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

However, Tianyin was extremely knowledgeable about pianos. Having seen countless pianos, she easily discovered that the piano lid was held in place by a ring. By simply unhooking the ring, the lid could be easily separated from both sides, thus exposing the black and white keys to Tianyin's view.

"It's still as good as new! Has no one ever used such a perfect piano?"

While eating a custard bun, Tianyin curiously stroked the spotless piano keys.

"No, this is a new piano. The last time it was used was when you were tuning it on a whim. You don't think anyone but you can handle this wild piano."

"Really? But her appearance is so cute and pink, so typical of a young girl. How can you say she's wild?"

Tianyin looked around in confusion.

The last tuning was perfect. Whether it was 'hmm,' 'ah,' 'woo,' or some other sounds, this piano was perfect. Just thinking about that melodious, girlish sound makes Tianyin's heart surge with emotion.

Ever since the last tuning, Tianyin had been hoping for another chance to tune the piano with her. Unfortunately, due to a certain exchange of interests with the piano's supplier, she had no choice but to sever all ties with the piano.

Tianyin, who thought she would never hear that beautiful sound again in her life, never expected that fate would be so wonderful, and that she would become the first player of this piano.

Tianyin took a deep breath and began to press rapidly on the warm black and white piano keys. Standing to the side, all one could see was Tianyin's finger speed, which was so fast that it was almost impossible to see clearly, and the melody with a strong sense of rhythm.

Unlike the previous minor adjustments to the tuning, Tianyin's purpose this time was for practical application. Tuning alone cannot make the piano remember one's playing habits. Tianyin must constantly increase the speed and intensity to fill the entire stage with fast and cheerful melodies, allowing happiness to penetrate deep into every key of the piano. Only in this way can the piano form a unique memory to remember the playing style of Tianyin, an unconventional pianist.

The piano's initial resistance and uncooperative, awkward tones gradually became cheerful, as if it had adapted to the rhythm. The piano released its shackles and tried to merge with the performer. The cheerful melody began to become rapid, like an impending storm.

Tianyin squinted her eyes in rapture, seemingly to emphasize the tension brought about by the melody. She pressed the keys repeatedly with force, and for a moment, the monotonous yet evocative melody began to resonate throughout the stage.

Everyone's heartstrings tightened. This was exactly the effect Tianyin wanted. Tianyin changed the melody and the frequency of pressing the keys, and a shocking melody poured out like a floodgate being opened. The entire performance reached its climax at this moment. With a rapid note, Tianyin's hand movements gradually slowed down. Faced with the mess after the storm, only the warmth of love and gentle comfort could calm the emotions of those who had experienced the storm.

In the final moments, the gentle, heavenly piano music seemed to be the breath of someone who had weathered a storm finally finding respite and redemption, the melody overflowing with happiness and joy.

The song is finished.

There was no thunderous applause, nor any audience to appreciate this magnificent performance.

Tianyin showed no disappointment whatsoever; instead, she smiled contentedly.

Close the piano lid, then slowly lower it down.

Tianyin bowed to the empty audience in gratitude, then bent down and kissed the temporary partner with whom she had given her all in the performance.

Ibuki opened her eyes.

Gazing at that face so close to hers, Ibuki hesitated for a moment. Those captivating purple eyes were so alluring that one couldn't help but want to stare into them. Ibuki knew that looking into those eyes was like a moth drawn to a flame; even if one were to rush into the fire, there was no guarantee that one wouldn't be burned to ashes before feeling its warmth.

But she still couldn't stop her eyes from looking, until... the moment when Tianyin's gentleness ended.

After finishing her performance, Tianyin slowly distanced herself from her partner.

With a rosy complexion, Ibuki's eyes were filled with a dreamy look. Amane could play this beginner-level piece with ease, so she didn't feel any sense of accomplishment. However, when she saw her partner looking very satisfied, Amane became a little proud.

"What? Are my eyes really that beautiful?"

"Hmm...who, who wants to look into your eyes! I, I was just... looking at the sign on the wall behind you. You're so narcissistic."

Ibuki hurriedly pushed Amane away and quickly turned her head to the side, trying to hide her embarrassment and shyness.

"Oh? Is that really true?"

"Of course!"

Having recovered from the performance, Ibuki's words regained some of their confidence and composure.

"Then, Mio, take a look at what the prompt says."

"Please conserve water... Is there a problem?"

"Huh? Mio, you've been staring at the water conservation efforts for so long, but weren't you the one wasting water just now?"

Tenon looked at Ibuki with feigned surprise.

"When have I wasted water? I always turn off the tap after washing my hands!"

Ibuki couldn't understand how she had suddenly become someone who wasted water resources.

"Is that so? Then whose faucet was running water just now?"

"..."

"Mio?"

When Amane saw Ibuki's ripe face, a playful smile appeared on her face, and she lightly hooked Ibuki's chin with her fingers.

"Mio is such a bad kid for not turning off the tap."

"Pervert!!! Idiot!!"

With her eyes closed, Ibuki gave Amane a shy roar and then turned to run out of the bathroom, only to be stopped by Amane first.

"Don't rush off. I've helped you vent your anger, so you should tell me what happened, right?"

Seeing that her way out was blocked by Amane, Ibuki could only sigh helplessly.

It's not that she doesn't want to find someone to confide in, but the question is, is Tianyin a suitable person to confide in?

The answer is definitely no.

You could say that anyone in the whole school could be someone she confides in, but Tianyin was the only exception, and the reason was simple.

Tianyin is the one who needs to work the least. Perhaps Tianyin is also working hard and improving in places she can't see, but Tianyin's strength is simply not enough to cause her such urgent worries.

Half of her three years of campus life had passed in the blink of an eye, but she had made almost no progress. Her overall abilities had even decreased compared to the beginning. This situation was simply unacceptable to Ibuki, who had a very strong sense of self-esteem.

But no matter what she did, she couldn't find a direction to strive for. Studying? She was simply not cut out for it. This was a cruel reality for her, not only for the students in Class C but also for herself.

Hobbies? Absolutely none. As a socially anxious person, his social activities are basically limited to Long Yuan and his small group of friends.

Aside from this small circle, the only other person with a decent relationship with Ibuki is Amane.

Ironically, although Ibuki despised Ryuen's way of ruling, all her friends in Class C were only made after she joined Ryuen's clique. If she hadn't joined that clique, Ibuki might not have made a single friend in Class C.

With neither academic nor social skills proficient, her only remaining option was to rely on her physical abilities.

At first, as the most capable girl in Class C, Ibuki was quite well-known among her classmates. However, when those monsters emerged one after another like mushrooms after rain, Ibuki realized that her strength was simply not enough.

In junior high, Ibuki could still bully boys with her skills and brute force, but in high school, her strength, which she was so proud of, was nothing in the eyes of the boys. She had not systematically learned martial arts since she was a latecomer to the sport, which caused her status in the female martial arts faction to decline rapidly. In particular, after Amane appeared out of nowhere, her name was never mentioned again.

Despite countless failures, she trained harder every day, but her physical abilities didn't improve at all. It wasn't until later that she realized the reason she stood out in junior high was because she was too precocious. In other words, she had already used up all her physical potential and talent ahead of time.

No matter how much training they do, they can't surpass their current level. In fact, injuries and other factors may cause their abilities to decline.

All three paths forward—academics, social skills, and physical abilities—were shut down before Ibuki Mio, leaving her completely lost and directionless.

In Ibuki's view, Amane would never understand the despair of ordinary people.

"I'm sorry to have made you worry about me, but you can't help me this time. There are some things that the stronger a person is, the less they can understand. It's like when you step on an ant, Tianyin, you certainly don't think about why it doesn't fight back."

Ibuki's low voice gradually made the smile on Amane's face fade.

Amane did not deny Ibuki's statement or argue about meaningless things like, "How do you know I can't do it if you don't say it?"

Everyone has their own troubles, but not every trouble needs to be told to others, and telling others about your troubles will not solve them.

Because life's path is one's own, only the steps one takes are truly real, and no matter what others say, in the end, it is still up to her to do it.

Moreover, everyone has their own unique troubles and little secrets.

Prying into someone's privacy is disrespectful and not genuine concern.

"I understand. Since you don't want to talk to me, I won't force you. If you ever want to share something with me, just contact me. We're friends, after all!"

Amane patted Ibuki on the shoulder as encouragement, then turned and walked towards the playground.

"and many more."

Upon hearing Ibuki's voice, a fleeting look of joy crossed Amane's face.

She knew it; there was no way Ibuki wouldn't share secrets with her.

"What? Have you made up your mind?"

"What are you talking about? When did we become friends?"

"??? Isn't that right?"

"Huh? Have you forgotten what you told me last time?"

Ibuki's disgusted expression awakened a part of Amane's dormant memories deep within her mind.

Let's end our relationship here.

'I've already deleted Nishino's contact information, and you're no exception.'

"We probably won't have any more opportunities to cooperate, Ibuki, don't you understand what I mean?"

"Promotion? You're not worth twenty million. Wake up! Alright, our cooperation is over. There's no need to contact each other again. Good luck, Ibuki-kun."

Dormant memories begin to awaken in the mind.

"Huh?! I think I did say something like that..."

Amane's body stiffened. Due to a deal involving mutual benefits, Amane had chosen to give up all of her eyes in Class C, namely Nishino and Ibuki, the two moles who were passing information to her.

She never imagined things would turn out this way.

"Hmph, someone deleted and blocked all my friends and contact information, and they actually have the nerve to call themselves my friend. Tsk tsk, people these days, their skin is getting thicker and thicker."

Having finally found a chance to save face, Ibuki was naturally unwilling to let such a good opportunity slip by.

"Ahem, everything before was a misunderstanding. We can add each other as friends, right? I've sent a request! Mio, remember to accept it!~"

Amane skillfully sent Ibuki a friend request again.

"If it weren't for the fact that we're working together as second-year students and I'm giving you some face... I wouldn't have agreed to add you as a friend!"

Ibuki accepted the friend request.

Chapter 111: The Game

Amane and Ibuki had wasted a lot of time in their in-depth conversation. When they suddenly realized that they had exceeded the time agreed upon by the instructors, they hurriedly ran towards the meeting point, which was the playground of the forest school.

After the two arrived on the playground, they stopped abruptly almost simultaneously. What they saw before them was quite bizarre.

At this moment, all the students, whether first or second grade, were sitting on the ground in the playground, four of them forming a small circle and staring at a piece of wood, seemingly doing nothing.

Judging from the personnel allocation, it seems that the groups were formed based on the personnel lists of the dormitories and tents. Thinking of this, Amane subconsciously glanced at Ibuki beside her.

"What are they doing? Aren't they building houses today?"

Ibuki clearly hadn't noticed the group assignments yet. If Ibuki knew she was going to participate in this strange training with the Fukuyama sisters and Sakura, her expression probably wouldn't just be slightly surprised like she is now.

Amane noticed that Ibuki hadn't discovered this crucial issue, but she didn't intend to remind her. Due to Ibuki's insistence, Amane didn't get any useful information from her. Even now, Amane wasn't sure why Ibuki was angry. Did she have a conflict with her roommate? What happened? Amane had no idea who was on the side of 'reason' or 'right'. If she rashly spoke up, it might upset Ibuki or Fukuyama.

Therefore, Amane simply did not tell Ibuki about her discovery.

"I'm not quite sure either, but it looks like... everyone seems to be practicing making fire by rubbing sticks together...?"

Tianyin's voice carried a slight hesitation.

The vast majority of the groups in front of her were drilling into the flat surface of a small section of tree with sticks. The only training that Tianyin could think of when she saw this was the kind of training that could be described as drilling wood to make fire.

While it's true that starting a fire by rubbing sticks together is quite useful, surely they wouldn't not provide any fire-starting tools for this special exam? Last time they at least had a box of matches, but this time they've simply regressed to starting a fire by rubbing sticks together? It's really putting these students in a difficult position, but that's not what truly puzzled Tianyin.

"I figured out how to make fire by rubbing sticks together, but what's with the person using a phone to rub wood?"

"Well, I don't know either. Maybe it's a completely new way to play... or something."

Tianyin was also puzzled by this. It's easy to see how you make fire by rubbing sticks together, but there were quite a few people inside holding their phones and turning them around on the wood, which made Tianyin a little confused. Surely the school wouldn't be so crazy as to let students use their phones to make sparks?

Hey! What's going on with you two?!

A sudden shout, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, rang out behind Tianyin and the other person, startling them.

"Um, I suddenly felt unwell before the meeting, so I was a little late."

"Your stomach isn't feeling well? Hmm, how about you?"

An unfamiliar female instructor slowly approached from behind the two. After hearing Ibuki's excuse, she pondered for a moment but didn't pursue the matter further. An upset stomach wasn't a premonition; besides, ordinary students didn't have the instructors' contact information, so it was impossible to notify them on short notice. Therefore, although she was dissatisfied with Ibuki's excessive lateness, the female instructor remained understanding.

Then, those dark eyes fell on Tianyin, whose forehead was beginning to bead with sweat.

Tianyin originally wanted to say that she had a stomachache to get away with it, since the instructors couldn't control or trace stomachaches, and at most they would just punish her with some physical labor.

Anyway, it's definitely easier for the instructor to accept than to say that the two of them were having too much fun and accidentally missed the assembly time.

To Amane's surprise, Ibuki had already used her excuse before she could, leaving Amane's mind momentarily blank. Ibuki had used her excuse; what excuse could she use? She couldn't very well say she had a stomachache, could she?

Why aren't you saying anything?

"My stomach is upset too."