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

Sakayanagi noticed the change in Ichinose's expression and took the initiative to ask her a question. Instantly, everyone's attention was focused on Ichinose. Ichinose, who originally did not want to attract too much attention, could only bite the bullet and ask the question that puzzled her.

"I'm curious about something. Although this special exam is based on the group average, there should be competition between the first-year girls' groups. Why are Sakayanagi and Horikita so eager to help everyone? I don't think you can gain anything by helping everyone."

Ichinose asked the question that had raised doubts among many people. Late at night, Sakayanagi and Horikita had called everyone to this place to analyze and explain the things to pay attention to in the final exam. This was undoubtedly quite beneficial for those group leaders who were less capable.

But everyone knows that they are also competitors, so what is the purpose of Sakayanagi and Horikita in making the exam content and key points public?

"It's very simple. I don't want any more first-year girls to drop out of school. What do you think of my reason?"

Sakayanagi smiled smugly.

This is a perfect answer. Everyone knows it's fake, but no one has the right to deny it. The other party did share very important information with them, and even if they wanted to prevent them from dropping out of school, it would be somewhat plausible.

As for the real reason, only the few people involved probably know.

"I can accept that reason, but... I didn't expect Sakayanagi-san to be such a caring girl."

Ichinose's words revealed her distrust of Sakayanagi, but Sakayanagi remained unmoved, clearly not intending to tell Ichinose the reason behind her actions.

As the beneficiary, Ichinose felt it inappropriate to press the matter further, and the conversation thus came to an end.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Shiina shifted the topic to everyone's daily lives, which livened up the atmosphere. She started complaining about the facilities and food, as well as the various things she felt uncomfortable doing at the forest school for the first time.

The meeting lasted until 8 o'clock before it finally ended. After the meeting, neither Sakayanagi nor Horikita had any intention of communicating with Amane, as if they had already discussed some things.

Amane didn't press the matter, but instead accompanied Ichinose back to the dormitory.

"Tianyin, do you think... our group will really be safe and sound?"

On their way back, Ichinose suddenly asked this question.

Ichinose's question was quite interesting; she asked whether the group would be safe and sound.

"It's impossible for them to be safe and sound. In fact, I'd rather they cause some trouble."

Tianyin's cold words made one feel uneasy in the quiet night.

Ichinose instinctively shrank back, and Amane casually draped her own tracksuit over Ichinose's shoulders.

Ichinose wanted to explain that she wasn't feeling cold, but feeling the warmth from the clothes, she swallowed her words and instead tugged at the garment to make Amane's tracksuit fit her better.

After doing all this, Ichinose began to think about what Amane meant. Amane seemed to be dissatisfied with Ninomiya's current situation and even hoped that Ninomiya could make a move earlier. But even she knew that during this special exam period, if someone wanted to cause trouble, it was best to strike first. It would be very difficult to make any small moves later.

For example, in this special exam, three out of the four sections—'Zen,' 'written exam,' and 'speech contest'—require individual performance and are highly focused on personal behavior. It would be virtually impossible for Ninomiya to manipulate these three exams. If she wanted to get Ichinose expelled by performing poorly, she would have to act extremely badly along with the others, and there's a possibility that the school would deem her worthless and expel them all.

So the only option is to tamper with the 18km relay race, where accidents are most likely to happen.

Ninomiya's purpose is basically obvious: to get Ichinose to drop out of school so as to make a deal with Kiriyama.

The deal is most likely to wipe out Class D's negative class points, and Ninomiya is using Ichinose's sympathy to gamble that Ichinose will not choose to take her away. Even if Ichinose insists that she drop out of school, Kiriyama probably has a backup plan.

Meanwhile, Kiriyama will gain immense prestige. He expelled a class leader right off the bat, and in a decisive way. Such ruthless methods are enough to intimidate those second-year students who are unwilling to accept him as student council president. Who knows if Kiriyama will pull such a stunt on them when they are about to graduate.

Afterwards, Ninomiya will become the new leader of Class D, while Kiriyama will firmly establish himself as the student council president and completely replace Nagumo as the leader of the second year.

Everything seemed so perfect.

Aside from Ichinose, who was expelled from school.

Now, thanks to Amane's analysis, their positions have changed. Ninomiya is now in the open, while she and Amane are watching Ninomiya's performance from the shadows.

Why is it that Amane, who knows that Ninomiya will not bet everything on the relay race, is so eager to fight Ninomiya?

"I think dragging this out might be more advantageous for us. Tianyin, what are your plans?"

Even when betrayed, Ichinose's coping strategy remained passive defense, believing that as long as she didn't make any mistakes, she could wait until the special exam was over.

In Tianyin's view, such thinking was simply too naive and simple-minded. The other party was about to expel her from school, so what was the point of talking about tolerance? Little did she know that being tolerant of others was being cruel to herself.

"Fanbo, you have to understand that a dog that bites doesn't bark. Compared to what she's plotting in the dark, a battle that's out in the open is definitely more reassuring."

Amane patted Ichinose's head, and when Ichinose realized Amane was patting her head, she quickly dodged a few steps to the side.

"Seriously, don't touch a girl's head like that, or she won't grow tall."

"But you weren't tall to begin with, Fanbo."

"Then I need to grow taller even more! Anyway, Tianyin, you're not allowed to touch my head!!!"

Ichinose, hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks in a very cute way and protested to Amane.

"Yes, Your Highness. May I go back to sleep with you now? We need to get up early to cook tomorrow."

Amane took a half step back, gave a knightly salute, and extended her hand to Ichinose.

Looking at the hand that Amane extended, Ichinose was slightly stunned. After hesitating for a moment, she placed her small hand in Amane's palm.

The next second, my hand was enveloped by a warm palm, and then that strong hand led me towards the dormitory ahead.

Under the moonlight, Ichinose would occasionally steal glances at Amane's profile. Her face, which usually only showed a slightly silly and charming smile, now looked exceptionally attractive from the side, and she even began to make no attempt to hide her dependent gaze.

In such an environment, the only person I could trust was Tianyin.

Is there something on my face?

Tianyin curiously touched her cheek.

"No, I was just lost in thought. Speaking of which, why did you help me, Tenon? It's not a worthwhile thing for you to be hostile to Kiriyama and the president.

If you look at it purely from a self-interest perspective, no matter how good the relationship is, no one would come to help Ichinose.

The reason is quite simple: Ichinose's move has reached a dead end. If Kiriyama were replaced by Amane, she could have done even better, completely depriving Ichinose of any chance to resist.

The situation is worlds apart from the current one, where although a great price must be paid, there is still hope of turning defeat into victory.

Even disregarding all that, it would be extremely unwise to clash with the student council president over an ordinary high school girl. Even if Ichinose emerges unscathed from this incident, she is unlikely to regain her position as the leader of Class D. On one hand, everyone's attitude is ambiguous, and they are only reluctant to mention it to Ichinose because of her popularity. On the other hand, even if Ichinose becomes the class leader again, she will not be able to cooperate with Class B as before.

In such a situation, who would be willing to pay a huge price to save someone who has lost their value, or who might even be an enemy, without asking for anything in return?

This is also why Ichinose fell into despair after realizing that she had become Kiriyama's target for making an example of someone.

In her mind, even Tianyin would probably not choose to help her because of the competition in the class.

But the truth is that only Tianyin was willing to stand with her.

Even if doing so is pointless.

"What if I said I simply wanted Honami Ichinose to stay?"

Tianyin finally gave an answer so pure it was unbelievable.

"Come on, I'm not one of those clueless girls. Your sweet talk won't fool me, and besides... I saw you and Karuizawa... I'm actually not as important to you as Karuizawa, am I?"

Ichinose dared not hope that anyone would genuinely want to save her. She feared that this fairytale-like scenario would one day crumble with reality, so she preferred not to believe it was true from the start.

But whenever she recalled the scene she witnessed Amane stealing a kiss from Karuizawa, she felt a strange emptiness in her heart.

Why is this?

Chapter 127: Who is more important, me or her?

Honami Ichinose raised a fatal question that could be described as a century-old problem.

Who held a more important place in Amane's heart, her or Karuizawa Megumi?

This is a problem that would give anyone a headache. The last time Tianyin heard a question like this was the last time.

Ahem, in other words, Sakayanagi asked her who was more important, her or Horikita, and Amane successfully chose "I want them both" from the two answers, A and B!

Then he was ruthlessly suppressed by Sakayanagi. Um, Amane is below.

Having learned from her previous experience, Amane should have been able to give Ichinose a more satisfactory answer, but Amane's response was...

"For me, immediate benefits are more important."

She chose the worst answer to the fatal question. No, perhaps it was the right answer for Amane, but standing in front of Amane at that moment was Ichinose.

In fact, whether it's dodging the question, changing the subject, or even saying against one's conscience that Ichinose is more important, the effect would be far more acceptable to Ichinose than such an answer.

Even if Ichinose herself knew that Amane was lying, she should still be happy about it, because Amane values ​​her relationship the most.

But... Amane's answer was that Karuizawa Megumi was more important.

Ichinose was stunned for a moment, then smiled with relief. She had expected this answer, but when she heard the heartbreaking answer from Amane, Ichinose still wavered.

That's right, Tianyin wanted her to stay.

However, this might be because Amane doesn't want to lose an acquaintance, or perhaps Amane wants to stand up against President Kiriyama and thus wants to thwart his plans and damage his prestige...

In short... anything is possible.

But it could never be because 'he likes Ichinose Honami'.

Ichinose gently shook her head, trying to clear her chaotic mind. She was a coward who couldn't even respond to Amane, so what right did she have to ask Amane to say something like "I like you"?

"Oh dear, Amane, you're so silly! Shouldn't you be saying, 'Of course, Ichinose Honami, you're more important'? Other girls would get angry if you talked like that~"

Ichinose deliberately made an exaggerated expression, trying to show that he didn't take Amane's answer to heart at all, and that his question was just to tease Amane.

but……

The eyes do not lie.

Ichinose's disappointment was palpable.

Amane didn't agree with Ichinose, and just quietly watched her. Gradually, Ichinose also stopped smiling.

"I'm sorry, it was my fault for asking a question that made you feel awkward, Tianyin."

"No, this question doesn't bother me. If you just want to know who is the most important to me right now, you or Megumi, then without a doubt it's Megumi. I won't lie about something so important, so if anyone should apologize, it should be me."

Amane's answer completely shattered Ichinose's last hope. She knew that no matter how many times she asked, the answer would probably not change. However, although she was somewhat disappointed, Ichinose also realized that Amane did not choose to save her because of 'liking' her, which greatly relieved Ichinose's pressure.

At least she wouldn't have to think every day about how to respond to Tianyin's 'liking' if she were really saved.

"If we continue like this, we'll probably still be in trouble by tomorrow. Let's just end this here. Just pretend I never asked that question. Tianyin, don't blame yourself too much. As for what happens next, I'll just leave it to you. Haha... I'm getting a little sleepy from taking a bath."

Ichinose yawned and rubbed his eyes. After returning the clothes to Amane, he walked towards the dormitory alone.

Only Amane remained in place, quietly watching Ichinose leave.

If they caught up now, they might still be able to salvage something, but Tianyin didn't have that idea, because she was staying here for other reasons.

"The dorms will be closing soon, Hui, how long are you planning to hide?"

Tianyin turned around and asked a question to a thick tree not far away.

Karuizawa, realizing he had been discovered, had no choice but to emerge from behind the tree.

Karuizawa was holding a bath towel, which Amane had left at Kamuro's place. Kamuro had encountered Karuizawa when leaving the bath and had casually handed Amane's towel to Karuizawa, asking him to pass it on to Amane.

Karuizawa grabbed the towel and hurried after them, just in time to see Amane talking to Ichinose. She originally intended to hand the towel to Amane and leave quickly, but then Ichinose suddenly asked a question about Karuizawa. Out of curiosity, Karuizawa chose to hide, wanting to hear what Amane thought of her behind her back.

Originally, I thought that Amane would definitely say some sweet words that favored Ichinose in order to coax her, but when Amane said that Karuizawa Megumi was more important than Ichinose Honami, Karuizawa almost exclaimed in surprise. Fortunately, she quickly covered her mouth, but the joy in her heart could not be stopped.

Seeing Ichinose leave dejectedly after their conversation ended, Karuizawa planned to pretend to bump into Amane and return the towel, but he didn't expect that Amane would see through his disguise.

"Amane, how did you find me? Weren't you talking to Ichinose-san the whole time?"

Karuizawa came to Amane's side and handed her a bath towel. After Amane accepted the towel, she gently touched Karuizawa's still slightly damp ponytail.

"Next time you want to hide something from being discovered, remember not to wear a ponytail, as this hairstyle is very easy to give away."

Karuizawa's face flushed slightly. She had no professional skills in hiding and hadn't paid attention to these details. She never expected that her hairstyle would give her away.

Suddenly, Karuizawa realized something was wrong.

"Was it really my ponytail that gave it away? I remember quite a few girls wear this hairstyle, so why are you so sure it was me, Tianyin?"

Amane deliberately feigned surprise when she heard Karuizawa ask such a somewhat sophisticated question.

Amane's expression immediately displeased Karuizawa.

"What?! That expression of yours..."

"I didn't expect Hui to ask such a question. It seems I underestimated you before."

After Amane finished speaking with emotion, she patted Karuizawa's head as if she were coaxing a child. This attitude made Karuizawa even more dissatisfied, and he swung his little fist at Amane.

"Tianyin, you bad guy, all you do is tease me!"

Faced with Karuizawa's fist attacks, Amane stood there without dodging and let Karuizawa hit her until Karuizawa got tired and stopped.

Looking at the panting Karuizawa, Amane's lips curled into a malicious smile. Even though Amane hadn't said anything, Karuizawa immediately distanced himself from her like a frightened little rabbit upon seeing her smile.

They were terrified of being devoured by Tianyin.

"Although there are many girls who wear ponytails, I only remember Hui."