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

“She grew up in my family. We were childhood sweethearts who lived together for fourteen years.”

There was nothing to hide, and Himekoji confessed it frankly.

"Oh, I see. No wonder you two played the piano so well in sync; you practiced together..."

"Yes...that was a really tough time."

Himeko looked out the window, her eyes filled with a hint of bitterness, which made Kogiso feel sorry for her.

"What position does Himekoji-kun plan to take? If you two are both keyboard players, it's a bit of a conflict..."

"Well, we'll see how Kazusa and I discuss it then."

In fact, Himekoji is proficient in almost every musical instrument that Kogiso can name. Among them, she is skilled in piano, violin, Chinese flute, guitar, saxophone and zither. This is thanks to her two teachers, her mother and her older sister Yoko.

Another important thing is the musical talent you inherit from your mother. No matter how much you study, there's a limit to how far someone without talent can go.

The first cultural festival executive committee meeting is about to begin, and Himekoji plans to be a hands-off manager again, just like before, but even more so. And this time she has a good reason to slack off, which is—I joined the light music club, so I have to prepare a program, and everyone should do their best~~ and so on.

Well, in short, we can just leave the important work to Yukino and the executive committee chairman.

With this in mind, Himeko led her student council members to the second conference room in a grand procession. Sure enough, as soon as they opened the door, they saw many familiar faces, such as Yukino Yukinoshita sitting at the very front, and Hikigaya with his chin resting on his hand, looking like he was wondering, "Why am I here again?"

Although Himekoji had anticipated that the world's will would lead to Sagami Minami's re-election as an executive committee member of the cultural festival, she was still slightly surprised when she faced her again.

Sagami missed his gaze and continued chatting with the cute girl next to him, pretending not to care.

I guess I was elected out of malice by the other students in the class.

They would say, "Anyway, you did a great job as an executive committee member last time at the sports festival, and you even became the chairperson. You can just continue this time and get internal application points." Because Hikigaya was forced to be nominated by Hiratsuka Shizuka's malice, the election of executive committee members on the girls' side became difficult.

Previously, each department sent volunteers, but this time it's different. Each class sent two volunteers. So, given that Hachiman is "not popular with girls," Yui volunteering to do this might lead to misunderstandings about their relationship. Although she does like Hachiman, it's a bit too obvious.

I don't want my classmates to know yet.

Moreover, Yuihama was forcibly recruited by Miura and kept there, so resisting Miura at this point would obviously not be a rational choice.

"Kyoya, let's distribute the materials to everyone first."

Himeko handed the revised and discussed proposal to Shinomiya Kyoya. Although it was a proposal, some parts were missing. A more detailed version would be distributed after the work of each department was finalized, otherwise it would easily cause disputes.

Perhaps because the teachers hadn't been of much help even when they came to the meeting during the last sports festival, Hiratsuka Shizuka and Atsugi-sensei were busy with their own things, leaving the student council to organize the event. Anyway, he knew Himekoji would do a perfect job, so there was no need to worry.

"Alright, let's begin the Cultural Festival Executive Committee meeting. I am the student council president, Himekoji Haruto. Without further ado, let's decide on the Cultural Festival Executive Committee Chairman."

After Himeko finished speaking, a small commotion broke out below, mostly with complaints like, "Is it going to be the same again this time?" "The student council president is being lazy..." "He's just making people do the work again," and so on.

Ignoring the pointless complaints, Ji Xiaolu coughed twice and said seriously, "I hope someone will raise their hand, otherwise I will call on someone directly, so please be more enthusiastic."

Himekoji didn't look directly at Yukinoshita. Last time, directly appointing Yukinoshita as vice chairperson caused her a lot of trouble, and he didn't plan to do that this time.

About ten seconds later, the discussion in the conference room was immediately drowned out by a voice.

"Well, I'll take on the role of Executive Committee Chairman."

Sagami Minami raised her hand again, a confident smile on her face.

"Very good, please introduce yourself."

Himeko reached out her hand to her.

Chapter 183 Once again, [Sagami Minami] stood on the stage.

This scene actually happened more than a month ago, but since the executive committee members of the cultural festival and the operation committee members of the sports festival are different, this kind of thing is still unavoidable.

After Sagami finished introducing herself, she gracefully accepted Himekoji's invitation to sit in the front row, in a seat where everyone could see her.

"In addition, since the cultural festival is not a large-scale joint event like this year's sports festival, I, the student council president, will only participate as an advisor. Firstly, this is to give Sagami-san some experience, and secondly, because I recently joined the light music club and have decided to perform at the cultural festival. Anyone who has objections can raise their hand now."

A handful of people raised their hands, including Yukinoshita.

"What's wrong with you, Yukinoshita?"

"Aren't you just dumping the work on Sagami-kun? And on us too?"

"If you have any objections, how about we switch positions? I'll be the executive committee member, and you can be the student council president and executive committee chairman."

"Hello, hello, hello..."

Discussions filled the conference room.

"If that's the case, then I'll have to quit."

Kasumigaoka rested her chin on her hand, playing with a strand of hair. After all, she joined the student council because of Himekoji.

"Me too."

"Me too."

Mariya and Jasmine spoke one after the other. Mariya admired Himekoji, but she might not admire others. Jasmine, on the other hand, was Mariya's unwavering support on important matters. As her maid, she naturally had to stand on the same side as her master.

"I have no reason to participate anymore."

Shinomiya mustered his courage and said. His reason for joining was to exchange his work for the survival of the GJ Club.

Very well, five out of the six student council members plan to resign after Himekoji steps down, with only Hayama Hayato willing to stay. Without a beneficial assistant, even Yukinoshita cannot single-handedly support the Soubu High School student council.

"They're still messing things up as always... How can you just replace someone in this position like that?"

Yukinoshita rubbed her temples, her head aching, and glanced at Hayato Hayama. Hayato sensitively looked away without saying a word.

"Anyone willing to be the student council president and executive chairman of this cultural festival, just raise your hand now. If you think you can also satisfy the vast majority of students in the student council's work, gain the trust of all teachers, and make all clubs run smoothly—anyone can do it. Raise your hand. If you have this awareness, I, Himekoji Haruto, will now hand over this troublesome job to you."

Himekoji stood up and pressed her right hand to her chest.

Even if you really step down, you can still be re-elected in the student council election after the cultural festival. Not to mention after the cultural festival, if you put in a completely incompetent person to do this job, you'll have to ask Himekoji to come back within a few days because the cultural festival can't go smoothly. In addition, most of the capable members of the student council will leave, and it will be very difficult to just form a new student council.

Everyone below looked at each other, no one daring to raise their hand. As for Hachiman, he had no hope whatsoever.

Furthermore, it doesn't matter if she doesn't continue to serve as student council president; she already has the necessary connections. As for "becoming the protagonist," Himekoji feels that she has already accomplished at least half of that, and she can complete the remaining half through further efforts.

“Nobody here… Hmph…” He scanned everyone’s faces and said loudly, “In that case, follow me. Don’t question my decision. I have already given you the opportunity to be leaders, and you all chose not to.”

Therefore, Himekoji decided to grant Sagami Minami full authority. Thanks to the effect of her previous remarks, no one complained. After all, some of the people present had participated in the Sports Festival's management committee meeting before. Even though there were some setbacks, Sagami had ultimately completed the task. So there was no need to worry too much this time.

"So, Haruto-kun, you're going to perform on stage..."

After sitting down again, Kasumigaoka leaned close to him, almost whispering in his ear.

"It's too close to the point... because my mother is planning to come see my performance, so I have to go on stage."

Although Himekoji's mother never said "You have to perform on stage," she said "I want to see you perform." Even so, Himekoji had no choice but to go on stage.

"Oh, I see. It's Aunt Daphne."

Kasumigaoka nodded thoughtfully. Although she had only spent a few minutes with that aunt, she had to admit that she was a seemingly naive and innocent woman who was actually quite cunning and a strong-willed woman who did what she said.

Because they don't understand the principle of compromise, they never compromise with others.

Perhaps the only time she'll compromise is with her own son.

"So, do you think that so-called band can accommodate someone as big as you?"

Kazusa played the piano while making sarcastic remarks with a blank expression.

"What Buddha statue... I took a quick look and decided to join anyway. It's a light music club. Kogi used to be the lead vocalist, and Kitahara was the guitarist. Is Kazusa coming too?"

"Being lured in by women alone isn't your style. What kind of deal did you make?"

Kazusa, who knows Himekoji very well, absolutely does not believe that Kogi got Himekoji to join their band by saying just a few words. She smiled knowingly, having seen through everything all along, and pursed her lips to herself.

"As an exchange for Kogiri joining the first beauty pageant of Soubu High School, I joined their light music club and performed on stage with them."

"I knew it... But since you've joined, I'll join too. After all, I don't want to be teammates with someone who plays instruments terribly."

"Yes, Kazusa is the best."

"Idiot, it wasn't for your sake."

"Even so, I'm very happy to be able to perform on stage with Kazusa."

"Boring, stop talking about such boring things."

Just as Kazusa was saying this, Himekoji's cell phone, which was near the piano, rang. It was Kogiso calling.

But Kazusa gave him a warning look, which meant "If you dare to answer the phone and stop playing the piano, I'll beat you to death." So Himekoji continued playing the piano until Koki had repeated the call several times before finally stopping and finishing the piece.

"Who's calling?"

"Ogiso".

"Oh, really?"

Kazusa didn't say anything more, and Himekoji quickly returned the call, which was answered in less than two seconds.

"Yes, it's me, Kogiso."

Author's Note:

P.S.: Sorry, the chapter was uploaded incorrectly. Please refresh the page to view it.

Chapter 184 Hmph, the entire student council is planning a strike.

"Yes, this is Himekoji. What's up?"

"Um... because Himekoji-kun mentioned before that he wanted to join the light music club and even tried to persuade Touma-san to join as well. I don't know if Himekoji-kun succeeded in persuading her, but actually I wanted to invite you two to my house this Saturday at 3:30 pm. Is that... okay?"

On the other end of the phone, Koki seemed very insecure, and her speech was halting.

Himekoji said, "Wait a moment," and then pinched the microphone to ask Kazusa, "Kogi said she'd like to go to her house this Saturday. What does Kazusa think?"

"Whatever, I'm free anyway."

She glanced at the microphone that Himekoji was holding, then casually rested her chin on her hand and answered.

“Understood, we will be there on Saturday as scheduled. But could you please email me your home address, Xiao Mu? We can go there together then.”

"Um...ah, by the way, if it's the student council president, can they just get my address directly?"

"Of course, that's fine, but to show you respect, you should send it to me. If you don't mind, you don't have to send it; I'll just check it myself."

"Understood, thank you. I'll send you the address now. Goodbye then, I look forward to seeing you on Saturday."

She waited for Himekoji to hang up the phone.