Shuchiin Academy High School, Class 1-B classroom.
"Uchiha-kun, Shirogane-kun, someone's here for you."
Shirogane Miyuki put down his bread. "Someone's here for us?"
Uchiha Ryo stood up. "Ah, it seems we forgot that the student council president told us to go to the student council room at noon."
The two went out into the hallway and, sure enough, saw the student council president wearing his hat. The glittering gold cord on his chest had already attracted the attention of many people around them.
"This isn't the place to talk. I have something to discuss with you. Uchiha-kun, Shirogane-kun, come with me."
In the empty student council room, Shirogane Miyuki looked around curiously, while Uchiha Ryo plopped down on the sofa.
"So, what business do you have with us, Mr. Student Council President?"
"Well... Uchiha-kun, don't be so formal. You can just call me President Nobunaga. As for why I called you here today, I'd like to invite you both to join the student council."
Without a second thought, Uchiha Ryo refused directly. "I'm not joining the student council."
The president was taken aback, then gave a dry laugh and looked at the two of them. "Don't be so quick to refuse. The members of this year's student council are all appointed by the president. Although you've both joined clubs, from what I know, your club activities are pretty relaxed, right?"
Shirogane Miyuki looked up. "Why invite us? There are many more outstanding people in this school. For example, the other members of the Classic Literature Club, or that new student representative who gave the speech."
The student council president smiled at Shirogane Miyuki. "The Shinomiya family's Ice Princess Kaguya, and the young ladies of the Yukinoshita and Chitanda families, are indeed very outstanding. But unfortunately, they have already declined the student council's invitation."
"Besides, there are some things they can't do, which is why I'm inviting the two of you."
Shirogane Miyuki sighed. "Even they can't do it? And you're asking us external students..."
The student council president cut in.
"We are all flowers living in a precious bonsai pot called [Shuchiin]. We need people who can view the entire academy from an objective and complete perspective. Therefore, I am inviting two external students to join the student council. Please, you must join and share your insights."
Shirogane Miyuki fell silent.
Uchiha Ryo stood up. "President Nobunaga, although it is a great honor for you to personally invite an external student like me... I still refuse."
"However, as for Shirogane Miyuki, I do think he could join."
Shirogane turned to look at Uchiha Ryo, confused, while Uchiha Ryo slowly met the student council president's gaze.
"The school needs an external student with outside knowledge to join the student council. And in this troublesome school, external students also need a way to survive. I believe Shirogane-kun can successfully become the link that makes Shuchiin even better."
"Uchiha..."
[Shirogane Miyuki's affinity has increased—G-Points +20]
The student council president chuckled. "Well said. But I'd like to know, why can't that person be you, Uchiha-kun?"
"Me? The student council can't hold down my wanderer's heart. My goal is the sea of stars. I don't have time to participate in your student council work."
In short, there are no affinity points for me to grind in your student council, so why would I join?!
.....
"Uchiha, I still don't understand. Why me..."
"Why not you? Just work hard. You might think that the pure-bloods at Shuchiin have been winning since birth, but you can work hard to catch up."
Uchiha Ryo said casually.
"The first monthly exam since enrollment is in a week. If you can surpass them with your grades, no one will look down on you."
Shirogane Miyuki gave a wry smile. "Does the third-ranked student in our year think that I, the ninth-ranked, can do it?"
"Whether you can do it is one thing. Whether you do it, is another..."
Pushing open the door to the Classic Literature Club, they found they were a little late today. Amakusa Shino, Yukinoshita, and Chitanda were already sitting there, seemingly chatting about something.
Amakusa Shino: "Honestly, I just took a look. It's been so long since I've combed it that it's getting split ends."
Chitanda: "I have a comb in my bag, I can lend it to you, President."
Yukinoshita: "A person has over one hundred thousand strands of hair. It's normal for them to get split ends if they aren't combed for a while."
Amakusa Shino looked at Yukinoshita with a blank expression. "Eh? I wasn't talking about the hair on my head. I was talking about the hair down..."
"Ahem, ahem, sorry, President, we're late."
Uchiha Ryo sat down to Amakusa Shino's right, separating her from Yukinoshita. When the unscrupulous collides with the ice-cold, I'm really afraid everyone will be infected by the president's lack of principles.
"Yukinoshita-san, has there been any progress on Chitanda-san's matter?"
To prevent the Amakusa Shino virus from spreading, Uchiha Ryo quickly steered the conversation to business.
Yukinoshita glanced at Uchiha, then nodded and picked up a stack of books from the shelf.
"I went to Chitanda's house to investigate yesterday. Chitanda remembered that when she asked her uncle back then, it seemed to be about the Classic Literature Club's publication."
"At noon today, President Amakusa and I found the long-lost publication from many years ago, a collection of booklets called 'Hyouka'."
As expected of Yukinoshita Yukino. She found the key clue in such a short amount of time. But unfortunately, the clue seems to end with 'Hyouka'.
Chitanda Eru stood up and took out the second issue of "Hyouka" from the stack. The cover was an ink wash painting of a group of rabbits, but among the rabbits, there seemed to be a wolf.
"This is it!"
"At that time, I was holding this book when I asked my uncle..."
Uchiha Ryo took "Hyouka". "In other words, if we can decipher this, what happened back then and why you cried should become clear."
Yukinoshita Yukino stood up and took "Hyouka" from Uchiha Ryo's hand. "I'll take this home today and read it carefully. I'll let you know tomorrow if I find anything, Chitanda."
"Okay! Thank you, Yukinoshita-san!"
Chitanda Eru ran over to sit next to Yukinoshita and gently hugged the girl holding the book.
Although two beautiful girls being close is a nice sight... "Yukinoshita, since it's a club request, there's no need for you to solve it all by yourself."
Yukinoshita looked up. "If Uchiha-kun wants to read it first, that's fine too. But whether or not you can decipher it is up to your own ability."
"Oh? So you're very confident, are you, Yukinoshita-san."
"Of course."
Chitanda looked at the two who had suddenly become confrontational and hurriedly waved her hands back and forth. "Um... please don't fight because of me."
As the only second-year, Amakusa Shino tapped the table. "Club members must be united. This kind of exciting love triangle where one boy and one girl fight over another girl is not allowed in our club~"
Uchiha Ryo: "....."
And here I thought this upperclassman was going to say something sensible.