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Wednesday morning.
While Akira was jogging on the track, he unexpectedly encountered someone else.
Student Council President Horikita Manabu was sitting on the edge of the track, his figure looking tall and straight in a tracksuit. He was doing warm-up exercises—bouncing in place, his arms swinging to match his movements. The posture inexplicably resembled a simplified version of calisthenics, yet one couldn't quite tell if it was or not.
However, to be honest, seeing someone who usually appeared serious and composed suddenly doing such bouncy movements made Akira somewhat uncomfortable. He always felt it was out of character for him.
"Shimizu, come run with me."
Horikita Manabu's gaze swept over him, and as soon as he finished speaking, he stepped onto the track and suddenly started running.
Akira vaguely felt that he seemed to be specifically waiting for him to come run, but he didn't think much of it and followed behind him.
The president would deliberately speed up significantly almost every two laps, but Akira didn't feel it was too strenuous and steadily kept pace behind him.
After running, Horikita Manabu didn't say anything superfluous, merely dropping a faint "Not bad" before turning and leaving.
After Akira returned to his dormitory, he changed into his school uniform and headed to the elevator to go to school.
He suddenly remembered a regulation he'd read in his previous life: buildings with seven or more floors must have elevators.
Coincidentally, most residential buildings in China only have six floors, probably to avoid this regulation.
But Advanced Nurturing High School's buildings were over a dozen floors high, so having elevators was only natural.
As he pondered, his gaze unconsciously fell on the display screen next to the elevator.
According to yesterday's information, people standing in front of the elevator door could see what was inside the elevator.
This time, when he looked closely, he recognized the person inside the elevator. It was their class representative, Kushida... Ahem, now she should be called the vice class representative.
The screen showed the elevator descending from the 12th floor.
Not long after, with a soft "ding," the elevator door slowly opened in front of him.
"Shimizu-kun! What a coincidence! Good morning!" Kushida in the elevator smiled and greeted him.
"Kushida... Good morning." Akira nodded to her and stepped into the elevator.
Although they'd gone on a date once last month, they had few opportunities to talk after that. After all, Kushida had been busy organizing study sessions last month.
However, they'd still chat a bit when they occasionally met.
For example, last time, Kushida suggested a more intimate way of addressing each other, and Akira readily agreed.
"It's a shame that Hasebe and those two went over to Hirata's side. Otherwise, you might've become the class representative." Akira said casually.
"Eh? I'd already forgotten about that! Being class representative isn't important at all, and I wouldn't blame Hasebe-san, Yukimura-san, and Miyake-san." Kushida said with a beaming smile, shaking her head.
'I only mentioned Hasebe and those two, but she added the other two, remembering it more clearly than anyone. Does she really not care?'
Akira silently complained in his heart, feeling inexplicably speechless.
"...Speaking of which, I just went to the 12th floor to look for Horikita-san, but she doesn't seem to be there. Do you know where she is?"
"I'm not sure."
"I remember usually at this time, she's in her room studying! Did Horikita-san suddenly change her plans?"
Huh?
Kushida actually knew Horikita's schedule so well? She even knew she was studying at this time.
As the two chatted idly, the elevator quickly reached the first floor.
As soon as the door opened, Horikita was standing there without warning.
Like her brother, she was wearing a tracksuit, her hair still damp, and a thin layer of sweat on her body, clearly having just finished exercising.
Her gaze swept over the two people in the elevator, and her expression stiffened slightly when she saw Kushida.
When she noticed Akira beside her, her expression inexplicably became a bit more unnatural, and she unconsciously pursed her lips.
Akira then realized—Horikita had gone out to exercise.
This was something she'd mentioned proactively on Monday, and he didn't expect her to have already put it into action.
He naturally noticed Horikita's slight awkwardness, probably due to shyness.
However, he thought she was doing very well. There were too few people who could follow through on their words these days.
How many people shouted about wanting to work hard, wrote down full plans, but couldn't even stick to the first day?
"Horikita... did you go for a run?!" He thought for a moment, then added, "Don't run too long at the beginning, and make sure to warm up properly. It's okay to take a break for two or three days before continuing. Gradual progress is better."
"...I would do that even without you telling me. After all, I'm not you. I don't have your abnormal physical fitness!" Horikita paused, then replied.
She wasn't an idiot. She naturally understood that when it came to exercise, she absolutely couldn't push herself every day at the beginning.
Even if her physical fitness wasn't bad, when starting to exercise suddenly, two or three times a week was enough, and then gradually increasing the intensity later was the safer approach.
Akira once said that he could exercise consistently for eight years, something Horikita admitted she couldn't do.
It wasn't that she lacked the perseverance, but rather that she was, after all, an ordinary person, unable to persist with such near-obsessive dedication as he did.
However, despite verbally refuting him, she silently took his words to heart. After all, every word he said was very useful.
Kushida stood in the elevator, listening to their conversation without a change in expression.
Only then did she realize that Horikita had suddenly changed her schedule and specifically gone out for a run this morning.
Whenever running was mentioned, the first person she thought of was Akira beside her. This guy ran circles on the track every day without fail. She always saw him when she pulled back her curtains.
Could it be... Horikita changed her plans because of Akira?
She couldn't remember how many times she'd invited Horikita to hang out, only to be rebuffed each time with the excuse, "I need to study."
And what was the result? This woman actually changed her study plans for Akira?
She even started running like him.
Tsk tsk tsk.
'Being a love-struck fool is truly terrifying, it's hilarious, this woman is so pathetic! Shimizu Akira says a couple of words, and you're so obedient, aren't you!'
Kushida secretly mocked Horikita in her heart.
She put on that haughty demeanor toward herself, but she obeyed him in everything? The preferential treatment was too obvious.
If there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance that Horikita could actually marry Akira in the future, she'd probably just be a sycophant revolving around him!
She was completely different from Horikita.
Even if she married a man in the future, she'd definitely have him firmly under her control, keeping all the initiative securely in her own hands.
Thinking this, Kushida smiled and asked,
"Horikita-san, so you went for a run! No wonder I knocked on your door just now and there was no sound at all."
"Are you looking for me for something?" Horikita's expression immediately chilled a few degrees as she retorted.
"I just wanted to ask you to help Sudo-kun think of a way to find witnesses." Kushida said after a moment's thought. "He messaged me two days ago saying he heard strange noises during the fight, so there's a high probability there were witnesses."
Akira was a little surprised to hear this.
He hadn't expected Sudo's hearing to be so good, even noticing the possibility of witnesses.
"Sorry, I still need to continue my exercise. Moreover, regarding whether Sudo needs to stay in Class D, I remain on the sidelines, so I can't help you." Horikita's tone remained cold.
Kushida's smile almost faltered.
'Last time she used studying as an excuse to refuse, this time it's exercising!'
If she hadn't already known this woman had low emotional intelligence, she would've thought she was deliberately trying to annoy her.
Didn't she know that Sudo was a burden?
But there was no choice. She wanted to be a character liked by everyone in the class, so she had to maintain that persona by supporting every classmate.
"However... regarding the information about the witnesses, I already had Shimizu-kun forward it to Hirata-san last night." Horikita thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth. This way, she should stop bothering her.
"What, you!" Kushida completely froze.
What was this woman saying?
She knew there were witnesses.
Before class yesterday lunchtime, she'd specifically asked everyone in the class if they had any information about witnesses.
This woman just looked at her indifferently.
She'd thought she truly didn't know!
All this time, she simply didn't want to tell her!
Isn't that infuriating!
"Horikita... we're both girls, and I've talked to you many times, so why didn't you tell me?!" She forced a smile and asked as if she didn't care.
"...No particular reason. I just thought Hirata-san was more suitable than you, and besides, he's the class representative now." Horikita maintained her cold tone.
Kushida felt a surge of anger shoot up from her chest.
Even if this woman looked down on people, there should be a limit!
What was this?! Was she implying that because she wasn't the class representative, she wasn't qualified to meddle in this matter?!
The anger in her heart burned hotter as if oil had been poured on it. The gentle mask on her face was almost cracking from this nameless rage.
She wasn't an angel. She was just an ordinary person pretending to be one.
Her mood had already been somewhat poor these past two days, and now, being publicly rebuffed by Horikita, the pent-up anger instantly exploded.
"Alright, Kushida, let's get out of the elevator quickly, class is about to start." Akira clearly sensed that Kushida was about to explode with anger. He could tell from her slightly distorted expression that even the long-maintained facade was about to break, almost revealing her "true self."
Speaking of which, Horikita was indeed quite "capable" in this regard.
But from his position, it really wasn't appropriate for him to say much.
These two were truly strange, almost like oil and water. Whenever they were together, confrontation was inevitable.
Who would've thought that these two were classmates in junior high? Probably no one would believe it if you told them.
Akira said, gently pulling Kushida's arm.
She seemed to be suddenly pulled back to her senses, took a deep breath, and the distortion on her face quickly faded, replaced by that flawless smile, though a trace of lingering indignation remained in her eyes.
"Ah, you're right, I almost forgot about class time, so I won't bother you anymore." She agreed readily, but her steps were somewhat heavy as she followed Akira out of the elevator.
The elevator doors slowly closed behind them, cutting off Horikita's very cold gaze.
Kushida then let out a slight sigh of relief. For a moment there, she really almost lost control of her emotions.
Luckily, Akira pulled her back in time.
Is this woman an idiot? She has no emotional intelligence at all! She was perfectly normal when talking to Akira, but why was every word she said to me so thorny?
She wasn't stealing her man!
Even though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't help but curse her several times in her heart, finally suppressing the surging anger a little.
'But then again, did Shimizu Akira see that I was a bit angry, and that's why he specifically pulled me out?'
'Sure enough, this guy must have some feelings for me, right!'
'Tsk tsk, after all, during our last date, I even gave him a lap pillow.'
Her thoughts shifted, and her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Akira.
She occasionally remembered Akira's comical appearance as he ate parfait spoonful by spoonful. Even though she'd lost that time, for some reason, that image would often pop up, lingering in her mind for a moment before slowly fading away.
She attributed this to the image being too impactful.
"Kushida, want to come watch the boxing match next Tuesday?" Akira suddenly asked.
"Hm?" She was startled, not yet realizing why he'd suddenly changed the topic to a boxing match.
"Didn't you ask me in the first month when there'd be a boxing match?" Akira explained further. "I received notification from the club president yesterday that I've been selected to compete. You can come watch my match."
"A boxing match, so that's it!" Kushida finally came back to her senses and quickly nodded in response. "I understand, I'll go watch!"
Thinking about it, she did seem to have asked that question last month, and had also mentioned wanting to see boys box.
After all, sometimes she was truly fed up with the intricacies of human relationships. It was far more satisfying to break all tangled connections with a single punch, like in boxing.
'Hm? He wouldn't be deliberately changing the subject to comfort me, would he? He even remembers something I casually said in the first month!'
Another thought popped into her mind.
'Shimizu Akira, Shimizu Akira, are you perhaps looking forward to a second date?'
'Heh, this man truly likes to beat around the bush.'
'Boxing? Does this guy really box?'
Kushida muttered to herself.
What's the use of being good at running? She hadn't seen him go to the boxing club many times normally.
It wasn't like the track and field club or anything.
'I wonder who his opponent is... Heh, he won't get knocked out with one punch and can't get up, will he?'
'He was so easily distracted by a few words from me. If this continues, if he really gets married in the future, he'll probably be easily controlled by his partner.'
Akira looked at Kushida beside him, whose expression had clearly softened, and inexplicably felt a hint of worry for her future.