Chapter 202 Horikita Suzune: I Am Very Healthy Because I Exercise Frequently
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, August had arrived. Counting carefully, Shimizu Akira had already spent four months at Advanced Nurturing High School.
For this institution, this meant the complete conclusion of the first semester and the official start of summer vacation.
It is worth noting that his current personal points had accumulated to 14.4 million.
Among these, aside from the regular points distributed by the school in June and July, the portion issued by the class was not the primary source—the true key was the 1.26 million personal points received from the entirety of Class 1-D back in June.
Additionally, the current Class Point standings were as follows:
Class A: 1,020 points Class B: 850 points Class C: 590 points Class D: 555 points
Among them, the points for Class A, B, and D had not fluctuated significantly, only losing small amounts due to minor oversights in daily conduct. Class C alone had suffered a massive deduction. The primary reasons were the two incidents in June: first, the framing of Sudo Ken for a fight, and second, the harassment of Class B students.
These two violations directly resulted in Class C being docked 100 Class Points.
Since no special exams were held over the past two months, Class C had no opportunity to replenish their points through testing. This series of factors caused the gap between Class C and Class D to narrow drastically, leaving a difference of only 35 points. This made "defeating Class C and promoting to the new Class C" the most explicit goal for the current Class D.
And all of this was part of Ryuen Kakeru's plan. Back in June, Ryuen had intended to move against him—even if he ultimately failed due to the explicit opposition of Yamada Albert and Shiina Hiyori, he had bared his fangs without concealment. Not to mention, on the day of the boxing match, Ryuen had specifically targeted Karuizawa Kei.
Shimizu Akira had made a protection contract with Karuizawa in the first month of school—as long as she was bullied for no reason, he would certainly stand up for her. After all, he had accepted the points she gave him; this "promise" carried its share of responsibility. Therefore, if an opportunity arose in the future to dig a hole for Ryuen and dampen his arrogance, Shimizu would undoubtedly be very happy to participate.
Over the past two months, Ryuen hadn't made any redundant moves, and Class C as a whole had become much more subdued. Shimizu guessed this was likely due to a specific warning from the Student Council—if they violated the rules again, the point deduction would only be
steeper. If they were docked again, Class C, which was already dangerously close to Class D, would likely plummet to become the new Class D. With Ryuen's pride, that was probably the one thing he couldn't stand.
As for Class 1-A and Class 1-B, there were no noteworthy movements at the class level recently. However, just because things were quiet at the class level didn't mean Shimizu's personal life was without ripples—by now, he was on speaking terms with quite a few people from other classes.
The catalyst for all of this could be traced back to that boxing match in June.
He had become thoroughly famous for his record of KO'ing Yamada Albert in one punch. Of course, when the match first ended, a small minority of students questioned if it was a "fixed match." It wasn't until later, when Yamada Albert bore the pain to publicly display the clear bruise on his chest, coupled with Boxing Club President Sato releasing Shimizu's data from the strength-testing machine, that those doubts completely vanished.
Some students became his fans because of that match, while others were wary of his martial prowess and took the initiative to greet him to stay on his good side.
Among them, Katsuragi Kohei from Class A was someone he could actually talk to. Katsuragi had a steady personality and showed no obvious discrimination toward Class D students; occasionally, when they met on campus, the two would stop to chat, mostly about boxing.
Shimizu could clearly feel that in Katsuragi's eyes, there was a "craving" for his combat value—a bald-headed man who looked exactly like "One Punch Man" craving someone else's strength was, thinking about it, quite amusing.
Besides him, there was another person Shimizu was quite mindful of—Hashimoto Masayoshi from Class A.
At school, as long as Hashimoto saw him from a distance, he would immediately put on a familiar expression and walk over quickly to greet him, making small talk about the weather or classes. This man's personality was like "universal grease"; no matter the topic, he could keep the conversation going and never let it turn cold.
Of course, not just with Shimizu; Hashimoto also took the initiative to talk to famous students from other classes.
Although his social skills hadn't reached the "all-around exquisite" level of Ichinose Honami or Kushida Kikyo, he was quite outstanding among his peers. As a Class A student, his habit of making friends everywhere was likely to scout information and maintain networks for Class A.
However, Shimizu remembered that in the intelligence he had seen before, it specifically mentioned: "Hashimoto Masayoshi of Class 1-A is a typical fence-sitter." If that was the case, his goal might not be so simple—rather than working for Class A, he was more likely deliberately befriending everyone to pave a back-way for himself, just in case he needed to transfer classes in the future.
Intelligence from a certain day in July explicitly mentioned that Hashimoto had officially become Sakayanagi Arisu's subordinate. But combining that with the "fence-sitter" verdict, it meant that Hashimoto would likely betray Sakayanagi in the future.
When he first got this intel, he had immediately warned Sakayanagi. But she just smiled faintly, saying, "Everything is under control," her tone full of certainty without a hint of worry. He didn't know how to respond then and could only assume Sakayanagi had her own plans and perhaps had seen through Hashimoto's nature long ago.
The reason he specifically warned Sakayanagi was, in the end, because of her other identity—"Miao Miao Cat." Miao Miao Cat had helped him once. Back in June, Sakayanagi had proactively admitted this to him. He remembered he had intentionally feigned ignorance, asking her "Why reveal your identity so suddenly?" and she had smiled and asked back, "I can't very well lose to a certain 'detective,' can I?"
The "detective" she spoke of was clearly Shiina Hiyori. Shimizu still hadn't figured out what Sakayanagi and Shiina had discussed after the boxing match that could make Sakayanagi use the reason of "not wanting to lose to the detective" to proactively reveal her identity as Miao Miao Cat.
Even more coincidentally, not long after Sakayanagi confessed, a message from Shiina Hiyori arrived, stating clearly that she too had discovered his real identity.
The messages from the two arrived almost back-to-back, the time difference shockingly short. In that case, for Shiina Hiyori personally, she might have known all along—that the person who "backstabbed" her was Sakayanagi Arisu.
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The sea breeze brushed against his cheeks with a salty, moist chill. Shimizu Akira leaned against the railing of the luxury cruise ship's deck, looking out at the distant horizon where the blue sky met the sea; the shimmering light made him squint.
Everything was indeed as Ichinose Honami had mentioned to him in June—the day before summer vacation started, the school officially notified all first-year students to begin this special trip: the first week would be spent experiencing summer scenery at a guesthouse on a deserted island, and the second week would be spent sailing on the cruise ship.
On the surface, it sounded like a completely burden-free, true vacation. But Shimizu knew in his heart that things wouldn't be that simple. In this Advanced Nurturing High School, such a large-scale collective activity was nine times out of ten another carefully designed "Special Exam."
As he was thinking this, the familiar notification sound rang in his mind—today's Daily Intelligence had finally arrived on time. The intel popped up in his mind, and Shimizu scanned the items:
The boat arranged by the school will initially circle the isolated island once. Places marked with obvious man-made paths along the way are the routes leading to "Base Points." Yamauchi Haruki plans to pursue Sakura Airi because he likes large breasts. Horikita Suzune has been exercising her body for the past two months.
'Huh? Circle the island?! Base Points?!'
Seeing these two terms, Shimizu's movements stopped abruptly. The mere mention of "Base Points" made him almost certain—this seemingly relaxing trip organized by the school was indeed hiding the trickery of a special exam. He just couldn't guess the specific content yet. Was it a struggle for ownership of bases, or completing specific tasks around them? He couldn't see the catch for now.
Moving to the second item, he was stunned once again.
Why did Yamauchi Haruki suddenly intend to pursue Sakura Airi? He clearly remembered that Yamauchi used to orbit around Kushida Kikyo, his eyes only for her. Moreover, a few months ago, this guy had spread rumors about Sakura, saying she had proactively confessed to him but he had firmly rejected her because she was a "plain girl." Now, just because of "breast size," he switched targets in the blink of an eye?
Shimizu couldn't help but criticize in his mind: 'This person's thoughts are too ridiculous; it's almost miraculous.'
Finally, he looked at the third item. Horikita Suzune was still persisting in exercising? Since he had reminded her that "she shouldn't spend all her time on studies," Horikita had indeed adjusted her routine. In June, when he took the elevator, he had indeed seen traces of her going for a run; he didn't expect her to keep at it.
As the thought crossed his mind, he instinctively turned to scan the deck—unexpectedly, Horikita Suzune was nearby. At some point, she had walked up to his side and was currently raising her arms to do some simple stretches. Seeing her rosy complexion and steady breathing, she did indeed look like someone who exercised frequently.
Shimizu pondered for a moment and didn't directly mention the exercise.
"Why haven't I seen you while I was running lately, Horikita?"
Horikita's stretching motion stopped abruptly. She turned her head to look at him. "Because I arranged my running for the night."
It was as she said—ever since she ran into Shimizu and talked about exercising, she had quietly adjusted her schedule: indoor strength training was moved to early morning, while the
running, which also used to happen during the day, was moved entirely to the night. After all, she had explicitly stated back then that she wouldn't exercise with him. Now, by staggering their times, she both kept her word and could peacefully complete her daily training plan.
"That's good, Horikita." Shimizu's tone held genuine appreciation as his gaze fell on her stretched arms.
"You've worked hard, persisting for a full two months. Can you feel quite a few positive changes in your body now?"
He had always admired the character of someone who did what they said they would do, and his praise at this moment held no insincerity.
Horikita was stunned, her fingertips instinctively stopping in mid-air.
She was the one who knew the effects of the exercise best—since starting a regular routine, not only was her focus during study more concentrated than before, but even the back and neck pain from sitting for long periods had lessened significantly.
However, a small episode had occurred last night: after dinner, she suddenly felt her body temperature rise for no reason, and her body felt weak.
At the time, she was secretly worried she was getting sick. She immediately cooked herself a bowl of porridge with plenty of nutrients and went to bed early without thinking further.
Unexpectedly, when she opened her eyes today, it was already 7:30 AM—a rare "sleeping in" for her since the start of school. After waking up, she felt light and refreshed; not only was there no discomfort, but her spirit was exceptionally abundant, as if that inexplicable weakness had been completely dispelled by a night of good sleep.
Thinking carefully, this was probably all thanks to Shimizu Akira. If he hadn't suddenly reminded her in the dorm in June that "over-studying is not advisable," combined with her brother Horikita Manabu's words—"Stop imitating me"—she probably wouldn't have conceived the idea of "imitating Shimizu's regular exercise" until now.
Like that strange weakness yesterday—if it had been her previous physical condition, she might have actually fallen ill. But now, after just a good night's sleep, she had completely recovered her spirit.
However, she paused, realizing in hindsight—she hadn't imitated her brother, but instead started unconsciously learning from Shimizu!
"The changes are quite obvious. Of course, not to your exaggerated degree."
"I was never an ordinary person to begin with."
"...To hear that from your mouth, I surprisingly find myself unable to refute you."
Just as Shimizu wanted to say something more, a broadcast suddenly rang out from within the ship, echoing clearly in every corner:
"Notice to all first-year students. If you have time, please make sure to gather on the deck. We are about to arrive near the island. We believe that shortly, you will be able to see a 'highly significant' scenery."
After hearing this, Shimizu fell into thought—the school's hint was too obvious. In ordinary contexts, who would use a phrase like "highly significant" to describe a "scenery"? It was a blunt reminder to everyone: Make sure to observe the island environment carefully in a moment, especially the key clues that might appear along the way.
Sure enough, not long after the broadcast ended, students who were originally scattered throughout the cabins began arriving on the deck one after another. The once spacious deck became increasingly crowded, and many of his own classmates from Class D appeared as well.
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