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

Chapter 119: 117 A lap pillow is so comfortable!

A lap pillow, as the name suggests, is when one person gently rests their head on another person's lap.

This is a cute scene with a soft glow in the world of anime, but it is extremely rare in reality. It is mostly seen as a way to rely on someone when you are too tired to keep your eyes open, or as an intimate act when you are very close to someone and gently picking their ear.

Akira Shimizu has never had such an experience in his life.

"Okay, I understand." He watched as Kikyo Kushida patted her knees and agreed without much hesitation.

There was no indication that they intended to refuse.

The other party is willing to accept defeat, so there's no reason for him to back down at the last minute.

Moreover… He glanced down at the skirt that the other person had carefully smoothed out, and suddenly wondered what it would feel like in reality to experience a scene from anime.

Akira Shimizu hesitated for two seconds, then slowly lay down along the curve of the sofa.

When the back of his head touched Kikyo Kushida's knee, he instinctively tensed his back—he could feel the warmth of her thigh through the thin skirt, which was warmer than he had imagined.

"Don't move." Kikyo Kushida's voice came from above. "Do you want me to wake you up when the time is up? Are you nervous? Shimizu-kun, is this the first time a girl has given you a lap pillow?"

She gently pressed her fingertips against his shoulder, with very light pressure.

“Yes, you’re right,” Shimizu Akira replied.

He could clearly feel that the thigh he was resting on was actually a little tense—the muscles weren't completely relaxed, and even the folds of the skirt hadn't moved much.

This subtle stiffness didn't lie; it seemed he wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable.

(She was probably very nervous too.)

Akira Shimizu tilted his head back, his line of sight just enough to see the colorful lights on the ceiling of the private room rotating.

Red, blue, and pink light swept across the ceiling and then spread to the tips of Kikyo Kushida's hair—she was looking down slightly, still holding the microphone in her hand, but she wasn't singing anymore.

"Your hair is a bit stiff," she suddenly said, her fingertips tentatively touching the ends of his hair. "Don't you usually use conditioner?"

“I’m not used to it.” As Shimizu Akira’s voice resonated from his chest, he could feel the knees he was resting on move slightly.

He suddenly felt that the scene was a bit strange—even though it was a noisy karaoke room, he could clearly hear her breathing and the soft rustling of her skirt as it was being brushed against him.

“Three minutes, only ten seconds have passed.” Kikyo Kushida curled her fingers. “Want to close your eyes and rest for a bit? The colored lights are making your eyes uncomfortable.”

Akira Shimizu obediently closed his eyes.

In the darkness, my senses became exceptionally sharp—she smelled faintly of mango juice, mixed with the fresh scent of shampoo.

Her knees rose and fell slightly with her breathing, like a small boat gently rocking.

Akira Shimizu felt all the muscles in his body relax.

Actually, the feeling of resting your head on your lap is far less comfortable than the cotton pillow in the dormitory – the friction of the fabric and the slight undulation of the curve both bring a sense of awkward unfamiliarity.

But at this moment, his heart felt as if it had been soaked in warm water, with an indescribable lightness, and even the noisy background noise in the private room seemed to fade away.

"One minute left." Kikyo Kushida's voice came down from above. "Shimizu-kun, by the way! Just wondering, how did you and Horikita-kun drop the 'kun' title?"

"Huh?" Shimizu Akira's lips twitched involuntarily—this classmate really seizes every opportunity to gather information, not even letting go of the gaps in his lap pillow.

He could even picture her expression right now—her eyes were downcast, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and she looked completely innocent, as if she were just asking a casual question.

(How can this person be both cunning and adorable?)

“Nothing special.” He simply admitted, “I just said, ‘Our relationship is pretty much over now, there’s no need to use such formal terms anymore,’ and she agreed to drop the ‘classmate’ part. It was that simple.”

As she said this, he could feel the knees he was resting on move slightly, as if she were surprised.

Sure enough, the next second I heard her voice: "Huh? So direct? Horikita-san actually agreed?"

"Hmm." Shimizu Akira responded, then suddenly found it a little funny. "That's just how Horikita is. If you're too polite with her, she'll just find it annoying."

"Is that so?! I understand."

This time, Akira Shimizu didn't respond.

The background music in the private room had changed to a slow love song at some point, with a woman humming softly, her voice mingling with her breathing, which was even more reassuring than the song she had been singing for half an hour.

"Time's up." With the last second of the three minutes up, Kikyo Kushida gently nudged his shoulder. "If you lie down any longer, I'll have to charge you extra points."

When Shimizu Akira sat up, the warmth of his knees still lingered on the back of his head.

He turned his head and saw Kikyo Kushida rubbing her thigh, her cheeks a little red—probably from being pressed down on by him until they went numb.

"Will there be another good thing like this next time?" Shimizu Akira suddenly asked.

Kikyo Kushida paused for a moment, then subconsciously pressed her fingertips against her knee—her muscles had been stiff from being pressed down for three minutes.

She wanted to raise the corners of her mouth and reply in her usual sweet and soft tone, "No, there won't be," but the soreness in her thigh was too real, and that feigned gentleness instantly vanished.

(What is this guy thinking? There's no way there will be a next time! He tricked me again this time!)

(Besides, you're no longer of any use to me! I've already gotten everything out of you! Why should I still give you a lap pillow?)

She rolled her eyes inwardly, and as she looked down, she caught a glimpse of the whorl of hair on the back of Akira Shimizu's head—it was stiff and hard.

If it weren't for my knees being so sore that I didn't want to move...

She really wanted to reach out and press down, to see if she could soften the stubborn whorl of hair a little.

......

It must be said that Kikyo Kushida is definitely a very qualified date.

They provide a wealth of emotional value, even meticulously planning their dates.

He always spoke in a soft, gentle tone, and even willingly accepted the bet by offering his lap pillow—if Shimizu Akira were to rate this date, he would undoubtedly give it a 10 out of 10.

Back in his dorm, he casually opened his social media and found Kikyo Kushida's latest post. Sure enough, she had posted several photos of the two of them together: a side profile of them singing together in a karaoke room, a photo of them gazing at each other by the window of a dessert shop, and even a candid shot of him engrossed in eating a parfait—ice shards stuck to the corner of his mouth, a spoon stuck in a pile of strawberries, making him look a little disheveled yet earnest.

The caption reads: "Congratulations to Shimizu for successfully completing the giant parfait challenge! Thanks to him, I also got a free parfait!"

He'd already amassed quite a few likes from his classmates. Scrolling down to the comments section, he noticed Haruki Yamauchi's comment standing out: "This...this must just be a bet! You two definitely aren't dating, are you?!"

Akira Shimizu stared at the parfait photo for two seconds, then suddenly remembered Kikyo Kushida's smiling eyes hidden behind the cup.

In a sense, it was that look of wanting to laugh but holding it in that became the most memorable moment for him today.

Chapter 120: 118 Shiina Hiyori: Shimizu Akira is really good, a qualified assistant.

On Thursday, Akira Shimizu's training plan was interrupted by an unexpected phone call.

He picked up his phone from the bedside table, and the name flashing on the screen surprised him slightly—it was Hiyori Shiina.

It seems that the other party cares more about finding the "mysterious person" than he expected.

Last night, around 9 p.m. before going to bed, he casually sent the other person a message saying, "Your reasoning has a flaw." It was just a casual remark, but he didn't expect to receive such a pleasant surprise just after 6 a.m. this morning.

He thought for a moment, then swiped across the screen to answer the call.

A slightly anxious voice immediately came through the receiver: "Shimizu-kun, what exactly did you mean when you said my reasoning was wrong last night?"

"The logic is simple." Shimizu Akira's voice was calm and clear. "You previously speculated that the 'mysterious person' was most likely a student from Class D, but you missed the most crucial step—you didn't first confirm who the current key figure in Class D is. It's Kushida Kikyo. This Kushida-san in our class has interpersonal skills that are no less than Ichinose from Class B. Not to mention her classmates, she knows people even in the upper grades. So you see, your reasoning is flawed from the very beginning."

A long silence fell on the other end of the phone, so long that Shimizu Akira almost thought the signal had been lost, before he heard Shiina Hiyori whisper with a sense of realization: "I see... I made the most basic mistake. I didn't even check who the class representative of Class D was. If it was Kushida-kun, my judgment was indeed untenable."

“Compared to that,” Shimizu Akira changed the subject, remembering the misleading mission he had to complete, his tone becoming deliberately confident, “the essence of this matter is actually quite simple. I have already found another crucial clue left by the ‘mysterious man’.”

Shiina Hiyori's voice instantly rose a few decibels: "Shimizu-kun? What's your reasoning process?"

"The answer is a computer." Shimizu Akira paused deliberately for half a second, emphasizing his words, "Since the other party bought the surveillance rights, when our classmate Kushida Kikyo rented the surveillance equipment, the senior student clearly stated that she had to buy a laptop first before he would help install the corresponding surveillance software. In other words, the 'mysterious person' must have had a laptop in hand the moment he rented the surveillance rights."

He paused, then completed the logical chain: "The school prohibits students from bringing unnecessary electronic devices. If the other party is a first-year student, they can only buy them at the school's electronics store. Once we get the purchase list from the store clerk, finding the 'mystery person' will be a piece of cake, right?"

He started to make plans in his mind.

When Kikyo Kushida initially rented the surveillance cameras, she indeed needed a laptop. It was that "Professor" from her class who volunteered his own computer to solve the problem of installing the surveillance software. Following this logic, the other three classes are likely in a similar situation—to activate the surveillance, they need a computer first.

In this way, his words just now seemed impeccable: if it really was the work of a first-year student, the other party would definitely have bought a computer at the school's electronics store, and that purchase list would naturally become a key clue.

But only he knew that there was more to the story—his laptop was not bought from the store, but was given to him as a gift by the student council president.

So these words, seemingly playing the role of "Watson" assisting in the reasoning, actually cleared his name of suspicion without making a sound.

“This… indeed! Long Yuan, a classmate in our class… does have a computer!” Shiina Hiyori paused, clearly lost in thought again.

A moment later, a soft exclamation of realization came through the receiver, as if she had finally figured out the key point: "You're right!... In any case, the 'mysterious man' definitely has a computer!"

“You’re right.” Shimizu Akira responded, but his gaze unconsciously fell on the laptop on the corner of the table—the screen still retained a faint warmth from being turned on, as if silently echoing his thoughts at that moment.

He tapped the table unconsciously with his fingertips.

It's just a small matter like renting surveillance cameras, so why did I suddenly have the illusion that I was the mastermind behind it all?

However, Hiyori Shiina is absolutely right.

The "mysterious person" must have a computer.

Otherwise, how could he see the surveillance footage from other classes?

Akira Shimizu immediately hung up the phone.

Since the start of the school year, quite a few first-year students must have bought computers—and Sakayanagi Arisu's name is most likely on that list.

Given her style of doing things, it's perfectly normal for her to buy a computer.

In this way, even if Hiyoma Shiina gets the list, he will inevitably have to put in more effort to verify it when faced with a dense list of names, especially when he sees this important name.

In a sense, using this list to mislead the other party should not be a problem for ten days or half a month.

Before he could even process his thoughts, his phone screen suddenly lit up with a message from Masumi Kamuro.

Masumi Kamuro: I knew you were awake. At this hour, you probably haven't gone for a run yet, right?

Kamuro Masumi: Just a heads up, I'll be going to your class with Sakayanagi Arisu at noon today.

Akira Shimizu was taken aback at first, but then quickly realized—could it be that Arisu Sakayanagi was going to come to Class D to sell information?

What she didn't know was that Class D no longer had any points left to trade.

Each person only has 8,000 points this month, and we don't know how many points the other party plans to offer for information.

Anyway, we should be able to have some fun at noon.

However, what surprised him even more was another piece of information in the message—that Kamuro Masumi would be acting together with Sakayanagi Arisu.

It seems that Sakayanagi Arisu is quite capable; I underestimated her before.

I never expected she could actually win over Masumi Kamuro.

Akira Shimizu's fingers flew across the screen as he sent messages in rapid succession:

Akira Shimizu: What methods did she use to win you over? You weren't threatened by her, were you?

Akira Shimizu: If you have any difficulties, just tell me and I'll see if I can help.

After asking the question, he paused for a moment, his finger hovering over the send button.

Kamuro Masumi is no ordinary person—she's someone who genuinely considers him a friend, and she's always been warm and considerate towards him (though she's a bit of a tsundere).

Putting himself in her shoes, he simply couldn't stand by and watch the other person potentially be blackmailed by Sakayanagi Arisu.

To be honest, in his heart, Masumi Kamuro was much more important than that little princess of Class A.

Soon, a message from Masumi Kamuro popped up, her words carrying her usual impetuousness:

Kamuro Masumi: Idiot, stop worrying! We're just business partners—she paid me 20,000 points to hire me, and I took the job based on my skills. You don't need to worry about me!

Akira Shimizu stared at the text on the screen, his eyes widening slightly.

What's going on? Kamuro Masumi has actually turned the tables and is now in control of Sakayanagi Arisu?

Am I dreaming.

Chapter 121: 119 I will always be watching over you

"How come everyone knows I go for a run in the morning?"

Looking out the window at the newly bright sky, a sense of helplessness welled up in his heart.

It seems like everyone around me has accepted this habit—Kikyo Kushida mentioned it a few days ago, saying that Suzune Horikita had talked about it with her during swimming class; Masumi Kamuro just casually mentioned in her message, "You didn't go out for a run, did you?"; Oh right, even the chairman knows about this.

If you count it that way, there are at least four people who know for sure.

Haunted by this thought, he always felt a little distracted when he went out for a run.

Normally, running 10 kilometers is quite easy, but today it took me 31 minutes to finish, and even my breathing was a bit erratic than usual.

When the daily intelligence report was updated on time at eight o'clock, his somewhat disturbed mind finally calmed down.