"Don't you think your choice of words is a bit inappropriate, Miyako?" Horikita Manabu's voice was low and measured.
"Is it?" Amane tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
She thought for a moment but couldn't spot the issue.
"Why did you use the word 'support'?"
Manabu was visibly holding back his anger.
If he lost his temper, though…
He might be the one ending up worse for wear. He really didn't want to lose face in front of a junior.
"But wasn't it charity?" Amane sounded surprised.
"Then why did you transfer so many points out of the blue? You made me and Suzune rush out in the middle of the night."
She rubbed her stomach.
She was getting a little hungry.
"Did you not communicate with Shiranami at all?"
"Shiranami?"
Amane thought hard.
Her eyes filled with confusion.
"Shiranami Chihiro."
"Ah, even if you say that, I don't really remember."
"The girl who had that conflict with Ibuki recently."
"Huh? Who's Ibuki again?"
Manabu covered his forehead in despair.
Didn't this just happen?
And she's already forgotten everything after just one week?
Then something occurred to him.
"The one who wore white knee-high socks."
"Ah! I remember now! Shiranami, right? Hmm, I think she did say something about splitting the points with me halfway…"
Triggered by the keyword, Amane finally dug up the memory of Shiranami Chihiro from the depths of her mind.
"Ryuuen transferred the points to me today as the mediator—a total of 450,000 points. Shiranami said she had an agreement with you to give you half. Since the original amount was 400,000, I transferred 200,000 to you…"
Before Manabu could finish,
he saw Amane's expression turn serious.
"450,000? Wasn't it 400,000?"
Seeing her reaction, Manabu assumed she was concerned about the extra 50,000 and hurried to explain.
"Ryuuen paid 400,000 to Shiranami. The remaining 50,000 was for me. I refused it, and when I tried to return it to Ryuuen, he said if I didn't want it, I should just give it to Shiranami… Is there a problem?"
In Manabu's view, he had resisted temptation and even secured an extra 50,000 points for Shiranami. By all accounts, it was a decent way to handle the situation.
But Amane's reaction was far more intense than he expected.
"Foolish! Completely stupid!"
Her sharp rebuke caught him off guard.
"What was wrong with my approach?"
He trusted Amane's judgment, but he couldn't understand how resisting temptation made him a fool.
"How did you communicate with Ryuuen?"
"By phone. Ryuuen asked for my contact info after everything was settled."
Manabu cooperated, trying to trace his misstep.
"Did you record the call?"
"No. Who thinks to record a normal conversation?"
It was true. Most people don't record ordinary phone calls unless it's something sensitive.
"And the points—did he transfer them all at once, or in separate transactions?"
"Ryuuen sent them in two transfers… first 400,000, then another 50,000 immediately after."
Why would he split the transfers?
"Then how do you prove your innocence?" Amane sighed, sounding almost disappointed.
"Prove my innocence? I didn't keep the points—I passed them on to Shiranami. There's a transfer record."
Manabu's integrity was admirable, but his street smarts were clearly lacking.
"And how does Shiranami prove her innocence? The other party sent two separate transfers. You received them and passed them to her. How can she prove she didn't make some under-the-table deal with you? Or with Ryuuen?"
Amane shook her head.
Finally, Manabu understood.
This wasn't a gesture of goodwill or a simple bribe from Ryuuen.
It was poison.
If he had accepted, rumors would have swirled around him.
Ryuuen had the call log—he could easily claim Manabu had extorted additional points from him.
Even if the second transfer happened before the call, it wouldn't matter.
If Manabu had taken the points, it would have been a serious problem.
To his credit, Manabu was sharp enough to refuse the points. But that was exactly where the problem lay.
Was Ryuuen's target really only Manabu?
No.
His goal was to retaliate against Shiranami Chihiro. He had probably anticipated that Manabu wouldn't accept the points, so he arranged for Manabu to pass those 50,000 points to Shiranami.
But then…
How could Shiranami prove she hadn't made some private agreement with Ryuuen or Manabu?
Even someone as trusting as Ichinose might have doubts about an unexplained extra 50,000 points.
Even if Manabu tried to explain, if Ryuuen started spreading rumors about Manabu and Shiranami Chihiro, both of them would immediately be caught in a whirlwind of speculation.
As student council president, even if Manabu knew Ryuuen was behind it, he couldn't openly silence him.
Doing so would only make him look guilty, as if he were trying to shut Ryuuen up.
That would make things even worse. And without Manabu's public support, Shiranami would be left at the center of the storm.
"Ryuuen privately gave Shiranami Chihiro 50,000 personal points."
That alone would be enough to destroy her credibility in Class B.
Ryuuen's move was disgusting.
With just 50,000 points, he could create a scandal so severe that it might even force Shiranami to drop out.
If she were doubted, ostracized, and isolated, and if her mental resilience wasn't strong enough, she might very well choose to leave.
In the end, the only one laughing would be Ryuuen.
Manabu finally realized—Ryuuen had used him as a stepping stone.
His real target was Shiranami Chihiro.
Maybe he wanted to ruin her, or maybe he just wanted to teach her a lesson.
But either way, Ryuuen was already halfway to success.
"Is there any way to fix this?"
Realizing that his carelessness had inadvertently placed Shiranami in danger, Manabu quickly turned to Amane for a solution.
"Look at you, panicking like this. Can't you really think of a way? What kind of student council president gets this flustered? How can someone like that lecture his own sister?"
Amane clicked her tongue dismissively.
Manabu smiled wryly and shook his head.
So Amane was holding a grudge after all—she still remembered the harsh words he'd used earlier to provoke Suzune into fighting back.
"If… if I ever get to see the day Suzune truly grows, I'll apologize to her properly. This was indeed my mistake. If it were just me facing some gossip, I wouldn't mind. But if Shiranami gets caught up in this because of me, I'd never be able to live with myself. Miyako, could I ask for your help?"
As he spoke, Manabu opened his phone and pulled up a notes app.
It contained a list of Suzune's preferences, and… ahem.
"Deal!!!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.