Chapter 19 – The Student Council Interview
"Um... Kamuro-san?"
In Hikigaya's dorm room, Hikigaya, who had been helped into the room, looked at Kamuro-san with a strange expression.
"What?"
"Can I ask... where did you get that key card from?"
Kamuro-san had opened the door so naturally that, for a moment, Hikigaya had doubted whether he had entered the wrong room.
Kamuro blinked lightly, then suddenly shoved the key card back into her pocket in a fluster and turned her head away, avoiding his gaze. "What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean..."
"Ah, no, I just wanted to ask about that key—"
"That's nothing to worry about. Let me help you back to bed so you can rest."
That's not nothing to worry about, okay?! My privacy was blatantly violated! ...Why does that sound less dramatic and more just pathetically sad?
"Kamuro-san? I mean—"
"It's about time for dinner, right? And in your condition, there's no way you can go eat. What would you like? I'll go buy it now." Kamuro-san interrupted Hikigaya mid-sentence.
"Ah, I kind of feel like eating curry today... No, wait! How did you get the key card to my room in the first place?!"
She's trying to gloss over it! And she's even trying to fast-forward straight to dinner, even though classes just ended!
"T-That was... when you were talking with Ichinose-san, I went to the front desk and got it from the administrator." Kamuro stammered, ultimately not revealing the fact that she was grilled endlessly by the dorm manager and had to lie, claiming to be Hikigaya's girlfriend in order to obtain the key card.
"I see. I thought maybe you bought it with points." Hearing Kamuro's explanation, Hikigaya nodded in relief.
However, Kamuro gave him a look as if to say, "You can do that?"—a mix of shock and slight fear.
After all, since the school rules stated that anything on campus could be bought with points, on further thought, Hikigaya's suggestion didn't seem entirely impossible.
"Don't look at me like that. If you do, I might start questioning the moral standards of the dorm manager too."
"No, the one whose moral standards are questionable is you, for even thinking of using points to buy a room key!"
...Really? I thought that was the most efficient way.
"So, Kamuro-san, when do you plan on returning that key card?"
Kamuro-san thought seriously for a few seconds after hearing Hikigaya's question. "Hmm, how about we exchange dorm keys instead? Think of it as payment for me helping you back here."
"...Huh?"
Kamuro-san, do you even know what you just said? Maybe try writing that down and reading it back to yourself? These are key cards, not Christmas presents for a gift exchange! ...Not that anyone's ever exchanged Christmas presents with me anyway.
Ignoring Hikigaya's objections, Kamuro placed her key card on the desk and turned to leave.
.
.
.
Before they knew it, almost a month had passed since the school year started, and May was only a few days away.
During this time, Hikigaya's biggest impression was that the students of Class A truly lived up to being hand-picked elites by the school.
Regardless of their personalities, their capabilities were exceptional, with virtually no weak points.
In terms of academics, most of them could solve their study problems on their own.
You could say that Class A's students had significantly higher-level thinking skills compared to other classes.
In the recent placement test, the last few problems involved material only taught in the second or third year of high school, but most Class A students still achieved impressive scores.
In particular, Sakayanagi-san and Yukinoshita-san scored full marks in all five subjects, giving Hikigaya a serious honor-student shock.
As for Hikigaya himself, while his grades in subjects other than humanities were passable, he was only at a mid-level among the talent-filled Class A.
Kamuro-san, surprisingly, performed worse than Hikigaya expected.
Although she seemed somewhat clever, she couldn't keep up with the pace of Class A's lessons and her grades were only average for the year, ranking near the bottom within Class A.
Other than that, the most noteworthy matter was the struggle between the Katsuragi faction and the Sakayanagi faction.
Ever since Sakayanagi began building her own team, the atmosphere in Class A had become quite tense.
Although the class had initially decided to follow Katsuragi's leadership in the first month, Sakayanagi's faction gradually gained the upper hand in the competition for class representative.
That was because most class affairs were handled efficiently by Sakayanagi, and her faction members fulfilled their respective duties well.
Sometimes, Katsuragi hadn't even grasped what the issue was before Sakayanagi had already resolved it.
Meanwhile, Katsuragi didn't have anyone in his faction to share the burden.
He handled everything by himself, with his only trusted ally being the loud blond Totsuka Yahiko , whom Hikigaya found incredibly annoying. But Totsuka lacked real ability—his grades were near the bottom even in elite Class A.
Moreover, Katsuragi's overly cautious personality made him miss out on several opportunities, causing some students in his faction to begin doubting his competence.
That said, Katsuragi didn't seem to be affected by the internal class struggle.
Recently, he had submitted an application to the student council, seemingly intending to prove his abilities. Yukinoshita-san also submitted an application.
She appeared to have some interest in the student council and had been preparing seriously for some time.
Then, just a few minutes ago, the school broadcast announced that Katsuragi, Yukinoshita, and Ichinose were to go to the student council office.
In the student council office, a stern-looking man sat in the office chair with his hands clasped in front of his face, exuding an overwhelming aura of authority.
Standing beside him was a petite girl with purple hair, holding several application forms in her hands and wearing a serious expression as she stared at Katsuragi Kouhei, Yukinoshita Yukino, and Ichinose Honami.
"I am the student council president, Horikita Manabu. This is the council secretary, Tachibana Akane. I've read your applications. I'd like to confirm something—are the contents of your
applications your honest intentions? If it's just superficial lip service, I'll disregard them entirely."
Horikita Manabu scrutinized the three in front of him. Katsuragi wore a composed expression, Yukinoshita appeared calm, and Ichinose smiled gently.
"Of course, they are my genuine thoughts."
"Yes, they are."
"They are indeed sincere—may I ask if there's a problem?"
Each of them gave their response.
"In that case—"
Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses and coldly declared:
"I believe none of you are suited for the student council."