Horikita: Get to the meeting, now. This is my st warning!

  Faced with Uesugi's continued disregard for his meeting notices, Horikita Manabu sent one final ultimatum.

  Uesugi let out a cold snort.

  As if I care. I can't even be bothered to attend css, let alone some boring meeting. Go ahead, get the school to expel me if you have the guts.

  …

  Standing before the door to the student council office, Uesugi sighed in resignation.

  You told me this would be an idle position, so what's with all the meetings? And worse, I can't skip them anymore. The esteemed student council president even had the nerve to tattle to Ichinose.

  Unbelievable. After rejecting Ichinose's application, he still had the gall to ask her for help.

  Opening the door, Uesugi trudged in with zero enthusiasm, giving a half-hearted greeting to the student council members.

  "Good morning, President."

  "Good morning."

  "Morning, Secretary."

  "I've told you, I'm not a secretary—I'm the student council secretary-general."

  "Don't know you, but morning, Blondie."

  Without lifting his head, Uesugi waved casually before making his way to his seat. Sitting down, he promptly shut his eyes and started dozing off.

  "Uh… good morning to you too."

  The blond-haired uppercssman, Nagumo Miyabi, was momentarily stunned by Uesugi's indifference. Turning to Horikita Manabu, he asked, "Senpai, is this really the new vice president you mentioned?"

  Horikita, removing his gsses and massaging his temples, replied with a resigned tone, "As much as I hate to admit it, yes, it's him."

  Nagumo's expression soured as he struggled to suppress his irritation, forcing a smile.So, this is the infamous junior who somehow nded the vice president role.

  Nagumo had done his homework. Uesugi's position wasn't earned through conventional means—it was granted through school administration, likely due to his ability to influence school policies via outside funding. While Nagumo disliked Uesugi's attitude, he knew better than to provoke someone with ties to the administration. After all, the student council's authority stemmed from the school itself.

  What intrigued Nagumo more, however, was Horikita's attitude.

  "I'm curious, Senpai. Why did you let someone like him join the student council, let alone become vice president?"

  The subtext was clear: With your personality, why tolerate this?

  Uesugi, still resting with his eyes closed, cut in before Horikita could respond.

  "Because he didn't invite me. The school administration did. As the student council president, he had no authority to reject their decision. Simple as that."

  Nagumo froze for a moment, processing the new information. It seemed Horikita hadn't shared the full story of Uesugi's appointment with him.

  Great. Nagumo loves to stir up trouble. Last thing I need is him poking his nose into my business.

  Uesugi decided to preemptively shut Nagumo down, subtly warning Horikita not to disclose any additional details.

  The room went silent as everyone stared at Uesugi.

  "Is that true?"

  "They can do that?"

  "…"

  Disbelief filled the room, with murmurs spreading among the members.

  Horikita, exhaling deeply, confirmed it. "As much as I'd rather not admit it, that's the reality."

  Horikita was well aware that Uesugi had a recording of their previous interactions, making him reluctant to share sensitive information. He also understood that revealing too much to Nagumo would only complicate the student council's dynamics further.

  Seeing Horikita's exasperation, Nagumo quickly lost interest in interrogating Uesugi. Instead, a sly grin spread across his face.

  If nothing else, this kid is a headache for Horikita. That's good enough for me.

  Having climbed from Css B to Css A within a year and united most of the second-year students, Nagumo had effectively "beaten the game" of Advanced Nurturing High School.Invincible and lonely, huh?

  The only one who could still challenge him was his long-time rival, the renowned student council president, Horikita Manabu, widely regarded as the most exceptional president in the school's history.

  Since consolidating his position, Nagumo had been relentless in issuing challenges to Horikita, hoping to settle the score once and for all. But each time, Horikita dismissed him with logical excuses, citing inter-css competition as his reason for refusing.

  Nagumo hated to admit defeat, but the reality was that he couldn't go against the authority of the student council president.

  Now, however, there was someone else who seemed to be a thorn in Horikita's side. Even if Uesugi was zy and uninvolved, the mere fact that he annoyed Horikita was enough to make Nagumo reevaluate his initial disdain.

  Maybe this kid isn't so bad after all.

  Nagumo's mood noticeably lightened as he turned to Uesugi with a joking tone.

  "Well, maybe he's just tired from all the studying. Let him rest a bit."

  Studying? Him? Horikita mentally scoffed. Uesugi not only avoided studying but also frequently used his vice president status as an excuse to skip css entirely.

  …

  After the meeting ended:

  "Horikita-senpai…""Horikita-senpai…""Horikita…""…"

  The moment the meeting was over, Nagumo hovered around Horikita, throwing out topic after topic in an attempt to grab his attention. Even as Horikita tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, Nagumo refused to relent.

  Wait, what…?

  From a distance, Uesugi stared at the scene in shock.

  No way… Nagumo-senpai… is he…?

  As much as he didn't want to admit it, the possibility seemed gringly obvious.

  He's totally into Horikita-senpai. He has to be.

  Nagumo couldn't go three sentences without mentioning Horikita's name. Even when ignored, he persistently stuck close to him.

  So that's why he's so desperate to challenge Horikita—he just wants his attention. He probably thinks defeating Horikita is the only way to make him notice him.

  The realization made Uesugi instinctively slide his chair back, putting some distance between himself and the pair.

  His gaze shifted slightly to Secretary Tachibana Akane, who stood nearby. Thinking back, Nagumo's attitude toward her also seemed unusually… loaded. His gnces carried a strange intensity.

  If Nagumo can't get Horikita's attention and can't defeat him, he might just turn his frustration toward Akane. She could end up as colteral damage in his twisted pursuit of Horikita.

  Don't ask me how I know. Dog-blood drama novels are all written like this.

  For a moment, Uesugi's eyes filled with pity as he looked at Akane.

  You poor thing. Competing with a guy for another guy's attention is never a good idea.

  Noticing Uesugi's sympathetic expression, Akane furrowed her brows in confusion. Then, as if realizing something, she hugged her files and shot Uesugi a gre.

  What a bizarre school… Uesugi thought, shaking his head.

  ---

  Ichinose: Uesugi-kun, don't forget about tomorrow's end-of-month test!

  Shibata: Uesugi, tomorrow's end-of-month test is super important. Don't skip css.

  Kanzaki: Uesugi, there's an important test tomorrow. I heard from Hoshinomiya-sensei that it's crucial. Don't bail.

  Himeno: Hey, don't skip css tomorrow. Got it?

  …

  Uesugi stared at his phone, his face darkened with frustration.

  Seriously? Do they really trust me so little?

  Fine! I won't skip css!

  With a dramatic huff, Uesugi swiftly withdrew his leave request to Hoshinomiya-sensei.

  ---

  The next morning, Uesugi reluctantly wrestled with his bnket for a while before sluggishly dragging himself to the cssroom.

  "Ha~ Morning," he mumbled as he stepped inside and headed toward his seat, greeting Ichinose and the others casually.

  "Morning, Uesugi-kun!" Ichinose replied cheerfully, as energetic as always.

  "Morning, Uesugi. Here's your breakfast," Shibata chimed in, handing him a sandwich and a carton of milk.

  Ever since the incident where Ichinose and the others discovered Uesugi's habit of skipping breakfast, they'd taken it upon themselves to bring him something to eat every morning.

  "You're just in time. We were talking about that theory of yours from before," Kanzaki said seriously, closing the textbook he'd been reviewing when Uesugi walked in.

  "That wasn't my theory—it was yours. I just threw out a few random thoughts," Uesugi replied groggily, slumping into his seat and accepting the breakfast.

  "And I'm the one in the dark here, okay? No one told me until now that points might be tied to student discipline," he grumbled half-heartedly.

  From her spot leaning by the window, Himeno Yuki squinted at Uesugi, her eyes half-closed, clearly displeased.

  "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

  "I only just realized that you didn't know, Yuki. You weren't around when we discussed it st time," Ichinose interjected, trying to smooth things over.

  "Besides, it's just a theory. There wasn't any solid evidence, so we didn't want to spread it around. All we could do was encourage everyone to follow the rules."

  "Follow the rules—" Himeno's eyes widened as she suddenly turned to Uesugi.

  "Is this guy even capable of that?"

  "Rex, I've got the student council's permission to skip css. The school won't hold it against me," Uesugi replied breezily.

  While it was true that student council members often had duties that required them to skip css, Uesugi had taken that privilege to unprecedented levels. Still, he made an effort to reassure Himeno, knowing she was the only one immune to Ichinose's charm and thus worth treating kindly.

  "If Uesugi-kun's reasoning is correct, then point distribution will change next month. This test might be the school's way of wrapping things up," Ichinose said thoughtfully, standing beside Uesugi.

  "She's right," Kanzaki agreed, nodding. "The school wouldn't let students stay x forever. Next month's point distribution is the perfect time to shake things up. Hitting the students with a reality check after a month of leisure is bound to be effective."

  Impressive deduction, Uesugi thought, silently observing their spirited discussion.

  Even though I've been scking, it seems Css B is still doing fine.

  A mischievous grin spread across Uesugi's face.

  "Hey, Ichinose, considering how many friends you have in other csses, what do you think their point distribution will look like next month?"

  Let's have some fun with this.

  With only a few days left until the school revealed the results, Uesugi figured he might as well let them piece the answer together now.

  "Hmm, let me think…" Ichinose tapped her chin, lowering her head in deep thought as her expression grew serious.

  "I'm not sure about Css A or Css C, but Css D—"

  ...

  Kanzaki's pupils narrowed as his brow furrowed. "Strange. Why?"

  "Why are the point distributions so—"

  "—perfectly aligned?"

  The two spoke in unison, their words overpping.

  Watching this somewhat eerie synchronization, Shibata and Himeno exchanged confused gnces, unable to make sense of the situation.

  Meanwhile, Uesugi alternated his gaze between Ichinose and Kanzaki, then at Shibata and Himeno, shaking his head with a faint sigh of pity.

  Himeno's brow twitched as a vein popped on her forehead. She shot Uesugi a sharp gre.

  "What exactly are you all talking about? What's so strange about the points?"

  Uesugi's smile widened as he basked in the varied reactions around him.

  "Exactly. Why? What's the school's reason for doing this?" he said pyfully, his tone dripping with mock innocence.

  Heh. Betray me, will you? Bet you didn't expect me to turn the tables. Who's the real mastermind now, huh?

  After a long silence, Ichinose was the first to reach a conclusion.

  "The css divisions were probably determined by the school from the start. That's why the points are distributed so evenly."

  As expected, Ichinose's extensive network across csses gave her access to more information than Kanzaki.

  Kanzaki, still deep in thought, suddenly froze, his body stiffening as he remembered something. His mind fshed back to the second day of school, to an example Uesugi had casually brought up.

  "What does ranking mean in a company, or rather, why would a company rank its employees?" Uesugi had asked back then.

  "Competition. To improve efficiency, companies rank departments based on performance and encourage internal competition."

  Kanzaki's eyes widened in realization as the memory clicked. Turning sharply to Uesugi, he gritted his teeth and excimed,

  "Uesugi, you knew from the very beginning that the csses were meant to compete with each other! That's why you warned me early on that student discipline might be tied to points and told the css to follow the rules!"

  Ichinose's eyes widened as she pieced the puzzle together. "So that's why you stopped me from sharing the reasoning with the css. If word got out, the other csses might close the gap with ours, which would hurt our chances in the competition."

  Feigning ignorance, Uesugi adopted an innocent look and replied, "What are you all talking about? I don't get it. Right, Shibata, Yuki?"

  "Shut up, you schemer!"

  "Don't call me Yuki, you jerk!"

  Both Shibata and Himeno had also caught on, realizing they'd been thoroughly pyed by Uesugi.

  "Oh, don't sweat the small stuff," Uesugi said smugly, as if they were overreacting.

  Watching his smug expression, all four of them clenched their fists tightly, their anger palpable.

  …

  Ding~

  The bell signaling the start of css rang, forcing the group to return to their seats.

  "By the way, Kanzaki, Ichinose," Uesugi said suddenly, his tone serious. "One st question. What do you think the school uses to drive competition between csses?"

  With their sharp judgment, Uesugi was confident they'd find the answer soon enough.

  But before that…

  Take this, my revenge for all the sleep you stole from me!

  This is my final stand, a hedgehog fighting back after a month of persecution.