Seeing that the sent message displayed 'read', Horikita did not call again, which allowed Amane to breathe a sigh of relief.
Originally, she had planned to use Karuizawa's identity to give Horikita a heads-up, but she hadn't expected Horikita's offensive to be so fierce.
It would be better to find Karuizawa and have her come back first.
What if Horikita called again? She couldn't keep hanging up, could she?
In that case, anyone with eyes would immediately notice something fishy.
Just as Amane was about to call Karuizawa, her phone suddenly chimed with a message notification.
Amane quickly re-entered the chatroom and opened the chat box.
This time, the loading speed was a bit slow; Horikita seemed to have sent a photo.
Then, this photo slowly loaded under Amane's dumbfounded gaze.
Horikita, dressed in her school uniform, sat at a dining table, which was laden with carefully selected food and drinks.
At this moment, Horikita's expression was one of helplessness, tinged with a sense of speechlessness.
Sitting opposite Horikita, Karuizawa's small face was flushed red, and she awkwardly waved her small hand at the camera.
"Ah ah ah ah!!! Why are they together?! Ugh…"
Amane, blushing, buried her head directly into the soft pillow.
It was utterly embarrassing!!!
Who would have thought that Horikita would be having a meal with Karuizawa, someone she was fiercely at odds with not long ago, at the awkward time of ten in the morning?
Just as Amane was tossing and turning in bed, there was a knock at the door.
Amane went to the door and saw Horikita and Karuizawa standing one after another at the entrance on the screen of the intercom.
Knowing that there was no escape, Amane steeled herself and opened the door.
"Suzune, what a coincidence, I…"
"I came to see you, Amane, because I have something serious to discuss."
Horikita's serious demeanor made Amane even more uneasy; she secretly glanced at the well-behaved Karuizawa behind Horikita.
Karuizawa subtly gave Amane a 'V' sign with her right hand behind her back. To anyone else, the first reaction would probably be that Horikita had accepted Karuizawa's current situation.
But Amane instinctively sensed that things were not that simple, because if it were such a matter, Horikita would have no need to talk to her with such a serious expression. Horikita knew best that Amane responded to gentleness, not force; the more aggressive she was, the more Amane would resent her, and it would eventually devolve into an argument.
Arguing at such a critical moment would be akin to shooting herself in the foot. Even if Horikita were foolish, she wouldn't allow any unpleasant rumors to arise with Amane while she was still finding her footing.
This would only make all her previous efforts vanish, a completely unacceptable outcome for her, who was determined to ascend to Class A.
Considering that Horikita went to talk to Karuizawa.
And connecting it with recent events, the answer was obvious.
"Did something big happen in Class B?"
Amane's question made Horikita raise her beautiful eyebrows.
"Amane, you're quite well-informed, or has someone contacted you?"
Horikita sat down on the sofa, curiously surveying the room. Amane gave Karuizawa a look, then sat opposite Horikita.
"Not at all. My hands can't reach into Class B right now. Speaking of which, Ichinose hasn't contacted me in a long time. We haven't really seen each other since the Uninhabited Island…"
As Amane spoke, she also noticed something strange.
Although Class B was currently in chaos.
But where was Ichinose? She hadn't seemed to see Ichinose on the ship these past few days, only occasionally hearing that Ichinose was busy mediating class conflicts and individual conflicts within Class B.
Yet, she rarely saw her in person.
The last impromptu tea party with Shiina, Horikita, and Sakayanagi, she had intended to invite Ichinose, but the message at the time showed Ichinose had read it but had no intention of replying.
Amane had only assumed that Ichinose was still sulking about the Uninhabited Island incident and unwilling to participate in group activities, so she hadn't paid it any mind.
But she never expected Ichinose to make such a splash. This time, the matter was probably no small thing.
"Do you know that Ichinose is a thief?"
"Huh?"
Horikita dropped a bombshell on Amane.
Amane had considered all sorts of possibilities, but she never expected Horikita to immediately tell her such news.
Ichinose is a thief? What a joke.
She would rather believe it was a rumor spread by Shibata than believe something so outrageous.
"Which class is spreading the rumors? Class C? Class A? Or are they having internal strife?"
Amane tried to ask Horikita about the source of the rumors.
Since Horikita had already started seeking opinions from Karuizawa and her, it meant that Horikita had already begun to act, and logically, she should have conducted an investigation before this.
But to Amane's surprise, Horikita shook her head.
"I don't have much interest in what happened to Ichinose. A failed leader of a class that's about to hit rock bottom isn't worth my attention. What I want to ask you, Amane, is, does this matter have anything to do with you?"
Although Horikita said she wasn't very interested in Ichinose, it was obvious that the entire situation reeked of conspiracy; rumors couldn't arise out of thin air.
Horikita analyzed the current situation and found that the most likely culprits were Shibata and Amane.
On one hand, Katsuragi and Shiina probably wouldn't use such methods. On the other hand, Shibata had absolute motive; his competition with Ichinose for leadership had reached a critical point, and it was hard not to draw connections when something like this happened.
As for why she asked Amane, it was entirely because such a method aligned with Amane's modus operandi.
Amane was very skilled at manipulating public opinion to achieve her goals. This sudden widespread rumor overnight looked very much like Amane's handiwork.
However, after meeting Karuizawa, Horikita's suspicion lessened somewhat, but she still needed to confirm with Amane first.
Otherwise, any subsequent actions might interfere with each other.
"How could it have anything to do with me? Do I look like such a sinister person?"
Suddenly spreading such personally attacking rumors would undoubtedly have a huge impact on the person being slandered.
If the rumor was false, even if the rumor-monger apologized, some people would still believe in the truthfulness of the rumor, as there are always those who believe that nothing comes from nothing.
If it were true… it would only attract more malicious people to attack her. The higher Class B had praised Ichinose before, the harder she would fall now.
Horikita looked at Amane without speaking.
"Suzune, do you not even believe my words anymore? What good would it do me to get rid of Ichinose right now? And I hope you tell me first, is this matter a rumor or a leak?"
Amane immediately grasped the crux of the matter.
Rumors and leaks are completely different concepts. If someone wanted to muddy the waters and confuse people with this… Ichinose's disaster was probably just beginning.
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