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

Just as Hime had grabbed the somewhat distraught Horikita by the collar, she heard a rustling sound.

Ji Ye looked down and saw a handful of sunflower seed shells scattered on the ground.

As if sensing something, Himeko couldn't help but shiver, then stiffly raised her head to look at the top of the storage room.

A pair of slender, white thighs with visible muscle lines swung back and forth in mid-air.

The white-haired girl calmly wiped the remaining sunflower seed shells off her hands with a tissue.

In Ji Ye's memory, it seems that no one around her had the habit of eating sunflower seeds. The reason she knew about this food was because she had seen her classmates feed their hamsters with it when she was in junior high school.

If it were someone else, Hime would definitely complain that the other person was starving, actually stealing food from a hamster.

However, the person sitting high above the storage room was not someone she could easily provoke.

The moment Hime saw her, she almost forgot to breathe. All the words she wanted to say, whether it was to complain or to scold Horikita, got stuck in her throat, and she dared not make a sound.

"Why don't you continue?"

Ji Ye lowered his head instinctively, not daring to meet the other person's gaze, after just one glance.

She used to think that those scenes where a single glance could scare someone into silence, which only appeared in novels, were absolutely impossible in reality.

But she was wrong.

It can be said that a person's name is like the shadow of a tree.

The girl, known as the strongest in the entire school and a monster, made Himeya want to run away with just a look and a question that she couldn't feel any emotion from.

This is Miyako Tenon.

Chapter 213: Growth

Tianyin patted the remaining crumbs on her palms, then pushed herself up with both hands and jumped directly off the roof of the storage room.

Although the storage room wasn't very high, it was still four or five meters high. If it were a normal jump, most people would be able to land unharmed. However, Tianyin jumped down with both feet dangling in the air, and in a sitting position at that.

In Ji Ye's opinion, no matter how you look at it, Tian Yin should have landed in a somewhat disheveled state, giving her a perfect opportunity to escape...

Tianyin landed very smoothly, almost without making a sound. Like a cat, Tianyin leaped down lightly and landed steadily. It was unexpected that her seemingly explosive body could make such a light and natural movement.

Witnessing this scene, Ji Ye's pupils contracted subconsciously. His already highly tense nerves were easily torn apart the moment Tian Yin landed. A sense of powerlessness and despair surged into Ji Ye's heart, and almost without any hesitation, Ji Ye chose to give up resisting.

"Is this a pre-planned trap?"

Hime asked bitterly.

If it was a trap set by Amane, then at this point she could only admit defeat. Unlike the others in Class D, Himeko valued intelligence gathering highly and had cooperated with Amane long ago. Therefore, no one knew better than her what kind of monster Amane was.

More frightening than Tianyin's martial prowess is their control over people's hearts and their unfathomable strategies.

On the surface, Tianyin is like a reckless chess player, making moves here and there, seemingly unrelated strategies, but they always play an important role at crucial moments.

If it weren't for the fact that Amane's appearance was indeed consistent with that of a high school student, Hime would have thought that Amane was an old monster who had been honing his skills in the deep mountains and forests for countless years, making people feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

In the current situation, she has undoubtedly lost her chance to escape and has completely fallen into Tianyin's hands.

No one can guarantee that Tianyin watched for an unknown period of time or whether she took any evidence that was detrimental to Jiye.

In this place without cameras, a single photo taken by Tianyin could potentially confirm Jiye's involvement in school violence.

Even if her injuries were more severe, the school can't reason with her based on evidence alone.

"No, no, no, I was just passing by, just passing by~ I happened to see you guys fighting and watched for a while, but you stopped just when I was starting to get into it, how boring."

Amane was actually just passing by. She was shopping with Megumi when, taking advantage of the crowd, Amane quietly put her hand on Karuizawa's buttocks. Before Amane could do anything, Himeno stepped on Amane's shoe and ran away without even apologizing.

Seeing her good time ruined and even her beloved white shoes covered in a shoe print, Tianyin couldn't swallow her anger. So she turned around and chased after him, wanting to see which bastard dared to mess with her and then try to run away.

What even Amane didn't expect was that chasing after the person who stepped on her shoes would lead her to stumble upon a good show between Horikita and Himeno.

Amane originally planned to gang up on Hime with Horikita, pin Hime to the ground, teach her a lesson, then wash her clean and send her to her bed... cough cough, I mean, hand Hime over to the school.

Then Amane remembered the bet between Horikita and her, and realized that Horikita had deliberately lured Hime to this place to disqualify Hime from the competition. If she went out to interfere now, Horikita would probably be unhappy, and the result of Horikita's displeasure would be that she would be thrown out of the dormitory again. For a moment, Amane hesitated whether to show up and intervene.

Just as Amane was still hesitating, Horikita and Himeno started fighting. Amane couldn't intervene anymore, so she could only peek from above the storage room. Luckily, she had some sunflower seeds in her pocket that she had gotten from Wang Meiyu, so she simply enjoyed the sunflower seeds while watching the show.

It's worth mentioning that when Amane was staying at Sakayanagi's house, Sakayanagi asked Amane to help take care of one of the hamsters. It was while watching the hamster eat sunflower seeds that Amane learned that the hamster was edible, and she also learned how to eat sunflower seeds without making any noise.

However, because Amane often skimped on its food, Sakayanagi's hamster escaped under the cover of night one day. Amane had to coax Sakayanagi for a long time and even got bitten. Well, that's another story.

In short, Tianyin did indeed pass by, but it's unclear whether Jiye believes Tianyin's explanation.

"Hmph, stop lying."

Well, is it really true that her explanation is hard to accept?

Tianyin scratched her cheek in annoyance. If their positions were reversed, Tianyin would probably also think that this was a trap set up by the other party in advance...

"I would never lie to a cute girl!"

"Cute...? Why are you suddenly praising me..."

Ji Ye blushed. From childhood to adulthood, even her parents had never praised her for being cute. In this school where the girls' appearance was highly valued, her looks were barely even average. Coupled with her expressionless and gloomy face, it would be difficult for her to find a boyfriend in the future, let alone have anyone praise her for being cute.

So when such a powerful and beautiful woman as Amane praised her for being cute, even though she knew that the other party might be deliberately flirting with her, Hime couldn't help but feel a little shy.

"Hahaha, how could I possibly praise you for being cute? I'm praising my Lingyin~ Come here, Lingyin, let me give you a kiss, mua~"

Just as Tenon was about to turn around and get closer to Horikita, Horikita pushed her face away.

"Tianyin, can't you be a little more serious at a time like this? Also... what you just said seemed a bit too much."

Horikita gave Amane a meaningful look, gesturing for her to look at Himeno behind her.

"Is there?"

Amane followed Horikita's gaze to Himeno, whose face was covered in bloodstains but whose expression had become exceptionally gloomy.

Tenon's words, "How could I possibly praise you as cute?" shattered Hime's somewhat shy heart completely.

Sure enough, the two people in front of him were in cahoots, and it was impossible for him to get any praise from Tianyin.

But... even if someone isn't cute, you shouldn't say it to their face!

Ji Ye gritted his teeth, took two steps forward, and kicked Tian Yin in the face.

Even if she only gets one hit, it will allow her to vent her frustration. As long as she can get rid of this anger, she will accept being miserably punished by Tianyin!

To Ji Ye's surprise, her close-range sneak attack was actually met with Tian Yin grabbing her ankle with one hand.

"Oh, how cute!"

Even if you call me cute now, I still won't forgive you!

"I didn't say you're cute, Himeno-san. I meant this: I didn't expect you to like wearing underwear with bear prints too, Himeno-san! I love it too! By the way, I have one of this style!"

"What bear... Aaaaaaaah!!!"

Hime suddenly screamed, startling Tenon so much that she couldn't help but let go of his hand.

The moment Tianyin let go, Ji Ye immediately covered her skirt and squatted down on the ground.

"abnormal!!"

"Huh? You're the one who showed it to me, how can you call me a pervert? If you're wearing a skirt, don't kick so high..."

"I don't care, you're a pervert!!"

"..."

Why is this person being unreasonable?

Just as Amane rolled up her sleeves, ready to have a serious talk with Himeno, Horikita tugged at Amane's arm.

"There's no point in continuing this stalemate with her. Since she's not an ordinary contestant, even if we defeat her, we won't achieve our goal. Let's just call it quits for today."

Seeing that Horikita had no intention of staying any longer, Amane pouted and muttered a few complaints about how she was a decent person before leading Horikita away from Himeno.

As for whether Hime will report her to the school? Horikita isn't afraid of that at all. Both of them have marks left by the other's attacks. If Hime wants to report her, Horikita can just make a scene and get the school to take a 50/50 approach. In that case, Horikita might even come out ahead.

After leaving the storage area, Horikita looked back and saw that Hime hadn't followed. She breathed a slight sigh of relief. From the moment she started fighting Hime, she had maintained a high level of concentration. She had felt a little tired before, but Hime hadn't given up the fight, so she could only rely on managing her facial expressions to keep going.

Now that they were out of danger, Horikita couldn't help but relax. Her steps became a little unsteady, but fortunately, Amane caught her in her arms.

"Sigh, I never thought I'd fail in the end. I did my best in every step, and I was so close to success, but I chose the wrong target. It's really..."

Horikita closed his eyes in anguish.

This defeat was a huge blow to Horikita, but she had indeed maximized her abilities. Unfortunately, a small intelligence error led to the complete loss, which was hard for the proud Horikita to accept.

Amane gently patted Horikita's back, trying to offer her some comfort.

Amane watched the entire battle between Horikita and Himeno. Whether it was Horikita's initial pretense of teaming up with Kanzaki to teach Himeno a lesson in an attempt to shake Himeno's resolve or to directly turn Himeno against Horikita, or the later fight between Horikita and Himeno, Amane saw nothing wrong with it.

It wouldn't be difficult to deceive Himeno by exploiting the information gap. Himeno said that she believed Kanzaki was just trying to test Horikita. Horikita's lack of experience in this area led to a misjudgment and a failed attempt to turn him into a fighter.

This allowed Himeko to see through Horikita's earlier preparations. Although it was a bit of a pity, the decision to turn Himeko against Horikita was actually quite correct. It's very easy to turn someone against Horikita in Class D now. It can only be said that Horikita was unlucky and chose the wrong target. If it were any simpler girl, she would have been fooled by Horikita. Overall, Horikita's performance and decisions were not problematic.

In terms of combat skills, Horikita's skill level was even more impressive to Amane. Horikita's current skill level in Aikido was about 80% of what her brother Horikita had learned. Hime's footwork and reactions showed that she was quite skilled. She might not have received systematic training, but she must have fought before. Otherwise, an ordinary person would have been subdued by Horikita's over-the-shoulder throw long ago.

Even though Himeko had some unorthodox skills, she couldn't gain any advantage against Horikita. Even when she successfully launched a sneak attack, it was to no avail. Horikita completely overwhelmed Himeko from beginning to end.

This is understandable, after all, compared to Amane who is always thinking about slacking off, Horikita has been training every day even after coming to this school, without ever missing a single day. Even when she was on the deserted island, Horikita was honing her skills in her spare time.

After a year of training, Horikita Suzune is now much stronger than when she first started school. Don't be fooled by the fact that she only has eight-tenths of Horikita Manabu's skill level. Horikita Manabu has the advantage of strength as an older boy. If it were just a contest of pure technique, Horikita Suzune and Horikita Manabu would be evenly matched at this point.

All of this demonstrates Horikita Suzune's excellence, but it is precisely because she is so excellent that she is so resentful of her failures.

This oversight in intelligence and lack of experience in the match caused her to suffer a great loss, resulting in her defeat against Sato. It will probably make her sad for quite some time.

"Actually, I think you're just unlucky, Rin."

"Not very lucky? I'm a little unwilling, but you don't need to comfort me like this. It's not that I can't accept defeat, it's just... I feel useless. If the opponent was strong, I wouldn't be so upset if I lost, but this time the opponent wasn't that strong, but I lost the match with Sato-kun because of my misinformation... I, I... um."

Before Horikita could finish speaking, Amane silenced him with a kiss.

Even though she clearly didn't want to do these romantic things with Amane here, Horikita just wanted to hold Amane in her arms.

Horikita opened his arms and hugged Amane tightly in his arms.

Listening to Tianyin's strong heartbeat, feeling Tianyin's warm breath on my cheek.

Horikita, whose eyes had been tightly closed, slowly opened them. Those eyes, which had once radiated confidence, were now filled with sorrow.

Strangely, Horikita herself didn't know why she felt sad, nor did she know who she was sad for.

Horikita subconsciously looked at Amane. Amane did not close her eyes to enjoy everything Horikita was doing, but instead opened her eyes and looked at Horikita as well.

Upon seeing the worry-filled eyes of Amane, Horikita Rinne suddenly found herself unable to hold back her tears.

Those glistening tears finally broke free from their sockets, and the tears, still warm from their snot, slid quickly down Horikita's cheeks and dripped onto the ground.

Amane's eyes were full of surprise, perhaps she was surprised that Horikita would suddenly cry?

However, Amane did not ask Horikita why she was crying.

When a person can face their own shortcomings and accept their own failures, that is growth for them.

Growth is often accompanied by pain, which is an essential process for a person to shed their immaturity and become an adult.

The pain of growing up may come early, or one may only experience the sorrow of growing up in old age. The meaning and price of growing up are different for everyone.

But everyone's growth has one thing in common.

That is……

Say goodbye to your past self with tears.

……

"Just as you guessed, Kiyotaka, Horikita Suzune failed. What's wrong with that girl? Why does she always have to cause us trouble?"

Sato angrily threw his phone onto the bed, then lunged at Ayanokouji who was standing nearby.

Ayanokouji, who was texting someone, saw Sato rush over and quickly threw his phone aside, pulling Sato into his arms.

"Remember to tell me next time, it can hurt a lot if you fall."

Ayanokouji stroked Sato's hair with a seemingly affectionate gesture.

Feeling Ayanokouji's loving caresses, Sato couldn't help but want to act cute.

"Anyway, Kiyotaka will always catch me, won't he?"

"What if I make a mistake..."

"Then I'll ignore you for a day."