“Tachibana, come in.” Horikita raised his voice slightly.
Hearing his call, Tachibana opened the door.
Her gaze landed on Shiraishi, who was seated, and a flicker of surprise crossed her face.
“Shiraishi-kun will be a member of our Student Council from now on.” Horikita turned his head and introduced him.
“This is Tachibana Akane—you met her at the club orientation.
She’s our Student Council Secretary, primarily responsible for assisting me with Student Council operations.
She’ll generally be the one relaying Student Council work to you.” “Tachibana-senpai, nice to meet you.” Shiraishi turned to face Tachibana and gave a slight bow.
“Nice to meet you too, Shiraishi-kun.” After responding, Tachibana instinctively looked toward Horikita.
“Shiraishi-kun is excellent and has met the admission standards.” Horikita explained briefly, then looked back at Shiraishi: “I’ll also approve Ichinose-san.
Please pass that along.” “I’ll relay it fully.” Shiraishi nodded in acknowledgment.
“Good.
Let’s exchange contact information.
There will be an official induction ceremony later—we’ll notify you then.” Horikita issued his dismissal, signaling that he had matters to discuss privately with Tachibana.
“Understood.
Goodbye, President.
Goodbye, Secretary.” Shiraishi exchanged contact info with both Horikita and Tachibana, then left the Student Council office.
Walking down the hallway, Shiraishi gently patted his chest.
Horikita had spoken entirely in riddles throughout the interview, and Shiraishi had been forced to do the same just to keep up.
But the result was good—both he and Ichinose had successfully joined the Student Council.
Inside the Student Council office, after Shiraishi left, Tachibana finally voiced her confusion: “Weren’t we planning to stop admitting first-years for now, to prevent Nagumo from targeting them?” “Just now, Shiraishi-kun told me that yesterday afternoon, Nagumo privately met with Ichinose Honami—the one I’d rejected—and invited her to join the Student Council.” Horikita paused briefly.
“He’s already caught on to my intentions.
This strategy is no longer effective.” “Besides, Shiraishi-kun is quite exceptional himself.
Didn’t you notice yesterday?” Horikita reminded her, his mind drifting back to the scene in the gymnasium.
He had been speaking from the stage, and the moment he said “We welcome only those who understand this,” several first-years in the audience had instinctively glanced toward Shiraishi.
That had caught his attention.
After returning to his office, he’d used his authority as Student Council President to access the student’s information.
“Though Shiraishi’s entrance data seems unremarkable on paper, he’s actually made history.” Horikita explained slowly.
“I reviewed the surveillance footage—on his very first day, he was already gathering information.
By the second day, he’d deduced the school’s entire rule system and consolidated his class.
They might just become the first class in this school’s history to overtake their ranking within the first month.” “That impressive?” Tachibana was visibly surprised.
Horikita gave a slight nod, a trace of approval flickering in his eyes.
The opening hidden exam was the same every year—under the rule that teachers and upperclassmen were forbidden from revealing anything, it tested whether first-years could discover the rules on their own.
Many students had uncovered the hidden rules within the first month since the school’s founding, but someone like Shiraishi, who had pieced everything together within just two days, was unprecedented.
“At the very least, these two students from Class 1-B have already grasped the school’s true rules and have the ability to hold their own under Nagumo’s pressure.
And I’m still the Student Council President—until we graduate, Nagumo’s attention will mostly stay on me.
With me running interference, letting them gain experience and grow early on isn’t a bad thing.” Horikita tapped his fingers lightly on the desk as he spoke.
During the interview, he had largely sized up Shiraishi’s character.
Unlike Nagumo, who was both capable and extremely arrogant, Horikita had detected a hint of self-doubt in Shiraishi.
Even though Shiraishi had performed smoothly throughout the interview, the little subconscious movements of his fingers, the occasional shifting of his gaze, and the deliberately adjusted rhythm of his breathing all revealed his inexperience in such settings.
That also explained why Ichinose Honami had been the first to come for the interview.
The weaknesses Shiraishi had shown actually put Horikita at ease—because they proved Shiraishi wouldn’t become another Nagumo Miyabi.
“What about Katsuragi-kun from Class 1-A, then?” Tachibana suddenly remembered the student who had interviewed before Shiraishi and asked softly.
“Katsuragi-kun…
he’s still too naive.” At the mention of that name, Horikita’s brow furrowed slightly—clearly unimpressed with his interview performance.
Hearing Horikita’s assessment, Tachibana couldn’t help but stifle a smile.
She had reviewed all the candidates’ information in advance and was well aware that Class 1-A had already split into two factions, locked in a quiet struggle for class leadership.
Once the Student Council recruitment announcement was made official, everyone would discover that Class 1-B had two successful candidates, while Katsuragi—the central leader of Class A—had been rejected.
That would certainly be an interesting scene.
After leaving the Student Council office, Shiraishi immediately returned to class and relayed everything that had happened to Ichinose and the others.
“Doesn’t this mean we’ve essentially had a falling out with Vice President Nagumo?” Kanzaki analyzed the situation carefully, his expression growing serious.
“Vice President Nagumo doesn’t know what you discussed with President Horikita today, but with his way of thinking, he’ll definitely find it suspicious.
First of all, he already confirmed through Ichinose that President Horikita wasn’t letting any first-years into the Student Council—Ichinose was someone he personally invited, practically his own person.
Now suddenly someone else has joined, which means you’re unquestionably aligned with President Horikita.” Furthermore, both Ichinose and Shiraishi were from Class 1-B, which lacked the internal conflicts plaguing Class A.
Nagumo wouldn’t need much effort to piece it together.
“Not a big deal.
We probably won’t have to face him directly in the short term anyway.” Shiraishi wasn’t worried about a falling out with Nagumo, because he understood very well—cooperating with Nagumo was like trying to negotiate with a tiger.
Nagumo believed in “individual ability above all else” and advocated for expelling underperforming students more aggressively.
His philosophy was fundamentally incompatible with Horikita Manabu’s, Shiraishi’s, Ichinose’s—indeed, with the entire ethos of Class B.