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

Looking down through the hand that was being covered by Tenon, Himeno saw the smile hidden beneath Tenon's palm.

"Hahahaha, Hime-chan, don't mind it, I was just joking with you."

"A joke? I don't understand what you mean."

"After catching a mouse, doesn't a cat always play with it a bit before giving it the cruel punishment it deserves?"

Tenon played with the black chess piece in her hand, but her gaze was fixed on Hime.

Himeko knew that cats had a habit of playing with mice before eating them, but... how could they call her a mouse? This game of chess isn't over yet!

"Tianyin, you're getting too cocky. Everyone's watching. It'll be really embarrassing if you lose the next match."

Ji Ye's calm and unhurried attitude resulted in Tian Yin pinching his cheek.

"Amane-kun, please keep your distance from Hime-no-kun!"

The referee was shouting warnings from the sidelines.

Tianyin, however, turned a deaf ear to this.

"What an adorable little guy! I love how you are. If you'd like to come to my room tonight and discuss some life philosophies, I might just let you win this game!"

Tianyin's cloying voice made Ji Ye waver slightly, but when she realized what Tianyin was talking about, she pushed Tianyin away.

"Who would like a promiscuous girl like you!"

"Debauched? Hahaha, you're the first person who's ever dared to talk to me like that. Watch out, or I'll kill you. Just kidding."

Tianyin playfully stuck out her tongue, as if she were really joking, but Ji Ye caught a glimpse of the deep, cold light that flashed in her eyes.

"Alright, I'm done playing with you. It's time to eat this cute little mouse."

Tenon picked up the black piece that had become the "King" and began to move it around on the board.

Snapped!

Snapped! !

Snapped! ! !

……

At first, Hime was just a little worried.

But when Hime saw that Tenon was relentlessly and frantically eating all of her white pieces on the board, she was completely stunned.

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap...

Tianyin kept raising his hand to place pieces, capture pieces, and place more pieces!

Every gesture he made was dazzling.

After a flurry of sounds as chess pieces were played, Tenon captured Hime's last piece.

"I won, Himeno-kun."

"How... how could this happen? I deliberately set up a chessboard that would prevent you from making consecutive moves..."

Himeya stared blankly at the chessboard, now containing only a single black king, as if in a dream.

"Wang Qi is no ordinary chess piece~ Hime-chan, have you ever heard the saying, 'One wrong move, and the whole game is lost'?"

After winning the match, Tianyin was naturally happy to chat with Jiye. Seeing that Jiye still didn't understand why he lost, Tianyin decided to offer some pointers.

"But I took every step very seriously... So where did I go wrong?"

"first step."

"The first step?! How is that possible..."

The first move in checkers is basically useless, so Hime couldn't understand why it ended up like this. Even though Akane's moves were seen through by her, why did it turn out like this?

"From the moment you placed your piece in front of me, you had already lost."

Chapter 222: The Time of Parting

"From the moment you placed your piece in front of me, you had already lost."

This statement seems to perfectly showcase arrogance; only someone who has long believed in their own strength to the point of being somewhat conceited could utter such hate-inducing words.

If it were anyone else, even if she were a loser on the chessboard, she would not hesitate to retort.

After all, there are always people better than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. Even if you can beat me, you can't possibly beat everyone. If this offensive remark were to be heard by a master checkers player, they would inevitably want to teach the person who said it a lesson and then use this remark as a finishing touch to slap her in the face.

Unfortunately, the person who said those words was Tianyin.

The same words, spoken by others, would inevitably seem annoying or boastful, but when Tianyin says them, it only makes people feel that Tianyin is simply stating the truth.

Although this is a rather hurtful truth.

"The winner of this match is Miyako Amane from Class 1-B. Since the overall score has changed to 3:4, the winner of this special exam is Class 1-B!"

Although everyone already knew the result, when the result was actually announced by the referee, Class B still erupted in an amazing cheer.

"That's fantastic, Tianyin!"

"Now we're in Class A, right? I'm so happy!!! We definitely have to celebrate when we get back."

"Well done, Tianyin."

Even Koenji couldn't help but give Tenon a high evaluation.

"It was truly an unforgettable match. My heart was in my throat the whole time. Thankfully, you won, Miyako girl. Otherwise, I would have left here as a loser, slinking away like a rat in the street. Although I didn't find your performance particularly amazing, there's no doubt that you won the deciding game. Thank you."

In order to finish his last sentence, Koenji used a rather long speech to cover up his embarrassment.

"Kōenji, you're still so dishonest. I saved you, shouldn't you praise me lavishly?"

Tenon jokingly complained to Koenji.

Koenji touched his beardless chin as if he was thinking about something. Perhaps even he felt that his insincere praise seemed too petty. So Koenji put away his usual carefree expression and stopped taking his small mirror to primp and fix his hair. Instead, he looked at Amane with a serious expression.

"Thank you so much."

"Hmm... you shouldn't be like this. I'm not used to you being so serious all of a sudden."

"Tch, what a difficult little brat."

"I'm not a little devil, you idiot, Koenji!!!"

"Hahahaha, whether it's you or not isn't up to you to decide. If I, Koenji Rokusuke, think you are who you are, then you are. Anyway, there's no need for me to play anymore, so I'll go back and rest first. This tense match really made me sweat all over, which might affect my beauty..."

Koenji walked towards his dormitory while muttering to himself, seemingly not planning to attend the closing remarks.

It's obvious that after this special exam, there will be a long and tedious section about things to note during spring break. Rather than listening to it until you're half asleep, you might as well treat yourself to something nice, like a big meal.

Thinking about it this way, Tianyin was actually a little tempted.

Unfortunately, she was too conspicuous, unlike Koenji, who could leave early and people would just think of him as an oddball and not say much.

"Heavenly Sound!!"

As soon as the conversation between Tenon and Koenji ended, a figure seemed to pounce onto the stage at just the right moment.

Before Tianyin could even see who was calling her, she felt a soft body rush into her arms. It was very elastic, and she could tell it was Horikita just by touching it.

"Hehe, now Lingyin's dream should come true, right?"

In this special exam, Class A lost 30 class points, while Class B only gained 30 class points.

In fact, classes like Class B and Class A, which have over a thousand class points, shouldn't care too much about changes of a few dozen class points, or even a gain or loss of a hundred or two class points.

However, the two classes are only nine points apart at this time. This means that Class A can only retain its ranking if Class A and Class B have exactly the same record.

Otherwise, unless it's a decisive victory, they'll basically have to give up their position to Class B.

Although Class A only lost a negligible thirty class points in this special exam, those thirty points have now become a fatal blow to Class A.

"Yeah, we're finally going to be promoted to Class A, but unfortunately... the results probably won't be announced until after spring break, and by then... sigh."

Horikita sighed softly.

Amane also knew why Horikita felt disappointed.

Class points are not updated in real time; they are only officially updated on the 1st of each month. Before that, all point changes and class ranking changes are based on guesswork.

So, to find out whether Class B can pass this exam and be promoted to Class A, we'll have to wait until April 1st.

But by the time that day arrived, Horikita Manabu had already graduated, which meant that Horikita's final efforts would always have some flaws.

"Well, we can just take pictures and send them to Horikita-senpai later, right?"

"That's just how it is... Oh dear, I almost forgot, this is the time to celebrate Class B's victory, not to talk about such sad topics."

Horikita shook his head vigorously, seemingly trying to temporarily put aside his disappointment; what Class B needed right now was a celebration.

Karuizawa felt a pang of jealousy when she saw Amane whispering in Horikita Suzune's ear on stage. Actually, she was the one standing closest to Amane, and Karuizawa had even jogged a couple of steps toward Amane when the results of the competition were announced.

However, at the most crucial moment, Karuizawa felt embarrassed at the thought of rushing into Amane's arms in front of so many people, and his movements became hesitant. It was this hesitation that allowed Horikita Suzune to take the initiative.

Horikita Suzune is currently occupying the best spot in Amane's arms. Even if she went up to her, she could only stand aside and watch Horikita and Amane whisper to each other, which would be too awkward. Besides, there are so many people watching, and she is too shy to do anything so bold.

So Karuizawa ultimately abandoned the idea of ​​going on stage to celebrate now, and planned to secretly congratulate Amane in private later.

Ichinose shared the same idea as Karuizawa.

She had originally planned to go up, but when she saw Karuizawa, who had run halfway, actually return to her position, Ichinose quickly guessed Karuizawa's intentions.

Anyway, she wouldn't get a good position if she went up there now, so she might as well do what Karuizawa did and congratulate her privately. Maybe she could even get close to Amane...

Thinking about this, Ichinose couldn't help but blush.

Noticing her cheeks burning, Ichinose looked around and, finding no one paying attention to her, quickly disappeared into the crowd.

She was afraid that someone would see her in this disheveled state.

However, when it comes to the greatest emotional fluctuations, it should be Teacher Chabashira.

However, Chabashira-sensei was in the multi-purpose classroom at the time, so no one saw Chabashira Sae hiding there crying her eyes out.

Her mistake once made her class unable to compete with Class A, ultimately causing the entire class to graduate as Class D. Although no one said anything to her, it became a lifelong regret for Chabashira Sae.

The reason she initially treated Class D so badly, even being quite passive in passing messages, was simply because she believed that as the person in charge of Class D, she would never be able to achieve her wish.

Becoming a member of Class A seemed so unattainable.

Now, she has witnessed firsthand how that class, which was considered defective just a year ago, has started with zero class points and earned over a thousand class points in a year, not to mention successfully overtaking Class A.

This can be seen as indirectly helping her fulfill a past regret.

When Ms. Hoshinomiya heard crying coming from the multi-purpose classroom, she even peeked inside from outside the door. When she found the source of the sound, Chazuki, whose voice was hoarse from crying, Hoshinomiya left alone.

If you don't strive for something back then, what good will it do even if someone helps you achieve your dream later?

What's missed is missed. Countless people's fates were changed because of that one failure, yet she alone put on a self-satisfied and relieved appearance.

"That's really too much, Saeko. You've ruined everyone's lives, but you're acting like you're the victim."

Ms. Hoshinomiya took two steps, then, as if remembering something, turned back and looked deeply into the room where the crying could still be faintly heard. Finally, she made her footsteps louder and left from the other end of the corridor.

Hearing footsteps in the corridor, Chabashira, realizing someone was passing by her room, rushed to the door to check. However, Hoshinomiya-sensei had already left in the elevator, so Chabashira Sae couldn't see a single person.

As the saying goes, some are happy while others are sad.

Unlike Class B, who were celebrating enthusiastically, Class D was like a stagnant pool, with no one mentioning anything related to the special exam.

On the one hand, the class didn't lose too many points this time, so no one felt too concerned or upset.

On the other hand, Ninomiya is about to be taken away to process his expulsion from school, and even if someone dislikes Ninomiya, no one would make a laughing face at this critical juncture.

Ninomiya walked out of the multi-purpose classroom looking exhausted.

The first person to walk towards her was Hime.

Or rather, apart from Hime, everyone else was looking at her with complicated expressions.

Ninomiya Yui.

He was a person who betrayed the class, a person who sold out Ichinose Honami, but he was also the only commander who gained the upper hand in the battle between Class D and other classes.

Before this, both Kanzaki and Shibata were very outstanding, but they were no match for other classes in class competitions and were often bullied by other classes.

Even Ichinose used diplomatic tactics, sacrificing Class D's chance to gain class points in order to build good relations with other classes, thereby obtaining a large number of personal points to maintain the daily life of the class.

Although Class D maintained very good relations with all other classes under Ichinose's leadership at that time, they essentially gave up on competing for Class A.

This is why, when Ninomiya proposed to replace Ichinose, many people who had a good relationship with Ichinose sided with Ninomiya.