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

Could the love that Tianyin is talking about be a close relationship like friendship?

"Arisu? You mean that Sakayanagi guy, right? Why would she teach you this kind of thing? I completely don't understand what you're trying to say, because to me your statement is no different from that of a lunatic. Two people can develop feelings after close contact, but it's not absolute. After all, life isn't like a game where you can see the other person's intimacy level. And even if it were a game, don't you think the setting that doing 'that' once increases intimacy level is ridiculous?"

Kushida's comments made Amane gradually realize that something was wrong, but she didn't believe that Sakayanagi would lie to her about something like this.

"Then why doesn't anyone object when I do this to other people?"

The most important reason why Amane believed that Sakayanagi wouldn't deceive her was because Amane truly had practical experience. Neither Horikita nor those who were close to the final step had any complaints or accusations against her.

This convinced her that this was a necessary step in normal interpersonal communication.

"You...who dares to express dissatisfaction to someone who wields violence? Ryuen rules Class C with violence, and there are plenty of people who are dissatisfied, but how many have you seen stand up and resist? Besides, you have a lot of personal points. Those girls have no worries about food and drink and are protected by you. Their only tasks are reproduction and satisfying your desires, right? So what do they have to complain about?"

At this moment, Tianyin finally understood the problem and resolved the doubts that had been lingering in her heart.

For example, after the misunderstanding was cleared up, she hinted more than once that Karuizawa could go live the life she wanted, and that Amane would still protect her.

However, Karuizawa refused to do anything. Even when she accidentally declared war on Sakayanagi and Horikita, Karuizawa did not back down in the face of their pressure. Her courage even surpassed the courage she showed when she was bullied at school.

She could sense that Karuizawa's affection was genuine, but she didn't understand why Karuizawa had initially transformed from a normal girl into someone willing to be close to another girl.

Now she probably understands.

That's the instinct for survival.

If we disregard Tianyin's gender, the living conditions she can provide at this school are absolutely top-notch. She can provide armed protection, substantial financial assistance, and even those who have some rumors with her are quite well-known at the school because of her prominent reputation.

Finally, even though Amane hadn't officially declared herself the class leader, she possessed a level of influence that was unmatched by ordinary people. After demonstrating her powerful background during the forest training camp, which allowed the school to change the rules for her alone, Amane became the class leader with just a single sentence.

No one had any complaints about her.

Isn't dating someone like that a glamorous thing?

To know.

They are just high school students, and their views on relationships and values ​​cannot be viewed like those of adults.

It's human nature to admire strength, so it's understandable that Karuizawa would take the opportunity to bind himself to Amane when Amane felt apologetic.

If you were to ask Karuizawa why she stayed by Amane's side back then, Karuizawa would probably blush and tell Amane not to bring up the past, right?

Perhaps Karuizawa initially chose to stay by her side due to various factors, but gradually their relationship did develop into that of lovers, a fact that Amane had to admit.

In that sense... Kushida's statement does make some sense.

What about Horikita? I'm quite...

It seems... Horikita only truly accepted her after she promised to help her get into Class A...

That Ichinose! Ichinose… it seems he only did that after I promised to save her…

Tianyin felt a headache coming on.

She even began to doubt whether everyone's feelings for her were genuine affection, or just a peculiar change similar to those experienced in Karuizawa.

So much so that she thought of Sakayanagi.

Before a certain incident, her relationship with Sakayanagi was merely that of close friends, with perhaps an added rival.

When did their relationship go beyond just being best friends?

That time she climbed the mountain... she saved Sakayanagi, and only after that did Sakayanagi's attitude towards her change slightly. It can be said that Sakayanagi should not be in accordance with Kushida's statement.

This is also the best example to refute Kushida.

But unfortunately, Chairman Sakayanagi entrusted Sakayanagi to her.

If it were an ordinary person, no matter how good their relationship was, would Chairman Sakayanagi entrust his daughter to the other party?

Just thinking about it makes it clear that it's absolutely impossible, which means that there are always some realistic factors involved in the relationship between Sakayanagi and her.

Tianyin fell silent.

Kushida saw that Amane had fallen silent because of what she said, but there was not much joy on her face.

Because she also didn't understand why something that every girl should know could elicit such a strong reaction from Tianyin.

She instinctively felt that the source was with Sakayanagi.

If you want to know why Amane became like this, you have to find Sakayanagi and ask him why he taught Amane the wrong way to interact with others.

That might allow us to obtain some useful information.

After a long silence, Tianyin suddenly stood up.

This action made Kushida, who had been observing Amane, feel a little uneasy.

Even if Tianyin was defeated by her, Tianyin is still Tianyin, and she is not someone that a minor character like her can defeat.

"Let's put everything else aside for now and talk about you, Kikyo. If I'm not mistaken, you clipped this on while you were scratching your head, right?"

Amane gave up thinking about those troublesome things and began to recall Kushida's every move after she sat down.

It's impossible for a normal person to wear this on their head all day long, but Amane didn't see her do anything else, so the only possibility is that Kushida has been brewing a conspiracy since she came in.

It was just a conspiracy against Tianyin. Then, he pretended to be crazy and foolish to surprise Tianyin, and while frantically scratching his head, he clipped the small recording device onto it.

The pain of the needle piercing his scalp made Kushida's expression extremely painful, and because it was a real performance, even Amane was successfully deceived.

Amane mistakenly believed that Kushida had gone mad, but in reality, it was just that Kushida's real pain had deceived her judgment.

So what was Kushida's purpose in doing this? You have to understand that even if it gets out, she is the female protagonist of this recording, and keeping it a secret is extremely difficult. Anyone who knows Kushida can recognize her voice just by hearing it. So what benefit would she gain from leaking it?

There is absolutely no benefit to it.

However, it would be difficult to keep it a secret and use it to threaten Amane, since Amane is not afraid of threats at all, and Kushida should know something about Amane's personality.

So... why did Kushida want to record it? And what she planned to do with it after recording it became something that Amane was quite interested in.

"Hmph, if you already know, why did you ask me? That's why I hate guys like you the most. I was so careful, yet you still managed to find my flaws, and you were able to piece together the whole story from just a tiny flaw... If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have lost so badly!"

In Kushida's mind, apart from Amane, no one else could possibly see her acting was so realistic.

It's impossible to imagine that she would resort to such a cruel method as hiding a recording device in a pin and then piercing her scalp.

"Perhaps, but I'm more interested in knowing how you plan to use the recording even if you do record it. You don't want to ruin your reputation, so what are you going to do?"

"Huh? I thought you guessed it, of course it is..."

Chapter 157: Valentine's Day Chocolate

"Of course I'm going to show it to Horikita-kun."

hiss.

Amane gasped. Although Horikita usually turned a blind eye to many of her actions, even Horikita would be furious if Kushida were to mock her so rudely.

In the end, he will definitely vent his anger on her, since Horikita probably won't believe that Kushida would actually offer himself up just to disgust her.

In a sense, Kushida's move was indeed a decisive blow.

If Amane hadn't discovered Kushida's tricks, she might have been thrown out the door with her bedding packed when she got home that night.

"But that would ruin your reputation too..."

"My reputation is already utterly ruined, isn't it? One more or one more thing like this won't affect me much. Besides, even if Horikita is furious after hearing the recording, she won't make our affair public, will she?"

Kushida confidently explained his considerations.

Amane gradually came to understand Kushida's modus operandi. Kushida had learned to act in a way that was somewhat similar to Amane's without any formal instruction, namely, he was good at attacking people's weaknesses.

The difference is that Amane mastered the method of manipulating people's hearts through various theories and countless practices, while Kushida simply relied on her past life experience to discover the simplest way to destroy or manipulate a person.

In some ways, it is indeed something to be proud of, but unfortunately, there are countless people in this school who have mastered similar skills, and Kushida's methods are too immature, completely disregarding the consequences and gains.

This method is like risking your life; if you can't kill someone with a single thrust, you'll be killed by them.

Unfortunately, the person wielding the sword was of mediocre skill, making her seemingly desperate gamble look like nothing more than suicide.

Kushida's failure was due to Sato's ability to easily block Kushida's strongest initial attacks by simply taking advantage of the fact that everyone shared common goals and interests. Once Kushida's rumor offensive subsided, no one would care what she said anymore.

"Have you never thought about coming back to this class? If you continue to give up on yourself, and if a sacrifice is needed for the next special exam, you should be very clear about your position, right?"

Amane felt it was a pity that Kushida would give up on himself like this. Kushida's confident demeanor made Amane really think that Kushida had some tricks up his sleeve. In that case, it would be a good opportunity for Horikita to practice. So Amane and Horikita discussed temporarily ignoring class affairs in order to give the two of them a chance to fight.

However, as time passed, more than two months went by, and Kushida still couldn't get rid of Sato. Although Sato had Ayanokouji backing her up, Kushida held a powerful weapon that was second only to violence. According to Amane's estimation, it could easily cause the class to fall apart and fall into a situation where everyone was insecure and suspicious of each other.

Then we'll have Horikita take care of both Kushida and Sato by himself. This will serve as practice for him and also allow him to build up his prestige.

Unexpectedly, Kushida and Sato were like chickens pecking at each other, neither able to do anything about the other. In addition, during the forest training camp, Amane felt that she owed Horikita a bit, so she decided to help Horikita realize her wish to be promoted to Class A. As a result, she directly smoothed out the turmoil caused by the two of them. It can be said that it was precisely because of the two of them's incompetence that more than two months of time were wasted.

Since both of them stopped causing trouble under Tianyin's strong pressure, Tianyin had no intention of killing them all.

However, although the turmoil within the class disappeared because of Tianyin, someone had to take responsibility for this matter if everyone was to put aside their grudges.

Compared to Sato, who has the protection of the recently rising star Ayanokoji, Kushida is more suited to be a scapegoat.

Therefore, the reason why everyone deliberately keeps their distance from Kushida is not because they dislike her, but because everyone knows that Kushida will be abandoned by the class sooner or later. Keeping their distance from such a person from the beginning to avoid being caught in the crossfire is the best course of action.

The class had reached a point where she couldn't afford to linger on alone until graduation.

If Kushida doesn't make changes, her fate is predictable.

"Going back? I have no such thoughts. I know very well that I will be abandoned by those disgusting guys when I take the next exam to drop out. I am not convinced by this result, but what can I do? I am a loser. So be it. Anyway... I have already made preparations. At worst, I can just start over in another place."

Kushida's answer was resolute, and even Amane could only sigh softly upon hearing it.

If Kushida herself gives up on returning, then anything she says or does will be in vain.

Seemingly noticing Amane's soft sigh, Kushida bent down and gave her a sweet, fake smile.

"What? Are you reluctant to part with me?"

"A little."

"But I hate you so much, I hate you so much, I wish you were dead right now. Even so, will you still miss me?"

Kushida's words sounded exaggerated, but Amane knew that they were her true feelings. Perhaps what he had done to her was really too much for her to forgive.

"Ah."

This time, Tianyin didn't hesitate and nodded slightly.

"Hey, that's really ridiculous. Amane, you're such a strange person. You're promiscuous, but you still have feelings for both secondhand goods like Karuizawa and villains like me. You're devoted, but your actions are nothing short of trampling on the beautiful words 'like' and 'love'. At first, I thought you were a gentle person, even forgiving Horikita for what she did. But then you turned around and ruthlessly expelled Ichihashi. I consider myself to have some discernment, but I just can't see through you."

Kushida's only regret is that even if she dropped out of school, she probably still wouldn't be able to understand what kind of complex being Amane truly was.

It's as if Heaven has kneaded all that is good and evil together and shaped it into a complex soul, which is then injected into Tianyin's body.

"I don't know what kind of person I am, but I'm sure I'm not a good person."

Amane slowly stood up. This conversation was about to end. She originally had some things she wanted to entrust to Kushida, but seeing Kushida's current situation...

Perhaps the best option for her in the time to come is to let her enjoy a carefree life as much as possible.

"Are you leaving already? It's not too late to do something to me now. Anyway, you took the recorder. That was the only finished product I managed to modify by taking it off the recorder and studying it while reading books."

Kushida's words made Amane turn around and glance at Kushida. Kushida proudly puffed out her chest, which was the only place where she hadn't lost to Horikita.

Tianyin glanced at it once and then looked away.

"I'm not a lecherous person."

As soon as Tenon finished speaking, she seemed to hear Kushida click his tongue. However, Tenon didn't say anything more. She turned around, went to the entrance, put on her shoes, and prepared to leave.

She had experienced so much today, and her plans had been completely disrupted. She needed to come up with a better plan to deal with any potential attacks from Sakayanagi.

"I'll head back now. Take care."

Amane said goodbye to the room, and after a few seconds, realizing that Kushida didn't intend to say goodbye, she left the room somewhat helplessly. Just as she was about to close the door...

Kushida suddenly spoke up.

"The cake was delicious, thank you."

Click.

The closed door separated the two of them, and Tianyin subconsciously began to grope her body for any tools that could open the door.

But when she thought that even if she opened the door, some things would never come back, Tianyin could only shake her head gently.

"Looks like I've lost."

……

Valentine's Day is less than a week away.

The once quiet streets were now packed with people. Some might think that for a school with only a few hundred students, even if everyone came out to buy Valentine's Day gifts, it wouldn't be this crowded.