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

"If you have any worries or doubts, you can just tell me directly. It's tiring to keep guessing! Also, I heard that frowning a lot can cause wrinkles to appear prematurely!"

"Huh? Is that a saying? This is the first time I've heard of it..."

Ichinose quickly touched her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that she didn't have the wrinkles that Amane had mentioned. But when she turned her head and saw Amane's smiling face, she immediately realized that Amane was just teasing her.

"You jerk! Don't joke about something this outrageous!"

Ichinose, hands on her hips, spoke aggressively to Amane.

Is it really that bad?

"Of course! Making jokes about a girl's appearance is an annoying thing in itself."

Seeing how much Ichinose cherished her appearance, Amane blinked curiously. She seemed to have discovered something about Ichinose that she had never noticed before.

It seems that Ichinose loves reading magazines about skincare and sometimes discusses her experiences with Megumi.

This was originally just an ordinary thing. If you talked about class competition in front of a group of girls, they would probably just watch coldly from the sidelines. But if you talked about topics like love gossip and skincare, the whole classroom would suddenly become lively. When the discussion got heated, some girls could even argue fiercely about which skincare product was more effective.

A woman's beauty is innate, so Amane had never consciously observed these things, but Ichinose's performance today made her notice them.

"Fanbo, you seem to be quite concerned about your appearance?"

"..."

Ichinose's momentum vanished upon hearing Amane's words, and the complex emotions in her eyes were something even Amane couldn't decipher.

Ichinose pursed her lips, seemingly considering whether to confess something to Amane. Finally, after a fierce internal struggle, Ichinose slowly nodded.

"Yes, I care a lot about my appearance. Of course, it's not that I'm proud of my looks, but for a girl from a family like mine, having a pretty face is the last thing I have to offer."

Ichinose's explanation made Amane suddenly understand.

Amane had examined Ichinose more than once, but each time she received a different answer. First of all, Ichinose was known throughout the grade for her gentleness and tolerance from a very young age. In fact, Ichinose was indeed a very gentle and considerate girl who knew how to take care of others. But in addition to being gentle and considerate, Ichinose also had a ruthless and decisive side.

During the exam, the privileged student even went so far as to reveal his past theft and then leave the cruise ship early under the pretext of mental illness, resulting in Shibata bearing the blame for all the failed decisions and never recovering.

Ichinose did this simply to prove to Class B that no one but her could lead Class B forward. It's hard to imagine that someone who made such a decision would be a considerate and gentle person.

After she started dating Ichinose, Ichinose tried to form an alliance led by Horikita or Megumi to counter Arisu's monopoly.

A person capable of doing something like this is generally someone who is extremely jealous and selfish.

Ichinose's tolerance is so great that it can even be used as a weapon.

Everyone has two sides, but Ichinose's duality sometimes baffled Amane, who even once suspected that Ichinose might have symptoms of dissociative identity disorder like Nanase.

Finally, today, Amane obtained the last important clue about Ichinose, and learned that the last piece of the puzzle of the girl named Ichinose Honami was in Amane's hands.

From the very beginning, Ichinose's purpose in entering the school was to improve her family's life. On the one hand, the school provides room and board and allows her to exchange all her points for cash upon graduation. In other words, entering the high school is no different from working. Moreover, after graduation, she can enter a good company and earn a salary that would be impossible for someone with her family background.

Therefore, in Kagaku Ichinose's eyes, it was about providing a job without any restrictions or dangers.

However, after entering the high school, Ichinose discovered that this job was not as easy as she had imagined. In order to obtain more points and enter a good company after graduation, she had to graduate from Class A.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to unite more people. Thus, Ichinose, who possesses a gentle and tolerant nature that is almost saintly, was born. Ichinose transforms her gentleness and ability to make others believe in her into a wall that protects herself and her class, keeping all threats outside the wall.

As long as you steadily accumulate points, advancing to Class A shouldn't be too difficult.

With this in mind, even after uniting the class, Ichinose adhered to a fighting style of non-interference, bringing everyone together and using their strength as her own. This made her more than capable of participating in special exams and defending against Ryuen's harassment.

Then Amane's appearance broke this balance. After Shiraha was bullied, Ichinose believed that if he wanted to gain more benefits from this matter, he had to take it from Ishizaki, the person involved, which meant making Ryuen, who was behind Ishizaki, pay a certain price.

However, to Ichinose's surprise, Ryuen would try to entice her with 100 class points. Not wanting to damage her reputation, and unwilling to let go of this great opportunity, she chose to openly oppose him but secretly help Shibata and guide Kanzaki to threaten Airi.

What was Ichinose's motivation for doing this?

interest.

She wanted to graduate from Class A more than anyone else. With her grades, getting into a university would be a piece of cake, but she couldn't afford the tuition. What Ichinose longed for more than going to university was to get a job at a company and earn a good salary to improve her family's situation.

If possible, I wouldn't even object to her marrying Ichinose immediately after graduation.

As long as it relieves my mother's burden...

She is capable of anything, including offering her body and everything else... For this reason, no matter how much she is humiliated or bullied, she will not fight back, because fighting back might cause bigger trouble. If violence is involved, she might be expelled from school. No matter how she is treated, Ichinose will not resist. But if she is expelled from school, that would be absolutely unacceptable, because her family's financial situation would not be able to support her to transfer to another high school. She also has a younger sister who needs to go to school.

The mother alone could not afford to support two people's education.

This is why Ichinose revealed her crisis to Amane at the forest school and used Amane's sympathy to protect her. After seeing that Amane was able to handle everything, Ichinose's feelings for Amane quickly rose, and she soon reached the point of 'liking' her. Finally, after seeing that the school was even willing to change the rules to prevent Amane from being expelled, Ichinose officially confessed to Amane.

She staked everything on the chance that Tianyin could change her and her family's fate.

Honami Ichinose succeeded.

The old man arranged an easy and high-paying job for Ichinose's mother, and her younger sister was sent to another aristocratic school run by the Miyako family. Ichinose herself was also taken care of by Amane. All of this proved that Ichinose's choice was correct.

but……

There is only one question that Tianyin still hasn't answered.

"Fanbo, do you really like me?"

In Amane's memory, Ichinose told her he liked her 43 times. Did Ichinose truly like her from the bottom of his heart among these expressions of affection? Or did Ichinose only 'like' her, a girl, to achieve his own goals?

The answer to this question can probably only be given by Honami Ichinose herself.

Chapter 322: A Late-Night Appointment

"of course."

Ichinose answered without any hesitation.

But after answering, Ichinose realized what kind of question it was, so she hurriedly added her own answer.

"If you don't believe me, Tianyin, I can..."

Before Ichinose could finish speaking, Amane silenced her with a kiss.

Only when Ichinose's face was so hot that Amane felt a tingling sensation on her face did they reluctantly separate.

"I believe in Honoki."

"really?"

Ichinose blushed and looked at Amane with suspicion, but she couldn't see anything wrong with Amane's expression. Not only was Amane's ability to control her expression far superior to others, but Amane was also very certain that Ichinose's answer was not a lie.

Compared to the last time Ichinose confessed, when her eyes seemed serious but were somewhat wandering due to guilt, this time Ichinose's eyes never left Amane's gaze.

"It must be true!"

"Tian Yin, do you like me?"

Ichinose chose to launch her attack when Amane's attention was focused on her.

"this…"

"Ok?"

"My feelings for Fanbo are just as strong as your feelings for me."

"What a cunning answer!"

Ichinose pouted and gently poked Amane's cheek.

Amane chuckled and tapped Ichinose's cheek in response. Despite the many things involved behind their affection, after spending so much time together, Ichinose and Amane finally revealed their true feelings to each other.

Just as the distance between the two was getting closer and closer, Ichinose suddenly thought of something.

"Um... Amane, do you think it's appropriate for me to apologize to Airi for what happened back then?"

People must apologize when they do something wrong. This is a lesson Ichinose learned after being forced by her mother to kneel down and apologize to the shopkeeper for stealing.

However, this situation is a bit special. First, a lot of time has passed, and Horikita has already taken all the responsibility and apologized to Airi. If the truth of what happened back then is told to Airi at this time, Ichinose doesn't know if Airi will be disappointed in them as 'dirty' people.

"That's enough. Confessing to Airi now will only cause her distress. Let her enjoy her future school life happily. If you want to make it up to Airi in any way... I heard that Airi is currently learning cooking and scarf-knitting techniques from Megumi and Hiyori..."

Amane looked at Ichinose meaningfully.

Ichinose immediately understood what Amane meant. She was quite good at cooking, but she had never tried knitting scarves before.

"Is Hui's scarf knitted very well?"

"Hmm... Aside from a slight flaw in appearance, everything else is pretty good. But compared to the scarves made by Arisu, they are both beautiful and warm. It's just that Arisu makes me a scarf every year, so I have too many that I can't wear them all."

"Then I'll visit Arisu when I have time and ask him for advice on scarf knitting techniques."

When Ichinose learned that Arisu was very good at knitting scarves, she showed a happy expression, but soon became shy.

"Um... Tianyin, are you free tonight?"

Ichinose blushed and asked softly.

"I don't have anything planned for tonight, it's just that Feng..."

"How about coming to my room tonight?"

"..."

Faced with Ichinose's invitation, Amane hesitated. She had originally promised Kaede that she would go to the hot springs with her that evening, but Ichinose's invitation was so enthusiastic, and under these circumstances, it seemed inappropriate to refuse him...

Seemingly sensing Amane's predicament, Ichinose sighed softly.

"Tianyin, if you have something to do, you can reschedule for another day. We're going to stay in the hotel for a few more days anyway, so there's no rush."

Amane knew that Ichinose was saying that on purpose, but looking at Ichinose's disappointed face, Amane felt a dry mouth and an irresistible urge to hug Ichinose and comfort her.

"Ahem... I don't really have anything planned for tonight, so I'll just go to your place, Honami. I've never been to a hot spring with you before, so this is a rare opportunity~"

"Ah."

Ichinose first gave a shy "hmm," then suddenly turned around, broke free from Amane's embrace, and ran a few steps to distance herself from Amane.

Before Amane could react, she saw two familiar figures not far away, looking at Amane and Ichinose with different expressions.

"Oh dear, Kofun is too cautious! It's rare to catch Kofun and Amane on a date~ Couldn't they let the teacher see something interesting? Like... hehe~"

Ms. Hoshinomiya extended her thumbs and gently touched them together in mid-air.

When Ichinose saw Hoshinomiya-sensei's actions, her already flushed face turned even redder, as if blood could drip from it.

"I... I suddenly remembered I have something to attend to. Amane, Hoshinomiya-sensei, Chabashira-sensei, I'll take my leave now..."

Ichinose hurriedly turned around, wanting to escape from this place that made her too embarrassed to stay. Before leaving, she looked back at Amane and gave her some instructions.

"Tianyin, don't forget our promise!"

"Don't worry, I won't forget it. If I did, I'd be a puppy!"

"Okay, it's a deal!"

"A word is settled!"

After receiving a positive reply from Amane, Ichinose turned around and ran away quickly with a smile on his face.

After Ichinose left, Hoshinomiya-sensei immediately sidled up to Amane and started gossiping about Ichinose and Amane.

"Hey~ What did Xiaotianyin and Xiaofanbo make a promise? I really want to know~ Can you tell me, Teacher? I'll give you a big reward, Xiaotianyin~"

Hoshinomiya-sensei put her hand on Amane's shoulder and spoke to Amane in an extremely ambiguous tone.

Seeing this, the teacher next to her raised an eyebrow in displeasure, but said nothing, and simply lit a cigarette.

Logically speaking, it's understandable that Hoshinomiya-sensei is so concerned about Ichinose's affairs. Although Ichinose is now a member of Class A, she was once the student she paid the most attention to in her class. Even after leaving her class, Hoshinomiya-sensei and Ichinose have not lost contact. She would privately ask Ichinose about the progress of her relationship with Amane. However, Ichinose is shy and always gives vague answers, which makes Hoshinomiya-sensei very interested in their relationship.

Of course, if that were all, Hoshinomiya-sensei could simply ask the question normally. After all, the relationship between Amane and Ichinose was no secret. The reason why Hoshinomiya-sensei deliberately acted so intimately with Amane was mainly to annoy the tea shoji Sae beside him.

Ms. Hoshinomiya is a vengeful person... no, rather than vengeful, it's more accurate to say she's a person with strong principles.

After seeing Chabashira again in Gaoyu, Hoshinomiya-sensei made up her mind that as long as Chabashira was still in Gaoyu, she would not let go of any opportunity to make Chabashira feel pain and torment, even if Chabashira knelt in front of her and confessed her mistakes back then, Hoshinomiya-sensei did not intend to forgive her.

As Chabashira herself said, the reason why Chabashira was unwilling to reconcile with Hoshinomiya from beginning to end was because Chabashira felt that she was not wrong. If she was not wrong, then why should she apologize? Even if she apologized, it was only because you wanted her to apologize and Chabashira only apologized symbolically in response to your request.

As for getting Chabashira to apologize for his choice back then, that's impossible. For this reason, the probability of the two getting back together is infinitely close to zero. They are just superficial colleagues now. They seem to have a very close relationship in front of others, but once they are alone or when Amane is around, Hoshinomiya will try every means to annoy Chabashira.

However, if such behavior is considered revenge, it is not entirely true. Amane once asked Hoshinomiya if it was because of what happened back then that he hated Chabashira so deeply.

Amane originally thought that Hoshinomiya-sensei's answer to such a question would be a resolute "yes," which would be in line with her personality.

But to Amane's surprise, Hoshinomiya replied that after seeing Chabashira return to this place, she knew that Chabashira was still trapped in that day ten years ago. Every special exam was an ordeal for Chabashira, because no one was more afraid of encountering that special exam that she did not want to recall than Chabashira.

Seeing that her former friend, the culprit who prevented the entire class from graduating from Class A, was still tormented by what happened back then, and that it had even become her inner demon, Hoshinomiya had already let go of her resentment. In her words, it was a case of karma.

Her hatred for Chabashira stemmed from Chabashira's stubborn refusal to admit that she was wrong.

"I don't understand how someone who ruined the future of dozens of students in the class can have the nerve to tell the victims that I don't think I was wrong."

Even now, Amane is still surprised and puzzled when Hoshinomiya-sensei repeats Chabashira-sensei's words.