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

Himekoji took out his phone and saw that it was Kasumigaoka calling. He answered immediately.

"Haruto-kun, we have a special guest in the cultural festival executive committee meeting room..."

"Who?"

"Yukinoshita Haruno, a very strong-willed college girl, is Yukinoshita Yukino's older sister. She has been looking for you."

"Phew—, I understand, I'll go over there now." Himekoji sighed, stood up, put away her guitar, and looked at Setsuna and Kazusa with an apologetic expression, saying, "I'm so sorry, an uninvited guest has come to the cultural festival meeting room, I have to go over there first."

Who is it—?

"Yukino Yukinoshita is the older sister of Yukino Yukinoshita, who sits at the next table. I really don't know why she came over and caused trouble."

“She’s Yukinoshita’s older sister…” Yukina blinked in surprise. “This is the first time I’ve known she has an older sister.”

"Well, anyway, I'll leave you guys to keep practicing. I'll head over now and should be back soon after I'm done."

"Go."

Kazusa waved her hand at him and said nonchalantly.

Anyway, there's no need to worry about Himekoji falling behind. Falling behind might happen to others, but it's impossible for him—Touma Kazusa firmly believes this.

Even though Shiroi was absent, Haruno still came? She really has a haunting feeling. However, it seems that she came this time to help her sister. But never mind, Himekoji doesn't want Haruno and her orchestra club members to perform at the cultural festival. There are quite a few groups performing, and if this girl is serious, she'll probably interfere in the beauty pageant. She'd be happy to be on the candidate list.

With these thoughts in mind, Himeko walked quickly toward the Cultural Festival Executive Committee meeting room, which was also the second meeting room. There were several girls blushing and talking to Hayama at the door. Hachiman was standing to Hayama's side. When he heard someone approaching from behind, he subconsciously turned around.

"Himekoji..."

Coupled with Hikigaya's rotten eyes, Himeko could read his unspoken meaning: "Why are you, you damned absentee manager, showing up again now?"

"We have guests, I have to come and see them."

Ji Xiaolu knocked on the door and then pushed it open.

From Chapter 190 onwards, [Sagami Minami] was caught in the middle.

The meeting room was filled with a tense atmosphere, as if a storm was brewing.

Most people huddled together in twos and threes in a corner of the meeting room, forming a crowd of onlookers.

There were three people in the center of the conference room.

One is Yukino Yukinoshita, another is Mariya Gidou, and the third is Haruno Yukinoshita.

Yukino and Haruno stood facing each other three steps apart, while Mariya stood between them with his arms crossed, looking bored.

"Sister, what are you doing here?"

Yukinoshita questioned Haruno in a stern tone.

"Oh, come on over because I heard you were looking for groups interested in performing. I'm an OG from the orchestra!"

OG stands for Old Girl, meaning a female senior who has graduated. Of course, there is also Old Boy. When Hearing Haruno say this, Himekoji couldn't help but think of Hiratsuka-sensei's face. Old Girl...? How pitiful.

"Oh, Haruto, you're here." Upon seeing Himekoji appear in the conference room, Mariya immediately switched to a sweet and cloying voice. She pointed at Haruno with a deliberately complaining tone and said, "I never told Haruno that we were short-staffed. She insisted on coming here."

Although it was very impolite, it was in line with Mariya's personality. She didn't think much of Yukinoshita Haruno, not to mention that this woman named Haruno had caused the Gido family a lot of trouble in the previous incident, which gave Mariya a bit of a headache.

"Wow, it's Haruto! How could you do this? You didn't even tell me about such a fun cultural festival."

She immediately ran away from Yukinoshita, snuggled up to Himekoji's side, and playfully twisted his arm while poking his cheek with her fingertips. Her behavior surprised a large number of people in the conference room.

"Sister Yang Nai..."

Hayama, who entered the meeting room a few steps later, stood next to Himekoji.

"Hi, Hayato."

Yang raised her hand in greeting, and Ye Shan nodded slightly, but she still didn't leave Himekoji's arm.

"Is there a problem?"

"I'd like to sign up for a performing group and play the orchestra at the school anniversary celebration. Plus, it sounds like a lot of fun to bring back alumni. Don't you think that would be great?"

"You're still the same old you, doing whatever comes to mind..."

Ye Shan's tone was tinged with helplessness.

"Yono, our school hasn't fallen so low that we can't even hold a cultural festival and have to ask OBs and OGs for help, right?"

Himekoji was already immune to Haruno's habitual tactic of directly approaching him. He gently pushed Haruno away from his arm, and she immediately ran to Yukinoshita, stood behind her, and hugged her slender shoulders, complaining, "But I want to help my cute little sister Yukino... Is that okay, Yukino?"

"Don't bother me. Do whatever you want. The decision isn't mine anyway."

"Huh? Really? I thought you were the chairman. Then who's the chairman? Haruto, the hands-off manager?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not the chairman, I have other things to attend to."

Just then, Sagami cheerfully said, "Sorry I'm late~" and rushed in. However, Himeko couldn't find any embarrassment on her face. In short, she didn't even look at the atmosphere in the conference room before standing directly next to Haruno.

"This is the Chairman."

Himekoji pointed to Sagami, and at the same time, Haruno turned to look at her, revealing a cold and piercing scrutinizing gaze.

While she wouldn't do such a thing when facing Himekoji or Mariya, she didn't even consider Sagami a threat.

"...Ah, I am Sagami Minami."

Sagami was intimidated by Haruno's gaze, and spoke in a voice so soft it was like a mosquito buzzing.

"Oh......"

Yang Naiming clearly wasn't very interested in her, but he still sighed slightly and took a step forward.

"The chairman of the school anniversary organizing committee is late? And because of a class activity? Oh..."

Her voice was deep and authoritative, seemingly emanating from her diaphragm, quite intimidating. Every word she uttered penetrated Sagami's very being. The person who was so lively and cheerful just a moment ago could instantly transform into a cold expression, revealing her dark and calculating nature. What makes Haruno more terrifying than Yukinoshita is precisely the stark contrast between her different attitudes; more importantly, it lies in the completely undisguised and outward display of her dark emotions.

If you obey me, I will maintain a friendly relationship with you; if you turn against me, I will strike you mercilessly—Yang conveyed this fact directly through his attitude.

However, this fact only applies when the opponent's strength is far inferior to one's own.

"Th-that is..."

Sagami was racking his brains for a way to defend himself when Haruno suddenly smiled again.

"That's exactly how the chairperson should be! People who sit in this position know best how to enjoy the school anniversary celebration! Really good, really good! Hey, what did you just say your name was 'Xiang'? Blind date? Oh well, whatever, you're the chairperson's junior, right?"

"No, thank you so much for the compliment, senior..."

Haruno's unpredictable expression aroused Sagami's suspicion, but she still put on a smile to match.

This was perhaps the first time Sagami had received recognition since becoming the chairperson, and her cheeks flushed with excitement. Haruno continued:

"Oh, by the way, there's something I'd like to ask the chairperson, junior. Actually, I'd like to participate in the school anniversary performance, but when I talked to Yukino about it, she kept hesitating. Am I not pleasing her...?"

Yang Nai even deliberately blew her nose, striking a pose that was hard to bear. That demeanor was clearly calculated, and most of the boys present were fooled by this contrived act.

"If... if my senior were to participate, it wouldn't be..."

"Wait a minute," Himekoji interjected, taking the list of registered groups from Yukinoshita's desk and shaking it in front of her, saying, "As I just said, our school is not so low as to need the help of OGs and OBs to barely keep the cultural festival going, so I reject Haruno's suggestion."

“But,” Haruno turned around and said sharply, “Haruto, you’re not the executive committee chairman, are you? By giving up this position, you’ve given up most of your power in the cultural festival. Now it’s the council… what’s in charge?”

"Sang...sang what?" Whether intentionally or genuinely, she couldn't remember the name of Sagami Minami, who had just introduced herself. This was Yukinoshita Haruno, who wouldn't even glance at someone she wasn't interested in, let alone remember their name.

Chapter 191 As expected, [Yukino Yukinoshita] couldn't turn things around.

"Well, I admit I gave Sagami full authority, but I can also take it back," Himekoji looked at Sagami and asked expressionlessly, "If you want to continue serving as the executive committee chairperson, you can't approve Haruno's request. If you do approve it, then you can go back to the classroom and seriously help your classmates prepare for the cultural festival, and I will also delete Haruno's project."

Sagami was stunned by Himekoji's words. His lips, which were covered in lip gloss, seemed to have lost their ability to speak. They trembled slightly and he could not say anything.

"How could this happen? Haruto is so heartless."

Yang Nai pretended to cry and rubbed her eyes, then leaned close to Himekoji and gently patted his chest with her other hand.

It's like that scumbag guy trying to keep her after he's taken advantage of her and then left.

"Juye, what do you think?"

"Indeed, it would be too much trouble for OGs and OBs to go through all this trouble to invite them over and have them practice and perform. So, if any OGs or OBs want to come and reminisce about their alma mater or come to the cultural festival, we would absolutely welcome them. But let's not talk about participating in the performance. It would be difficult to coordinate this, since they are all seniors."

"I'm basically on the same side as Himekoji," Mariya replied after a moment's thought.

"That's settled then. I have other things to do, you can continue."

Gently pushing Haruno away again, Himekoji bid farewell to the cultural festival executive committee members. As she left, she exchanged a glance with Hikigaya and gave him a thumbs-up.

However, after Himekoji left, Haruno persisted. After setting a trap for Sagami, she decisively jumped into it. Although she never mentioned gathering the previous orchestra to perform again, she tricked Sagami by saying, "If we want to enjoy the school festival to the fullest, we need to take care of class activities as well. Since our work is progressing smoothly, how about we slow down a bit?"

Despite Yukino's strong opposition, Haruno, who had just been rebuked by Himekoji, was not going to let such a good opportunity pass. She decisively used both cuteness and support to get the suggestion approved.

In other words, even the executive committee members of the cultural festival can be absent at will and help out in class; that's roughly the idea.

Because Himekoji wasn't there, Haruno had caused him some trouble. As a result, she didn't hold any position in the conference, and the student council vice president, Mariya, didn't say anything. She didn't even bother to look at Haruno.

"I'm back. Ugh, that Haruno is such a nuisance."

Unabashedly expressing his dissatisfaction, Himekoji opened the door to the second music room and walked in. At the same time, Setsuna stopped singing, and Kazusa stopped playing the piano, turning to look at him.

"They said they absolutely had to gather the Orchestra's OBs and OGs to perform at the cultural festival. If those people come, would we executive committee members dare to give them orders? They're all seniors brought by Yukino Yukinoshita. Even if you want to train your younger sister, you don't have to put her through such a difficult test."

Ji Xiaolu loosened her school uniform tie, locked the door, sat back down in her chair, and picked up her guitar again.

"It sounds like you're extremely dissatisfied with Yukinoshita."

"I've never been satisfied with her, but oh well, everyone has their own way of living, and she's trying her best to live after all."

Ji Xiaolu took a couple of breaths and casually strummed the guitar strings.

"By the way, I'll just stay at your place for a while. I've already taken everything I needed over the weekend, what do you think?"

"Of course, I'd love to welcome you!"

Himekoji happily played a cheerful tune.

"You two have a really good relationship."

Yukina, who was a little left out of the conversation, said enviously.

"It's just a tragic fate. Can you still sing? How's your voice? Do you want to rest?"

Kazusa is very clear that the lead singer is the soul of the band, and the lead singer's voice is of paramount importance, and absolutely cannot be neglected in the slightest.