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

I really don't know how much longer that door on the rooftop, which she's been kicking for over a month, can hold up.

Chapter 179: 176 Shimizu Akira: I've never dared to use my full strength.

After school, the classroom gradually emptied out.

As Shimizu Akira was tidying up the textbooks on his desk, a faint voice suddenly came from beside him: "Um... Shimizu-kun, I've already sent you the photos. Also, you gave me too many points. You didn't really need that many—I don't usually spend points much."

He turned his head and saw Sakura Airi with her head slightly lowered.

"Take it, consider it a processing fee for the photos." Shimizu Akira nodded.

Actually, he had already seen the photo during the second period in the afternoon.

Sakura sent him two versions: one was specially processed to have a white background, and the other was a normal picture with clouds as the background.

Speaking of Photoshop skills alone, the techniques are indeed impressive. Even the subtle transitions in light and shadow are handled perfectly. By the way, the tuft of hair on his head has also been completely removed by the other party.

"Um... I understand, I'll do whatever Shimizu-san says." Sakura Airi hesitated for a moment, then stopped refusing and obediently agreed.

Looking at her obedient appearance, Shimizu Akira suddenly felt that her personality was rather weak—it seemed that as long as he persisted a little, she would immediately give up her inner thoughts and accept everything.

Sakura gives the impression of being an exceptionally obedient and well-behaved girl.

If she really falls in love with someone, she'll probably obediently do whatever outrageous request the other person makes.

Let alone the entire Class D, you probably couldn't find such a well-behaved girl even in all four grades.

......

He was supposed to report to the boxing club after dinner because he had promised Captain Sato.

However, before that, he planned to go to a sporting goods store first.

He didn't know much about choosing boxing gloves, so he simply called Department Head Sato directly.

On the minister's advice, he chose a pair of boxing gloves from a famous brand.

When I tried them on in the store, the leather felt a bit stiff to the touch.

Having been used to the worn-out old boxing gloves from the boxing club, switching to the new ones felt a bit awkward.

But the minister said that once you wear it properly, everything will be fine.

He moved his wrists in front of the mirror, looking at the prominent brand logo on the boxing gloves, and silently suppressed the discomfort.

Then I went to the front desk and paid the bill.

The boxing gloves cost about eight thousand points, which wasn't too expensive for him, so he paid for them quickly, picked up the packaged gloves, and left the store.

Just as I reached the store entrance, my phone rang.

He looked down and saw that the caller ID showed it was his manager, Karuizawa Megumi.

"Shimizu-kun, where are you right now?"

"I just came from a sporting goods store and bought a pair of boxing gloves."

"Going to buy boxing gloves?! Seriously, you should at least inform me, the manager, beforehand! I thought you were late."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to Manager Karuizawa."

"...Don't call me manager, I've told you so many times."

After hanging up the phone, Akira Shimizu felt a strange sense of emotion welling up inside him.

Since almost quitting the boxing club last time, Karuizawa Kei has never been late again and arrives at the club on time every day to do her job.

However, her inherent nature hadn't changed much—most of the time she still carried a bit of arrogance, but occasionally she would cautiously observe his reaction, as if testing his bottom line.

However, after a month, Karuizawa Megumi's reputation in the class was actually quite good.

These days, her words carry considerable weight in the girls' circle—she's always surrounded by a group of girls willing to follow her orders.

He recalled a scene he often saw during breaks: several brightly dressed girls would gather around her desk and chatter away. She would occasionally look up and say something, and the others would immediately quiet down and listen attentively.

However, in his opinion, this was not only due to Karuizawa Megumi's strong negotiation skills—Sato Maya, Matsushita Chiaki, and Mori Nene had indeed helped her a lot behind the scenes.

Maya Sato is in charge of "holding up the scene." With her around, she can always calmly and collectedly control the situation. Chiaki Matsushita and Nene Mori are both calm and collected. They always quietly offer a few words of advice when Megumi Karuizawa is impulsive, or they quietly take care of the logistical matters in an orderly manner when she is busy coordinating interpersonal relationships.

This combination of one main role and three supporting roles creates a clever balance, allowing her reputation in the class to steadily rise.

Unlike Kikyo Kushida and Yosuke Hirata, Megumi Karuizawa hardly interacts with any boys other than him, focusing all her energy on cultivating relationships with girls.

He recalled the last time they were grouped for PE class, several girls were arguing about who should play which role. Hirata Yosuke tried to mediate for a long time without success, and Kushida Kikyo tried to smooth things over with a smile but failed to calm things down. In the end, Karuizawa Megumi frowned and said, "Let's do it the way we agreed before, don't waste time." The arguing girls immediately shut up.

The appeal hidden beneath this arrogance is indeed quite special.

Lost in thought, he had already reached the entrance of the boxing club.

Sure enough, Karuizawa Megumi was standing there with a sign-in book in her hand. When she saw him coming over, she glanced at him, but her eyes were immediately drawn to what he was holding—the new blue boxing gloves had clearly piqued her curiosity.

"These are your new boxing gloves?"

"Ah."

"Put it on and let me see, then try firing a few shots in the dry line, okay?"

“…Okay.” Shimizu Akira thought about it. After all, the other party was a manager, and as a member of the department, he really didn’t have a strong reason to refuse.

He put on the boxing gloves as instructed and slowly swung them a few times at the air, his movements looking somewhat perfunctory.

"Wait! Did you even use any force?" Karuizawa Kei immediately frowned, her tone somewhat dissatisfied. "It looks like you're just fooling me."

"I'm quite strong, but I've never dared to use my full strength."

"...Really?" She raised an eyebrow, clearly not quite believing it.

“Really.” He answered readily.

"..." Karuizawa Megumi stared at him for a long time, feeling that he didn't seem to be joking, but these words were obviously a lie.

Who wouldn't dare use their full strength? Is he some kind of One-Punch Man?

Karuizawa Kei muttered to herself, clearly not believing this explanation.

However, she didn't dwell on the matter any longer, and instead asked casually, "By the way, what do you think of Sudo-kun? How's your relationship?"

"So-so, we haven't talked much," Shimizu Akira replied.

He really had no connection with Takeru Sudo, and they weren't even friends.

"Is that so?" Upon hearing this, Karuizawa Kei's tense lips relaxed slightly, and the slight concern in her eyes faded away.

Actually, around noon, Kikyo Kushida and Yosuke Hirata had specifically approached her, asking her to inquire about eyewitnesses in the Ken Sudo incident.

She didn't agree immediately, not because she was unwilling to help, but mainly because she wanted to know what the relationship between Shimizu Akira and Sudo Ken was like.

Hearing him say that now, she finally felt more confident, at least she didn't have to worry about doing anything that might displease him.

......

As Karuizawa Megumi and Shimizu Akira entered the boxing club, Captain Sato happened to walk towards them. He glanced at the new boxing gloves in Shimizu Akira's hand, a satisfied look on his face, and nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, not bad, it seems the new boxing gloves have arrived."

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, where are the photos? Did you bring them?"

"Yes, I'll send it to you now." Shimizu Akira responded, took out his phone, and found the photos to send.

Karuizawa Megumi, who was standing nearby, immediately leaned over to look curiously. As soon as her eyes landed on the screen, she couldn't help but exclaim, "...Why is your ahoge (cowlick) gone in this photo?"

"Yes, it was photoshopped out," Shimizu Akira answered frankly.

"Hahaha... What's so special about this?" Karuizawa Megumi laughed. "Sakura-san can actually cut your hair? Isn't she just someone who takes pictures of you?!"

"Wait... How do you know about this?" Shimizu Akira looked up immediately, his eyes filled with suspicion.

"Ahem... Why can't I know?" Karuizawa Kei coughed lightly to cover her panic, then raised her chin and retorted confidently, "You two were so conspicuous when you went out, and Sakura was carrying a camera. It was obvious you were taking pictures. Is that so hard to tell?"

Of course, she wouldn't tell Shimizu Akira that she was actually always subtly keeping an eye on his movements in class.

Around noon, she had already noticed that he and Sakura had gone out to take pictures.

Furthermore, she also noticed that Shimizu Akira was talking to her deskmate Horikita Suzune.

Sometimes I can't help but overthink: Could these two be dating? If they really are together, will he stop protecting me? This possibility isn't entirely out of the question.

Although she has now joined the boxing club and has seniors to look after her, there is still no clear agreement, which makes her feel like she lacks a sense of security.

The protection that Shimizu Akira personally promised made her feel more at ease.

"The photos are great, and the boxing gloves are ready." Minister Sato nodded, then changed the subject, "Speaking of which, just now, the final winner of the freshman group was decided. How about this, the exhibition match next Tuesday will be between the two of you."

As he spoke, he turned his head and called out to the sidelines, "Hey, come here for a second!"

A dark-skinned foreign boy, over 1.9 meters tall, walked over in response to the call. He was wearing sunglasses and looked exceptionally muscular.

"His opponent is Albert Yamada, a first-year student in Class C. You two should know each other, right?" Department Head Sato raised his hand to introduce him. "Shimizu, he's your opponent next Tuesday."

Akira Shimizu naturally recognized that Albert Yamada was the one.

The other person is a student in Class C of the first grade.

As fellow first-year students in the boxing club, even though I don't often come to the club, we've still run into each other before.

Because Akira Shimizu mostly stayed in the dormitory to train on his own and rarely appeared in the boxing club, Albert Yamada became the most outstanding among the freshmen—just look at his physique, he was over 1.9 meters tall, which was outstanding in the entire club, and Akira Shimizu had never seen anyone taller than him.

This person can speak Japanese, but his accent is a bit halting. Occasionally, when he gets into the swing of boxing, he will suddenly blurt out a few words of English.

Sometimes, we also communicate in short English phrases.

According to the minister, the other person is the strongest among the freshmen in terms of overall strength, besides him.

He is rather quiet and doesn't talk much. His eyes behind his sunglasses always seem somewhat distant.

As for his specific bloodline, Akira Shimizu wasn't quite sure. He had only vaguely heard his seniors mention it in casual conversation, suggesting that he was of mixed race.

He suddenly felt a surge of curiosity. During the first month of reviewing the surveillance footage, Ryuuen Sho had already completely taken control of Class C—so, did that mean Yamada Albert also had to obey his orders?

I really don't know how Long Yuanxiang managed to subdue such a big guy.

Judging by physique alone, he really didn't think Long Yuanxiang was a match for Yamada Albert; the difference in size between the two was too obvious.

"Well, speaking of which, the two of you are not even in the same league." Minister Sato saw the disparity and smiled to smooth things over, "Logically speaking, it's not fair to Shimizu, but it's just an exhibition match after all, so there's no need to take it too seriously."

He emphasized, "You two remember, don't go too far, just go easy on them. The important thing is to make it exciting, you know what I mean?"

As he said this, his gaze lingered on Shimizu Akira for a few more seconds.

“OK…” Albert Yamada was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded, his voice low.

“Okay.” Shimizu Akira calmly agreed, his gaze sweeping over the other’s strong arms, and he roughly understood what was going on.

It looks like it's just an exhibition match.

However, since the other party is from Class C, we still need to be careful.