Chapter 198: Voting and Discussion on the Discipline Committee Position!
With the soft patter of slippers, Airi walked out of the bathroom.
A faint blush still lingered on her pale cheeks, and a few droplets of water clung to the hair near her temples, making her look fresh and adorable.
"Yuto, who are you talking to? Karuizawa or Kushida?"
Was this the confidence of the official girlfriend? She could casually ask whether Yuto was chatting with either of his other two girlfriends.
"Neither. I was just checking the weather," Yuto answered casually.
He had no intention of telling Airi what had happened to Chiba Koki.
If she learned the man was going to spend more than thirty years in prison, Airi might start feeling guilty and believe his punishment was somehow her fault.
All she needed to know was that the stalker had been removed from the school and would never bother her again.
At that moment, Yuto's phone suddenly rang.
He was surprised to see Chabashira calling.
"That's strange. Doesn't Chabashira-sensei usually leave the food boxes outside and go? Why is she calling me today?"
Yuto answered.
"Hello?"
"Shimizu, let me tell you some good news."
Yuto found her voice oddly familiar through the phone.
He walked over to the window and pulled the curtains aside, only to see Chabashira standing in the courtyard outside.
"...?"
Chabashira looked equally surprised when she spotted Yuto through the window. She hadn't expected him to still be inside the apartment.
Yuto opened the window and smiled at her.
"I was wondering why I could hear Sae-chan's voice outside too. Turns out you're standing right there."
"I was wondering the same thing. Aren't you usually running at the track around this time? Why are you still here today?"
"Well, Airi got frightened yesterday. Of course I'm staying with her for a while."
"You really are considerate."
"Haha~ Being considerate is one of the few good qualities I have. Anyway, I'll come open the door."
"Okay."
Yuto hung up and was about to head for the entrance, but Airi had already heard their conversation and gone to open it herself.
"Good morning, Chabashira-sensei."
Chabashira looked at Airi's shy, adorable expression and smiled gently.
"Good morning, Sakura. You look much better today. It seems those photographs aren't bothering you anymore."
"Mm."
Airi nodded with a sweet smile.
After all, she had Yuto beside her, someone who loved and spoiled her so much.
Without him, Airi doubted she could have recovered this quickly.
She helped carry the food boxes Chabashira had brought, and the two entered the detached apartment together.
Yuto looked at Chabashira.
"Don't you usually leave the food boxes and go, Chabashira-sensei? Why did you call me today?"
"Didn't I just say? I wanted to tell you some good news."
Chabashira glanced toward Airi, who was carrying the boxes into the dining room, then lowered her voice.
"The punishment for that stalker has been finalized. Every teacher and staff member in the school received an official notice this morning."
"I already know about his punishment. Thirty years in prison."
Chabashira stared at him in surprise.
"How do you know? I only received the official notice a moment ago."
The school should only have sent the announcement to employees, not students.
"Chairman Sakayanagi told me."
"..."
Right.
Chabashira had almost forgotten that this troublesome brat somehow had a friendship with the chairman despite their age difference.
"Well, if you already know, that saves me the trouble of explaining it."
"Mm. Thanks for coming all the way here to tell me, Sae-chan. But don't tell Airi about the prison sentence. If she asks, just say he was removed from the school."
Chabashira had already grown used to him calling her Sae-chan.
"Why?"
"Airi is softhearted and sensitive. If she learns the man is going to prison for thirty years, she'll probably feel uneasy about it."
"I understand."
Airi poked her head out from the dining room.
"Yuto, breakfast is ready. Come eat. Chabashira-sensei, you can sit in the living room for a little while too."
Chabashira declined, saying she needed to get to the faculty office, and left the apartment.
Once she was gone, Airi became bolder and sat on Yuto's lap while the two enjoyed breakfast together.
A small interruption occurred during their sweet breakfast.
Tokito Hiroya sent Yuto the completed student council application form.
Yuto skimmed through it, found no problems, and replied with a simple message telling him it was approved and that he should wait to become the discipline committee member.
That single response seemed to inflate Tokito's confidence tremendously.
Even the way he walked became straighter, and his expression looked as if he suddenly feared nobody and was ready to challenge anyone who crossed him.
Whether Tokito would actually make a good discipline committee member remained to be seen.
But he definitely had the makings of an obnoxiously loyal subordinate.
...
During lunch break that day, Yuto submitted a formal request to Student Council President Horikita Manabu to restore the discipline committee member position.
Manabu, handling it strictly as official business, approved the request and notified every member of the student council to gather after school for a vote.
Secretary Kiriyama and the two upperclassmen in general affairs hadn't known anything about the plan beforehand, so they were confused about why Yuto wanted to restore the position.
Ichinose, Suzune, Katsuragi, and the others who already knew the situation showed no surprise at all.
...
After school, Yuto said goodbye to Kei and headed toward the student council office with Suzune.
At the shoe-changing area, they happened to run into Ichinose.
"Shimizu, Horikita-san, what a coincidence."
Ichinose greeted them with a bright smile.
She wasn't alone.
The timid little rabbit Shiranami Chihiro, who loved making wild assumptions in her head, was hiding behind her and clearly hoping the terrible Shimizu wouldn't notice her.
"Good afternoon, Ichinose-san," Suzune replied politely.
Yuto smiled.
"Ichinose, since we ran into each other, let's head to the student council together."
"Sure~"
Ichinose accepted with a gentle smile.
Chihiro hurriedly whispered something to her before quickly escaping.
Whatever she said left a hint of helplessness in Ichinose's bright smile.
"What happened? What did that rabbit say to you?"
"Ahaha, nothing important."
Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"She was badmouthing me, wasn't she?"
"No!"
"Heh. So she was. I'll find an opportunity to scare her sometime."
"Come on, Chihiro-chan is already timid enough. Don't scare her even more," Ichinose complained playfully.
Yuto and Ichinose chatted and laughed as they headed toward the student council office.
Suzune remained quiet beside them.
Her personality was naturally reserved, and she wasn't good at casual conversation.
Still, although she said nothing, she kept listening closely to everything Yuto and Ichinose discussed.
Not long after the three arrived at the student council office, Katsuragi, Kiriyama, and the remaining members gradually gathered as well.
Manabu adjusted his glasses and spoke slowly.
"Every member of the student council is present. We will now begin the vote proposed by the vice president regarding the restoration of the discipline committee member position."
The vote began.
The five votes in favor came from Vice President Shimizu Yuto, Secretary Tachibana Akane, General Affairs Staff Ichinose Honami, General Affairs Staff Horikita Suzune, and General Affairs Staff Katsuragi Kohei.
The four opposing votes came from President Horikita Manabu, Secretary Kiriyama Ikuto, and the two upperclassmen in general affairs.
Originally, once Kiriyama and the others saw that five people had already voted in favor, they had intended to abstain.
Five votes already exceeded half of the student council membership, so the proposal was guaranteed to pass.
However, when Manabu raised his hand to vote against it, Kiriyama and the two upperclassmen, who were aligned with Manabu, naturally followed him and cast opposing votes as well.
"Five votes in favor and four votes against."
Tachibana spoke in a formal tone.
"By internal vote of the student council, the discipline committee member position is hereby restored."
Kiriyama immediately spoke up.
"In that case, I have something to say about who should take the position."
"Let's hear your opinion," Manabu replied.
"The student serving as discipline committee member should preferably be familiar with student council duties and possess at least some reputation among the student body. Otherwise, it'll be difficult for them to keep other students under control."
"After all, supervising the students is one of the position's main responsibilities."
Kiriyama's argument was reasonable.
The problem was that he had already secretly joined forces with Nagumo.
"Secretary Kiriyama, based on what you just said, who do you believe is most suitable for the discipline committee member position?" Yuto asked with a smile.
"..."
Kiriyama gritted his teeth before finally answering.
"I believe second-year Nagumo Miyabi is the most suitable candidate."
After saying it, Kiriyama discreetly observed Manabu's expression.
Unfortunately, the president's face remained as calm as ever.
The reflection on his glasses even prevented Kiriyama from seeing his eyes clearly.
The moment Kiriyama learned that Yuto intended to restore the discipline committee member position, he had immediately informed Nagumo.
Nagumo instantly realized this could be an excellent opportunity to return to the student council.
So he asked Kiriyama to nominate him for the position.
Kiriyama also wanted someone inside the student council who could restrain Yuto, so bringing Nagumo back as a discipline committee member seemed like an excellent choice.
Tachibana was now watching Kiriyama with a meaningful look.
For him to voluntarily nominate Nagumo meant only one thing.
He had betrayed Manabu and sided with Nagumo.
Tachibana couldn't understand it at all.
Why hadn't Kiriyama eagerly defected to Nagumo while Nagumo was still in the student council?
Why had he waited until after Yuto drove Nagumo out before finally siding with him?
In reality, the reason was simple.
While Nagumo remained in the student council, Kiriyama couldn't see any hope of becoming president himself.
So he chose to remain under Manabu and more or less gave up on competing.
At one point, Kiriyama had even nearly been tempted by Nagumo's offer and become one of his followers.
Unfortunately for him, Yuto drove Nagumo out of the student council before Kiriyama could properly betray Manabu and switch sides.
Once Nagumo was gone, Kiriyama suddenly believed he had become the most likely candidate for the next student council president.
Then Yuto joined the council.
And almost immediately, Yuto became vice president.
To compete with Yuto for the presidency, Kiriyama took the newly recruited Katsuragi under his wing and began treating him as his own subordinate.
If he could now bring Nagumo back as the discipline committee member, Nagumo would become another source of power capable of opposing Yuto.
"Secretary Kiriyama, you're proposing that Nagumo Miyabi take the discipline committee member position. Is that correct?" Yuto asked.
"That's right."
Kiriyama answered cautiously.
He knew perfectly well about the hostility and conflict between Yuto and Nagumo.
There was no chance Yuto would willingly allow Nagumo back into the student council.
"As secretary, you should know why Nagumo left the student council, shouldn't you?"
"I... naturally know."
Yuto glanced at him.
"Nagumo forged exam papers to frame a student. He also abused his authority as vice president and used ghost members in clubs to siphon personal points from the school."
"Someone with such poor character and ethics has no business serving as a discipline committee member."
"But Nagumo is familiar with student council work. He also has tremendous reputation and influence among the students, and his abilities are excellent..." Kiriyama continued stubbornly.
"A stupid person with poor morals doesn't have the ability to cause that much damage."
Yuto's expression remained calm.
"It's the intelligent and capable people with poor morals who can cause the greatest amount of harm."
"That's exactly why I oppose letting someone as capable as Nagumo, yet lacking in character, become the discipline committee member."
"Who knows what kind of disaster he'd cause this school once he had that authority again?"
…
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