"That’s not..."
"Don’t tell me it isn't true. After all, you were recognized by him."
Minato-senpai was no longer hiding the emotions she harbored. A dark, swirling vortex of feeling churned in the depths of her eyes. As we exchanged words, I felt as if I might be swallowed by that profound gloom.
I had been mistaken about her.
Minato-senpai’s true terror didn't lie in her foresight, despite what she claimed.
In all likelihood, she could only read as far ahead as any ordinary person. However, as long as she had that average level of foresight, she would compensate for the rest with an almost supernatural tenacity.
She possessed the mental fortitude to bridge the gap in talent with sheer, grit-stained determination.
That was how Maki Minato fought.
In Kikou Academy, a place teeming with geniuses, that was how she had survived and thrived.
"Tomonari-kun. You probably don't know this, but there was once a student in this academy who used bribes to run for a Student Council position."
I hadn't heard that before.
However, now that I keenly understood that there were people here who would employ such schemes, it didn't seem far-fetched. I simply hadn't known; there were undoubtedly students in this academy capable of such things.
"...What happened to them?"
"I made them withdraw. I'm glad I noticed before the election officially began."
Minato-senpai breathed a sigh of relief, perhaps imagining a future that might have been.
"There are people in this academy who resort to cowardly tactics. And the Student Council must possess the ability to thwart such wicked schemes."
Hearing those words, I finally understood her point.
If you cannot see through a wicked scheme, you aren't qualified to be Student Council President.
That was what she wanted me to take away from this.
"...So, are you saying it's acceptable for you to use cowardly tactics as well?"
"Yes. Because I agree with Ren-kun's vision....All of you are far too innocent."
You are all too innocent, and therefore unfit for the Student Council. Minato-senpai had gone through the trouble of revealing her hand just to deliver that message.
Know your place. She was laying it bare, trying to break our spirits.
Even if we were naive and knew nothing of filth, that didn't justify Minato-senpai resorting to dirty methods. She had to have known that.
She was doing all of this with full awareness.
She was employing cowardly means while being perfectly conscious of their nature.
"Does Joto-kun know about this?"
"He does. In fact, Ren-kun gave me a message for you, should you ask that question."
A message...?
"'This time, it is my own will'... or so he said."
With that, Minato-senpai turned and left.
Rintaro gave a brief, apologetic "I'm sorry" before following after her.
...I figured as much, I thought.
The negative campaign had been Rintaro's independent decision. But at its core was Rintaro's passionate desire to help Ren, who had shown no initial drive to win.
Ren must have deeply regretted that Rintaro had dirtied his hands because of his own weakness. That was why he had resolved that this time would be different.
This time, he would take us down by his own design—that was his declaration.
"............Phew."
Left alone, I exhaled slowly.
A moment later, the thought occurred to me that I should just report this whole incident. Why hadn't such an obvious solution immediately come to mind?
I could just tell a teacher everything.
..................But how would I even frame it?
There likely wasn't a shred of evidence left. She had revealed the truth precisely because she was confident she could conceal the tracks.
(Should I have recorded it...?)
If I had captured the conversation on my smartphone, it might have served as proof. Since it was clear Ren was a collaborator, I could have brought them both down if I could only report them.
If I did that, the rest would be a clean fight between Tennoji-san and Narika...
"............Haha."
Suddenly, everything started to feel ridiculous.
Evidence. Reporting.
Recordings. Downfalls.
What was I thinking...?
Were these the things one should be calculating during an election?
"Hahaha..."
I couldn't stop the dry laughter.
I felt as if I would lose my mind if I didn't.
"................Damn it."
Is this really how the game is played?
◆
After returning to the auditorium from behind the school building, I was greeted by Tennoji-san and Narika. They asked me with worried expressions, "Did something happen?" It was then that I realized how pale I must have looked.
I felt terrible for causing them further concern when they were already so disheartened. But I desperately needed time to organize my thoughts.
I had a feeling that if I tried to explain what had just happened to them now, my brain would hit a boiling point.
"...I'm sorry. I need some time to clear my head. Let's call it a day."
It was painful to dismiss them for my own sake, but I was in no mental state to speak rationally. Both Tennoji-san and Narika followed my lead without a single complaint.
I walked straight through the school gate, and after a short distance, I was picked up by the Konohana family car.
As I sat in the back seat, Hinako, who was sitting beside me, stared at me intently.
"Itsuki... did something happen?"
I felt like I could explain things to Hinako.
Precisely because she wasn't a direct participant in the election, I told her everything in vivid detail.
"Actually..."
Deep down, I must have been desperate to vent. I explained it all to Hinako—how Minato-senpai had trapped us, and how Ren had condoned the entire operation.
"...That's horrible."
After hearing the whole story, Hinako whispered softly.
Yeah. It's horrible....The voice inside my heart agreed vigorously.
But saying that didn't change the outcome of the Public Debate.
"...Well, I'm going to my room."
Upon arriving at the manor, I headed straight for my quarters.
My heart was still far from calm, but time continued to march on without the slightest regard for my feelings. I had to figure out how to stage a comeback, starting tomorrow.
"I'm coming, too."
Hinako said, tugging lightly at my sleeve.
"...Well, all right."
Actually, she followed me most of the time anyway. When she was overwhelmed because she hadn't finished assignments from Ms. Kagen, Ms. Shizune would usually haul her away, but that hadn't happened much lately.
"I'm busy today, so I won't be able to talk much."
"Mm. Just being near Itsuki is enough."
Normally, that would have made me blush.
However, trapped in the grip of an unfathomable impatience, I merely offered a surprisingly hollow "I see" in response.
Once in my room, I immediately booted up my laptop.
(I have to report the situation to Tennoji-san and Narika right away.)
An hour had already passed since we parted. Even so, I didn't trust myself to remain composed, so instead of calling, I chose to explain the sequence of events via text.
We were framed by Minato-senpai. I conveyed the facts to them, stripping away as much personal emotion as possible.
After hitting send, I let out a long, quiet sigh.
"Itsuki, are you okay...?"
"...Yeah, I'm starting to settle down now."
That was a lie. I was nowhere near settled.
If I didn't at least project a facade of calm, the fever in my mind would never break.
(...I need to summarize the survey results.)
I hadn't been able to fully review the surveys we collected during the guerrilla marketing because the debate strategy sessions had taken priority.
I began sorting through the papers Kita and Suminoe-san had organized for me.
In the middle of the stack, I felt a sharp, jarring sense of wrongness from a single sheet.
It was the exact same feeling I'd had during the strategy meeting before the Public Debate.
(This—!)
The anger simmering at the bottom of my chest flared, connecting with the inconsistency on the survey. The resentment that had almost subsided surged back to the surface.
"Damn it!!"
In a fit of pure frustration, I shouted and tore the survey sheet in half.
Hinako, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, jumped at the sudden noise. Catching her startled form in the corner of my eye was like having cold water thrown in my face.
"Sorry, Hinako. I'm really sorry..."
"I'm okay... I was just a little surprised."
I had lost my temper more than I realized.
Staring at the torn paper, I pressed a hand to my forehead. I had never been this shaken in my life. I hadn't even been this angry when my parents vanished into the night.
"...What happened?"
Hinako asked quietly.
Since I had startled her—frightened her, even—I owed her an answer.
I replied without moving my hand from my face.
"...I suspected it yesterday after school, but there are responses mixed into these surveys that were designed specifically to mislead us."
On the surface, they looked like messages of support. But if you read between the lines, they subtly nudged our strategy toward a dead end.
Clever traps had been woven into the feedback.
"The Joto camp’s reach extends even here..."
They were the kind of people who would tamper with academy computers to steal data. I should have anticipated they would distort the survey results as well.
Hinako was speechless. I had been just as appalled when the realization hit.
They would actually go that far—.
Even if I noticed the traps, it was meaningless if I couldn't stop them. I had tried to dismiss them as trivial, but Joto’s tactics had successfully put cracks in my mental state. Perhaps this was the true goal: a psychological war of attrition.
(I didn't want to use those kinds of methods because I didn't want to drag everyone else down with me.)
If I resorted to underhanded schemes, I would be dragging Tennoji-san and Narika through the mud. Given their characters, they would likely refuse to cooperate even if I asked.
But...
(...Am I just being soft?)
Is staying silent really the intelligent choice after everything they've done?
If I tried to use schemes openly, Tennoji-san and Narika would stop me.
So, I simply had to do what Rintaro did—execute them in a way they would never find out.
I had dismissed those options before because of the risks. But now, I felt that fearing risk was a sign of weakness.
I had lost to Minato-senpai because she was willing to take those risks.
I had tasted total defeat.
—An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
When Minato-senpai turned against us, I had balanced the scales by having Hinako step in.
If they were going to use despicable means, shouldn't I respond in kind?
I didn't want to shame Tennoji-san and Narika. That single conviction had kept me away from the darkness until now.
But thinking about it rationally, wasn't it a bit late for that?
I had already allowed them to be humiliated.
The thing that infuriated me most wasn't the opposition.
It was myself—for letting Tennoji-san and Narika suffer such disgrace.
"...I won't let them be humiliated any further."
The resolve slipped through my lips.
I didn't care about self-preservation anymore. I would set aside my reputation.
The shortest path to victory for those two. That was the only thing I would focus on.
Come to think of it, Takuma-san had been encouraging me to use schemes from the very beginning. Hinako and Ms. Shizune loathed him, but his results were undeniable. In fact, following his advice had led to success in the Management Game.
If I had just done what he said from the start...
(Let me... consider it.)
Just as an exercise, I began to draft a plan.
I included everything—not just frontal strategies, but methods that completely ignored morality...
And then—.
(Ha... haha...)
As I brainstormed a plan where anything was permitted, a smile touched my lips.
Why? —Because the ideas were coming effortlessly.
What if we fabricated campaign promises? We could offer the students everything they wanted to hear. Even if they were impossible to fulfill, we could cook up excuses to gloss over them later.
What if I forged evidence of misconduct within the Joto camp? I had given up on reporting the debate incident because there was no proof, but if proof didn't exist, I could simply create it. Creating evidence that would be difficult to refute and using it to throw the opposition into chaos before the Final Speech seemed like a highly effective move.
I could track down the students who had submitted the fake survey responses and turn them into double agents. Threatening them with exposure for obstructing the election would likely ensure their compliance. While not strictly illegal, those students wouldn't want their reputations at the academy destroyed. It would take some detective work, but I felt like that was my specialty.
The ideas kept flowing. One after another, despicable plans that an upright person would never dream of surfaced in my mind.
The talent to see the hidden side of data. Takuma-san had said I possessed it.
If I had the talent to see behind the data—then I also had the talent to forge it.
I understood the process. I knew how people tried to read between the lines when they looked at a report. The background of the creator, the underlying philosophy, the key metrics, the numbers that were easy to manipulate... I understood how people processed information.
I could use that. I could create data that no one could ever debunk.
I could surely find a way to lie so perfectly that it would never be uncovered.
If I had the power to see through a facade, it only made sense that I had the power to build one.
(No wonder Takuma-san recommended it.)
I recalled our conversation about politician types versus management types.
He had told me that schemes were where my talent would shine brightest.
At the time, it hadn't sat well with me. I had wished for any other kind of talent.
But I had been wrong.
My talent—it was meant for this exact moment.
"Itsuki."
The moment my name was called, I felt as if a hand had gripped my heart.
I'm sorry—the words nearly escaped me reflexively. I hadn't even done anything wrong yet, but the guilt was already suffocating.
My heart hammered against my ribs, and cold sweat broke out on my brow.
I tried to project a sense of calm as Hinako stared at me.
"What are you thinking about?"
"...Just planning the next move. I've come up with a rather good idea."
I wasn't lying.
But Hinako didn't look away for even a second.
"Is that really all?"
Her innocent, piercing eyes held me fast.
"Just now, Itsuki... you had the same look my brother gets when he’s thinking about something terrible."
The same look as Takuma-san...
I knew what Takuma-san represented to Hinako. She had seen right through me. she knew I was about to descend into the world of schemes.
"................Did it show on my face?"
"Mm. But the fact that you didn't try to lie about it just now... that means you're still Itsuki."
Hinako smiled softly, appearing relieved.
"Itsuki, stay still."
"Eh...?"
Hinako stood up and walked over to me.
What was she doing? Did she want to see my laptop screen?
Before I could process it—Hinako threw her arms around me.
She cradled the back of my head and pulled me toward her, burying my face against her slender chest.
"Hi-Hinako!?"
"—It's okay."
A voice of immense kindness drifted down from above.
"Itsuki....It's going to be okay."
Her hand gently stroked my hair.
"You can't let a single failure... make you give up on yourself."
My frantic heart began to steady.
The warmth of her skin seemed to melt the cold bitterness that had taken root inside me.
As this girl—who had surely suffered far more than I ever had—held me, a wave of shame and guilt washed over me.
"But..."
The words forced themselves out of my throat.
"But... it was the one time I couldn't afford to fail............"
It was a catastrophic loss.
I had allowed a situation where Tennoji-san and Narika appeared to have been crushed by Joto. Reversing that image of defeat in the few days we had left felt impossible.
If I were the only one who lost, I wouldn't care.
But I had forced the two people I respected most to carry the weight of that failure.
It was the one failure I couldn't allow—.
"There is no such thing as a failure you can't come back from."
Hinako pulled back slightly to look me in the eye.
"Remember when I failed the three-second rule?"
I didn't see the connection, but I remembered the incident she was referring to.
During a formal dinner with a business partner, Hinako had instinctively picked up a piece of food she’d dropped, invoking the "three-second rule." She’d been caught in the act. It seemed silly now, but at the time, Hinako was still new to me and fascinated by commoner culture. In a moment of distraction, the habit had just slipped out.
"Back then... who was the one who saved me?"
I thought about it for a second before answering.
"............Ms. Shizune."
"Fufu... The fact that you don't say yourself is just like you, Itsuki."
Hinako giggled.
I knew I had been part of it, of course. But since I felt like I was the one who’d taught her the habit in the first place, I couldn't bring myself to take credit for "saving" her.