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

Just by taking a small sip, Horikita Suzune knew that Amane's judgment was very accurate. The water temperature was just right for her mouth; if it had been left out for a few more minutes, it would have been too cold to be anything but.

Horikita Suzune glanced at the board. Although the two sides were locked in a fierce battle on the big picture, the white pieces held the advantage in the smaller skirmishes.

Therefore, Horikita Suzune chose Shiroko without hesitation.

"I suggest you choose black, Suzune. Black can still play nine moves, but white will definitely lose within three moves."

Amane's words made Horikita hesitate as she reached for the white piece, and in the end, she picked up the black piece instead.

"Then I'll listen to Tianyin."

Horikita Suzune picked up the black pieces and, based on her experience, began to block the white pieces.

Unexpectedly, after Tianyin placed her white piece on the board, she immediately began to collect a large group of her black pieces.

It was only then that she was surprised to discover that the so-called evenly matched advantage was a complete illusion. In reality, the white pieces had been playing a cat-and-mouse game, cutting off all of the black pieces' dragons and toying with them. To the white pieces, the black pieces were like meat placed in front of their mouths, ready to be eaten whenever they wanted.

"Tianyin, when did you become so mean?"

Horikita Suzune looked at Amane with a hint of resentment.

She then realized that Tianyin had also seen the advantage of the white pieces, which was why she deliberately tricked her into taking the black pieces.

But when Tianyin looked at her blankly, she realized something was wrong.

"How am I being malicious? I clearly recommended a game to you that was easy to win. If you don't believe me, let's recreate the game we just played and exchange pieces."

Tianyin quickly put the captured black piece back on the board and then exchanged the two players' chess boxes.

Since it was Black's turn to make the first move, Horikita felt something was off, but since Amane had just shown her how White could win, winning this game shouldn't be too difficult.

Snapped.

The crisp sound of a piece being placed rang out. Just as Horikita subconsciously wanted to place his white piece in the spot that Tenon had just placed, he found that Tenon had already taken the lead.

Next, Tianyin began to collect the white stones that had been eaten, about a third of which were now gone.

Horikita's face suddenly turned pale.

This seems to be somewhat different from what she expected.

Even without Tianyin's skill, one could tell from the scattered white pieces that the game was already lost.

"I lost."

Horikita Suzune reluctantly put the white pieces into the Go box.

What she couldn't understand was why, no matter what piece she used, she always felt that Tianyin had a greater chance of winning, and Tianyin's performance was basically consistent with her expectations. However, when the two exchanged pieces, the advantage would once again slip from her hands to Tianyin's.

This in the end is why?

"Tomorrow is the special exam. I'll oversee our challenge, and you can lead Ayanokouji and the others to solve Class A's challenge, how about that?"

Since the challenges and being challenged occur simultaneously, it means that there must be a group of people who can ensure that the challenges for their own class can proceed smoothly, while the groups that go to challenge others must also have the strength to handle everything.

Amane, who knew Sakayanagi's personality well, knew that Sakayanagi would definitely come to challenge Class B in person tomorrow. In that case, everything prepared for Sakayanagi could be used. In Amane's calculations, the probability of Sakayanagi breaking the deadlock was less than 20%, and that 20% probability was only if Sakayanagi realized something was wrong and chose to give up.

Otherwise, as long as Sakayanagi steps into her challenge, Amane is confident that she can defeat Sakayanagi here. The reason for such confidence is that Amane has prepared something that Sakayanagi is most afraid of.

"Tianyin, why did you suddenly decide to stay behind? According to the original plan, weren't you supposed to lead the team to challenge Class A?"

Horikita was curious as to why Amane had suddenly changed her mind.

To ensure the success of this challenge, Amane formed a very special team, whose members are: Katsuragi Kohei, Hirata Yosuke, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Ichinose Honami, Matsushita Chiaki, Koenji Rokusuke, Yukimura Teruhiko, Wang Meiyu, Karuizawa Megumi, and Sakura Airi.

Such a lineup can be considered luxurious in the entire first year, and it contains outstanding talents in all aspects. Whether it is foreign languages, history, mathematics and other subjects, or psychological games and physical traps, there are talents who specialize in dealing with them.

Amane even arranged for Karuizawa Kei to stand aside and observe the expressions of the Class A students in order to find their weaknesses as much as possible.

It can be said to be foolproof.

As for Sakura Airi... she volunteered to go, so she was considered an unofficial member.

This is also what Amane hopes Horikita Suzune can enjoy as the team leader the joy of defeating Class A.

“Arisu will definitely come to challenge us tomorrow. With me here, we should have no problem winning. You just need to let Ayanokouji take the lead, and most of the problems can be solved. Do you remember our promise? I helped you get promoted to Class A. Since we want to win, we have to be absolutely sure.”

Tianyin's idea was simple: king against king, general against general.

Our side can easily win by overwhelming the enemy with both quality and quantity, without taking any risks. The competition between classes is simply a matter of which class has more talented people. Class B has a lot of outstanding talents, and it would be a waste to leave them to languish in the background.

Logically speaking, Tianyin's method should be the best choice.

However, Horikita did not want to win in a way that did not prove her strength at all.

"Amane, I want to stay tomorrow to face Sakayanagi's challenge."

Chapter 171: Class A's Trial (6K)

"Tianyin, don't you think I have any faith in me either?"

Horikita Suzune assumed that Amane had the same reaction as Horikita Manabu, disapproving of her competing against Sakayanagi.

She knew that this action was somewhat risky, but her confidence also stemmed partly from Tianyin's preparations.

"No, if you're going to fight, I'll definitely support you."

Amane gave Horikita Suzune the support she wanted without any hesitation. With Amane's support, the other students in the class should not oppose Amane's decision. In this way, she can fight Sakayanagi without any worries.

"Thank you, Tianyin."

"Do we even need to thank each other? But since we're going to say thank you, how about tonight?"

The ahoge (cowlick) that had been lying dormant on Amane's head for a long time quietly stood up. Seeing Amane's ambiguous expression and tone, Horikita Suzune naturally knew what Amane wanted to do.

"Not tonight!"

"Huh?!"

"The special exam is tomorrow, so I need to get a good rest tonight to ensure I have plenty of energy and a clear mind. So just rest well tonight."

Horikita reached out and ruffled Amane's hair.

Horikita felt a fondness for every touch of Amane's soft hair with her fingers, as if she were stroking the fur of some large feline.

"OK then……"

The ahoge (cowlick) on Tianyin's head, which she had been unable to press down just moments before, suddenly drooped listlessly.

Horikita looked at the dejected Amane, thought for a moment, and then quietly leaned close to Amane's ear.

"I'll reward you properly after the exam."

Gentle words rang in Tenon's ears, and Tenon instantly recovered from her dejected state, meeting Horikita's gaze with burning intensity.

"Then it's settled!"

Horikita, feeling a little embarrassed by Amane's gaze, turned his face slightly to try and avoid her eyes. Although he had seen Amane's gaze like that countless times, he always felt embarrassed by it. That straightforward gaze, filled with desire, made him feel as if he could see into Amane's mind just by looking into her eyes.

At this time, Tianyin could probably only think about some naughty things.

"Ah."

After Horikita responded quietly to Amane, he saw a happy smile on Amane's face, just like a child who was overjoyed because an adult had fulfilled his request.

Horikita shook her head helplessly. In her impression, Amane seemed to be very easy to please from the beginning. If it were someone else, it was obvious that Amane's personality would definitely suffer a lot in daily interactions.

This is also one of the reasons why she insisted on proving herself superior to Horikita; she didn't want Amane to be used and corrupted by that 'bad' woman, Sakayanagi.

However, what she didn't know was that the reason Amane had become like this was because she had been corrupted by Sakayanagi.

Because of the exam tomorrow, Horikita turned off the lights early after washing up and planned to go to sleep, even putting aside her usual habit of reading before bed.

As for Amane... since Amane has extensive experience staying up all night, Horikita doesn't insist that Amane sleep with her right now. Although her sleep quality might decrease without Amane as a soft pillow, Horikita decides to let Amane play until she gets sleepy and goes to sleep, thinking that Amane might do some strange things when used as a pillow when she's not sleepy.

"I'm going to sleep now, Tianyin, you should go to sleep early too."

Looking at Tenon, who was typing rapidly on her phone screen, Horikita felt that she should remind Tenon to stop herself from playing on her phone all night without realizing it.

"Mmm, goodnight, Rin-yin, mua~"

Amane gave Horikita a big kiss on the cheek.

Even though Horikita was already used to this, she still felt her cheeks start to burn slightly. As expected, she still felt shy about this kind of intimate behavior. In order not to let Amane see her blushing face, Horikita quickly turned over, turned her back to Amane, said goodnight, and then hurriedly closed her eyes.

Amane simply smiled slightly and didn't pay much attention to Horikita's little actions. She turned back and continued to press the buttons on her phone quickly until... she heard steady breathing beside her.

Amane knew that Horikita had fallen into a deep sleep, and at that moment, Amane's fingers, which were pressing the buttons, stopped.

The phone was tossed aside like trash. If you looked closely, you could see that Tianyin had typed long, illogical paragraphs of text on the phone.

To put it simply, it's just random shooting.

Even Tianyin herself didn't know why she did this. Perhaps it was because she was bored, or perhaps it was because her boundless energy always made her try to find something to do.

"So this is what 'unease' is."

Tianyin knew better than anyone that what she had just said was all an excuse. The reason she was trying so hard to distract herself in this way was because she felt uneasy.

There is no doubt that Horikita will most likely lose to Sakayanagi in tomorrow's special exam.

Even though her design, combined with all the strategies and arrangements she had made before, made her chances of winning almost 100%, the prerequisite was that she was the one in charge of this challenge. As for Horikita... if she were a few years later and had grown up, she might be able to compete with Sakayanagi, but the current Horikita Suzune was still lacking in experience.

This means that Horikita cannot afford to make even the slightest mistake when fighting Sakayanagi tomorrow. If she does, Sakayanagi will easily turn the tide. Given Horikita's strength, it would be quite difficult for her to not reveal any weaknesses in front of Sakayanagi.

If it were just a normal win or loss, Tianyin wouldn't be so flustered. In Tianyin's view, winning and losing is a very normal thing. There will be winners and losers, which is an unchangeable thing. A win-win situation is very rare in this place.

Therefore, Tianyin takes it all in stride. If she loses a special exam, so be it. She'll just win it all back next time.

But... can Horikita Suzune really accept failure?

Amane's unease stemmed from this. Horikita's eagerness to defeat Sakayanagi and advance to Class A was practically written all over his face. The more impatient someone is, the further they drift from their goal.

In particular, Horikita Suzune and Amane are quite different.

Amane came to this school to experience campus life. However, because the former chairman of the board, Sakayanagi, was working here, and Sakayanagi was also going to study here, Amane accepted the chairman's invitation to come to this school.

As for the goal...

Absolutely not.

Neither a letter of recommendation from the chairman of the board nor a promise of a good job after graduation would mean anything to her. Recommendation letters were basically useless to her. Not to mention that Tianyin could choose any school based on her grades alone, by the time she graduated, she would probably receive invitations from various schools even before any recommendation letter arrived.

After all, as long as her bastard father is still in office, whichever school she goes to, that school will never have to worry about funding, and might even receive preferential treatment from higher authorities.

Such a good thing comes at the cost of just one enrollment spot. Only a fool would refuse to give Tianyin an enrollment spot in exchange for extra preferential treatment.

As for the condition of graduating and getting a good company, she would definitely not consider it. No matter which famous company she joins, she will most likely be directly hired. As for whether her grandfather will drag her home by the ear, that's another matter.

Therefore, Tianyin only needs to enjoy campus life as an observer and wait for graduation.

She doesn't need to fight, and she doesn't need to feel any pressure.

But Horikita Suzune and Amane are different.

Horikita's purpose in coming to this school was not actually to get into a good university or a good company. Otherwise, with Horikita's grades, he could have gotten into a decent university in any high school, and there would have been no need for him to study at this boarding school for three years.

Horikita Suzune came here to follow in Horikita Manabu's footsteps, hoping to become a younger sister whom her brother would approve of.

Amane still doesn't know how Horikita Suzune came to the conclusion that Horikita Gakuen would approve of her as long as she could advance to Class A. However, since Horikita Suzune wants to advance to Class A, Amane will accompany her to fulfill her dream.

However, rather than helping Horikita Suzune advance to Class A from the very beginning, Amane hoped that Horikita Suzune could grow step by step through the special exams arranged by the school, and eventually lead everyone to successfully advance to Class A.

Just as Amane had predicted, despite Horikita Suzune's many stumbles along the way, she continued to grow and mature slowly. Well, in various aspects, she seemed to have matured to the C level... cough cough. In short, Horikita Suzune had grown a lot compared to when she first came to this school, and she had also learned to be flexible. With some guidance over time, it was not impossible for her to grow to the level of Sakayanagi, since the difference in their intelligence was not that great.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time. If Amane had another year, she was confident that she could make Horikita, the class leader, do a decent job. But Horikita was graduating in a few months.

There's no time left, so if Amane wants Horikita Manabu to acknowledge Horikita Suzune before graduation, she can't slack off anymore. She can only help Horikita out by striving to defeat Class A in this special exam and help Horikita Suzune realize her wish.

At first, everything went exactly as Amane had predicted, until... Horikita Suzune just told her that she was going to fight Sakayanagi.

To be honest, in Amane's eyes, such a move was completely foolish. Sakayanagi was not some small fry who could be easily fooled.

Even Amane couldn't afford to be careless when fighting Sakayanagi, let alone Horikita.

In the match between Horikita and Sakayanagi, no matter how optimistic Amane was, she believed that Horikita's chances of winning were less than 20%. If Horikita Suzune were to lose at such a crucial moment, would she really accept her defeat with equanimity?

impossible.

Horikita Suzune would think that she had let everyone down and that she was a complete failure.

If she hadn't been given a chance to atone later, Horikita Suzune would probably have been unable to escape the shadow of this defeat for the next few years after graduating from Horikita Gakuen, and she probably wouldn't have dared to fight Sakayanagi again.

This is a situation that Tianyin does not want to see.

But... how can she stop it?

Just like when Horikita Suzune asked if she didn't think highly of her, Amane chose to deny it.