[Spending 20 million points would allow me to transfer to another class, right?]
[Only by being in another class will I have the chance to face Saiki. Perhaps Saiki has already considered this, which is why he's trying to recruit Ryuen and the others to expand his influence. Now, Class D has become Saiki's pawn, all to deal with me in the future?]
[Sakayanagi from Class A is currently an enemy, so the only one I can use now is Class C... Ichinose.]
Various thoughts immediately flooded Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind.
However, Chabashira Sae, who was standing in front of him, was unaware of this.
At this moment, Chabashira Sae was smiling, and her voice seemed to soften a bit:
"That's great, Ayanokoji. If you have any needs in the future, you can come to me directly!"
"I'll take my leave now."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said to Chabashira Sae, then turned around and left.
[I crave failure. If I fail, it will prove that everything that man taught me was wrong.]
[With 20 million points, I can directly rise to Class A. If I want to face Saiki, I need to make sure he also rises to Class A before I do—or transfer to another class.]
[By then, Chabashira-sensei might also become my enemy. What kind of expression will she have then?]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka muttered to himself in his heart as he left the administration building without looking back.
...
On the other side.
Saiki parted ways with Karuizawa Kei at the café. As he walked, he sent messages to Sakura Airi and Sato Maya, inviting them to hang out together on Christmas.
Of course, the girls were overjoyed upon receiving the news.
This was all part of Saiki's plan.
Using his telepathy and clairvoyance, Saiki had discovered that Sato Maya seemed to be planning to confess her feelings to him on Christmas. That's why he found the holiday to be a bit troublesome.
This was a situation Saiki absolutely wanted to avoid. Otherwise, no matter what, things would become extremely awkward.
'Yare yare, I did agree to hang out with them, but I never said it would be a one-on-one date.'
Saiki thought to himself.
They might see this Christmas outing as a date, but in reality, turning it into a normal group hangout with friends would be the best solution.
As long as there were enough people present, an awkward confession scene could be avoided.
With this in mind, Saiki prepared to return to his dorm.
But just then, an unfamiliar female student passed by him like a gust of wind.
She was holding her phone, seemingly chatting happily with someone.
"Ever since you became the student council president, you've become so hard to get along with, Miyabi. Ahaha, just kidding! I'm not mad, but next time you're treating me to all sorts of delicious food, so be prepared!"
The girl laughed as she spoke.
"The student council? No thanks, I'm not interested in that stuff. Besides, the showdown between Miyabi and the former student council president hasn't been settled yet, right? And why are you suddenly confessing to me? I know you've been hitting on girls left and right."
'Yare yare, student council president, Miyabi... Is she referring to the new student council president, Nagumo Miyabi? That guy's trouble. He seems to have a lot of influence among the second-years. I hope I don't have to interact with him too much in the future.'
Saiki thought to himself, planning to ignore her and leave.
"But... if you do win against Horikita-senpai, I might consider it. That's all for now!"
The girl took her phone away, and her tone suddenly became a bit somber.
"Miyabi's really getting full of himself. Then again, maybe it's because Horikita-senpai is useless? I'm looking forward to seeing him stop Miyabi. In the end, will the game still conclude with Miyabi's victory?"
'Another troublesome person, huh?'
Just as Saiki was thinking this, the girl seemed to trip over something at the fork in the road leading to the dorms and fell hard.
'??? Another cliché high school girl tripping over nothing?'
Saiki sighed, turned to look at her, and saw that the girl had already gotten up. She stuck out her tongue at him sheepishly, then ran off.
After the girl left, Saiki noticed that she had dropped something on the ground—a small charm.
Saiki picked up the charm and looked around. Since this was the entrance to the dorm area, there were surveillance cameras everywhere. It wouldn't be appropriate to use his powers to return it to her directly.
'Yare yare, she's probably a second-year student. I'll just take it to the dorm manager later.'
Saiki muttered to himself, then headed toward the second-year dormitory.
...
A few days later, Christmas Eve.
Saiki was at home, reading a novel that Shiina Hiyori had given him. After all, tomorrow might be an exhausting day, so he needed to rest well today.
Although Karuizawa Kei had contacted him earlier that evening, Saiki had managed to come up with an excuse to avoid meeting her.
But just then, Saiki's phone buzzed, and he received a message from an unknown number.
Unknown User (Not in Contacts): Saiki, I need to talk to you. It's something very important that could affect your future school life. Meet me at the second sports field.
"Yare yare, can't even rest properly on Christmas Eve?"
Saiki sighed, already guessing who it might be. After confirming the person's identity with his clairvoyance, he used his teleportation ability to return to his dorm room, then headed out to the meeting spot.
It was Christmas Eve, and the campus was blanketed in white as snowflakes fell gently from the sky.
"It's been a while."
On a bench in the nearly empty sports field, Horikita Manabu sat, seemingly having waited for Saiki for a long time.
"Horikita-senpai, what brings you here?"
Saiki asked in an extremely calm tone.
In fact, he had already known the reason for Horikita's visit when he was still 200 meters away.
"I'll get straight to the point. I need your help to deal with Nagumo Miyabi."
'Seriously, can't I escape this?'
Saiki sighed inwardly. This was a matter between Nagumo Miyabi and Horikita Manabu, yet somehow it had ended up involving him.
"This has nothing to do with me. I'm not familiar with Nagumo-senpai, and I've never even met him."
"No, this does concern you. Not just you, but all the first-year students, and even future students of this school."
"Why?"
"A large number of students will be expelled."
Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, deliberately pausing before continuing.
"What I want you to do, Saiki, is to maintain order in this school by any means necessary. Make sure Student Council President Nagumo Miyabi steps down or restrains himself from making reckless decisions—choose the easiest method. By the start of the third term, Nagumo's power will grow, and he'll likely begin taking action."
"Action..."
Saiki fell into thought. During the student council handover ceremony, he had clearly heard Nagumo Miyabi's thoughts. The guy planned to make drastic changes to the school.
"To consolidate his power, Nagumo has been guiding several students to drop out. In fact, as of today, 17 second-year students have already been expelled—based on exit interviews, more than half of them are related to Nagumo Miyabi."
"Expulsion is a common occurrence in this school, right?"
"Yes, those who break the rules are expelled. But as an ideal leader, one should guide all students to graduation without exception."
Horikita Manabu spoke slowly.
Saiki looked at Horikita Manabu. These words came from the heart.
Although Saiki didn't have much fondness for Horikita Manabu, he couldn't help but gain some respect for him after hearing this.
Horikita Manabu, who seemed cold toward Horikita Suzune, actually cared deeply for her. While he appeared to value talented students in the school, he was also protecting those with limited abilities.
The student council held significant power in this school.
'Yare yare, the former student council president was a decent leader, but dealing with Nagumo isn't my job. Someone else would be more suitable. Although I might intervene a bit in the future, for now, I'll just find an excuse to decline...'
Just as Saiki was about to make up an excuse, Horikita Manabu spoke again.
"I know you don't like being in the spotlight, but I've done some research on you beforehand. Accessing students' spending records is something the student council has the authority to do."
As he spoke, Horikita Manabu pulled out a card from his pocket.
"This is a VIP card for the school's café and dessert shop. You can use it to get discounts on sweets for the next three years..."
"Tell me about the student council."
Saiki immediately said.
'Yare yare, don't get the wrong idea, readers. I'm just trying to prevent any strange incidents from happening at the school in the future. There's no way I'd be bribed by something so simple.'
He thought to himself.
Still, Saiki believed there was some truth to Horikita Manabu's words. If he didn't take action now, trouble would likely find him in the future.
[He agreed so quickly?]
Saiki's reaction was somewhat unexpected for Horikita Manabu, but the latter cleared his throat and continued.
"First, let me tell you about the key members of the student council besides Nagumo. One is the vice president from Class 2-B, a guy named Kiriyama. Then there are the two secretaries, Mizowaki and Tonokawa. These two have been with Nagumo through thick and thin since the beginning. They're among the few who can advise Nagumo. And here are the remaining members..."
As Horikita Manabu spoke, he handed Saiki a list of the student council members. Saiki saved Horikita's contact information.
"Only those in Nagumo's grade would know the details of his actions or personality. Although I've interacted with him in the student council, I don't know everything about him."
'No problem. I can just use my telepathy to find out everything about Nagumo Miyabi.'
Saiki thought to himself, though of course he couldn't say that out loud. He simply nodded at Horikita Manabu.
"I'll think of something."
"You seem to have already come up with a plan."
Horikita Manabu looked at Saiki seriously.
[Most people would feel a bit lost after hearing all this and receiving these materials. At the very least, they'd instinctively think about what countermeasures to take. But Saiki didn't. Maybe he instantly came up with a plan—or perhaps he had anticipated this day and prepared in advance?]
'Hey, hey, are you from the White Room too?'
Saiki inwardly complained.
"You might not need this, but I'll tell you anyway. Among the second-year students, there are still those who see Nagumo as an enemy. Unfortunately, I can't reveal their names yet. If Nagumo finds out I've contacted you, their safety can't be guaranteed. But I can let them know about you, that you're a first-year student who can be mobilized."
"Okay."
Saiki nodded, his eyes still on the VIP card in Horikita Manabu's hand.
Horikita Manabu seemed to realize something and handed the card to Saiki.
"The future of this school depends on you."
"I can't guarantee success."
"I wouldn't entrust an important task to someone I believe can't handle it."
Horikita Manabu stared intently at Saiki.
[Saiki is a deeply hidden talent. He possesses abilities even I haven't been able to detect.]
'Your intuition is scary. But if I told you that so-called talent is actually superpowers, you probably wouldn't believe me.'
Saiki thought to himself.
"Also, I've noticed that Suzune seems to have changed. Was that your doing?"
"No."
Saiki answered immediately. He had already reluctantly agreed to handle one problem and didn't want to get further involved with these siblings.
"Never mind, let's not talk about that. I'll take my leave now, Saiki."
"Okay. Merry Christmas."