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

No, she cannot break her promise again.

This is the lesson she learned from the tragic experience as she was reborn.

"I choose to avoid it."

When Horikita heard Airi's voice coming from the speakers, a smug look appeared on his face.

"I knew Sakura still liked Amane. It seems Amane didn't make a move on Sakura because she was still thinking of me... This idiot, doesn't he know that making a girl wait is an unforgivable crime?"

Horikita was smiling so happily.

However, in the other room, Airi, filled with anxiety, neither heard Horikita's laughter nor saw her relieved smile.

"Are you so sure that child likes Tianyin? What if she just thinks this question will have an impact on her?"

"Isn't this an obvious fact? With Sakura's reputation... I don't think she needs to care about her reputation at all... cough cough... I know this is all my fault, and I'll find a way to clear her name later. Anyway, Sakura's choice to avoid the question despite not caring about her reputation is essentially the same as answering 'yes.' Sakura is probably worried about what I'll think after hearing the answer, right? Maybe she's even afraid I won't let Amane associate with her. Honestly, why do I feel like I'm the villain in other girls' eyes? This feeling is really unpleasant."

Looking at Horikita's displeased expression as he complained.

Chabashira didn't know what to say. Should she tell Horikita that she was no different from the villain before? Chabashira realized from an outsider's perspective that Horikita chose to frame Airi because of her own possessiveness.

From Ai's perspective, Horikita was completely and inexplicably persecuted by her, and the only reason she could think of was that she had gotten close to Amane.

From Airi's perspective, Horikita is someone who attacks Amane without hesitation as soon as she gets close. Although the situations are actually quite similar, it is clear from Airi's perspective that Horikita is never a good person.

Noticing that Chabashira's expression had become somewhat strange, Horikita seemed to remember what she used to be like and could only awkwardly look away.

"The sixth question: Will Horikita harbor hostility towards other girls who like Miyako Amane?"

It's like my wish came true.

Horikita was both amused and exasperated when she heard the question. She realized that her image in Ai's mind was probably no longer just that of a villain.

There were only ten questions in total, and each one was aimed at her. This shows that Airi had indeed gained a considerable understanding of her during this period of time, otherwise she would never have asked such strange yet incisive questions.

So what should my answer be?

The answer was "yes," which kept Ai Li awake at night.

Or should we answer 'no'—a pitiful glimmer of hope within this love?

Chapter 156: No

"The sixth question: Will Horikita harbor hostility towards other girls who like Miyako Amane?"

Horikita was in a good mood after using up Airi's chance to avoid him; now they were finally on the same starting line in appearance.

However, Horikita was also very clear that her questions wouldn't be very difficult for Airi. If she remembered correctly, only one of Airi's remaining five questions might allow Airi to use the evasion tactic again.

This means that as long as Horikita can successfully answer all the remaining questions Airi prepared for her, then Horikita will have already secured the victory in this competition.

but…….

Will things really go as smoothly as she expects?

"Yes, I am very concerned about superficial girls getting close to Tianyin, so I will strictly screen girls who approach Tianyin without permission. It would not be an exaggeration to call it hostility."

Horikita calmly warned all the girls listening to her answer. Amane's excellence was undeniable, which meant all sorts of people would want to take advantage of her. Her task was to keep all those ill-intentioned girls out. Even if she didn't have the same influence as Sakayanagi on Amane, Amane probably wouldn't say anything if it was just a matter of shooing away a few noisy flies.

Love suddenly felt a jolt.

The worst outcome she had anticipated still occurred. Horikita's answer meant that she was still hostile to anyone who tried to get close to Amane. So... would she really have a chance?

"As expected, my biggest enemy is still Horikita-kun."

Airi couldn't help but sigh. If she could, she didn't want any conflict with Horikita. On one hand, she was afraid that a conflict with Horikita would affect her relationship with Amane. On the other hand, Airi knew her own strength very well. Catching the tiger when it was dozing off was already the limit of what Airi's strength could do.

If she were to simply compete with Horikita in academic ability or physical ability, Sakura Airi would undoubtedly be the one to lose miserably in the end.

For a moment, Airi's room fell silent.

The staff were used to Airi's fluctuating emotions, so they didn't rush her. They waited until Airi calmed down a bit before taking out a note from the box and reading it aloud.

"Sixth question: If your crush, Sakura-san, is in a crisis and the only way to save her is to give up, would you choose to give up or stay away from her? You have two minutes to answer the question. Now, begin your answer."

Hearing the sound coming from the speakers, Ayanokouji, who was playing chess with Kanzaki in an inconspicuous tent, stopped his hand from placing the white piece on the chessboard. Ayanokouji shifted his body and turned his head slightly, as if trying to see through all obstacles to the girl who was about to answer the question.

He had faced a similar dilemma before, and after careful consideration, Ayanokouji concluded that leaving her was the right answer.

However, what happened next left him feeling confused. He had never expected Sato to forgive him for what he had done, nor did he intend to confess to Sato or hope that she would understand.

Based on the common sense he had learned.

Time can heal all wounds, but Sato seemed to ignore this common sense, subjecting him to all sorts of difficulties, personal attacks, and insults...

Ayanokouji could understand Sato's anger after the breakup, but she couldn't understand why Sato was unwilling to let go.

Once a relationship has ended, what difference does it make if you get back together? Just like no one would pick up a piece of chewed gum that has been spat out and eat it.

At this point, Maya Sato no longer had anything that Ayanokouji needed. She had already contributed enough knowledge to help Ayanokouji understand what girls and love were all about. In return, and to prevent Sato from being implicated by the White House, he chose to exchange his relationship with Yuki for Yuki's knowledge about Sato's future work and family in reality.

Whether viewed from the perspective of the future or from the perspective of interests, Ayanokouji's actions lacked human touch, but they undoubtedly provided a perfect answer to the final outcome for the two.

Although some things cannot be fulfilled immediately, Xue also gave Sato a check to fulfill the promise. The amount on the check was enough for Sato to live a good life. Even if he did nothing after graduation, he would not have to worry about food and clothing. However, she tore the check, which was enough to change Sato's future, to shreds with her own hands.

To this day, Ayanokouji still doesn't understand why Sato did what she did; her choice avoided everything that Ayanokouji considered the right answer.

Gradually, Ayanokouji began to doubt whether his actions were right or wrong, so he hoped to get some reference answers from Ai, who was about to answer this question.

Time ticked by, and Airi repeatedly tried to give the answer she wanted to say.

But when she thought of the things Horikita had specifically told her before the challenge began, Airi could only awkwardly shut her mouth.

Airi once read something similar in a book: if you truly love someone, you should let go when she has a better option, and not hinder her from finding happiness because of your own selfishness.

At the time, Airi had asked Tenon for his opinion on whether the statement was correct or not, and Tenon's answer to her was very concise.

"May the person who said that die!"

"There are 15 seconds left. Please pay attention to the time limit."

indeed.

How could someone who truly loves another person be willing to let go and leave? It's probably just a futile attempt to comfort oneself.

No one cares about this self-indulgent behavior, and the other person will never know how difficult or selfless it was for you to let go. So what is the purpose of doing this? In essence, it is just finding a seemingly nice reason and excuse to avoid failure when there is no way to salvage the relationship.

So the answer in Aili is of course...

"I choose to avoid it."

No.

Hey.

The white chess piece landed on the chessboard.

Kanzaki's relaxed expression gradually turned into a frown.

"If you make a mistake, Ayanokouji, I can give you a chance to take it back."

The white piece landed in a position that Kanzaki couldn't understand. From Kanzaki's perspective, Ayanokouji had undoubtedly made a mistake.

However, Ayanokouji shook her head slightly, declining Kanzaki's offer.

"I know the rule that once a move is made, it cannot be taken back. Besides, I didn't make a mistake."

Ayanokouji's tone carried a hint of bitterness.

If Amane were here, she might have noticed Ayanokouji's odd behavior, but Kanzaki, who didn't know Ayanokouji very well, didn't notice any of this. He simply nodded at Ayanokouji's explanation and continued to play his black pieces.

Airi chose to avoid the question, seemingly offering Ayanokouji no insight, but in Ayanokouji's eyes, the answer to the avoidance was actually "no".

He seemed to have learned a lot from Sato, but also seemed to have missed the most crucial part.

"Sometimes it's really hard to guess what girls are thinking."

Ayanokouji blurted out those words without thinking.

Kanzaki, sitting opposite him, was taken aback. He didn't understand why the two boys were playing chess and Ayanokouji suddenly brought up girls.

However, after a moment's thought, Kanzaki mistakenly assumed that Ayanokouji was trying to start a conversation with him using topics about girls. After all, the topics between boys are nothing more than games, war, girls, and politics. Although Ayanokouji appears to be a cold and aloof man with no desires, it is normal for him to start a conversation with him using the easiest way to start a topic, such as girls.

"Yeah, girls' thoughts are something we guys can't understand, especially since those girls are also considered outliers... Their thoughts... let alone guessing, even if she openly and honestly explained it to you, we might not be able to understand."

Kanzaki immediately thought of the advice Amane gave him that night. A long time ago, he was disgusted by Amane's liking for girls, which was against common sense. But now, thinking about it, it doesn't seem so hard to accept. After all, if you ask him to find a man who can control Amane, he can't find one even if he racks his brains.

In this way, it doesn't seem like there's anything too wrong with Tianyin liking girls.

The room with the tea pillar.

When Horikita heard Airi use the avoidance technique for the second time, a smile first appeared on her face, but it quickly disappeared.

Horikita remembers clearly that this question didn't have any special meaning for her. The content on this sticky note should be the last one she wrote. If there was any meaning to it, then the purpose of this sticky note was just to make up the number.

However, this note, which Horikita considered to be just a placeholder, successfully tricked Airi into avoiding him.

I have a feeling that something is not quite right. The question just now wasn't particularly difficult. Whether the answer was "yes" emotionally or "no" rationally, it wouldn't cause any controversy or anything like that.

Horikita believes that if she encountered this type of question, she would definitely choose no as the answer without hesitation, and the question would be solved so easily. It should be a completely free point question.

That's really strange...

However, the challenge is still ongoing. Even if Horikita finds Airi's performance strange, the only way to find out the real answer is probably to ask Airi herself after the competition ends.

"The seventh question is: Horikita-san, what is your opinion of Sakayanagi-san? You have two minutes to answer. Now, begin."

Faced with the question sticky notes with the difficulty level suddenly dropping, Chabashira looked at the question box in front of him, puzzled. Could it be that the tricky questions Horikita encountered at the beginning were actually difficult questions that Airi had prepared for Horikita?

Now that the difficult questions have been answered, all that's left are these seemingly interesting questions, but in reality, they pose no threat to Horikita at all.

"My impression of Sakayanagi is that she is a strong and excellent girl. I am very fortunate to have beaten her once in the previous special test."

After so much time has passed, Horikita has long realized that the reason he defeated Sakayanagi was not because his own plan stumped Sakayanagi, but because the mole left behind by Amane successfully ruined Sakayanagi's plan, leaving Sakayanagi with no one to cooperate with and resulting in his defeat.

Even so, Sakayanagi secretly left a mark on Hashimoto to help him defeat Horikita, and thanks to Sakayanagi's plan, Hashimoto managed to defeat Horikita by sheer luck.

This made Horikita feel incredibly regretful every time she mentioned it, even though she was unaware of it.

They believe that Hashimoto was lucky to have seen through her scheme.

It wasn't until Sakayanagi told her his solution that Horikita realized her plan wasn't as perfect as she had imagined.

But so what?

Even though everyone knew in private that Sakayanagi was the real winner, Horikita's victory over Sakayanagi was just a fleeting one and could not affect the final result at all.

But in everyone's eyes, Horikita still defeated Sakayanagi. Now, on such an important occasion, Horikita deliberately praised Sakayanagi first, and then said this at the end. If Sakayanagi were there, she might have turned red with anger.

puff.

Kamuro, who was watching, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

She couldn't help but feel a pang of self-praise from Horikita. It was clearly because of the sabotage orchestrated by Amane that Sakayanagi lost the match, yet Horikita was really good at taking credit for himself.

After laughing, Kamuro began to regret her decision. If she had known that Horikita would give Airi such an answer, she would have recorded it beforehand and sent it to Sakayanagi.

It's easy to imagine that Sakayanagi's expression will be quite something.

Just as Kamuro took out his phone to ask who had been recording audio or video, Hashimoto walked out of the crowd and stood in front of Kamuro.

"Masumi-san."

"Oh? Hashimoto? What do you need me for? Wait a minute, I need to ask in the group who just recorded it. I need to send Horikita's answer to Arisu, that way she'll definitely..."

"I have something I'd like to talk to you about."

Hashimoto interrupted Kamuro in an almost rude manner.

Kamuro, who had been all smiles, gradually lost his smile.

"Whom are you referring to when you say 'something'?"

"Of course it's our class's princess."

"Those who covet Her Highness the Princess will be torn to shreds by her guardian knights, won't they?"

"Hey, what if the Guardian Knights could be recruited?"

"It's still daytime, Hashimoto, and you're already dreaming? If you disappear from my sight now, I can pretend nothing happened, otherwise..."

As Kamuro spoke, his gaze began to search for that familiar figure in the crowd.

"You're not going to see Kito-kun, are you? I just got back from him, and we had a very pleasant talk. Masumi-kun, now... can you have a proper talk with me?"

Chapter 157: Who is more important?

"The seventh question is: What is your opinion of Horikita Suzune? You have two minutes to answer. Now, begin."