After a semester, Hikigaya had gained a general understanding of the internal dynamics of the student council.
As Tachibana Akane had mentioned, the current student council was divided between Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Miyabi due to their ideologies. Among the second-year students, there were two vice presidents—Nagumo from Class 2-A and Kiriyama from Class 2-B.
It was said that Class 2-A used to be Class 2-B, and it was thanks to Nagumo's leadership that they had risen to the top. This alone was proof of his ability.
According to Tachibana Akane, Vice President Kiriyama was a supporter of Horikita Manabu. Under normal circumstances, the next student council president should have been Kiriyama, since he was part of Horikita's faction. However, the position had been taken by Nagumo instead.
No matter what had happened during the process, the result showed that Nagumo had won.
After observing for a semester, Hikigaya also noticed something unusual about the second-years. Compared to the other grades, the entire second-year seemed lifeless.
Hikigaya had specifically looked into their class points. Nagumo's Class 2-A was far ahead of the other three classes. He had also heard from third-year Handa that the entire second-year cohort seemed to follow Nagumo's commands.
Did that mean Nagumo controlled the entire second-year by himself?
That was a terrifying thought.
Suddenly, Hikigaya froze as if something had just clicked in his mind.
"Hm? Hikigaya, what's wrong?"
Tachibana Akane looked at him in confusion as he stood there motionless. Coming back to his senses, Hikigaya turned to her.
"Tachibana-senpai, can I ask you a question? It involves some private and confidential matters, so if it's inappropriate, you don't have to answer."
Tachibana Akane hesitated for a moment but then nodded.
"Tachibana-senpai, you're in Class A, right? I want to know—does your class currently have more than 20 million private points?"
Tachibana Akane was slightly stunned. She hadn't expected such an unusual and tricky question from Hikigaya. After thinking for a bit, she nodded.
Hikigaya recalled something Chabashira-sensei had said before: 20 million private points could be used to switch classes, and they could also be used to cancel an expulsion once.
For a single student, earning 20 million private points was almost impossible. But what if an entire class pooled their points together?
And in this case, using 20 million points to prevent an expulsion was clearly a more strategic choice than switching classes.
After the deserted island exam and the VIP test, Hikigaya had realized that earning private points wasn't as difficult as he had originally thought.
The reason he had asked Tachibana Akane that question was to confirm something—upper-class students had a huge reserve of private points. There was no way they could have saved that much just from the school's monthly allowance. But what if they also included the special exams?
Hikigaya had also noticed another key detail. Compared to the points he had schemed and tricked his way into getting from Ryuen and Katsuragi, the private points earned through special exams were far larger in number—and much easier to manipulate.
Take the VIP test as an example. Thanks to Haruno, the exam had resulted in students collectively earning over 80 million private points.
If it were Nagumo in charge… Hikigaya could already imagine how much private points Nagumo, who controlled the entire second-year, could extract from these exams.
It was clear that this massive amount of private points was Nagumo's greatest weapon. No wonder Tachibana Akane was so wary of him.
At that moment, the conference room door opened. Horikita Manabu walked in, followed by a second-year student—Vice President Kiriyama.
"Hikigaya, there's something I need to discuss with you."
Horikita Manabu spoke suddenly, glancing at Kiriyama.
—
After leaving the student council room, Hikigaya sighed as he thought about what Horikita Manabu had just told him.
Just as he had suspected, since Horikita Manabu was going to step down soon, the student council's power would gradually shift to Nagumo. By the time the second semester started, Nagumo's influence would continue to grow, while Horikita Manabu and the other third-years would slowly lose their grip on the council.
To keep Nagumo in check, Horikita Manabu had entrusted Kiriyama with the task. He had also introduced Hikigaya to Kiriyama, seemingly hoping that Hikigaya would assist Kiriyama in resisting Nagumo.
Kiriyama had been very welcoming to Hikigaya and was clearly grateful for Horikita Manabu's trust.
"Going up against Nagumo, huh?"
Hikigaya shook his head and let out a wry smile.
If it were someone as capable as Horikita Manabu, maybe it would be possible.
But Kiriyama… it wasn't that Hikigaya looked down on him, but the fact was that Nagumo had been held back by Horikita Manabu all this time, yet Kiriyama still hadn't achieved much.
Right now, he couldn't even handle the "half-crippled" Nagumo, let alone Nagumo without Horikita Manabu keeping him in check.
Although Hikigaya respected Horikita Manabu, that didn't mean he would blindly follow his every order.
He had his own judgment. Nagumo had the advantage of timing and position, and on top of that, he had the entire second-year class behind him. How could Hikigaya, with his "small arms," possibly take on someone with that much power?
And even if he had to go up against Nagumo, he definitely wouldn't choose Kiriyama as a teammate. The reason was simple—he couldn't see even the slightest hope in Kiriyama's eyes.
When Horikita Manabu first mentioned opposing Nagumo, all Hikigaya saw in Kiriyama's eyes was indifference.
At that moment, Hikigaya understood—this guy was completely unreliable.
It made sense when you thought about it. Nagumo had stolen his spot in Class A, and despite being the vice president, Kiriyama held no real power. The entire second-year class was under Nagumo's control. Timing, position, and support—none of these were in Kiriyama's favor.
"Man, what a pain."
Hikigaya didn't really want to get involved in all this, but he also understood something—when you're in the game, you can't always choose to stay out of it. A lot of times, it's not about what you want to do, but what the environment forces you to do.
While eating in the cafeteria, Hikigaya overheard many students discussing the same topic.
Fortune-telling.
Apparently, a very accurate fortune-teller had set up shop at the Keyaki Mall Shopping Center, and it had gotten students from all grades excited. In a dull, closed-off school where students couldn't go outside, fortune-telling was a rare and refreshing novelty.
Hikigaya vaguely recalled Hiyori mentioning it before—she had even planned to go with Sakura.
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