Chapter 192: A Little Angry, But Not Much!
Yuto and Katsuragi sat down at a nearby outdoor cafe.
When a server brought over the menus, Yuto ordered a sweet drink while Katsuragi chose lemonade.
Once the server left, Yuto got straight to the point. "Before coming to this school, you already had experience serving on a student council, right?"
"That's right." Katsuragi nodded. "Why are you asking, Vice President?"
"Just confirming something. Since you're familiar with student councils, you should've noticed that ours is missing the position of discipline committee member."
"Yes. So are you saying you want me to become one?" Katsuragi asked in surprise.
He genuinely hadn't expected that.
Yuto already knew Katsuragi intended to align himself with someone else in the student council. Was he really planning to promote him from general affairs staff to discipline committee member anyway?
"No. That isn't what I have in mind," Yuto said, shaking his head.
As expected.
"I'm planning to give the position to Tokito Hiroya from Class D. He's on bad terms with Ryuen, and Ryuen even broke his arm."
"To put it simply, I want Tokito in that position so he can keep an eye on Ryuen and stop him from running wild like before."
Katsuragi immediately understood.
If the student council had already possessed a discipline committee member before, Ryuen and Class D probably wouldn't have been able to cause nearly as much trouble.
It really was an effective way to restrain him.
However, Katsuragi also believed he was qualified for that position.
He had grown tired of remaining in the lowest-level role of general affairs staff.
"Vice President, I believe I could also serve as a discipline committee member," Katsuragi said seriously.
"You can't."
Yuto waved dismissively.
"You already know I'm restoring this position specifically to deal with Ryuen. You're not even in the same class as him, so you can't watch him inside the classroom."
"That means the discipline committee member needs to be one of Ryuen's classmates."
"..."
Katsuragi had no way to refute that.
If the position was being created specifically to restrain Ryuen, then someone from another class obviously couldn't monitor him constantly.
"Then why did you invite me here to talk about the discipline committee member position...?"
Exactly.
If Yuto had no intention of giving him the position, why bother telling him about it?
"Because I need your vote."
"What do you mean?"
At that moment, the server returned with their drinks.
Yuto accepted his sweet drink and casually thanked the server before continuing.
"This school's student council used to have a discipline committee member, but the position was abolished. To restore it, the student council members need to hold a vote."
"The position will only be restored if more than half the members vote in favor. So I need your vote."
"I see."
Katsuragi understood immediately.
"I'll vote in favor."
Even though he couldn't become the discipline committee member himself, that hadn't been his ultimate goal anyway.
Katsuragi wanted to become student council vice president, or eventually even president.
So missing out on this particular position wasn't much of a disappointment.
Besides, the position was being restored specifically to restrain Ryuen.
Katsuragi had no desire to experience another round of Class D's harassment, so he had every reason to support restoring it.
"Vice President, I have one question. This Class D student you mentioned, Tokito Hiroya... once he becomes the discipline committee member, will he really target Ryuen?"
"Of course. If he doesn't, I'll just find someone more obedient to replace him," Yuto replied with a smile.
"..."
Katsuragi fell silent.
'The vice president really does have a lot of authority.'
Since Katsuragi absolutely didn't want to endure another wave of harassment from Ryuen and Class D, he firmly confirmed that he would vote in favor.
...
Meanwhile, Suzune was sitting with Ichinose and the other girls while calling Tachibana Akane.
Their conversation had eventually drifted toward the discipline committee member position.
Suzune decided she should secure Tachibana's answer as soon as possible.
So Ichinose, Kei, and Kikyo quieted down and let her make the call.
The call connected quickly.
After hearing Suzune's request, Tachibana glanced toward Manabu, who was sitting in the president's seat.
She didn't immediately give Suzune an answer.
"About the vote... let me think about it. I'll get back to you later."
"Okay."
Suzune ended the call.
Kikyo looked at her curiously. "How did it go, Horikita-san? Did you convince Tachibana-senpai?"
"Not yet. Tachibana-senpai didn't answer immediately. She said she wanted to think about it."
Suzune looked somewhat helpless.
"But I don't think our chances are very good. She's probably going to check what the president thinks first."
Tachibana was firmly aligned with Manabu.
Naturally, when it came to restoring the discipline committee member position, she would want to know his opinion.
And since Manabu opposed it, Suzune assumed Tachibana would probably vote against it too.
"If Tachibana-senpai won't vote in favor, then I'll have to approach those two upperclassmen and try to persuade them," Ichinose said.
"Mm..."
...
Tachibana really did tell Manabu about Suzune's proposal to restore the discipline committee member position.
She also explained that Suzune wanted her to vote in favor.
"So, President, should I vote yes or no?" Tachibana asked.
"You can decide for yourself. There's no need to ask for my opinion," Manabu answered calmly.
"I understand."
Tachibana had been in the same class as Manabu for more than two years.
She understood him very well.
If he truly wanted her to oppose it, he would have simply said so.
Since he hadn't, he was clearly leaning toward approval and was willing to let her vote in favor.
As student council president, Manabu believed he had to remain fair and impartial, so he would never personally vote yes when Suzune's motivation was partly personal.
But he also wouldn't tell Tachibana to vote against it.
Allowing her to choose freely could already be considered a small amount of favoritism toward his little sister.
After all, Manabu knew that Yuto and Suzune wanted to restore the position specifically to restrain Ryuen.
"Huh?"
Suzune suddenly stared at the Line message she had just received.
She turned toward Ichinose and the other two girls in surprise.
"Tachibana-senpai says she'll vote in favor of restoring the discipline committee member position."
"Really?" Ichinose asked.
"It's true." Suzune looked puzzled. "I thought she would agree with my brother and vote against it..."
"It's a little unexpected, but now we've secured Tachibana-senpai's vote." Ichinose smiled brightly. "As long as Shimizu convinces Katsuragi-san too, we'll have five votes."
"Exactly."
Suzune sent Tachibana a message thanking her, then informed Yuto over Line that she had secured the vote.
...
Yuto smiled when he saw Suzune's message.
With Tachibana's vote and Katsuragi's vote, their side had reached five.
The discipline committee member position would be restored.
The only remaining issue was making Tokito Hiroya the one who filled it.
But to Yuto, that was barely an issue at all.
The vice president had authority over assigning positions.
Nagumo had previously used that same authority to make Mizowaki and Tonokawa secretaries.
Yuto replied to Suzune with a simple message.
[Thanks for the hard work.]
Then he looked toward Katsuragi.
"Let's talk about something unrelated."
"About what?"
"Katsuragi-san, you have a calm, conservative personality. You aren't someone who likes taking reckless or aggressive risks."
Yuto's tone was perfectly even.
"So I was honestly a little surprised that you chose to align yourself with someone else in the student council and even tried to convince Ichinose to go with you."
Despite the lack of emotion in Yuto's voice, Katsuragi inexplicably felt a strange pressure.
He took a slow breath and steadied himself.
"Since you already learned about my intentions from Ichinose, then I assume you also know why I made that choice."
"So it really was because of your reputation and influence in Class A?" Yuto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes."
Katsuragi admitted it without hesitation.
"But there's another reason. It's only a personal feeling, though, and I don't have any solid evidence."
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Katsuragi stared at Yuto for a moment.
"I feel like you would never allow me to rise within the student council. You would keep suppressing me."
Well.
The bald guy's instincts were surprisingly accurate.
Yuto intended to eventually turn the student council into an organization where his own word carried overwhelming weight.
Naturally, he had no intention of allowing Katsuragi, a Class A student, to become secretary or vice president.
In fact, Yuto didn't even intend to let him remain in the student council forever.
"I believed you would keep me down, so I decided to align myself with someone else," Katsuragi continued.
There was another reason as well.
Yuto already had plenty of people around him whom he could promote.
Suzune was his classmate, while Ichinose appeared to have an excellent relationship with him.
With both of them already working directly under Yuto, Katsuragi believed there was little chance Yuto would ever promote him.
If he wanted to climb higher, switching sides seemed like his only option.
"Hah."
Yuto smiled.
"You make it sound as if siding with Kiriyama Ikuto guarantees he can promote you to another position."
Katsuragi frowned when Yuto directly mentioned Kiriyama's name.
So he even knew exactly who Katsuragi intended to align with.
Still, Katsuragi wasn't overly surprised.
There weren't many viable people to choose from inside the student council.
Other than Yuto, the main possibilities were Secretaries Tachibana and Kiriyama, or President Manabu himself.
Katsuragi had barely interacted with Manabu or Tachibana.
Kiriyama, on the other hand, had personally taught him how to handle various student council duties.
It wasn't difficult to deduce whom Katsuragi would choose.
"I don't know whether Kiriyama-senpai actually has enough influence to promote me."
Katsuragi remained calm.
"But by siding with him, I at least have some possibility of advancement. Isn't that true?"
"Maybe."
Yuto finished the rest of his drink in one go, raised a hand, and called toward the server.
"Check, please."
"I'll pay this time, Vice President," Katsuragi immediately offered.
"No need. I'm the one who invited you here to talk. Why would I make you pay?"
Yuto waved him off.
Two drinks cost almost nothing.
He wasn't the type to take advantage of someone over such a trivial amount.
Yuto paid with his student ID, then looked at Katsuragi.
"To stop Ryuen from causing trouble again, remember to vote in favor when we hold the vote to restore the discipline committee member position."
"Don't worry. I will."
Katsuragi watched Yuto stand and prepare to leave before finally voicing the question that had been bothering him.
"Vice President... you don't seem very angry that I decided to side with someone else."
"I'm a little angry, but not much."
Yuto answered casually.
"Everyone has the freedom to make their own choices, and everyone has to accept the future that comes from those choices. Who you choose to align yourself with is your business."
"..."
The truth was simple.
Yuto had never planned to keep Katsuragi in the student council long-term anyway.
Nor had he ever intended to give him responsibilities beyond general affairs work.
Yuto had always viewed Katsuragi mainly as a useful worker.
So his decision to side with someone else didn't make Yuto particularly angry.
If anything, it gave Yuto a perfectly reasonable excuse to remove Katsuragi from the student council later without feeling guilty.
If Katsuragi had remained diligent, obedient, and faithfully handled every task Yuto assigned him, then throwing him out later would have felt somewhat unfair.
Now there was no such problem.
Katsuragi had chosen Kiriyama.
When Yuto eventually removed him from the student council, he wouldn't feel the slightest guilt.
Having achieved his objective, Yuto left the cafe without hesitation.
Katsuragi watched him disappear into the distance, then sighed with a headache.
"Even if Shimizu Yuto isn't particularly angry that I sided with someone else, he probably considers me an enemy now..."
Now that they had openly laid everything on the table, Katsuragi suspected his life inside the student council would become considerably more difficult.
Did he regret his decision?
A little.
But not much.
…
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