The Council chamber had never felt so suffocating. Half a dozen pairs of eyes bore down on me, each weighing, judging, dissecting.
Touya leaned back in her chair like a monarch testing a knight's oath. Her words still echoed:
"Will you prove yourself here, with us or waste your rarity being a pet?"
I opened my mouth, but someone else spoke first.
"Why should he?"
The voice was sharp, cutting the air like a blade. Maria Kujou, Alya's older sister, the Secretary, had finally looked up from her neat stack of notes.
"He's not wrong," Maria said, fixing Touya with a steady glare. "If the world is ninety percent women, then the burden isn't on him to prove his value. It's on us to prove why he should stay here and play along."
Alya frowned, clearly disapproving, but Maria didn't budge.
"And if he walks out? If he takes the easy path?" Chisaki Sarashina, the Vice-President, slammed her palm on the table. "Then everything we've invested collapses. We'd be the fools who let the most valuable student in school drift into the arms of opportunists!"
"You say 'valuable' like I'm livestock." I muttered, crossing my arms.
"Stop twisting her words," Chisaki snapped.
"Actually, she's not twisting them," another voice piped in.It was Yui Suou calm, quiet, but precise. "The moment you start viewing him as a 'resource,' we've already failed. He's not a tool. He's a person. If he wants to question why he should follow our orders, that's his right."
Touya smiled faintly at that, clearly entertained by the fracture opening within her own Council.
"Unbelievable…" Alya whispered, shaking her head. "Yuki, Maria... are you seriously suggesting he reject discipline? That he drift through life because society has spoiled him?"
From the corner, Haruka Hayama and her entourage of girls exchanged looks. Haruka finally spoke, her voice softer than Touya's but carrying weight:
"…Maybe it's not about discipline or freedom. Maybe it's about testing where his heart lies. If he refuses both the shallow life and blind obedience, then maybe he's worth even more than either side realizes."
The room went quiet again.
Even I froze at that. For once, Haruka didn't sound like she was just supporting Touya. She sounded like she was… defending me.
Touya's eyes flicked to Haruka, then back to me. "Well then," she said smoothly, "it seems the Council is divided. Half of us think you're squandering your gift. Half of us think you're right to demand more. So the question remains…"
She leaned forward, her voice like a velvet blade.
"What do you want to prove?"
The silence pressed down on me, broken only by the soft hum of the air conditioner.Half the Council waited for me to stumble. The other half prayed I'd rise.
I clenched my fists under the table. For a second, my mind flashed with all the whispers, the cafeteria chaos, the clubs fighting for me, the way every corridor seemed to buzz with my name.
I exhaled slowly.
"…What do I want to prove?"
Their eyes sharpened.
I stood.
"That I'm not just some rare trophy boy you can lock in a cage. Not some breeding stock, not a Council's pawn, not a rumor to be passed around."
Chisaki gasped. Yui blinked, stunned. Alya's lips pressed into a hard line.
"I'll prove I'm worth more than any of that. I'll show this school, hell, this entire world, that I'll rise on my own terms. And if you think I'm going to let the Council, or anyone else, chain me down..." I pointed straight at Touya, who only smiled back, unflinching.
"...then get ready, because I'll break every chain you put on me."
The room erupted.Whispers, gasps, even nervous laughter.
Haruka hid a smirk behind her hand. Maria's eyes glimmered with approval. Alya looked ready to strangle me. Chisaki slammed her fist again, but her voice wavered.
And Touya? Touya leaned back, crossing one long leg over the other, her smile curling into something sharper, hungrier.
"…Interesting," she purred."Then let's see if you can survive the trials to come, chain-breaker."
The Council's gavel slammed.
And just like that, the war lines were drawn.
The Council chamber still buzzed with whispers long after I dropped my words. I hadn't planned it, it just… slipped out. Maybe it was arrogance. Maybe it was truth.
But when I said, "Why should I follow your orders when this world is begging me to choose my own path?" I knew I'd crossed a line.
By the time I left the meeting room, the Council's cold gazes burning into my back, the corridors already rippled with gossip.
"U-um, hey!" Yui dashed over the moment I stepped back into class, cheeks pink, voice higher than usual. "That was… like… super bold! But also super dangerous! But… also kind of… amazing?" Her hands fluttered like she couldn't decide between scolding or clapping.
Saika peeked from behind her, soft as always. "I… I think you were right. You don't need to bow down to them. You should just… be yourself." His... her now, eyes shone like I'd just said something heroic. It made me a little guilty.
Yui and Saika glanced at each other, and I realized, oh no, they weren't just agreeing with me. They were siding with me.
Yukino leaned against the windowpane outside the Council room, arms crossed, sharp gaze pinning me.
"That declaration of yours was reckless. Do you have any idea how many enemies you've just made?" Her words cut, but then her voice softened: "…But, perhaps, it was necessary. Someone needed to disrupt their self-importance."
From beside her, Hikigaya scoffed, flipping her hair. "Tch. Bold speeches don't fix anything. But… I'll admit, it was kinda satisfying seeing their smug faces crack. So… I guess I'll tolerate you for now." Her eyes flicked away like she hadn't just admitted that she approved.
Two ice queens. Two different kinds of reluctant approval.
"Pfft! Pffft... Senpai, did you see him?" Nagatoro doubled over laughing, her fingers poking into my ribs. "Marching in like some shounen protagonist, mouthing off to the Council! Ahaha, you're sooo dead!" Her tone was mocking, but the glint in her eyes was anything but cruel.
Naoto-chan hovered behind her nervously, clutching her bag. "Um… I thought it was… kind of inspiring. I mean, standing up like that… I wish I had that courage."
Nagatoro shot her a sly grin. "Ohhh, don't tell me you're crushing already~"Naoto's face turned crimson. Mine wasn't much better.
...
I didn't expect the rooftop door to creak open, revealing Alya sitting on the bench, Maria Kujou standing beside her like a silent knight.
"You are… dangerous," Alya said, her Russian accent curling around every word. "A boy with a spine. That is new." Her silver hair shimmered in the breeze.
Maria simply adjusted her glasses. "The Council will see you as an unpredictable variable. Which means you'll need allies. Fortunately…" She glanced at Alya. "…some of us prefer dangerous men."
Alya's lips quirked, halfway between a smirk and something softer.
By the time the final bell rang, it was already too late. Every corridor buzzed with it."
Did you hear what he said to the Council?"
"He actually stood up to Touya-senpai?"
"Is he insane or a genius?
""Would you… side with him?"
I caught fragments as I walked, the weight of eyes pressing down from all directions.
For the first time since I'd been reborn into this world, I wasn't just "the rare boy."I was a player on the board.
And the heroines, the ones who mattered most, were beginning to choose their places beside me.
"Did you hear, Nino?" Itsuki whispered, peeking over her textbook.
Nino tossed her hair with a scoff. "Obviously. He thinks he can just talk back to the Council? Hah. Idiot move… though I'll admit, it's gutsy."
Miku's voice was soft, but firm: "I… liked it. He sounded… strong."
Ichika smirked knowingly at her. "Ohhh, strong men are your type, huh?"
Yotsuba, of course, bounced like a ball of energy. "He should join our club! He'd be amazing!"
Five sisters, five different takes, but every pair of eyes was burning the same question: how close can we get to him first?
Kana Arima paced the club room, arms crossed. "Unbelievable. He just... just... spits in the Council's face like that? That's career suicide!"
Mem-Cho grinned, leaning back on a chair. "Or career launch, if he plays it right. Bold stunts go viral, Kana-chan. You should know that."
Akane, quiet and thoughtful as always, murmured: "What matters is intent. Was he posturing… or was he serious?"
Alya slid into the room without knocking, voice cool. "He was serious. Which is why he needs protection. From the Council… and from the vultures circling already."
Even Kana had no retort for that.
The next day, the cafeteria turned into a parliament.
"He'll get expelled."
"No way, the teachers won't dare, he's a guy!"
"He's either the dumbest person alive… or the bravest."
"Do you think he'll… y'know… get a harem?"
"That's not a rumor, that's a guarantee."
I sat at my table with a tray in front of me, barely able to eat as the background chatter roared like a hive.
Across the room, I caught Yui waving furiously for me to sit with her group. Two tables down, Nagatoro was grinning, patting the seat beside her. And on the far end, Alya sat like an empress, sipping her tea, eyes locked on me.
The whole cafeteria was daring me to make a move.
As I passed the staff corridor, I caught them.
"…he's testing the Council."
"…could destabilize the class hierarchy."
"…we'll need to monitor him. Carefully."
So it wasn't just students. The adults were watching now.
By evening, I found myself on the rooftop again. The city stretched out before me, the sunset painting everything gold. I leaned on the railing, exhaling slowly.
When I first woke up in this world, I thought being one of the last men alive would mean luxury, easy days, endless pampering.
But now…Now it felt like I was standing on a stage I hadn't chosen, with every spotlight burning into me.
And behind those spotlights were heroines, each with her own reasons, desires, fears. Some wanted me for love. Some for power. Some just to test themselves.
For the first time, I wondered...
Was I really ready to play this role?
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Thanks for reading. You can also give me ideas for the future or pinpoint plot holes that I may have forgotten, if you want.
Powerstones. Me. Give. Now.