Karuizawa Kei?
Shimizu Akira thought back, remembering she was the one who had actively sought him out last time as well.
This time, however, she seemed to have learned her lesson, obediently stating her name.
It seemed she could listen to what he said.
Without further thought, he pulled the door open.
"Shimizu-kun!" Seeing him, Karuizawa Kei's eyes held an inexplicable nervousness. "Um... can I come in to talk? I have something very important to tell you."
"...Sure." Shimizu Akira nodded.
The other girl promptly took off her shoes and stepped quickly into the room. After a moment's thought, she didn't choose to sit on the bed but remained standing in the middle of the room.
"...Shimizu-kun, you remember our agreement from last month, right?"
"Mhm, I remember. You paid 80,000 points, I got you into the boxing club and promised to protect you."
"...You do?!" Karuizawa Kei visibly relaxed, her shoulders slumping noticeably.
"Um... actually, I ran into some trouble yesterday," Karuizawa's voice dropped a little.
"What kind of trouble? Tell me." Shimizu wondered if she was being bullied by someone from another class.
"Last night during the study session, Yukimura Teruhiko suddenly went after Matsushita Chiaki, saying she always looks like she's studying hard but her grades are just average. It really grated on me, so I couldn't help but argue with him. Then, Hasebe Haruka and Miyake Akito suddenly showed up and immediately started taking Yukimura's side."
"...And then?"
"And then what?" Karuizawa blinked, not understanding his question.
"Did someone get hit or something?" Shimizu pressed directly.
"No!" she waved her hands hurriedly. "Those three wouldn't go that far, but their words were so harsh! They said Chiaki just isn't cut out for studying, that she's just wasting her effort and stuff!"
"Uh..." Shimizu couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.
This sounded like a childish squabble.
Had he somehow become a teacher mediating disputes?
That said, was Karuizawa Kei's action meant to be standing up for Matsushita Chiaki?
"You couldn't out-argue them? Aren't you a gyaru?" Shimizu raised an eyebrow, genuinely puzzled.
Logically, a gyaru should be quite articulate in class settings. How could she lose an argument?
"Hasebe and Miyake are so sharp-tongued! Even if Maya and I teamed up, we couldn't out-argue just one of them!" At this point, Karuizawa couldn't help but snort coldly, her tone full of indignation. "They aim right for the sore spots, constantly bringing up our grades, even forcing us to memorize test papers, telling us not to drag the class down and stuff."
Shimizu nodded upon hearing this. He remembered Hasebe Haruka, Yukimura Teruhiko, and Miyake Akito. He often saw them studying together; they were probably friends.
As for Hasebe and Miyake being harsh? He could guess the reason.
Those two had similar personalities, usually quiet, but once they started talking about topics they were interested in, they became verbose and always got straight to the point—their blunt, almost cutting, tone had probably provoked Karuizawa.
As for Yukimura Teruhiko, he was the typical honor student who naturally looked down on students with poor grades. Him questioning Matsushita Chiaki's lack of effort wasn't surprising.
But Shimizu knew Matsushita Chiaki all too well.
Was she not putting in the effort? Absolutely not. She was intentionally suppressing her scores, just like Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.
Looked like this whole conflict was one big misunderstanding from start to finish.
Looking at Karuizawa's puffed-up, angry expression, he found it somewhat amusing—this classmate probably still had no idea that the person she was defending was actually holding back.
"So, what do you want me to do? Don't tell me you want me to teach them a lesson?" Shimizu didn't know what Karuizawa was really thinking, so he deliberately tested the waters.
If she asked him to physically confront them, then there would be no need for any further protection agreement.
Because a minor issue like this hardly warranted getting physical.
"..." Karuizawa was momentarily stunned. Truthfully, she hadn't thought that far ahead.
She just felt humiliated this morning during breakfast when Hasebe Haruka gave her a cold glance and she, feeling spineless, averted her gaze. The thought of losing face and not being able to hold her head up in class anymore suddenly made her want Shimizu to help her reclaim her dignity.
As for how severe the "lesson" should be, she didn't think it needed to be major either.
"Just curse those three out for me first!" Karuizawa Kei suddenly muttered with her head down, her voice carrying a stubborn, sulky note.
"Huh?" Shimizu hadn't expected that request.
"Just curse them out a bit!" She looked up, her eyes pleading yet still indignant. "It'll make me feel better! We can figure out the rest later!"
"No." Shimizu refused without a second thought.
"Why not?!" Karuizawa's eyes widened instantly, her earlier grievance now mixed with frustration.
"I don't like badmouthing people behind their backs, and those three haven't done anything to me," Shimizu replied matter-of-factly.
Karuizawa shot him an angry glance, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but the grievance stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
She paid points for this!
But she was also afraid of truly angering him, making him ignore her completely, so she could only swallow her words.
Shimizu watched her expression—clearly holding back anger yet pretending to be compliant—and found it somewhat laughable.
"Then just listen to me curse those three out! Is that okay?!" Karuizawa blurted out suddenly, as if she had finally found an outlet after holding it in for so long.
"That works." Shimizu waved his hand, signaling she could go ahead. "Go ahead, Karuizawa-san. Curse away."
"What the hell is up with that Hasebe Haruka woman? Does she think having a good figure makes her so great? Talking with that sarcastic tone like nobody measures up to her!" Karuizawa started off fired up, her brows furrowed into a knot. "And Miyake Akito, putting on airs all day going to the archery club, his words are colder than ice! Don't even get me started on Yukimura, obsessing over grades all day long, is there anything in his eyes besides test scores?"
She gained momentum as she spoke, her words rapid-fire like a machine gun. The grievances she had bottled up earlier seemed to pour out with her rant, her cheeks flushing slightly with excitement.
Shimizu leaned against the desk and listened quietly, not interrupting once.
Several minutes passed like this until Karuizawa finally seemed to have gotten it all out of her system, though her throat was now dry and tight from all the talking.
"Shimizu, get me a bottle of water," she said with a touch of the imperiousness that comes after a good vent.
"Go buy one yourself from the supermarket," Shimizu retorted, throwing her a very obvious eye-roll