Chapter 181: Unlike You, I Am a Selfish Person
As school let out, Shimizu Akira received a flyer from Captain Sato.
The flyer was printed with photos of him and Yamada Albert, marking the location of the exhibition match—the venue wasn't a school facility, but a comprehensive sports complex in Keyaki Mall.
This complex was fully equipped, featuring not only professional swimming pools, basketball courts, and baseball fields but also a dedicated boxing ring. Since the school gymnasium wasn't open on weekends, many students frequently visited this place; for instance, Kushida Kikyo often practiced at the swimming pool during the weekends of the first month.
This time, the Boxing Club Captain had specifically rented the venue—partly to provide the club members with the best environment, but primarily to sell tickets.
Shimizu had heard before that the Boxing Club had the authority to sell tickets. When he curiously asked about the cost, the Captain replied that it was nearly 10 million points, with a portion of the commission going to the school.
He didn't fully understand the specific financial calculations, only that his basic appearance fee for this match was 50,000 points. Combined with the ticket commission, it added up to a quite handsome sum—after all, earning 50,000 in a single match was significant.
Compared to other sports, boxing carried a higher risk of injury, and a match only involved two people. These types of matches weren't held often; after all, the Boxing Club had fewer than twenty members. If they rotated matches too frequently, the audience would eventually get bored. This particular match was organized specifically after the club had trained a batch of newcomers for over two months since the start of the new year—it served as a "debut" for their freshman class.
Captain Sato also told him that since this match featured two freshmen, the turnout was expected to be high—school staff, shopkeepers from the mall, and students from all three grades. A rough estimate put the audience at around 100 people, most of whom would be girls.
Shimizu had a very clear concept of the number "100"—it was by no means a small crowd.
To put it in perspective, this school had four classes per grade with forty students each, totaling 480 students across three grades. Taking dropouts into account, the actual number of students was even lower. He hadn't counted the school staff and mall employees specifically, but at most, they numbered one or two hundred. This meant roughly one out of every six people on campus would be coming to watch this boxing match.
One could only say that compared to other sports, the raw physical impact of boxing was indeed more attractive. As for why there were so many girls... well, boxers fight shirtless, so they were likely there to look at the muscles.
As a side note, ticket prices varied based on the seating tiers. Standard seats were 3,000 points. He didn't pay much attention to the other prices, only hearing that the closer the seat, the higher the price. Furthermore, those high-priced seats came with special perks—after the match, the winner would shake hands or high-five those spectators. This was exactly why there was an extra commission. The Boxing Club made its profit mainly through these luxury seats.
The match was set for 7:00 PM.
Captain Sato had heard about the recent trouble between Class 1-D and Class 1-C. He had specifically checked with the Student Council and learned that the Student Council President's hearing for Sudo Ken's case was at 4:00 PM, which conveniently didn't conflict with the boxing match.
The club managers had already taken the flyers and information to be printed and promoted. It was no wonder his own homeroom teacher knew about his participation in the exhibition match.
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4:00 PM today was the time he and Ichinose Honami had agreed to meet.
While he was changing clothes, Captain Sato sent intermittent messages confirming the match time. Ichinose Honami also sent a smiley face emoji, to which Shimizu replied with the same.
When he walked to the designated flowerbed, he immediately heard a girl's clear and enthusiastic greeting from nearby: "Shimizu-kun, over here!"
Shimizu looked toward the sound and saw Ichinose Honami wearing a white off-the-shoulder top, standing there smiling at him. It had to be said that she was naturally beautiful with a great figure; in this outfit, she was even more radiant, drawing a significant amount of attention.
He scanned the surroundings and noticed many students stealing glances—Wait? There seemed to be a short-haired girl in the distance.
Why was she staring at Ichinose like that?
Regardless, from any angle, the current Ichinose Honami was so dazzling it was hard to look away.
"Ichinose-san, you're quite early. It seems I'm the late one this time." Shimizu could sense that she had arrived much earlier than him. He had actually left at 3:30 PM intending to be early, but he was still a step behind.
"Actually, I just got here a bit early!" A faint blush of embarrassment rose to Ichinose's face.
Despite her usual popularity, this was likely the first formal date of her life, and she was inevitably nervous. She hadn't slept well last night, and after school, she had rushed back to her dorm to change into private clothes before hurrying over. Thinking about it now, she really had arrived far too early.
"Um... I've already made a reservation at that sushi restaurant, so we can head straight there," Ichinose said after a thought.
"We should have some time left after dinner. Would Shimizu-kun like to decide where we should go for fun next?" She naturally passed the conversation to him, her eyes filled with a bit of expectation.
Shimizu hadn't expected any follow-up plans after dinner; he thought it was just a simple meal. It seemed Ichinose was taking this date very seriously, far more than he had simplified it in his mind. He realized he had misunderstood her before—she wasn't being perfunctory at all; instead, her thoughtfulness was evident everywhere. Moreover, by arranging the meal first and giving him the choice of the next location, she likely didn't want him to feel like he was being unilaterally managed. This attention to detail touched him slightly.
"How about we go bowling after dinner?" he suggested tentatively.
"...Bowling?" Ichinose blinked. "It's actually been a long time since I played. Sure!"
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After finalizing their itinerary, they walked side-by-side toward the conveyor-belt sushi restaurant Ichinose had mentioned.
As they reached the entrance, the transparent glass doors slid open automatically, and a cool breeze carrying the scent of sushi vinegar greeted them. The conveyor belt wound between the seats like a ribbon of light, with various sushi rolls topped with bright ingredients slowly circling around.
"This way, please. I've actually been here several times with my classmates." Ichinose led him familiarly to a two-person seat by the window and looked up at him with a smile.
"This place is famous for its bluefin tuna fatty belly (otoro) sushi, but you have to wait for the chef to make it fresh; it rarely appears on the conveyor belt."
Just as Shimizu sat down, he saw a plate of Tamagoyaki (omelet) drifting by. As he reached out to take it, Ichinose had already picked up a teacup and poured him some barley tea.
"Drink some tea first. Boys must have big appetites, right?"
"Indeed." He picked up the cup and took a sip. The aroma of the tea mingled with the distant sound of the chef's wooden spoon shaping sushi, making the atmosphere more pleasant than he had imagined.
Just as he was about to say something, Ichinose suddenly pointed to the end of the belt, her eyes lighting up: "Look, it's sea urchin (uni) gunkan!"
When she reached for it, her fingertip accidentally brushed a nearby plate of eel sushi, getting some sauce on her finger. Shimizu was about to offer a tissue when he saw her subconsciously stick out her tongue to lick it. The moment she finished the action, she suddenly realized what she'd done. Her cheeks turned beet red instantly, and she hurriedly lowered her head to grab a napkin from the table.
"S-sorry, that was a bit impolite..."
"It's fine." He couldn't help but smile, picking up the plate of sea urchin and sliding it in front of her.
"Eat up, or someone else will take it."
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The two began eating, plate after plate of sushi piling up between them. Ichinose ate very elegantly, taking only small bites. Shimizu was the exact opposite; whenever sushi reached his hand, it was gone in one bite, his mouth overflowing with fresh flavor. The sushi was indeed delicious, but the portions were small; in just a few minutes, a stack of over a dozen empty plates had formed in front of him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ichinose wiping her hands with a tissue, her brow slightly furrowed as she looked down at her phone, quickly replying to messages. It seemed she was indeed very busy, having to handle matters even during the gaps in a meal.
Ten seconds later, Ichinose put down her phone and looked up at Shimizu. Realizing her rudeness, she quickly apologized: "I'm sorry! Someone just asked me something, and replying took a bit of time."
Shimizu looked at her expression and saw the faint dark circles under her eyes, clearly showing exhaustion. He teased her lightheartedly: "You've said 'sorry' twice already today. Since you feel bad, how about agreeing to one condition of mine?"
Ichinose was stunned for a moment, then turned serious.
"What does Shimizu-kun want me to do? Go ahead."
"How about consolidating all your miscellaneous errands into a single time slot from now on?"
"Eh?!"
"You look quite tired." Shimizu's tone softened slightly.
"I don't know what that classmate asked you, but since it was a text message, it likely wasn't an emergency. Instead of having your time sliced up by these trivial messages, it's better to pick a fixed period to respond to them all at once—this way you improve efficiency and won't have to work so hard."
Ichinose's hand holding the chopsticks paused, a look of daze flickering in her eyes. She lowered her gaze to the remaining half-piece of Tamagoyaki in her bowl and said softly: "But... when everyone comes to me for help, I always feel like I can't keep them waiting."
When she looked up, her eyes held a bit of confusion, like a small animal that didn't know how to refuse people: "If I make them wait until a fixed time, won't they feel like I'm being perfunctory?"
Shimizu looked at the faint circles under her eyes and remembered the way her brow had been tightly furrowed while replying to messages. He felt a bit of helplessness. He picked up a piece of tuna sushi and said slowly: "Truly urgent matters would warrant a direct phone call, right? Most people who ask via message are capable of waiting."
He took a bite of the sushi and said indistinctly: "If you always deal with things while dragging around this exhaustion, you're more likely to make mistakes. That's when you would truly let down their expectations."
Ichinose fell silent. The sushi plates on the conveyor belt continued to circle slowly, and a cool, wasabi-scented breeze blew from the vent, brushing the hair by her cheek. After a long while, she gave a soft "Mm."
"I suppose... it is like that." She suddenly laughed, the fatigue in her eyes fading slightly, replaced by a sense of relief.
"Then I'll try? Next time someone messages me, I'll take a note first and reply to them all together when I'm free."
"You'll still be tired that way. Take out your phone first."
"Ah?"
"Change your status bio," he explained. "Just write 'I will respond to messages collectively every evening from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.' Otherwise, are you going to tell everyone your schedule individually?"
Ichinose's finger paused over her phone. She looked down and swiped to the settings interface, her fingertip hovering over the input box. She said softly: "Won't this be too deliberate? If everyone thinks I'm putting on airs..."
"It's better than being chased by messages." Shimizu reached out and took a plate of nori rolls from the belt.
"You're helping them; it's not like you owe them. Setting rules actually saves everyone from bothering you with every little thing."
He pushed the nori rolls toward her. Seeing her still hesitating, he added: "If you really feel bad about it, just add 'Please call for urgent matters.' That way you leave an opening while giving yourself room to breathe."
Ichinose bit her lower lip and thought for a moment before finally typing several lines into the bio field. The moment she hit save, she looked as if she had set down a heavy burden and let out a soft sigh.
"It feels... truly a lot lighter."
"That's the way." Shimizu picked up his teacup and took a sip. Seeing her visibly relaxed, the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile.
"In the future, if someone knowingly violates the rule, just ignore them. Unlike you, I am a quite selfish person—I really don't like seeing my date busy replying to other people's messages during our time together. If only for my sake, please make sure you do this."
"I won't!" Ichinose waved her hands hurriedly, heat rising to her cheeks again, her voice carrying a bit of flustered defense. "...Shimizu-kun is so good to me, how are you selfish at all!"
Just as she finished speaking, her phone "dinged" with a notification for a new message. But this time, she only glanced briefly at the screen before calmly locking it. She looked up and smiled at Shimizu: "I won't look until 6:00. I'll focus on eating first. This time, I'll treat our date properly."
She raised her teacup and lightly toasted him: "Thank you, Shimizu-kun. It seems I'm always bothering you to remind me of these things."
"It's no trouble." Shimizu raised his cup and clinked it gently against hers.
"I am your date, after all. Ensuring your physical and mental well-being is my minimum obligation."
These words caused Ichinose to lower her eyes in embarrassment. A date truly should be like this, but she felt a bit guilty in her heart—during dinner just now, she had been so preoccupied with messages that she hadn't done anything to make her date happy.
'What kind of things would make Shimizu-kun happy?'
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