To protect Ichika from expulsion, Yagami signed a "humiliation" contract with Ryunosuke.
The terms required Ichika's absolute cooperation with Ryunosuke, along with a crucial additional clause: Ichika had to ensure that every single vote from Class 1-A was cast in Ryunosuke's favor during this year's Student Council elections.
With this, Ryunosuke's tenure as Student Council President for the following year was effectively set in stone. As it turned out, his line of thinking mirrored Ayanokouji's perfectly; though they hadn't been raised together, the intuitive bond between the brothers was strong enough to produce identical strategies.
Ayanokouji cleared the path for Ryunosuke by securing Nanase, while Ryunosuke secured Ichika.
Shortly after, Yagami submitted his voluntary withdrawal and officially departed from the school. While students are free to leave, re-enrollment is a near impossibility.
At the school gates, Ryunosuke and Ichika arrived to see him off.
With tears welling in her eyes, Ichika threw herself into Yagami's arms.
Yagami patted her back like an older brother, comforting her and signaling that she wasn't a child anymore, so she should stop crying.
Standing to the side, Ryunosuke found the scene incredibly familiar... He felt as though he had seen this exact sequence before, back when Manabu was comforting his younger sister.
Before leaving, Yagami left a final message for Ryunosuke. "I'm entrusting Amasawa to you. Take good care of her; she's like my own flesh-and-blood sister."
(Okay, now the vibe is getting way too similar...) Ryunosuke didn't know how to respond, so he simply gave a small, silent nod.
He and Ichika watched as Yagami boarded that familiar school bus. As the saying goes, "Every beginning has an end." The bus that had brought him here was now the one carrying him away.
Once the bus vanished from sight, Ryunosuke and Ichika glanced at each other, gave simultaneous huffs of disdain, and turned in opposite directions—officially parting ways.
Both of them made a mental note of this grudge in their personal "little black books." Ichika was determined to avenge this defeat one day, while Ryunosuke thought to himself, (Don't expect me to go easy on you; I still remember everything you did to me.)
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Ayanokouji met with Ryunosuke and reported that Nanase had been secured. In exchange, Nanase had agreed to give her vote to Ryunosuke in the Student Council election.
With the backing of the entire second-year body, the support of the third years, and the guaranteed votes from Classes 1-A and 1-B, Ryunosuke's position as the next President was unshakable. With nearly 80% of the school population behind him, his re-election was a 100% certainty.
Ryunosuke was highly satisfied with Ayanokouji's maneuvers.
(Ayanokouji... he really knows exactly what I need,) He thought.
As for letting Nanase off the hook? It wasn't a big deal—after all, he had let Ichika stay too.
In reality, the main reason was that Ryunosuke couldn't actually touch Ichika yet because Chairman Sakayanagi was still protecting her. The threats he had leveled at Yagami earlier were partially just a bluff. As long as the goal of getting Yagami out was achieved, he considered a bit of deception to be a sound strategy. Now, only the leaders of Class 1-C, Sakurako and Riku, remained to be dealt with before he held total control over the freshman level.
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In a training hall, Yagami hammered his fists into a punching bag without pause. Sweat poured from his brow, but he didn't care. The thunderous cracks of his impacts revealed the terrifying power he now possessed. He was cranking his intensity to the limit to surpass certain people. Yagami had lost too many times, and he refused to lose again. He had to become stronger and crush them all!
Nearby, Atsuomi's face was sour. The deployment of the White Room's "assassins" to that school was being monitored by numerous superiors and investors. This total failure had caused him to lose face.
Atsuomi clenched his fist in dissatisfaction. His fifth-generation masterpiece had been defeated just like that. How would the investors view him now? Sponsoring funds would surely become harder to secure. The White Room existed to prove that geniuses could be manufactured to surpass natural ones. If he failed to prove that, what was the point of its existence?
Atsuomi let out a long sigh and relaxed his grip. "Fine, let it be. Next, I need to figure out a way to bring Kiyotaka home, or find another path..."
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Kushida walked buoyantly toward the Student Council room. She had already heard the news of Yagami's expulsion, and she couldn't hide the smile on her face. She burst inside, ignoring the bewildered looks of others, and marched straight up to Ryunosuke.
"Thank you~" she said lovingly, hiding her hands behind her back.
Ryunosuke didn't even look up from his desk, his pen still moving. "You're welcome..."
But Kushida wasn't content with just that. Right in front of Hiyori and Suzune, she boldly wrapped her arms around Ryunosuke's neck from behind. Her gaze was filled with an affection that could melt anyone. Her hands, however, began to get inappropriate, wandering downward...
Ryunosuke immediately swatted them away and caught her wrists. Stunned, Hiyori and Suzune couldn't stay silent. They slammed their hands onto the desk simultaneously, startling Hachiman, who was working beside them.
Hachiman immediately lowered his head, trying to erase his presence from the drama.
Meanwhile, Asuna chose to play blind and continued her work. She was being paid by Ryunosuke, so regardless of what happened, the paperwork had to get done. Her boss's scandals? None of her business.
"Start talking! Since when have you two had this kind of relationship?!" Hiyori and Suzune demanded in unison.
Sensing he was in mortal danger, Ryunosuke immediately raised his hands in surrender and gave an honest chronological account of the events.
Upon learning they had a new "sister" yet again, the two girls only furrowed their brows. They were effectively numb to it; the number of women around Ryunosuke had already grown far too large to count.
Kushida only gave a provocative smile and hugged her man's neck even tighter.
Hiyori massaged her temples and said to Kushida, "Remember to report to Morishita-san."
Kushida frowned. "Why do I have to report to her?"
Suzune replied flatly, "Because she is the first wife—the eldest sister—while you are the 14th. Shouldn't you go pay your respects?"
"Tch!" Kushida huffed, but didn't argue. When it came to the information network and the hierarchy of the women around Ryunosuke, no one could beat the data. She left to find Morishita Ai to "register."
Shortly after, the "Round Table Meeting" was reconvened to announce Kushida Kikyo's induction as the 14th member. However, Ai was starting to get a headache; their numbers had already surpassed the Gotei 13. Would she have to rename the group again? Especially since she knew Kei hadn't even been officially counted yet.