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After school, having finished dinner, Akira received a message from Club President Sato asking him to come to the boxing club.
Thinking about it, it was about time for him to show up at the club once a week.
Also, he still didn't know if Karuizawa had actually withdrawn from the boxing club.
When he arrived, he saw that Karuizawa had already beaten him there.
She was busy moving boxes of mineral water with two other female managers.
"Yamamura-senpai, let me do it! I've been gone for several days after all," Karuizawa looked up at the girl beside her, reaching for the box.
"Heh, it's fine," the upperclassman waved her hand with a smile, then seemed to suddenly remember something. "Speaking of which, Karuizawa, why didn't you come last week? You weren't feeling sick, were you?"
"Well... I just wanted to be a bit lazy," Karuizawa's voice softened, carrying a hint of embarrassment.
"Ah, I see." The upperclassman nodded, then leaned closer. "But for something like that, when you talk to the club president, you can totally make up an excuse. Like saying your period started or something. He definitely won't ask too many questions."
"Uh... Actually, I already told the club president the real reason on Saturday," Karuizawa replied helplessly.
"Is that so... You really are an honest, foolish kouhai," another upperclassman said with a smile, patting her shoulder.
"What're you staring at me for, Shimizu-kun?" Karuizawa finally noticed Akira at the doorway. A flicker of embarrassment crossed her face, but she spoke first.
"Nothing." Akira looked away without a change in expression.
He could tell that Karuizawa had truly learned her lesson from the last incident. Not only did she explain the whole story to the club president in detail, but she'd also shown up early today to help.
Recalling why she'd argued with someone last time, it was just to stand up for Matsushita.
From that perspective, her nature wasn't actually bad.
He glanced at the floor. There were still about ten more boxes of mineral water left.
Given the situation, it'd take forever for Karuizawa and the other two managers to move them all to the warehouse.
"Let me help, Yamamura-senpai." Akira thought for a moment. The boxing club was a good club, and these managers were all his upperclassmen, so he naturally stepped forward to lend a hand.
"Oh, that'd be great, Shimizu-kun." The upperclassman replied with a smile. In her opinion, helping each other as fellow club members was only natural.
"Alright, Karuizawa, just hand the boxes directly to Shimizu."
"Okay, Yamamura-senpai. Um... give me your hand." Karuizawa glanced at Akira, approaching him with a bit of shyness.
Akira extended his hand as instructed. As his palm touched the edge of the plastic, he heard Karuizawa mumble softly, "It's pretty heavy."
He said nothing, but with a strong push of his arms, he steadily held the box.
"Shimizu certainly has a lot of strength," the upperclassman nearby teased.
"Give me two more boxes." Akira continued smoothly, hugging the mineral water boxes tightly so he could carry more.
In his opinion, the weight of one box was barely worth mentioning.
"Never mind, you don't need to, Yamamura-senpai. I can do it myself." Akira thought for a moment, then simply stacked the boxes one on top of another. Squatting on the ground, he picked up three boxes of mineral water with one lift.
"Th-this is too much, isn't it?" Karuizawa's eyes went wide with surprise. The box she was half-holding hung suspended in mid-air as she forgot where to hand it.
The upperclassman also paused, then shook her head with a smile. "Shimizu-kun's strength is just like the club president's. No wonder he thinks highly of you."
Akira didn't respond. As he rose, steadily supporting the three boxes of water with his arms, the cardboard at the bottom creaked slightly under the pressure.
He walked briskly toward the warehouse, his back muscles tensing into smooth lines, and his athletic clothes stretched tight.
Just as he turned the corner of the corridor, he heard Karuizawa's footsteps behind him, along with her soft gasps of surprise to the upperclassmen.
"Are you really okay? Isn't it too heavy?" Her voice held a hint of concern, as if she was afraid the boxes might suddenly fall apart and hit him.
He didn't look back, only slowing his pace as he entered the warehouse.
After several trips back and forth like this, ten boxes of water were finally neatly stacked in the corner of the warehouse.
The moment Akira straightened up, a towel was suddenly offered from behind him.
"Wipe your sweat." Karuizawa's voice was right beside his ear, carrying a hint of uncontainable awkwardness. "Don't think just because you carried them easily that you're not tired. After all, that was three boxes! You're not just trying to act tough, are you?"
"Thanks for the towel, Manager Karuizawa." Akira thanked her smoothly, and as soon as he finished speaking, he received a glare from her.
"I always feel like you're intentionally teasing me!"
"And! Who said I'm still a manager? Maybe after tonight, I'll be kicked out of the boxing club by the club president!" Karuizawa's expression turned rather unpleasant, her tone tinged with disappointment.
"You really are something. You couldn't even say a few good words for me! Of course... I'm not blaming you. Actually, didn't you just help me move the water? And I'm still very grateful for what you said to me that day." She turned her face away, muttering a few more words softly.
"You misunderstood... well, not entirely. I actually helped move the water for those two managers." Akira then poured a bit more cold water on her.
"I'm feeling upset right now!" Karuizawa's voice suddenly rose, filled with exasperated indignation.
"Hehe..." Akira unconsciously chuckled.
He suddenly felt that ever since that day, Karuizawa, despite still being somewhat stubborn, had become inexplicably cute in both her words and reactions.
"But don't worry. Things probably won't be as bad as you think. Club President Sato might not dismiss you."
"You should've heard it just now. Those two managers weren't surprised at all when they heard about your leave, and they didn't seem worried about you leaving. It's strange, right? If you think about it logically, you most likely won't be dismissed."
However, Akira added in his mind—according to the information, Sato was probably about to leave.
Karuizawa unconsciously perked up her ears. After all, this was a rare occasion for Akira to comfort someone.
After thinking it over carefully, she found that what he said seemed to make some sense.
Although she'd taken so many days off, her relationship with those two managers had always been good.
If she were really leaving, they wouldn't still have such calm expressions. Even if it was just out of politeness, they should've said a few words of comfort or tried to make her stay.