I was seated in class, in my usual spot.
"Everyone, today, the school has stated that every class must choose a class representative. Details of this will be sent to your phones through the Preseqta app. I will talk more about the process once you've read through it."
I looked down at my phone.
The school had indeed sent us a message.
-
[Class Representative Election]
All classes must elect a student representative. This process will be done in the form of an election. Everyone in the class will be given the option to vote for a student aside from themselves. It will be a preferential voting system until a single student has more than 50% of the votes.
The elected class representative will receive the following benefits:
1. They will be credited with a token.
2. They will be able to participate in the student council.
3. They will be given special privileges during special exams. However, they will also receive harsher punishments for failing special exams.
4. They will be allowed to choose an assistant.
A class representative will be selected before 9:00 am. If one is not selected, all students in the class will be deducted one token and another hour will be given. This will be repeated until a class representative is chosen.
-
The teacher began speaking again.
"I assume all of you have had a read of the details. We will begin the voting process promptly, you may have discussion for as long as you wish, but keep in mind the time constraint."
With that, a voting screen appeared on each of our phones.
A student cried out.
"Hold on! This is way too fast, why do we only have an hour to make a decision like this. It's barely enough time to discuss."
Another butted in.
"It's pretty obvious who we're going to make the representative, isn't it? Who else are we going to pick besides Tobiichi."
There was some agreement within the crowd.
Kamino Arisu, a relatively popular figure within the class, stood up. He was well-known for being a piano prodigy, having a large professional following even outside of the school. As he got up, the chatter began to die down.
"We should take some time to think about this. There's no need to immediately vote. It is very likely that the class representative will have some level of impact to everyone in the class. We should think this through."
After his comment, everyone began whispering in their seats.
Tobiichi got out of hers, walking over to Kamino. She twirled her hair on the tip of her finger, looking down at him.
"You know, Kamino, I think that that's a fair point~."
She sat on top of the table beside Kamino's. The other boy in the seat blushed as he looked up at Tobiichi's figure from up close.
She leaned back a little.
"Tobiichi, what's your opinion on this. You're pretty smart; I assume you have some thoughts related to what the school wants to do with this class representative system."
She laughed a little.
"I have my ideas. But I'm more interested in yours, Kamino, it seems that you really want to be the class rep."
Kamino took a step back.
"I do. I also believe that I would be more suited to the role than you."
Their conversation was eventually drowned out by the sound of students frantically talking with each other.
"…Tobiichi should be the class representative! She's the most popular girl at this school, it would be stupid not to make her class rep!"
"…But Kamino does have a point. Since they receive special privileges during the special exam, they might impact all of us."
"…Still, Tobiichi is smart and charismatic! She'd be able to take care of any responsibilities."
After a few moments, the teacher spoke up.
"It's been five minutes. I suggest you have a preliminary vote. This way, you can gauge the opinion of the class."
With that, everyone began tapping on the voting screen.
A few seconds later, the results appeared on the board.
-
Voting Results - Round One
1. Tobiichi Luna - 14 votes
2. Kamino Arisu - 9 votes
3. Sasaki Kaoru - 2 votes
4. Hamaguchi Kaito - 2 votes
5. Tanaka Aoi - 2 votes
6. Kizutaka Rin - 1 vote
-
Looks like someone voted for me. I assumed that it was probably Tobiichi. It didn't really matter.
She was only two votes off of winning in the first round.
The teacher began to speak.
"That's the result of the first round of voting. Following the set rules, all students aside from Tobiichi and Kamino will be eliminated. Feel free to take your time before your next vote."
The class went silent.
Kamino spoke up.
"I want you guys to think carefully before you vote again. We shouldn't make Tobiichi the representative just because she's popular. This role could entail many things that we don't even realise."
A girl stood up.
"Are you sure that you don't just want the extra token and the benefits for yourself? You're good at the piano, but why do you think you're more suitable than Tobiichi?"
Kamino looked over.
"We've all been given our Core Attributes, right? I'm just going to say that my Pure Intelligence attribute is above 90. That should be enough to convince you that I'm not just standing here making baseless statements."
Hearing his words, Tobiichi smiled.
"But we don't know for sure, do we, Kamino~?"
He looked back at her.
"I suppose. But this is just a competition of trust, isn't it? It's not like either of us can really provide concrete evidence that we're better than the other."
Tobiichi got off the table, laughing.
"Okay then Kamino. If you're committed, I'll agree to withdraw if you show us your Pure Intelligence attribute."
There was a moment of pure silence.
Kamino replied calmly.
"I'm not doing that, Tobiichi. Did you think you'd be able to bait me with something like that?"
"Oh? Maybe your intelligence attribute is higher than I thought."
"No one's just going to freely show their Core Attributes to everyone. There's no point in me lying anyways."
…
Tobiichi sighed.
"You know, Kamino, I do know that you're bluffing. It's just that you're going to lose regardless, so I'm just sparing you for now."