Everyone's faces changed at Yukio's seemingly polite but arrogant words. For a moment, they feared he planned to keep expulsion in place, their hearts all on edge with complicated thoughts. But then he "changed tune," letting them breathe relief again. Ichinose, in particular, exhaled a deep sigh, lightly patting her chest, "Geez, that was scary, Yukio-kun. Always so blunt verbally, yet deep down you're really kind."
Yukio's gaze fixed on Ichinose, seemingly agreeing with her praise—though he was actually drawn by the slight bounce in her chest when she patted it.
"Ahem." Kushida stiffened slightly. 'Deep down kind? Yukio? Good grief, those eyes must be near-sighted by 2,000 degrees.'
Seeing that, Ichinose asked in concern, "Eh, what's wrong, Kikyo?"
"N-nothing…"
No one else paid them much mind. All eyes returned to Yukio's side. Ryuuen and Sakayanagi found nothing unusual—this was exactly in line with the Yukio they knew. But Kiriyama and Horikita both looked grim.
Kiriyama felt stifled. Just now, he'd answered everything Yukio asked, only for Yukio to declare himself a one-man show. It implied Kiriyama might never gain any advantage for his own class. Of course he was upset. Horikita felt similarly. She was desperate to prove herself by guiding her class to A-Rank, but with Yukio so dominant in the Student Council, the future looked even harder.
Still, neither had a solution. The Student Council president indeed had unilateral authority, otherwise there'd be no point in a president at all.
"All right, all right." Having removed expulsion, Yukio moved the agenda forward. "But don't say I never give you a chance. The forest-school exam is about testing spirit and discipline, etc. The instructions aren't very clear, so if you've got more down-to-earth replacements for those categories, let's hear them."
It was reminiscent of the carrot and stick tactic. Controlling a group required both intimidation and reward. Straight-up oppression wouldn't work; it'd drive people to scheme behind one's back. Show them there were benefits for compliance, so they'd muster their best ideas; but at crunch time, it was still your final say. Yukio had learned these methods at home. He was quite adept.
But the group was briefly confused: Didn't he just say he'd be a dictator? Now he's allowing proposals? That quick shift was hard to follow.
Only Sakayanagi seemed prepared, as though she'd already anticipated Yukio's leadership style. She'd been waiting. As soon as he finished talking, she calmly put forth a suggestion: "Study."
Yukio, recalling the help Sakayanagi provided that time with wiretapping, nodded in approval.
Seeing that it genuinely worked, the others were pumped up, following Sakayanagi's lead. In their eyes, her suggestion was spot on. For students at a forest school, obviously learning was a key point. Next, they had to push each class's strong suits.
Sakayanagi's class was made up of top academic performers, so her suggestion made sense. Ryuuen named "physical ability," pointing out that his class excelled at athletic challenges. Yukio readily supported that, especially since it was his own class. Ichinose, not hesitating, proudly named her class's greatest strength: "Teamwork! Or, well, unity."
Yukio was noncommittal. His gaze landed on Horikita and Kiriyama, signifying that three out of four words were picked. Now it was their turn. Maybe because Sakayanagi, Ryuuen, and Ichinose had come up with suggestions so quickly, and Yukio had approved them so fast, Horikita got flustered. Or maybe seeing Yukio flip from "dictator" to "go ahead and propose" so abruptly rattled her.
Either way, the combined factors made Horikita blurt out D-Class's trademark characteristic: "Uselessness."
Yukio's cheek twitched. Oh dear… Huh?! If that were added to the official proposal, the school would suspect the Student Council had lost its mind. Ryuuen gave no sympathy, bursting into laughter and actually applauding. "Great! Spot-on self-awareness! That's D-Class for you—knowing your place as worthless!"
Sakayanagi politely held back a laugh. Ichinose and Kushida froze mid-thought, exchanging dumbfounded glances. Ichinose's look made Kushida feel sheepish enough to avert her eyes. Inside, Kushida was silently cursing Horikita to high heaven. 'What on earth?! Who the heck suggests uselessness as an exam focus? Are we measuring who's the biggest deadweight?!'
Though ironically, D-Class's biggest specialty was indeed being incompetent. This was truly awkward. Meanwhile, Kiriyama, who'd meant to propose something, lost his train of thought at that comedic bombshell. 'Wait—what was I going to say? I can't remember now.'
No one could concentrate properly after Horikita's bizarre statement. Horikita ignored Ryuuen's mocking laughter and the general scorn of others, but seeing Yukio's face twitch in suppressed amusement made her feel especially mortified. This usually calm, cool girl turned bright red at her own slip. Even so, she forced herself to explain: "I… that is, I actually meant to suggest something else. It just… came to mind immediately… I—I'll withdraw that proposal."
Coughing, she tried to brush past it, but her embarrassment was palpable. She'd entered the Council wanting to handle tasks flawlessly. This was her first meeting, and she'd dropped a major clanger, humiliating enough to make her cringe inside. Yet she had to take responsibility for her words. Pressuring her brain to work faster, Horikita rummaged for something more suitable. Finally, feeling thoroughly awkward, she forced out a second suggestion: "What about… Individual Ability?"
That was the best she could do for D-Class, which contained a few real aces like herself, Matsushita, Ayanokouji, the odd monster Koenji, plus second-tier talents like Hirata, Kushida, Karuizawa, etc.
"Fine by me," Yukio said, waving a hand to show Kiriyama needn't bother. They'd already gathered four points. Kiriyama glared at Horikita, suspecting she'd sabotaged him on purpose so that he had no chance to speak. 'Low blow. These first-years are vile.'
Whatever Kiriyama was thinking, Yukio didn't care. "Also," he added, "I think the official materials are too complicated—stuff about how many small groups or big groups. No need for discussion. I'll just change it myself…"
***
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