In fact, after the information is refreshed, they always want to attack me!

She had to collect 25,000 points before school ended tomorrow—a number that weighed heavily on her mind.

With her current balance, she's still far from enough.

Moreover, even if she manages to scrape together enough points, she still needs to set aside some for daily expenses.

In fact, although Horikita Suzune came from a wealthy family, she developed a habit of thrift from a young age.

Since the start of the semester, she has deliberately avoided buying expensive items and has always looked for more cost-effective alternatives.

Her locker contained no designer stationery, and her uniform was always kept neat and tidy; she never added any extra personal clothes.

Even when dining in the cafeteria, she would carefully calculate every expense to ensure that her points were used where they were most needed.

Even so, the current points deficit still makes her feel a little anxious.

"Where exactly did my points go?"

Horikita Suzune gently bit her lower lip, her fingertips swiping rapidly across the terminal screen to bring up detailed transaction records.

Fortunately, every expense was clearly recorded, and she decided to carefully check it from the beginning.

First day of school—

Because she deliberately kept her luggage to a minimum, she had to buy a lot of necessities: shampoo, laundry detergent, a washbasin, toothpaste... plus the cost of three meals a day. These were unavoidable expenses, totaling 3000 points.

Balance: 97000 points

the next day--

A bottle of mineral water, three simple hair clips, and three meals a day.

Expenditure: 1500 points

Balance: 95500 points

Over the next two days, she kept her expenses under control, keeping them below 1000 points per day.

however--

The record of the fifth day made her pause.

Transfer 80000 points to Shimizu Akira

Deluxe Package: 1000 points

Transfer 100 points to Shimizu Akira

These three expenditures instantly slashed the balance down to 13000 points.

She stared at the screen, silent for a moment.

Her fingertips lightly traced the bill for the lavish meal—it was Horikita Suzune who had treated Shimizu Akira to it. As for the 100-point miso soup, that was merely to repay a favor.

"So...it was Shimizu Akira who took most of my points?" she muttered to herself, her tone not filled with anger, but rather with a hint of self-mockery.

Upon closer examination, this deal does indeed seem somewhat counterproductive.

One of the pieces of information that was obtained by exchanging 80,000 points was mentioned by Kikyo Kushida as a casual conversation after school today.

In other words, all she bought at a high price was information about class assignments based on ability.

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

The first thought that came to mind was: Was I too hasty?

After all, the other party never forced her from beginning to end.

She took the initiative to come to me; she willingly transferred those 80,000 points.

Ironically, she had no idea that she would face the predicament of having to pay class fees just a few days later.

Horikita Suzune never even considered getting those 80,000 points back.

She knew very well that if it weren't for Chabashira Sae's interference today, Shimizu Akira would never have provided the information to Class D for free.

That was a perfectly legitimate transaction—the details were clear, the process was transparent, and no one could find fault with it.

But what really bothered her was a deeper issue of self-esteem.

"We must never let him look down on us..."

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

Just imagining that scene made her feel uneasy, and her breathing became slightly rapid.

Compared to the huge amount of points lost, the feeling of being looked down upon by Shimizu Akira was even more unbearable for her.

"These 25,000 points... in the end, are also funds offered to Kiyomi Akira as tribute."

Although it was nominally Chabashira Sae who advanced the million points, in essence, this class fund still ended up in Shimizu Akira's pocket.

Thinking about this, she suddenly realized an absurd fact—all the points in her account had ended up in that person's hands.

"80,000 intelligence points... 25,000 class points..." Her fingertips swiped rapidly across the terminal, suddenly stopping on a certain record. "Oh right! I also have the extra 5000 points from swimming class..."

These numbers were rapidly calculated in my mind, finally settling on a shockingly precise figure—10.5 points.

Horikita Suzune's recent income was exactly 10.5 yen, and Shimizu Akira also asked her for 10.5 points.

There's absolutely nothing left!

This number is too perfect, so perfect it's almost deliberate.

The anger that should have welled up inside me was replaced by a more complex emotion.

Horikita Suzune gently touched her lower lip with her fingertips, and the image of Shimizu Akira, who always seemed so at ease, clearly appeared in her mind.

This feeling of being completely seen through was all too familiar, so familiar that it made her chest tighten.

It's just like playing chess, where you've unknowingly found yourself completely controlled by your opponent's moves.

It could have been just a coincidence, but it felt so perfect, like a meticulously crafted script.

This terrifying control reminded her involuntarily of the person who always stood high above her, looking down on her.

"You look just like my brother..."

Horikita Manabu—the older brother who had been her role model since childhood—always held her to high standards. If she hadn't followed in his footsteps, she would never have chosen this school.

Her fingertips unconsciously twirled a strand of long hair.

This head of long, black hair is itself a silent vow.

At the swimming pool, Shimizu Akira was absolutely right.

She just... wasn't willing to admit it to the person who always saw through everything.

That day, Kikyo Kushida belittled Akira Shimizu in front of her, so she couldn't help but speak up in rebuttal.

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

At 6:30 a.m. on the second day of school, when she opened the curtains as usual, she saw that figure running on the playground.

The school track is one kilometer long, and Akira Shimizu runs ten laps every day without fail.

This habit has continued uninterrupted since the second day of school.

As Horikita Suzune thought of her brother, her gaze unconsciously fell on her phone screen.

At the very top of the contact list, below the three characters "Horikitaki Manabu," the message she sent after school was still displayed:

Horikita Suzune: Brother, now that I've joined Advanced Nurturing High School, I'll prove to you that I'm not the same person I used to be. I'll show you what I'm made of!

Chapter 48: 048 I just received 16,000 points! Why are you slandering me again!

The message status has been showing as "read" for several hours.

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

Horikita Manabu: Come find me at the back of the first-year dormitory.

This allowed Horikita Suzune to change into her uniform as quickly as possible, but she suddenly stopped before opening the door.

Because her phone suddenly vibrated again.

Akira Shimizu: Good evening, Horikita-kun.

This message made her fingertips freeze instantly.

Did Akira Shimizu message her first?

Outside the window, the night was already deep.

Receiving a message from a member of the opposite sex at this time made her nerves unconsciously tense up.

Her gaze darted back and forth between the door and the screen several times, and finally, her fingers typed out a line of text:

Horikita Suzune: What's up? I'm very busy, please just state your purpose.

The moment she pressed the send button, she let out a soft breath.

This was already an exceptional response—she wouldn't even bother to mark someone else as read.

Akira Shimizu: Do you remember our last transaction?

She tapped her fingertip lightly, replying briefly and restrained:

Horikita Suzune: I remember.

The next second, a new message popped up—

Akira Shimizu: I plan to refund you 16000 points.

Her breathing paused almost imperceptibly.

(Refund points?)

His gaze instinctively swept to his bank account—9900. Adding this 16000, it would just reach the 25000 needed for class expenses…

Horikita Suzune: What do you mean? What are the conditions?

The other party responded quickly.

Akira Shimizu: Do you remember the rules I mentioned? I told you before that there would be a 20% discount on intelligence fees. You paid 80,000 last time, so according to the rules, you should get 16,000 back.

After a brief pause, he added:

Akira Shimizu: It doesn't mean I'm giving you charity.

Horikita Suzune stared at the last sentence, her fingertips unconsciously pressing against the edge of the screen.

(I see……)

He was simply following the rules of the trade, nothing more.

It was neither out of pity nor with ulterior motives.

But a subtle sense of unease spread through her heart.

(He clearly calculated it correctly...)

Surprisingly, she didn't reject the feeling of being precisely cared for.

But as proud as she is, she would never allow herself to accept favors unilaterally.

In the chat box, she had originally typed: I can't accept your points directly, I'll return double to you next month—

(But such empty promises are meaningless; we might not even reach 50,000 points next month.)

She pursed her lips and deleted the second half of the sentence word by word.

Ultimately, what she sent out was the most tangible reward she could offer at the moment:

Horikita Suzune: I can't accept your points directly. Let me tutor you in Chinese! Your Chinese grades are absolutely terrible, so this is an equal exchange.

The other end of the screen quickly replied:

Akira Shimizu: Okay! It's a big help to me too.

Akira Shimizu: Speaking of which, I was just taking a walk near the dormitory when I saw your brother.

It wasn't until she saw this message that Horikita Suzune suddenly realized that she had kept her brother waiting for a long time.

Moreover, Akira Shimizu was taking a walk near the dormitory?

She barely had time to reply to Shimizu Akira before she closed the door and ran out.

......