Mid-October, and the power shift within the student council was nearing its final moments. Today was the day to finalize everything.
Simply put, it was the general election for student council members. Although it was called a general election, it was essentially just a formality.
With Nagumo controlling the second-year students and having swayed many of the third-years, there was no chance of any other outcome.
After the perfunctory general election, the school held a handover ceremony during the weekly class meetings.
This was a large-scale event that gathered all the students in the gymnasium. However, for most of the first-year students, it was a rather meaningless period.
Ichinose had returned to school a couple of days prior, but she still hadn't given Kamio Tatsuya an answer. They greeted each other as usual when they met.
He didn't mind that, though; good things take time.
"Now, would President Horikita Manabu please give his closing remarks."
Upon hearing this, Horikita Manabu stepped out from beside Kamio Tatsuya and stood before the microphone.
"I am proud and grateful to have led the student council for about two years. Thank you."
So perfunctory...
But then again, this was a handover ceremony. The main person was the next student council president, not him, someone who was already stepping down.
"President Horikita Manabu, thank you for your hard work until now. Now, please welcome the newly appointed student council president, second-year student Nagumo Miyabi, to say a few words."
When his name was called, Nagumo Miyabi stepped out from the ranks and smiled at the students.
Compared to Horikita Manabu's perpetually serious face, Nagumo, as a sunny and handsome guy, was clearly more appealing to the students.
In any case, he seemed more approachable.
"I am Nagumo from the second year."
Nagumo first gave a brief self-introduction to the entire student body, then picked up the microphone.
"President Horikita Manabu, I am truly grateful for your strict yet kind guidance. It is an honor and a tribute to have been able to work with the best student council president who has displayed ultimate leadership among all past presidents."
After speaking, he bowed to Horikita.
Although Kamio Tatsuya never thought Nagumo was a good person, his respect for Horikita Manabu was genuine.
"Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Nagumo Miyabi, and I will be serving as the student council president of ANHS High School. I look forward to working with you all."
"I'll get straight to the point. First, I promise to change the term and appointment of the student council president, as well as the general election process..."
Nagumo's speech seemed to completely negate Horikita Manabu's approach, but even so, Horikita Manabu showed no reaction.
"I wanted to implement my new system immediately, but unfortunately, I cannot, as the new student council president will have various constraints."
As he spoke, Nagumo glanced sideways at the former student council president Horikita Manabu and Kamio Tatsuya, who was standing in the ranks, before turning back to the students.
Hey, President Nagumo, why are you looking at me?
Do you think I'll oppose your actions? I don't care about this kind of trivial stuff.
"I promise to bring about a great revolution soon. Students with ability will climb upwards, and those without will fall to the bottom. I will turn this school into a truly meritocratic school. I look forward to your cooperation."
As soon as he finished speaking, cheers and shouts erupted from the second-year students, and the atmosphere became lively.
Ugh.
It's one thing for the capable students in the second year to cheer, but why are the others cheering so much?
Even if Nagumo promised that the capable would rise, there are still guys like that in the second year, right? Useless fellows like Yamauchi.
Why are you all cheering?
Isn't it too early to be happy?
After all, Nagumo has the final say on whether someone has ability or not.
However, Nagumo's reforms don't seem like they'll have much of an impact on the first years. If anything, the leaders of the four classes are not the type to be easily manipulated.
Especially Sakayanagi in Class A and Ryuen in Class C. As for Ichinose in Class B, she only wants to protect her classmates from expulsion.
She wants to graduate from this school with everyone in Class B more than she wants to be promoted to Class A.
As for Class D, perhaps after they've been completely crushed, someone might agree with Nagumo's philosophy.
Besides, those guys in Class D have no real ability but are incredibly stubborn, acting like they're the highest and mighty every day.
It's hard to imagine them being easily manipulated by Nagumo.
Especially Ayanokouji and that Kouenji.
After the handover ceremony, Kamio Tatsuya and the student council executives returned to the student council office together.
Even though the handover just happened today, the entire decor of the office had changed. Compared to its previous simple appearance, it was now incredibly flashy.
It somehow felt like Nagumo was like a child in some ways.
"By the way, Kamio, what do you think of my speech today?"
As soon as he sat down, Nagumo asked Kamio Tatsuya.
"Huh? Me?" Kamio Tatsuya pointed at himself in confusion, then shrugged. "I think it's great."
The first item on Nagumo's agenda today was to change the student council president's term to last until graduation.
Kamio Tatsuya was very much in favor of this.
Because, given the current situation, once Nagumo graduated in his third year, the next student council president would undoubtedly fall to Kamio Tatsuya.
The student council handover ceremony was originally scheduled for December, but Horikita Manabu had moved it up to October so that the next student council could familiarize themselves with school affairs earlier and be in a better state to welcome the new students next year.
Speaking of which, wasn't this a sign that Horikita Manabu didn't trust Nagumo?
No... I can't help but want to laugh.
Now Nagumo wants to extend the term to graduation, which is March of the following year. While he wants to hold onto power until the very end, Kamio Tatsuya doesn't care about that.
This way, even when Kamio Tatsuya takes over, he'll only have to work for a year.
However, once Kamio Tatsuya takes over, he can move the election time forward again, perhaps to October or November.
Hahaha, then he'll only have to work for half a year, with a month-long summer break in between.
Hahaha, I'm a genius!
So, at this point, I must not oppose Nagumo's actions; I must absolutely support him.
This way, changing the handover date after taking office can become a tradition!
Hmm, plan successful!
As for not being selected as the next president, isn't that even better?
Who the heck wants to do that kind of work!
In addition to this, Nagumo also plans to loosen the restrictions on joining the student council and to allow members who are no longer competent to be removed by a vote.
It looks like he's giving the people below a chance to resist, but in reality, besides the three first-year students, everyone in the current student council is basically a supporter of Nagumo.
So, this isn't Nagumo giving people below a chance to resist, but a means to purge dissenters. After all, even for the student council president, it's not that easy to remove student council members at will.
Hey, hey, hey, this isn't aimed at me, is it?
Probably not. After all, Nagumo was the one who recruited me. If he kicked me out now, it would be him losing face.
Regardless, Kamio Tatsuya didn't care.
"Kamio, you're a candidate for the next student council president, so being so perfunctory isn't good."
Nagumo saw right through Kamio Tatsuya's thoughts.
It seemed he had to say something today.
"I have no objections to most of President Nagumo's reforms."
"So, you still have something you're not satisfied with."
"It's about abolishing the general election," Kamio Tatsuya said frankly. "Does President Nagumo mean that the succession of the student council president will be directly appointed by the previous student council president?"
"That's right, that's the idea," Nagumo shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. "Or do you think there's a problem with an excellent student council president appointing the next one?"
"No, there's no problem with that, of course."
Kamio Tatsuya didn't intend to deny that, but compared to the election system, Nagumo's new system was clearly more prone to problems.
"What if a student council president in a certain term has poor judgment and the student they choose can't handle the job, and the student council can't even function properly? In that case, President Nagumo, who proposed this, might be singled out and shamed."
For an ordinary school, there would be no need to worry about this problem, but this is High Spec, and the student council president has immense power. Once they start acting recklessly, all the students in the school will be dragged into it.
"Although the school will surely intervene if such a situation arises, don't you think it will be too late by then?"
Nagumo thought for a long time upon hearing Kamio Tatsuya's words, then nodded.
"Kamio, you are indeed extraordinary," Nagumo smiled. "In that case, I will withdraw the abolition of the election system. After all, I don't want to be nailed to this school's pillory."
Good, the plan worked again!
Appointing a new student council president requires not only consideration for the future of the student council but also for the feelings of the people below, and even more so, a balance of various factors.
Such troublesome matters, let whoever wants to do it do it. I'm not doing it!
Next came a series of reforms, but as Nagumo said, a newly appointed student council president would face many obstacles.
Even if Kamio Tatsuya was willing to cooperate with him fully, many things couldn't be implemented immediately; there had to be a buffer period.
Moreover, with all the third-year students gone, the greatly reduced student council immediately became busy. But President Nagumo would surely find a way to solve it, right?
Yes, I believe in you, President Nagumo!
Keep going!
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