Chapter 184: Yuto Begins His Counterattack!
Yuto raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Really?"
"It's true! I swear!" Kei hurriedly assured him.
"All right, I believe you. What matters is that you're okay. Just wait, Kei. I'll deal with Class D for you."
"Huh?" Kei blinked. "Yuto, you already know the Class D girls didn't start that argument, but you're still going after Class D...?"
"Of course. They scared you, and I'm your boyfriend. Naturally, I have to stand up for you."
"Yuto, you're so sweet~"
His blatant favoritism filled Kei with joy and sweetness.
She replied softly, "It was actually my fault, so you don't have to deliberately punish those girls for me..."
"I'm not planning to punish those girls. I'm going after Class D as a whole. Ryuen and the others have been causing trouble for several days already. It's about time I made them settle down."
"Oh, I see. Do you need my help?"
"No. Something this small is easy enough for me to handle."
"Mm. Then be careful."
"I will. I'm hanging up now."
"Mm-hmm~"
Kei looked at the ended call with a delighted expression, then happily walked toward Kikyo and the others.
"Kushida, to thank everyone for helping me, I'll treat you all to karaoke!"
"Sure~"
Kei and Kikyo smiled at each other.
To everyone else, they looked like an incredibly close pair of friends.
In a certain sense, they really were like sisters.
After all, they even shared the same boyfriend.
As Kikyo walked toward karaoke with Kei's group, she glanced at her phone.
[Yuto: Kikyo, thanks for helping Kei. Want to come to the student dorms tonight? I plan to thank you properly.]
[Kikyo: Yuto, are you planning to thank me? Or are you planning to bully me?]
[Yuto: If you want me to thank you, that works. If you want me to bully you, that works too. Kikyo, you choose whichever you prefer.]
[Kikyo: Mm-hmm~ Then I'll see you tonight.]
[Yuto: Okay.]
Kikyo ended the exchange with Yuto while quietly humming a tune, wondering what kind of lingerie she should wear for the rendezvous tonight—Yuto seemed to have a particular fondness for black stockings.
...
Yuto returned to the student council office with his phone in hand.
With a refreshing smile, he looked toward Ichinose.
"Ichinose, where are the club documents you organized before? Bring them out. I need them."
"Okay."
Ichinose immediately got moving and retrieved the club records she had previously stored away.
Yuto then turned toward Manabu.
"President, I'd like to use the broadcast room. I need to summon some club members to the student council."
"What are you calling them here for?" Manabu asked.
"Well, a few club-related matters still haven't been completely resolved. I'm going to finish dealing with them—and take care of Ryuen's nonsense while I'm at it."
"Huh?"
Ichinose and the others all looked at him in surprise.
Manabu, Tachibana, and Kiriyama were equally caught off guard.
If Yuto continued ignoring Ryuen, the people suffering the most from Class D's harassment would remain Classes A and B, not Yuto's own Class C.
The constant provocations had already caused repeated conflicts, costing Classes A and B a fair number of class points.
From Class C's perspective, ignoring Ryuen was actually the most advantageous choice.
Yet Yuto now intended to act against him.
Manabu and the others couldn't quite understand why.
Katsuragi and Ichinose were equally confused.
Only moments ago, Yuto had been asking them how they intended to stop Ryuen.
Then he stepped out for one phone call and came back with a solution?
Wasn't that absurdly fast?
Although both were surprised, they were also pleased.
Neither of them had found a good way to stop Class D's irritating tactics.
Yuto apparently had.
And now he was willing to use it.
In truth, Yuto had thought of a way to stop Ryuen and Class D almost immediately after learning what they were doing.
He simply hadn't acted because Ryuen's strategy was steadily draining class points from Classes A and B.
Why interfere when Class C benefited?
But the incident involving Kei had reminded him of something.
The Class D girls hadn't actually been responsible for Kei's argument, but what if those reckless Class D students eventually frightened Airi?
That would be unacceptable.
Airi was far more timid than either Kei or Kikyo.
Admittedly, Airi was almost invisible around school. The moment classes ended, she returned to the detached apartment, and she usually ate either there or inside the classroom.
Class D barely had any opportunity to target her.
Still, accidents happened.
Yuto decided there was no reason to take that chance.
So it was time to deal with Ryuen.
"Here are the club records you asked for, Vice President~"
Ichinose handed him the documents with a bright smile, then lowered her voice.
"Shimizu, how are you planning to stop the Class D students?"
"Curious?" Yuto asked with a smile.
"Mm-hmm."
"Then first help me find the records for Class D students who joined clubs. Horikita, Katsuragi, you two help as well."
"Okay."
Suzune and Katsuragi came over, and Yuto divided the club records between them.
Many hands made light work.
There weren't that many records to search in the first place, so within five minutes they had identified all the relevant first-year Class D students who belonged to clubs.
"Basketball club, kendo club, track and field club, archery club, boxing club..." Yuto flipped through the files and smiled slightly. "Heh. These are all clubs that previously had ghost members. Perfect."
Katsuragi looked confused.
"Vice President, are you planning to punish Ryuen through the students from Class D who joined these clubs? Will that really work?"
By now, everyone understood what Yuto intended.
He had specifically searched out Class D students belonging to clubs, so naturally he planned to use those students as leverage against Ryuen.
But would that really matter?
Ryuen was a shameless delinquent.
Would he care what happened to ordinary classmates?
"We won't know until we try."
Yuto looked toward Katsuragi and Ichinose.
"You two, come with me to the broadcast room."
"What about me?" Suzune immediately asked.
"If you want to come, come along."
Tachibana watched Yuto lead the three first-years out of the office and sighed.
"President, are you sure it's okay to just let Shimizu do whatever he wants?"
"It's fine. Shimizu knows where the line is."
Manabu adjusted his glasses.
"...Probably."
"..."
...
Soon afterward, Yuto used the student council broadcast room to address the entire school.
[Basketball club, kendo club, track and field club, archery club, and boxing club: please have your club president or one representative report to the student council. There is an important matter we need to discuss.]
[Additionally, the following first-year Class D students are to report to the student council: Ryuen Kakeru, Ishizaki Daichi, Komiya Kyogo, Kondo Reo, Yajima Mariko, Yoshimoto Kousetsu, Kinoshita Minori, Ibuki Mio, and Yamada Albert.]
Nine students.
The broadcast echoed throughout the entire school.
Ryuen immediately frowned.
"That was Shimizu Yuto's voice, wasn't it? Why is he summoning us to the student council?"
"I don't know what Shimizu is planning, but I've got a really bad feeling about it," Ishizaki said miserably.
Ever since Yuto had gotten him suspended, Ishizaki had become increasingly terrified of him.
His fear had reached the ridiculous point where if he spotted Yuto from a distance, he would immediately turn around and walk the other way.
Ryuen had no evidence, but instinct told him that Yuto had summoned them because Class D had been causing trouble around school.
"Wait!"
Ishizaki suddenly looked startled.
"Boss Ryuen, did you notice something? Everyone Shimizu called is a member of one of those clubs he listed."
"Komiya Kyogo and Kondo Reo are in the basketball club."
"Yajima Mariko is in the kendo club."
"Yoshimoto Kousetsu is in the archery club."
"Kinoshita Minori and Ibuki Mio are both in the track and field club."
"I'm indeed in the boxing club," Albert added.
Ryuen stood, his brows furrowed.
"We'll know what Shimizu is planning once we get to the student council."
"Uh..."
If possible, Ishizaki really didn't want to go anywhere near Yuto.
Why?
Because he was scared.
...
The school-wide broadcast naturally reached Kei, Kikyo, and the other girls as well.
Sonoda Chiyo looked at Kei enviously.
"Kei, that was Shimizu-kun's voice, right? Is he planning to get revenge for you because he knows the Class D girls bullied you?"
Unable to suppress her smile, Kei hurriedly explained, "No, you're overthinking it. Yuto just decided Class D has been going too far lately and it's time to stop them."
"So Shimizu summoning those people has nothing to do with your argument with the Class D girls?"
"...I wouldn't say it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Maybe a tiny bit."
"That's so nice. I'm really jealous that your boyfriend cares about you that much."
"Hehe~"
Kikyo glanced at Kei's embarrassed smile.
'What are you grinning about? Hmph.'
Everyone in the girls' group naturally assumed Yuto was using the student council broadcast to help Kei vent her anger.
Otherwise, how could the timing possibly be a coincidence?
He hadn't stopped Class D earlier.
He hadn't stopped them later.
The moment Kei had a conflict with Class D girls, Yuto suddenly started moving.
...
The presidents or representatives of the basketball, kendo, track and field, archery, and boxing clubs gradually arrived at the student council building.
Katsuragi directed them into a meeting room.
Not long afterward, Ryuen, Ishizaki, and Albert arrived as well and immediately spotted Yuto.
"Shimizu Yuto, why did you call me here over the broadcast?" Ryuen demanded in an unfriendly tone.
Yuto looked at the three of them and smiled.
"I called you here because I want you to serve as a witness."
"A witness? Witness what?"
"To witness the Class D students getting kicked out of their clubs one by one because of your reckless behavior."
Ryuen's heart sank.
As expected.
This bastard was targeting him and Class D because of everything they had been doing.
"Shimizu Yuto, you think something like that is enough to threaten me?!" Ryuen asked coldly.
"Threaten you?"
Yuto shook his head.
"No, no. Why would you think I'm threatening you? You don't even qualify to be threatened by me."
He corrected Ryuen with a completely serious expression.
"You should treat this as repayment for all those obnoxious things you ordered your classmates to do."
"After all, you were the one who told them to make everyone else miserable."
Ryuen sneered.
"You think threatening me like this will make me stop? Let me tell you something. Even if you get every single one of them kicked out of their clubs, I won't stop acting against you."
"Ryuen, whether you care about your classmates getting expelled from their clubs doesn't matter to me."
Yuto's smile didn't change.
"I don't care either."
"I simply want to kick them all out so the rest of Class D understands something."
"That offending me comes with consequences."
Yuto looked directly at Ryuen.
"You're still controlling your classmates with violence, aren't you? They're probably already dissatisfied with you."
"And now your plan is going to get some of them expelled from their clubs."
"That dissatisfaction will grow."
"It'll keep building until it's like a balloon filled with too much air."
"And eventually... it'll burst."
"I don't care," Ryuen replied arrogantly. "The resentment of weaklings means nothing to me."
"But that resentment can push you straight off a cliff."
Yuto smiled.
"For example, suppose the school introduced an exam where the class had to vote on someone to expel."
"If you had managed to offend nearly every student in your class by then, what do you think would happen?"
"Would they vote for you?"
"And would you be forcibly expelled?"
"..."
Ishizaki, who had been hiding slightly behind Albert, gathered enough courage to object.
"Why would the school ever create some ridiculous exam where students vote to expel someone?!"
"This school already has a rule where failing to reach the passing mark can get you expelled."
Yuto shrugged.
"So why would a vote-based expulsion exam be strange?"
Ryuen actually found himself considering the possibility seriously.
Nagumo had already told him about special exams.
And special exams could take all kinds of bizarre forms.
An exam involving students voting someone out...
Was that really impossible?
No.
It sounded entirely plausible at this school.
Which meant Ryuen could potentially face another betrayal from his own classmates.
After all, something similar had already happened once.
Komiya and the others had betrayed him before, causing his scheme against Yuto to collapse and ultimately leading to his thirty-day suspension.
…
(Don't forget to vote, review, and leave a comment below! :D The more you vote, the more chapters I upload.)
...
Read more chapters(25+):
patréon.com/U22
(Note: Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.)