N-A-A Page 157
Page 157
Looking at Asagiri's retreating figure and the expectant expressions of the sports club students on both sides, Asuna Yuuki's eyes flickered, as if she were speaking to Kotoko Iwanaga beside her, or perhaps she was murmuring to herself.
"That's just how he is... He makes you feel like as long as you follow in his footsteps, you're bound to win. That thrilling yet reassuring feeling is truly captivating..."
Kotoko Iwanaga smiled slightly upon hearing this and slowly spoke.
"But we want more than just to follow behind him, right?"
"Correct."
Yuuki Asuna smiled and nodded, then walked forward with Iwanaga Kotoko, following Asagiri's pace.
A team of comrades should walk side by side.
……
The moment Asagiri entered the auditorium, many students were already seated. The once noisy auditorium instantly fell silent, and hundreds of eyes turned to him standing at the door.
"It's Utsunomiya-kun..."
"Is he the one who'll be giving the speech on stage later?"
"This is the first time I've seen him in person, and he really is very handsome."
"Don't be fooled by appearances. I've heard that this Utsunomiya is a very tough person. She didn't back down at all, even when facing the student council president."
"That's to be expected, after all, he's the one who wants to take the student council president's seat from the upperclassmen."
"Such an intense sense of pressure... Is this the strongest genius among the first-year students...?"
After the morning mist appeared, there was a brief silence in the auditorium for a few seconds, after which the students began to whisper among themselves, a strange tension and anticipation rising in everyone's heart.
The first-year students clashing head-on with the student council president of the upperclassmen is something that has happened several times in the history of Shuchiin Academy, but this time is different.
Everyone, from first-year students to second-year students, and even the teachers at Shuchiin Academy, was eagerly anticipating this final student council president election, because this time...
First-year students Asagiri Utsunomiya and Kaguya Shinomiya have a real chance of winning; in fact, based on the current situation, their chances of winning are even greater than those of the previous student council.
Could it be today...?
Is this the moment to witness the breaking of Shuchiin's history?
“Utsunomiya-kun.”
"Hello, Asuna, Utsunomiya-san~"
Kaguya Shinomiya and Chika Fujiwara, who were standing at the door, greeted Asagiri and Asuna Yuuki, while Kotoko Iwanaga patted Asagiri on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Come on~"
"rest assured."
"Okay, I'll go sit down first."
After Kotoko Iwanaga went to the seating area for Class A, Kaguya Shinomiya, Chika Fujiwara, Asagiri Utsunomiya, and Asuna Yuuki, the four members who participated in the student council election, came to the preparation room backstage of the auditorium.
"The day has finally come."
Kaguya Shinomiya took out several sheets of paper bound together from her handbag and handed them to Asagiri.
"Speech manuscript".
When Kaguya Shinomiya handed him the speech, Asagiri simply waved her hand.
"It's no longer needed."
"Don't you need it?"
Fujiwara Chika looked puzzled upon hearing this.
"However, the speech outlines our policies for improving various school systems after a successful election, as well as adjustments from a student-centered perspective. Adding these elements to the speech won't affect your original..."
"Fujiwara-kun, you, like our competitors, have overlooked the most important thing."
Asagiri looked at Fujiwara Chika and Shinomiya Kaguya in front of her and slowly spoke.
"Although the student council election at Shuchiin University imitates a formal system like a parliamentary election in every aspect, in the end, those voting rights are in the hands of high school students. Unlike adults, most high school students are easily excited and get carried away. What I need to do is stir up their emotions. Anything else, whether it's voting at a school trip location or extra lessons from excellent teachers, will only cool down their hot-blooded emotions."
Fujiwara Chika nodded as if she understood, then asked curiously.
"But if the other side brings up these things in their speech and uses them to attack us, wouldn't that put us in a disadvantageous position?"
"Even if we bring it up, it won't make a difference, because their presentation order is after ours. Even if we bring up what we just mentioned, they can still add to our offers. That's the advantage of being the last to speak; if they want to, they can always offer better promises and more attractive conditions for the students. But..."
At this point, Asagiri changed the subject.
“These are ordinary things that anyone could do as student council president. What I want to tell the students below is that only I can do them, and they will believe that only I can do them. It is a promise that no one else can make.”
After saying that, Asagiri looked at Kaguya Shinomiya and smiled.
"Is this alright, Shinomiya-kun?"
"No need to ask for my opinion, you can decide."
Kaguya Shinomiya nodded slightly and said in a calm tone.
"I believe you."
Upon hearing Kaguya Shinomiya's words, Chika Fujiwara, who had been Kaguya's friend for many years, couldn't help but show a look of surprise.
Only Chika Fujiwara knew how special the word "belief" meant to Kaguya Shinomiya.
I see……
Kaguya has changed a lot.
……
Twenty minutes later, in the auditorium of Shuchiin.
"Utsunomiya-san is now on stage."
As Asagiri slowly walked to the very front center of the stage and began adjusting the microphone, the students below the stage immediately fell silent. The only sound was the touch of Asagiri's fingertips on the microphone, which came from the auditorium's loudspeakers.
"Hello everyone, I am the speaker for this student council election, and I am Asagiri Utsunomiya, the vice-president of Kaguya Shinomiya, a first-year student."
After giving a brief opening speech, Asagiri took out the several sheets of speech manuscript bound together from his pocket. However, his next move was unexpected by everyone.
"I had prepared a speech, but it's completely meaningless."
Asagiri tore the speech into pieces, crumpled them into balls, and casually tossed them on the ground. Then she looked up at the thousands of teachers and students below the stage, her face showing no sign of stage fright or nervousness, and simply said...
"In my year's joint entrance examination, four of the top ten students chose to enroll in the private Shuchiin Academy, including me, who ranked first in the joint entrance examination."
“In the previous year, five of the top ten students were admitted to Xiuzhiyuan, and in the year before that, eight were admitted.”
At this point, Asagiri paused for a few seconds, giving the students below the stage ample time to think, before slowly beginning to speak.
"Shuchiin's status and reputation are declining rapidly. I believe many of you here have seen the flyers at the school gate. The outside world no longer considers us to be the strongest high school in Sakura Province, or even the best high school in Tokyo. Ahead of us in Shuchiin are the private Toyonosaki and the private Daikoku High School, and even places like Advanced Nurturing Academy can be ranked alongside us."
“I know that many people will list all sorts of data, such as average grades and acceptance rates to top universities, to prove that we are the strongest university, but I have a simpler, more straightforward way that the outside world will never forget.”
Asagiri glanced at the students below the stage. Although her tone was calm, her words were firm and resounding, making the students sitting below feel a strange excitement.
"We will crush all high schools that consider themselves stronger than Shuchiin Academy head-on, proving our superiority with an absolute and overwhelming victory..."
"Our Shuchiin Academy is the undisputed 'strongest'."
107
Chapter 107 makes Shuchiin the strongest again.
Upon hearing Asagiri's words, some students below the stage showed excitement, but most students remained noncommittal. After all, since its founding, Shuchiin had never competed with any other high school, and Shuchiin did not need to do so. It was recognized as the strongest high school, with its admission rate to prestigious universities and average grades being far ahead of the competition.
Admittedly, those flyers at the school gate were an insult to Shuchiin University, but is it necessary to compete with those universities just because of one-sided opinions from certain media outlets...?
"Is necessary."
Asagiri seemed to have discerned what most of the students below the stage were thinking, and spoke again.
"Some might think that the leaflets distributed in the early morning are just a sign of contempt from a small group of people who are unaware of the true strength of Shuchiin University. However, it is undeniable that the number of freshmen who are among the top ten in the joint entrance exams and choose to enroll in Shuchiin University has been declining at a precipitous rate every year. How many will there be next year? Three? Two? And the year after next? This is enough to prove that in the minds of many people, Shuchiin University is no longer the strongest university. At the very least, they believe that the gap between Shuchiin University and other universities is not so great that they have to enroll in Shuchiin University. This is contempt."
"If one day, not a single student who ranks in the top ten or even the top twenty in the joint entrance exam chooses to enroll in Shuchigaku, will Shuchigaku still be the 'strongest'?"
At this point, Asagiri paused slightly before continuing.
"The school's reputation will not only affect current students, but also those who have graduated, and those of us here today. After graduation, we will still be associated with the honor of Shuchiin. Do you want people to look blank when you mention that you graduated from Shuchiin in the future, and then say something like, 'Oh, so that's the top high school in Tokyo. The school you attended was pretty good.'"
"Ranking among the top is not bad, but is that enough for you?"
Upon hearing these words, all the students present fell into deep thought.
Just as Asagiri said, the honor of Shuchiin concerns everyone present.
Many students' parents graduated from Shuchiwon High School, and even those successful people who have become elites in various fields and entered middle age still show pride when talking about their family's experience of attending the best high school.
Just then, Asagiri raised her voice a few notches and changed the subject.
"However, as long as all of us students here, as long as you join me, we can once again prove the strength of Shuchiin Academy—a strength that surpasses any other high school and that those schools simply cannot catch up with—Shuchiin Academy can once again become the 'strongest'!"
"And this time, the title of strongest was won by everyone, including myself and Shinomiya, through a direct victory over those high schools. It's a title we all fought for. From now on, every new student entering Shuchiin will know that the title of the strongest in this school was created by us!"
"Reform of school trips? Tutoring by outstanding teachers? Improvement of school rules and regulations?"
"Forget all that boring stuff! A true student council president should lead all students to do things that no one has ever done before! Five, ten, or even twenty years after you graduate, when you talk to others about your high school experience, they will look at you with surprise and say, 'So you were one of the students who established Shuchiin's reputation as the strongest!' Those who have graduated from Shuchiin and those who will enter Shuchiin in the future will never forget that it was 'us' who made Shuchiin the 'strongest' again!"
"I will make sure of this, because I have never failed and I will never fail. Victory is the only path."
Seeing the excited expressions on the faces of almost all the students below the stage after hearing her words, Asagiri calmly began to speak.
"Someone who wants to join me and Shinomiya in forever etching their name into the history of Shuchiin..."
"Vote for Kaguya Shinomiya! Moo!"
After finishing her speech, Asagiri turned around and strode away from the podium.
There was a long silence in the auditorium before thunderous applause and cheers suddenly erupted.
Hearing the applause and cheers around her, and seeing the excited and enthusiastic expressions of the students, Ashikaga Miwa raised her hand to adjust her gold-rimmed glasses, couldn't help but smile, and muttered to herself.
"That kid is actually pretty good..."
At the age of high school students, almost no one can resist the cool and exciting idea that Asagiri just mentioned: to make Shuchiin the undisputed "strongest" and etch their name into the history of Shuchiin.
Moreover, Asagiri's speeches are not just inspiring, nor are they merely about his ability to evoke emotions; the content of his speeches is also perfect in itself.
Perhaps some students only want to focus on their studies and don't care much about Shuchiin's honor, but the fact that they are sitting here today proves that they chose Shuchiin in the first place, aiming for the title of "strongest". If Shuchiin falls into the category of top-tier universities, then even if they have graduated, they will be negatively affected.
And for those students whose parents are graduates of Shujiwon, doing this in order to gain their parents' approval and praise is already a perfectly valid reason.
Most importantly, Asagiri's expression, actions, and aura when he spoke those words all made people believe that as long as they followed him and voted for Kaguya Shinomiya, Asagiri would definitely be able to fulfill the promises he made in his speech and lead all the students present to once again create Shuchiin's "strongest name".
Next to appear was the former student council president himself.
As he took the stage to begin his speech, the students below were still immersed in the speech he had just given, and hardly anyone paid attention to what he was saying. His prepared conditions, such as "deciding on the location of the school trip," "increasing the funding for club activities," and "having excellent teachers offer extra courses," which were very persuasive in previous student council elections, were now completely ignored by everyone.
Just as Asagiri once said.
After his speech, no one would care what the student council president said on stage again.
……
After the speech session, in the backstage corridor, Asagiri, Kaguya Shinomiya, Chika Fujiwara, and Asuna Yuuki encountered the former student council president and his vice president.
"Congratulations, you won."
Hearing the student council president's words and seeing the smiling face on his face, Asagiri returned the smile.
"The voting results aren't out yet, are they?"
"Do I even need to say it? From the moment you finished your speech, I knew you had won."
"Then why don't you choose to abstain? That would be easier to accept, wouldn't it?"
"How about that?"
The student council president removed the gold chain ornament from his collar and handed it to Asagiri. His tone was neither angry nor frustrated; he simply smiled and said...
"As your and Shinomiya's opponent, how could I tarnish the victory you won through your strength by giving up the speech and admitting defeat? Even if I lose, shouldn't I maintain the basic courtesy of an opponent?"
Upon hearing this, Asagiri nodded, accepted the gold chain pendant handed to her by the student council president, and then extended her hand to him.
"The outcome is decided, former student council president."
"Yes, the outcome is decided, Utsunomiya-kun."
The student council president grasped Asagiri's hand, glanced at Kaguya Shinomiya beside her, then looked at Asagiri again and smiled.