Student Council President's Office.
Currently there were only two people here: Akasaka Ryunosuke and Horikita Manabu.
This time Manabu acted differently than usual. He personally poured tea and served it to Ryunosuke, showing great respect.
Ryunosuke accepted it without hesitation and began tasting it.
"The Student Council President himself pouring tea for me. If your sister knew, she'd probably skin me alive..."
Manabu smiled. "It seems you're very afraid of my sister."
Ryunosuke saw a tea stalk standing upright in his cup (a sign of good luck), then drank it in one gulp.
"It's not that I'm afraid, I'm just too lazy to oppress her. Besides, she's your sister, I don't want you to not give me money when you graduate later."
"Hehe~" Manabu shook his head resignedly. "You can rest easy about that. Even if you don't look after my sister, I'll still give you that money in full after I graduate."
Ryunosuke's eyes sparkled. "Then, can I stop taking care of your sister?"
"Absolutely not!" Manabu's expression suddenly became very serious.
"Tch!" Ryunosuke scoffed. "I knew it..."
Manabu poured tea for him again while saying in a helpless tone. "I know my own sister best. Without your help, it would be difficult for her to go this far. So, please look after her a little longer, I beg you..."
"Yes, yes, yes, I understand, I know." Ryunosuke interrupted irritably.
For this sister complex, his sister was everything.
In order to get all of Manabu's wealth after graduation, he was forced to look after his sister. Well, it was just occasional help, no big deal.
Seeing him agree, Manabu felt relieved and began getting to the main topic.
"You made such a big commotion this time, you'll surely be noticed by everyone. Is it worth it?"
Hearing Manabu's question, Ryunosuke flashed a smile and crossed his legs casually. "What else can I do? In order to pay off my debt faster, if I don't take risks, when can it be paid off? Right?"
Manabu nodded in agreement. "That's true. Although this time you didn't get personal points directly, in exchange, you made the crown prince of the Koenji Consortium owe you three favors. That's far more valuable than money. Even if you leave this school later, with just those three opportunities you can already live comfortably out there..."
Manabu greatly admired Ryunosuke's methods. He himself only dared to think about it but didn't dare do it, because it was too risky to offend powerful people.
Ryunosuke himself lived alone after his parents left, so he didn't have many burdens on his mind.
This time not only did Ryunosuke benefit, Manabu also gained advantages. He had already used one expulsion ticket, and the only thing he feared was Nagumo Miyabi.
Nagumo too saved up large points only to counter Manabu's expulsion ticket.
Both were in a mutually locked position with their respective trump cards.
However, to help Ryunosuke, Manabu used one of his opportunities so his remaining points were only 20 million.
To prevent Nagumo from pressuring Manabu—and especially to ensure the money in the President's wallet didn't "fly away"—Ryunosuke decided to move to completely drain Nagumo's points.
Now the situation was reversed: the President still had 20 million and one special expulsion ticket, while Nagumo had no points at all to redeem himself if attacked.
Ryunosuke came here mainly to remind Manabu: "Don't you dare think short-sightedly and use that 20 million to expel Nagumo! That's all my money!!!"
Manabu rolled his eyes, signaling that he understood. He wouldn't do it; he would save that 20 million for him.
Only then could Ryunosuke breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't want to lose twice; he needed Manabu to graduate with full pockets to pay his debt.
Manabu found it amusing seeing the man before him who considered money so important.
Actually, the Horikita family was very wealthy. That 120 million debt wasn't a big problem for his family; it was the price of one store.
His family owned 3,000 franchise store networks with annual revenues reaching tens of billions. Manabu himself was a true rich kid, though still inferior when compared to giants like Koenji.
That's why Manabu warned Ryunosuke not to offend Koenji too much. If he wasn't careful, he could really be sunk into Tokyo Bay with cement.
After business was finished, Ryunosuke prepared to leave. Before going out, he reminded again not to waste points.
Manabu rolled his eyes again. "Yes, I won't carelessly use points. Everything will be yours, satisfied?"
Ryunosuke finally felt at ease. "Then I'm relieved."
Manabu said nothing more and escorted him out of the Student Council President's office before returning to work.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
While walking away, Ryunosuke began formulating his cunning plan.
Through this incident, he had mapped out Nagumo's strength.
If Nagumo wanted to fight the Student Council President again, he would have to accumulate another 40 million points, and during that accumulation time, the Student Council President would be safe.
In outsiders' eyes, the Student Council President hadn't used his expulsion right; technically it was Ryunosuke who bore all the "hatred" from that action.
Outsiders would see Ryunosuke as someone who spent nearly 40 million points for this operation, while still holding remaining points of about 70 million plus.
Because Ryunosuke stood on the Student Council President's side, Nagumo had to think twice if he wanted to move.
This also prevented the incident in the original story where Tachibana Akane was almost expelled and Manabu had to drain his points to save her.
Ryunosuke considered everything.
If Nagumo wanted to compete again, he needed months to accumulate another 40 million points, even if he squeezed all the second-year students. And in those few months, the Student Council President would have already graduated, so his money would be safe...
Ryunosuke was really working hard for the Student Council President's wallet...
At the same time, he was trapping Nagumo into conflict with the entire second-year class.
Manabu would graduate in less than half a year, and Nagumo surely couldn't wait to clash before Manabu left.
This would force Nagumo to brutally collect points in a short time, which would trigger dissatisfaction in the second year.
Even if Nagumo dominated the second year, when it came to material interests, everyone was the same. If you harmed their interests, how could they continue to support you? That way, his path to becoming the next Student Council President wouldn't be easy.
To become Student Council President, someone had to get more than 50% of students' votes. Ryunosuke wanted to mess up this situation and try to see if he could become Student Council President himself. Not because he wanted that position, he just needed its power to make his affairs at this school easier.
And the entry point to interfere in Nagumo's matter was Honami.
Ryunosuke's steps halted as he remembered the scene in the original story where Nagumo threatened Honami. He muttered an apology in his heart:
(Sorry, Honami-chan, this time I'm using you. I'll give you compensation, and rest assured, I won't let you get hurt.)
(At least in this Nagumo incident, I'll protect you and make sure you're okay...)