Chapter 229: The Day Before the Election
The election for the Shuchiin student council president, everything seemed to depend on public opinion, at least on the surface.
[Breaking news! Strong candidate Hongo Hayato, due to special reasons, cannot participate in the election, what a pity.]
Sakurai Saki looked at the front-page headline of the latest newspaper issued by the media club, and he frowned.
"Kaguya-san. This was your doing, wasn't it?" Sakurai looked toward a figure in the shadows.
Shinomiya Kaguya, daughter of the Shinomiya family, who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals—the dark side of Shuchiin was fully revealed in her!
To her, Shuchiin was nothing more than a playground. In order to push Shirogane Miyuki to become president, she actually used such vicious methods to force a candidate to withdraw!
How outrageous! How insidious!
"Hmph, flies don't sting unbroken eggs." Shinomiya Kaguya said coldly.
Kaguya: <(￣へ￣)> hmph~
The corner of Kaguya's lips curled slightly, her crimson eyes in the darkness flashing with a dangerous light.
As long as the result was good, any method could be used!
"Kaguya-san, you…" Sakurai Saki said seriously: "are you the fly?"
"Huh!?!" Shinomiya Kaguya snapped: "It was just an example! An example! Don't you get it?"
"And also, when you just came in, you didn't even turn on the lights, what exactly was that for?"
At this moment, the two were in the student council room.
The tense atmosphere from earlier was completely broken by Kaguya.
"Don't you think it feels more atmospheric with the lights off?" Sakurai Saki rubbed his chin.
Sakurai: ( ◡̀_◡́)✧
It felt like a sinister villain manipulating Shuchiin from behind the scenes.
Interesting indeed.
Shinomiya Kaguya gave him a glance, then turned on the lights in the student council room.
"Alright, it's bright now."
The new student council hadn't been chosen yet, so Kaguya and Shirogane still held the keys. Once the election was over, they would hand them over.
After all, Shinomiya Kaguya in Shuchiin could basically do whatever she wanted, freer than Olaf's R.
If Eren saw Kaguya, he would have to give her a thumbs up and shout [Freedom!]
"It's daytime outside, isn't it? Why even turn on the lights?" Sakurai Saki said as he pulled the curtains open.
"Then why didn't you pull the curtains just now." Shinomiya Kaguya quickly shifted the responsibility, then turned the lights off.
"Hm, it's been a while since I had coffee here." Sakurai Saki picked up the brewing tools nearby, preparing to hand-brew some coffee.
"This time the only candidate left is Iino Miko." The corner of Shinomiya Kaguya's lips curved slightly, her voice carrying a bit of delight: "Anyway, she's just a little girl who doesn't understand the rules, listing out so many strict regulations, surely no one will support her."
Boys and girls must keep a distance of 50cm, girls must tie their hair into ponytails, boys must shave their heads bald, no contraband items allowed in school… just reading those rules already gave people headaches.
Although she had no intention of dating, Kaguya still didn't want her maid and her maid's boyfriend to lose the chance to be intimate at school.
Hayasaka Ai had to take care of her after school, and if during school hours she still couldn't flirt with her boyfriend, then that was really too pitiful.
'It's all for you, my beloved maid.' Shinomiya Kaguya sighed in her heart.
She hoped her maid could feel the care from this kind mistress.
Hayasaka: ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
"According to the public opinion survey, our support rate is as high as 94%, theoretically there's no way we can lose." Sakurai Saki focused on the coffee beans in his hand, casually mentioning the number.
"Don't be too confident, you might suffer a crushing defeat." Shinomiya Kaguya reminded with her words, though in her heart she didn't feel they would lose.
While sipping coffee, Sakurai Saki glanced out the window. On the field, the baseball club was practicing, the track and field team was shouting slogans.
"Kaguya-san, do you still remember Koyasu Tsubame?"
"Yes, what about her? Last time she was quite close with Ishigami-kun."
"Nothing, I was just looking for a topic to talk to you about, to ease the atmosphere." Sakurai Saki said.
He and Kaguya didn't really get along, and when alone, it was rather awkward.
Last year when they first met, the atmosphere was even colder than now.
Back then she even went so far as to strike Shirogane Miyuki, and that left Sakurai Saki with a rather bad impression, feeling this person was even more arrogant than himself.
As someone with a superpower, Sakurai Saki sometimes also felt that he was a notch above others. He knew this wasn't a good habit, and lately he had been trying to change.
But back then, Kaguya's temper was something she really didn't hide at all, she didn't even bother to pretend.
At the very least, Sakurai Saki on the outside was still a bright and cheerful boy—his private matters aside, he did put on quite a performance outwardly.
But Kaguya…
Forget it, he didn't want to think about her anymore.
'As if I actually cared that much about her.' Sakurai Saki thought to himself.
"Ishigami-kun will probably only be able to one-sidedly love Koyasu Tsubame until she graduates." Shinomiya Kaguya said bluntly.
The other party was the high-ranking flower of the third-years, who had already rejected too many people. Many boys only saw her as a trophy to worship.
In that situation, the thickness of Koyasu Tsubame's psychological defenses could be easily imagined.
"That's a bit harsh." Sakurai Saki sighed.
Although Ishigami had made some waves at the last sports festival and regained a fair amount of confidence, for him to pursue a girl of that level was…
Hard!
Very hard!
Ishigami: (ಥ﹏ಥ)
"Don't you think so too?" Shinomiya Kaguya countered.
As she spoke, she raised her coffee cup and took a sip.
The other party's skill wasn't bad, almost like Hayasaka Ai's.
"If a kouhai close to you suddenly confessed, would you accept?" Sakurai Saki asked.
"No."
"Then isn't that exactly the same thing?" Sakurai Saki set his cup down, rubbing his temples.
Ishigami developing feelings for Koyasu Tsubame wasn't actually strange at all.
That kouhai-kun of his was always starved for affection, and an unexpected gentleness could very easily mislead him.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You don't exactly feel like playing matchmaker for them, do you?" Shinomiya Kaguya shot him a glance.
Sakurai Saki lifted his cup, chuckling a few times.
Just as he was about to speak—
Knock knock.
"Come in."
Kaguya called out.
A few seconds later.
The door opened, and a short-haired girl walked in.
"Kaguya-san!! I've got something… Um? Sakurai-san, you're here too?"
It was Kashiwagi Nagisa, the only fan of Shijo Maki.
Moreover, she was a terribly twisted fan…
To be honest, Sakurai Saki really didn't want to talk with her.
"Perfect, it's even better if there's a boy here, it'll make judging the situation easier! I think my boyfriend might be cheating on me!"
Kaguya & Sakurai: ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?
Wait, wasn't this the student council room? Since when did it become a love consultation center?
"Explain clearly." Shinomiya Kaguya immediately put on a serious face.
Kaguya: ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡ )⟡
Cheating? This wasn't a small matter!
And Nagisa was also one of her few close friends, Kaguya felt she had to step in and give advice!
"Last weekend, I saw him eating sweets together with Shirogane-san! And what's more, they even shared a couple's drink!"
Sakurai: ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°) ?
Sakurai Saki's expression instantly turned strange.
Why did that sound so familiar…
"How did you find out?" Kaguya pressed further.
This wasn't just cheating anymore! There was even the possibility of coming out!
"I installed a tracking app in his phone! That's how I discovered it!"
Sakurai: (·•᷄_•᷅ )
That was outright invasion of privacy, wasn't it?!
In Sakurai's head, he kept recalling the conversation between Shirogane and Tanuma from earlier.
Shirogane: [Tanuma, let's also go check out that shop you mentioned this weekend, in case we misunderstood.]
Tanuma: [Alright, let's go on Saturday.]
…Oh, so that's what it was!