Hibiki Naegi pondered for a moment before letting out a helpless sigh.
"Money can make the devil work for you. I understand why you suddenly want to join the Kendo Club, Kotomi, but you have to realize that changing club members so abruptly in less than a month will bring me, as the club president, no small amount of trouble."
Kotomi gave an awkward smile. She had never been a club president before, but from Hibiki Naegi's tone, it wasn't hard to guess that the complications of shifting club members were greater than she had imagined. Even just considering the official procedures she knew of, going through them one by one seemed exhausting, let alone carrying them out in practice.
No wonder Hibiki Naegi found it troublesome. If Kotomi were the president, she wouldn't be thinking about how to complete the member transfer process quickly but rather how to convince the member to stay.
Hibiki Naegi didn't really blame Kotomi. After all, Kisara Tendo's offer was just too good to refuse. Kotomi didn't have any deep attachment to the Art Club, and when weighing the pros and cons, most people would choose the more beneficial option.
An honorary president title!
350,000 yen in cash!
These two major benefits—forget Kotomi, even Hibiki Naegi instinctively wanted to ask Kisara Tendo, "Do I still have a chance?" upon hearing them.
At the end of the day, it was all Kisara Tendo's fault for being so determined to recruit Kotomi, like a starving wolf eyeing a juicy piece of meat, sparing no effort to snatch her away.
If Kisara Tendo hadn't made such an enticing offer yesterday, Kotomi might not have considered leaving the Art Club at all.
Thinking of this, Hibiki Naegi shot an annoyed glare at Kisara Tendo, as if saying, "Look at what you've done!"
Kisara Tendo pretended not to notice and casually looked up at the ceiling.
After some thought, Hibiki Naegi couldn't come up with a better solution and had no choice but to sigh.
"Alright, since you're set on joining the Kendo Club, Kotomi, I'll make it happen. I'll try to write a transfer request for Teacher Chihiro Sengoku before school ends today. If she approves, your transfer from the Art Club to the Kendo Club will be a bit smoother."
"Thank you, President Naegi."
"Although it was only for a short month, I'm glad you were a part of the Art Club," Hibiki Naegi said with a light chuckle.
"Hey, hey, hey, the way you say that makes me sound like a villain breaking up a happy couple," Kisara Tendo interjected with a smirk before continuing, "Speaking of which, Hibiki, as a club president, don't you know about the special privileges of an honorary president?"
Kisara Tendo's words left Hibiki Naegi completely confused. She truly had no idea!
After all, the Art Club never had an honorary president. Initially, she had considered asking Kirigiri Seiko to take on the role, but Seiko wasn't interested—she only wanted to be the president of the Detective Club.
Thus, Hibiki Naegi reconsidered and thought about letting Kotomi or Mashiro take the role. As a world-class genius painter, Shiina Mashiro was undoubtedly the most qualified candidate—not just for an honorary president title, but even for the full presidency! However, Mashiro showed complete disinterest in anything outside of painting. When the topic was brought up once, she refused outright. Even after multiple attempts, she ignored the proposition entirely.
Just as Hibiki Naegi was about to appoint Kotomi as the honorary president of the Art Club, Chihiro Sengoku suddenly informed them that, according to a long-standing rule set by the first art teacher and current head of the art department at Sobu High School, the Art Club was not allowed to have an honorary president.
And just like that, the idea of appointing an honorary president was scrapped.
The previous day, Hibiki Naegi had secretly felt sorry for Kotomi—if not for that Art Club rule, she might have already taken the position. But today, Kisara Tendo had informed her that while the Art Club couldn't appoint Kotomi as honorary president, the Kendo Club could!
Back to the main topic.
Since the Art Club did not have an honorary president role, Hibiki Naegi, as the president, was only familiar with the title but had no understanding of the actual privileges that came with it.
Thinking about it now, she felt a little embarrassed.
Seeing the confusion on Hibiki Naegi's face, Kisara Tendo sighed and began explaining:
"Most of the privileges of an honorary president are related to the fact that they don't actually have to exercise any authority. As a result, they have little real power over club management."
I never wanted to manage a club anyway—it's too much trouble... Kotomi thought to herself.
"One key privilege is that a student who becomes an honorary president can still participate in activities of other clubs."
"To put it simply, once Kotomi becomes the honorary president of the Kendo Club, she can still retain her membership in other clubs and continue engaging in their activities. She can choose to attend Kendo Club one day and the Art Club the next."
"However, there's a catch—after becoming the honorary president of the Kendo Club, she won't be able to hold any leadership positions in any other clubs. Hibiki, weren't you considering making Kotomi the president of the Art Club when you reached your third year? Unfortunately, you'll have to find someone else now."
Kisara Tendo crossed her arms and grinned.
Hibiki Naegi rolled her eyes at Kisara Tendo but secretly let out a sigh of relief. Truthfully, even if Kotomi couldn't become the Art Club president in the future, she just wanted to continue seeing her paint.
Whether in art or kendo, as long as there are levels of skill, there will always be competition and rivals.
Just as the path of kendo reveres and respects the strong, Hibiki Naegi also admired those who were better than her at painting. Only by having such competition could she feel motivated to improve and push forward.
This was the first time Kotomi had realized the hidden perks of being an honorary president. No wonder the position was always reserved for those with connections—such a beneficial role would surely be kept within their own circles.
She simply didn't have the motivation or energy to fight for a club president position. Otherwise, if Aimi really managed to get into Sobu High School next year, she would definitely arrange for her to have an honorary president title.
"So I can freely participate in the activities of two clubs?" Kotomi clarified.
"That's right. To put it simply, you will soon have dual club identities—one as a member of the Art Club and another as the honorary president of the Kendo Club," Kisara Tendo explained.
Hibiki Naegi no longer needed to go through the troublesome member transfer procedures. Since Kotomi was still officially part of the Art Club, all Kisara Tendo had to do was write Kotomi's name in the honorary president section and sign her own name beneath it. With that, Kotomi would officially become the honorary president of the Kendo Club.
With this, the matter between the Art Club and the Kendo Club was fully settled. Kotomi didn't have to make a choice between the two; instead, she embraced both roles—why choose when she could have both?
Returning to the classroom, the second period had just ended. As soon as Kotomi sat down, her cheek was gently poked by Megumi Kato's fingertip.
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