Chapter 425: The Future of Miko
"Ishigami, do you think the fish here are too smart? Why don't they bite?"
Shirogane Miyuki asked with a puzzled expression as he moved closer to Ishigami Yuu.
"Meanwhile Sakurai-senpai keeps getting hits." Ishigami Yuu also looked troubled.
He didn't dare beat Kaguya, but losing too badly meant that Fujiwara Chika would definitely shove her face right at his and mock him later. Just imagining it already made Ishigami Yuu feel hot all over!
This situation itself made no sense, right?
A person puts in effort but doesn't get results — what kind of supernatural nonsense was happening in a developed modern country?
Does Japan still have justice? Does Asia still have justice? Does Earth still have justice?
"No, Ishigami, you're wrong. It's not Sakurai who's catching fish — it's Shinomiya who keeps reeling them in." Shirogane Miyuki said seriously.
Right, these two things were terrifyingly different! If they lost to Sakurai Saki, Ishigami Yuu and Shirogane Miyuki could still accept it!
After all, everyone was a bro, losing a bit of manly dignity was tolerable! Losing to a friend wasn't embarrassing!
But if the winner turned out to be a girl, that was another story!
Of course, Shirogane Miyuki wasn't being sexist. He didn't feel that girls had any special advantages or disadvantages in fishing. Besides, this was river fishing, not sea fishing; catching a hooked fish didn't require much strength.
But! This time, all three guys had staked something called male pride on the line — if they lost to Shinomiya Kaguya, how would they ever face her again?
…Wait, that's not right!
Wasn't he about to flee to America soon?
Oh, then it didn't matter anymore.
"There's no difference between the two for us, Myuu-senpai." Ishigami Yuu relaxed his expression.
He never intended to beat Kaguya anyway, so of course he didn't care.
After summer break, Shirogane Miyuki would be going to America, so even if he lost his dignity, it was acceptable. They wouldn't see each other often after that; after graduating university, maybe they'd only meet once a month — and that was assuming Shirogane Miyuki returned to Japan after graduating —— who knows, he might even stay for his master's and doctor… the probability of him marrying and having kids abroad wasn't low either?
"…Four years from now when I return from America, Shinomiya will definitely have forgotten everything, you're right."
"Myuu-senpai doesn't plan on taking a master's entrance exam or anything?"
"For now, no. As for the future… I'm not sure."
"That's true, after all, it's something four years away." Ishigami Yuu fell into a moment of silence.
In his eyes, Shirogane Miyuki had always been someone mature and stable, yet even he had moments of uncertainty about the future.
Next year, when all the third-years left Shuchiin, what would he do?
The student council no longer seemed to have any reason for him to stay. Back then, when Koyasu Tsubame left, she helped Ishigami Yuu clear the misunderstandings from middle school. Now, Ishigami Yuu was no longer looked down on, no longer the target of rumors, and everything was heading in a good direction.
'Iino is about to become the president, so she'll be alone in the student council?'
Ishigami Yuu suddenly realized something: the girl who used to always argue with him, the girl he had once comforted with letters back in middle school, had grown up enough to shoulder an important position on her own.
She would no longer fear crowds, no longer be flustered, and her grades were always number one.
"What are you thinking about?"
At that moment, Sakurai Saki walked over, and the three guys gathered together.
Ishigami Yuu looked at the clear running water and the bobber gently dipping up and down, then answered: "Iino will definitely win the next election for student council president. But can she really handle the position?"
Shirogane Miyuki answered in a calm but firm tone: "Yes."
"You're confident, huh? Miko-chan isn't without flaws, though. Shirogane, think back to when we first reshuffled the student council…"
Back then they were cursed out nonstop, and any proposal they submitted got rejected. The club presidents acted like their ancestors had just risen from the grave, each one with a terrible attitude.
To restore order to the clubs, Sakurai Saki had gone directly to the most notorious one — Kendo — to establish dominance.
Kojima, that short-tempered guy, couldn't handle a few provocations from Sakurai before getting beaten up on the spot. After that, things became much easier: once he defeated the strongest member of the sports clubs, Sakurai Saki's fame in the athletic circles soared. Then all he had to do was accompany Shirogane to the Union Club, and basically no one dared act tough anymore.
Besides Kendo, he didn't spare Tennis, Basketball, and the other sports clubs either.
Using the physical abilities of an "Esper" to bully normal people wasn't something Sakurai Saki was particularly interested in, but what could he do when they kept jumping around too much?
"You even got into a fight with Ryuju back then…"
"Hmph, she thought I wanted to steal your position, so she brought Yakuza to block my door, saying she wanted to 'teach me a lesson'. All I can say is: you two sure had a deep bond…"
"Haha, well… fair enough." Shirogane Miyuki looked embarrassed. Back then, Sakurai Saki had been dragged into the mess completely.
Ryuju Momo thought Sakurai Saki was boosting his reputation to prepare to topple Shirogane Miyuki from his position, but she was completely mistaken.
If anyone truly had that thought, that person would definitely be Shinomiya Kaguya!
"So senpai had all that happen back then?"
"That's right. Later on I got used to it, so I managed to get people to somewhat accept me, but it wasn't exactly stable. Even this year, after some clubs changed presidents, I was ostracized for a while." Shirogane Miyuki said. Then he suddenly felt that Iino Miko's future position really wasn't going to be easy.
Third-years absolutely couldn't continue as student council members.
Not to mention the time and effort — everyone knew that — but after April, once they graduated, third-years simply couldn't stay on campus.
Suppose Shinomiya Kaguya, Sakurai Saki, and Fujiwara Chika all stayed in the student council for now — after they graduated, from April to July, what would Iino Miko do?
She would immediately be missing three positions. Could she find the right people in such a short time?
The Shuchiin student council wasn't like the student councils in normal high schools — lying around being useless simply wasn't allowed! Without the ability, all you could do was drag everyone down!
"I don't know what Iino should do either. Moreover, with the way she handles everything, she'll definitely want to revise the school rules on a large scale. That will absolutely lead to even heavier pushback."
"Shirogane, Miko-chan is Pure. Students won't resist her as harshly as they did us, the Mixed." Sakurai Saki gave his opinion.
"Pure, Mixed." When Shirogane Miyuki first became president, he even considered abolishing those labels entirely.
But later he realized that chain of discrimination was stuck deep into the bone. How could one person possibly hope to erase it?
"In history, Pure have almost never been expelled," Ishigami Yuu added.
But that had nothing to do with whether one could do a good job as president!
"Sakurai-senpai, do you plan to join the student council again next term?"
"No."
Miko-chan no longer needed him watching over her every little move.
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