In other words, Katsuragi still wanted to win by pulling far ahead of everyone else.
"What you just did only made us look like a joke to the other classes. Or do you want to be the one who ruins our class, Hashimoto?" Katsuragi's tone was sharp.
"I didn't say anything wrong. I was just stating facts," Hashimoto shrugged, acting like he had done nothing at all.
"No need to get so mad. Hashimoto did cross a line, and as the leader of Sakayanagi's faction, I need to respond properly," Sakayanagi Arisu finally spoke up. "As a consequence for his actions, I'll hand over the leadership for the special exams this month — and next month too."
"So, Katsuragi, show everyone your 'stability' and 'skill.' Can everyone follow Katsuragi's lead?"
"Understood!" X22
The students standing behind Sakayanagi all answered at once.
The sudden show of unity drew the attention of everyone around.
If Hashimoto's method was obvious mockery and trying to bait Katsuragi, Sakayanagi's move was much calmer — setting up a trap openly.
Class A's problems from the internal split were obvious to everyone now. Even to the point where they were fighting no matter the place. So Sakayanagi chose to temporarily give up control and had her faction listen to Katsuragi's commands instead.
This isn't about giving in.
Because if Katsuragi fails to lead well, or can't get the class to come out on top, everyone will end up disappointed in him.
After all,
they gave him the chance to lead.
But if he can't lift the class up, then it just proves he's not good enough.
Looks good on the outside, but useless inside.
So when Sakayanagi takes over later, everything will go smoothly.
That's exactly the plan Sakayanagi set up.
But still.
"..."
This girl really just wants to stir up trouble.
Kamuro, standing behind Sakayanagi, thought to herself.
Other classes, like 3rd-year Class A, are super united under President Horikita with no other factions.
But Sakayanagi's side is different. You could even say the Katsuragi faction only exists because she let it grow.
At the start, Sakayanagi could have taken full control of the class, but she didn't.
Instead, she watched as Katsuragi's group grew stronger, letting the class split like this.
So basically, Sakayanagi is just playing around.
Even though the three 1st-year classes are all gathered here today, none of them are truly on the same page.
Finally, it came down to Class D.
Homeroom teacher Chabashira Sae stood far behind the students.
Even though the student council called everyone here to line up, they hadn't officially started yet, so the students were still kind of free.
But even if they were free, standing around like a mess wasn't a good look.
For example, stuff like this:
"Don't get too close. You smell like sweat."
"No way, no way. How could I smell like sweat?"
"That's just the smell of my clothes. I bumped into Ike earlier, it's his smell."
"What are you talking about, Yamauchi? You didn't even wash your clothes yesterday. You're wearing the same thing again."
"Ike, stop kidding. I just sweated a little more than usual, okay? I did wash! Anyway, didn't you also not wash your socks for two days?"
Or stuff like this.
"Kouenji, you're so tall, you shouldn't stand in the front row."
"And seriously, is now really the time to comb your hair in the mirror?"
You could say Class D was full of little fights like this.
Meanwhile, Hirata was acting like a mom, calming everyone down.
In the class, it's easy for students to start arguing over small stuff, and sometimes they already have problems with each other.
So even just lining up properly took some time.
Chabashira stayed quiet through all this.
As the homeroom teacher, she hadn't been told much about today's meeting either.
But she noticed something at the stage.
One student had been standing there for a while now.
Being able to stand up there with the student council members probably meant they had already joined the council.
That student was Miyuki Shirogane from the new first-year Class 1-B.
Even though Class 1-B was mostly ruled by Ryuen's violence, Miyuki Shirogane was also getting a lot of attention.
In other words, it seemed like Shirogane had been recruited into the student council by the president, Horikita Manabu.
Thinking about this, Chabashira turned her eyes to the girls' lineup.
Horikita Suzune was standing in third place among the girls. She was gripping the hem of her uniform with her left hand, lips pressed together, and looking toward the stage where the leaders stood.
She was the student council president's little sister.
And right now, it seemed like she was feeling a bit scared in front of her amazing older brother.
In short, Horikita really was hopeless.
Facing a situation like this, if she had any real spirit, she should be thinking that she wanted to be the one standing up there.
But it was clear Horikita didn't have that kind of mindset at all.
It was like she had already given up.
Chabashira then shifted her gaze to Kouenji. Kouenji, as always, acted like he didn't care about anyone else. So Chabashira looked over to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was mixed in among the regular students. But Ayanokoji showed no real emotion and didn't seem interested at all. He was just quietly blending in.
"..."
Chabashira felt deeply disappointed.
"I am Horikita Manabu, the student council president," Horikita Manabu finally spoke as he stepped onto the stage. "The reason we gathered everyone here today isn't for anything complicated."
"It's to announce the new members of the student council."
"By now, not just the second- and third-years, but even the first-years should have realized what this school is really about."
"So you should understand this school's special rules: the student council holds a lot of power. Anyone who joins has earned my personal approval," Horikita Manabu said.
Even though he was wearing the same school uniform as everyone else, he gave off a sharp, powerful presence.
The first-year students below all fell silent.
Everyone started seriously looking up at the stage.
Some of the first-years from other classes also noticed that Shirogane, a fellow first-year they usually saw around, was now standing up there.
In other words, Shirogane had been recognized by the president?
"It's just basic student council chores. Nothing to brag about," thought Totsuka, who had gone to the student council with Katsuragi the day before.
Katsuragi hadn't been allowed to join because of the split within his class.
As someone loyal to Katsuragi's side, Yahiko felt a bit jealous that Shirogane got into the student council first.
"As expected of Shirogane," Sakayanagi thought, glancing toward the stage.
She already knew he was a natural hard worker. But in this school, just studying hard wasn't enough—you needed to be clever too. And Shirogane had managed to adapt perfectly.
No wonder she had picked him as one of the candidates who could match up against Ayanokoji.
Seeing him climb up step by step like this was actually kind of cute.
"..." Kamuro.
Kamuro stood quietly behind Sakayanagi, saying nothing, acting like she didn't care. But only Kamuro knew: Sakayanagi had told Shirogane about her habit of stealing.
Now that Shirogane was in the student council, wouldn't he be able to use his position to watch her openly—or rather, catch her weakness legally?
Being bossed around by Sakayanagi for a month had already worn her out, and she hadn't had time to think about stealing. But the urge had been creeping back these past two days. Still, now, she thought, she really had to quit this habit. Right away.
"That looks like Shirogane from first-year Class C—no, now it's Class B."
There were also people from other classes who knew Shirogane.
In Class D's area, Kushida had seen Shirogane before — or rather, she even did some free work for him, helping him fill out information about Ichinose's class.
She really got the short end of the stick.
"Horikita, you know that Shirogane guy, right?"
A cute girl with a single ponytail standing behind Horikita Suzune suddenly started talking to her. "I saw you two meet at the shopping street. I saw it twice."
"..." Horikita.
Horikita and Shirogane had only met twice, but how did this Karuizawa girl manage to spot them both times?
"He probably got the student council president's approval," Horikita Suzune said.
When it came to her brother, Horikita was always a bit timid, but when it came to regular students, she was much tougher.
As for Shirogane, she admitted he was strong, so it made sense that her brother would recognize him too.
Besides...
She had just gotten a message — from her brother — asking to meet up later that evening.
For Horikita Suzune, this was going to be a big challenge.
As his sister, she understood her brother pretty well, and she knew if she didn't show enough "ability," he might even tell her to drop out.
Meanwhile, the student council president was speaking, and all the second-years were paying attention.
Nagumo Miyabi might be the student council vice president, but today the president didn't ask him to come up to the stage, so he was standing quietly at the front of his class.
Still, he had a pretty good idea of what Horikita Manabu was planning.