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

Because the punishment and the benefits are completely disproportionate, if someone is faking an injury or illness and the school finds out, they will be expelled immediately.

Taking the risk of expulsion in order to gain class points is something that seems extremely unwise to anyone.

Moreover, if someone incites their own class to do something like this in other groups, they will immediately become the enemy of the entire grade and even the entire school. In the future, let alone cooperation, it will be very difficult to survive among their peers. The cost of losing trust is far more than class points can make up for.

But... what if our own people drag us down?

Fujiwara keenly sensed that something was amiss in the room. Seeing the distinct demeanor of Ninomiya and Amane, Fujiwara seemed to understand something.

"If you fake illness... you could face expulsion. I hope you first-year students don't have any inappropriate thoughts. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, of course we understand what you mean, Fujiwara-senpai, but what if... there really is such an idiot?"

"Then let her suffer the consequences."

Before Fujiwara could speak, a second-year girl spoke up first. Amane and Ichinose had thought that this girl was a rational type like Sakayanagi, but they didn't expect her to have a temper that was even more irritable than Ryuen's.

"Murakami! Don't scare them."

Fujiwara gave a light reprimand to the girl named Murakami, then glanced at Ninomiya after a brief eye contact with Amane.

She roughly knew what kind of problem had occurred in this group: Ichinose, the leader of Class D in the first year, had actually sided with Amane from Class B in the first year.

It's a strange combination no matter how you look at it.

In class competition, it's perfectly normal to bribe members of the opposing class to obtain information, but you can't exactly bribe the opposing leader, can you?

Judging from all the information, this girl named Ichinose doesn't seem to be stupid, so it's even less likely that she would betray Class D for the benefits promised by Amane.

That leaves only one option.

Internal strife.

Fujiwara is the girl who hates this kind of topic the most, but infighting exists in every class or group, the only difference is the scale and severity.

Major internal conflicts often occur when two or more outstanding individuals emerge within a class. To secure better opportunities, classmates are forced to choose sides. Such conflicts are almost unavoidable, and can only be resolved when a winner is determined.

Small-scale internal strife can even be as minor as a small group talking badly about others behind their backs, which can lead to a deterioration in the relationship between the two sides and eventually a fight.

However, all of this is based on the premise that everyone must obey the instructions of the class leader in special exams conducted by class.

Only under such circumstances can some internal strife be permitted, or can people selectively ignore it in the face of common interests.

However, Ninomiya's behavior doesn't seem to indicate that he still intends to obey Ichinose, which means that the infighting within this group is the most serious type.

Seize power.

Some people, in order to prove that they are better than the current leader, will rally a considerable number of their supporters to oppose the class leader.

Their goal is to replace the class leader, and the most effective way to do that is to make the previous leader fail.

Therefore, such people are often the most popular partners in other classes, but this kind of thing happens in their own group...

"Scared? Are you really sure you'd be scared by a girl like her?"

Murakami glanced at Amane's abs, then touched her smooth abdomen. If anyone was going to be scared, it would be her. During the sports festival, she was responsible for ambushing Amane from behind, but after chasing Amane for a long time, she couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes. In the end, Amane got annoyed by her and punched her in the stomach, rendering her unable to fight.

She still remembers how pathetic she looked, kneeling on the grass and gushing out the undigested food from lunch along with bile.

That scene...

Murakami only recalled it for a second before painfully closing his eyes.

Seeing Murakami's expression, Fujiwara knew that she was recalling the unpleasant events of the past. She wanted to encourage Murakami, but when she thought that even she herself had been easily dealt with by Amane, her encouragement would probably be of little use to Murakami. So she could only gently pat Murakami's shoulder in an attempt to bring her back to her senses.

"Anyway, I will report this to the school later. A medical professional will examine Ando's foot again. I hope some of you will listen to me. Otherwise... I don't mind giving her some fun. Murakami, let's go back."

Fujiwara led Murakami away from the dormitory.

The dormitory fell silent for a moment.

There's still one day until the exam starts, and it's evening now, which means that whatever I want to do, I only have one day left until tomorrow.

Tomorrow happens to be the school's designated 'free time,' which shows that the school has left enough room for certain people with ideas to act when making the arrangements.

In the extremely oppressive atmosphere, perhaps out of fear of Amane, Ninomiya led everyone outside to talk, even Ando, ​​who was unable to get out of bed, was carried out.

Judging from this, it's clear they're planning to make a scene for Tianyin and the others tomorrow.

"Tianyin...we'll meet tomorrow..."

Ichinose seemed to have also thought that tomorrow might be an unsettling day, and couldn't help but look at Amane.

I hope to gain a sense of security from Tianyin.

"Don't worry, since tomorrow is a free day, no one says you can't sleep in the dorm during free time, right?"

Amane's words made Ichinose's eyes light up.

Indeed, there are no explicit rules about studying or exercising during free time, making it seem almost exactly like a weekend holiday.

Rather than studying and exercising tomorrow and facing possible trouble from Ninomiya, I might as well just sleep in the dorm.

Anyway, for her and Tianyin, missing a day of exercise or study won't have much of an impact.

The only thing that worries Ichinose is that if Ninomiya and the others continue to cause trouble like this, it might affect the older students' perception of Class D in the first year. If Class D loses the trust of the whole school while it has a deficit in class points, it will probably be difficult to catch up later.

Seeing Ichinose's worried expression, Amane cupped Ichinose's cheeks.

To the latter's astonishment, Amane pressed her forehead against Ichinose's.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen tomorrow with me here. I promised to let you stay, and no one can change my mind. Do you think Ninomiya and the others can defeat me? They're far from qualified. Get some rest; you've been busy with Ando's matter all day."

From the moment Ando was injured, Ichinose took care of him tirelessly, not even having time to eat dinner.

The food in the canteen of the forest school is unlimited; you can eat as much as you want, but there is one rule.

That means you can't take food out, and the cafeteria also has closing times, so you can only go to the cafeteria to eat during the designated hours.

Amane urged Ichinose several times, but Ichinose was too busy with Ando's affairs to eat. By the time she finally returned from the infirmary, it was already too late for dinner.

To be honest, Amane thought Ando was probably fine, since even the infirmary doctor said there was nothing wrong. However, Ando kept complaining of pain, and the doctor couldn't do anything about it, so he could only prescribe some painkillers and teach Ichinose the precautions for applying cold compresses and massaging.

Then they let Ando come back to rest.

Amane suspected that even the medical staff Fujiwara-senpai found probably wouldn't be able to get Ando to admit that she was lying.

After all, she had heard what Fujiwara-senpai said: if she lied, she would be expelled from school. So even if she had to lie, she would stick to her guns and fight back.

Only Ichinose, who gets caught up in the moment, would take it seriously; sometimes being too naive can be a troublesome thing.

"Sigh, how did our group end up like this... Just thinking about Ando makes me... Sigh, looks like I won't be getting a good night's sleep tonight."

Ichinose shook her head. Although she had guessed that Ando might be faking his injury, she knew that this matter was inextricably linked to her.

If she hadn't accepted Ando's invitation to play volleyball, she wouldn't have encountered this situation. Now, no matter what she does, people will gossip about her.

If she takes care of Ando, ​​everyone will blame her for Ando's injury. If Ichinose did nothing wrong, why would she take such initiative to take care of Ando?

If we don't take care of Ando, ​​news of the internal conflict in Class D will spread immediately, and it will be a painful blow to her reputation.

Therefore, from Ichinose's perspective, if they want to minimize the impact, they still need to take care of Ando.

However, Tianyin didn't seem to like her approach.

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

"Tianyin, what are you doing?"

Ichinose stared dumbfounded as Amane took off her gym clothes and crawled into her quilt, which was located on the lower bunk below Amane.

"When I can't sleep, I feel safe and sound as long as I have something to hug, so I'll stay with you tonight, Fanbo. You can hug me however you like~"

Amane, still huddled under the covers, winked at Ichinose. Faced with Amane's suggestive gaze, Ichinose hesitated.

Putting aside the fact that being able to fall asleep while holding someone is such a strange method, even if it were effective, Ichinose might consider it if it were someone else.

But if the other party is Tianyin... wouldn't it be like a lamb entering a tiger's den if I agreed?

"Um... I suddenly realized I can fall asleep by myself..."

"Don't be shy, we're all friends, helping each other is only right, come on in!"

Amane seemed happy to be able to help Ichinose, and quickly and gently patted the bed board with her little hand out from under the covers.

Seeing Amane's attitude, Ichinose knew that it would be difficult for her to refuse. After hesitating for a long time, Ichinose still crawled into the quilt.

Unlike the first night when they slept together, this time they were both awake.

Ichinose covered her cheeks shyly. This was the first time she had ever slept with someone else. Since coming to this school, apart from the time she shared a tent with a girl from her class on the deserted island, she had never been so close to any woman other than her sister and mother.

It was as if Ichinose, who was nearby, could hear Amane's breathing.

Ichinose's ears twitched as she noticed that Amane, who had been quite lively just moments before, had fallen silent after she got into bed.

This seems to contradict some of the rumors surrounding her.

Could it be that Tianyin is also shy?

The moment this idea popped into Ichinose's head, it sparked a strong sense of curiosity.

Driven by curiosity, Ichinose slowly turned around.

"Tianyin, are you... asleep...?"

Ichinose was startled by Amane's wide-open eyes as soon as she turned around.

It turned out that Tianyin had been watching her the whole time, but... why wasn't Tianyin saying anything?

"Fanbo, that's a foul!!!"

"foul?"

A question mark could be faintly seen above Ichinose's head.

Are there really rules about sleeping together?

Ichinose was somewhat surprised, as no one had ever told her about this before. Judging from Amane's angry expression, Ichinose had unintentionally done something to upset Amane.

But Ichinose has no recollection of doing anything.

"Yeah! Who sleeps together fully clothed?! Fanbo is the worst, hmph~ Hurry up and take them off, I'm a decent girl, I won't do anything bad to you!"

Looking at Amane's eyes, which were shining brightly in the darkness, Ichinose began to doubt Amane's words for the first time.

Chapter 130: I think I've fallen for her.

What Tianyin said is true!

As for what is true... of course, the first part of the statement is true!

It turns out that Tianyin really can fall asleep just by hugging something.

Ichinose looked at Amane, who was sleeping soundly in his arms, with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

She had just said that she was only letting Ichinose hold her while she slept so that Ichinose could sleep peacefully.

As soon as Ichinose changed her clothes, Amane pounced on her, which startled Ichinose quite a bit. But just as Ichinose was about to dodge, she discovered that Amane had actually fallen asleep while holding her.

This incredible feat of falling asleep instantly piqued Ichinose's curiosity for quite some time. After verification, it was confirmed that Amane was indeed asleep, and judging from her smiling expression and the occasional muttering of "I can't eat anymore" in her sleep, Amane was probably having a wonderful dream of feasting.

"That's so unfair! Sleeping soundly all by yourself!"

Ichinose reached out and poked Amane's cheek with her finger.

The soft, tender feel made Ichinose quite fond of it, so she couldn't resist poking it with her finger again.

Amane, still asleep, seemed to sense someone touching her. However, for some reason, she opened her mouth and bit Ichinose's finger.

Fortunately, Ichinose reacted quickly and withdrew her finger; otherwise, things might have gotten complicated by tomorrow.

After waiting for a while and seeing Amane start to snore softly, Ichinose reached out her small hand from her chest and gently tapped Amane's cheek.

She seemed to have found some fun, and a smile gradually appeared on her face. However, in order to avoid waking Amane, Ichinose did not repeat the action she had just performed. Although she thought Amane's instinctive reaction was cute, she still had to do it in moderation.

So what should we do next?

I reckon Ninomiya and the others will be back in a little while. To be honest, Ichinose isn't in the mood to greet them right now. If she pretends to be asleep and gets caught, it would be quite embarrassing.

After much deliberation, Ichinose decided to trust Amane this time.

Ichinose reached out and carefully hugged Amane, pulling her closer into his arms.

It has to be said that girls are really strange creatures. Even Ichinose, who is a girl herself, couldn't help but sigh the moment she hugged Amane. Amane's body looked like it had undergone high-intensity training, and she should have been a muscular, athletic girl.

But when Ichinose actually hugged Amane, he felt as if he were hugging some kind of soft-bodied animal, as if Amane was melting in his arms.

The smoothness and softness of her skin made Ichinose a little envious. She really didn't know how Amane could maintain skin and body smoother and softer than ordinary girls while undergoing high-intensity training.