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

Therefore, he developed the habit of waking up early and filling his schedule with tasks before class. Even after resigning from his position as student council president, Horikita Manabu still did a lot of morning exercises, partly to improve his physical fitness, and partly because he felt somewhat resentful after being defeated by Amane at the sports festival.

If Horikita Manabu lost to Amane in terms of talent or learning ability, he could still defend himself by saying that Amane had a stronger talent than him.

Horikita Manabu lost to Amane's fist. Horikita Manabu had seen many people with physical talent, but Amane had undoubtedly undergone rigorous training to acquire exaggerated skills far beyond those of her peers.

According to normal people's understanding, how old is Tianyin? What kind of training could she have undergone? It is highly likely that her family education led her to practice martial arts from a young age, resulting in her foundation being far superior to that of ordinary people who systematically practice certain skills later in life. Coupled with a period of hard training in skills, she eventually became the invincible boss in the sports festival.

Horikita Manabu also thought so. He had observed Tenon's techniques and found that there weren't many fancy tricks involved, which meant that Tenon focused on practicality in combat. The way to maximize the power of practical techniques is to have the most solid foundation, and Tenon must have put in a lot of effort in this regard.

Horikita Manabu's solid foundation and skillful techniques gradually became rusty because he had no time to practice his aikido due to his long tenure as student council president.

While dealing with a mediocre martial artist like Horikita Suzune would be very easy, any carelessness against an expert like Amane could have fatal consequences.

In other words, Horikita Manabu believes that his decline in strength due to his long-term lack of training led to his defeat against Amane at the Sports Festival.

So after resigning from his position as student council president, Horikita Manabu, who had a lot of free time, began to train and study aikido in depth, hoping that one day he could have a serious match with Amane again.

But what he didn't know was that he never got another chance to compete with Tianyin before he graduated.

Because Horikita Manabu had to practice Aikido until class was approaching after his simple morning exercise, he didn't have time to buy fresh toast. So he would go to the bakery the night before to buy some as an emergency breakfast for the next day.

Well, of course, there's also the fact that toast is a little cheaper in the evening.

As soon as Horikita opened the door, the gloomy sky outside made him stop in his tracks. Just as Horikita was wondering whether he should go back and put on another layer of clothing, a familiar head suddenly popped out from behind the door.

"Good afternoon, Horikita-senpai~ Are you heading out? What a coincidence, I'm here too... Hey? Don't close the door!!"

When Horikita saw Amane greeting him so familiarly, he instinctively took a step back and returned to his dorm room, intending to close the door behind him as if he hadn't seen anything.

The reason why Horikita Manabu chose to ignore Amane after seeing her was entirely due to Amane herself. Every time Horikita Manabu saw Amane and showed that smile, nothing good ever happened to him. Especially with that familiar tone, if other people saw Amane greeting Horikita Manabu like that, they would think that the two of them had a very good relationship in private.

But only Horikita Manabu knew that Amane must have something to ask of him to make that expression. And for Amane to lower herself to ask for his help, Horikita Manabu didn't think that what Amane was asking for was anything simple.

Rather than be bogged down in the troublesome matters that Amane asked him to handle, Horikita Manabu would rather lose his toast for tomorrow morning.

Although Horikita Manabu reacted quite quickly, Amane still managed to grab the dormitory door first.

At this moment, the dormitory door was less than a fist's distance from closing. If Horikita Manabu wanted to force it shut, he could have done so, but considering that it might pinch Amane's hand, Horikita Manabu decided to give up resisting and meet Amane after thinking for a while.

Anyway, if the request from Amane is too difficult, just refuse directly. Horikita Manabu is not like those greenhorns who are new to the school and can't save face, so he doesn't rashly accept girls' requests without considering his own abilities.

"Oh, it's Miyako-kun. Is there something you need from me?"

Horikita opened a corner of the door, and the two stood there staring at each other.

"Eh? Horikita-senpai, are you planning to talk to me in a place like this? It seems a bit impolite, but if there's anything in your room that you don't want me to see, like a doll, tissues, or a certain senior student... I'll visit another day."

Tianyin deliberately tiptoed and pretended to look into the room with a cute, 'curious' expression.

If an ordinary boy saw Tianyin making such an adorable expression, he would never have the heart to keep her outside the door. Whether he wanted to welcome Tianyin or prove that his room was absolutely green and healthy, he would let Tianyin's little scheme succeed.

In a way, this can be considered a privilege of cute girls.

However, Horikita Manabu was completely unmoved by this. Taking advantage of his tall stature, Horikita Manabu directly pressed Amane's head down and shoved her back to the ground.

"I don't have any of those things in my room. The reason I'm talking to you outside is to avoid misunderstandings with other people. If I remember correctly, the school does have certain rules regarding opposite sexes entering the dormitory, doesn't it?"

Horikita Manabu knew that since Amane had come to block the door, there was no way he would leave empty-handed. The only thing he could do was hope that she would give up asking him for help. The method Horikita Manabu used to get Amane to give up was quite simple: he kept delaying and used annoying things like school rules to show Amane that he didn't want to talk to her, so that Amane would give up.

This tactic is very effective for students who are good at socializing and reading people.

However...

Just like Horikita doesn't buy into Amane's cute act, Amane doesn't buy into Horikita's act either.

"I only remember that it seemed to say boys weren't allowed to enter girls' dormitories at night... but it didn't say girls weren't allowed to go to boys' dormitories during the day. Horikita-senpai, you're being strange~"

"But if someone sees you entering the boys' dormitory, some bad rumors might spread."

Horikita Manabu knew that Amane already understood what he wanted to do, but he still decided to try one last time.

"You said it yourself, it's just a rumor. There's no need to pay attention to this kind of thing. Besides, everyone knows I like girls, so it's fine~ Now... can I go in?"

Tenon pointed her finger behind Horikita Manabu.

Looking at Amane's teasing eyes, Horikita Manabu sighed and made way for her.

"Please come in."

"Then I won't be polite."

Amane chuckled and strode confidently into Horikita Manabu's room.

After changing her shoes in the entryway, Amane began to look around Horikita Gaku's dormitory.

how to say.

Horikita Manabu and Horikita Suzune show absolutely no similarities in their dormitory decorations.

Compared to Horikita Suzune's preference for decorating her dorm room to be more cozy, Horikita Gaku's dorm room... can only be described as very much in line with a boy's style.

Simplicity, nothing but simplicity.

"What would you like to drink? I have black tea and barley tea here... Miyako, you probably prefer beverages, right? Unfortunately, I'm not interested in beverages, so I don't have any at home."

"Give me a can of tomato juice, if you have any."

At the mention of tomato juice, Horikita Manabu visibly stiffened.

After a long while, Horikita Manabu finally spoke slowly.

"You still remember the tomato juice incident after all this time?"

"I also drank tomato juice when we first met in private! Oh, right, it's normal that you didn't notice it because it was night, but I deliberately put the tomato juice on top of the trash can so conspicuously that you and Rinne didn't even notice it. It's really heartbreaking."

As Tianyin spoke, she reached out and made a gesture of wiping the corner of her eye.

Horikita Manabu was caught off guard by Amane's preemptive move, and in his embarrassment, he could only try to change the subject.

"Did Lingyin recognize you?"

No.

Horikita Manabu handed a bottle of barley tea to Amane, who unceremoniously unscrewed the cap and took a couple of sips.

"No? Are you kidding me? I thought your relationship was because of that incident..."

"Well, it's somewhat related to that incident, but my relationship with Suzune started from scratch!"

Amane's smug tone made Horikita Manabu feel a bitter taste in his mouth even before he tasted the barley tea.

Not only did his younger sister fall into the arms of a girl, but she was also in the arms of a girl who was even better than him. This gave him, as the older brother, a really strange feeling that was hard to describe.

"Miyako, you must have come to see me about something important, right?"

To stop being tormented by those strange emotions, Horikita Manabu decided to confront Amane directly.

"You're really quick on the uptake. I only had two sips of my drink and you're already getting to the point? Okay, okay, stop with that businesslike look, it's scaring me."

Tianyin smiled and took out her phone, seemingly doing something.

"I hope that you, Horikita-senpai, can find some time to have a match with Horikita in which you can absolutely crush her."

As soon as Amane made her request, Horikita Manabu directly refused.

"Third-year courses aren't as easy as you think, Miyako. We're about to have a special exam. Although I've resigned from the student council, as the class leader of Class 3-A, I still have a lot to do. I simply don't have time to compete with Suzune. Besides... you should be able to crush Suzune in some competition, right? Why don't you do it yourself?"

Horikita Genji's pointed question brought a beautiful curve to the corners of Amane's lips.

"Because I don't want to hurt Suzune. Anyone can be a bad person, but I can't be the bad person. Horikita-senpai, do you understand what I mean?"

"So you're planning to make me play a villain, a villain who will hurt my sister. Do you think I'll agree to that? Or rather, Miyako-kun, what makes you so confident that I'll agree to your request?"

"Is 20 million points enough?"

Chapter 159: Lovesickness

"Twenty million points?"

Horikita Manabu was shocked by the number of points that Amane casually announced. It wasn't that he didn't know that Amane was collecting points on a large scale in private, but Horikita Manabu was so shocked because he knew the methods Amane used to collect points.

After collecting all the personal points from the second and third-year students, Tenon turned her attention to the merchants on campus. Using the Miyako family's reputation as a guarantee, she exchanged points for currency with the merchants, and thus Tenon quickly amassed a huge fortune that was unimaginable to ordinary people.

On the other hand, the points obtained in this way should be cherished, because according to the school's regulations, if there are any points remaining in the account balance when you graduate, you can ask the school to convert them into cash at about half their value.

Although the value is somewhat diminished, it's still a good deal for students to study for three years without spending a penny and still have a substantial income after graduation.

If Tianyin saves a little, he can use this rule to recover more than half of his principal after graduation. Although the amount of loss is still astronomical for ordinary people, it is still better than just a bunch of numbers.

In other words, Tianyin's points are practically an invincible guarantee of success, built entirely from real money. Using these points, earned with real money, on him is somewhat... wasteful.

"Twenty million points is the maximum I can offer, and there's no room for negotiation on that."

Amane seemed to misunderstand Horikita Manabu's reaction and interrupted him before he could finish speaking.

However, Horikita Gaku had no intention of haggling at all. This amount was already outrageous no matter where in this school it was. You should know that a spot in Class A is only worth 20 million points. That means that even if you come here and just loaf around all day without learning anything, as long as you have 20 million points, you can graduate as the best student in this school.

The social reality that money can make the devil turn the millstone was vividly demonstrated in this school. No one could refuse the generous gift that Amane presented, not even Horikita Manabu.

It wasn't that Horikita Manabu particularly liked points; he had almost no spending on personal possessions and was quite frugal, especially after learning that Horikita Suzune had come to the school. Horikita Manabu began to save as many points as possible.

All he wanted was to leave Horikita Suzune a gift that belonged to her as her older brother. Of course, Horikita Manabu didn't think that this little thing could make up for the debt he owed to Horikita Suzune, but it was the only way he could think of.

Because of this, although Horikita Manabu appears to be very poor, he is actually not lacking in personal points, at least several million. As the leader of Class A, he naturally does not need points to advance to the next class.

The real reason Horikita Manabu wanted to accept this request was that he had learned from certain channels that the other three classes would join forces to bring down Class A in the next special exam, which would also be the last special exam for the third year, and at least one of them would be expelled.

Based on Class A's strength, Horikita Manabu didn't think he would lose to those classes, but he still couldn't guarantee that no one would drop out during the special exams, so he desperately needed those 20 million personal points.

Actually, with Class A's class points, 20 million points wouldn't have been difficult to accumulate. However, due to someone's plundering, many Class A students exchanged their points for Amane's checks. Initially, some people were hesitant to do this because of Horikita Manabu's authority. But Amane brought out Horikita Suzune in order to plunder the most valuable individual points from the third-year Class A. When the students in Class A saw that even Horikita Manabu's sister was involved, they no longer cared or held back.

As a result, even with the combined efforts of the entire Horikita Gakushu Class A near graduation, they couldn't even gather 20 million individual points.

So much so that he now has to agree to the demands of the culprit who caused this situation, to provide an extra layer of insurance for potential dropouts in his class.

"Are you sure you just want me to defeat Rinne once?"

"It's not just a defeat, it's a crushing defeat that destroys Rin's confidence."

"...As far as I know, Rin really likes you. You treat her like this. Aren't you afraid I'll tell Rin? After all, she's unlikely to disbelieve what I say."

Horikita Manabu hesitated noticeably after hearing the harsh word "crush".

Horikita Manabu has never been stingy in giving Suzune Horikita challenges, but challenges do not mean destroying a person's self-confidence. Having experienced setbacks in his self-confidence, Horikita Manabu understands better than others how terrifying the psychological pressure can be when a person is outstanding and suffers a setback that is enough to affect their self-confidence.

The shadow cast by Amane's punch on Horikita Manabu has not been completely erased to this day, let alone the crushing destruction of Horikita Suzune's confidence.

Can she really pull through?

"Hmm? What do you mean I used such 'methods'? If I remember correctly, I was just doing what you asked me to do before, Horikita-senpai? In my opinion, a necessary step for Rin to grow is to break down and rebuild. After experiencing the growing pains, Rin will definitely surpass you in the future, Horikita-senpai. Then you can leave in peace."

???

He left peacefully? What kind of explanation is that?

Even though Horikita Manabu knew that Amane was referring to his upcoming graduation, he still couldn't quite hold back after hearing her words.

"What if she can't withstand the labor pains? Miyako Amane, can you take responsibility for what you've done?"

"Honestly, why is your understanding of Lingyin so limited, even as her older brother? Besides, if she really loses all her confidence and falls into a breakdown from which she can't get away, then I'll take care of her. Why do you need to worry about her?"

Horikita was taken aback by Amane's domineering tone. He felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it until he saw Amane's smug smile and suddenly realized what was going on.

Why should you be the one to raise my sister?

"Tsk, what's this? So you're a siscon."

Amane looked at Horikita Manabu with disdain, and even moved back a few steps to distance herself from him.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not I'm a siscon! I just can't trust you with Rinne!"

"I've already done *that* with Rin, you know. She even said, 'I love Amane the most.' No matter how worried you are, it's too late. Just accept reality, Horikita-senpai."

How could I possibly accept this reality?!

The feeling of being abandoned by a younger sister who idolizes her older brother...

etc!

"No wonder you wanted me to destroy her confidence; you actually included me in your scheme?"

"Tch, do you really think 20 million personal points are easy to earn without paying a price? Even if you graduate from a prestigious university, you can't earn 20 million right away. You'll probably only experience this opportunity once in your life: earning 20 million just by nodding your head."

Horikita Manabu is very talented, but his personality determines that his future achievements will be very limited. Even if he enters a well-known company and earns an annual salary of 20 million yen, that will be the peak for him.

Horikita Manabu remained silent for a long time in the face of Amane's words. Although he had not yet entered society, he was not unfamiliar with things in society. He knew very well that what Amane said was completely correct.

To gain something, you are destined to lose something else. For example, if you want to protect your classmate from being expelled, you will inevitably lose your sister's positive image of him.