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

But Tianyin always felt as if she had forgotten something.

"Today is the day Horikita-senpai is leaving. Suzune, would you like to come with me to see him?"

As Amane straightened her clothes, she glanced at Horikita Suzune, who was sitting on the bed, hesitant even though she was already dressed.

"I'm not going... Anyway, my brother definitely doesn't want to see me on this last day."

"That's not necessarily true. After all, he's your own brother, isn't he?"

Amane's words touched Horikita somewhat, but in the end she sat back down on the bed.

"Tianyin, you go first, I'll think about it some more..."

"Okay, I'll head over now. Horikita-senpai will be leaving at 12 o'clock, so don't miss it."

"Um……"

Amane didn't force Horikita to go with her, nor did she tell Horikita that she was already certain that Horikita was looking forward to Suzune seeing him one last time.

Some things can only be understood by the people involved themselves; otherwise, some knots in their hearts can never be untied.

As it approached eleven o'clock, Tianyin arrived at the agreed-upon place alone.

When Horikita Manabu saw that Amane had come to see him alone, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

"It seems like Horikita-senpai doesn't welcome me?"

Amane noticed Horikita Manabu's disappointment and couldn't help but tease him.

"Not at all, I was already surprised that you came to see me off. After all, as a third-year student, I don't really have much contact with first-year students. Even my interaction with you, Amane, is only because of Horikita Suzune. To be honest, we don't have any deep friendship. So I'm already very grateful that you came to see me off. How could I not welcome you?"

Horikita Manabu's words were actually not wrong.

Horikita Manabu and Amane seem to have a good relationship, but in reality, they don't have much interaction. The few times they do interact are all about Horikita Suzune's growth. Their personal relationship is not particularly close. Amane's choice to see him off on the last day is mainly out of respect for Horikita Suzune.

It's unrealistic to say that I'm really reluctant to part with it.

"Unfortunately, the person you're waiting for is still hesitating."

"Some things and people cannot be forced; it's best to let things take their natural course."

Amane pouted. Horikita Manabu was clearly disappointed, but he still insisted on saying "let nature take its course." He was such a stubborn mule. If she were Horikita Manabu, she would have left before seeing Suzune. Forget waiting, she would have smashed Suzune's dorm room door down.

It's truly remarkable that Horikita Manabu could hold back.

The two waited for nearly an hour. With nothing else to do, Horikita Manabu chatted with Amane about her studies. Horikita Manabu thought that with his rich experience, he could provide some help to Amane. However, he did not expect that Amane, who was only two years younger than him, had an astonishingly rich experience. Some of the knowledge that Horikita Manabu had never even heard of left him in awe. However, he began to doubt whether Amane was a normal high school girl.

After all, a normal high school girl wouldn't talk to him about the tracking and hunting techniques needed when hunting bears and wild boars.

With less than five minutes left before the agreed time, the two ended their casual conversation.

Akane Tachibana, carrying her packed luggage, came to Horikita Manabu's side and urged him to leave.

By the way, Tianyin had always called Ju Qian "Secretary Ju," so she only just found out that Secretary Ju's real name was Ju Qian. This made Tianyin feel embarrassed. The other person had almost graduated and she still couldn't remember her name. They had met a few times, and it was too awkward not being able to remember her name.

"It's getting late, and it seems she's not coming. Horikita-senpai, what are your plans?"

Tianyin glanced at the time; it was already 11:55. Waiting any longer probably wouldn't yield any results.

"We agreed to meet at twelve o'clock, didn't we?"

Horikita Manabu seems unwilling to give up. Indeed, Horikita Manabu and Amane agreed to meet before midnight. Strictly speaking, as long as you arrive before midnight, it doesn't count as being late. It's just that Amane arrived earlier.

"Honestly, boys always insist on doing strange things. If they wanted to see her, they should have risked being arrested by the dorm supervisor last night and come crying and begging to knock on our dorm door."

Tianyin sighed helplessly.

"Please, if you can, don't say such embarrassing things with such a serious face, okay? Is that really the image you have of me?"

He went to the girls' dormitory late at night crying and shouting. If you knew him, you'd think he was a close brother and sister; if you didn't, you'd think he was a perverted loser.

Akane Tachibana sighed as well, clearly not optimistic that Suzune Horikita would come to meet Manabu Horikita at this hour.

However, since it was Horikita Manabu's decision, Tachibana Akane had no choice but to support it.

"Time is up."

Tianyin glanced at the time on her phone; it was exactly twelve o'clock. The agreed time had arrived. It seemed that miracles didn't always happen.

"I regret it now, Amane-kun. Tachibana-kun, let's go."

"Ah."

Just as the two turned to walk out of the school gate, a familiar voice rang out from afar.

"elder brother!"

Horikita Manabu stopped involuntarily, then slowly turned around to look in the direction from which the sound came.

Horikita Suzune quickened her pace as she ran towards them. She saw Horikita Manabu's back in the distance and, fearing she would miss this final moment, she called out to him to buy herself a little more time.

"Rin-nee, you—"

Amane was so shocked by Horikita Suzune's new look that she was speechless.

Akane Tachibana, standing to the side, also covered her mouth in surprise, as if she had seen something unbelievable.

Only Horikita Manabu calmly watched Horikita Suzune, who was panting heavily from running at top speed.

"I'm sorry, I almost missed being late."

"No... the timing is just right."

Normally, Horikita Manabu should have asked Horikita Suzune why she was almost late for such an important occasion.

However, anyone who sees Horikita Suzune now would probably understand why she almost arrived late.

"It seems you've successfully stepped out of my shadow, Suzune."

Horikita Manabu looked at Horikita Suzune with satisfaction.

"Yes, I will no longer blindly follow in my brother's footsteps."

For the first time, Horikita Suzune looked Horikita Manabu with such confidence.

Horikita Manabu actually had many questions he wanted to ask, such as how she suddenly came to her senses, what Horikita Suzune's plans were for her future, and so on...

He had a mountain of questions he wanted to ask, but when he actually saw Horikita Suzune's confident expression, all he could do was sigh.

"You've changed."

"Have I... changed? I just slightly... slightly changed my hairstyle..."

Horikita Suzune suddenly became hesitant. She didn't know if what she was doing was right or wrong, or if Horikita had learned to underestimate her determination.

“That’s not what I meant. It’s that you’ve grown up. You’re completely different from who you were back then. You’ve lived up to what you told me. You’re definitely not the Horikita Suzune you were three years ago.”

Horikita Manabu smiled gently. Seeing this, Horikita Suzune's eyes widened. In her memory, the last time Horikita Manabu had shown her such a gentle smile was a long time ago, probably back in junior high school or even earlier.

"People all grow up, and I'm no exception."

"Since you say you've grown up, then I'd like to ask you a question: how are you going to live after giving up chasing after me?"

The reason why Horikita Suzune came to this school was to pursue Horikita Gaku; all her efforts and growth during this period were merely byproducts of pursuing that goal.

Now that Horikita Suzune has stopped pursuing Horikita Manabu, it also means that Horikita Suzune has lost her target.

A person without goals in life is no different from a walking corpse. Horikita Manabu doesn't want to see Horikita Suzune fall into depravity, so he wants to know what Horikita Suzune's plans are for the future.

"I have given up chasing after my brother's shadow, but that doesn't mean I've given up on my own goals. In the future, I will still strive to become an excellent younger sister that my brother recognizes."

Horikita Suzune's words left Horikita Gaku somewhat bewildered. He couldn't quite understand what kind of effort Horikita Suzune was planning to make.

"What if I say I've already accepted you? What will you do in the future, Lingyin?"

"If my brother has already accepted me, I will become someone who surpasses him."

"..."

Horikita Manabu was now certain that his previous words had been wasted. Horikita Manabu's elaborate scheme had only one purpose: to make Horikita Suzune live for herself and find her own life goals.

Instead of focusing on him every day.

Horikita Manabu was initially pleased when Suzune Horikita said she was giving up chasing after him, thinking that her silly little sister had finally figured things out. But the result was that she went from chasing to surpassing him.

Why can't we choose something else?

The reason Horikita Manabu wanted Horikita Suzune to focus her attention elsewhere was partly for her own good, hoping she could become her true self, and partly because... Horikita Suzune had too high expectations of him.

This forces Horikita Manabu to constantly strive to maintain his image in front of Horikita Suzune, because Horikita Suzune sees him as a role model, and if he can't set a good example, he might corrupt his younger sister!

As a result, Horikita Manabu was forced to work hard day after day, and he didn't even dare to look for a girlfriend, for fear of corrupting Horikita Suzune.

The immense pressure often left Horikita Manabu feeling suffocated, so he planned to take advantage of Horikita Suzune's growth to extricate himself and let her find a new target.

But no matter how much he planned, he never expected that the new target would still be related to him. This was the first time Horikita Manabu felt that fate could play such tricks on him.

"Surpass me? That's no easy feat. You've been putting in all your effort just to catch up with me, yet you dare to talk about surpassing me... I hope this isn't just wishful thinking on your part."

"No! I've already found a way to surpass you, brother!"

'What? A way to surpass me?'

For the first time, Horikita Manabu was utterly shocked. Horikita Suzune had actually found a way to surpass him—this was too much…

wrong!

Horikita Manabu suddenly realized that although he didn't consider himself a top talent, he was certainly excellent. Moreover, Horikita Manabu was a hard-working type, which meant that unless someone's talent was significantly superior to Horikita Manabu's, it would be impossible to easily surpass him.

Why is Horikita Suzune so confident in saying she wants to surpass him?

"Oh? How are you going to surpass me?"

"Brother, what do you think of Tianyin?"

"Tianyin? In my eyes, Tianyin is a clever, cunning, powerful, disrespectful, and lawless student who doesn't follow school rules..."

Horikita Manabu was interrupted by Horikita Suzune before he could finish speaking.

"Brother, you also acknowledge Tianyin's power, right?"

In an instant, Horikita Manabu seemed to have thought of something terrible, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

He already knew what Horikita Suzune wanted to say.

He had to change Horikita Suzune's mind at the last minute, otherwise his sister would definitely go astray...

"That's right, Amane is an extremely powerful being, but she still has many problems..."

"Horikita-senpai, you've gone too far! I was listening right there!!!"

"So, brother admits that Tianyin is stronger than him, right?"

Horikita Suzune automatically filtered out other negative reviews of Amane.

Horikita opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say anything.

Now, Horikita Suzune only listens to what she wants to hear. All the negative comments about Amane that Horikita Gaku used to make Horikita Suzune back down have been filtered out by Horikita Suzune.

This will only cause things to spiral out of control in the direction that Horikita Manabu fears most.

"In other words, as long as I become as outstanding as Tianyin, I will naturally be able to surpass my brother."

"My Lingyin has such good taste!"

"What a joke! You know this girl, she..."

"Tianyin is not some 'this guy,' please watch your words, brother."

Oh no, now even Horikita Suzune's elbows are starting to turn against her.

But when he thought about how he had used the relationship between Amane and Horikita Suzune to get Amane to teach Horikita Suzune more, and even encouraged Amane to get closer to Horikita Suzune, believing that only by deepening their relationship could they influence Horikita Suzune... he could only say that he had shot himself in the foot.

My little sister is so big, and we've finally grown her up. How could she just be lost like that?

Just when Horikita Manabu was about to despair, he saw Horikita Suzune's short haircut.

"I remember I said I liked girls with long hair, and that's when you started deliberately growing your hair long. Today you cut your hair, isn't that what you're trying to tell me that you no longer need to chase after other people's shadows, and you won't be influenced by other people anymore? Why do you want to chase after Tianyin's shadow now? Do you live up to your own convictions?"

perfect!

By using Horikita Suzune cutting her long hair, Horikita Manabu emphasizes her enlightenment. Now, Horikita Manabu no longer cares whether Horikita Suzune chases after his shadow or not. As long as she doesn't chase after Amane's shadow, becoming the next Amane is Horikita Manabu's only wish.

However, his last wish was soon shattered.

Because Horikita Suzune leaned close to Horikita Manabu and whispered something in his ear.

"Brother, what strange things are you saying? I cut my hair short because Amane said she prefers girls with short hair, so I cut it short to look like Sakayanagi. What does that have to do with you, brother?"