Shirogane had only met Vice President Nagumo once, but he'd heard some things from Sakayanagi before.
For example, that Nagumo had led Class B to rise up and become Class A, and even went as far as taking control over the entire second-year group.
Whether it was turning Class B into Class A and holding that spot, or having control over the entire grade, it showed just how capable this student was.
But now it seemed, being strong didn't mean he was perfect—he was clearly lacking in the morals department.
Thinking that,
"How much do you know about Nagumo Miyabi?"
Shirogane returned to his seat and pulled out a small notebook.
Of course, this wasn't about holding a grudge or anything. It's just that even though Shiina had exchanged phone numbers with Nagumo, she blocked him right after.
Part of it was to get some info out of him, but she also just didn't like him.
She felt like he was bothering her.
As classmates, Shirogane and Shiina got along pretty well. He knew Shiina was the kind of person who leaned toward a more chaotic side—she didn't shy away from things that weren't exactly good, as long as it helped her achieve her goals. She was more tolerant than most people.
But even so, she rarely showed her emotions.
So for her to block Nagumo's number right away—yeah, she was definitely upset.
And as her classmate, Shirogane felt like there was something he could do about it.
[As for Nagumo Miyabi, there isn't much info…]
The narration seemed unsure.
But while thinking that, Shirogane suddenly found himself hearing a bunch of information.
[Nagumo Miyabi used to be in Class B. He led his classmates and moved up to the current 2nd Year Class A.
Thanks to his outstanding performance, he was brought into the student council by Horikita Manabu, and he's now the vice president]
The student council is one of the core powers running this school. There are two systems of authority here—one from the chairman's side, and the other from the student council.
The student council has a lot of power. The president even has the authority to directly expel students.
Nagumo Miyabi is great at managing things, a top athlete, and also very smart—basically good at everything.
His goal is to become the student council president.
He leads the second-years, and all the second-years follow him. Every special exam at school ends up being an event where his group takes most of the rewards.
"..." Ayanokoji.
Wait, how can you say you don't know much when you've said this much already?
"Why do you know all these details?"
[Nagumo's ambitions are kind of unpleasant. Even Sakayanagi has bad things to say about him.]
So Sakayanagi holds grudges, huh?
Ayanokoji started thinking—maybe this narration system has something to do with the Sakayanagi from the future.
"What's Nagumo planning? Or what did he do to upset Sakayanagi in the future?"
Ayanokoji didn't think the current Sakayanagi had any problems with Nagumo. So whatever this is referring to must be something that happens later.
[Basically, after becoming student council president, Nagumo plans to completely reshuffle the members. He wants to bring in the students he likes—not necessarily the talented ones, but mainly cute girls. Skill is one part, but looks also matter to him. Of course, if someone has both, that's perfect. But even if someone isn't that capable, as long as they're really pretty, he's happy to have them in the council as a kind of mascot.]
[And Sakayanagi is on his list.]
Well, that kind of explains why Nagumo exchanged contact info with Shiina.
Because Shiina is very pretty.
So if Nagumo's goal is to build a new version of the student council, reaching out early to people he wants in it makes sense.
…
Soon, it was after school.
"Alright, let's meet over at the shopping district!"
Sakagami-sensei was treating everyone today, so the students were excited.
Free food, and it was a buffet—nobody was going to say no.
But—
"I might be a bit late," Ayanokoji said to Shiina.
As the one delivering messages, Shiina understood the reason right away—he was heading to the student council.
"Want me to save you a seat?" Hiyori asked.
She didn't have many friends at school, but she hoped to find someone she could truly connect with.
Still, she could handle normal social stuff just fine. Plus, now that she understood the true nature of the school, and with their class doing so well, it was clear that a major challenge was ahead. Since they now had a shot at reaching Class A, she was ready to give it her all.
So this wasn't the version of Shiina who had given up on moving up and stayed in the library like some background character.
This was the Shiina who saw hope for the class and wanted to help.
"Save me a seat? No need," Ayanokoji said. "I'm not sure how strict Horikita will be about joining the council, so I might be late."
He waved goodbye and left the classroom.
"Then good luck out there," Hiyori said, not taking her eyes off him right away.
You could say that Ayanokoji was hardworking, serious, and careful about everything at this school. Without his help, the class probably wouldn't have made it to Class B this quickly.
So unless Class A drops on their own, it's going to be really hard for Ryuen's class to catch up.
Shiina remembered how Shirogane had waved to her earlier. She raised her left hand to wave back, but before she could move, he had already walked away.
"..." Shiina froze in that half-wave, feeling a little disappointed.
If she had been better at talking to people in the past, maybe she wouldn't be so bad at even something as simple as waving to a friend.
Just then, a girl with short blue hair walked up to her.
"Shiina, Ryuen's looking for you. He's putting together a small team. Looks like he's picking people now to prepare for the special exams that happen every month."
"He's planning to charge protection money in class, but if you join his group, you don't have to pay," the girl said. "Even if you hate him or disagree with him, his plan might actually help the class."
In other words, Ryuen was still acting like a thug, going after protection money. But he clearly understood people. He knew that just collecting money like that wouldn't let him survive at this school.
If a class vote came up to expel someone, Ryuen, the one taking advantage of everyone and hated by many, would probably be the first to get voted out.
"Oh."
Shiina nodded and followed the girl.
"You're Ibuki, right? This is actually the first time we've talked in class," Shiina said.
"Doesn't matter," Ibuki replied with no change in her expression.
"So, do you really hate Ryuen?" Shiina asked.
"Yeah," Ibuki answered straight away.
"Same. I hate him too," Shiina said.
And with that, the two of them walked out of the classroom.
...
On the other side—
Even though Shirogane's destination was the student council office, he didn't head there right away. Instead, he went to the second-year student area.
Soon, he found a small bulletin board in the second-year section.
There were numbers written on it:
A1400
B780
C500
D350
He took out his phone and compared it with the photo he had taken during the entrance ceremony.
Back then, the second-year numbers were:
A1210
B780
C430
D200
Now that he understood how this school really worked, it was easy to tell that these numbers were the class evaluation points for each second-year class.
The first-years had just finished their first month. The second-years had, too.
Since there's a special exam every month, this was the result of one of those exams.
And honestly, the results were kind of scary.
Since only Class B didn't earn points, while Classes A, C, and D all did,
If the second-year Class A is really that strong, it wouldn't be strange for them to stay ahead. But right now, only Class B got left behind, and even C and D gained points.
And don't forget—this second-year Class B used to be the original Class A. There's no way the students are weak overall.
So there's only one explanation.
Just like the narrator said, Nagumo-senpai really has taken full control of his year. He treats the special exams, which usually scare the students, like free handouts from the school, and just splits up the rewards.
Ordinary classes couldn't do this. But if he controls all the test-takers, then of course he can pull it off.
Now that only Class B didn't earn points, it's clear he's trying to make his Class position even more solid.
With that thought in mind—
"Even though we learned what this school is really like from -sensei today,"
"Our class is clearly falling behind."
"I want to visit the student council later," said a voice faintly in the background. It sounded like a boy and a girl talking.
Shirogane looked over and saw a guy with slightly curly purple hair—he looked pretty cool. His name was Kanzaki Ryuji. Shirogane had already seen his photo before. From the info Kushida shared, Kanzaki was one of the main guys in their class. He was good in both academics and sports. His only downside was being a little quiet.
As for the girl—she was someone very familiar.
She had long, light pinkish-blonde hair, a great figure, and a very lively, cheerful personality. She was really pretty and always surrounded by friends.
Lucky or unlucky?
Because once again, at the same place and same kind of situation, Shirogane ran into Ichinose Honami.
...
When he had just entered the school, Shirogane went looking for info and ended up in the upperclassmen area—where he bumped into Ichinose, who was doing the same.
The result—
Ichinose, honest and kind, shared what she'd found out, but Shirogane ended up showing her how tricky people can be.
She thought of Shirogane as a friend, while he saw her as a target to learn from as an upperclassman.
So, in Ichinose's eyes, Shirogane is a senior student who once acted like a proper upperclassman to her.
And now—
Is he about to get caught?
Maybe not.
It's already been almost a month, and Ichinose and her classmates are in Class B. No matter how naive they are, they must've interacted with students from other years by now.
So Shirogane figured that even though Ichinose hadn't come to him, she probably already knew he was a first-year.
Thinking that, he stayed calm. Kanzaki and Ichinose had already noticed him.
"That guy—he's Shirogane, the one who moved up from Class C," said the boy with purple curls walking beside Ichinose.
From the way he said it, he clearly knew who Shirogane was.
So that means—
While Kushida was actively connecting with students both inside and outside her class, Ichinose's class was doing the same.
They joined clubs.
They explored what made this school unique.
And even though they still had enough money to live on in the first month, they tried out the free meals in the cafeteria as a full-class experience.
They were probably worried they wouldn't have that much money next month, so they were trying to save as much as they could.
You could say that even though their class didn't have any kind of cheat, they were still using strong teamwork to survive in this school.
"Yo, Ichinose, Kanzaki, you two came to the upperclassmen area too, huh?" Shirogane put on his boldest social face. "I'm Shirogane Miyuki from Class 1-B, just like you guys, I came to check out the upperclass section."
Before entering this school, Shirogane had actually thought about getting a part-time job once he started high school.
And if you're going to work, you need to put your pride aside.
So he trained his personality for that.
Don't be shy. Don't be shy. Being shy gets you nothing.
He even gave this version of himself a name — "social beast."
And now, in this "social beast" mode, he went up and greeted Ichinose — the same girl he'd tricked before.
"Shirogane," Ichinose replied, but she couldn't help glancing at him a few more times.
Still, Shirogane was in full social mode now. His skin was at least ten times thicker than usual, so her stares had zero effect.
"Congrats on moving up a level," Ichinose said. She was clearly a kind and big-hearted person.
Shirogane's Class 1-B had taken over the spot Ichinose's class used to have. So saying something like that must've been a little painful for her.
That she could still congratulate them just showed how gracious she was.
ps: Ribbit. Even though I did a burst update yesterday, this 12 AM update is kinda awkward. Turns out the full-attendance bonus on Ciweimao counts up to 6 AM, so even though I dropped 10,000 words at midnight, it still counted as yesterday.