Sitting before her was the Student Council room. Horikita Suzune took a deep breath to steady herself. Then, she pulled out her phone and used the reflection on its locked, dark screen to check her appearance.
Unlike a typical girl carrying a small mirror for makeup touch-ups, Horikita simply felt that applying for a position on the Student Council was akin to an adult's job interview. She wanted to give it her all and avoid any mistakes.
Once she'd confirmed that her hair, attire, and the bow at her collar were all in order, she exhaled slowly, stowed her phone, and, with renewed resolve, knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She recognized the voice as that detestable Yukio's. Merely hearing it conjured up memories of all the times he'd taken advantage of her. Unconsciously, her hand clenched into a small fist. Yet she kept reminding herself: Stay calm… didn't I decide I'd make him see me differently?
Gathering that conviction, Horikita finally stepped into the Student Council room, where she found Yukio seated in the president's chair. Fingers interlaced, chin resting on the backs of his hands, he watched her intently. Aside from him, no one else was there.
"Where's Ichinose?" It was Saturday, so it made sense the other Student Council members were absent, but Ichinose had been the one to call and tell her about today, so her absence was puzzling.
"Ahem." Yukio cleared his throat for no apparent reason, then gestured to the seat across from him, silently inviting Horikita to sit. "Ichinose is just… too hardworking."
"What do you mean?" Horikita asked, taking the indicated seat and following his train of thought with mild curiosity.
Yukio pointed to the Student Council room's air conditioner. "Just a little while ago, the AC broke. Ichinose got someone from the administration office to fix it."
"After it was repaired, Ichinose got worried about other club rooms possibly having the same problem. She borrowed all the keys from the administrator and went around checking each room's AC unit one by one."
Horikita nodded. That did sound like something Ichinose would do—she herself couldn't imagine investing so much extra effort. Turning back to Yukio, she asked, "So, can we start the interview now?"
Horikita had prepared meticulously for today. Ever since the Student Council inauguration ceremony concluded two days ago, she had resolved to join the council her brother once presided over, determined to follow in his footsteps step by step.
Moreover, she wanted Yukio to witness her growth and see her in a new light.
This determination had taken root during the sports festival, when she sought Yukio's guidance on unifying her class. From then on, she'd been driven by the belief that she must prove herself to him, demonstrating that she was no longer the Horikita Suzune of the past.
Over the past two days, she had read a multitude of materials on student council management, carefully preparing for this interview. She rehearsed responses to various potential questions, memorizing them to ensure a smooth performance and aiming to ace the interview on her first attempt.
Yukio, however, appeared entirely oblivious to Horikita's determined aura. He casually initiated the interview with a question:
"Let's begin. Here's the first scenario: If two athletic clubs are in conflict over their allocated usage time for a venue, how would you mediate the situation as a member of the Student Council?"
A classic question, really, and one that mostly stemmed from Yukio's laziness.
Horikita maintained her composure, her expression serious and composed. "There's no need to deliberate on this issue. Nor would it require my intervention. The schedule for venue usage exists for a reason, and it should be strictly adhered to."
"Huff", Yukio suddenly inhaled sharply, causing Horikita to frown in confusion.
Had she answered incorrectly? That seemed unlikely. Recalling her response, she couldn't pinpoint any flaws and found herself mildly indignant.
"Is there something wrong with my answer?" she asked, her voice carrying a trace of dissatisfaction.
'No, Horikita, there's nothing wrong with your answer. What's wrong is Kushida's presence!'
Yukio worked hard to keep his expression neutral, not wanting Horikita to sense that the scene wasn't as straightforward as it appeared. For aside from himself and Horikita, there was another individual hidden beneath the Student Council President's desk—Kushida Kikyo, the so-called "little angel."
And why was Kushida hiding under the desk while Ichinose was off checking the air conditioning across the entire building? All of this was a result of Yukio's mischievous nature. Feeling a simmering frustration and pent-up irritation, he had enlisted Kushida's "help."
Unfortunately, Horikita's answer happened to repeat the same scenario Kushida had tackled the previous day. But compared to Kushida's lively and charismatic response, Horikita's came across as rigid and uninspiring. This realization made Kushida, beneath the desk, smug and gleeful, ramping up her efforts to please Yukio.
The resulting escalation prompted that audible sharp inhale from Yukio, who struggled to keep his composure.
Kushida really was a talent, wasn't she? Yukio genuinely praised her in his heart. She had been clumsy at first, but after just a dozen minutes, she had grasped the basics and improved significantly. Impressive.
Thankfully, Yukio was experienced and managed to keep a straight face:
"There's a slight issue with your response. The conflict has already happened. If you only instruct the two clubs to follow the schedule but they still intend to clash, wouldn't that escalate into a bigger conflict?"
"No matter what, if poor handling of the situation leads to violence, the blame would fall on the Student Council. So your solution doesn't count as ideal—it's not as effective as Kushida's response during her interview yesterday."
This remark instantly triggered Horikita's dissatisfaction. Was she being compared unfavorably to Kushida? That was ridiculous! Her intellect was superior to Kushida's, wasn't it?
Meanwhile, Yukio's subtle act of elevating one while downplaying the other caused Kushida to beam uncontrollably beneath the desk. What a piece of work Kushida was—so easily thrilled by compliments.
And indeed, Kushida thrived on praise. Her entire sense of self had twisted into a need for validation, relying entirely on others' commendations to get by. Hearing Horikita's proposed solution filled her with amusement, and if it weren't for Yukio subtly stopping her, she might have openly mocked Horikita.
Instead, she poured all her energy into further repaying Yukio, inwardly reveling: Horikita, is that all? Is that seriously all you've got?
"Ahem, cough...cough!" Yukio's throat seemed to act up, and he coughed a few times before addressing Horikita again:
"Never mind. Kushida's already joined the Student Council, so she can handle such matters in the future."
"Let's move on to the next question. The Student Council oversees the annual budgets for all clubs. Suppose this year we implement across-the-board budget cuts, causing dissatisfaction among the clubs. How would you address their grievances?"
Despite feeling irked by Yukio's blatant comparison favoring Kushida, Horikita forced herself to stay calm. She cast aside thoughts of Kushida and focused entirely on the new question:
"I'd simply notify them of the budget cuts directly."
"Surely, the Student Council must have held numerous discussions before deciding on an across-the-board budget cut. Since that's the case, there must be a valid reason. All we need to do is inform each club of that reason."
It could be said that Horikita's response—being so direct and uncompromising—mirrored Yukio's own past approach, which earned his approval as he nodded repeatedly. "Mm, that's a much better answer."
In fact, from the moment he saw that Horikita intended to apply, Yukio already knew what role she would play. She wasn't there to sit idly like a vase in the Student Council room; rather, her cold demeanor would be perfect for the task of offending people when necessary.
Back when they had slashed the annual budgets for all the clubs, Ichinose played the "good guy," while Yukio himself took on the role of the "villain," cutting funding without mercy. Naturally, everyone's impression of Ichinose improved, while they felt unspoken resentment toward Yukio. He didn't care about the grumbles of that crowd anyway—he'd always been a bit nasty by nature, so what did it matter if people had complaints? They just had to bottle it up.
But now that he was Student Council President, there was no need to get personally involved. It would be simpler to have both Kushida and Horikita—these two "archrivals"—join. In the future, Kushida would handle interpersonal negotiations, while Horikita would take on all the unpleasant, troublemaking tasks. Wasn't that the best of both worlds? Each girl's skill set would be maximized.
Thus, in Yukio's Student Council, free labor had just increased by two more…