Amane-san was originally forced by Horikita-san to make a choice, so she could only look at Shiina-san with a pleading gaze.
Shiina-san, being very understanding, knew Amane-san needed someone to help her out, so she quietly gave Amane-san an OK gesture.
But immediately after, Shiina-san threw out a bombshell topic.
"Hey, Amane-san, I heard you and Karuizawa-san secretly went on a date on the deck. Is that true?"
Shiina-san's words were like a drop of cold water in a hot oil pan, instantly making the somewhat silent group erupt.
"Dating Karuizawa-san? Isn't Amane-san supposed to be flirting with Shiina-san?"
Sakayanagi-san looked at Amane-san in surprise.
"I didn't..."
"Hmph, I knew this day would come."
Horikita-san rolled her eyes at Amane-san and began to ponder how to minimize the impact of this matter. After all, although it was a transaction, such a thing could not be made public.
Once it spread, besides causing trouble for Amane-san, it would also bring considerable public outcry to Karuizawa-san, Hirata-san, and others.
If not handled properly, it could even affect Class D's external image and internal unity.
"Did Horikita-san already know about this?"
Sakayanagi-san sounded a bit angry at the news.
She had run into Amane-san and Shiina-san in a somewhat ambiguous relationship last time and was planning to find an opportunity to properly teach Shiina-san a lesson.
But she hadn't expected another Karuizawa-san to pop up in just one day.
The crucial thing was that Sakayanagi-san was very familiar with the name Karuizawa. If she remembered correctly, Karuizawa-san seemed to be the girlfriend of Hirata Yousuke, the former leader of Class D boys.
Combining this with the information about Shiina-san, Sakayanagi-san came to an unbelievable conclusion.
Amane-san had actually gotten together with Hirata-san's girlfriend while he was recovering in the hospital.
How could this be tolerated?
Horikita-san even had an expression as if she had known all along. If she knew, why didn't she stop it?
Didn't she know what a terrible impact such news would have on Amane-san?
"I was also present at the time. She and Karuizawa-san were indeed talking on the deck, but it was by no means a date as rumored."
Horikita-san explained with a calm expression.
"Isn't this just trying to cover up? In the first year, who doesn't know that Amane-san and you have an ambiguous relationship? So what's impossible about Amane-san and Karuizawa-san developing the same kind of relationship as you two? Since you're now living with this guy, shouldn't you find a way to restrain his behavior after he gets horny and disregards the consequences?"
Sakayanagi-san propped herself up and severely questioned Horikita-san, which completely stunned Shiina-san.
Although the topic had shifted, had it gone a bit too far?
"Sakayanagi-san, don't get too agitated. I only heard it through the grapevine, through the grapevine..."
Shiina-san tried to mediate.
"Arisu-san, that's too mean! I'm not horny or anything..."
"Shut up."
"Oh."
Amane-san shrugged and buried her head in the sand.
"Oh? Sakayanagi-san, if I were to follow your logic, I would be too busy to handle it. Amane-san has ambiguous relationships with so many girls. If it were you, how would you deal with it? For example, with Shiina-san."
Horikita-san kicked the ball back to Sakayanagi-san.
"Eh? How did the topic turn to me? Amane-san and I are just ordinary friends, right, Amane-san?"
Shiina-san quickly sought help from Amane-san.
Once Horikita-san and Sakayanagi-san decided that her relationship with Amane-san was problematic, she knew without thinking that she would be severely bullied by the two of them working together.
Only Amane-san could help her now.
But when Shiina-san and Amane-san's kind gazes met, she immediately knew trouble was brewing.
Amane-san's expression looked like she was about to do something mischievous. Ugh, is it too late to go back now?
"Last time, sleeping in Hiyori-san's arms was very comfortable."
Amane-san showed a sweet smile.
Shiina-san covered her face in despair; she knew Amane-san had ill intentions.
"Shiina-san, actually, I'm quite curious how you and Amane-san got involved."
Sakayanagi-san initially had no impression of a minor character like Shiina-san.
Before, Sakayanagi-san's energy was mainly focused on confronting Katsuragi-san. Sakayanagi-san had no interest in bothering with other classes.
If she hadn't stumbled upon Amane-san, she wouldn't even have bothered with those failing classes.
Therefore, the deepest impression she had of Class C, which wasn't much stronger than Class D, was Ryuuen-san, a punk who liked to cause trouble everywhere.
Beyond that, there was no impression.
The reason she recently started paying attention to Shiina-san was because Shiina-san, in a time of crisis, took over from Ryuuen-san as the temporary leader of Class C. Then, after Class C was eliminated first and Albert-san failed to bring back effective information, she used a seemingly unsophisticated method to gain a certain amount of points, which prevented Class C from coming in last.
Sakayanagi-san therefore began to pay some attention to Shiina-san.
But as she paid attention, Sakayanagi-san noticed something was off. Kamuro-san, who was responsible for tracking Shiina-san, always stammered when she returned. The information sounded fine, but something always felt wrong, so Sakayanagi-san secretly went to meet Shiina-san herself—of course, without Shiina-san noticing at all. She then coincidentally witnessed an intimate scene between Amane-san and Shiina-san.
Recently, Sakayanagi-san had already started preparing a plan to strike at Class C.
Ostensibly, it was to boost the Sakayanagi faction's prestige, but only she knew the real reason.
"Get... getting involved? Sakayanagi-san, your choice of words is too much! I'm just able to get along with Amane-san, and we occasionally meet and play together as normal friends."
Facing Shiina-san's clarification, Sakayanagi-san waved her hand.
"I already know roughly what's going on. Amane-san, that guy, really, he's always up to no good. But it has nothing to do with me anyway. Speaking of headaches, Horikita-san would probably have a bigger headache, wouldn't she?"
Sakayanagi-san didn't miss any opportunity to strike at Horikita-san.
She wanted to use this to test Horikita-san's personality and abilities.
Anyone Amane-san valued must have some skills in certain areas, or at least be good-looking.
Sakayanagi-san would not let her guard down just because Horikita-san was an opponent she had personally eliminated.
She even regretted eliminating Horikita-san so early.
She should have kept Horikita-san to gather some information about her, what a pity.
Just as Sakayanagi-san was still planning to observe Horikita-san further,
she saw Horikita-san stand up directly, seemingly intending to leave.
"I won't get a headache over such things, because for me right now, there are more important things waiting for me to do."
Shiina-san, who had just been a bit flustered, showed a rare expression of regret after hearing this sentence and sighed deeply.
"Horikita-san, are your eyes only fixed on the title of Class A? Have you perhaps lost something on your path forward?"
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