She stayed up late last night."
Kamuro answered quickly, which was rare for her. "She's been sleepy since the first class."
Oh.
Kamuro really did know Sakayanagi well.
But to Shirogane, her quick reply felt more like she wanted him to leave as soon as possible.
Did he do something to annoy her?
"She stayed up late, huh?"
Shirogane looked at Sakayanagi, who was slumped over her desk.
He could only see her silver hair.
He thought for a moment.
Then he stood up straight.
He had two small drinks in his pocket.
One was strawberry milk, the other a can of coffee he had bought for himself.
There wasn't much time to think about it.
So Shirogane put the canned coffee—something he'd picked up from a vending machine—on Sakayanagi's desk.
"Give this to her for me. This kind of coffee is great for staying awake—it should at least last her until lunch break."
Shirogane said.
"You're giving that to her?"
Kamuro looked at him with a weird expression.
Seriously? Shirogane Miyuki?
You saw Sakayanagi was tired and just happened to have coffee ready to give her?
Or wait—when did you two get this close?
Kamuro started to doubt everything. She had just told Sakayanagi yesterday that Shirogane wasn't interested in her. But now? Was that wrong?
Did Shirogane actually like Sakayanagi?
"She's the one I plan to name as my vice president if I become student council president. I don't think it's strange to care about her a bit early."
Shirogane said.
"Shh!"
But the students nearby scoffed.
Clearly.
Earlier, when Katsuragi said Shirogane was just trying to divide Class A, people weren't sure. But now it looked more and more like it was true.
Because really, who walks into a rival class just to take care of their leader?
Was he really trying to tie Sakayanagi to his side on purpose?
Or did he think some fool would actually fall for that excuse?
"Shirogane, if you really become the student council president, are you seriously planning to choose Sakayanagi as your vice president?"
But then Katsuragi stepped in and said, "If possible, I want you to sign an agreement. If you do, I'll accept this challenge you're making to our class."
In other words, Katsuragi wanted to keep one last spark alive for Class A.
Even if Class A lost their lead and Shirogane became the student council president, as long as someone from Class A got into the council, they might still have a chance to come back.
So Katsuragi was also thinking about the possibility of losing.
The students nearby turned their attention to Shirogane, watching closely to see how he would respond.
"Of course," Shirogane said calmly. "But I'm inviting Sakayanagi, so if there's an agreement, it has to be signed with her."
"You can let her know. If she agrees, she can come to the student council anytime and sign it with me."
After saying that, Shirogane checked the time and turned to leave Class A, leaving the students staring at each other in silence.
The students in Class A all looked at Katsuragi.
Even Hashimoto, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, looked up.
He thought Shirogane seemed arrogant, but he couldn't deny the possibility that this was some kind of mind game.
Still, most of the students in Class A started to believe Shirogane was just trying to drive a wedge between them, so they didn't trust him. So then, who was this whole act of "caring" for Sakayanagi meant for?
…
Who was it really for?
This morning, Shirogane didn't wake up early to make lunch, so during the break he went to the cafeteria to eat.
But—
Just as Shirogane got in line at the cafeteria, a voice stopped him.
He turned and saw a good-looking upperclassman with blond hair.
"Isn't this Nagumo-senpai?"
Shirogane said.
"Does the president have some special task for me?"
"If there's a job, it'll be sent straight to your email. That's faster," Nagumo replied.
Nagumo Miyabi gave a confident smile.
But Shirogane noticed he looked a bit worn out, like he had stayed up all night.
And he was right—Nagumo Miyabi had pulled an all-nighter.
At first, he didn't want to admit Shirogane was a genius. But last night, he stayed up flipping through eight work logs.
He didn't find a single mistake.
That meant Shirogane had been right to return all 18 of the previous secretary's logs—he had finished reading them, and there weren't any problems or errors that needed pointing out.
So—
Maybe that crazy fast reading speed Nagumo saw in the office really was Shirogane's true skill.
He really might be a genius.
But he didn't want to give up just like that. After all, he was the upperclassman. He'd been at this school for a whole year, and he had all of second-year backing him. Those were his advantages.
So he hadn't lost completely yet.
He was thinking about winning over Ichinose's class.
First of all, that's 40 votes. Second, Ichinose is really beautiful, and her pure and kind personality is rare. She's basically a perfect girl.
Getting closer to her would definitely be a good thing.
And if things came to the point where he had to compete with Shirogane Miyuki for student council president, then getting votes from the first years would help. So since he's already aiming at the first years, why not try a wider approach? Should he keep working with Class 1-A?
But last month, his actions were too flashy, and President Horikita scolded him for it.
If he keeps targeting Class 1-A, the president will definitely notice. But this time, Katsuragi from Class 1-A had come to him humbly for advice, so he helped a little and introduced him to the chairman. That should earn some points with Katsuragi.
However…
Shirogane's public announcement at the gym that he might invite Sakayanagi to be his vice president put Nagumo in a tough spot.
He couldn't figure out what kind of relationship Sakayanagi and Shirogane had.
And if Sakayanagi really had power and chose to support Shirogane, then all the help he was giving to Class 1-A now could turn into a weapon used against him later.
So he still hadn't made up his mind.
And Katsuragi didn't seem like someone who could beat Sakayanagi anyway.
So…
In the morning, Nagumo heard that Shirogane Miyuki made a big appearance in Class A. On the surface, it was to give Kamuro her reward, but he also gave special attention to Sakayanagi Arisu.
He even brought a drink just for her.
The first years in Class A said it was just a tactic to stir things up, but even then, it was hard to deny that something might be going on between Shirogane and Sakayanagi.
Even if there wasn't anything real, the fact that Shirogane made such a big show of going to see Sakayanagi Arisu in Class A meant he wanted people to *think* there was something between them.
And the person he most likely wanted to mislead… was him.
So this whole act was probably meant for him to see.
In that case…
If Shirogane had decided to focus on getting Class 1-A's votes and protecting that side, then fine—he could go do that. Nagumo would take the votes from Ichinose's class instead.
A bright smile appeared on Nagumo's face.
...
Meanwhile, in a private room in the cafeteria on the third floor—
The third-floor cafeteria had a great atmosphere, and the prices weren't bad either.
Private rooms were more expensive, especially if rented long-term, but it didn't matter. Sakayanagi could afford it.
…Sakayanagi Arisu.
The cute silver-haired girl sat quietly in her chair, waiting for her little pet to bring her lunch.
But right now—
There was only a small can of coffee sitting alone on the table.
She found it on her desk after waking up during the morning break.
According to her classmates, Shirogane had just visited the classroom on behalf of the student council to give Kamuro her reward.
After letting Kamuro take the credit, Sakayanagi had already guessed something like this would happen.
Since the class evaluation score reward was restored, the point card reward should also be handed out without delay — especially given that person's personality, there's no way they'd hold it back.
But something unexpected happened during that process.
The person in charge of it turned out to be Shirogane Miyuki.
As a member of the student council, Shirogane did have the authority to handle this kind of thing.
But still—
The strange thing was, Shirogane left her a bottle of coffee, just for her.
And apparently,
he asked around and heard that she was tired from staying up late, so he brought the coffee for that reason.
Even though the coffee seemed sealed and looked like it came straight from a vending machine,
some classmates were still suspicious.
So she didn't drink it either.
But now she was starting to question everything.
Shirogane Miyuki heard she was tired, and brought her coffee?
Was he paying attention to how she was doing?
Would he really care that much about her?
Weren't they supposed to be rivals?
Then why did it seem like he was being nice to her now?
"..."
Thud—
At that moment, Kamuro came back with her lunch tray and set it down on the table.
"Today's meal cost 2800 points, plus mine, that's 5000 total. You better reimburse me."
Kamuro said, then placed her favorite pumpkin soup on the table.
Even though she was basically being used by Sakayanagi Arisu for free, it wasn't without some benefits. For example, Sakayanagi paid for the meals, so Kamuro could save a good amount of points.
But Kamuro noticed that Sakayanagi seemed to be staring blankly at that small canned coffee on the table.
She recognized that kind of look.