I, the mastermind behind the scenes at Soubu High, refuse to be caught in a bloodbath.

Chapter 030 Unexpectedly, the [student council] is everywhere!

"Ah, yes, it's great that your brain can understand what I'm saying correctly." Yukinoshita closed the book, holding it with her left hand, and turned to look directly at Himekoji, saying, "I still remember how you deliberately retaliated by hitting Shinomiya Kyoya from Class D with a ball and sending her to the infirmary."

"Haruto-kun...is that true?"

Kasumigaoka looked over suspiciously; in her eyes, Himekoji was definitely not someone who liked to solve problems with violence.

"How could you believe what Yukinoshita said?"

“That’s true. Haruto-kun, I believe you wouldn’t do such a thing.”

"Hey! You two are going too far!"

Feeling utterly powerless here, Yukino pointed her book at the two people who were nonchalantly looking down on her.

"So, Haruto-kun, are you going?"

Kasumigaoka stepped closer to Himekoji, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked at Yukinoshita with a mocking expression, while Yukinoshita, who had never paid attention to such things, was completely unaware that Kasumigaoka was showing off to her—in fact, she often did the same thing herself, but all the pressure came not from Naoko but from her icy words.

"Mari, Jasmine, you two spar with Totsuka."

Himekoji himself certainly wouldn't go. He was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to catch any of Totsuka Saika's balls and that Hachiman would be talking behind his back, saying that he was bullying the little angel Saika.

"Don't order people around here without permission."

Yukinoshita frowned in displeasure. She, who had always reigned supreme over the entire Service Club like a queen, felt that her authority was being threatened.

"This is a tennis court, not the Service Club. Theoretically, the student council has some jurisdiction over this place."

Ji Xiaolu thought to herself: One of the school board heirs, Ju Ye, hasn't even said a word yet, why are you in such a hurry?

So Himekoji already said it, didn't she? From now on, the student council officially takes over the Service Club! (Just kidding)

"Okay!" The two responded quickly, so Yui looked at Yukinoshita and asked for her opinion. Yukinoshita nodded almost imperceptibly, and Yui handed the racket to Mariya.

Juya played very leniently, while Jasmine stood expressionlessly on the referee's platform above, keeping track of the scores. The score difference between the two was never very large. Of course, this was also because Juya had been wondering what Himekoji's intention was in making such arrangements; her mind was not on playing the game.

"Since you're so capable, I'll leave the rest to you."

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, Yukino turned and left, leaving two members of the Service Club, four members of the Student Council, and one person without any power affiliation. Yukino escaped easily, but she disrupted the balance of personnel, making the other members of the Service Club, who had always had a numerical advantage, feel an even more uneasy atmosphere.

"What's with that face? Who are you trying to impress?"

Kasumigaoka looked at Yukinoshita's retreating figure and pouted as she spoke.

Perhaps even if she herself doesn't care, the female soul within her body keeps reminding her that the part of Yukinoshita that she should be proud of has been utterly defeated in front of Kasumigaoka.

"It's precisely because everyone has a different personality that life is so colorful, Shiyu, don't be so..."

Just as Himekoji was talking to Kasumigaoka, an untimely voice interrupted him.

"Hey—, playing tennis? Can we join in?"

Himekoji and Kasumigaoka turned around and saw Hayama Hayato's group of six. They were the top students in Class F. The speaker was Miura Yumiko. However, they had not yet noticed Himekoji and Kasumigaoka standing near the barbed wire fence.

"Miura-kun...we weren't playing around."

Totsuka, who was already tired from playing ball and seemed listless, answered cautiously.

"Huh? What did you say? My voice was too soft, I couldn't hear you."

Yumiko put on an impatient face.

"Hey, isn't this Hayato?"

Himekoji walked over calmly before Hikigaya spoke, and at the same time, Mariya, who had been facing away from them, turned around and greeted Hayama, "Good day, Hayato-kun."

"How could the student council...?"

The appearance of Himekoji and Mariya clearly threw Yumiko off balance, but in terms of numbers, there were six of them on their side, while the student council and service club only had... wait a minute, Hayato is also in the student council, right?!

"President, and vice president, you're all hanging out together."

Hayama, who is usually cheerful and outgoing, greeted them warmly, while Hikigaya, who seemed to have been completely forgotten, and Yuihama, who was standing quietly to the side observing the situation, naturally lowered their heads.

"Well... I'll just treat it as a bit of entertainment. You know, all the annoying things I've been dealing with lately are finally over, so I need to get some fresh air. My old, machine-like body is starting to rust."

Himeko stretched her body slightly, while Hayama greeted Jasmine and Kasumigaoka respectively. Although they knew that Hayama was a member of the student council, seeing him able to talk to Kasumigaoka Utaha, a famous beauty in the academy, both Tobe Sho and Ooka were genuinely envious.

What people find hard to accept is not the rise of strangers to prominence, but the rise of people around them. Seeing Hayama able to communicate with Kasumigaoka so easily, even those people who didn't like, or rather, had no chance to like, Kasumigaoka felt a little ashamed.

But there's no way around it, since this group can only exist with Hayama and Yumiko at its core.

"But then again, Hayato, the right to use this venue has been temporarily assigned to Totsuka Saika from your class. You must know that, since you were in the student council room when Totsuka came to apply for the venue."

Himekoji pushed up her non-prescription glasses.

"Is that how it is, Hayato?"

Yumiko's posture crumbled somewhat, and she pursed her lips as she looked at Hayama.

"Ah...yes, that's why I've been saying this..."

Hayama hesitated, but Himekoji roughly guessed what was going on. It was actually quite simple: there was a voice in his team that he couldn't directly refuse. Unable to refuse, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and bring Yumiko and the others over to see if there was any room for negotiation. However, what he didn't expect was that Hayama's arrival almost brought the entire student council together.

"In that case, isn't there any way to make an exception? Student council president, we also have the right to play here, right?"

Hobu Shoho Himekoji shrugged and muttered a complaint.

Chapter 031 Displaying Divine Power, [Shioji Jasmine] is Not to be Trifled With!

"If you want to play, it's best to apply at the student council office. Once your application is approved and filed, you can come here to play."

Himekoji responded in this way.

"So... President, is there really no way to make an exception?"

Ye Shan stepped forward and whispered in Ji Xiaolu's ear. He also seemed to be in a difficult position. As part of his own faction, Ji Xiaolu naturally wouldn't simply refuse outright. Although on the surface he appeared to be acting in a businesslike manner, Ye Shan knew there was still room for negotiation.

"So, Hayato, would you like to make a bet with me?"

Himekoji shrugged and then looked at Yumiko behind him. Yumiko didn't know what Himekoji's gaze meant; she just felt uncomfortable and kept frowning.

"Oh? I'm very interested, if this bet can help us win the right to use the venue."

“It’s impossible for you to use it completely, but it’s fine for you to use it for this period of time. However, the condition is—” Himekoji pointed to Jasmine and Mariya, who seemed to be in a daze on the referee’s table, and said, “If you and Miura can beat Mariya and Jasmine in tennis, I will transfer the court usage time to you today. What do you think? Of course, you can also choose to substitute, but as far as I know, Miura should be very good at tennis, so he won’t let this opportunity pass by, right?”

"Should we have Jasmine and Mariko, who are both girls, fight against me and Yumiko?"

Hayama seemed somewhat surprised, but this was, after all, an opportunity.

Hmph, you probably think that with Yumiko and someone who can do a little bit of any sport, you can beat Jasmine and Mariya, right? But this is too sweet. I suggest you surrender now, otherwise you'll lose badly later. Mariya might go easy on you, but Jasmine won't.

"Juye, Jasmine, you don't have any objections, right?"

"No."

The two readily agreed. From Himekoji's observation, Jasmine was too lazy to socialize with these people, but Mariya had developed a good, pure friendship with Yui. Yui had always been very approachable, and Mariya didn't dislike girls like that. The two were both very cute and had many common topics to discuss, such as makeup, underwear, fashion, and perfume. On the other hand, Yukinoshita almost never talked about these things with Yuihama.

"Hayato, I want to play tennis—"

Seeing that she had a chance, Yumiko began to plead in a drawn-out tone.

"Alright, then, President, is our bet settled?"

Ye Shan extended his hand to Ji Xiaolu, who smiled, shook his hand, and nodded, saying, "Of course, I always keep my word."

So Yumiko changed into a tennis outfit. Meanwhile, Mariya and Marika, who were wearing sportswear and regular school uniforms, took more rackets from the sports storage room and distributed them to the two of them. Himekoji continued to watch the show from the sidelines, while Kasumigaoka asked him in a low voice, somewhat puzzled, "Inspiration-kun, are you deliberately giving them the court?"

"How could that be?" Himeko nodded to the two of them, "Watch closely, those two are no pushovers. Otherwise, why would I recruit ordinary freshmen into the student council?"

That's right. The first-year high school students have only been at school for less than three weeks, and Mariya was already being targeted by Himekoji and quickly promoted to vice president of the student council—something most people couldn't even imagine. (Of course, the success of Himekoji's suggestion was also partly due to the fact that Mariya and Jasmine tied for first place in the entire grade in the entrance exam.)

"Really... I didn't realize that. Is this what they mean by 'a hidden master doesn't reveal their true abilities'?"

Kasumigaoka kept whispering to Himekoji, while Tobe Sho and his two companions on the other side of the barbed wire could only watch with envy.

The refereeing and scoring were done by Hihama, a girl who was both a member of the Service Club and the Popularity Club, and felt extremely awkward caught between these three forces. Meanwhile, Hachiman, Zaimokuza, and Totsuka retreated to the most inconspicuous corner and watched quietly. All three of them were equally uneasy. Zaimokuza believed that the guiding light Himekoji and Kasumigaoka had betrayed him and the Service Club, but the thoughtful Hachiman kept trying to figure out Himekoji's intentions. In his opinion, Himekoji was not stupid. Since Himekoji himself had taken the initiative to come and observe their training, it meant that he was not so easy to admit defeat in this matter.

"Let me make this clear first, I won't go easy on you just because you're all in the student council."

Before the battle began, Yumiko made some tough remarks.

"What a coincidence, I won't be scared into admitting defeat just because you bark like a woman."

Jasmine, who almost never misses an opportunity to use her sharp tongue, mocked expressionlessly.

"What did you say----??"

Yumiko's temper flared up, but Hayama stretched out his arm to stop her and calmly said, "Yumiko, if that's the case, then we'll beat them in tennis."

"Right on my mind."

Yumiko nodded heavily, gritting her teeth and gripping the racket even tighter.

Yumiko herself said that in order to prevent others from saying behind her back that she was bullying people, she let Jasmine and Mariya serve first.

"Ha, you'll soon find out who's bullying whom," Ji Xiaolu thought, leaning against the barbed wire.

So, Jasmine prepared to serve.

"I'm going to serve now, so get ready to receive."

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you and won't make you cry."

The unexpected speed and trickiness of the ball caused them to lose a game.

"ACE!"

Yui shouted from the referee's stand, saying that she was honestly startled.

"Hey, hey, hey, that's a scam, right..."

Hina Ebina pushed up her glasses. She had barely seen the ball's trajectory before it hit the corner of Yumiko's side of the court and bounced away.

"This must be a coincidence."

Zaimokuza's lips twitched, while Hachiman watched Himekoji from afar, who seemed indifferent. He thought to himself: No, this is largely not a coincidence. That guy has gained an absolute advantage by using seemingly disadvantageous tactics, and now that Miura has made some tough statements, not fighting hard is tantamount to admitting defeat... But what if it really is a coincidence? Let's see what happens in the next ball.

So in the second game, Yumiko, who also thought it was a coincidence, started serving.

Although it was a little difficult, Mariya still managed to catch it and hit it back. Hayato played his best, but Jasmine's return shot was still too much for Miura to handle. Although she caught the ball, she didn't have the strength to hit it back. So the tennis ball bounced high and fell to the ground near Himekoji. He bent down, picked it up, weighed it in his hand, and threw it to Mariya.

No one spoke.