"Eh!!!—"
With a shriek, Karuizawa roughly pushed Amane-san away.
Then she quickly put distance between herself and Amane-san. Just as she was about to get up and run, she remembered her predicament.
Turning back, she saw Amane-san lying on her side on the floor, her loose nightgown failing to completely conceal a hint of alluring beauty that made Karuizawa feel a little uncomfortable.
Her long white hair cascaded from her neck to her chest, and her purple eyes sparkled. Even Karuizawa was captivated by such a tempting sight.
"Where is my canary trying to run off to?"
Amane-san playfully crooked her finger at Karuizawa.
Gulp.
Karuizawa couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
Fear quickly enveloped her entire body. Amane-san was smiling, yet Karuizawa's intuition told her that something dangerous lurked beneath Amane-san's smile.
After much hesitation, Karuizawa still chose to inch closer to Amane-san.
"I'm sorry, I just… mmph."
Karuizawa hadn't finished speaking when Amane-san pinched Karuizawa's chin and forcefully kissed her the next second.
"This is your punishment for overstepping."
Amane-san licked her lips, seemingly savoring the taste from just now.
Karuizawa's face flushed crimson, and she couldn't help but lower her head, not daring to meet Amane-san's gaze.
Seeing Karuizawa become even more reserved, Amane-san was a little helpless. Really, wouldn't it be better if everyone just let loose and had fun together? She said she would try to please others, so couldn't Karuizawa tell what she needed to do to please her by now?
"Why did you suddenly do that just now? Was it involuntary? Or were you trying to turn the tables?"
Amane-san deliberately used a highly ambiguous tone.
She wanted to tease Karuizawa more, but her words startled Karuizawa greatly.
"I didn't mean to... It was Amane-san, you said to let me, let me feed you tea... so I..."
She hadn't intended to make such a gesture just now. She had planned to feed her tea, but since it was her first time doing something like this, she was still a bit clumsy. In her nervousness, she accidentally swallowed the tea, resulting in the current awkward situation.
Karuizawa's blushing, stammering appearance was incredibly cute. If Karuizawa hadn't yet adapted to the current environment, Amane-san would probably already be savoring the cute girl in front of her.
"Is there a possibility that I genuinely just wanted you to feed me tea?"
Amane-san sat up, poured a cup of tea for Karuizawa, then gently blew on it and brought it to Karuizawa's lips.
Just as Karuizawa reached out to take it, Amane-san deliberately kept it out of her reach, instead feeding Karuizawa the entire cup of tea little by little.
Only then did Karuizawa realize what Amane-san had truly meant.
Then just now... what exactly was she doing just now?!
Why did she do something so embarrassing?
Just as Karuizawa's mind was in a state of confusion, Amane-san gently leaned close to Karuizawa's ear.
"Kei, who taught you to do that?"
"I saw it myself on TV..."
Karuizawa quickly covered her mouth before she could finish speaking.
Amane-san, meanwhile, wore a triumphant smile.
"I didn't expect your interests to be so broad, Kei. If there's a chance, I'd like to try other things you've learned from TV."
Amane-san covered her mouth with her hand and let out a soft laugh.
Karuizawa could no longer bear it and ran straight to the large bed, burying herself forcefully under the covers, and tightly covering her ears, as if doing so could make it as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Amane-san didn't press her advantage further. She had to give Karuizawa time to adapt.
After their playful interaction, it was time to deal with some serious matters.
After pouring herself a cup of tea, Amane-san began checking the school forum on her phone.
However, to her surprise, the forum denied access.
It seemed that information could not be exchanged via the school forum while at sea.
Amane-san immediately understood the intention behind this.
If the school forum could be accessed anytime, anywhere, it was inevitable that when facing the same exams that upperclassmen had experienced, some would choose to seek help from upperclassmen through the forum.
Of course, help in such situations would not be free, but this would genuinely affect the fairness of the special exam.
However, the school did not prohibit underclassmen from adding upperclassmen's contact information, which indicated that the school supported underclassmen using special methods to break through impasses, but without causing too much impact.
In other words, seeking help by temporarily clinging to Buddha's feet for profit was not advisable.
On the other hand, secretly building good social relationships with upperclassmen and then obtaining help and information from them was an operation tacitly permitted by the school.
The inability to access the forum allowed Amane-san to glimpse a corner of the school's rules, which was certainly a good thing.
But the truth about Ichinose being a thief began to become more perplexing.
If not through the forum, then what method did the rumor-monger or leaker use to spread the news?
Amane-san opened the class chat group, where everyone was enthusiastically discussing the rumors about Ichinose being a thief.
After reading for a while, Amane-san had a general understanding of the situation. It was simply that Ichinose had once stolen her sister's favorite hairpin from a convenience store to prepare a birthday gift for her sister. Her mother discovered it and took Ichinose to the convenience store to apologize to the clerk by prostrating herself.
Amane-san took a sip of tea.
Such a matter was difficult for her to judge, because the reason she stole the hairpin was to celebrate her sister's birthday, and her mother was in a tight financial situation, which led to that choice.
However... wasn't this information overly detailed?
Even her family situation was known so clearly. Could this really be just a rumor?
Amane-san opened her notes on her phone and wrote down "leak."
The leaker knew such detailed information, making it highly probable that the secret was leaked by someone close to Ichinose.
Moreover, Ichinose had no reason to widely publicize such an embarrassing matter.
So, before the leak, not many people would have known about it. Ichinose might even already know who leaked the secret.
In Amane-san's opinion, Ichinose would have told at most one or two people about such a matter. Any more, and it would have probably spread throughout the school long ago.
Someone who could gain Ichinose's trust to such an extent...
It was probably someone from Class 1-B. All signs pointed to one person.
"Shibata Sō, could it really be you? Would you really make such a foolish move?"
Amane-san drained the tea in her cup.
The biggest beneficiary of this matter was undoubtedly Shibata Sō. Originally, Shibata Sō was slightly disadvantaged in the competition for class leader. Now that Ichinose's scandal had erupted, as long as he pressed his advantage and won this special exam, it could almost be concluded that the leadership struggle in Class 1-B was over.
But it was too obvious.
Anyone could see the mastermind behind this matter; Shibata was the most suspicious person.
If this matter was true, and Shibata was indeed the mastermind.
Then both their reputations would be ruined. Shibata was not a fool; he wouldn't do something so stupid as to perish with Ichinose and benefit Kanzaki.
Then... who was pushing this matter from behind the scenes?
Just as Amane-san was racking her brain, she suddenly received an email on her phone.
At the same time, Karuizawa's phone also rang, apparently a mass message.
Amane-san casually opened the email, and after seeing its content, she couldn't help but exclaim in anger.
"Is Nagumo Miyabi an idiot? Why would he make such a brain-dead decision?"
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