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

Airi couldn't help but smile happily when she heard Horikita no longer ask her to delete the photos.

"I will absolutely not show the photos to anyone else, thank you Horikita-kun."

This was the first time she had ever felt grateful for being loved.

Horikita felt a little embarrassed at that moment, thinking about how terrible things she had done to her.

"No need to thank me, it's nothing. Sakura, you go find a suitable spot to pitch your tent. I'll get the food. Once you find a good spot, remember to send me a message or take a picture."

"Okay, I'll find a suitable place to camp right away. I'll leave the task of getting the food to you, Horikita-kun."

"Leave this small matter to me."

……

"Hirata-kun, you're surprisingly capable. I thought we wouldn't be able to move into the tent until at least tonight."

Sato walked towards Hirata with an iced drink he had just bought from a vending machine.

After confirming his partner information with Hirata, Hirata handled everything by himself, from collecting food and other supplies to setting up the tent.

Hirata chose to camp on the school's playground, a choice that displeased Sato. The school's designated camping area included a large area at the foot of the mountain, and many of these campsites were near the sea, which was not only cooler than the mountain but also had fewer mosquito bites. Most importantly, Sato preferred to take a walk on the beach during his free time or after meals rather than just opening his tent and finding himself facing a school building.

Hirata could naturally understand Sato's perfectly normal thoughts, but for practical reasons, he still declined the suggestion.

The reason is simple: physiological needs. Faced with the large-scale camping, the school considered that it might cause problems with normal physiological needs such as excretion that would be difficult to solve. So, after discussion, the school decided to provide the kind of simple toilets that students used when they were on the deserted island free of charge. Although the simple toilets had many flaws, they could effectively solve everyone's normal physiological needs. However, because the simple toilets were quite heavy and difficult to carry, the school did not provide these simple toilets to every group. Instead, it provided eight fixed simple toilets built at the foot of the mountain for students to use.

If the eight makeshift toilets are evenly distributed among the eight classes of two grades, it means that each class can get one makeshift toilet, which is similar to the situation encountered on the deserted island.

However, this time the groups were not assigned by class. The school also allocated the makeshift toilets equally according to gender. Boys and girls in the same grade shared four toilets, which means that both boys and girls could get the right to use two makeshift toilets.

It sounds fairly fair, but the problem is... the arrangement of the makeshift toilets clearly only took into account the camp, which is the majority of the same-sex groups.

Grouping students of the opposite sex, like Hirata and Sato, was completely outside the school's considerations. However, the opposite-sex groups were required to pitch their tents together, which greatly extended their journey to the restroom.

Take the second grade as an example. There are more than 30 groups of girls alone. According to the rule that each group must maintain a distance of at least 20 meters, these 30-plus groups alone occupy a space of 600-700 meters. Even if the makeshift toilets were evenly placed in the middle of the second-grade girls' groups, there would still be one every 350 meters.

Even if Hirata, being a boy, and Sato, being a girl, were in the same group, it would be impossible for them to pitch their tents in the girls' camp. Similarly, the campsite could not be too close to the boys' campsite. As a result, if they wanted to go to the toilet, they would have to walk at least 500 meters, and they might even have to wait in line.

Faced with this potentially inconvenient situation, Hirata abandoned the strategy of most people choosing to camp by the sea and unexpectedly chose to camp at the school. Since most people went to the foot of the mountain, the school in the forest had empty toilets and bathhouses. In addition, the school also had washing machines and vending machines, so there was no problem with living conditions and no one was competing with them or queuing. It was an excellent choice.

Even Sato had to admit after hearing Hirata's explanation that, at the moment, there was no solution that the two of them could accept better than Hirata's suggestion. At least, she couldn't think of any better idea. So Sato agreed to Hirata's suggestion on the location of the campsite.

Next, they started setting up camp. Since Sato didn't know how to set up tents, Hirata did it. Sato was a little surprised to see Hirata set up two tents by himself in just twenty minutes.

"Setting up a tent isn't too complicated. Once you try it once, you'll get the hang of it. When I was on a deserted island, out of curiosity, I tried dismantling the tent the school had set up and then setting it up again. That's how I learned this skill. I thought I might need it sometime, but I didn't expect to be given the opportunity to use it so soon."

Sato, sipping her chilled juice and sitting to the side, watched Hirata, who was covered in sweat, and a plan suddenly popped into her mind.

Although she was forced to stop pursuing Ayanokouji due to Amane's authority, this did not mean she had forgiven Ayanokouji's betrayal or given up on proving to others that she was a million times better than that third party, the girl named Iwasaki. She wanted Ayanokouji to regret his betrayal!

Then an incredibly audacious plan came to her mind.

"Hirata-kun is so reliable. It's rare to see a reliable guy like you these days. I've heard a lot of rumors about you and your ambiguous relationship. Are you secretly dating some cute girl behind everyone's back?"

Hirata became shy when this topic came up.

"Please don't believe those rumors. How could I possibly be dating someone behind everyone's back? Obviously, those are just rumors."

"Oh? So that means Hirata-kun isn't dating any girls?"

"That's right, but why did you suddenly bring this up, Sato-kun?"

For Sato, who had just broken up with her boyfriend, any topic of love, or rather, any topic between men and women, could trigger an extreme reaction from the already sensitive Sato.

Although Hirata claimed that Sato and Ayanokoji's breakup was a private matter between them and that they should resolve it themselves, deep down Hirata was inclined to sympathize with Sato, who was in a weaker position.

A girl was having a great relationship with the boy she loved, but then a third party suddenly appeared and easily stole him away. She even ended up being the one who got dumped. I doubt anyone could accept that.

Hirata knew that such feelings were impossible to empathize with; he couldn't possibly understand how much pain Sato was in. Without empathy, any words of comfort would merely be an expression of attitude. Rather than such superficial expressions of attitude, Hirata preferred to show concern and help his classmates in need through concrete actions.

For example, Hirata was very careful not to mention any past romances or anything related to Ayanokouji when they talked. He just wanted to make sure Sato had a happy two-day holiday, because when Amane came back... Hirata didn't think Amane would show any mercy to Sato for disrupting the group's unity.

Therefore, we should take this opportunity to leave Sato with some good memories, so that... Sato, who is already in a bad mood, won't break down when Hirata wins the quiz game at the end.

To his surprise, Sato brought up the topic of romance with him, which made Hirata happy but also made him more wary.

I'm happy because Sato can talk about love normally, which means she has accepted the breakup. As long as she can accept it, time will heal all the pain. The problem is that Sato can't get over the relationship. If she can't face reality, dropping out of school might be the only option for her.

However, if Sato is willing to face reality, as long as he stops interfering in class affairs and causing trouble for Ayanokouji, even Amane shouldn't be so ruthless.

But what alarmed Hirata was whether a girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend and had been almost driven to madness could really get out of the shadow of heartbreak in such a short time without anyone to comfort her.

"Love is a topic that girls are most interested in. Isn't it normal for you and me to talk about this?"

"That's true..."

"Yosuke Hirata, I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."

"What's so serious?"

Seeing Sato's serious expression, Hirata quickly wiped the smile off his face and sat down opposite Sato.

"I would like to ask Hirata Yosuke to go out with me."

Chapter 146: Who are you?

"Sato-kun, I want to confirm with you, are you confessing your feelings to me?"

"Is that even a question? Of course I'm confessing to you, Hirata. It shouldn't be that hard to understand, right? You must have been confessed to by all sorts of cute girls before, Hirata."

Hirata didn't show the surprise Sato had expected, and his expression didn't even change much, which made Sato feel increasingly annoyed.

"What's the reason?"

Hirata's calmness made Sato realize that things were not as simple as he had thought.

Rumor has it that when Karuizawa asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend, Hirata immediately agreed. So why does it seem like Hirata is completely unmoved by her request?

Does a confession need a reason?

"Confessing your feelings requires a reason, that's common sense. To be honest, I don't really believe you would confess to me for no reason, Sato-kun. We haven't had much contact before, yet you suddenly chose to confess to me so soon after our breakup. If it were you, Sato-kun, you would definitely find this strange too. So, can I assume that you're trying to use me to achieve some goal? But even if you're just trying to use me, shouldn't you give me a reason that I can accept?"

"A reason?"

Sato looked up at the gradually darkening sky, and the bitterness in his heart grew stronger.

How could she not know that a confession needs a reason?

For example, the most common reason should be liking someone, because you would confess your feelings if you like them, which is the most correct logic.

But Sato only wanted to use Hirata's labels to prove her excellence. Sato admitted that Hirata was very outstanding. Among all the boys she had met, he was definitely in the top three, if not the number one. He was good at studying, had good physical fitness, was humble and gentle, and had been a key player in the soccer team and club... It was as if he had all the qualities that attract girls concentrated in one person. The key was that he was also handsome. Such a boy had a fatal attraction for those girls in the budding stage of puberty in high school.

Unfortunately, Hirata wasn't Sato's type. At first, Sato paid some attention to Hirata, but she was quickly drawn to the rapidly rising Amane. Now that I think about it, she probably prefers the kind of 'potential stock'. To put it simply, she likes strong and outstanding people.

Hirata might be considered excellent or even perfect in other schools, but in this school, he could only be described as not perfect enough. Therefore, Sato did not feel any kind of emotional connection with Hirata.

Her confession to the platform was purely for exploitation.

But for some reason, she didn't want to deceive Hirata by using her feelings for him.

Sato knew very well that it wasn't her conscience that was stopping her from deceiving Hirata. Sato didn't consider herself that noble. Since arriving here, she had told countless lies, such as how many people she had dated and how many experiences she had.

Establishing her persona at the school through lying has become a part of her life. Lies are something that can only be repeated once or countless times, because often the price of one lie is that countless lies are needed to cover it up.

Therefore, Sato did not believe that his so-called conscience would care about telling one more insignificant lie.

But she couldn't bring herself to say that lie, no matter how many times she opened her mouth.

Hirata had been watching Sato closely from the very beginning, expecting her to confess her feelings because she liked him. However, after waiting for a long time, he only saw a hesitant girl repeatedly opening and closing her mouth, the insincere lie on the tip of her tongue but unable to be uttered. This slightly changed Hirata's impression of Sato.

"Sato-kun, you should know very well that if you need my help, you must first show your sincerity. Otherwise, no matter how much you need my help, I cannot just reach out to you. I need your trust."

Hirata's attitude made Sato realize that if she didn't show her sincerity, Hirata would never agree to such an obviously problematic confession. Even if it was a fake confession, she had to be honest with Hirata about why she wanted to be his lover.

Sato bit her lip in frustration. Her beauty, which she was so proud of, was worthless in front of Hirata. The lie that was on the tip of her tongue couldn't be uttered. She wanted to take revenge on that guy, but... she just wanted to prove that she could live better without him.

It's so sad.

If it were Tianyin, she probably wouldn't encounter such a difficult choice at all, right? Or perhaps Tianyin is always the one who takes the initiative in relationships.

For example, when Sato confessed to Amane, he was rejected without hesitation. Keep in mind that Amane at that time was far from the imposing figure she is now, whose mere glance could make people feel breathless. Moreover, all Sato wanted was material support, but Amane rejected him with almost no hesitation.

Originally, Sato just thought Amane was a stingy person. If she didn't like Sato Maya, it must be because Amane didn't know what she was worth. After being rejected that time, Sato put the matter out of her mind. After all, it wasn't the first time she had confessed to someone. Being rejected was insignificant. Amane was just an option for her.

It wasn't until she went shopping with Karuizawa one day and learned that Karuizawa's entire outfit cost over 200,000 personal points that Sato's feelings became completely unbalanced.

Even now, Sato still feels deep regret whenever she recalls what happened that day. The reason she still helps Amane with tasks within her power while dating Ayanokouji is entirely because she hasn't given up on Amane. She wants to take advantage of the fact that Ayanokouji and Amane are still allies and can easily contact each other to win Amane's favor, so that she will have more options after the two break up.

Yes.

She was prepared to be dumped from the beginning, and she has broken up with men more than once in her life, so why can't she accept this breakup?

For the first time, Sato confronted her resentment towards Ayanokouji, wanting to know the source of her hatred.

Time passed slowly, and Hirata, waiting for an answer, stopped urging him. He turned around and began to look for suitable branches to use as fuel, intending to light a campfire not far from the tent.

Although the forest school turns on the main lights in the teaching building at night to provide illumination for the school, there is no need for troublesome and potentially safety-prone things like campfires.

But Hirata still felt that since it was camping, lighting a campfire would definitely create a better atmosphere and feeling of outdoor camping.

As Hirata's figure gradually disappeared, only Sato, sitting alone on the playground, remained behind him, staring blankly at the ground.

A long time passed.

Sato's eyes regained some of their liveliness.

She found the answer.

Sato recalled the circumstances of her breakups with all the men she had dated and finally came to a conclusion.

Apart from this breakup with Ayanokouji, she was the one who informed the men of the breakup outcome on all the other occasions. In other words, she dumped those guys, which is why she didn't feel any pain from the breakup. The reason why she felt so much pain this time, to the point that she wanted to take revenge on Ayanokouji all the time, is that this time she was the one who got dumped, Sato Masaya.

Moreover, Ayanokouji's reason for dumping her was too simple and direct: Iwasaki was prettier than her.

What kind of reason is that?

Sato almost burst out laughing when she recalled this reason. How could a girl who has never been with a boy know how to date a boy? Can a girl with no experience satisfy a boy's desires?

That girl named Eri Iwasaki is just a blank slate. To put it nicely, she's naive; to put it bluntly, she lacks any charm to attract men. What right does she have to compete with me?

Moreover, if he had lost the competition, Sato might not have felt so frustrated and angry. In this battle, Sato, as the lover, was almost instantly dumped by Ayanokouji. Even though Ayanokouji knew he might be labeled a scumbag, he still chose to dump Sato at lightning speed.

This made Sato an instant laughing stock in the gyaru circle. Not to mention Amane, it was almost impossible for her to even date again. After knowing that she had been dumped by her ex like trash, who would dare to take her on so easily?

Sato has to bear the consequences of being instantly defeated in love by a girl who suddenly appears, and having her high school life completely ruined while becoming the laughing stock of others. This is what makes Maya Sato truly unable to forgive Ayanokouji.

Sato Maya, having finally come to terms with things, smiled. It no longer mattered why Ayanokouji had abandoned her for Iwasaki.

What she needs to do now is to prove her worth again, to prove that she is not a piece of trash that people would hate. But she can't prove this by talking alone; she has to rely on other people's reputations. Sato's first thought is Amane. If Amane is willing to accept her, her reputation will rise, just like Karuizawa.

Speaking of Karuizawa, Sato was filled with anger.

Since Hirata revealed that he and Karuizawa had broken up, Karuizawa's reputation plummeted. However, almost immediately, Amane announced Karuizawa's new identity by kissing her in public.

Miyako Amane's lover.

Sato still remembers being surrounded by layers upon layers of girls that day, including Karuizawa Megumi.

At that time, Karuizawa Megumi's reputation could be said to have instantly made her a well-known girl in the school. No matter who saw Karuizawa, they would give her face because of Amane. Even if she cut in line or said something without thinking, everyone would respond to her with a smile that seemed enthusiastic but was actually very fake.

Even so, Sato was still envious.

Especially when she learned that Karuizawa and Hirata were just pretending to be a couple from the beginning, and that Karuizawa had slept with Amane not long after they started pretending to be a couple, she was extremely jealous.

why?

This is because when she confessed to Amane, Amane had already started dating Karuizawa in private. She preferred to secretly keep Karuizawa at that time rather than accept her confession. How could Sato, who always thought he was no less than Karuizawa, accept this?

Not to mention that Amane rejected her confession, which is basically saying that she is not as good as Karuizawa.

Therefore, if she could avoid taking that step, Sato would actually be unwilling to go to Amane. On the one hand, she would have to run into Karuizawa all the time, and on the other hand, if she became Amane's lover, she would absolutely not be able to accept any of those women like Horikita, Karuizawa, Ichinose, or Sakayanagi getting close to Amane.

She wanted to have Amane all to herself. Sato knew this idea was unrealistic, but she was a girl with a strong possessive nature, and she couldn't allow anyone to share someone's love with her.

Or perhaps her behavior is the normal phenomenon.

However, Sato's possessiveness is even stronger. She cannot accept her lover having any intimate contact with others. If this is not satisfied, Sato will feel like ants are crawling on her heart, which is very uncomfortable.

Therefore, she tried her best to avoid fawning over Tianyin.

Besides Tianyin, whose reputation can help her clear her name of those stains?

Looking at the entire second year, probably only Hirata Yosuke could have done this.

So it seems she has many choices, but if she is unwilling to settle for mediocrity, then she only has one path left to choose from.

She becomes Hirata Yosuke's lover.