Inside the student council office.
Sakayanagi sat across from the desk, silently mulling over what she had just heard from Nagumo.
—Ichinose had stolen something back in middle school.
If anyone else—no, if most first-year students heard this, their first reaction would undoubtedly be disbelief.
After all, Ichinose seemed so kind. How could she ever do such a thing?
Especially those in Class B who adored and relied on her excessively—this kind of news could very well incite a riot.
Yet, Sakayanagi was unfazed. Instead, her first thought was, So it's true, after all.
Because she had already heard rumors about this before.
Ichinose had been a well-known student in middle school—not only was she a central figure on campus, but she was also the student council president, admired by many of her peers. Even teachers placed great trust in her. She was, in every sense, the epitome of an honor student.
And yet, there had been a period when she suddenly stopped attending school.
The exact details had been deliberately concealed by the school administration, but whispers still managed to spread.
Normally, in this Advanced Nurturing High School, where no students from Ichinose's middle school were enrolled in her year, such rumors wouldn't have followed her.
But the problem was that Ichinose was too popular.
Not just at her old school, but even students from neighboring schools had heard her name.
To have so many admirers was certainly something to take pride in.
However, it was often in such moments that disaster struck.
One of the students in Class B had heard rumors about Ichinose back in middle school. Though they only knew the general details, that was more than enough for Sakayanagi.
She had originally intended to verify it herself, but now she wouldn't even have to bother.
To be fair, there was one thing that surprised her.
She hadn't expected Nagumo to reveal this information so freely… Heh, what an untrustworthy man.
"President Nagumo, forgive my rudeness, but what you've just said is truly difficult for me to believe."
After deeming it the right moment, Sakayanagi feigned an appropriate amount of surprise.
"Ichinose-san is widely recognized as the kindest student in our grade. Even as her rival, I can't deny that."
"Heh, do you think I'd lie to you?" Nagumo seemed to revel in her reaction. "This is an undeniable fact—Honami told me herself. She wouldn't lie about something like this. Honestly, I was a bit shocked when I first heard it too."
"I see… It seems Ichinose-san trusts you quite a lot."
Sakayanagi nodded in apparent understanding before asking a seemingly insignificant question.
"But why are you telling me this? Surely this would only harm Ichinose-san. I thought you liked her."
"That's where you're mistaken. I do like Honami—she's an absolute gem of a woman."
Unabashedly discussing such topics even in front of a younger female student, Nagumo casually stroked the rabbit plush beside him.
"I had planned to make Honami my own, to cherish her properly. But things haven't progressed as smoothly as I'd hoped."
"I see." Sakayanagi smiled without the slightest hint of distaste. "So, by having my strike against Ichinose-san, you're hoping to exploit the opportunity and break her down—to tame her into becoming your plaything?"
"Heh, smart girl."
Nagumo snapped his fingers with an amused grin.
"What do you think? This benefits you as well, doesn't it? The opportunity to reclaim Class A is right before you."
"No, you misunderstand," Sakayanagi corrected him with absolute seriousness. "I simply refuse to tolerate anyone standing above me."
Nagumo merely chuckled, offering no rebuttal.
"That aside, we don't often get the chance to talk like this privately, so I'd like to ask you something."
"And what would that be?"
"There are some rather stubborn students around…"
Sakayanagi deliberately adopted a troubled expression.
"Specifically, how does the student council handle students who resort to physical force?"
When it came to intellect, Sakayanagi was confident she wouldn't lose to the likes of Katsuragi, Ichinose, or Horikita.
However, violence was an entirely different matter. She had to adjust her strategy accordingly.
"You mean the kind who win by brute force when all else fails?" Nagumo smirked knowingly.
After all, Sakayanagi's cane was resting beside her. Only a blind man wouldn't notice her physical condition.
"That's not exactly my forte."
Despite the veiled provocation, Sakayanagi showed no sign of displeasure.
"Well, that's unfortunate. I don't mind settling matters with fists," Nagumo said with a smirk.
"Unlike Horikita-senpai, I don't intend to impose strict regulations. As long as it doesn't go too far, I'll simply turn a blind eye."
"In that case, if something like the past fight between Class 1-D and Class 1-C were to happen again, you wouldn't intervene?"
What Sakayanagi wanted to know was the threshold—just how much violence Nagumo would tolerate.
"Hmm…"
Nagumo pondered for a moment before answering.
"If the school gets involved, I can't exactly ignore it. But I won't let it escalate to the point of expulsion—at worst, a short suspension. And there won't be any deductions in class or personal points."
He added that this was merely the student council's stance.
In other words, even if the council were lenient, they would still have to comply if the school took a firm stance.
Sakayanagi was well aware of this.
Even though Advanced Nurturing High School promoted meritocracy and granted students a great degree of autonomy, in the end, they were still just students.
"I see. I now fully understand just how generous President Nagumo is."
The information she had obtained was nearly identical to what someone had told her before.
Heh… Hikigaya-kun was the same as always.
Even with information that should have only been shared among close peers—he always managed to relay it to anyone with an air of complete indifference.
Whenever this happened, Sakayanagi couldn't help but find it amusing.
But it wasn't mockery, nor was it contempt—if anything, it was admiration.
Gaining people's trust was no easy feat.
But if one consistently told the truth and built a solid foundation of credibility, then someday—even the most outrageous lies might be believed by everyone.
Years of patience, all for the perfect moment of betrayal.
Such a thing wasn't impossible.
And because she understood that all too well, Sakayanagi had never underestimated Hikigaya.
The only issue was that he played his role a little too well.
Sometimes, she even wanted to praise him—but he left her no choice but to tease him instead.
Regardless, she was quite satisfied with this conversation.
She had reaped a bountiful harvest.
"Thank you for enlightening me, President Nagumo. It seems the student council holds even more power than I initially thought.
Good thing I visited in advance—if you had taken action personally to protect Ichinose-san, it would have been quite the nuisance for me."
Upon hearing this, Nagumo's face lit up with satisfaction.
"I don't oppose you targeting Ichinose, but I must give you a little warning first."
As he spoke, his sharp gaze locked onto Sakayanagi.
"It's fine if you push her around a bit, but don't go overboard. If she ends up dropping out because of this, I'll be very upset."
"Understood. I'll keep that in mind."
Sakayanagi lowered her head politely, her demeanor refined and graceful.
Her obedient attitude only made Nagumo more pleased. The girl before him was as exquisite as a porcelain doll—delicate and charming.
And that aggressive nature of hers? Even more delightful.
"So, Sakayanagi, why don't you join my side? I guarantee your school life will become a lot more interesting." Nagumo extended his invitation once again.
"Oh? I thought you had a thing for Ichinose."
"If it's you, it's only a matter of time before you surpass Ichinose in my eyes."
"How flattering."
Due to her unique family background, Sakayanagi had encountered all sorts of narcissists before. She remained composed, as always.
Dealing with people like Nagumo was quite easy.
Unlike certain others… Someone had been getting a little too arrogant lately. She needed to find an opportunity to set things straight.
"Thank you for your invitation." Sakayanagi smiled, but her words were laced with thorns.
"But as I said before, I don't like standing beneath anyone. More importantly, I wouldn't want to embarrass an upperclassman."
"Heh, is that so?"
Nagumo didn't seem angry. Instead, he chuckled as if he found the situation amusing.
"In that case, I won't force you. But if you ever change your mind, you're welcome to join the student council anytime."
"Much appreciated. This meeting has been quite enlightening—it's given me insight into what kind of person you are, President Nagumo. Compared to the previous president, Horikita, I think we get along much better. Now I can rest easy."
A student council president who could discard his subordinates so easily… It seemed the days ahead wouldn't be boring.
Feeling satisfied, Sakayanagi grasped her cane and slowly stood up.
"It's getting late. If you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave."
Just as she was about to exit the office, Nagumo suddenly called out to her.
"By the way, what do you know about Ayanokoji?"
The abrupt question suggested he was quite interested in the topic.
Sakayanagi maintained her usual composed expression. "Ayanokoji-kun? I've heard of him. He scored a perfect mark in every subject on the recent exam."
"Oh? So that was real."
Nagumo nodded thoughtfully, but Sakayanagi's next words immediately interrupted his train of thought.
"The perfect scores are indeed true, but there seems to be more to the story."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"Before this, Ayanokoji-kun was just an unremarkable student. From what I've gathered, he was merely a pawn in someone else's scheme during this exam. The real mastermind is someone else entirely. There are even rumors that he obtained test questions from other classes beforehand. But sharing the answers with only one person? That seems like a blatant provocation."
At this point, a faint smile curved Sakayanagi's lips.
"That's why Ryuen-kun from Class 1-C is furious—he's been running around like a headless chicken trying to figure out who's behind it. I was actually late today because I wanted to watch the spectacle."
To her, Ayanokoji was a rare and intriguing prey. She wouldn't let anyone interfere.
"Heh, looks like this year's first-years are quite interesting."
Nagumo didn't press further and dropped the topic.
Although Sakayanagi's impromptu response was decent, it was unfortunate that someone had already given Nagumo a heads-up back in the first semester.
Far from lowering his guard, she had only made him even more wary of Ayanokoji.
Cleverness can backfire sometimes.
—
Meanwhile, having overheard everything, Hikigaya fell into deep thought.
What the hell are these people trying to do? Can't they just take it easy for once?
He wasn't too concerned about Sakayanagi. But Nagumo? That guy seriously disgusted him.
Hikigaya had already suspected Nagumo wasn't genuinely interested in Ichinose's well-being, but he hadn't expected him to stoop this low.
He just couldn't understand it.
Objectively speaking, Nagumo wasn't ugly—in fact, he was annoyingly good-looking, even more so than Hayama or Hirata.
On top of that, he controlled the entire second-year student body and was the student council president. He had no shortage of girls throwing themselves at him.
For someone like that, life was set to easy mode from birth.
If he liked Ichinose so much, why not pursue her properly?
Why resort to these underhanded tricks?
Tch.
If only Hikigaya had enrolled a year earlier, he would've made sure Nagumo regretted even thinking about this.
Too bad time travel wasn't an option.
The worst part was that Nagumo's methods were difficult to counter.
If Sakayanagi truly intended to use this against Ichinose, there wasn't much Hikigaya could do to stop her.
Because it wasn't a lie—it was the truth.
Ichinose had made a mistake. No one had framed her.
Even if Hikigaya somehow convinced Sakayanagi to stay quiet, what then?
As long as Nagumo had his sights set on Ichinose, even if Sakayanagi backed off, he'd just use someone else—like Ryuen. That guy would be more than happy to play along. Not to mention all the other second-years who'd jump at the chance.
Ichinose had to overcome this herself.
Of course, that didn't mean Hikigaya would just sit back and do nothing.
For now, it seemed Nagumo and Sakayanagi were merely using each other. But if they ever formed a long-term alliance, that would be a real problem.
In that sense, Sakayanagi's interference might actually be a good thing.
At present, Hikigaya had no reliable way to counter Nagumo or the second-years.
But Sakayanagi? She was still manageable.
However, before dealing with that, there was another issue to address.
Fortunately, Sakayanagi had claimed she wouldn't make her move until the third semester. And with only about ten days left until winter break, she likely wasn't bluffing.
That gave him just enough time to take care of another pressing concern.
Originally, Hikigaya had planned to wait a little longer—he had wanted to give Ryuen more time to grow.
But plans rarely go as expected. He'd have to move things up.
With that in mind, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to a certain someone.
If this were happening during winter break, he'd be 80% confident that both parties would agree to cooperate.
Right now, though, it was more like 30%. The rest… he could only leave to luck.
Hopefully, the gods would cut him a break for once.