After school in the afternoon, on the way to the Student Council office, Katsuragi Kohei deliberately waited for Kaoru for a while.
"Sakayanagi discussed the exam with me today. It seems she already has specific plans for which events to include."
"What are your thoughts?"
"To leverage the entire class's strength, team events are unavoidable. I think written exams could be considered."
"Our opponents are Class B. Written exams wouldn't guarantee a win, would they?"
"We could compete based on total scores or average scores. In that aspect, we have an advantage."
Katsuragi Kohei's confidence didn't stem from Class B's weakness in written exams, but rather from Class A having more top students.
While not claiming a hundred percent victory, at least it could be said to be seventy-thirty in their favor - this was their advantage.
Kaoru pondered for a moment.
Each class had ten events, with only five being the actual events on the final exam day - the rest were smoke screens.
As the Command Tower, Sakayanagi Arisu would likely deploy him on the Chess board.
Even if he slacked off, Sakayanagi had the authority to intervene, ensuring about a ninety percent win rate.
What would the other four events be?
"Sakayanagi seems quite interested in written exams. If the winning condition is based on participants' total scores, we have a probability of winning."
Katsuragi said, "The only consideration is that we need to account for the number of exam participants. According to the rules, each person can only participate in one event unless everyone has already participated."
Kaoru understood why Sakayanagi was interested.
Written exams test academically gifted top students.
'If we use them all up here, it would be difficult to participate in subsequent events.'
For example, he himself needed to participate in Chess, obviously unable to also take the written exam, meaning one less slot available.
However, if they could think of this, their opponent Ichinose Honami would certainly realize it too.
Would both Command Towers be willing to use their top students here?
This exam required considering not only what they were good at, but also how to win in areas where the opponent had advantages, knowing when to abandon unnecessary events.
The basic victory condition was four wins and three losses - this was Ichinose Honami's target.
Sakayanagi Arisu might be betting that Ichinose would abandon this event.
However, Class B happened to be equally skilled in written exams, so Sakayanagi couldn't make a firm decision.
"Sakayanagi proposed one event."
Katsuragi thought for a moment, "She asked if we knew Abacus Mental Calculation. I think this event could work."
"Using abacus?"
Kaoru was somewhat surprised.
The abacus was quite an ancient calculation tool, difficult to master without training.
"I can do it."
Katsuragi said, "You can pick it up after playing with it a few times. Class B might also have people who quickly master this tool. Now we can only bet on who has better skills."
The specific events won't be announced until March 15th.
Even if Class B wants to learn the abacus, we have more time to master it.
"We just need to find one or two students good at math to practice with."
Kaoru hesitated for a moment, keeping his thoughts to himself.
Everyone here is a high school student—what you know, most others know too. It's hard to break out of that framework.
Unless your hobbies and interests differ from the majority.
Like flower arrangement, tea ceremony, cooking, writing, painting, calligraphy, knitting, and so on. Even something like cat's cradle—a certain kid with a robotic cat could do that.
Of course, Kaoru wouldn't remind Sakayanagi Arisu.
It was already generous of him not to disrupt her plans.
Katsuragi Kohei, noticing his apparent lack of interest, sighed inwardly and changed the subject.
"About the election—when should we make our move? Even though Spring Break is approaching and everyone is busy with exams, this is actually a good opportunity.
No one will cause trouble, and our competitors are more focused on exams and their own classes. Our only real opponent is probably Nagumo Miyabi."
"In a few days will be fine."
Kaoru hesitated, then asked with some unease, "Did I mention before that I wanted you to be the president?"
"You did say that. At the time, you mentioned it was one of your conditions."
Katsuragi couldn't quite figure out what he was thinking but still spoke his mind.
"Actually, I think you're more suitable for the role. At first, I thought you might be like Nagumo-senpai—someone who might stir up some… hard-to-evaluate incidents. But now I'm sure you won't."
The "hard-to-evaluate incidents" referred, of course, to Nagumo Miyabi's reckless behavior in his second year and his attempts to push reforms after taking office.
In contrast, Kaoru might seem similar in style to Nagumo, but in reality, he hasn't done anything disruptive—except for buying points, which was frustrating, but he didn't harm ordinary students.
He doesn't go looking for trouble either, unlike Nagumo, who insists on challenging others and drawing hostility.
Katsuragi believed Kaoru was more suited to be Student Council President than he was.
"Besides, you're more popular than I am now. You could probably secure a lot of votes."
Katsuragi wasn't lying.
After all, Kaoru had so many girlfriends—his popularity was almost terrifying.
Many boys saw him as a master in that regard.
As for the girls who should have disliked him for it, they seemed to forgive this playboy simply because he was good-looking.
Don't underestimate that.
Compared to other potential candidates who left no impression, Kaoru was now a well-known figure schoolwide.
At the very least, students knew how to write his name.
The first step in running for election is to make sure people know you and can write your name.
Kaoru had already skipped that step.
Now, he only needed to focus on how to campaign.
"Let me think about it. There's no rush for now."
For once, Kaoru brushed it off vaguely.
He was well aware of his advantages, but back then, he thought he would be leaving the school soon.
Hoping to fulfill a few wishes before departing, he had decided to let Katsuragi take the fall.
Until yesterday, Kaoru still held that idea, though his reasons for leaving had changed.
He had to return to the agency at least once, otherwise, it would surely fall apart.
Kaoru planned to go back sometime before next year.
He wasn't sure whether he would continue at ANHS or simply stay at the agency.
Lost in thought, he had already arrived at the Student Council office.
There, he saw Ichinose Honami writing something.
She lifted her gaze, and their eyes met.
"Someone voted for you today!"
The girl happily told him this good news.
Kaoru quickly averted his gaze because through the window behind her, he could see a cherry blossom quietly blooming.
Its vivid red color held a slightly moist luster, reminding him of how the girl had looked last night.
Never mind, he was just an ordinary high school student here anyway.
Kaoru looked at the form the girl was holding up.
There were few voters today, only a handful of people, but his name stood prominently at the top of the list.
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