I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

"Then, Amane, you've been removed from your position as head of the Disciplinary Committee. You'll be replaced by Kohei Katsuragi from Class 1-A. Finally, regarding Nagumo, he's been removed from his position as vice president of the student council. He'll be replaced by Arisu Sakayanagi from Class 1-A, who will serve as both vice president and student council secretary. This means that the three most important positions within the student council are now all under the control of Class 1-A..."

Horikita looked at Amane meaningfully, but found that Amane looked completely unconcerned, and even seemed... somewhat happy?

Couldn't she see that if Sakayanagi wanted to, he could easily sideline Kiriyama?

Tianyin is truly an unpredictable girl.

Chapter 5: Who did you say dropped out of school?

Amane noticed Horikita Manabu observing her expression, and almost instinctively, she put on a completely emotionless, cold expression.

Looking at that lifeless face, Horikita Manabu gave up his observation. His student council career had officially come to an end. Unless there were other special exams, his name would probably never be mentioned again. His chances of meeting Amane were gradually approaching zero.

Maybe the next time we meet will be when he graduates.

He knew some things that Tianyin understood perfectly, but if he didn't take action, the result would only be extremely passive. She might not care whether she was promoted to Class A or not, or she might not care at all whether the class would fall back down again. In terms of personal points, she had accumulated a terrifying number that she could not spend even until graduation.

In such a comfortable situation, it's hard for Horikita Manabu to imagine that she would be willing to take action for Horikita Suzune. Perhaps this unpredictable girl would only step in when Horikita Suzune faces the risk of being expelled from school.

However, he could not place all his hopes on the possibility that Tenon might lend a helping hand, as Tenon had already shown him her ruthless side during the duel.

Therefore, as the older brother, he had to leave something for his younger sister...

Aren't you worried that Sakayanagi will take control of the student council?

Horikita Manabu was the first to bring up the topic, as he wanted to first ascertain Sakayanagi Arisu's image and position in this person's mind through probing.

"That would be perfect. I think if Arisu controlled the student council, there wouldn't be so many troublesome special exams, right?"

"You're wrong. I can assure you, if one day Sakayanagi-san takes control of the student council, you'll face an unprecedented wave of exams, and dropping out will probably become commonplace. She and Katsuragi are not the same kind of people. Sakayanagi-san will crush her before the danger even arrives. Even if you can't threaten her, she'll still try to find pleasure in others. Although I haven't worked with her for long, I'm confident that I can see through her true nature."

Horikita adjusted his glasses.

Amane couldn't help but admire Horikita Manabu's statement; it was quite remarkable that he could discern in such a short time that Sakayanagi was also a girl with a terrible personality.

but……

Horikita Manabu seems to have forgotten one thing.

That is... besides being rivals with Sakayanagi, she is also his best friend. If Sakayanagi could easily crush all the classes in the same grade, Amane would use a tactic called "Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell".

If you can't beat them, join them. Even if Sakayanagi is dissatisfied, he would never refuse Amane's request to transfer Horikita to another class.

Even if Sakayanagi dreams of defeating Amane, it's the same; as long as Amane speaks, Sakayanagi won't refuse.

In that case, what does the outcome have to do with her and Horikita Suzune?

What she promised Horikita Suzune was to help her get promoted to Class A, not to fulfill Horikita Suzune's wish to help everyone get promoted to Class A.

Whether it's a backup plan or anything else, everything is under her control.

The main reason why Amane doesn't intend to interfere in class affairs is that she wants to let Horikita Suzune have a good time. Although it may be unfair to those who are still working hard, the entire Class B is just a toy that Amane uses to entertain Horikita Suzune.

If she really wanted to compete with Sakayanagi, she could have easily created a complete puppet, Katsuragi, back on the deserted island.

Even if Sakayanagi is exceptionally intelligent, he will not be able to turn the tide of the battle.

To put it simply, is Sakayanagi's current situation truly a result of her own actions? Is there any possibility...?

Has Sakayanagi Arisu already fallen into the game and become someone's pawn?

"Thank you for the advice. I'll keep that in mind. That's all... Let's end our meeting here. It's time for lunch, and I don't think you're planning to treat me to lunch, Horikita-senpai."

Tenon glanced at the time and respectfully addressed Horikita Manabu.

It was as if Horikita Manabu was instantly transported back to the scene of his first encounter with Amane.

He knew that this respect did not mean reverence, but rather unfamiliarity.

"You guessed right. Given that some of your special skills are well-known, I have no intention of inviting you to stay for a meal. I also have nothing else to say, so the meeting can end here. If you have nothing else to do, you may go back."

Horikita Manabu gestured for Amane to leave.

Tianyin nodded in farewell and got up to walk towards the door.

Just as she was about to reach the door, Tianyin stopped.

"Speaking of which, how is Nagumo doing these days?"

He chose to drop out of school.

"Drop out?"

"After being dismissed from his post, he suffered cyberbullying. Unable to bear the immense failure, he chose to drop out of school. Because of him, the school blocked the only way for its students to contact the outside world."

Horikita Manabu sighed. From now on, this campus would probably truly be a prison-like place.

"Wasn't it said that once we came here, we wouldn't be able to contact the outside world?"

Tianyin was a little confused. She had tried to contact the outside world, but the communication device issued by the school could only make calls to the school's phone cards, and she couldn't even add people from the outside world on social media.

Logically, there shouldn't be any way to contact the outside world.

"Theoretically, that's true, but rules are rules, and there are countless ways to circumvent them. This is true everywhere, even in this school. Although you can't make phone calls to the outside world, you can log in to external websites and leave messages. As long as you contact your family or friends through this method, you can easily bypass the school's rules. Unfortunately, the school has now shut down the external network, and in the future, you can only log in to the campus website to use the campus network. This method, which has been carefully preserved, has finally disappeared."

Horikita Manabu was somewhat moved. The school was actually aware of this exchange program. The school's purpose was to cultivate students' abilities and thinking, not to inhumanely subject them to a prison-like experience.

So we always turn a blind eye to certain things, but just like some things, if no one talks about them, it can be assumed that they are allowed to exist. But once someone brings things to the forefront, it can lead to disaster.

"Thank you for informing me..."

"It's alright, it's something I should tell you as a senior, it's just that I told you a little late."

Both of them wanted to say something more, but in the end they both chose to remain silent.

The bond that holds the two together is a girl named Horikita Suzune. Now that they have different opinions on Horikita Suzune's future development, there's naturally nothing more to say since their paths have diverged.

Chapter Six: Arisu, it seems the maple has died.

In the evening, when the meticulously dressed Kiryuin arrived at Sakayanagi's room as promised, the happy expression on his face instantly vanished.

"Arisu, you didn't tell me we were going out for a fancy meal and we were bringing this guy along!"

Kiryuin pointed with a look of disgust at Amane, who was standing to the side with a happy expression.

"Huh? Didn't I say that?"

Sakayanagi tilted his head, then took a kernel of popcorn from the bag and tossed it into the air. Amane opened her mouth and took a big bite, chewing the popcorn.

Looking at Sakayanagi's skillful movements and Amane's blissful expression, Kiryuin suddenly had the thought that the two of them were actually enjoying themselves.

"What are you pretending to be stupid for! Seriously, you can't lie at all, can you? Hurry up and remember what you said back then!! You clearly said that you were going to treat me to a big meal to make up for the beating I got from this guy during the competition, right?"

Kiryuin angrily grabbed Sakayanagi's shoulders and shook him violently.

"Stop right now! My body can't take this kind of shaking!"

"I don't care, I don't care!! Bringing this guy along will definitely empty your wallet!"

"Then why are you so worried?"

"Huh? You've been eaten clean, and I'm next. You're expecting this guy to pay... Do you want to get kicked out like last time?"

Seeing the two bickering, Tianyin suddenly spoke up.

"Speaking of which, are there really people in the world who can't lie?"

Upon hearing Tianyin's words, Guilongyuan covered his forehead with one hand.

This is not the time to discuss philosophy.

Kiryuin picked up a kernel of popcorn and threw it at Amane.

After Tianyin bit down hard, Guilongyuan picked up another one and threw it over. Seeing that Tianyin caught it accurately every time, Guilongyuan's face lit up with joy.

"You know what, this is actually quite fun."

So Kiryuin and Sakayanagi sat there and threw in a whole bag of popcorn until Amane's belly was quite round before they stopped.

"Wait a minute!! Aren't we just feeding Tianyin? I'm still starving!"

"So we'll feed you like this too?"

Sakayanagi hesitated for a moment before speaking.

I can picture Kiryuin with a fierce expression as he catches popcorn...

The visuals are absolutely...

"What a joke! I would never do something so shameful. Do you think everyone is as gluttonous as Tianyin?"

Kiryuin poked Tenon's cheek and then quickly withdrew her hand, as if afraid that Tenon would bite her finger.

"It's time, shall we go out for dinner?"

Sakayanagi used his cane to support himself as he stood up and smiled at the two of them.

"Is it time? What are you waiting for?"

Kiryuin looked at Sakayanagi with some suspicion; she had a bad feeling about it.

"Don't worry, are you afraid I'll betray you and Tianyin? Even if I were willing to betray you, I would never betray Tianyin. You can rest assured."

Sakayanagi placed her hand on Amane's arm, indicating that Amane should help her, and then turned to Kiryuin, who was still hesitating, and said with a smile.

"That's true... wait, what do you mean by 'I'd be willing to trick you but I'd never trick Tianyin'? This guy is clearly the easiest to trick!"

Despite grumbling, Kiryuin quickly followed Sakayanagi and Amane. Since she didn't have to pay, she figured she might as well eat. For someone who lived paycheck to paycheck, being treated to a meal was the best thing ever.

Because the school announced a month-long holiday to allow injured students to recover, the school's commercial street was unusually brightly lit at night.

Because they can't go anywhere and can't contact their families, students with nothing to do can only choose to kill time through revenge spending, such as crazy shopping sprees.

Shopping malls and food streets, which are usually only visited after school and on weekends, are now packed with people.

The place was filled with noise and the aroma of food; you'd think the school was having a celebration.

Karuizawa, Matsushita, and Wang Meiyu wandered aimlessly around here together.

Their group was originally quite large, but because everyone had different interests and hobbies, they split into several smaller groups and scattered outside the food street.

Kushida and several girls seemed to have gone to the movie theater, while the boys mostly went to the arcade and karaoke. Sato and Shinohara, who were originally with them, went to a gift shop, seemingly to buy some gifts for someone.

After they dispersed, Karuizawa realized that only Matsushita and Wang Meiyu were left by her side. The group was quite strange. Karuizawa was originally the leader of her own group, but after Horikita Suzune took power, those opportunists sided with Horikita without hesitation, which made her much quieter. Wang Meiyu was originally a member of Kushida's group. Because she supported Amane when she took sides, Ichihashi Ruri was expelled from school, so she was ostracized. Matsushita was a member of Shinohara's group, but because Matsushita's personality had changed a lot recently, she didn't get along with them anymore, which led to her being gradually marginalized as well.

So, by a twist of fate, people from three different groups ended up coming together.

"I didn't expect it to be so lively at school; it's no different from being outside!"

Karuizawa took a bite of the crepe in his hand and said to the two people next to him.

"It's really not much different from the outside, but you'll probably only see this lively scene for about a month. It'll be much quieter here after the holiday ends."

Matsushita, holding the takoyaki he bought, looked around as if searching for delicious treats hidden among the crowd.

"Look! There seems to be a competitive eating contest over there!"

Wang Meiyu pointed to the signboard next to her and exclaimed in surprise.

Eating contests are extremely rare in schools. They were popular for a while, but ever since someone swept them up, no business here has dared to hold such contests again. I never expected to see one today, it's quite a rare sight.

"Shall we go take a look over there?"

Wang Meiyu looked at the two expectantly, and Karuizawa and Matsushita exchanged a glance and readily agreed.

Since we were just browsing around and didn't have any particular purpose, and Xiaomei wanted to watch a competitive eating contest, we decided to go watch it together.

When the three arrived at the sign, they found that the crowd was so large that it was almost impossible to squeeze in; it seemed that everyone had been drawn there by the competition.

Karuizawa glanced at the competition rules next to him and immediately widened his eyes.

"Hey, this restaurant actually lets the winner eat here for free until graduation! Are these restaurants really going this far to make a name for themselves?"

Karuizawa looked at the reward marked in red with disbelief.

It's worth noting that the winner could undoubtedly be someone with an enormous appetite; if it happens to be a freshman, they might have to cover three years' worth of phone bills, which would be quite a hefty price to pay.

"That's really true... Won't the shop lose money like this?"

Wang Meiyu also curiously examined the competition rules.

Only Matsushita noticed the trick.

"How could the restaurant be so kind? Look here! Each batch of winners gets their meals fully covered, plus a week's worth of unlimited meals vouchers. Only the challenger who finishes twenty bowls of ramen and wins can eat for free until graduation!"

Both of them gave a wry smile after looking at where Matsushita was pointing.

"I told you there was no way such a good thing could happen."