COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 176: It was him who was holding us back!

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Nagumo, who no longer wanted to stay in the chairman's office, turned to Narumori and said, "Chairman, I'll be leaving now."

"Very well. Take care," Sakayanagi replied calmly.

Nagumo bowed respectfully as he left, but as soon as he stepped out of the office, his expression darkened, and he strode away with resentment and anger.

"Damn you, Matsuoka! Just wait and see! Don't think I'll let you off so easily!" he muttered under his breath, his hateful words echoing faintly through the corridor.

At the entrance to the chairman's office building, Mizowaki and Nagumo's other subordinates were waiting anxiously.

The sharp-eyed Dianhe was the first to notice him. "Boss Nagumo is coming out!" he whispered.

"But doesn't he look furious? I don't think we should ask him why he was called to the chairman's office," another added nervously.

"Agreed."

"Yeah, if we ask him now, he might kill us with just a look," another chimed in.

Clearly, Nagumo's subordinates had no intention of provoking him. Instead, they tactfully followed behind their visibly enraged leader, saying nothing as they left the area together.

---

After Nagumo had left, Narumori, now relaxed, set aside his previously serious demeanor. He leaned back slightly, took a sip of tea, and exhaled deeply.

"Well, Matsuoka, are you satisfied with how things turned out?" he asked with a faint smile.

Rin smirked, folding his arms. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

"Naturally, the truth."

"Then no, I'm not satisfied," Rin said bluntly. "I wanted him out of the student council completely."

Sakayanagi chuckled lightly. "I see. But, Matsuoka, that wouldn't be fair to Nagumo-kun."

"Fair?" Rin raised an eyebrow, clearly puzzled. "What do you mean, old man?"

"When I called you and Nagumo-kun here, I also contacted the student council president, Manabu. I asked him for a detailed report on Nagumo-kun's contributions and performance," Sakayanagi explained.

"According to President Horikita, Nagumo-kun has been a very diligent and hardworking student. Before being promoted to vice president, he took on many responsibilities for both the school and the student council. Given that history, expelling him from the student council outright simply for abusing his power seemed excessive. After some deliberation, I decided that demoting him from vice president to a regular member would be a more appropriate course of action. This also gives him a chance to atone for his mistakes."

Rin sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. "Manabu, you traitor... If you hadn't vouched for him, I could've gotten rid of Nagumo completely!"

Sakayanagi smiled knowingly at Rin's frustration. "You don't need to worry so much, Nagumo-kun has promised not to persecute you, and he has signed a binding contract in front of me. You're protected."

"Sure, sure," Rin said dismissively, though his tone was laced with doubt. He didn't believe for a second that someone as petty as Nagumo would let things slide so easily.

"Now that we've concluded the matter with Nagumo-kum, let's move on to you," Sakayanagi said, adopting a more serious tone.

"Matsuoka, I've spoken to the instructor of the swimming club, and you're officially cleared to join. You can report to the swimming club starting tomorrow."

"I understand," Rin replied. Then, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he added, "But Chairman, I've also submitted an application to join the student council. Like Nagumo, I want to serve the school and contribute to everyone's success."

"Is that so?" Sakayanagi raised a brow, intrigued.

"Absolutely!" Rin declared, his tone earnest.

Sakayanagi nodded slightly. "I'm very pleased that you have such an idea, Matsuoka, but the school is in the hands of the student council, so I can't directly arrange for you to join the student council."

"That's fine. I was planning to join the student council through the normal application procedures."

"That's good."

Sakayanagi took out his phone and said with a smile, "Matsuoka, let's exchange contact information. If you encounter any problems or troubles in the future, you can contact me directly."

"Okay!" Rin readily exchanged contact information with Sakayanagi.

At this point, the chairman of the school seemed to have become Rin's backer~~

If Nagumo and the others dared to cause trouble for Rin again, Rin would simply call Sakayanagi to complain.

"Then, Chairman, I will be leaving first."

"Don't be in such a hurry. School has just ended. Play a few games of chess with me," Sakayanagi quickly tried to keep Rin from leaving.

"...Alright, but let's decide the winner in one round?"

"Best of three."

You'd better stick to the best of three—don't turn it into the best of five or best of seven...

Since Rin wasn't in a hurry and had a good relationship with Sakayanagi, he relaxed his guard a little while playing chess, making the game appear evenly matched.

More than an hour later, Sakayanagi, who had "barely" won two games against Rin, was in high spirits. He sent Rin out of the chairman's office with a big smile on his face.

As Rin left, he took out his phone and muttered to himself, "With my acting skills, I could probably win the Best Actor award if I became an actor."

Rin then called Manabu. He hadn't forgotten that it was Manabu's evaluation of Nagumo that had convinced Sakayanagi to let Nagumo remain in the student council.

The call connected, and Manabu's steady voice came through.

"Matsuoka's, is it over?"

"Yeah, it ended an hour ago."

"So, what was the result?"

"Well..." Rin sighed and said, "Horikita-senpai, overall, it was a failure."

"The chairman only revoked Nagumo's position as vice president. He's still an ordinary member of the student council. I failed to get Nagumo kicked out of the student council."

"This result is already very good. Without his position as vice president, Nagumo won't have much power. At the same time, he won't have much of an advantage when competing for the president," Manabu comforted Rin.

Rin sighed and said gloomily, "But Horikita-senpai, the chairman told me he called you to ask about Nagumo's situation..."

"That's true. What about it?"

"What else? If you, Horikita-senpai, had taken the chance to slander Nagumo at the time, the chairman wouldn't have allowed him to stay in the student council. He would've kicked him out directly!" Rin said helplessly.

When Rin heard this from Sakayanagi earlier, he immediately thought: Horikita-senpai, are you actually on Nagumo's side?

If Manabu wasn't supporting Nagumo, then why hadn't he taken the opportunity to discredit him during his conversation with Sakayanagi?

"…"

Manabu was silent for a moment before he slowly replied, "Matsuoka, you know me well. I won't distort the facts. I only told the chairman the truth."