The next day, Ichinose Honami received instructions from the Student Council to report to the Student Council office for an interview.
But to everyone’s surprise, even though Ichinose now understood the school’s competitive rules, Horikita Manabu still did not accept her into the Student Council.
When she returned to the classroom, she immediately sought out Shiraishi and explained the situation.
“Why is that?
Someone as capable as Ichinose-san couldn’t pass the screening?” Hamaguchi, sitting behind him, furrowed his brow.
He couldn’t understand what the Student Council President was thinking.
From what they’d observed, the current Student Council had about ten to twenty members—which meant the requirements for joining shouldn’t be particularly strict.
Yet Ichinose had been rejected.
This was highly unusual.
Shiraishi put down his phone.
To prevent himself from forgetting things again—like the time he’d overlooked asking about Private Points—he now recorded all his to-do items and known information on his phone, cross-referencing them constantly.
After thinking for a moment, he asked the others: “What about the other classes?” “Class A hasn’t sent anyone yet.
But their situation is a bit delicate right now—it seems like there are two leaders in Class A.” Kanzaki stood to the side.
“Class C…
it’s hard to evaluate them.
There’s a student named Ryūen Kakeru who seems intent on dominating the class, but his methods are quite violent.” Shiranami spoke softly.
“As for Class D, nothing unusual so far.
Their class leader is probably Hirata Yōsuke, right?” Hamaguchi rubbed his chin.
“But I asked Andō-kun to check with Kushida-san from Class D, so it might not be entirely accurate.” “I’ve heard of Kushida-san.
She’s made a lot of friends since the first day of school—she seems like the type who ‘wants to be friends with everyone.’ She wouldn’t lie about something so easily verifiable.” Shiraishi nodded slightly.
Collecting intelligence on each class had been Kanzaki’s suggestion—knowing oneself and knowing the enemy ensured victory.
Kanzaki had taken responsibility for gathering information on their greatest rival, Class A, while other classmates had been assigned to the remaining classes.
“Maybe Shiraishi-kun should give it a try?” Ichinose suggested.
She had always felt that Shiraishi was better suited for the Student Council.
Though he might be weaker academically and less experienced in social situations, his ability to quickly discover and understand the school’s rules made him a strong candidate.
“As for me…” Shiraishi hesitated.
There were two reasons for his hesitation.
First, joining the Student Council meant directly confronting Nagumo Miyabi.
Second, he’d been frantically catching up on his studies lately.
Subjects like physics, chemistry, and biology—which were universal—were fine.
He’d already studied them before university, so picking them up again wasn’t too difficult.
But subjects like Japanese history and Japanese literature—things that required accumulated knowledge—were giving him a real headache.
The problem was that he couldn’t easily ask classmates or teachers about these things.
Many of the things he didn’t know were probably considered “common knowledge”—if he opened his mouth, his nationality would become suspicious.
So he had to go to the library after school to look things up on his own, copying notes into his notebook for memorization.
Still, the benefits of joining the Student Council—especially becoming Student Council President—didn’t need to be elaborated.
“I’ll go take a look tomorrow.
No guarantee I’ll get in.” Since the OAA system hadn’t been implemented yet like it would be for the second-years, Shiraishi didn’t know what his own entrance stats looked like, or whether he’d meet Horikita’s standards.
But based on his speculation, Horikita’s selection criteria probably didn’t have much to do with the entrance stats.
Horikita didn’t want just anyone joining the Student Council—his main concern was that current first-years wouldn’t be able to withstand Nagumo Miyabi and would either flee or defect under pressure.
So the key to getting in was to demonstrate the resolve and capability to stand against Nagumo.
However, one thing was certain: once Horikita’s third-year class graduated, Nagumo’s attention would naturally turn to the lower grades.
Confronting Nagumo was inevitable.
Gaining more initiative during the first year would be the better choice.
“Ichinose-san.” Someone called out to Ichinose.
Looking over, it was a classmate by the door—and standing outside the classroom was an unfamiliar student from another class.
Ichinose walked over.
The visitor said something and left, and she returned with a puzzled expression.
“What happened?” Since Ichinose made no effort to hide her thoughts, everyone could tell something was wrong.
“That upperclassman just came to deliver a message—he said he wanted me to go to the Student Council office after school this afternoon.” Ichinose’s brow was furrowed, her tone carrying a hint of confusion and bewilderment.
From their perspective, it was indeed strange.
The Student Council had just rejected her application, and now they were calling her back.
It didn’t make sense.
But Shiraishi knew—it was Nagumo Miyabi trying to deceive Ichinose.
Whether it was because he’d taken a liking to her appearance, or because he wanted to establish a puppet class among the first-years to gain control over the lower grades, Nagumo had no good intentions.
Still, Shiraishi had no basis to say this outright, and he hadn’t yet gathered much information about Nagumo.
However, Ichinose was already very different from her original counterpart—she should be able to see through whatever trap Nagumo set.
“Just be careful when you go this afternoon.
If anything seems off, come back and we’ll discuss it together.” Shiraishi offered a subtle reminder.
“Understood.” Ichinose nodded lightly.
Nagumo sending someone also told Shiraishi one thing: Horikita Manabu would likely be absent from the Student Council office this afternoon.
Which meant he’d have to wait until tomorrow to apply.
As for today—best to focus on studying.
Class B’s current state was excellent.
Students with weaker academic performance were quietly working hard, while those with spare energy were beginning to gather intelligence on other classes in preparation for the upcoming class competition.
After school, Ichinose headed to the Student Council office, while Shiraishi went to the library alone.
Finding the reference books he needed, Shiraishi chose a corner and began studying.
Before long, another figure entered the library.
A silver-haired girl wandered among the bookshelves for a while before selecting a book she wanted to read.
As she looked for a quiet spot, she noticed Shiraishi in the corner.
“This first-year boy was also in the library yesterday, I think.” The silver-haired girl thought to herself, mentally noting Shiraishi’s appearance before taking a seat not far from him.