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

The moment the two groups parted, Amane suddenly sped up, carrying Sakayanagi as she ran toward the elevator.

"Wait, you're so fast! What happened?... Okay, it's nothing."

Sakayanagi immediately knew what this guy had done when he saw Amane's cheeks still agape as she kept refusing.

Sure enough, a scream came from afar first.

Then I saw Ibuki rushing towards Amane with her umbrella in hand.

"You bastard, Amane! Give me back my takoyaki!!!"

Upon hearing this, Tenon increased her speed even further, dashing into the elevator in a flash. However, Ibuki was not slow either. Just as Ibuki was about to follow into the elevator, Sakayanagi suddenly stood up and pressed the button to close the elevator door.

The two breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator doors closed.

"Honestly, why do we always run into such dangerous things every time we go out together?"

Sakayanagi was surprised that Amane would secretly eat takoyaki in front of others. Amane simply made a victory sign and pressed the floor button.

As the elevator slowly moved upwards, Sakayanagi seemed to want to say something, but then, as if thinking of something interesting, he didn't remind Amane.

And so, Amane carried Sakayanagi to the room door and rang the doorbell.

"Rin-ne, I'm home~"

"Wait a mininute"

Upon hearing Horikita's voice, Amane, who was standing outside the door, hugged Sakayanagi even tighter, as if afraid she would fall.

After confirming that Horikita was walking towards the door, Sakayanagi finally revealed a triumphant smile.

"Amane, are you really planning to carry me like this to meet Horikita-kun?"

"……broken!!!"

P.S.: I'm so sorry!! I might have to take the day off tomorrow. I'm not feeling well today, and I plan to rest and recover. Thank you all for your continued support!!

Chapter 96: The Mistress

Hearing footsteps approaching from inside the room, Amane quickly picked up Sakayanagi and tried to make a quick getaway. Unfortunately, Amane was too slow. Horikita, who opened the door, looked at Amane, who was about to slip away, and Sakayanagi in her arms with some surprise.

Where are you planning to go?

"Um... Rinne, let me explain..."

"In this situation, there's no point in trying to explain, right?"

Just as Sakayanagi finished speaking, Amane's hand ripped shut over his mouth.

If Horikita knew what happened tonight, she would definitely give him a good beating.

Horikita leaned against the gate, his gaze sweeping over Sakayanagi, who was struggling in Amane's arms, before turning to Amane with interest.

She was curious to hear how Tianyin planned to explain the current situation.

"Today I went to see a movie with Hui..."

Horikita didn't seem surprised by this start, because Amane had informed her before leaving. If she were going out with other people, Horikita was a little worried that this idiot would be lured away by a cute girl.

However, if the other party is Karuizawa, Horikita feels there is no need to worry at all. Judging from her usual observations of Karuizawa's behavior, although she presents herself as a strong girl who is self-centered, she is actually a weak person who can even be described as timid. Not only does she often lack her own opinions, but she also gets helpless when she encounters something unexpected and then comes to her or Amane for advice.

A girl like that, let alone being able to steal Amane away, Horikita even doubts whether Karuizawa would have the courage to challenge her.

In Horikita's view, Karuizawa was at most being taken advantage of by Amane, and it was almost impossible for things to develop further. So, it wasn't a big deal for Horikita that Amane and Karuizawa went out to play. It was still within acceptable limits. However, there must be some reason for Sakayanagi's appearance.

"During that time, I ran into Sato and Ayanokoji. We watched a movie together and had dinner at a Western restaurant. After dinner, they said they had to go back to their dorms first, so we parted ways. While Megumi and I were taking a walk to digest our food, we found Arisu who had accidentally sprained her ankle..."

Horikita nodded. Amane's acting skills were still on point, or rather, Amane was probably the person she had seen with the best control over facial expressions. Moreover, just being able to control facial expressions would at most make one a master of expression management, but Amane could vividly portray lies as if they were true.

If anyone else had said the same thing to Amane, Horikita might have believed it, but since it was Amane who said it, the veracity of the statement is highly questionable.

So the question is, what information did Tianyin deliberately conceal in her words?

First of all, it's unlikely that she and Megumi went to the movies and had dinner together, since she brought up witnesses like Sato and Ayanokouji. All it would take to subtly inquire about them would reveal the truth. There's absolutely no need for Tenne to tell such an easily exposed lie.

Of course, it's not impossible that things might be hidden from view. With Tianyin's clever mind, she might have calculated that she wouldn't lie about such a thing and deliberately concealed it. That's still a possibility.

Then, together with Kei, they found Sakayanagi, who had sprained his ankle.

This statement is undoubtedly the most false one. Since Amane mentioned that Sato and Ayanokouji were going to return to the dormitory first, Amane did not choose to come back with them, which clearly indicates that she planned to be alone with Karuizawa.

So Tianyin used the excuse of taking a walk to digest her food, probably because she wanted to return without being in such a hurry and took a longer route.

Here's the problem: Sakayanagi sprained her ankle but didn't get out of trouble until she met Amane. Why would Sakayanagi go to such a remote place alone? Would she really forget her phone when she went out? Also... Sakayanagi's clothes were wet, just like Amane's, which means that the two of them had been outside for quite some time.

If Sakayanagi got soaked because she was trapped, then why did Nane and Karuizawa stay outside for so long in the snowy weather...?

Horikita had a bad feeling, but she didn't expose Amane's lie directly. After all, Sakayanagi was still there, and she didn't want to behave inappropriately in front of Sakayanagi and give him an opening.

"In that case, why don't you let Sakayanagi-san come in and rest? Since you're already here, you're a guest. If I don't even offer you a cup of tea, people will say I don't know how to treat guests."

After Horikita finished speaking, he opened the door and gestured for Amane to bring Sakayanagi into the room.

Amane mistakenly thought that Horikita believed her story, and happily hugged Sakayanagi and rushed into the house, completely unaware of the hint of fear in Sakayanagi's eyes.

They said they wanted her to come in and rest, but their words implied that she was a guest.

So who is the master?

Without a doubt, Horikita is the rightful owner of this room. If Horikita were the only one living here, it would be understandable for her to act this way. However, since she and Amane are currently living in this room together, Horikita is treating guests as the hostess. It is clear that she intends to give her a hard time and make her realize her place, so that she will not have any improper thoughts about Amane.

She had met Horikita a few times before, but she had never felt such strong hostility from her before, which made Sakayanagi act carelessly.

Only those with heavenly voices would not understand these things.

Upon entering the room, both Tianyun and Banliu wore expressions of comfort. The temperature inside was very pleasant, a stark contrast to the freezing cold outside, making it feel like two completely different worlds.

Horikita poured a cup of hot tea for both of them. Just as Sakayanagi was about to take a sip to warm himself up, he saw Amane's body suddenly twitch.

"Tianyin, what's wrong?"

"No, I'm fine... I just accidentally got burned."

Amane said she was burned by the tea, but her expression told Sakayanagi that it was more than just a simple burn.

Sakayanagi's nose twitched as she smelled a faint trace of wasabi in Amane's mouth. In addition, the color of her tea was noticeably darker, indicating that Horikita had tampered with Amane's tea when she was brewing it.

Why would Horikita play such a pointless prank?

Sakayanagi narrowed his eyes and exchanged a glance with Horikita, who had a calm expression on his face.

It seems that Amane's lie has been exposed; she knew that such a lie could not fool Horikita.

However, Horikita's move, which seemed to be punishing Amane for lying, was actually a performance for Sakayanagi. Even if Amane was bullied by her here, she could only obediently submit to being manipulated.

How interesting. In Sakayanagi's memory, it seems that apart from Kiryuin, he hasn't encountered such a challenging person in a long time.

Since she wanted to have a competition... then she would like to experience Horikita's skills firsthand.

Chapter 97: The First Battle of the Heavenly Sound Competition

"How despicable! I never imagined that Sakayanagi was an accomplice!"

Ibuki complained indignantly, having just witnessed Sakayanagi helping to close the door.

She was just one second away from bringing Tianyin, the guy who stole her takoyaki, to justice.

But she got away, which made her very angry. She wanted to kick the elevator door a few times to vent her anger, but she was worried that the security camera at the elevator entrance would capture it, so she had no choice but to give up.

"Alright, alright, I'll go shopping with you again, okay?"

Shiina's attempts to comfort Ibuki instead failed to appease her anger; instead, they made Ibuki realize the existence of Shiina as an accomplice.

"Why didn't you stop her when she was stealing takoyaki? We lined up for ages to buy those!"

Shiina could only manage a wry smile as he listened to Ibuki's complaints.

"I saw that Tianyin looked really hungry, so I couldn't resist feeding her one, and then I just kept feeding her..."

I have to say that feeding Tianyin is a pretty enjoyable thing.

Upon hearing that Shiina had participated in the feeding, Ibuki became even angrier.

It's so unfair that Shiina didn't invite her to such a fun event!!!

"Ah! Ahh!"

After sneezing twice in a row, Tianyin couldn't help but rub her nose.

"Someone must be talking badly about me behind my back."

"In my opinion, Tianyin, you clearly have a cold. Here, drink some hot tea to warm yourself up."

Horikita smiled as he brought the hot tea to Amane's lips, revealing a knowing smile between them.

Seeing this, Tianyin could only take the hot tea, close her eyes, and take another big gulp.

The spicy sensation surged through her mouth, and Tianyin felt as if her head was about to ascend to heaven.

"Amane, your expression is really strange. Is the tea that Horikita-kun brewed really that bad?"

Sakayanagi thoughtfully took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the corner of Amane's mouth, looking every bit the virtuous wife and loving mother. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Horikita with a hint of provocation.

"I'm quite confident in my skills. Maybe Amane is just being silly. Sakayanagi-san, didn't you just drink some tea too?"

Sakayanagi did take a sip of tea just now. Although Horikita's tea-brewing skills were quite average, the tea was excellent. Just a light sniff revealed the rich aroma of the tea leaves. Even now, the aftertaste of that small sip is still sweet and the aroma of the tea leaves lingers in my mouth.

So, to be honest, the tea was absolutely perfect, which made Sakayanagi's behavior seem a bit deliberate.

"But the color of Amane's tea is significantly darker than mine. Did Horikita add something extra that Amane can't get used to it?"

Instead of directly pointing out that Horikita had added wasabi, Sakayanagi hinted at something else to remind Horikita that she had noticed something unusual in the tea.

However, Horikita clearly knew that it was only a matter of time before Sakayanagi would discover the anomaly in the tea, and had made ample preparations.

"Perhaps it's because you and Amane have been separated for too long, and you don't know that Amane's taste has changed. She just likes to drink stronger tea, so the tea looks darker. Amane, am I right?"

Horikita looked at Amane with a slight smile. Under Horikita's gaze, Amane could only nod rapidly like a chick pecking at rice.

Seeing that Horikita was so shameless, Sakayanagi's expression darkened slightly, but he quickly regained his smile.

"I didn't expect your taste to have changed so much, Tianyin. I remember you used to give up tea and start drinking milk. How come you suddenly like tea again? And strong tea at that. I'd like to take this opportunity to learn about your tea preferences, Tianyin."

After saying that, Sakayanagi picked up the tea in front of him and took a big gulp, much to Horikita's surprise.

Instantly, the pungent and spicy taste of wasabi began to spread wildly in all directions from the mouth. Sakayanagi, who had never experienced such a feeling before, was choked and tears streamed down his face.

"Cough cough cough cough, this tea, cough cough cough, it's so spicy... cough cough cough..."

"Arisu, are you alright? Suzune, quickly get a drink."

The kettle in front of her contained boiling water, which was impossible to drink in a short time. Moreover, the wasabi flavor would spread even more quickly after it came into contact with water, which must have been extremely uncomfortable for Sakayanagi given her physical condition.

Upon hearing this, Horikita quickly grabbed a can of tomato juice that Amane often drank and tossed it to Amane.

Although there are many other kinds of drinks, they are all stored in the refrigerator, so it is obviously not appropriate to give Sakayanagi a cold drink at this time.

The only exception was tomato juice, which Tianyin bought too much of and couldn't finish. After filling the refrigerator, the excess was stored at room temperature.

The temperature in Horikita's room wasn't low, so it was just right. After getting the tomato juice, Amane couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She remembered that Sakayanagi Ban disliked the taste of tomato juice, but at this moment, she obviously couldn't care less about whether she liked it or not.

After giving Sakayanagi two cans of tomato juice, he barely stopped coughing and collapsed weakly into Amane's arms.

"Arisu, are you an idiot? If you think there's something wrong with the tea, then don't drink it! Why are you acting like an idiot today, Arisu?"

Tenon gently tapped Sakayanagi's head with the back of her finger.

"I didn't know Horikita would put wasabi in the tea. You didn't seem to be having any problems drinking it, so I was careless."

Sakayanagi coughed twice and moved a little closer to Amane. Upon seeing this, Amane instinctively pulled her onto her lap and sat her down, then held her in her arms.

She used to often hug Sakayanagi like this, watching those boring TV dramas with Kiryuin.

In the end, it was often Kiryuin who cried his eyes out and used up three boxes of tissues. Then, when he looked back, he would see that Amane and Sakayanagi were already fast asleep, and he would fly into a rage. So, when Amane was with Sakayanagi, he would always unconsciously want to hug her. It had become a habit.

Seeing the two's intimate actions, Horikita couldn't help but clench her hands secretly on her knees.

She has now become the villain who almost got into trouble with Sakayanagi. She originally just wanted to bully Amane, but she didn't expect Sakayanagi to use her to successfully turn the tables on her.

Despite being on her home turf, Horikita felt a sense of powerlessness. She had thought she had taken Sakayanagi seriously enough, but now it seemed she had been careless.

Knowing full well that she couldn't stand the spiciness of wasabi, she deliberately drank the tea, using a self-inflicted injury to elicit Tianyin's sympathy... and lost so miserably in their first encounter.

Horikita could hardly imagine whether she would have a chance to win if she were on Sakayanagi's home turf. Probably... even if she had a chance to win, Sakayanagi wouldn't give her that chance.

Chapter 98: Did you accept her confession?

Sakayanagi, who was enjoying Amane's attentive protection, noticed that Horikita's expression was very unpleasant, and couldn't help but feel a little relieved.