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

"I'm more worried about them not handling the meat properly, even if it's undercooked, and I end up with some strange illness or diarrhea. Raw sashimi is fine, but beef definitely needs to be fully cooked to feel safe."

Amane's words not only covered for Karuizawa, but also changed Sato's opinion of her.

If an ordinary person said such a thing, they might be ridiculed as someone who can't eat properly or is a country bumpkin. But when these words came from Amane's mouth, they had a different meaning to Sato.

Tianyin has her own unique understanding of food.

This is probably another function of "strength".

However, it seems like my mouth hurts a bit when I eat. Could it be that I kissed too much and my mouth is swollen?

Chapter 90: Are you willing to accept this?

After finishing their meal, Sato and Ayanokouji decided to head straight back to their dorm. The snow was falling heavier and heavier with no sign of stopping, and going shopping in this weather would only be asking for trouble. It was more worthwhile to go back to the dorm and do some things that couples like to do than to be freezing and miserable.

Karuizawa's feelings were very complicated. She was overjoyed to see Sato and Ayanokouji finally part ways with them, but the thought of her terrible date today gave her a headache.

What strange and wonderful things happened today? First, I argued with Sato and my mouth still hurts. Then, I almost lost face while eating together. If it weren't for Amane being there, I would have been laughed at by Sato for this date. But being laughed at is secondary. If she had seen through my lies or pretense, things might have gotten even worse.

However... it shouldn't be worse than today's date. I originally thought that the light snow might stop after they finished watching the movie and having dinner. Even if it didn't stop, confessing your love on a snowy Christmas Eve would still be a pretty romantic thing.

The only thing Karuizawa hadn't anticipated was that the snow was falling harder and harder, which made it impossible to continue the most important step: shopping.

Why do I say shopping is the most important step? The movie was from 11:50 to around 2:00. After dinner, we chatted for a while, and now it's almost 4:00.

Confessions are usually made at night to create a better atmosphere. Karuizawa's original plan was to spend the time shopping until night, and then find a secluded place to confess to Amane.

Now, a sudden heavy snowfall has disrupted her remaining plans. If shopping is canceled, there will be a 'time vacuum' for her date with Tianyin. She can't just sit there staring at Tianyin for hours, can she? That would make her intentions too obvious.

Palette Cafe isn't on the way back to the dorm from here... or rather, there's basically nowhere to linger from here until you get back to the dorm.

But if they can't find anything interesting to do, they'll have no choice but to go back to their dorms, just like Sato.

The moment Amane stepped into the dormitory building, she was no longer alone, a fact that Karuizawa was well aware of.

Unless I can find a place to kill time right now, I have no choice but to confess my feelings now.

The heavy snow lacked the gentleness of the light snow, its coldness fading away any romance.

Although the snow was falling heavier and heavier, there were still pedestrians coming and going around, which was clearly not the secluded and quiet environment that Karuizawa wanted.

In addition, Tianyin's attitude towards her is also very ambiguous...

Karuizawa lacked all three advantages: favorable timing, advantageous location, and harmonious relationships. To say it was extremely unlucky would be an understatement.

Actually, there's an even better solution: Karuizawa should give up confessing. After all, it's impossible for it to snow heavily every day, and it's impossible to bump into Sato every time you go to the movie theater.

As long as you treat today as just another day of fun, there's nothing to be ashamed of or unable to accept.

but……

"I'm still a little unwilling to accept it."

These words still came out of my mouth.

"What are you unhappy about? What did I do that didn't please you?"

Tenon, who was walking ahead, heard Karuizawa's long sigh and couldn't help but stop and turn around to look at the girl with a resentful expression in the heavy snow.

"Today was supposed to be my date with you, Amane, so why did it turn out like this? If it weren't for Sato..."

"If it weren't for her, I don't know when I would have been able to kiss you until my lips hurt."

Upon hearing this, Karuizawa raised her head and looked at Amane.

Life is often filled with many discordant episodes, but there's no use in regretting or being resentful about what's already happened. Since you can't change the outcome, you can only take it in stride, or... try to find the good side of things.

Tianyin's tone was slightly heavy. Her figure became somewhat hazy under the heavy snow. At this moment, Tianyin seemed like an old man who had experienced a long life and had seen through all things in the world.

But after Karuizawa wiped the blur from the corner of her eyes, Amane was still the same Amane. It was impossible for Amane, who was about the same age as her, to have experienced something like a long life.

"Tianyin, it seems like you've been through a lot."

"Hmm...it's not that much."

It was only three years of training and learning that helped her grow, and six years of hellish torture that almost made her lose her humanity.

That's it.

From the moment she stepped into the White House at the age of six, her life became a mess, but looking back, all the pain was nothing more than that.

Tianyin's gaze was clearly meeting hers, yet it seemed as if she were looking in a very distant direction. Teenage girls are most susceptible to people with a story, regardless of gender; mystery is what attracts them the most.

Taking advantage of Amane's momentary lapse in concentration, Karuizawa glanced around and, seeing everyone rushing about, boldly tiptoed and gently tapped Amane's cheek.

The pain in his mouth made Karuizawa instinctively cover it.

Feeling the warmth on her cheek, Amane snapped out of her reverie. Seeing Karuizawa's face flushed red from the cold, she took off her coat and draped it over him.

"It's definitely better to bring an umbrella. Where should we go next?"

More than where Karuizawa was going, what Amane was more concerned about was that she might freeze to death in her current state.

"How about... we go back to the dorm? It's snowing so heavily right now, Tianyin, you might catch a cold like this."

Karuizawa clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to put on a smile that appeared to be normal.

Let's end our date here.

As expected, Tenon had already promised to protect her, so she shouldn't expect more from Tenon. Besides, her behavior... was no different from forcibly taking a share from Horikita and Sakayanagi. In Jing Shengze's opinion, she was somewhat shameless.

Moreover, if Tianyin didn't have those feelings for her, her confession would undoubtedly cause their relationship to plummet to rock bottom.

Aside from keeping her promise, Tianyin probably won't have any further contact with her, right? After all... Tianyin doesn't like those guys who act recklessly just because they have a little bit of cleverness.

Amane didn't reply to Karuizawa immediately. She just looked up at the sky. In just a few minutes, Amane's hair and shoulders turned completely white.

Tenon exhaled a breath of warm air and reached out to affectionately ruffle Karuizawa's hair.

"Are you really willing to go back like this?"

Chapter 91: The Love Letter

"Huh?"

Karuizawa couldn't help but let out a surprised sound.

However, she immediately regained her normal expression; she didn't want Tianyin to see anything from her.

"I'm unwilling, but there's nothing I can do. My date was ruined by that guy Sato, so I just have to accept my fate."

Karuizawa's shrug and helpless expression might fool many people, but they couldn't fool Amane's eyes.

"I wasn't talking about anything related to Sato."

Amane took Karuizawa's hand and gently pried open her small fist one finger at a time. The clearly visible nail marks on her palm showed just how determined Karuizawa had been to end the date.

"..."

Karuizawa turned her face away. She didn't want to complain to Amane about how wronged she felt today, nor did she want Amane to know how unwilling Amane was to end what might be the most important day for her at this school, and she didn't want Amane to see her cheap tears.

Tianyin owes her nothing, and she has no right to ask for anything.

"Idiot, all you want to do is confess to me, is it really necessary to cry so hard?"

Amane took out a warm handkerchief from her bosom and wiped away Karuizawa's tears.

"I... I didn't cry!"

Karuizawa frantically reached out to touch her face, only to find that she had already turned into a tearful mess without even realizing it.

Warm tears streamed down her face, yet she felt no warmth from them.

Honestly, it's just that the snow was too heavy and there was no good place to confess to her, is it really necessary to cry like this?

Just as Karuizawa was feeling ashamed of his poor performance, he suddenly remembered what Amane had just said.

Her eyes, which had been slightly teary, suddenly widened.

"How...how did you know I wanted to..."

"..."

Amane, rather speechless, took out her phone and pulled out her chat history with Karuizawa. Karuizawa had informed Amane of her schedule a day in advance, but she had copied it directly from her notes and forgot to delete the last sentence.

"Finally, confess to Amane on Christmas Eve, and hopefully get a goodnight kiss."

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Karuizawa clutched his head, his face flushed red, and let out a scream.

"Wait, that's not how it is. Let me explain!"

"So, Hui, weren't you going to confess your feelings to me?"

"No, that's not it! Today I'm going to... Waaaaah, someone help me!!!"

Karuizawa was in complete confusion. It turned out that Amane already knew she was going to confess, and she was still being suspicious... No, no, no, now is not the time to think about such things. How should she end this?

Seeing Karuizawa's eyes practically darting around, Amane smiled. She really had no way to deal with this careless idiot.

"Yes! I admit it! I'm here today to confess my feelings to you!"

Karuizawa suddenly became aggressive and started rummaging through her bag, then shoved the carefully prepared confession letter into Amane's hand.

Tenon looked at the letter in her hand, then at Karuizawa, and couldn't help but sigh.

Karuizawa, who was cautiously peeking at Amane, heard Amane's sigh and his heart sank instantly.

"It's okay, I'm very strong..."

Amane glanced at Karuizawa speechlessly. If he could wipe away his tears before saying such things next time, she might believe him a little more.

But the issue now isn't whether she's strong or not, but rather...

"Can I ask you a question, Hui?"

"I do"

"Um???"

"Huh? Isn't that right? Then it's... I like it! This time it's correct, isn't it?"

Looking at Karuizawa's hopeful eyes, Amane couldn't bear to shatter her illusions, but the question she wanted to ask wasn't the kind of question one would ask at a wedding.

"What I want to ask is... this is a love letter, right?"

Karuizawa blinked her big eyes, then nodded obediently with a hint of doubt.

"Fine, then why did you send me a love letter in front of me?"

Tenon's question completely shut down Karuizawa's brain.

Yeah, she was already in front of Tianyin, so why did she give him a love letter?

"But... but that's how it's always shown in anime and TV dramas. First, you give the other person a love letter, and then you confess your feelings..."

"A love letter is for asking someone out. I'm right in front of you, what kind of love letter are you giving me? There's an idiot here!"

Tenon gently pinched Karui Sawa's slightly hot cheek.

"what?"

Judging from Karuizawa's completely dumbfounded expression, she was basically certain that Karuizawa's problem wasn't a lack of dating experience.

Amane planned to play a trick on Karuizawa, whose reaction was so adorable.

"Since you've already written a love letter, it would be a waste not to read it. How about you read it to me from the contents of the love letter, Hui?"

Amane whispered in Karuizawa's ear.

"Huh? I've never heard of having to do something like this to confess your love!"

"I've never seen a girl stand right in front of me and still want to give me a love letter."

Tianyin shrugged.

What Tianyin said seems to make a lot of sense.

Karuizawa's expression suddenly became quite interesting, as if he was hesitating about something, but in the end, he seemed to have made up his mind.

Do you really want to hear me read it?

"I want to hear Hui read my love letter to me in person."

Amane's voice was so gentle it could melt anyone's heart, and Karuizawa felt a tingling sensation as he took the confession letter with an embarrassed smile.

"Could we go somewhere less crowded? I'm having trouble speaking up here... Please?"