His approach wasn't particularly sophisticated.
Blending in, he continued feeding the crowd rumors in a casual tone—names like Kamuro Masumi, Ai Morishita, Miki Yamamura—just from Class A alone, there were enough to start a mahjong game.
After Kaoru enthusiastically listed over a dozen names, some even began urging him to stop spreading rumors, insisting reality couldn't possibly be that exaggerated.
To this, Kaoru refuted them point by point, claiming that even next year's juniors wouldn't escape the clutches of this playboy, because once he became student council president, he'd establish a massive harem.
Some said it was impossible, but Kaoru shot back that just because they couldn't do it didn't mean no one could.
And so, he successfully derailed the conversation—the forum now buzzed about the feasibility of a harem.
Kaoru knew exactly what these people were thinking.
They were just here for the drama, waiting for him to crash and burn, expecting a messy love triangle or a battlefield of jealousy.
It wasn't outright malice, more like schadenfreude.
But just arguing online wasn't enough.
Beyond leveraging [The Midas Touch] to cement his relationships with these girls in everyone's minds, there was no way to completely erase the odd looks from others.
Kaoru could only minimize the fallout—after all, having a harem king in their midst would naturally raise eyebrows.
In other words, Kaoru would delete the nastier comments, keeping the discussion civil.
Of course, not everyone was happy with his methods.
Kamuro was furious, demanding he delete the parts about her immediately.
"Morishita isn't even in a hurry, so why are you?"
In front of her, Kaoru felt no need to save face—she already knew exactly what kind of person he was.
"Besides, Masumi, you're always around me. People might misunderstand anyway, so why not just lay it all out for them?"
Kamuro was livid, but there was nothing she could do.
Too many eyes were on them in the classroom—what if someone actually started teasing them?
Before Kaoru arrived, she had seen a crowd surrounding Sakayanagi, bombarding her with questions about affairs and who the "real" girlfriend was.
Suddenly, Kamuro remembered the sports festival and immediately backed down.
She wasn't used to being the center of attention.
Even so, some people quickly mustered their courage, such as Totsuka Yahiko and others, who approached Kaoru with intense curiosity to confirm the truth.
Kaoru wouldn't deny it—choosing that option in a game would lead straight to a Bad End.
But he couldn't outright admit it either, as that would only provoke everyone and keep the topic burning.
Thus, his answer had to be subtle.
"I'm their backup boyfriend, just waiting for my chance to be promoted."
Kaoru glanced at Sakayanagi. "If you don't believe me, Arisu can vouch for me."
Sakayanagi, who had been enjoying the show, suddenly found herself under everyone's gaze.
She blinked in mild surprise, then smiled. "What would you like me to prove, Kaoru-kun?"
"Do you like me, Arisu?" Kaoru asked.
As the words fell, the classroom atmosphere froze for an instant before erupting into uncontrollable excitement and fervor—an actual live confession!
And the opening line was already a bombshell!
Sakayanagi's smile deepened, her teeth gritting in amusement.
This guy had actually pushed the question onto her.
Whether she admitted it or not, Kaoru had successfully diverted everyone's attention.
"Fufufu, what kind of answer would you like to hear, Kaoru-kun?" Sakayanagi murmured softly.
"If it's Ichinose-san's answer, I can't say it."
Gossip was always something humans relished, especially when it involved a love polygon—even the question of who was the "main wife."
Even Katsuragi grew intrigued!
"I want the answer that would allow me to marry you."
Without a doubt, Sakayanagi was instantly sunk.
This almost cheating play left her unable to continue the topic, because any further response would only descend into petty jealousy.
For example, if she asked, "Aside from me, do you also want to marry Ichinose-san?"
Or if she said, "So you'd rather marry me than Ichinose-san?"
Neither would make a difference—both would look like petty squabbles to onlookers.
Unless Sakayanagi outright rejected Kaoru.
But she doubted even that would stop others from interpreting it as jealousy.
Sakayanagi was starting to regret entering this game so quickly.
...
Even after school, Kaoru noticed the strange looks from students passing by, as if he were some rare panda on display.
He had already messaged Ichinose and the others.
Aside from Tachibana Akane cursing up a storm, the rest told him not to worry about them.
When he arrived at the student council office, Nagumo was still absent, leaving only Tonokawa Sosuke organizing documents.
Ever since Nagumo discovered that everyone was a traitor, he immediately realized the impending reality of being sidelined in the student council.
He had to recruit new allies.
Unsurprisingly, Kaoru had indeed sidelined him.
The core functions of the student council now rested in Kaoru's hands, leaving Nagumo with only two choices: either purge all members or pretend not to notice.
Nagumo didn't purge them outright.
Instead, he made a decision.
He stopped fulfilling his duties as president.
Acting entirely on whim, Nagumo came and went as he pleased, leaving a backlog of work piling up since the start of the semester.
Still, Kaoru could gather the entire student council to petition the school for Nagumo's removal.
But the school would never agree to that—they'd likely just smooth things over.
After all, Nagumo hadn't done anything egregious enough to warrant school intervention in student affairs.
Kaoru greeted Tonokawa before taking the president's seat.
Since Nagumo wasn't here, he naturally had to exercise his vice president's authority and handle the work.
It was just that the original secretary, Tachibana Akane, had been replaced by a man, which made Kaoru feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Tonokawa-senpai, our student council has authority over the school's anonymous forum, right?"
"We do, but normally we—"
"If anyone maliciously attacks me, delete their post immediately and ban them."
Tonokawa obediently shut his mouth.
He, too, knew what the school forum had been discussing lately.
Kaoru wasn't afraid of people discussing things—he was wary of those with ulterior motives.
The malicious comments had to be suppressed with a heavy hand.
The two of them worked for a while longer.
Ichinose and the others were out on a mission, leaving only scattered sounds in the office.
Tonokawa wanted to say something several times but ultimately held back.
He was wondering why Kaoru hadn't brought up the collaboration yet.
Should he be the one to broach the subject now?
It was simple—Kaoru was deliberately keeping him waiting.
This was the so-called "hawk-taming" tactic.
Last time, he had only made Tonokawa think there was room for negotiation.
As Kaoru's advantage grew, that room would gradually shrink until it disappeared entirely.
Not only that, but Kaoru also intended to leverage the situation to pressure him.
He had Sakayanagi Narumori's phone number saved, and now was the perfect time to make the call.