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

Horikita Suzune seemed to have heard something unbelievable. Her beautiful eyes widened, and those bright, lively eyes that Tsunade loved so much were now filled with astonishment.

Her eyes reflected Tenon's meticulous and earnest figure, but Horikita felt her vision gradually blurring.

Tianyin's figure also became ethereal and indistinct in her vision.

"I...can't do it."

Forcibly suppressing the unease deep within him, Horikita spoke with an equally serious expression.

She could accept Amane's plan, and it wouldn't be a problem for Ichinose to order Amane to drop out of school, but! She couldn't, and was unwilling to accept that she would not only stand idly by but also refuse to save Amane.

You can do it.

Refusing is something everyone can do easily, so there's no reason why Horikita couldn't. In Amane's plan, as long as everyone acts according to her arrangements, the result will definitely be what she wants.

As for an explanation?

Tianyin is actually not good at explaining.

Because Tianyin couldn't tell others why she got the final result.

In Tianyin's view, this problem is the same as 1+1=2. Everyone knows that if calculated normally, there is absolutely no problem with the answer.

But if someone actually asked you why 1+1=2, many people would be stumped, because the idea that this answer is correct has long been ingrained in people's minds.

But how could the person who first created the formula 1+1=2 prove to others that he was right?

Even if he presents the same two objects to prove he is right, how can he convince others to define the sum of the two objects as 2?

Tianyin found herself in this dilemma. Finding the answer was easy for her, but getting others to follow her plan was difficult.

Because...everyone likes to deny and ask why.

Why did she get the answer Amane gave? Just like Horikita Suzune now, she couldn't understand why Amane neither needed anyone's help nor intended to use her personal points to save herself. Wouldn't that mean she would definitely be expelled from school?

Besides that, she couldn't think of any other way Tianyin could avoid being expelled. Even if she asked, what would Tianyin's answer be? Do nothing, just refuse to use class points to save her when she was expelled.

Such an answer would make even Sakayanagi, let alone Horikita Suzune, uneasy.

No one knew what Tianyin was thinking at that moment, and because she couldn't explain the reason, she simply told others how to do it.

In the end, it would seem as if Tianyin was testing whether others trusted her, and as it turned out, Tianyin's judgment had never been wrong.

But there's always the possibility of something going wrong. Just because something goes perfectly a thousand times doesn't mean it won't happen once. And the current special exam is one where one problem could be disastrous.

"Tianyin, tell me what other tricks you have up your sleeve? Even if you're afraid I'll affect your plans and don't want to tell me the details, that's fine. But I need to know if you have any unrevealed tricks up your sleeve. I will only proceed with your plan if I can make sure you won't be expelled."

Horikita's stubbornness made Amane feel both gratified and somewhat helpless. She was gratified that Horikita placed her in the most important position, even making someone like her who likes to take a gamble unwilling to take any risks.

But equally frustratingly... if Horikita insists on rescuing her, then all her plans will fall through.

Now it's a matter of who can convince whom, but unfortunately, Amane couldn't convince Horikita to fully believe in her confidence, so Amane had to choose another method.

They kissed.

Even though Amane knew that her every move was being monitored by surveillance cameras, she still did it because she couldn't think of a better way to persuade Horikita.

Horikita was already experienced in dealing with Amane's sudden attack. Right now, her mind was full of Amane, and she had no intention of being intimate with her at all.

But this time, Amane was completely different from usual. The embrace that she could easily push away at other times was now like a magnet, tightly connected to her. Horikita used all her strength but couldn't push Amane away even a little bit.

Her usual methods of bullying Tianyin, making her feel wronged and squatting alone in the corner drawing circles, were no longer effective.

All her actions became futile in front of Tianyin; all she could do was obey.

But Horikita Suzune was never someone who could be tamed by others.

Horikita Suzune kept her mouth tightly shut, trying to force Amane to give up on this method of subduing her by resisting, but she quickly realized that this method was completely ineffective in front of Amane.

Amane looked at Horikita with a doting gaze; in Amane's eyes, Horikita's resistance was nothing more than the antics of a rebellious child.

Amane moved her hand behind Horikita...

The sudden limpness in her body caused Horikita to instinctively open her mouth.

Although Horikita realized what Amane had done to her in the next second, it was too late.

With her defenses breached, she had no choice but to be 'conquered'.

Of course, there were other ways besides conventional methods, but she couldn't bear to let Tianyin get hurt.

And so, Horikita Suzune finally chose to give up the fight.

As it turns out, sometimes eloquence is more effective than persuasion.

After Amane finished her persuasion with satisfaction, she grabbed Horikita's chin and forced the still somewhat angry Horikita to look at her.

Horikita knew that Amane would definitely say some cheesy and embarrassing things, so he turned his face away in advance, appearing extremely uncooperative.

Seeing Horikita's expression, Amane knew that she was throwing a tantrum because she had been "persuaded" against her will. So she didn't tease Horikita, who had been beaten to a pulp almost instantly.

"Lingyin is really beautiful, I never get tired of watching her no matter how many times I watch her."

Praise is always the first key to unlocking a girl's heart, but Horikita had long been somewhat resistant to Amane's sweet talk, so she just rolled her eyes at Amane.

"I've heard that inner beauty is the most important thing in a person. Does that mean you only care about whether a person is beautiful on the outside?"

"Ah."

Tenon's decisive answer interrupted Horikita's prepared plan to teach Tenon a lesson.

Horikita was momentarily at a loss.

"You can't see into someone's heart, but a pretty face doesn't lie. Do you remember what I said before?"

Which sentence?

"I like cute girls, and I'm not lying~"

Tenon gently kissed Horikita's burning cheek.

"If I didn't have this pretty face, would you have even bothered to talk to me in the first place?"

"Well..."

Tianyin touched her lips, seemingly lost in thought.

This action made Horikita's eyes widen.

"You idiot, Amane! Why are you hesitating?! Isn't this the time to say that line you always say, 'I love Rin' the most'? What are you thinking?!"

Horikita frantically berated Amane.

The smile on Tianyin's face flashed by quickly.

She's getting anxious.

And so her plan succeeded.

The second trick to stop a girl from being angry is to change the subject!

Horikita turned Amane's excessive behavior into a question that Horikita cared about most: whether Amane liked her or not.

It will almost certainly divert her attention, but this is a matter of upgrading and diverting attention. If a newbie uses it rashly, something even more terrible might happen.

"I hesitated because... I really like your pretty face, Rin. I would be so sad if I didn't have it... If you hadn't had a pretty face, Rin, I probably wouldn't have talked to anyone. Maybe I would have been a loner like Kaede and ended up being a weirdo in the class."

"No way! With your personality, Amane, you'll definitely still end up hitting on a pretty girl like Karuizawa!"

Horikita, with keen insight and decisiveness, exposed Amane's lie.

Amane was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected Horikita to react so quickly at this moment, but she couldn't admit to something like this even if she was beaten to death.

Once she acknowledged that her happy life was gone forever.

"You're wrong, Suzune. In my eyes, no one is more attractive to me than you. If even you can't move my heart, what use are the other girls' beautiful appearances? To be honest, it's easy for me to have a cute girl by my side until graduation. Logically speaking, anyone would be fine, but... the person in my arms right now is Horikita Suzune, isn't she? You are the most special person, aren't you?"

Taking advantage of Horikita's somewhat dazed expression, Tenon quickly added another word.

This time, Horikita nestled in Amane's arms like a kitten, letting Amane do whatever she wanted.

"I don't believe your nonsense... Anyway, are you sure you have a way to avoid being expelled?"

Hearing Horikita say that, Amane finally relaxed, knowing that things had succeeded.

"I can assure you."

"Hmph, you rarely keep your promises, but this time... I'll trust you. If... if you drop out of school... I'll drop out with you!"

As if summoning her courage, Horikita made her decision.

For Tianyin, she was even willing to give up what she had worked hard for over a decade to prove to her brother that she was an excellent younger sister.

Even Tianyin couldn't help but soften her heart at this moment.

For a fleeting moment, she even considered abandoning the plan, but ultimately remained silent.

Because if Horikita is to be able to relax more, she must demonstrate her strength as Miyako Amane to everyone at this moment.

Only when everyone understands her true strength will others feel fear and dare not think of provoking Horikita, who is almost tied to Amane.

……

We returned to the emergency exit.

Ichinose sat on the steps, staring intently at the emergency exit light, as if trying to find something in that light.

"Has the matter been resolved?"

Ichinose only snapped out of her daze when she heard Amane's footsteps, and smiled apologetically at Amane.

"I guess it's resolved."

Amane gave Ichinose a very confident but somewhat ambiguous answer.

If it were someone else, they would definitely be unable to resist asking whether the problem has been solved or not.

Ichinose simply nodded.

She trusted Tianyin's judgment, so there was no need for her to say anything more.

The two walked down the corridor to the elevator. Ichinose looked at Amane, who seemed a little absent-minded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked her another question about her relationship.

"Amane, what's your relationship with Horikita-kun like?"

Tianyin stopped halfway through her step.

Ichinose's question seemed like a casual, offhand question, but it was actually quite fatal.

If the answer is "lover," what would Ichinose think? Maintaining an ambiguous relationship with a girl who already has a 'lover'...can Ichinose really accept that?

It's highly likely that he'll choose to give up on his relationship with Tianyin and try to improve it. Their relationship is only a thin veil away from being established, so how could a single answer build another wall in front of that window?

But most importantly, the answer to this question cannot be "no." First of all, Horikita made such a great sacrifice for Amane, and then denied their relationship in front of outsiders... If that's the case, it wouldn't be fair to say that Amane is heartless.

Moreover, although the two did not actually confess their feelings.

But the facts are already like this, and even Amane has admitted that Horikita Suzune is a suitable lover for her.

Amane naturally couldn't deny their relationship, but do you really think that's what Ichinose wanted to ask?

Ichinose's real purpose was to see Amane's attitude. If Amane was unwilling to admit her relationship with Horikita in order to have something happen with her, could such a person really be relied upon?

In other words, Ichinose was testing whether Amane had the courage to answer that she and Horikita were lovers.

If Amane were to answer that she and Horikita were lovers, she might lose all the goodwill she had built up with Ichinose. The choice between weighing the pros and cons and the choice between emotions is the best test of human nature.

Ichinose used the simplest sentence to give Amane her final test.

Tianyin saw through everything in an instant.

So, the choice is in her hands: is it a matter of not being able to have your cake and eat it too, or...?

"Rin and I are a couple."

After speaking, Amane looked calmly at Ichinose.

Amane chooses to follow her heart. If Ichinose would choose to end everything between her and Horikita because of her relationship with Horikita, then it also means that Ichinose is not the right person for her.

Even if Ichinose gives up on the relationship and continues to develop it, Amane will still choose to help Ichinose through this difficult time. However, from now on... Ichinose will have to walk her own path.

"It's okay. I already guessed that you and Horikita had this kind of relationship. But... I don't mind. The feelings between girls are different from those between heterosexual couples. Now that I've confirmed that I've fallen for Amane, I won't change my mind easily. So even if my rival is Horikita, I will never give up!"

Chapter 143: Run, Girl!

The final exam has finally arrived.

Ichinose, who had expected a grand exam, was somewhat disappointed because the exams for different grades and boys and girls were staggered, perhaps because the school had taken into account the issue of overcrowding.