Classroom of the Elite, After the Intel Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me! 30

"..." Sudo Ken followed right behind him, leaving the classroom without even looking back.

The same went for Karuizawa Kei's group of gal friends.

She was in the middle of an animated discussion about tonight's karaoke plans with Matsushita Chiaki, Mori Nene, and the others, occasionally bursting into silvery laughter. Clearly, she wasn't giving the matter of class points a second thought.

Just as Shimizu Akira watched her with a thoughtful gaze, Karuizawa Kei suddenly sensed his eyes on her.

Her slender fingers trembled slightly, and she grabbed her phone in a fluster, tapping rapidly on the screen.

"Ding—"

Shimizu Akira's phone chimed with a notification. He looked down to see two messages popping up in succession:

[Karuizawa Kei: I am absolutely not going to compromise on the class points! Don't get any ideas, Shimizu-kun!]

Immediately after, another message followed in a rush:

[Karuizawa Kei: ...I will transfer the points to you on time every month! You can be completely assured of that!]

The panic of trying to cover up her tracks was evident between the lines, and the exclamation mark at the end was used with such force that it felt like she was trying to emphasize her resolve through the screen.

053 If I, without the protection of Shimizu Akira...

In truth, upon learning that next month's personal points would be calculated as class points multiplied by 100, Karuizawa Kei was likely the most panicked person in the class.

(What! So it turns out we aren't getting a fixed one hundred thousand points every month!)

Just last Friday, she had reached that secret protection agreement with Shimizu Akira: paying eighty thousand points a month in exchange for his shelter within the class.

This should have been a perfect deal, but who could have guessed that only a few days later, she would feel like she could no longer afford the cost of hiring him.

(It's all that new limited-edition cosmetic set's fault! And that high-end restaurant dinner over the weekend...)

She snuck a glance at her phone balance, and the glaring "2500" made her stomach churn with pain.

As she was now, let alone twenty-five thousand, she couldn't even scrape together three thousand points.

"Kei, what's wrong? You look a bit pale," Matsushita Chiaki leaned in with concern.

"No, it's nothing~" She forced a signature sweet smile, though her fingertips were gripping her phone case so hard it creaked.

This was the price of being a top-tier gal—having to maintain a glamorous persona without showing weakness, while simultaneously struggling to keep up appearances during financial distress.

However, what was truly making her panic right now wasn't just her wallet.

(If I, without the protection of Shimizu Akira...)

Karuizawa Kei was completely different from the solitary Horikita Suzune.

She knew better than anyone that she was like a vine clinging to a host—a parasite. Without the protection of others, she wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly in this school.

(Eighty thousand points... I need at least eighty thousand...)

Her fingertips unconsciously traced the ugly scar on her abdomen as she calculated repeatedly in her mind.

Although the class started with one hundred thousand points, she had played on her phone during class dozens of times over the past two weeks.

Not to mention those two idiots, Yamauchi and Ike Kanji; who knew how many class points had already been deducted just from their truancy records.

(I'll be thanking the heavens if we can keep six hundred points... ugh, better be conservative, let's say half! I'm not being greedy at all!)

Five hundred meant that at the end of the month, her personal points would be at most fifty thousand—a full thirty thousand short of the eighty thousand agreed upon.

This number caused her stomach to spasm, and even her old scar began to ache faintly.

"You look so pale..."

"I'm fine~ Maybe I stayed up too late watching shows last night." She forced a smile at Matsushita.

When she caught a glimpse of Shimizu Akira's probing gaze out of the corner of her eye, she grabbed her phone by reflex, only realizing how suspicious her reaction was after she had already sent the message.

(It's over... he definitely figured it out...)

(Without the points, he wouldn't just abandon me next month, would he?)

Cold sweat trickled down her spine.

This torment of walking on thin ice made her temples throb, and even breathing became difficult.

(She's probably broke and just trying to keep up appearances!)

(She doesn't want me to know her points have bottomed out...)

Shimizu Akira swept a glance at her without a trace, then looked away.

Of the one hundred thousand points distributed on the first day of school, she had transferred eighty thousand to him.

Plus her reckless spending over the past few days...

Her balance probably wasn't much.

However, Shimizu Akira had no intention of intervening.

His relationship with that girl was nowhere near the level of needing to meddle in her affairs.

After all, it wasn't like the desk-neighbor relationship he had with Horikita Suzune.

Although Horikita Suzune's personality was indeed difficult, she was unexpectedly reliable when it came to business dealings.

Every point he provided was met with the corresponding return she had promised.

The eighty thousand points from the last transaction were like that.

The sixteen thousand points for the Japanese language tutoring this time were the same.

"...Friday after school, 5:30, meet at the library. I'll tutor you in Japanese."

Speak of the devil, Horikita Suzune suddenly turned her head, her voice sounding slightly hoarse.

Shimizu Akira couldn't help but take a closer look at her.

The girl had dark circles under her eyes, clearly having failed to get a good night's sleep.

Even so, she hadn't forgotten to fulfill her promise.

"Let's put the tutoring aside for a moment..." Shimizu Akira paused, throwing out a cliché yet piercing question, "How do you feel about being assigned to Class D this time?"

Horikita Suzune's gaze sharpened instantly. After a long silence, she said slowly, "...Although I am very frustrated, it seems that the school's class assignment system is indeed fair and reasonable."

The images of her tossing and turning last night surfaced in her mind again.

Shimizu Akira's words, "Your brother isn't alone either," had pierced through her long-standing stubbornness like a sharp blade.

She had even done the unprecedented and sent a message to Horikita Manabu to verify it.

Her brother's brief reply was still flickering on her phone screen: [Tachibana Akane is indeed an indispensable assistant to me in the Student Council.]

She knew that neither her brother nor the boy in front of her ever spoke anything but the truth.

After a night of sleepless struggle, Horikita Suzune finally figured out three things:

First, she had to admit that being assigned to Class D was a matter of course.

--Her ability to work in a team was practically zero, and her social skills were nothing short of disastrous.

Just like Kouenji Rokusuke, that maverick in their class, she possessed talent but was deliberately alienated by the vast majority of her classmates.

It wasn't as if she hadn't heard the rumors about the two of them in class.

Horikita Suzune was not a dull person.

She felt the rejection and disgust contained in those gazes more keenly than anyone else.

(If things go on like this...)

Not only would she be completely written off by her brother, but I fear even Shimizu Akira would—

This thought made her bite her lower lip involuntarily.

However, she would rather take such thoughts to her grave than reveal even a fraction of them to Shimizu Akira.

This was her own stubborn secret.

As for the second thing: she would use Class D as a starting point and personally push this class to the heights of Class A.

Since fate had placed her in the lowest-ranked class, she had no choice but to lead this rabble to accumulate class points and climb to Class A step by step.

This was not only a promise to her brother, but her own pride would not allow her to be bottom-tier trash—not to mention that Class A meant more generous personal points, and staying in Class D made even a normal life difficult.

In any case, promotion to Class A had become her most important goal at this stage.

As for the third thing: she also needed to find a partner she could trust.

If her brother knew how to utilize the strength of others, there was no need for her to insist on being alone.

What her brother could do, she could do too!

Those childish thoughts of "never relying on anyone" were completely cast to the back of her mind.

When the sun rose, she left yesterday behind.

054 You really have nothing but transactions on your mind!

"Shimizu-kun..."

Horikita Suzune suddenly extended a slender hand, which hovered in mid-air, trembling slightly.

Shimizu Akira looked at this hand that had appeared out of nowhere, stunned for a moment before he realized—was this a handshake?

(Coming on with this all of a sudden... is she apologizing for last night?)

Since the girl had taken the initiative to reach out, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

As he held it gently, he noticed the girl's fingertips were ice-cold, and her palm was a full size smaller than his.

His palm easily enveloped her four fingers.

"Horikita-san, there's no need for this. I stopped caring about last night a long time ago." Shimizu Akira said, gently shaking her small hand.

"...Who's apologizing to you!" Horikita Suzune yanked her hand back, her earlobes turning red as she glared at him, "I'm just inviting you to be my sole collaborator! A handshake is the way we two form a contract. Are you agreeing or not?"

She hadn't expected Shimizu Akira to take her hand so readily.

Under normal circumstances, a boy should at least hesitate when faced with such sudden physical contact.

(As expected of a boy in the prime of his youth... he never misses a chance for intimate contact with any girl, does he?)

This realization made her inexplicably irritable.

What bothered her even more was why this guy would mistake her words for an apology.

"...Assist you with what?" Shimizu Akira slowly withdrew his hand.

He caught a faint scent of trouble and could only hope his intuition was wrong.

"Join me." Horikita Suzune looked him straight in the eyes, enunciating each word: "To lead Class D to the position of Class A."

Since her brother had Tachibana Akane by his side, she had no reason to continue fighting alone.

Looking around the entire classroom, the only person whose ability and character met her standards was Shimizu Akira.

--Not to mention, her brother had personally told her to learn how to conduct herself from this person.

Therefore, this invitation was simply the most appropriate choice.

"I refuse."

Shimizu Akira cut her off decisively, not even waiting for Horikita Suzune to finish her sentence.

Seeing her expression darken instantly, he sighed and explained:

"How many times do I have to say it? I have no interest in doing such thankless work. Class A holds zero appeal for me."

His goal was clear enough—as long as he could successfully graduate from this school, that was all that mattered.

As for which class he graduated from, it was completely irrelevant.

(As long as I have enough points...)

For these three years of school life, he only wanted to enjoy himself in peace.

Why go looking for trouble for the sake of some illusory class honor?

"...What a realistic way of thinking." Horikita Suzune couldn't help but remark.