Classroom of the Elite: After Her Information Updated, They All Want to Win Me Over! Chapter 15

(But the deal...)

(I already owed him a favor...)

After hesitating for half a second, she finally raised her hand and took the tissue, pretending not to care.

"Don't feel like you owe me a favor or have to feel bad. We're even after tonight's dinner. This is also a great opportunity for me to earn some points, so it's just a fair deal." Shimizu Akira saw right through her concerns and spoke casually. "Tell me, then. What information do you want to buy from me? Do you only want to know the truth about how the classes are assigned?"

"..." Horikita Suzune's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Shimizu, from the sound of it, you seem to have other information, too?"

"Yeah, you could say that." The corners of Shimizu Akira's mouth lifted slightly.

After a brief silence, Horikita Suzune raised her chin. "...Tell me the truth about the class assignments first."

"It's actually very simple." Shimizu Akira leaned back in his chair. "The school assigns students to classes according to how capable they are. During the entrance exams, each interviewer gives us a score based on our performance. Taking those evaluations and certain special criteria into account, they ultimately assign everyone to one of four classes: A, B, C, or D. Class A is the best, while Class D is the worst."

He looked Horikita straight in the eye, his tone calm but utterly certain. "In other words, the elites go to Classes A and B, while the mediocre are stuck in Classes C and D."

"...That's impossible! Are you sure this is true?"

"I tested Chabashira-sensei on the first day of school. And a second-year student confirmed this information personally."

"But..."

"Still having doubts?" Shimizu Akira gently interrupted. "Then tell me, Horikita, what class is your outstanding older brother—the Student Council President—in?"

"Third-year... Class A."

The words struck like a heavy blow.

Horikita Suzune's body swayed violently. "I was put in Class D... So, according to the school's judgment... I don't even meet the passing standard?"

026: Protect me, and date me.

Horikita Suzune's life had always been overshadowed by someone.

That someone was her older brother.

People had half-jokingly called her a "brocon," but she knew the truth: it wasn't some twisted attachment. It was pure admiration.

And now fate had played its cruelest joke on her.

When she had finally entered the academy where her brother presided over the Student Council, she had been greeted with the label of Class D.

Three letters stood between her and her brother, who stood at the top in Class A.

Her nails dug deep into her palms.

She thought of her perfect attendance record throughout middle school, her consistently top-ranking grades, and all those disciplined, painstaking days and nights.

The label of Class D had crushed every piece of evidence that should have proved her worth.

"The class assignment system is completely unreasonable!..."

Horikita Suzune's voice seeped through her clenched teeth.

Anger boiled in her chest—not doubt in herself, but fierce rejection of the entire system of judgment.

"Shimizu! Let's exchange contact information!" Horikita Suzune suddenly stood up.

"Oh? You're being so forward all of a sudden?" Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow. They had just exchanged contact details and hadn't even had time to say much when a transfer notification appeared on his phone.

"Eighty thousand points. I've paid you, so we're completely even." Her movements were astonishingly quick. The instant she put her phone away, her delicate face had returned to its usual icy expression, as if silently declaring, "Try talking to me and I'll kill you."

Watching the girl hurry away, Shimizu Akira shook his head with a wry smile. "Don't tell me she's going to confront Chabashira-sensei..."

His gaze followed her stubborn figure until she disappeared through the cafeteria entrance.

There was an almost arrogant confidence about Horikita Suzune.

When reality fell short of her expectations, she never wasted time doubting herself. That almost obsessive certainty kept her from falling into pointless mental turmoil.

Still, that confidence was about to collide with cold reality.

Kouenji Rokusuke was the perfect example.

Shimizu Akira had reported on Monday that an interviewer had deliberately given him a low score, but it had ultimately failed to change the class assignments.

(She paid eighty thousand right off the bat... Horikita's surprisingly generous.)

Shimizu Akira lightly rubbed his phone screen, the glow of the transfer notification reflected on his thoughtful face.

He had only meant to charge a token amount, since it was just a bit of information he'd casually offered.

(Did the Student Council President secretly give her some spending money?)

He dismissed the thought as soon as it occurred to him. Given her older brother's personality, he probably wouldn't indulge his little sister like that.

(Wait... What if that's most of her savings...)

(Then she'll be eating dirt next month...)

But Shimizu Akira's attention was soon drawn to his account balance. It had already passed the three-hundred-thousand mark.

With the eighty thousand Horikita had transferred, the total might have seemed substantial to an ordinary student.

But he merely converted it in his head: at the school's exchange rate, it was equivalent to a month's salary for an average wage earner.

Three hundred thousand yen in Tokyo probably wouldn't even rent a decent place.

(Still nowhere near enough... I need to break a million at the very least.)

Shimizu Akira locked his phone and put it in his pocket, but his fingers brushed against a folded note.

He slowly unfolded it, revealing unfamiliar handwriting:

[Come to Room 1203 after dinner tonight.]

The handwriting was quite delicate. It was probably a girl's.

If he remembered correctly, the upper floors were reserved for the girls.

(An invitation from the girls' dorm...?)

If it had been Yamauchi Haruki or Kanji Ike, they would probably have been jumping for joy by now.

After leaving the cafeteria, Shimizu Akira went to the front desk in the dormitory lobby and asked who lived in Room 1203.

"Information about student residents is confidential~" The front desk attendant, who wore round glasses, gave him a mischievous smile from behind her lenses. "You really shouldn't ask too much, but do be careful, okay?"

She lightly touched a fingertip to her lips and gave him a suggestive look.

Her reaction confirmed the most obvious guess: it was indeed a girls' dormitory.

Shimizu Akira took the elevator and paused outside Room 1203 before gently knocking.

"Coming!" A clear, pleasant voice answered from inside.

The door soon opened, and Shimizu Akira recognized the person at once.

Karuizawa Kei was wearing a loose short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of casual shorts. Her long legs looked especially pale beneath the corridor lights.

She leaned casually against the doorframe, the ends of her hair still damp, as if she'd only recently finished bathing.

"Shimizu, you came." She tilted her head as she spoke, a faint smile on her lips.

Shimizu Akira couldn't help taking another look or two, then quickly looked away.

"Come on in!" Karuizawa Kei suddenly rose onto her toes and affectionately wrapped both arms around his.

Her soft touch came through the fabric of his uniform, accompanied by the faint scent of body wash.

As if dragging a giant stuffed toy, she half-pushed, half-pulled Shimizu Akira into the room.

Though it was more accurate to say she was only pretending to drag him, while Shimizu Akira went along with it. If he'd resisted even a little, this somewhat suggestive "abduction" would have failed at once.

He could clearly feel the softness pressing against his arm.

Instinctively, he had to admit that the sensation was enough to set his heart racing—but reason told him that this sudden intimacy seemed far too deliberate.

After all, they were only classmates.

Karuizawa Kei lifted her flushed face, her voice shy but firm. "Shimizu... Actually, I noticed you when you went after Yamauchi during the entrance ceremony." She paused, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. "Of course... part of it was because of your looks, too..."

She took a deep breath, as if forcing the next words out with all her strength. "Um, please... date me, on the condition that you protect me."

Shimizu Akira froze when he heard that.

What kind of confession was that? Most people would at least say, "with marriage in mind."

But she'd gone straight for "on the condition that you protect me"—it sounded more like a bodyguard contract.

027: A Fair Deal

Karuizawa Kei unconsciously held her breath.

This was the first time in her life she had confessed to a boy.

The moment those embarrassing words left her mouth, the tips of her ears had already burned bright red.

Although she put on a flashy gyaru appearance,

the truth was that she'd never even held hands with a boy.

This clumsy confession was the first time she'd risked all her courage.

Of course, it wasn't motivated by any romantic feelings.

She knew better than anyone that she was only looking for someone strong to shelter her.

If she could get Shimizu Akira to protect her,

then the bullying, the abuse, would never come after her again.

She had to survive this high school.

(Will he say yes?)

Karuizawa Kei nervously bit her lower lip.

She knew she wasn't bad-looking, but...

Her chest wasn't exactly flat.

But compared with the girls in her class who were more developed—

she couldn't compete with Hasebe Haruka's stunning curves,

or Sakura Airi's voluptuous figure.

Even the aloof Horikita Suzune outshone her.

That insecurity now pricked at her heart like tiny thorns.

"To be honest, whatever your motives, I'm pretty happy you confessed to me like this," Shimizu Akira said candidly after a brief pause.

As a healthy young man, he couldn't honestly say he wasn't pleased to be confessed to by a beautiful girl like Karuizawa Kei, who had so much going for her.

But thinking it over, there was something strange about this "date me on the condition that you protect me" declaration.

"By the way, do you really like me?" Shimizu Akira shrugged helplessly. "I think you're just after my body."

As soon as he said it, he froze himself. He never expected that one day he'd hear a line like that coming out of his own mouth.

But the facts were right in front of him! This cunning woman had clearly set her sights on his well-built physique!

"I..." Karuizawa Kei was momentarily at a loss, her cheeks visibly turning red.

She couldn't deny it.

His sharply defined abs and the biceps faintly visible beneath his uniform were indeed among the important reasons she had chosen Shimizu Akira.

"I'm not blaming you." Shimizu Akira shrugged and spoke frankly. "Everyone cares about looks to some extent. I'm the same."

"...Really?" Karuizawa Kei's eyes suddenly lit up.

This boy was unexpectedly honest, nothing like the calculating person she'd imagined.

His straightforward nature, instead, made her feel inexplicably at ease.

"But there's something we need to make clear." Shimizu Akira's expression suddenly turned serious. "If we're officially dating, then as your boyfriend, I'll naturally want to kiss and touch you, and even..." He paused. "Taking things all the way would be normal, too. Are you sure you can accept that?"

He wasn't looking for a girlfriend just to have one as a pretty ornament.

If he couldn't be physically intimate with her, he might as well pursue a fictional waifu instead.

"Um..." Karuizawa Kei was momentarily at a loss, her cheeks burning bright red.