Chapter 267: The Showdown and the Counterattack!
"Wait a minute!
Disciplinary Committee... Chairman?!
Since when did our Student Council have this official position?!"
Kiriyama Ikuto was utterly shocked.
The Student Council did indeed have disciplinary committee members, but it was not a formal position. Rather, it was a temporary role filled by general affairs members. Usually, they would only investigate student discipline following the President's orders when the need arose.
Considering the special functions of a disciplinary committee—which could exert substantial, direct interference in class competitions—Horikita Manabu had never made it a permanent position.
"Did none of you check the Student Council's position list? The version updated this morning?"
Tachibana Akane walked up slowly from behind.
The Student Council members were momentarily stunned, then pulled out their phones one after another to open the Student Council's page.
In the column for the position list, they truly found the newly added "Disciplinary Committee Chairman," accompanied by Hikigaya Hachiman's profile picture.
"Hahaha...I've been outplayed."
Nagumo Miyabi's eyes narrowed slightly, yet a strange smile played on his face.
"However, I feel deeply honored that President Horikita would go as far as violating his own principles to set a trap for me.
New Disciplinary Committee Chairman, would you like to come up and say a few words?"
Horikita Manabu's lips curled upward as he handed the microphone to him.
'Since you've already handed me the mic, can I even refuse?' Hikigaya thought, speechless.
"Class 1-D, Hikigaya Hachiman.
Uh... I hope everyone gets along well."
Hikigaya gave a perfunctory two-sentence speech.
However, the signal sent to the audience below was interpreted in many different ways.
Class D evaluation: "That's it? He feels so weak..."
Class C evaluation: "He's telling us to behave ourselves, or he'll deal with us? This is a blatant threat!" Class B evaluation: "Everyone be careful from now on; don't let anyone get something on you." Class A evaluation: "Hikigaya-kun just has scary-looking eyes; he's actually quite kind."
As for the second and third years, most of them didn't know Hikigaya, so they reacted with curiosity and a sense of "not knowing what's happening but feeling it's impressive."
Hikigaya handed the microphone back to the host and walked down from the podium side-by-side with Horikita Manabu.
"Next, the new Student Council President will deliver his inaugural address."
Clap clap clap!
Amidst a burst of applause, Nagumo Miyabi walked from backstage to the front. As he passed Hikigaya, he purposefully turned back to give him a deep, searching look.
"I am Nagumo Miyabi from Class 2-A, and I will be succeeding as the new Student Council President."
Nagumo's gaze was like fire, looking out over the crowd with supreme confidence.
"Welcome to the true meritocratic school!"
"True?"
The students below looked at each other in confusion. They had been told since enrollment that the school followed the rules of meritocracy.
"I believe the current class competition is too ordinary.
It is insufficient to demonstrate the school's core philosophy to the outside world.
Capable students should continuously move upward..."
At this point, Nagumo deliberately directed his gaze toward the students of Classes B, C, and D.
"Excellent students trapped in a collective that does not match their strength—this is a waste of talent!"
'That's right! With my strength, I shouldn't be in this class!'
Nagumo's inflammatory words successfully resonated with the majority of students in the bottom three classes.
Only a very small minority held their reservations.
.
.
.
Horikita Suzune's brow was furrowed tight.
If it were the old her, she likely would have been seduced by this rhetoric.
"Tch! This blond dog really knows how to draw a big 'pie' [empty promises]." Ryuen Kakeru clicked his tongue in disdain.
"I see. So this is the method Nagumo used to rule the second years?" Sakayanagi Arisu saw right through it.
Using "individual promotion to Class A" as bait, he recruited capable students from the other classes to follow his orders.
"Mm~ I feel like President Nagumo's way of speaking is a bit inappropriate..." Ichinose Honami's intellect was also online.
To put it bluntly, this was about training "dogs" and dividing other classes. Nagumo's ultimate goal was still to maintain his own rule!
"Hikigaya, what do you think?" Horikita Manabu asked.
"I think President Nagumo is quite right," Hikigaya responded.
"Oh? Do you also agree with his viewpoint?" Horikita Manabu looked surprised.
"It's not a matter of agreeing or not.
President Nagumo's words truly align with the desires of most people."
The corner of Hikigaya's mouth twitched into a faint, cynical sneer.
"After all, rather than accepting their own mediocrity, people prefer to fantasize that they are simply 'unrecognized geniuses.'"
Horikita Manabu was momentarily silenced. After a long pause, he offered a remark: "Why do I get the feeling that if you became Student Council President, you would be even worse than Nagumo?"
"Don't joke, President. First of all, it's impossible for me to become the Student Council President," Hikigaya countered.
"I am no longer the President. You can call me Manabu." Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses.
Seeing the other's dead-serious expression, Hikigaya couldn't resist a bit of mischief: "Then can I call you Onii-san?"
After considering it seriously, Horikita Manabu gave a rejection: "Right now... you cannot."
'Why not?'
Hikigaya was about to ask reflexively, but immediately felt it was inappropriate and shut his mouth.
"Cough cough~ Um, Manabu-senpai, I was just joking just now." Hikigaya's eyes darted away.
"I wasn't joking." Horikita Manabu suddenly stared at him with sharp eyes.
He said nothing else, yet he had said everything.
'Damn it! If only I were a light novel protagonist, I could just act dense and bluff my way through.'
At the front, Nagumo Miyabi was still in the middle of his passionate speech.
"Those with insufficient strength should be eliminated!
In the future, the Student Council will participate in the design of Special Exams."
This was a blatant declaration of intent to interfere with the exams.
"Furthermore, the Student Council will undergo a restructuring.
Including the President, all members will be life-long appointments."
According to the past conventions of the Advanced Nurturing High School, the Student Council usually held transitions in the second semester of the third year.
Horikita Manabu had followed this rule, and to help the next President familiarize themselves with the council as quickly as possible, he had tacitly allowed Nagumo to build his own faction. This ultimately led to power spiraling out of control.
"Until graduation, I and all members of the Student Council will do our utmost to build the ultimate meritocratic campus culture...
Thank you, everyone!"
Nagumo's speech ended.
"Does that mean I have to stay as this Disciplinary Committee Chairman until graduation?" Hikigaya expressed strong dissatisfaction.
"Are you kidding me? This is just causing trouble for others!"
"In that case, Nagumo's control over the Student Council will likely be unstoppable." Horikita Manabu looked worried.
In a sense, training a successor was meant to limit the excessive concentration of power in a President. Nagumo's move was clearly an attempt to create an autocracy where no one could challenge his authority.
"I feel like this guy's life only exists within these three years of high school," Hikigaya said, rolling his eyes.
The term "power-hungry" being applied to a mere student was honestly a bit much to handle.
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The school assembly ended. Students from various classes left with different moods. Hikigaya wanted to slip away too, but that was clearly impossible.
"Our Disciplinary Committee Chairman, where do you think you're going?" Nagumo Miyabi called out to him from behind.
"President Nagumo, do you have any orders?" Hikigaya kept his posture low, acting cautious.
A look of scrutiny flashed in Nagumo's eyes. "Hikigaya-kouhai, there's no need to be nervous. As colleagues in the Student Council, I think it's necessary for us to get to know each other."
"Yes, President Nagumo. And to all the other senpais, please take care of me in the future."
Hikigaya looked respectful, appearing like a harmless newcomer.
This made the other members of the Student Council look a bit more friendly. Most of them were dissatisfied with this newcomer who had suddenly dropped in and taken such an important position as Disciplinary Committee Chairman.
"Hikigaya Hachiman... right?
Though I don't understand why Horikita-senpai suddenly broke rank to recruit a Class D student like you into the Council...
I hope you don't get carried away. Listen to your senpais' opinions on everything!"
Kiriyama Ikuto gave him a "shot across the bow" immediately.
Hikigaya remembered this guy—he was the Vice President Horikita Manabu had promoted, originally intended to be a counterweight to Nagumo.
'Looking at it now, Manabu's eye for people is really poor!'
"Yes, yes, Senpai is right...
A mere Class D student like myself entering the elite-filled Student Council... it's truly intimidating."
Hikigaya acted humble and asked cautiously, "By the way, I wonder what the name of this senpai from Class 2-A is?"
The Student Council members were first stunned, and then their expressions became strange.
Because Kiriyama Ikuto was from Class 2-B.
"..."
Kiriyama's face flushed red, feeling incredibly embarrassed.
A moment ago, he had used Hikigaya's Class D status to openly belittle and secretly suppress him. Unexpectedly, the latter accepted his lecture humbly while "overestimating" him as an elite from Class A.
This "stepping on one while praising the other" created a sharp contrast. However, Hikigaya's praise was killing with overpraise! To put it simply, it was high-level sarcasm.
"kouhai, you might not know, but this is the Student Council Vice President, Kiriyama Ikuto, from Class 2-B." A council member kindly explained for the speechless, embarrassed Kiriyama.
"Eh—?!
Kiriyama-senpai is actually from Class B?
I am so sorry!"
Hikigaya deliberately put on a shocked, unbelievable expression.
"...!"
Kiriyama grit his teeth and spoke, trying to save face: "It's not your fault if you didn't know. Just as President Nagumo said, excellent students are sometimes trapped in inferior classes..."
As he said this, Kiriyama pointedly looked at Nagumo Miyabi.
According to their private agreement, Nagumo would help him transfer to Class A before graduation. In exchange, Kiriyama would fully support Nagumo's dominance in the Student Council.
Nagumo gave Kiriyama a reassuring look.
In reality, Nagumo sneered in his heart: 'Stupid idiot, you think you're worthy of being in the same class as me?'
Hikigaya was also mocking them internally: 'Great, another one who thinks he's an unrecognized genius. He became a dog just because someone fed him a few lies.'
"It's almost time for class."
"Hikigaya, you head back first. Come to the Student Council office after school." Nagumo ordered.
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.
Back in the Class D classroom.
Hikigaya clearly felt various gazes of curiosity, suspicion, and jealousy being cast toward him.
"Congratulations, Hachiman."
After he returned to his seat, Horikita Suzune offered her blessings from the neighboring desk.
"What's there to be happy about... Work is a total pain!" Hikigaya sprawled listlessly across his desk.
"Don't show such a dispirited face! My brother recruited you into the Student Council. If you don't do a good job, it will inevitably affect his reputation!" Horikita Suzune warned sternly.
'You really do think of your brother in everything...'
"Besides, for you, don't you think this is a good opportunity to improve your personal reputation?"
'Huh, she's actually caring about me?'
"First of all, I don't care what others think of me. Second... never mind, forget it."
What Hikigaya didn't say was that the nature of disciplinary work would not only fail to bring him a good reputation, but it would also likely make it even worse.
"Don't say things like that...
You should know that someone cares about you."
Horikita Suzune stared at him with bright, intense eyes.
Faced with this sudden, gentle gaze, Hikigaya was caught off guard.
'This girl, she couldn't possibly feel... toward me...'
"Hachiman!"
Kushida Kikyo, sitting in the front row, suddenly turned around.
"What is it?" Hikigaya's gaze shifted away from Horikita Suzune's face.
"In the next English class, can you be my oral practice partner?"
'Wait, sister? Don't you think this request is a bit presumptuous? Oral practice is usually done with the person sitting next to you.'
"Kushida-san, if you want to practice English speaking, shouldn't you look for Wang Mei-Yu-san sitting next to you?" Horikita Suzune frowned.
Wang Mei-Yu's English level was actually higher than hers.
"Mmm, mmm~"
Wang Mei-Yu's mouth was tightly shut, and she occasionally showed a pained expression.
"Mouth ulcer?" Hikigaya identified the problem at a glance.
"Mm mm mm!" Wang Mei-Yu nodded, but even the act of nodding caused her pain. Based on Hikigaya's personal experience, she probably had at least five white spots in there; it was quite the torture.
"So, Hachiman, please~~ [Onegai]" Kushida Kikyo looked at him pleadingly.
It was just oral practice, no big deal. Hikigaya was about to agree.
"I'll be your practice partner!" Horikita Suzune took the initiative to step in.
"Huh?" Kushida Kikyo almost turned into a Yasha instantly!
"My English is stronger than both of yours. Do you have an objection?" Horikita Suzune said coldly.
"No, that's... Then what about Hachiman's practice partner?" Kushida Kikyo cursed inwardly.
"The two of you can rest easy.
Airi and I can be Hachiman's practice partners together."
Hasabe Haruka and Sakura Airi proactively leaned over.
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