Advanced Nurturing High School: After the Intelligence Update, They All Want to Win Me Over! Chapter 27

Over the next two days, she managed to keep her spending under control, staying within 1,000 points a day.

However—

The record for the fifth day made her fingers freeze.

Transfer to Shimizu Akira: 80,000 points

Luxury meal: 1,000 points

Transfer to Shimizu Akira: 100 points

Those three expenses instantly slashed her balance to 13,000 points.

She stared at the screen in silence for a moment.

Her fingertip lightly traced the record for the luxury meal—that was when Horikita Suzune had treated Shimizu Akira of her own accord. As for the 100 points for the miso soup, that had simply been to repay a favor.

"So... Shimizu Akira took most of my points?" she murmured. Yet there was little anger in her voice, only a trace of self-mockery.

Thinking it over, the deal really hadn't been worth the cost.

One of the pieces of information she'd bought for 80,000 points had been brought up by Kushida Kikyou as casual conversation after school today.

In other words, all she'd gotten for that hefty price was information that students were assigned to classes based on ability.

Strangely, Horikita Suzune couldn't bring herself to blame Shimizu Akira.

The first thought that came to mind was instead: Had I been too rash?

After all, he hadn't forced her at any point.

She had approached him herself and willingly transferred those 80,000 points.

More ironically, she hadn't expected that only a few days later, she'd be struggling to pay the class contribution.

Horikita Suzune had never once considered demanding that he return the 80,000 points.

She knew full well that if Chabashira Sae hadn't intervened today, Shimizu Akira wouldn't have provided the information to Class D free of charge.

It had been a legitimate transaction, with both sides getting what they wanted—the terms were clear, the process transparent, and no one could find fault with it.

But what truly bothered her was a deeper issue of pride.

I absolutely can't let him look down on me...

The instant the thought flashed through her mind, she seemed to see Shimizu Akira's surprised eyes again.

Just imagining the scene made her feel as if she were on pins and needles, and her breathing quickened despite herself.

More than the enormous loss of points, the thought of Shimizu Akira looking down on her was unbearable.

"These 25,000 points... when you get down to it, they're class contributions paid to Shimizu Akira."

Although Chabashira Sae had fronted a million points in name, when all was said and done, the class contribution was still going into Shimizu Akira's pocket.

At that thought, she suddenly realized the absurd truth: every point in her account had somehow ended up in that person's hands.

"80,000 points for information... 25,000 for the class contribution..." Her fingers moved quickly across her terminal before stopping on a particular record. "Oh, right! I also got an extra 5,000 points for swimming class..."

The figures raced through her mind before settling on a precise, startling total: 105,000 points.

Horikita Suzune's recent income had been exactly 105,000 points, and the points Shimizu Akira had taken from her also totaled 105,000.

Not a single point left!

The number was too perfect—so perfect it seemed deliberate.

The anger that should have welled up was replaced by something far more complicated.

Horikita Suzune lightly pressed a fingertip to her lower lip, Shimizu Akira's perpetually composed demeanor clear in her mind.

The feeling of being completely seen through was all too familiar, familiar enough to make her chest tighten.

—It was as if she'd been playing chess and, without realizing it, her opponent had taken control of every move.

It might have been a coincidence, but it was perfect enough to seem like a carefully scripted plan.

That terrifying ability to control everything made her think of the person who always looked down at her from on high.

"He's... just like my brother..."

Horikita Manabu—the elder brother who had been held up as a model his entire life—had always held her to strict standards. If she hadn't been following in his footsteps, she never would have chosen this school.

Her fingers unconsciously wound a strand of her long hair.

That jet-black hair itself was a silent vow.

Shimizu Akira hadn't been wrong about what happened at the pool.

She just... wasn't ready to admit it in front of someone who always saw through everything.

That day, when Kushida Kikyou had put Shimizu Akira down in front of her, she hadn't been able to stop herself from speaking up.

Because she knew better than anyone just how hard that seemingly ordinary guy worked.

At six thirty on the morning of the second day of school, when she drew back the curtains as usual, she saw him running around the track.

The school track was one kilometer per lap, and Shimizu Akira ran ten laps every day without fail.

He'd kept up that routine since the second day of school, never once missing a day.

Thinking of her brother, Horikita Suzune's gaze drifted to her phone screen.

At the very top of her contact list was the name "Horikita Manabu." Below it was the message she'd sent after school:

Horikita Suzune: Brother, now that I've enrolled at Advanced Nurturing High School too, I'll prove myself to you! I'm not who I used to be, and I'll show you how determined I am!

048 You just gave me 16,000 points! Why are you slandering me again?!

The message had been marked "Read" for several hours.

Just as she was about to give up waiting, the screen suddenly lit up—

Horikita Manabu: Come find me behind the first-year dormitory.

Horikita Suzune quickly changed into her uniform, but stopped just before opening the door.

Her phone had suddenly buzzed again.

Shimizu Akira: Good evening, Horikita.

The message made her fingers freeze.

Shimizu Akira had messaged her first?

Night had fallen outside.

Receiving a message from a boy at this hour made her tense up despite herself.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between the door and the screen several times. In the end, her fingers typed out a line:

Horikita Suzune: What is it? I'm busy, so please get straight to the point.

The instant she pressed send, she let out a soft breath.

This was already an exception—she wouldn't even give anyone else the courtesy of a read receipt.

Shimizu Akira: Do you remember our last transaction?

She tapped out a brief, restrained reply:

Horikita Suzune: I do.

A moment later, a new message popped up—

Shimizu Akira: I'm planning to return 16,000 points to you.

Her breath caught almost imperceptibly.

Return points?

Her gaze instinctively swept to her balance—9,900. Add the 16,000, and she'd have exactly enough to cover the 25,000-point class contribution...

Horikita Suzune: What do you mean? What's the catch?

He replied quickly.

Shimizu Akira: Remember the rule I told you about? I said I gave a 20% discount on information fees. You paid 80,000 last time, so by the rules, I owe you 16,000.

After a brief pause, he added:

Shimizu Akira: I'm not giving it to you out of charity.

Horikita Suzune stared at the last line, her fingertip unconsciously resting against the edge of the screen.

I see...

He was simply following the rules of their deal. Nothing more.

It wasn't pity, nor was there any ulterior motive.

But a subtle sense of dissonance spread through her.

He clearly calculated this in advance...

The feeling of being taken care of so precisely was, surprisingly, not unpleasant.

But with her pride, she would never accept a favor without giving something in return.

In the chat box, she first typed: I can't accept your points outright. I'll pay you back double next month—

But that's an empty promise. I might not even have 50,000 points next month.

She pressed her lips together and deleted the rest, one character at a time.

What she eventually sent was the most tangible return she could offer right now:

Horikita Suzune: I can't accept your points outright. I'll help you catch up in Japanese! Your Japanese grades are unbelievably bad, so that makes this an equal exchange.

The reply came quickly:

Shimizu Akira: All right! That would be a huge help to me, too.

Shimizu Akira: By the way, I'm walking around near the dorm right now, and I saw your brother.

Only after seeing that message did Horikita Suzune suddenly realize she'd kept her brother waiting for a long time.

And Shimizu Akira was walking near the dorm?

She barely had time to reply before she shut the door and ran out.

Behind the dormitory, by the time Horikita Suzune reached the agreed-upon spot, Horikita Manabu had already been waiting for a long time.

The words she'd prepared caught in her throat.

At the thought that Shimizu Akira might appear at any moment, she reflexively called out the unfamiliar title, "President Horikita, what did you want to see me about?"

"Suzune..." Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses. "You're calling me President?"

"I thought..." He walked toward her slowly. "You'd be eager to show me those... insignificant changes, just like before."

He put heavy emphasis on the final word. "Without the slightest regard for the distance you should maintain with the student council president."

"It seems..." Horikita Manabu stopped in front of her, and an expression she'd never seen before flickered in his condescending gaze. "You've finally begun to understand the boundaries people should maintain in their relationships."

The near-approving tone warmed Suzune's heart.

"Brother... I'm not..." She began unconsciously, but the instant the word "Brother" left her lips, she saw the cold glint in her elder brother's eyes.

Horikita Manabu stepped back half a pace and looked at her with utter disappointment. "Are you about to say that same nonsense again? ...So that was just my imagination."

Suzune felt as if she were suffocating.

Her brother's voice was quiet, yet it pierced her eardrums like an icicle.

"I heard you were placed in Class D." He sneered. "Just like three years ago, you're always fixated on my back, yet you can't even see your own greatest flaw. Choosing this school seems to have been another failure of yours."

"...I was placed in Class D, so there must be something wrong with the placement system..." Suzune started making excuses without thinking.

Horikita Manabu's voice suddenly rose.

"Enough!"

He took a fierce step forward. "And now you're still making excuses for yourself? Still questioning the placement system? How utterly foolish! Do you have to suffer before you'll reflect on yourself?"

Horikita Suzune's shoulders shrank involuntarily.