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

The answer to the question about points came next: "I can tell you that some rich kids buy points with cash. If you really have a lot of points you can't use, you can try trading them outside of school."

Akira Shimizu was taken aback, somewhat confused about the ways off-campus transactions could be conducted.

After all, students can't contact people outside the school, so does the school provide some kind of third-party transaction channel?

As for the rich kids? Who would spend a lot of money to buy points with cash?

However, he also realized how obvious his actions were—because the daily intelligence wouldn't be updated until 8 a.m., and he had indeed been asking Chashu questions every day at that time, no wonder the other party became suspicious.

Chabashira Sae quickly sent another message: I'm not blaming you, I just want to say—you can ask questions after get off work in the future.

Akira Shimizu was taken aback again, even more confused.

What's going on? You can ask questions after get off work hours?

Akira Shimizu: So, what is the price?

Chabashira Sae: There's no price to pay. After all, I'm your homeroom teacher. Last month you said you didn't want to interfere in class affairs, and I agreed. These past few days, I've told you everything I could, except for the information that requires payment. I just wanted you to know that you can try to trust me more than others.

Akira Shimizu stared at the text on the screen.

He had assumed that the teacher's "extra help" would always come with some conditions, like those transactions with clearly marked prices in school.

But Chashu Sae's words contained no hint of probing, only a straightforward statement that she wanted him to trust her, which left him somewhat at a loss.

This feeling is unfamiliar, like suddenly being stuffed into your hand with a piece of candy without an expiration date—it's unexpected and a little awkward.

(However, what does "compared to others" mean?)

As Shimizu Akira stared at the text on the screen, he suddenly felt that there was something unspoken in Chabashira Sae's words.

Who are the "others"? He hasn't contacted anyone else in the past few days. The only "exception" was probably last month—he went directly to student council president Horikita Manabu without going through Chabashira Sae to rent surveillance footage.

Does she already know about this?

However, what Chabashira Sae said was indeed the truth.

Since then, she has never asked about class affairs. In the past few days, she has answered almost every question he asked, and her patience is unlike her usual self. She really seems like a down-to-earth and responsible homeroom teacher.

Since they've said that, perhaps we can try to believe them this once.

Whether it's just polite talk or genuine, I'll accept this gesture of goodwill first.

Akira Shimizu replied: "Thank you, Chabashira-sensei. I understand."

If Chabashira Saeko can continue to treat him like this, without causing trouble or making things difficult, then there's nothing wrong with him staying in Class D.

But once you realize something is wrong—

At worst, we'll just pack up the buckets and run away.

Chapter 136: 134 Horikita Suzune's Stomach Aches

There's an old saying in the world of anime and manga: beautiful girls don't go to the toilet.

But in Akira Shimizu's view, even the most good-looking person is still just an ordinary person—it's perfectly normal to occasionally have an upset stomach and need to go to the toilet.

For example, Horikita Suzune and Sakura Airi, who are next to me, would occasionally get up during breaks and walk towards the restroom at the end of the corridor.

Of course, they always had a faint fragrance on them when they came back, which meant they must have used hand sanitizer.

It's not entirely unreasonable to say that beautiful girls always smell nice.

However, right now, Akira Shimizu had a more practical problem on his mind—how to kindly remind the girl who had just sat back down: "There's something wrong with your lunchbox; eating it will upset your stomach."

After all, he didn't want to be glared at by the other party for no reason.

He was afraid that if he spoke too lightly, the other person wouldn't take it seriously; if he spoke too harshly, it would seem deliberate. He glanced at Horikita Suzune to his left.

You can't just wait until the other person has a stomachache after eating and then silently endure those eye rolls, can you?

"Um... Have you been going to the cafeteria less often lately? Why are you still cooking with free ingredients?" Shimizu Akira asked casually.

Horikita Suzune glanced at him sideways, her tone flat: "Because I have to pay off my debts next month."

These five simple words clearly explain the reason for "saving".

It was only then that Shimizu Akira belatedly realized that everyone in Class D would have to pay him back a substantial amount of points next month.

Horikita Suzune probably doesn't know that he was behind this, right?

He composed himself and tried to make his tone sound natural: "I went to the convenience store yesterday and saw that some of the free ingredients had expired. Since you brought a lunchbox, if you used those ingredients, it's best not to eat it."

She turned her head, raised an eyebrow, and looked at him with undisguised suspicion: "Given your personality, would you just leave expired free ingredients like that? Wouldn't you have told the staff to deal with them on the spot?"

"..." Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow.

Surprisingly, she had a pretty good grasp of her own style of doing things.

Horikita Suzune seemed to have seen through something, and sighed softly for no apparent reason: "...I understand. I'll share some of your lunchbox with you at noon, and I won't charge you any points this time."

"That's not what I meant!" Shimizu Akira was taken aback and immediately fell silent.

"...Still being stubborn."

You've really misunderstood.

“…Heh.” Horikita Suzune scoffed lightly, her breathy tone carrying a hint of knowing that “I’ve seen through you all along.” After saying that, she turned back to her book, clearly not intending to argue with him any further.

"Fine, you won't listen, huh? Don't blame me if you get a stomachache later." Seeing her like this, Shimizu Akira immediately gave up on trying to persuade her.

I genuinely wanted to remind her, so why was I treated like a "little glutton who craves bento boxes"?

This person is just like her brother; sometimes their stubbornness is truly exasperating.

......

When lunch break arrived, Shimizu Akira got up and went to the cafeteria. He got a tomato and egg rice bowl and had just sat down when he saw Horikita Suzune walking over with her tray. She seemed even more decisive than him, walking straight to the opposite side and pulling out a chair in a very generous manner.

Then, she took out the lunchbox, gently placed it on the table, and opened it.

Akira Shimizu couldn't help but glance at it.

To be fair, Horikita Suzune's bento box was quite neat: the left half was filled with distinct grains of white rice, while the right half was neatly arranged with sausage slices, stir-fried cabbage, and chicken pieces. In the corner, there were also a few bright red cherry tomatoes, which looked fresh and refreshing.

"Push your food over here a bit." Horikita Suzune noticed his gaze, and when she looked up, she was already gripping her chopsticks tightly, her tone anything but gentle.

Shimizu Akira looked away and took a bite of the tomato and egg rice in his bowl: "No need."

But in his heart he was thinking to himself—the ingredients in the bento box all looked quite fresh, the rice grains were distinct, and the sausages and chicken pieces were of normal color, but after all, it was intelligence, and it had never lied to him from beginning to end.

"Why are you being so hesitant today?" Horikita Suzune frowned, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. "It's not like I'm not going to give you any."

In her memory, Shimizu Akira had always been straightforward and had never been so indirect.

The same thing happened at the barbecue restaurant last time; almost all the meat she ate ended up in his stomach.

Akira Shimizu was taken aback. Seeing the determination in the other person's eyes, he suddenly changed his mind.

That's true. It's a free lunchbox delivered to my door, so why not take it? Anyway, I'm in great health, so I don't have to worry about getting an upset stomach.

“Okay.” He pushed his plate towards the center. “Then you can share some with me. But let me make this clear: I’m in good health, so I can handle even if I eat something not fresh. As for you… that’s not necessarily true.”

His words were half teasing and half a reminder. He stared at the bento box that Horikita Suzune had opened, waiting to see if she would pay more attention because of this "warning".

Horikita Suzune paused, her fingers gripping the chopsticks, and glanced at him with a haughty look, "So you want me to give you more, is that what you mean?"

Even so, I still used a spoon to scoop up a few pieces of chicken, cherry tomatoes, and a few cabbage leaves, and placed them steadily on his rice.

He gave away a full third of his own.

The aroma of chicken nuggets mingled with the steam from the rice. Akira Shimizu looked at the plump cherry tomatoes—their skins smooth, their stems still bearing a fresh green hue, they certainly didn't look problematic.

"The ingredients in your bento box, were they all free from the convenience store?" he asked casually, picking at his rice.

"Otherwise what?" Horikita Suzune picked up a piece of cabbage from her bowl. "It's more cost-effective than eating in the cafeteria every meal."

"Oh?" Shimizu Akira looked up, meeting her gaze as she looked away. "So, the sausages in your bento box, were they also free yesterday?"

She didn't answer, but just stuffed a big mouthful of rice into her mouth.

Akira Shimizu didn't ask any more questions. He lowered his head and finished eating the chicken pieces, tomatoes, and cabbage in his bowl, thinking that if he heard any noise in the afternoon, at least he would be able to confirm that it wasn't his imagination.

As lunch break was about to end, Horikita Suzune packed her unfinished bento into her lunchbox. She seemed to pause for a moment as she stood up, but quickly straightened her back and walked out, looking no different from usual.

As he watched her retreating figure, Shimizu Akira narrowed his eyes and quickly caught up with her, walking alongside her.

Is your stomach feeling a little uncomfortable?

"...You've mistaken me for someone else." Horikita Suzune's tone was very calm, and she seemed to be fine.

"Really? If you need to go to the restroom, go quickly." He asked again.

"There's absolutely no way there could be anything wrong with the bento I make! I wouldn't go to the bathroom for something as trivial as this." She raised her voice slightly, as if to emphasize something or to encourage herself, but her pace quickened unconsciously.

Chapter 137: 135 Shimizu Akira really trusts me!

At this moment, Akira Shimizu was not in the mood to worry about whether Suzune Horikita went to the restroom or not—he had arranged to meet Honami Ichinose at the entrance of the teaching building at noon, and had just received a message from her saying "I have arrived."

After finishing his meal, he headed straight for the agreed-upon location.

Speaking of which, he received a message from Sato-senpai yesterday afternoon.

The other person said that her girlfriend had already inquired about the date they mentioned yesterday.

Unfortunately, the woman has something to do recently, so we can't meet up for the next few days.

However, in the end, Sato-senpai still patted his chest and assured him that he would definitely arrange a date for him.

But Akira Shimizu knew in his heart that the woman was Honami Ichinose—he just didn't know whether she knew him and that's why she chose to refuse, or whether she simply didn't know who was behind the invitation.

However, he simply couldn't bring himself to ask such a question.

After all, no matter what the answer is, bringing it up will only make both parties feel awkward.

When he arrived at the entrance of the teaching building, Ichinose Honami was standing under the cherry blossom tree waiting for him. A few strands of her long pink hair were lifted by the wind. When she saw him coming, she smiled and waved: "Shimizu-kun, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

“I’m late.” Shimizu Akira stopped in his tracks.

"This is the test paper I printed out. Please accept it, Shimizu."

Honami Ichinose handed over the exam paper, gently pressing the edge with her fingertips to prevent the paper from falling apart.

Akira Shimizu took it and flipped through it, finding that all the blanks were filled with the correct answers, the handwriting so neat it looked like it was printed.

This test paper is much more elaborate than the one Sakayanagi Arisu gave to Class D—some of the questions on Sakayanagi Arisu's test paper only provided the answers, leaving even the simple steps blank.

Ichinose Honami not only completed all the problem-solving approaches, but also clearly marked several complex math problems: the derivation formulas were written next to them, the corresponding textbook page numbers were also written, and even small hint symbols were drawn next to the steps that were easy to make mistakes.

"Did you organize this on purpose?" Shimizu Akira asked, looking up. He could tell that Ichinose had put a lot of effort into organizing this exam paper.

"Yes, it took a little effort. I felt there were some parts of Sakayanagi's test paper that were a bit hard to understand." Ichinose Honami replied with a smile, "This one was actually prepared for the students in Class B; this is an extra copy."

She paused, then added, "If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime. By the way, I plan to go to the library these next few days to explain these practice papers to the students in Class B. If you have time, you can join in the study too."

"By the way! Shimizu-kun, how's the investigation into the 'rented surveillance footage' going?"

"We've now traced the computers; we have a list of everyone who has purchased a computer since enrolling!"

"Huh? A computer? I see!" Honami Ichinose suddenly widened her eyes, as if to say, "When I went to the student council before, the student council president specifically reminded me that I had to bring a laptop to install the surveillance system. Now that I think about it, this is clearly an important clue! Who came up with this idea, you or Shiina?"

“Actually, it’s me,” Shimizu Akira replied.

"...Shimizu-kun really has the potential to be a detective."

"...Um, it was just a sudden inspiration." Shimizu Akira suddenly felt a little awkward.

What potential does he have to be a detective?

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

If it weren't for Shiina Hiyori's investigation, he wouldn't have become her assistant.

However, Ichinose Honami really knows how to compliment people.

This is somewhat similar to Kikyo Kushida from my own class.

Both of them love making friends and have almost maxed out their social skills, but one is genuine and the other is pretending.

He could tell that Honami Ichinose's comment about "having detective potential" was sincere; she genuinely thought his plan was brilliant.

No wonder she was popular with both boys and girls at school—Shimizu Akira even mentally dubbed her "the strongest succubus at Advanced Nurturing High School."

Isn't Sato's girlfriend a perfect example? Whether you say you were "naturally attracted" to her or moved by her innate personal charm, you just wanted to help her.

Thinking about it this way, if Shiina Hiyori always exudes a calm aura of "+1+1", then in his opinion, Ichinose Honami probably has a "+1+1" aura of goodwill.

The two are evenly matched, each with their own strengths.