in and controlled to a certain extent.
When I arrived at the student council room, I saw Kushida and Nanase standing side-by-side in the distance.
Whether they knew each other or not, they seemed to be having a good time because of their natural ability to socialize.
"They seem to be having fun."
"They do seem to be enjoying themselves."
Somehow, as I watched the two of them, they never seemed to stop talking. They seemed to be in a calm mood, smiling at each other constantly, and if left alone, they could probably continue chatting forever.
"I think the student council can run well without you, Horikita, don't you agree? I'm sure both of them will be well received by the students." "Shut up. Let's go already."
To prevent further idle chatter, Horikita quickly approached them. "Good evening, Horikita-senpai."
Nanase bowed her head in a polite greeting, and Kushida showed an undeniable smile.
"I was relieved earlier when I heard that Nanase-san was also joining the student council. I was so nervous about who else would be joining us." Kushida patted her chest in relief while saying something we didn't expect to hear.
The three student council members entered the room first. I felt a little uncomfortable following them here, but since I'd been invited, I had no choice.
"Student Council President Nagumo, Kushida Kikyou of Class 2-B and Nanase Tsubasa of Class 1-D have been selected as new student council members. We've brought them with us."
Both Nagumo and Kiriyama greeted Horikita, who explained the situation on behalf of the student council.
"Seriously, you chose one of your own classmates? You're a very brazen woman, Suzune."
Nagumo started to laugh.
"I chose them from an impartial point of view. Are you dissatisfied with my selection?"
Rather than admitting she wanted the advantage of choosing a classmate, she lied about it.
It was obvious why Horikita chose Kushida, but rather than address it, Nagumo displayed a smile of agreement.
"There's nothing wrong with your choice. I have no complaints." Looking at the new student council makeup, the composition looked unfamiliar with the absence of Nagumo, Kiriyama, and Ichinose, as well as Yagumi's departure.
"I think this is the first time that the student council gender ratio has been reversed."
Kiriyama, the student council vice president, also noticed something when he looked at the list of members.
"There's no problem. In this day and age, men and women are equal. It's just that the next generation's best and brightest are disproportionately women. Isn't that right, Ayanokouji?"
"I don't really have anything to say."
The rise of girls wasn't a bad thing. However, if the ideal ratio of girls to guys is 1:1, then the result of this year's change in ratio could be said to be a reflection of the guys' inadequacies.
"Serve as student council president fairly."
"Yes, President."
"Well, I guess I'm relieved of my duties as student council president now." He patted the president's chair as if he was reluctant to depart, and stood up from the seat.
"It was both a long and short time. It's an indescribable feeling." "Do you have any regrets?"
Seeing Nagumo's forlorn expression, Horikita asked.
"I wanted to create an environment where talented students could graduate as Class A students, crossing the class boundaries. But I couldn't achieve the ideal I had envisioned."
When Nagumo became the student body president, he strongly emphasized this aspect.
As a result, the current third-year students created a situation similar to that, but it was more a result of the rules Nagumo created than the results he achieved as student council president.
"The student council here has more authority than in a normal high school. But even so, it was impossible to overturn the school's decisions in any way. I thought I could do more about it."
"Still, there was definitely some influence from you. Previously, there were no such rules like class transfer tickets or protection points in ANHS." "I guess."
Whether or not those changes would produce good results would be found in the coming generations.
Horikita Manabu served as student council president, upholding Advanced Nurturing High School's traditions.
Nagumo Miyabi created the OAA and brought a new style of change by placing more emphasis on merit.
What kind of student body president will Horikita Suzune, his successor, be in her first year as president?
The most obvious and difficult goal was…
It must've been to graduate in Class A after starting from Class D. If she could do that, she'd definitely leave her name in the history books as a student council president.
"We have some paperwork to do now. Ayanokouji, please leave. Everyone else can stay behind."
I received Kiriyama's notice and was simultaneously told that I was in the way.
"Well then, I'll excuse myself."
"See you, Ayanokouji. Our battle isn't over yet."
It seemed that he called me out here just to remind me of that. "I understand."
Bowing lightly, I left the student council office.
Leaving Horikita and the others behind in the student council room, I took out my cell phone.
It vibrated in my pocket a few times, but it seemed that I had just received some messages.
I thought it was from my girlfriend, Kei, but it wasn't.
It was an invitation from someone unexpected to meet over the holiday. They said that they'd like to meet and talk with me on Saturday or Sunday if I have the time.
Since I have a date with Kei on Sunday, I replied saying that Saturday would be fine.
By the time I reached the front door, I received a message offering a specific time and place to meet: 2:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Keyaki Mall. I replied to the message saying that the time worked for me and there'd be no problem.
Although they didn't mention anything about the content of the conversation, it wasn't difficult to guess the direction of the conversation considering who it was that was asking to meet.
As I exited the building, I passed a female student.
"Were you called to the student council office again?"
"Kiryuuin-senpai, I see that you have business in the student council office again today. Is this regarding what happened the other day?"
"That's right. After that, the conversation ended up going on a parallel track and it's still unresolved."
"That's troublesome."
From the looks of things at that time, Nagumo probably ended up neither denying nor confirming anything.
"I'm thinking of taking a more aggressive approach today."
"They're in the middle of making Horikita the new student council president and registering the new student council members."
While she may still force herself in, I relayed the information just in case. Perhaps it had an unexpected effect, Kiryuuin stopped and began to ponder. "Then, excuse me."
My intuition was telling me that I should leave quickly anyway, but it was already too late.
"Can I have a moment of your time, Ayanokouji?"
"...Is this about the unsolved case?"
"If I push Nagumo again, he won't easily spill."
"Why don't you take the strong-arm approach?"
"We can't traumatize the new student council president or the newcomers, can we?"
It was none of my business, but if she was willing to use violence, she could just wait until Horikita and the others left.
"You simply thought that using me might be a better solution than trying to force your way through."
"You're really quick-witted."
She easily praised me, but that was something that anyone would have thought of.
"I'm assuming you're just going to go home from here, right? Could you accompany me for a bit?"
"I plan on having a date with my girlfriend at home."
"Let her wait. It's her duty as a girlfriend to patiently wait for her man to come back home."
Kiryuuin, who never seemed to wait patiently, wasn't very convincing. "Can we do it while we walk?"
"Hmm. Well, that would be fine too."
Kiryuuin, who turned back, started walking beside me.
"Did you have a chance to discuss with Yamanaka-senpai again?" "Nagumo and Kiriyama firmly stopped me. Don't think that you can expect any better results when you say that Nagumo's the main culprit." "That's a funny story. How can you be stopped from contacting someone suspected to be the main perpetrator?"
Whether it was Nagumo who gave the order or not, because she claimed it was Nagumo, Kiryuuin seemed to have judged that the possibility of any other names coming out was low, even if she threatened him.
"That's true, but I was of the same opinion. When you verbally threaten Yamanaka, you can't expect to get a third party's name. When you first questioned her, you already threatened her to the maximum extent possible, excluding violence and torture."
In other words, it seemed that this was the result of forcing her to tell her as much as she could.
"If we take it in order, shouldn't it be Student Council President Nagumo?" "Of course I have my doubts. That's why I'm trying to get in there. But without proof, we can't corner him any further, can we?"
And after thinking about it, she was planning to seriously threaten Nagumo. "There's still a possibility that Nagumo isn't the culprit. Do you know what that possibility is?"
"There's a possibility that Yamanaka could've held a grudge against you without your knowledge. I don't know the details of the third-year students' situation, but it seems that there are people who dislike you."
"You sure know how to say things that hit close to home." She nodded her head without denying it, laughing rather than getting angry. "Nagumo or Yamanaka. Or is there a completely different third-party lurking in the background?"
"How about leaving it alone? If the culprits learned their lesson this time around, maybe they'll sneak off and pretend it never happened before their true identity gets revealed."
"No. My pride won't allow me to meditate on his attempt to incriminate me."
From the looks of things, she wasn't going to stop until she caught the culprit.
"I'm going to stand out. That's why I was hoping you could do the digging for me."
"I don't feel like I have any obligation to cooperate. And I myself have very little interaction with third-year students, except for you and the student council members like Nagumo-senpai".
I wasn't a suitable person to play the detective role and gather information. "That's why. You can have a neutral perspective, can't you?" "It makes sense if you're asking for someone with some communication skills, but…"
"I certainly can't expect you to be good at that part. However, your other abilities are perfect. Especially in terms of fighting sense, I can say that you're unrivaled. There's no one else who's convinced me that I'd be completely defeated in a fight without my direct confrontation with him."
That may have been a compliment, but I didn't think it made me happy at all. "There are aggressive people in the third year. You have to be strongarmed."
"I don't want to get in trouble with the third years before you win or lose your case."
"Well, don't say that. Cooperate with me. I don't have anyone I can call a friend. I can't act like a detective."
I sympathized with Kiryuuin-senpai being set up, but I thought it was best if I refused.
"I think you owe me one for the incident on the deserted island. Of course, you would've handled it well without me showing up, but I may have to bring it up to the student council to question the merits of it."
She blocked my escape route with her aggressive tactics, saying that she wouldn't allow me to refuse.
"If you're going to threaten me, it'd be easier and quicker if you had threatened me from the beginning."
"I didn't want to make a mistake. I avoided this method because I want to always have a friendly relationship with you."
Kiryuuin looked at me with her arms crossed, not seeming to take offense. "...I understand. I'll investigate, is that okay?"
"I knew you'd say that."
Kiryuuin-senpai, looking satisfied, nodded happily.
I guess you can't just cut corners and do whatever you want. Kiryuuin was a very perceptive person, and depending on how well I did, She might get involved.