Chapter 170: Yuto's Submitted Proposal!
On top of that, any future requests from the clubs for activity funding points or event venues would have to be approved by Yuto as vice president.
If he refused, there was absolutely no chance their requests would go through.
So, under the combined pressure of Yuto's notorious reputation and his authority as vice president, the club members greeted him with bright smiles as though he were an old friend they hadn't seen in years.
In an exceptionally harmonious atmosphere, Tachibana and Yuto toured the entire club building, while Yuto quietly gathered even more useful information along the way—information specifically related to Mizowaki and the others.
Yet Mizowaki and the two general affairs staff following them failed to realize that Yuto intended to use the clubs against them.
That was understandable.
They all knew Yuto had replaced Nagumo as vice president, and club affairs had previously fallen under Nagumo's responsibilities. So Yuto inspecting the clubs naturally looked like routine work rather than something suspicious.
Still, it also showed that Mizowaki's attention to detail was ultimately inferior to Tonokawa's.
Previously, when Mizowaki investigated Yuto's relationship with Ichinose Honami, he relied almost entirely on rumors and concluded that Ichinose resented Yuto. He never discovered that their relationship was unexpectedly friendly and that they had even eaten together at the student cafeteria several times.
...
Before long, Friday afternoon arrived.
Yuto left the classroom together with Kei, wearing a relaxed, refreshing smile.
Airi, who had been watching him from afar, blinked.
Her childhood friend was smiling like that again.
Was he planning to set someone up?
How could anyone call it setting someone up?
What Yuto was about to do was eliminate a public nuisance and officially clean the last remaining pests out of the student council for the school's sake!
"Yuto, tomorrow's the weekend. Let's go to Keyaki Mall. There's a fortune-telling shop there that's supposed to be really accurate," Kei suggested happily while holding his arm.
A few days earlier, Kei had visited the fortune-telling shop with Chiaki and the others. She had wanted the fortune-teller to read her compatibility with Yuto and their future together, but the fortune-teller said that kind of reading required both people to be present.
So Kei had no choice but to give up at the time.
Since tomorrow was the weekend, she wanted to go back with Yuto.
"Fortune-telling, huh..." Yuto's expression became slightly strange.
Why were all his girlfriends suddenly interested in this stuff? One after another, they kept asking him to go to that fortune-telling shop at Keyaki Mall.
Two nights earlier, in the student dormitory at night, Kikyo—covered in fragrant sweat and thoroughly satisfied—traced circles on Yuto's chest with her pale, white fingers, and invited him to go to that fortune-telling shop together.
"Are you really willing to walk around openly with me now? Aren't you worried someone might notice how close we are?" Yuto asked.
"As long as nobody recognizes us, it's fine. I'll buy a wig and sunglasses tomorrow," Kikyo replied lazily.
"...Whatever makes you happy. Then Sunday. I already have plans on Saturday."
Kikyo narrowed her eyes. She wanted to shoot Yuto a fierce glare, but because her waist and strength were completely drained, she couldn't look fierce at all.
"Did Karuizawa already ask you out for Saturday?"
"No, not Kei. Someone else," Yuto answered with a smile while gently stroking Kikyo's slightly warm skin.
"Oh." Kikyo immediately closed her eyes, contently and greedily enjoying her boyfriend's caresses and doting.
Whoever invited Yuto on Saturday didn't matter, as long as it absolutely wasn't Karuizawa Kei!
In reality, Yuto didn't have plans yet.
He intended to invite Airi to Keyaki Mall on Saturday, walk around with her, and stop by the fortune-telling shop while they were there.
Lately, the two hottest topics at school were that a certain infamous first-year "demon" had become student council vice president, and that an amazingly accurate fortune-teller had opened a shop at Keyaki Mall.
Yuto, who possessed mind-reading ability, had no interest in fortune-telling himself, but he knew Airi did.
So he planned to take her out on Saturday.
That meant Saturday was reserved for Airi, while Kikyo had already claimed Sunday.
His entire weekend was gone.
Kei noticed his strange expression. "Yuto, are you busy? Do you have student council work even on the weekend?"
"No, probably not. The student council shouldn't have anything going on. I just already have plans with someone," Yuto replied, shaking his head.
Kei's lively eyes widened. "Is—"
She only got out one word before quickly closing her lips and swallowing the rest of the question.
She didn't need to ask who had invited him.
It was probably one of Yuto's other girls.
Better not to ask.
Asking would only risk breaking the delicate balance of their relationship.
Yuto looked sideways at the suddenly quiet Kei, then lifted his free hand and crooked his pinky toward her.
Kei stared blankly for a moment before quickly understanding.
Her gloomy expression disappeared, replaced by a sweet smile. She extended her own pinky and hooked it tightly around his.
Firmly linked together.
Never separating.
Kei accompanied Yuto all the way to the student council building before reluctantly saying goodbye.
Only after he entered did she turn and leave.
Inside, Yuto glanced toward Mizowaki, who was seated at the secretary's desk.
Mizowaki instinctively looked back.
The instant their eyes met, an intense sense of foreboding surged through him.
Shimizu Yuto was smiling at him.
It was a bright, handsome smile.
And yet Mizowaki inexplicably felt deeply uneasy.
Yuto withdrew his gaze and walked toward Manabu. "President, what happened with the proposal I submitted yesterday? Was it approved?"
Manabu raised his head and gave the smiling Yuto a long look before taking a document envelope from his school bag.
Inside were the proposal documents Yuto had submitted through Tachibana.
"I approved it. You're also specially authorized to use the school broadcast system to summon everyone."
"Great."
Mizowaki's ominous feeling immediately intensified.
He hurriedly stood up. "President, what proposal did the vice... vice president submit? Why didn't I receive a copy even though I'm a secretary?"
Kiriyama, sitting nearby, also nodded.
He hadn't received anything either.
Holding the envelope, Yuto smiled at Mizowaki. "Because I'm the vice president who submitted it."
Both Mizowaki and Kiriyama's expressions darkened.
The unspoken implication was obvious.
You secretaries weren't qualified to know.
Tachibana, despite being a secretary herself, showed no reaction whatsoever because she had already read Yuto's proposal.
Suppressing his anger, Mizowaki protested, "Vice President, if this is an important proposal, it has to be discussed by the entire student council before it can be approved!"
The student council possessed tremendous authority, but it was also bound by numerous internal procedures.
What Mizowaki said was indeed correct.
"The problem is that my proposal isn't particularly important, so there was no need for a full council discussion. If you don't believe me, read it yourself."
Yuto shrugged and tossed the envelope toward him.
Mizowaki hurriedly caught it. Ignoring the urge to complain about being hit with an envelope, he immediately opened it and pulled out the documents inside.
Kiriyama leaned over as well, and together with Mizowaki read through Yuto's so-called proposal.
The proposal itself was simple.
As vice president, Yuto had discovered that too many clubs contained ghost members, and those ghost members were being used to exploit the school for personal points. His proposal therefore focused on correcting that improper practice.
After reading it, Kiriyama curled his lips dismissively.
That was all?
Then it truly wasn't something that required the entire student council's approval.
Kiriyama thought little of the proposal.
Mizowaki, however, turned visibly pale.
He had finally realized where Yuto intended to attack them.
The clubs.
The reason so many clubs had ghost members who existed solely to siphon points from the school was because Nagumo had created the system while serving as vice president.
'Boss Nagumo's dealings with the clubs were discovered by Shimizu Yuto!'
'Those club members are terrified of him. If he pressures them even a little, they'll absolutely expose Boss Nagumo. If that happens... could the school expel him?'
Mizowaki felt as though his heart were slowly sinking into an abyss.
After becoming vice president, Nagumo had repeatedly used his authority to cooperate with various clubs. He granted them additional membership slots and increased their official rosters, then split the extra points generated from the school.
The school placed significant value on club development and activities, so every month it provided club presidents with activity funding points.
The amount depended heavily on membership.
Whenever one student joined a club, that club received one hundred thousand points.
Afterward, each month the club president received an additional ten thousand points multiplied by the total number of members.
In simple terms, if a club added ten ghost members, it would immediately receive one million points and then continue receiving another hundred thousand every month.
A "ghost member" referred to a student who was officially listed as part of a club but almost never—or never at all—participated in its activities, existing only on the membership roster.
Nagumo had used his authority as vice president and these arrangements with various clubs to secretly drain points from the school.
'Wait! Shimizu Yuto might not know which clubs actually have ghost members. So maybe this isn't that serious...'
Mizowaki tried to comfort himself with that thought.
Then he turned to the next page.
His pupils contracted.
The page contained the exact membership numbers for each club, the number of ghost members, and even the dates those ghost members had joined.
'Impossible... He even found out exactly when every ghost member joined! And the information is completely accurate!'
Mizowaki froze.
He and Tonokawa had been Nagumo's right-hand men, and they were the ones who handled much of the point-exploitation operation involving the clubs.
That meant Mizowaki personally remembered when ghost members had been inserted into each club.
With such detailed numbers and dates, Nagumo had nowhere left to run.
Mizowaki felt cold all over.
He had no idea whether exposing this to the administration would result in Nagumo being expelled.
Manabu glanced at Mizowaki, who was gripping the documents tightly.
He could roughly imagine the man's mental collapse.
After all, Nagumo and his people had drained more than ten million points from the school.
Manabu had previously suspected that Nagumo was exploiting the club system, but he had never imagined Nagumo would be bold enough to take that much in only half a year.
Tachibana glanced toward Yuto with admiration.
This junior's moves were both precise and ruthless.
This should be enough to crush Nagumo outright, shouldn't it?
Actually...
It wasn't.
Yuto had already asked Chairman Sakayanagi about the issue.
Even though Nagumo had abused his vice-presidential authority to obtain so many points from the school, the administration would not punish him too severely.
The reason was simple: Nagumo's club arrangements harmed the school financially, but they did not damage its reputation or directly inflict serious harm on other students.
That made the situation fundamentally different from the forged-exam incident.
So Yuto couldn't completely destroy Nagumo through this issue alone.
But he could use it as an opportunity to drive Mizowaki and the three Nagumo-aligned general affairs staff out of the student council, then bring Suzune, Ichinose, and Katsuragi in to replace them.
…
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