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

If Shiina wanted to get more information about Amane's life, it would be more appropriate to ask Ichinose. It wouldn't be worth risking using an honest girl like Wang Meiyu as a mouthpiece, as that would only make her purpose seem more dangerous.

Upon hearing that Wang Meiyu was actually relaying a message for Shiina, Horikita's face immediately darkened.

"You think there's no malice just because you say so? How many times have I told you! You must report any situation proactively. With me here, most problems can be solved. Even if problem number 2 can't be solved, Tianyin is here. You know Tianyin pretty well. If I can't solve it, does that mean Tianyin can't?"

Faced with Horikita's reprimand, Wang Meiyu, who was already timid and weak, suddenly had tears welling up in her eyes.

But her tears did not evoke Horikita's sympathy; instead, they made Horikita extremely dissatisfied with this student who couldn't distinguish between important and trivial matters and would cry at the slightest provocation.

"Just say what's on your mind, don't beat around the bush. What exactly did Shiina ask you to talk to Megumi about? Why did you ask Megumi out so late at night?"

"I... I really don't know why Shiina-san is looking for Karuizawa-san. I only got to know her because I accidentally knocked over her milk tea last time. Today she came to me and said she wanted me to ask Karuizawa-san out because she had something to say to her... I really don't know anything else, and I didn't reveal any of our class's plans..."

Wang Meiyu's crying and sobbing made Tianyin certain that Wang Meiyu had simply been sent to deliver a message.

"Ring sound".

Tenon reached out and stopped Horikita, who was about to fly into a rage. Then, Tenon slowly walked up to Wang Meiyu and gave her a deep look.

Compared to a year ago, Wang Meiyu hasn't changed much; she's practically stuck in the same place, with not even a hint of change in her appearance.

But she is no longer the same Miyako Tenon who could laugh and joke with Wang Meiyu back then.

Tianyin, who rarely interacts with Wang Meiyu, hasn't chatted with her for a long time, but the current situation is clearly not a suitable occasion for a conversation.

Tianyin gently wiped away the tears that had slid down Wang Meiyu's cheeks with a tissue.

"Such a pretty girl, if Xiaomei cries for too long and her face gets all messed up, she'll look like a little kitten. Lingyin is just a bit cautious, Xiaomei, don't worry about it. Lingyin apologizes to Xiaomei."

Tenon simply waved her hand, and Horikita walked towards Wang Meiyu with a resentful look on his face. This scene made Wang Meiyu tremble with fear, and she waved her hand repeatedly to stop him.

"That won't be necessary, after all... after all..."

After a long pause, Wang Meiyu still didn't know what to say. Once she calmed down, she put herself in the other person's shoes and wondered if she would allow her students to pass on messages to people in other classes if she were the class leader.

The answer is definitely no.

So although she was a little sad, she understood that Horikita's approach was the right one.

Unlike girls who like to stand their ground, Horikita took the opportunity to come down the steps. As soon as Wang Meiyu said it wasn't necessary, Horikita straightened up her almost bent back.

"Xiaomei, as you know, the special exams are coming up soon, and everyone is under a lot of stress. It's inevitable that some misunderstandings will arise. So, you shouldn't associate with students from other classes recently, even if she and we are all second-year students. Xiaomei, do you understand what I mean?"

Tianyin gently patted Wang Meiyu's back, constantly comforting Wang Meiyu whose tears were still welling up in her eyes.

"I...I understand. I'll go tell Shiina-san that Karuizawa-san doesn't agree..."

Wang Meiyu turned around to look for Shiina, but unexpectedly, Amane grabbed her wrist and pulled her into her arms.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say Hui couldn't go."

Amane's answer completely baffled Wang Meiyu, while only Ichinose, who was eating her bento, showed a barely perceptible smile.

"But what if Shiina-san has ill intentions?"

"How could she possibly have ill intentions? I believe what you said, Xiaomei, that Hiyori has no malicious intent."

Tianyin gently touched Wang Meiyu's face, who was covered in tears.

"Yeah!"

Wang Meiyu was startled by Tianyin's sudden attack and quickly distanced herself from her. She had originally planned to go back and explain the situation to Shiina, telling her that she didn't want to associate with her during the special exam period.

However, with such a large group of people like Amane around, Wang Meiyu was too lazy to look for Shiina. She turned around and ran towards the residential area of ​​Class 2-A, seemingly heading home.

"How did Xiaomei become so stupid?"

When Horikita heard Karuizawa say that Wang Meiyu was stupid, Horikita rolled her eyes at Megumi.

"Xiao Mei's academic ability is among the top in the girls, Hui, what you're saying is really a bit..."

"Does this have anything to do with academic ability? Hey, Xiaomei has run away now, so Suzune-san, do you know where Shiina is? How can I go see her?"

Horikita simply smiled at Karuizawa's difficult behavior and pointed to the temporary reading room that the school had set up for its temporary staff living there.

"I really didn't expect Shiina to be anywhere other than that place. Hui, you go and sound out Shiina first, see what she's up to, and then provide her with as much false information as possible to mislead her judgment. Hmph, I want to see how she'll take down Amane."

Chapter 185: Does that count as physical contact?

"What? Shiina-san is going to take down Amane? When did this happen? How come I didn't know about it?"

Karuizawa stared at Horikita in astonishment. The news was so explosive that Karuizawa was completely unable to process the massive amount of information and stood there dumbfounded.

"I do know that Shiina wants something to happen with Amane, but in my impression, Shiina is a girl with a gentle personality. Did she really say something like she wanted to win Amane over?"

Ichinose glanced at Amane, whose expression was rather unnatural, with great interest. Although she was the central figure in the discussion, she had no say in such matters at all.

"It's normal that you don't know, it happened this morning..."

Horikita briefly recounted to the two of them how Shiina had asked Amane to meet him alone that morning and said he wanted to win her over.

That's roughly how things are.

As Horikita finished speaking, Amane, who had been on edge, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Horikita's hiding place was far from where the two were talking, so she didn't hear the punishment Shiina was to receive.

Otherwise... it will definitely turn into a chaotic scene!!!

Although it's almost like a battleground now.

"I didn't expect Shiina to be so brave. What should we do? Should we help her or...?"

Karuizawa deliberately looked at Horikita and drawled out his words.

Shiina's high-profile actions this time are clearly aimed at Horikita. Horikita's willingness not to object to Shiina's contact with Amane is already a great act of kindness. If Horikita were to help Shiina win over Amane, that would be a bit excessive. For Horikita, that is absolutely impossible!

Horikita glared at Karuizawa first. She knew that Karuizawa said such things to retaliate for deliberately taking away Karuizawa's chance to get intimate with Amane tonight. However, Karuizawa probably did not expect that although Horikita said that she could not let Shiina easily win Amane over,

But that's not what she really thought. Horikita had observed Shiina's character for a long time and confirmed that Shiina was qualified to stand by Amane's side. In addition, Shiina also liked Amane and was willing to date girls.

It can be said that the obstacles between Shiina and Amane have been completely cleared away. All that's left is for the confession to come naturally and for them to start dating.

However, to Horikita's surprise, both Shiina and Karuizawa now seem to regard her as a jealous woman.

Perhaps she did have that kind of tendency before, but now that things have come to this point, if they still think she's the same as before, then they're underestimating her magnanimity.

Especially when faced with something that is destined to happen naturally, even putting aside her identity, the act of destroying the relationship between two lovers who are almost certain to be together is bound to be condemned and hated.

She's not stupid, why would she rush to be the bad guy?

Even though Horikita had already accepted Shiina Hiyori in her heart, she still didn't intend to let Shiina win over Amane so easily. If she really let Shiina do such a thing, it would undoubtedly make all the girls who had been entangled with Amane and finally got together look like idiots.

Therefore, Horikita would not allow Shiina to easily win this battle.

"Of course it's Shiina-san! After all, we're all very helpful. When you meet Shiina later, she'll probably ask you some questions about Amane and how you met her. Do you know how to answer them, Megumi?"

Upon learning that Shiina had arranged to meet Karuizawa tonight, Horikita immediately guessed what Shiina was planning. If Shiina had attacked from a place Horikita couldn't see, Horikita might have felt a headache coming on, because his idiot had always been a shameless guy.

If Amane were to be ambushed by Shiina, Horikita would truly feel no sense of security given Amane's almost zero composure when it comes to cute girls.

In Horikita's view, Shiina's act of launching a challenge so openly and honestly, while simultaneously preparing Horikita and the others, also puts herself in the open, is utterly foolish.

Besides, these girls aren't pushovers. How could they possibly let Shiina devour Amane while she's under their protection? Doing so would be tantamount to Shiina simultaneously declaring war on the three girls closest to Amane.

How much confidence does it take to believe you can beat all three of them?

It's ridiculous.

"Of course I know. If Shiina-san is trying to use me to learn about Amane, she's sorely mistaken. Don't worry, I'll definitely fool her today."

It must be said that Shiina's idea was quite good. Starting with the people around Amane could minimize the cost of trial and error while quickly gaining the favor of the people he was talking to. Then all Shiina needed to do was persuade Karuizawa to make him highly attached to Karuizawa.

After completing all these preparations, Shiina can establish a romantic relationship with Amane, and once the relationship is established, Shiina can quickly integrate into it.

But if Shiina runs into Karuizawa Megumi today, then she's really unlucky!

Just as Karuizawa was starting to think about how to bully Shiina, Horikita sighed in disappointment.

"I thought you knew what to do, Megumi. You need to understand that your opponent this time is Shiina Hiyori. She has the strength to completely replace Ryuen, but she doesn't usually use it because Shiina thinks it would cause more violent conflict. Don't be careless, and besides..."

"Unless you are absolutely certain, remember not to try to be clever in front of Shiina. You should know that Shiina is very good at improvising, so any deliberate lies will be easily exposed."

Karuizawa never expected that meeting Shiina would require her to remember so many things, and for a moment, Karuizawa felt a heavy weight on her shoulders.

Seemingly noticing the subtle change in Karuizawa's expression, Ichinose quickly patted Karuizawa on the back.

"Don't worry, Shiina is a very easy-going girl. As long as you don't lie on purpose and get caught, Shiina shouldn't get too angry no matter what you say."

Karuizawa's expression gradually improved after hearing Ichinose's words. In other words, as long as she didn't lie, Shiina wouldn't make things difficult for her. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?

After saying goodbye to Amane and Horikita, Karuizawa arrived alone at the entrance of the newly built library. Looking at the somewhat simple sign, Karuizawa swallowed hard. This was the first time she had faced a strong person of similar strength to the class leader all by herself. Even though this person was very cute, considering the fangs hidden beneath her cute appearance, Karuizawa took a few deep breaths to make sure she was prepared to face Shiina before slowly opening the door and going inside.

"Welcome! I'm not available to serve you right now. Please find the book you'd like to read on your own. Once you find it, remember to sign it at the front desk. By the way, students are strictly prohibited from borrowing books; they can only read them in the library."

The female librarian in charge of handling book borrowing greeted Karuizawa hurriedly when she saw her come in, then told her to find the book she wanted to read herself. Immediately afterward, the librarian vanished without a trace.

Seeing the librarian Karuizawa suddenly disappear, she awkwardly lowered her hand. She had wanted to ask Shiina where she was waiting, but because the other party reacted too quickly and disappeared without a trace the moment she finished speaking, Karuizawa didn't even have time to ask for help.

Fortunately, the library isn't very big, so a quick search should be enough to find Shiina.

This library was temporarily set up to help the staff of the Higher Education Institute who were temporarily residing here to relieve their boredom. After the students return to school in a month, this place will probably be demolished, so there will be no need for luxurious bookshelves and furniture, let alone rare books.

Karuizawa casually flipped through a few books and then saw Shiina Hiyori sitting in the corner, one hand supporting her chin, engrossed in reading the contents of the book.

Seemingly noticing that someone was spying on her, Shiina first looked up with a hint of confusion, but when she saw that it was Karuizawa who had come here, a smile immediately appeared on her face.

"Shiina-kun, over here..."

Shiina quietly beckoned Karuizawa over; a quick glance around the entire library revealed that only the two of them were still there looking for books.

Karuizawa had just reached the bench opposite Shiina, and before he could even sit down, Shiina reached out to stop Amane and pointed towards the door.

This gesture made Karuizawa's eyelids twitch. There were only the two of them there, so why did they need to use hand gestures? They could have just spoken directly without any problem, right?

However, since Shiina wants to go outside to chat, I'll go with her.

The two stood one after the other not far from the library. Shiina looked around curiously, her heart pounding with trepidation the whole way.

If she remembered correctly, she had asked Wang Meiyu to help her arrange to meet Karuizawa, so why was Karuizawa the only one who came?

After exchanging greetings, each lost in their own thoughts, Shiina took the initiative to bring up the question.

"I remember I asked Xiaomei to inform Karuizawa, why didn't she come?"

"Xiaomei suddenly encountered a rather urgent matter. After telling me the general direction of where you are, Shiina-kun, I came over by myself to take a look. By the way, Shiina-kun, is there something you need from me?"

Karuizawa made up a reason on the spot and then tried to gain the upper hand in the conversation.

"Oh, it was an emergency... Honestly, Xiaomei should have at least told me. I was worried about her for so long. I'll definitely have to make her buy me milk tea next time we meet as compensation... As for why I contacted Karuizawa, it's because there's something I'm a little embarrassed to talk about that I want to ask Karuizawa about. Maybe I can find a solution to the problem I need from Karuizawa."

Something that's hard to talk about?

Karuizawa's eyes lit up. It seemed Horikita had guessed correctly. Now it was up to her.

"Eh? Shiina-kun wants to ask me something? If I remember correctly, Shiina-kun, your grades are pretty good, right? Is there anything I can do to help you, Shiina-kun?"

Karuizawa's perfectly timed expression of confusion slightly eased Shiina's guard.

"Of course, life experience isn't just about studying~ There are other things I haven't experienced, like dating... It's a little embarrassing, but I've never confessed to anyone before, so I want to learn some dating experience from Karuizawa-san."

"Dating experience? Which time are you talking about?"

Karuizawa instinctively asked a question, unaware that this question would immediately change the way Shiina Hiyori looked at Karuizawa.

Look at Karuizawa, that's the difference. I'm struggling to even find a relationship, while Karuizawa has had countless relationships. So much so that when asked, she doesn't even know which relationship Shiina wants to know about.

Shiina hesitated for a moment when faced with Karuizawa's question. According to her information, Karuizawa should have had two relatively long romantic relationships at this school. One was with Hirata Yosuke, which outsiders said was a fake relationship, and the other was with Amane.

Shiina was actually curious about why Karuizawa and Hirata were pretending to be dating, but she didn't have much time, so she could only give a brief answer.

"I'm quite interested in the love story between Karuizawa and Amane. Would you mind telling me about it?"

That's exactly what I was waiting for you to ask!

"Me and Amane... Oh dear, there are just too many stories between us. How about this, Shiina, just tell me which stage of our relationship you want to know about."

awesome!

Upon seeing Karuizawa, who was indeed as impatient as rumored, a glint of shrewdness flashed in Shiina's eyes.

"Really? That's great! I'd like to know how you first came into contact with Amane, Karuizawa-kun?"

Shiina judged that it was a bit unrealistic to ask Karuizawa to recount the entire process of his relationship with Amane, so she simply chose to start with the very beginning.

After all, everything is difficult at the beginning.

"In the beginning... that must have been during the preferential treatment exam..."

Karuizawa's thoughts were immediately drawn back to that luxury cruise ship, to the several girls punching and kicking her in that dark cabin...