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

Hmm, this texture feels like Megumi's...

Amane looked up and, as she had guessed, Karuizawa Kei, the de facto leader of the B-class girls' group, had also been invited here. Similarly, Sato was nowhere to be seen.

"What a coincidence, Hui, I didn't expect to see you here. Why is your face so red? Did you soak in the water for too long?"

Amane held Megumi in her arms to cover her body, but Megumi's body temperature seemed unusually high, which Amane found strange.

"Idiot! Your hand..."

Karuizawa pointed to his two hands, which were restlessly repeating actions similar to kneading dough.

Hmm, it looks somewhat familiar?

Oh, it's yours after all. That's alright then.

Amane awkwardly withdrew her hand, and just as Karuizawa was about to break free from Amane's embrace and find a place to sit down again, Amane quickly grabbed her and hugged her back.

"Tianyin, you..."

"Hui, if you move around, I might expose myself."

When Tianyin saw that Hui was still struggling in her arms, she quickly whispered something in her ear.

Karuizawa then remembered that Amane had indeed come in completely naked. If she left now, Amane would be exposed to everyone. But if she just let Amane hug her, it seemed to affect her reputation... Wait, her reputation? Did Karuizawa Megumi even have a reputation?

What Karuizawa was really worried about was that Sakayanagi and Horikita would change their attitude towards her; she was just a poor wretch who had been accidentally dragged into their battle.

However, both Horikita and Sakayanagi glanced at Amane and then simultaneously chose to ignore her.

In their view, as long as Tianyin doesn't have any ambiguous contact with the other party or other girls in public, it's fine.

No matter what intimate things she does with whom, it will become a hot topic among the first-year girls after the party. Some things are fine to do in private, but it is inappropriate to bring them out into the public eye.

Of all the people in front of them, only one person could interact intimately with Tianyin without being gossiped about.

That is Karuizawa Kei. Although Hirata did not deny the rumors that he and Karuizawa were a fake couple, it would be of no use to 'confirm' that the two were a fake couple from the slightest clues until Hirata admitted to the rumors.

Only when one of them breaks the unspoken understanding between them can the fake romantic relationship officially end.

Because of this relationship, even if Amane and Karuizawa have some intimate interactions, no one would doubt that Karuizawa likes girls. After all, he already has Hirata as his girlfriend. Even if it's fake, it shows that Karuizawa prefers boys as romantic partners.

Therefore, any intimate actions between Tianyin and others can be seen as playful banter between girls.

In order to prevent Tianyin from interrupting their conversation, the two of them could only try to find something for Tianyin to do. After thinking it over, they realized that the only way to keep her in line was to distract her with cute girls.

The best candidate is Karuizawa!

This is why, after exchanging glances, they both pushed her towards Karuizawa.

As expected... Amane and Karuizawa started hanging out together. Although it was a bit unpleasant to watch, neither of them wanted Amane to favor either of them.

In other words, given the choice between A and B, the two of them tacitly chose 'or' as their answer.

Seeing that neither of them seemed to care, Karuizawa breathed a sigh of relief. But just as she was about to make a deal with Amane, she felt that her bath towel seemed to be a little loose.

Just as she looked down to check, Tianyin skillfully untied her bath towel and wrapped herself in it as well.

"!!!"

Karuizawa opened her beautiful eyes wide, staring blankly at Amane, who was already in close contact with her.

Tenon skillfully tidied Karuizawa's hair, which had become disheveled from the recent strenuous activity. Halfway through tidying it, Tenon looked at Karuizawa's adorable, rosy-cheeked face and, while he was still in shock, quickly pouted and kissed him on the lips.

Since Amane was facing away from everyone else, and she was almost touching Karuizawa, no one should have seen this scene.

However... this scene was witnessed by Ichinose, who arrived late.

Ichinose was slightly surprised, and her expression showed a hint of disappointment. However, thinking that she would soon be exchanging information with everyone, she knew that her expression would easily be misunderstood. So, Ichinose forced a smile and went to the bath.

"Tianyin, you left too fast. I was going to ask you to wait for me."

The atmosphere in the bathhouse seemed a little off; no one welcomed her arrival, nor did anyone express disgust.

The atmosphere became awkward. To make matters worse, she didn't have a good relationship with the other people here. At most, she only had some connection with Horikita and Sakayanagi, and... Shiina, who was secretly sleeping. But right now, Horikita and Sakayanagi were silently taking a bath with their eyes closed.

Shiina was truly fast asleep with her eyes closed, and it was a girl she had never seen before who was supporting her. Otherwise, Shiina might have sunk to the bottom while soaking in the water.

That's the situation right now. Everyone she knows is unable to talk to her. She represents Class D, so she can't just stand outside the bathhouse forever. What kind of talk is that?

Fortunately, she had a female acquaintance.

Miyako Tenon.

Left with no other choice, she could only try to attract Tianyin's attention by speaking up, even though she didn't really want to bother Tianyin right now.

Amane and Karuizawa seem to have a close relationship... Would it be a bit inappropriate for her to speak up at this time...?

"It's because you're too slow, Honami~"

As Ichinose had predicted, Amane answered.

Horikita and Sakayanagi both opened their eyes at this moment.

"Oh, it's Ichinose-san. What are you doing standing outside the bath? Come in quickly, or you'll freeze. After all, winter has only just ended, and the temperature at night is much lower than during the day."

Sakayanagi warmly invited Ichinose into the bath.

“That’s right, and we’re about to get down to business, so it’s not convenient for you to talk while you’re standing.”

Compared to Sakayanagi's invitation, Horikita's attitude has completely changed.

In an instant, Ichinose understood why she had been treated coldly.

The other classes must already know what happened in their D class. Judging from their attitude at lunch, everyone kept their distance from her, and Shibata and Kanzaki seemed to be deliberately avoiding her among the boys.

However, it did not show any support for Ninomiya.

Simply put, she is currently in a situation similar to being held hostage by Ninomiya. Ninomiya wants to use her prestige to quickly take over Class D, but Shibata, Kanzaki, and the other girls don't know how far Ninomiya can go, so they dare not easily express their opinions or take sides. If Ninomiya makes any contribution to this exam, then without a doubt everyone will turn around and choose to support Ninomiya.

If they fail to achieve their goal this time, Ninomiya will likely be nothing more than a discarded pawn.

So what is their purpose?

Ichinose almost lost control of her expression.

Because she realized the most likely motive: the people in Class D wanted to sacrifice her to erase Class D's negative class points.

The only one capable of doing this... is probably Kiriyama.

If nothing unexpected happens, Kiriyama will definitely contact her and have her bring Amane along...

"Ichinose-kun?"

Her fading thoughts were brought back by Fukuyama beside her.

Ichinose smiled gently, then went into the bath and found a corner to sit down.

The warm water made Ichinose feel an indescribable sense of comfort. Rarely having the opportunity to soak in such a large bath, she moved her body downwards, immersing herself in the water as much as possible to enjoy this rare comfort.

After all, the real test is yet to come for her.

Because of the leak of information about their class, Sakayanagi and Horikita did not take the divided Class D seriously. Their different statements, one as the good cop and the other as the bad cop, were a way of warning and testing her.

If they don't act assertively enough in the future, they might completely exclude Class D from their intelligence-sharing circle.

Ichinose glanced at Amane beside her.

Karuizawa covered her mouth and hid her blushing face on Amane's shoulder, while Amane maintained her smile without showing any emotion.

No one knows what happened between the two of them.

"Phew—I slept so well. Now that everyone's here, shall we get started? If we stay in the water any longer, I might faint."

Shiina, who had been sleeping soundly, was now wide awake and urged the meeting to begin.

Horikita and Sakayanagi exchanged a glance. Horikita gestured for them to proceed, and Sakayanagi, without any hesitation, cleared her throat and began to speak.

"The first day is over, and I'm sure everyone has a general idea of ​​the exam subjects and content by now, right?"

"Zen, 18-kilometer relay race, speech, written exam."

As soon as Arisu Sakayanagi finished speaking, Amane raised her hand high, but Sakayanagi pretended not to see it. Her gaze swept over the faces of the invited girls one by one. Most of them looked like they knew everything, obviously having done their homework. Only Nishino from Class C timidly raised her hand, seemingly wanting to ask a question.

"Um... Sakayanagi-san, may I ask why meditation is called Zen? Or is there something else in the exam besides meditation?"

Faced with Nishino's question, Sakayanagi calmly turned his gaze to the ordinary-looking girl.

The reason she was invited to this gathering was not because she was anything special. In Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes, she was just an ordinary high school girl, nothing more.

But unlike the others, she was the only one in Class C who dared to openly oppose the violent rule of Ryuen.

Yes, she openly rebelled, but Ryuen didn't care. She neither threatened nor intimidated anyone, nor did she use any violent means. However, the people around her were so afraid of being implicated by Nishino that they isolated him.

If a situation like dropping out of school were to occur, Nishino would probably be the first victim to be pushed out.

Sakayanagi's invitation to such a person clearly carried some special meaning.

“Nishino-kun asked a very good question. The scope of the ‘Zen’ exam is very broad. Even whether there is whispering during meditation, whether the movements are correct, and whether one remains quiet when entering or leaving will be included in the deduction of points. That’s why it’s called Zen, not just a simple substitute for meditation.”

"How do you know so much detail, Sakayanagi-san?"

Nishino relentlessly pressed for an answer.

"Of course we should ask the upperclassmen. Everyone else here should have had some contact with the upperclassmen in their group."

Sakayanagi's answer made Nishino blush slightly; her group leader was Sakura.

Sakura was forced to become the group leader by drawing lots, so expecting her to perform better than other group leaders is a bit of a stretch.

However, it's not fair to blame Sakura for not gathering information, because her group was full of problem students, and almost no one listened to Sakura's management. Sakura wasted a lot of energy just trying to get everyone to clean together, but in the end, she still failed. Even if she had thought of such a method, she probably wouldn't have had the energy to implement it.

Even Nishino herself realized the gap between herself and people like Sakayanagi; she hadn't thought of such a simple way to solve the problem.

Nishino's somewhat awkward demeanor had already given Sakayanagi the answer she wanted, and Sakayanagi didn't make things too difficult for Nishino.

Seeing that no one raised any further questions, Sakayanagi continued.

"Since no one has any further questions about 'Zen,' I'll continue. Aside from 'Zen,' the written exam should be relatively easy. As long as you pay attention in class, you should be able to pass... Of course, each class and group has some students who aren't doing well academically. If you're worried about dragging down the whole group, I suggest giving them some extra help. However, according to information, the content learned in the third year is quite different from that in the second year, so you won't get much useful information from them. As for the speech, there will be a special teacher to teach it. Although there are templates for the speech content, it still depends on the individual's performance..."

At this point, Sakayanagi slowly stood up, and the Fukuyama sisters, seeing this, quickly helped him up on either side.

Sakayanagi walked to the center of the group, looked around at all the girls in the bath, and then his expression became slightly serious.

"The most difficult part for us girls was the last event, the 18-kilometer relay race."

Chapter 126: Hope

18km relay race.

Upon first hearing about the distance of 18 kilometers, many girls turned pale, as this is quite different from ordinary running.

The entire 18-kilometer race route and the finish line are located on a steep mountain with an undeveloped standard race track. Just hearing about these conditions makes many people's faces turn pale.

This means that these girls will have to run a long-distance race on these rugged mountain paths. Although it is a relay race, each person will cover a considerable distance.

"According to the rules, the competition will be conducted in a relay format. All members of the group must participate in the relay race, and each person must run at least 1.2 kilometers, which is 1200 meters. I believe everyone can understand the difficulty of this special test, especially since running 1200 meters on a mountain road. Moreover... perhaps because the school believes that not many of us will drop out and that we will definitely be able to form a group of fifteen, the course for this competition is divided according to the principle of 1200 meters per person for fifteen people, which means..."

Sakayanagi paused for a moment, then looked at Horikita beside him. Horikita then crossed his arms and took a few steps forward.

"That means someone in the group will definitely need to run the distance for two people, which is 2.4 kilometers or 2400 meters. This is a task that tests the physical strength and willpower of most girls."

Horikita's slightly serious tone made everyone realize the seriousness of the problem.

If it's only 1.2 kilometers, everyone should be able to run it without much trouble if they try their best. The only difference is the speed. After all, the physical fitness test standard for high school students is 1500 meters for boys and 1000 meters for girls. Such a distance should be as easy as a daily routine for normal high school students.

Although this special test has an extra 200 meters, there is still no time limit. In other words, it's perfectly fine to choose to finish at a leisurely pace, provided that you don't care about your group or the overall group score.

Suddenly asking someone to run 2400 meters is a bit of a challenge. Not only girls, but even among boys, very few can actually finish 2400 meters, except for those in sports clubs.

For ordinary students who haven't had regular exercise, even completing this distance is extremely difficult, let alone running on a mountain road. Reaching the finish line safely is already quite an achievement.

The oppressive atmosphere spread rapidly, and even Karuizawa, sensing the oppressive atmosphere, tried to make Amane behave a little.

However, the oppressive atmosphere was soon broken as some people discovered some problems.

"What if a member of the team can't participate in the relay race? Will they be disqualified?"

Horikita was somewhat surprised that it was Ichinose who asked the question, but she still answered her question.

"No, instead, the distance she needs to run will be distributed among the other members of the group through an equal sharing method. However... there is a rule in the manual that needs special attention, which is that the distance each person runs must be a multiple of 1200. In other words, if someone is absent, then someone in the group must take over the entire distance she missed."

This answer was not unexpected for Ichinose, but she still gradually frowned.

Since both 1200 and 2400 meters are quite a burden for girls, who in the group should run the 2400 meters? Without a doubt, Ichinose, as the group leader, should take on this extra distance. Otherwise, it's unlikely that anyone except Amane would accept sharing the last 1200 meters.

Besides that, there was something else that Ichinose was particularly concerned about—what were Sakayanagi and Horikita planning to do? What benefits would it bring them to explain the rules to everyone in detail?

"Ichinose-san, is there something you don't understand? You don't look too good. You can tell me what's bothering you. Everyone here is an outstanding first-year girl. By pooling our wisdom, I believe we can help you solve your problems and questions."