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

Instead of quickly stripping Karuizawa bare as Horikita had predicted, Amane simply teased Karuizawa by tickling him.

However, the place where Amane was scratching was a place that even friends couldn't touch, and although Karuizawa kept shouting for help, her body didn't subconsciously react at all.

If this isn't a pretense, then they've probably completely let their guard down against Tianyin.

Does this mean that Amane has already tamed Karuizawa?

With questions in mind, Horikita walked up behind Amane and gently kicked the happy Amane. Just as Amane was about to give Karuizawa a tickling kick in return, she felt as if someone had kicked her butt.

I'm craving potato chips.

"Hey? Rin, you finally figured it out? I told you a long time ago that potato chips aren't junk food! Wait here, I'll go get them for you right now."

When Amane heard Horikita say she wanted to eat potato chips, she immediately grabbed a huge pile of colorful potato chips from the table and piled them up in front of Horikita like a treasure.

"I want to eat what you went down to buy now."

"But... there are many different flavors here, and it'll be very cold if we go down..."

Looks like someone's going to be sleeping in their little floor nest again tonight.

Horikita sighed regretfully at the air beside him, and Amane's face turned pale instantly. Without saying a word, she started putting on her clothes.

"Rin, wait here, I'm going to buy some potato chips. Please take care of this Megumi for now."

Why am I referring to "each"?

"Don't worry about these little details, I'm heading out now."

"This is no small detail, you bastard!!!"

But the only response to Karuizawa's roar was the sound of a door slamming shut.

Chapter Thirty-Four: I am Tianyin's Pet

After sending Amane away, Horikita first straightened the buttons on her collar. After all, she was going to talk to Karuizawa later, and talking to him like this would inevitably give people a frivolous feeling.

But when she finished dressing, she turned around and found that Karuizawa had also dressed and was sitting by the kotatsu, as if he had anticipated that she had sent Amane away so that he could talk to her alone.

"It seems I still underestimated you, Karuizawa-kun."

Horikita returned to her previous seat and sat down.

Would you like something to drink? Milk or tomato juice?

Upon hearing about these two drinks, Karuizawa's expression immediately became very strange. A normal person... shouldn't serve such things to guests.

However, considering that these were all Amane's favorites, she could understand. But understanding was one thing, but an unknown conversation was about to begin. If she drank milk while dealing with Horikita, it seemed that her momentum would be much weaker.

As for tomato juice...

Spare her. To be honest, she doesn't think anyone other than Tianyin could enjoy this stuff. She only took one sip and spat it out because it was so sour, and she hasn't touched it since.

Moreover, no one else at school had ever seen anyone else drink it, and Karuizawa even began to suspect that this tomato juice might be a special drink made exclusively for Amane.

"Do I have any other options?"

Coffee, barley tea, black tea, water

Horikita Suzune couldn't possibly drink Amane's tomato juice every day, so she also kept other beverages and tea on hand.

"Then barley tea will do."

Horikita nodded, turned around, and placed a bottle of barley tea in front of Karuizawa.

Karuizawa picked up the drink and took a few sips to moisten her throat.

That scoundrel Tianyin made her laugh so hard her throat hurt.

"Can we begin now?"

"Well, I'll go with whatever you want, but I can't guarantee that I can give you a satisfactory answer to every question you ask, Horikita-kun. Is that acceptable to you?"

Karuizawa's gaze is somewhat different from hers in the past. Before, she was like a paper tiger, seemingly aggressive on the outside but actually easily broken.

He was an ordinary person who would show nervousness even in slightly harsh conversations with her.

Even though Horikita could put on an unfriendly expression to put pressure on Karuizawa, Karuizawa acted very naturally.

Her mindset changed dramatically in just a few months... Horikita judged that Karuizawa probably thought that with Amane backing her up, and given the close relationship between Horikita and Amane, even if she made things difficult, she wouldn't ask her questions that she couldn't answer.

In that case...

"Of course I can accept it, but I also need to remind you of something, Karuizawa-kun: as long as you're in this room, Amane must listen to me. This is an agreement between me and her. Even if you and she made some kind of agreement, I can invalidate it with just one word."

Horikita unleashed this powerful blow right from the start.

As expected, Karuizawa's expression immediately wavered.

"Are you kidding me? You mean... as long as you're in this room, you can make any decision for Tianyin?"

Karuizawa, clinging to a last glimmer of hope, made a final confirmation to Horikita Suzune.

"Of course that's how it is. If you don't believe me, you can ask her yourself when she comes back. This is an agreement that we made from the beginning, so don't think that Tianyin's promise will give you a perfunctory answer to my question before I ask it, understand?"

Horikita's assertive stance instantly brought Karuizawa back to reality.

Just as Horikita had guessed, Karuizawa's main trump card in going against Horikita was Amane. No matter how much Horikita disliked her, as long as Amane supported her, Horikita wouldn't dare to do anything too outrageous. But if even Amane had to listen to Horikita, then...

I don't quite understand.

"Ok?"

Karuizawa's answer surprised Horikita.

"First of all, I'd like to ask you a question, Horikita-kun: what are you to Amane?"

"Is there even a question? Of course I am..."

Horikita's words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back down.

Yes, what is she to Tianyin?

Friend? Lover? Or perhaps... a plaything?

They had agreed to go through the confession process, but whether Amane forgot or not, they never finished it. So, in Horikita's view, her and Amane's tacit relationship was that of lovers... but it always felt like something was missing...

Regardless of what Amane was thinking, she had to answer Karuizawa's question as quickly as possible, otherwise the other party would see through her.

"We're the kind of people who are very, very close, you know, you should know what I mean from the fact that we can sleep in the same bed, right?"

Horikita tried to bluff her way out by giving a vague answer, but Karuizawa immediately saw through Horikita's somewhat unnatural expression.

"Horikita-kun, you know what? Besides my face, the only thing I'm confident about is my ability to read people. It might sound like a humble social skill, but it's actually quite useful in certain situations."

Oh no!

She had never heard of Karuizawa, who was always carefree and self-centered, being someone who was good at reading people's expressions. How could someone with her personality be so humble as to read people's expressions? It didn't fit the persona she had created at all... So, did she really find a loophole, or... was Karuizawa just bluffing her?

"So, Karuizawa-san, did you figure something out?"

Karuizawa smiled smugly at Horikita's probing. This was one of the few skills she was proud of, so she couldn't possibly be mistaken.

"I'm afraid the relationship between Horikita-san and Amane isn't clear yet, is it? If that's the case, then what you said before was probably just a way to intimidate me, and I can completely ignore it. But I feel it's necessary to remind Horikita-san that Amane doesn't like people who play tricks or make decisions for her. Even if it's Horikita-san, if you unilaterally break your promise to me, Amane might have to reluctantly agree to break it out of consideration for you, but after that, will Amane still trust you so much and let you do whatever you want? If I remember correctly, she seems to be quite close to Sakayanagi-san from Class A as well."

bump!

Horikita slammed the teacup heavily onto the table.

Are you threatening me?

"Wasn't it you, Horikita-kun, who threatened me first? If you have any questions, you'd better ask them quickly, Amane will be back soon."

After Karuizawa finished speaking, he casually shifted to a more comfortable sitting position. All the respect he had shown for Horikita had vanished without a trace. But since his attempt to intimidate Horikita had failed, he couldn't very well criticize the other party's attitude.

Horikita had no choice but to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"My first question is, are you and Hirata in a fake relationship? Do you want to continue this relationship?"

The first question is what Horikita is most concerned about. She doesn't care if Amane has Karuizawa or something around her, but she can't accept that Amane intervened while Karuizawa and Hirata were still in a relationship. If that were the case, she would not hesitate to take action.

"From the beginning, I entered into this fake relationship with Hirata just so he could protect me. Now, with Amane's protection, Hirata has said I can regain my freedom at any time. However, Amane hasn't made any moves. Perhaps Amane has her own reasons. After all... having a girl who is someone else's girlfriend have to obey her every word might suit some of her fetishes."

Karuizawa's words made Horikita's face darken.

When did Amane develop such... such an obscene fetish? Horikita made up her mind to ask Amane about it when she came back. If Amane's answer didn't satisfy her, she would have to trouble Amane to sleep in the little nest next door from now on.

"I understand the general idea. My second question is, what is your relationship with Tianyin?"

Horikita had only planned to ask one question, but after failing to win the initial verbal battle, she came up with this question that Karuizawa could use to her advantage. She wanted to see how Karuizawa would answer, as she didn't believe that Amane had ever confessed to Karuizawa.

"Is it a master-servant relationship? You can think of me as Tianyin's pet, that's fine too."

"What? You can accept this kind of treatment?"

Horikita was taken aback. He had thought that Karuizawa was just a pawn of Amane, and that she still retained some autonomy, just like Matsushita. But he never expected that Karuizawa would even say something like "pet".

Treated like a pet...

Horikita felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it.

"The pay? I think it's pretty good. Tianyin doesn't have much to do usually, and even if there is, they don't need me. My job is just to keep an eye on the changes in the girls' circle, that's all. I think it's easy, and I get a considerable amount of pocket money every month. I probably won't get such good pay even if I enter the workforce in the future."

Although the term "pet" might sound misleading, if Karuizawa's statement is true, it's possible that Amane's "pet" is being treated as a mascot.

But most importantly...

This guy really is giving other girls pocket money every month!

Are there any other questions?

Karuizawa glanced at the time and asked Horikita.

That's all for now. What are your plans for the future? Are you going to just stay like this until graduation?

"What else can I do? Academically, I'm just a student hovering around the passing mark, not to mention my physical abilities. If I leave Hirata, I'm afraid I'll immediately lose control of the girls' group. If I leave Amane's protection, I don't even dare to think about what kind of torment I'll suffer. Is being taken care of really that shameful? For example, Sato wants Amane to take care of her, but Amane is too lazy to do it."

Upon hearing this, countless black lines immediately appeared on Horikita's forehead. What's wrong with this society? How can people be so proud of being kept?

Click.

The door lock made a crisp sound.

Tianyin entered the room empty-handed and quickly closed the door behind her.

"You guys have been talking for way too long, my hands are freezing, Hui, please warm them up for me..."

"Shouldn't we trouble Horikita-kun with this kind of thing?"

"I just want you to warm my hands!"

"I just can't do anything with you."

Horikita narrowed her eyes as she watched Karuizawa gently breathe on Amane's hand and finally shove Amane's hand into her arms.

Karuizawa probably doesn't just want to be a docile pet.

"Where are the potato chips you bought?"

Horikita deliberately interrupted Amane and Karuizawa's intimate moment.

"Huh? Didn't you deliberately send me away so you could talk to Megumi? You're not really going to eat potato chips, are you?"

As expected, Amane had already seen through Horikita's little scheme.

"Hmph, if you pretend to be stupid in front of me again, I'll..."

"What will you do?"

Tenon let out a wicked chuckle, which infuriated Horikita, who could only glare fiercely at Tenon, who was still enjoying the warmth and softness of her body.

"By the way, Hui, is there something you need from me?"

Upon hearing Amane's question, Karuizawa suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Oh dear! I almost forgot the most important thing! Have you heard the recent rumors?"

rumor?

Amane glanced at Horikita, who pondered for a moment and then shook his head.

Recently, Amane has been staying in bed all the time and hasn't heard any news at all. Horikita is in a similar situation.

Although she is already a class leader, she is not good at socializing, so she has almost no contact with other people after school. As a result, the sources of information she can obtain are even scarcer than Tianyin's.

Seeing the blank expressions on their faces, Karuizawa was quite surprised.

"Seriously? You guys really didn't hear a single thing?"