Chapter 185: Two Birds with One Stone: Horikita Suzune / Kushida Kikyo
Inside the school cafeteria, it was high noon.
Shimizu Akira looked at the message he had just received on his phone.
Horikita Manabu: If a student or staff member violates the law or commits a crime within the school, students are required to inform the Student Council first. The Student Council will then discuss the matter with the school administration to decide if police intervention is necessary.
The situation was roughly as he had expected.
This school was indeed special; one could not simply call the police. Actually, thinking carefully, it wasn't hard to understand. If the school really allowed students to call the police at will, Ryuen Kakeru and Nagumo Miyabi would likely have been reported by students in their respective classes long ago—the character of those two was already an open secret. If one were to make a "Campus Blacklist," those two would definitely be at the top.
Furthermore, the school itself exuded an air of uniqueness.
Having stayed here for over two months, he had almost never seen a supply truck from the outside world, and he rarely saw anyone other than students, faculty, and shop employees. There were only four dormitory buildings in the entire school: one for each of the three grade levels, and the last one for school staff and shop employees to live in.
Such a layout was clearly an intentional effort by the school to create a "miniature society" for the students. If outsiders were allowed to enter and exit freely, this closed "social form" would have been broken long ago.
At least for Shimizu Akira, since entering this school, discussions about "money" had become extremely rare, replaced by so-called "personal points" and "class points." This was likely the most direct intention behind the school's design.
Shimizu Akira: Suppose there is a middle-aged man in the school who is an Idol fan, harassing a female student and sending many envelopes supposedly expressing "love." How would the school handle it?
Horikita Manabu: In the situation you described, since there are a large number of letters as evidence and a high probability of surveillance footage as corroboration, the school would expel the individual immediately and hand them over to the police.
Since this involves a conflict between a student and a staff member, the student does not need to prove the case themselves; the Student Council will take full responsibility for the investigation. As this involves the school's failure in hiring practices, the school will also provide the victim with a certain amount of personal point compensation.
The result was exactly as Shimizu had predicted.
Since the man was an Idol fan who had proactively delivered so many envelopes, he was practically seeking his own destruction—it was no different from handing over evidence to someone personally. Moreover, this school was densely packed with surveillance cameras; to deliver envelopes to the dorms, he would inevitably leave a trail.
Shimizu didn't consider himself a kind person, but Sakura Airi had helped him before, she was a classmate, and all he had to do was report it to the Student Council. Besides, the Student Council said they would initiate the investigation themselves.
With petty squabbles between students, the school might stay out of it, letting everyone find their own evidence to solve it to cultivate the students' abilities. But if an adult harbored ill intentions toward a student and even acted on them, the school naturally wouldn't stick to that rule of "proving one's own innocence." Strictly speaking, this situation was a failure of the school's oversight; they had no reason to stand by and watch.
As for the point compensation, since the staff member involved was hired by the school and the student suffered a loss because of it, it was only natural to demand an explanation from the school.
However, now that these details were confirmed, the priority was still to explain everything clearly to Sakura Airi. He was not Sakura Airi herself, after all, and had no right to make decisions for her—whether or not to report this matter ultimately depended on her own will. Though given Sakura's personality, she was likely deeply troubled by this, he still had to ask. He also wasn't sure if she still had those letters. If the letters had already been thrown away, the investigation's progress might be significantly impacted.
-
-
-
While thinking about these things, Shimizu ate his meal in silence when his phone vibrated with a new message. This time, however, the sender wasn't Horikita Manabu, but Kamuro Masumi.
Kamuro Masumi: After you finish lunch today, take the points I gave you and go to the supermarket to buy a pair of women's slippers and a few packs of hot cocoa.
Shimizu was momentarily stunned. What did this mean? Was she planning to come over today? Otherwise, why ask him to buy women's slippers and hot cocoa? Come to think of it, specifically asking for slippers... it seemed Kamuro Masumi still remembered what happened last time.
Shimizu Akira: Understood, Kamuro. What time do you plan to arrive?
Kamuro Masumi: Not sure, maybe around seven or eight tonight. Just wait for me. Also! I saw the Boxing Club flyer! You joined the Boxing Club?
Shimizu Akira: Yes.
Kamuro Masumi: I see you running on the track every day. You aren't just good at running, are you? Do you actually have muscles?
Shimizu Akira: I get up very early and spend an hour every morning doing sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. After school, I also practice boxing for nearly an hour and a half. I don't believe my physical fitness is inferior to anyone else in the school. Naturally, I have muscles.
Kamuro Masumi: Really?
Shimizu Akira: No reason to lie to you. At most, when you come over, I'll show you. Sit-ups, pull-ups, whatever works.
Kamuro Masumi: Can you do 50 push-ups in one go?
Shimizu Akira: I can.
After she sent that, there was no further follow-up. However, Shimizu felt that Kamuro Masumi was seriously underestimating him. Never mind fifty push-ups; with his current solid build, even five hundred would be no problem at all.
-
-
-
After finishing his meal, Shimizu went to the supermarket to pick out women's slippers. He wasn't sure what color Kamuro preferred, so after a moment of thought, he decided to choose a pair of purple slippers based on her hair and eye color. He also went to a high-end cafe and pre-ordered hot cocoa to be picked up around seven o'clock—the hot cocoa last time was hand-mixed by him, and on second thought, the cafe's freshly made version would be more satisfying.
Afterward, he first went back to his dorm to put the slippers away before returning to his classroom. Checking the time, there were about 20 minutes left before class started. His classmate, Horikita Suzune, was already in her seat, holding a book as usual and flipping through the pages.
Sensing him take his seat, Horikita Suzune put down her book this time. After a moment of deliberation, she spoke: "Class D still hasn't found any relevant witnesses."
Shimizu naturally understood what she meant and simply replied, "Is that so."
Horikita Suzune's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction: "Hirata-kun's personality is still too weak."
Just as she said, she had told Hirata Yosuke about the lead regarding Sakura Airi the night before last, and he had indeed gone to ask her yesterday at noon. But the result? As soon as
Hirata spoke and Sakura Airi refused while showing fear, he immediately gave up his questioning, only smiling to smooth things over by saying, "I understand."
This made Horikita Suzune unsure of whether he was right or wrong. To say he was wrong—Sakura Airi had shown fear, so stopping the questioning out of consideration for her feelings seemed reasonable. But to say he was right—looking at the result, the undeniable fact was that Class D still hadn't found the key witness.
She finally realized an important problem: Hirata Yosuke was actually not suitable for investigating information from his own classmates. He was too much of a "nice guy," always unwilling to easily offend anyone in the class. Moreover, facing Sakura Airi, who was always soft-spoken and a girl to boot—perhaps asking Hirata to do it was bound to fail in uncovering key information from the start.
'Do I really have to go and ask personally?'
Horikita Suzune knew her social skills weren't outstanding, but since even the mild-mannered Hirata had failed, perhaps switching to her straightforward and firm attitude would actually uncover some key information.
Just then, the classroom door was pushed open, and Sakura Airi walked toward her seat with her head down, her complexion looking poor.
"Sakura-san, you should be the witness to the incident involving Sudo-kun, right?"
Thinking of this, Horikita Suzune stood up, walked over to her, and asked point-blank.
"I... I am not!" Sakura Airi didn't even think before immediately lowering her head and denying it.
"Why are you denying it?" Horikita Suzune suddenly looked puzzled.
"Is it because you, like me, simply dislike Sudo as a person? Even if you dislike him, this matter involves class points!"
"T-that... I... I don't dislike my classmates! I... I really am not! Please... can you let me go?!" Sakura Airi kept her head buried, her voice halting as she continued to deny it.
"..." Horikita Suzune's expression darkened. Hearing the words "let me go," she silently walked back to her seat.
Rejected. It seemed that whether the attitude was firm or gentle, the other party didn't buy it at all. She should have realized long ago that she simply couldn't do the things she wasn't good at. But since both she and Hirata had failed, it seemed the class could only rely on Kushida.
However, she was truly unwilling to contact Kushida, let alone proactively share this information—after all, just yesterday, she had rejected her. Horikita Suzune always held her
dignity in high regard; the idea of bowing her head to ask that woman for help was unthinkable.
She seemed to remember something suddenly and opened the message records from her brother, Horikita Manabu.
Horikita Manabu: Oh? You say you want to get involved in Sudo Ken's fight?
Horikita Suzune: Yes, brother. This is not just for the overall interest of the class, but to prove my progress over these past few months to you.
Horikita Manabu: Fine. Though I still have no expectations for your abilities.
Horikita Manabu: You cannot do this alone.
Horikita Manabu: Therefore, I allow you to rely on Shimizu Akira.
Horikita Manabu: But you must provide him with reasonable compensation.
Horikita Manabu: After all, I do not want you to affect the relationship between me and Shimizu.
The message had been sent last night. Honestly, Horikita Suzune's decision to get involved in Sudo's matter was only settled after deep consideration last night. After all, the final punishment for this incident was only suspension—meaning even if Sudo was worthless to Class D and she did nothing, it wouldn't change the fact that he was still a member of the class. Furthermore, she had asked Chabashira-sensei, and it was said that at least 100 class points would be deducted as a starting point.
She couldn't stand Class D losing a hundred points, and she wanted to prove to her brother that she had indeed improved, which is why she proactively messaged him. But she hadn't expected to get stuck on the very first step of finding a witness before she even officially began.
Her brother was right. Her social skills were indeed lacking. Her brother had likely seen through this long ago, which is why he was certain she couldn't do it alone. "Allowing her to rely on Shimizu Akira"—that was fine, but what made her feel a bit displeased was the final sentence.
'What does brother mean by that? Does he think I'm the kind of person who likes to take advantage of others?!'
In all fairness, she had always been fair, especially with her agreements with Shimizu Akira. Whether it was those 80,000 points, the handshake, tutoring him, or the hand-holding, she always did what she said she would do and never broke her word. As for her brother's worry about "affecting his relationship with Shimizu"—what did that mean? In her brother's eyes, was she not even as important as Shimizu?
Fine, she actually already had a vague idea about that. After all, when she went to her brother's office last time, Shimizu was sitting much closer to him than she was. Not to mention, Shimizu had specifically explained a few days ago the reason why her brother gave him special care—it was because he had done quite a lot for her brother as well.
To say she didn't feel any awkwardness at all would be a lie. But since the person was Shimizu, it wasn't unacceptable.
As a sister, she hadn't done anything for her brother so far. If anything, her own class, Class D, had caused a great deal of trouble for the Student Council, making them work overtime.
The image of Shimizu and Sakura going out together a few days ago suddenly flashed through her mind. In the end, did she really have to ask Shimizu to do this? It seemed things had come back to the starting point.
Horikita Suzune thought for a moment and spoke in a lowered voice: "Shimizu-kun, Hirata can't do it. So, I hope you can help me get the witness lead regarding the Sudo Ken incident from Sakura-san." She paused and added, "The condition is that I will prepare lunch bentos for you this month."
"Huh?" Shimizu was momentarily stunned, completely not expecting her to suddenly ask him.
Before he could respond, Kushida Kikyo walked into the classroom with a sour expression. She walked straight to Shimizu and waved her hand: "Shimizu-kun, can you come out for a moment?"
Though Shimizu didn't know her intention, he thought about it and stood up to follow her out. Kushida Kikyo led him to the corner of the staircase before speaking: "Shimizu-kun, can you help me ask Sakura-san for the witness lead regarding Sudo Ken's incident? That..." Her face showed a hint of embarrassment.
"I'll give you a lap pillow, okay? This time for three minutes. Do you think that's alright?"
'What is going on?'
Shimizu was completely bewildered. Why did these two suddenly both come to ask him to do the same thing? And both had offered "benefits" as conditions.
Did this count as... catching two bird with one stone?
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting