After their morning exercises, Hiyori and Kamuro walked back to the dorms together, making idle conversation along the way. It was mostly Kamuro complaining about how awful and disobedient Sakayanagi was:
"She only ever speaks in half-truths…"
"She's in poor health but always insists on drinking coffee…"
Chatting like this, the two soon got on the elevator. Kamuro casually pressed the button for the 15th floor, paused, then pressed the one for the 16th, asking offhandedly, "Hiyori, what floor are you on?"
"Thank you. Could you press 12 for me?"
As the girl said this, she noticed Kamuro's actions. After a moment's thought, she asked gently, "Are you going to see Sakayanagi-san?"
Kamuro averted her gaze. "Of course not!"
"Is that so…"
Hiyori didn't expose her lie, merely offering a light reply.
"They're so close…" Hiyori mused internally.
"I suggest they go home and get married," Symon added.
Having been looked after by Kamuro, Hiyori had no intention of trying to probe her for information. When the elevator chimed, the two girls parted ways smoothly.
Back in her dorm, she ate breakfast and then emerged from the bathroom after washing away her sweat. Wrapped in a bath towel, Hiyori sat in a W-sit on the white rug. She took off her hair-drying cap and began to patiently detangle her semi-damp, long hair in front of the full-length mirror, waiting for it to air-dry.
"No matter how many times I see this, I still think managing this hair is such a pain…" Symon grumbled.
Why do you have to brush it before washing?
Why does it take so long to lather?
Why can't the conditioner touch the scalp?
Why only use the cold setting on the hairdryer?
What even is hair essence?
And what's this anti-hair loss serum?
Noticing his little complaints, a flicker of amusement crossed Hiyori's eyes. She picked up a strand of long blue hair that had fallen by her feet and asked, as if casually, "Should we cut it shorter then?"
"No, I was wrong!"
Seeing as someone's apology was exceptionally sincere, Hiyori nodded in satisfaction and let the topic drop—You actually really like it, don't you?
About half an hour later, Hiyori Shiina finished with her hair and changed into a set of loungewear with overalls that Symon had complained about countless times. She took a copy of Murder on the Orient Express from her drawer and placed it on her lap.
Softly reciting the story she had long since read, the girl quietly and resolutely continued to carry out her premeditated 'book buddy' development plan.
Time flew by amidst the girl's gentle whispers…
Ultimately, the culprit that interrupted this peaceful time was an email from Ryūen. Its content was concise:
[Come to the Student Council office. I've gathered some intel.]
After reading the email, Hiyori Shiina thought for a moment and decided not to refuse. She put down her book, found a hair tie to casually pull her hair into a low ponytail, and headed straight out the door.
Upon arriving at the Disciplinary Committee office, Symon, watching through the girl's eyes, immediately saw Ryūen with his feet propped up on the desk, frowning as he leafed through some documents. He couldn't help but laugh out loud, "To be honest, I'm a little surprised he didn't tear up that list."
A glint of amusement appeared in Hiyori Shiina's eyes, but her expression remained impassive as she sat down across the desk.
Once she was seated, Ryūen put down the files in his hand. He didn't rush into business, instead glancing around the office before laughing self-deprecatingly, "I thought it would take years of hard work to get an office of my own. I didn't expect to achieve that goal so quickly."
"Ryūen-kun, are you planning to go into politics?" Hiyori Shiina asked with feigned curiosity—at Symon's prompting.
"No, my dream is to become an entrepreneur," Ryūen answered frankly, making no attempt to hide it.
Symon chuckled at that. "With all due respect, he might not be cut out to be a major entrepreneur, but he'd have no problem being a small-time boss. Things like watering a rival company's money tree with poison, unplugging their internet cables, or flipping their circuit breaker—he definitely wouldn't hesitate to do stuff like that."
Hiyori Shiina couldn't help but roll her eyes after hearing that. Considering Ryūen's usual behavior, she felt she couldn't really comment, so she just said softly, "Is that so…"
Ryūen gave a noncommittal response, having no intention of discussing his ambitions with her. He touched the armrest of his office chair and got straight to the point: "For the past half-month, I've been looking into Miyabi Nagumo and getting a handle on the situation with the upperclassmen and within the Student Council."
"Take a look at this."
With that, Ryūen took out his personal terminal, found two images, and sent them over.
Symon looked along with the girl. The images were photos Ryūen had taken of the upperclassmen's Class Points—
Second Year—Class A: 1800 points, Class B: 900 points, Class C: 800 points, Class D: 600 points.
Third Year—Class A: 1260 points, Class B: 970 points, Class C: 340 points, Class D: 180 points.
After sending the images, Ryūen leaned back in his chair and asked casually, "Any thoughts?"
Symon and Hiyori Shiina conferred for a moment before switching control of the body.
Holding the personal terminal, Symon looked at the photos, his eyes lowered in thought. "The second-years' points are too uniform. The class competition is clearly over. The leader is likely that Miyabi Nagumo, and they're now working as a group to fleece the school. The school obviously has a countermeasure in place, keeping the total Class Points capped at 4000."
"Under these circumstances, after subtracting living expenses, the second-years probably add around 10 million points to their public accounts each month."
"However, this school's philosophy is based on competition. They wouldn't just stand by and let the second-years get comfortable. The administration will surely take measures to reclaim points, and the easiest way is to increase the difficulty of the exams."
"During exams, the second-years will have to choose between points and their classmates. By simply abandoning those who don't fit in or are useless, they can save a massive amount of points."
"Miyabi Nagumo is clearly not a true leader type. On the contrary, he has a noticeable desire for control and will most likely make choices that maximize his own benefit."
"Considering it takes a significant amount of time for these Class Point totals to form, the second-years' public account balance is likely somewhere between 20 and 60 million, depending on the difficulty of the school's exams."
"And under the dual pressure from both the school and Miyabi Nagumo, the overall academic atmosphere among the second-years must be incredibly competitive and repressive. No one wants to be the one left behind."
"However, if this cruel last-place elimination system is maintained for two years, it might actually produce a batch of the outstanding graduates the school desires. Besides a higher expulsion rate, there are few downsides."
Having given his mild-toned overall assessment of the second year, Symon swiped his finger, looked at the third-year Class Points on the screen, and after a moment of thought, continued:
"There's not much to analyze about the third years. Class A has a huge advantage, Class B is close behind, Class C is barely getting by, and Class D is on the verge of collapse. The entire year is essentially fragmented, similar to the current situation with the first-years."
"Judging by how Class D can't even sustain a basic lifestyle, it seems Manabu Horikita hasn't united the other classes. I don't know if he chose not to or was unable to."
"If your goal is to defeat Miyabi Nagumo and become the Student Council President, then with the points in the second-years' public accounts, he only needs to buy off the third-year C and D classes and the first-year D class to secure more than half the votes in the school, putting him in an unbeatable position."
"The third-years won't run, the first-years would never let one of their own become president, and the second year is a solid bloc."
At this point, Symon looked at Ryūen across from him and said with a smile, "Based on these two photos you sent me, it's pretty much impossible for you to beat Miyabi Nagumo. I don't see any path to a comeback."
"However, I doubt Manabu Horikita would present someone with an unwinnable situation. Seeing as you investigated for half a month before coming to me, have you found a way to break the deadlock?"
Across from him, hearing 'Hiyori Shiina' ask this, Ryūen's expression became uncharacteristically complex for a moment. He had a silent 'WTF' running through his mind:
You can analyze all this from just two pictures? Then what the hell have I been running around for these past two weeks for.
…
______
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