Chapter 29
This was the first time I had met Sanada in the student council meeting room since the election ended.
There were still at least fifteen minutes until the appointed time, and the meeting room was empty. I had originally come with Yagyu, but he was called away by the foreign teacher halfway through the meeting, so I was left alone. Hearing the door open, I thought it was Yagyu and immediately turned around, only to meet Sanada's gaze. He stood at the door for half a second, then greeted me stiffly.
Considering that he is now in charge of the office, and that his department handles most of the paperwork and personnel allocation, I realized that we would probably see each other frequently in the coming days. So I decided to take the initiative to break the awkward atmosphere by trying to chat for a bit.
But I must be crazy, because I racked my brains and couldn't think of anything Sanada and I could have in common. So I pulled out two mint candies, which my juniors in the club had given me this morning because they saw I was too sleepy. I ate one and put the rest in my uniform skirt pocket.
Staring at the candy in my palm, Sanada looked up at me, then, without a trace of emotion, refused, "Thank you, but I don't eat candy."
"Fine, don't eat it then." I tore open the wrapper, tilted my head back, and threw it into my mouth, keeping the round candy in my mouth. I rolled my eyes at him when he had his back to me, and then laughed at myself in my heart—this kind of thing is not suitable for you, Sanae Okada.
The brief awkwardness did not affect the atmosphere of the meeting. The regular meeting in the first week of school usually had all the department heads present. The president would say some polite words at the beginning, and the department heads would also express their opinions before finally arranging the specific work.
I've never liked formalities, so I introduced myself and got straight to the point. Liu Sheng, who was sitting next to me, opened his meeting minutes notebook and moved it to my side. I glanced at it naturally and then assigned the important topics.
"The recruitment interview process is the same as before; we need to finalize the selection this week." I looked at him. "Sanada, are you okay with this?"
"No," Sanada shook his head, "I'll try to keep things compact."
"As for the application and approval of club funding, I'll discuss it with the chairman of the sports committee. The new sponsorship for the football club is a big problem, and we can't give them funding from other clubs." I flipped through the data in the documents. "The rest can be approved directly according to the application."
After I finished speaking, everyone else nodded and replied normally, but Sanada showed a somewhat complicated expression.
After all, if we want to change the proportion of funding at this stage, it would be enough to deal with the football department. I don't want to make a big splash like a "new broom sweeps clean". Besides, without the school's intention and the sports committee's arrangement, how could I possibly move a top club that has been established for more than 20 years, has won national championships, and even has graduates who are current national team players?
Ultimately, the student council is just a communication medium between students and the school for various matters. I never make any decisions. That being said, the student council president is destined to take the blame for all the dissatisfaction that arises from this, and I am mentally prepared for that.
However, being stopped on my way home was unexpected. I thought that in a school with such a strict academic atmosphere as Rikkai University, the students would be more or less reasonable.
During morning training sessions, I often ran into the head of the soccer club. He wasn't very tall, barely 1.74 meters, with dark skin and a very strong build. He also seemed rather impolite, always glaring at me with a very rude look. Most of the members of our judo club were also not very mild-mannered. After several clashes, the two clubs entered into a state of sharp confrontation.
I'm not that stupid. I don't think he blocked me at the intersection simply because he didn't like me, so the answer is clear.
"Takahashi-kun, you don't think you can get funding approved by threatening me, do you?" I crossed my arms and raised my head slightly.
He frowned, looking furious but unsure what to do, and after stammering for a while, he finally managed to say, "Okada, don't be so arrogant."
Please, what era is this dialogue from? To show him some respect, I didn't let myself appear sarcastic. I relaxed my stance, blinked, and forced a smile: "So, you're going to beat me up here to vent your anger?"
I raised my hand and made a circle around myself, then pointed to the security camera in front of the convenience store not far behind him.
He was clearly even angrier; the veins on his forehead were throbbing. If someone else were standing opposite him, they would probably find it a bit intimidating. Unfortunately, it was me standing there. I remained calm as I looked at him, my phone vibrating in my pocket. I wondered who was calling me.
But I didn't have a chance to take out my phone, because the next second the guy took a half step closer and reached out to grab my collar. I dodged to the right first, and then he switched hands and attacked again. My judo experience, ingrained in my cells, drove me to instinctively take a half step back with one foot, then use the other to trap his foot, and pull his arm with his strength. A gust of wind passed by my ear, followed by a solid, dull thud.
That was a really good over-the-shoulder throw. I looked at him lying on the ground, bewildered and staring at me, and mentally gave myself a pat on the back.
"Are you even a woman?!" Takahashi curled up in pain, but still managed to yell at me.
The commotion attracted several students passing by the convenience store. I noticed they were wearing Haichang's school uniform, and I breathed a slight sigh of relief. I bent down to help him up, but he still didn't give me any face, slapped my hand away, and struggled to stand up.
"My biological sex is indeed female." I chuckled softly.
He spun around in a panic, then continued shouting at me, "Even without sponsorship, the student council can't just cut the budget in half! The soccer club has just as many members as the tennis club!"
With a long sigh, I thought, "Didn't I already tell you that threatening me about this won't work?" I slowly shook my head and patted his shoulder: "Then let me give you a heads-up. This is the school's idea. Now think about where the school's money comes from. If I remember correctly, isn't there a second-year student in the soccer club named Iwasaki?"
"So what if I am?" Takahashi looked disgusted by my patting on the shoulder.
"Let me ask you another question: have you inquired about the chairman of the board of directors' surname?" He's a leader, and the club he manages is facing such a huge crisis, yet he doesn't know anything about the backgrounds of his team members. It seems that department heads like Yukimura are indeed a minority.
"You mean..." Takahashi's expression gradually calmed down.
"Oh no, I didn't say anything," I wagged my finger, "You figure it out yourself."
My phone vibrated again at just the right moment, and now I finally had a chance to answer the call. I waved to Takahashi to let me go first, then looked down at the caller ID, hesitated for half a second before pressing the answer button, and Sanada's voice came from the other end.
He sounded slightly anxious and nervous.
"Sanae, where are you now? Are you alright?"
Looking at the flashing traffic lights, I chuckled several times until Sanada across from me quickly regained his usual tone of voice. Only then did I ask, "Genichiro, what do you think I'm up to?"
"I was just..." Sanada wanted to say directly that he had overheard someone saying that Takahashi was going to settle scores with Okada after school when he passed by the soccer field, and that he had called him several times but no one answered. He was worried that I would be in trouble, but in the end, what came out was, "It's good that you're okay. You're too ruthless, which will definitely cause trouble."
"Wait, you, Genichiro Sanada, said I'm ruthless?" I switched my phone to my right hand and stepped onto the zebra crossing. "I think anyone can say what they want about me, but you can't."
"Adjusting the soccer club's budget isn't something that's only been proposed this year. The way the president handled it before, you just approve and submit it directly," Sanada said, speaking unusually quickly. "That's too reckless!"
"Oh, you mean I was used as a pawn?" I shrugged. "Please, Genichiro, take a look at who the new chairman of the board of directors is. I'm not cutting funding for the soccer team, I'm giving them funding."
"Then you should hand it over to me..." Sanada couldn't continue speaking again. He had no idea that I, a commoner, had figured out the power structure of this group of "upper-class people" so thoroughly. He couldn't possibly really think that I was just going around socializing with other schools when I was in the external relations department for the past two years.
"And Genichiro," I turned around abruptly and saw Sanada standing there looking at me, "I'm the chairman now, so don't order me around."
After saying that, I hung up the phone, nodded slightly to him, and turned to head home.
The next day during lunch break, I told Yagyu and Niou about it as a joke. Niou put down his chopsticks, looked at me, clicked his tongue, and shook his head. Yagyu, on the other hand, seemed to know what was going to happen beforehand. However, unlike Sanada, he didn't comment on my actions. Instead, he reached out and tapped the top of my head with his knuckles.
"Hey." I covered my head and looked over in protest.
"Although statistically speaking, nothing serious is likely to happen, but..." Yagyu paused, "next time it would be better to just run away."
"I agree, piyo." Niou chimed in.
I glared at him, my eyes conveying—why are you two, who can't even withstand two moves from me, trying to warn me against head-on confrontations with men? But I also understood what they meant. I may not be an absolutely cautious and calm person, but I wouldn't be foolish enough to risk my life in a crucial moment.
"However, in that situation, I also had a responsibility to point Takahashi in the right direction," I said.
"I told you, she's a really good person," Niou said, leaning close to Yagyu's ear.
"I know." Yagyu smiled and lowered his head.
"You guys aren't talking bad about me again, are you?" I leaned closer. "No whispering." We closed the distance instantly, and Yagyu was sandwiched between me and Niou, unable to move.
"What other bad things does Chairman Okada have to say about us?" My stray hairs brushed against Yagyu's chin, making it a little itchy.
"I don't think so either, but I still feel that Takahashi has a problem with me," I pondered, puzzled. "It can't be just about the funding."
Niou and Yagyu exchanged a glance, then Niou leaned forward and asked, "You really don't remember?"
"What should I remember?" I asked back.
"Takahashi is the younger brother of that soccer club senior who confessed to you," Yagyu said, giving Niou the answer.
"When you rejected him, Takahashi was standing right next to him," Niou added casually.
"That's it?" I looked incredulous. "That's how he's disliked me for all these years?"
After hearing my words, they both sighed at the same time, but this time neither of them explained why to me. I also didn't see Niou chuckle or pat Yagyu's back in a comforting manner.
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