"I'm back."
Amane was especially happy today because of her extra gains.
Not only did she get Sakura-san's photo, but she also got her contact information.
This way.
It meant there would be many, many photos in the future!
So, as expected of Amane, she had now learned to play the long game.
"You're back so late? Was the swimming pool that hard to clean?"
Horikita got up and took the school uniform from Amane's hand.
Just as she was about to hang it on a hanger.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"The swimming pool is very big, you know, it took me a lot of time to clean it, quickly reward me."
Amane was about to hug Horikita as usual.
But she was pinched on the ear by the latter.
"Ow, ow, ow, Suzune, what are you doing?"
Amane's eyes were tearing up from the pain.
But Horikita had no intention of stopping.
"My dear Amane-san, how do you plan to explain this?"
Horikita picked up a long red hair from Amane's school uniform shoulder.
Amane's gaze began to shift.
"The swimming pool is very big, Amane, are you sure you're talking about the swimming pool?"
Horikita pinched Amane's face with both hands.
She looked at Amane with an unkind gaze.
"Don't pinch, don't pinch, I'll confess, okay!"
Seeing Amane intended to confess, Horikita finally let go.
Amane's eyes moved back and forth rapidly.
She seemed to be organizing her words.
"After I finished cleaning the pool tonight, I found that there was still a student left in the swimming hall, so I kept looking and looking..."
"Get to the point."
Horikita made a hand-chop gesture with her hand, her fingertips gently moving across Amane's abdomen.
Gulp.
Amane swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Then I found... a student had climbed to the rooftop of the swimming hall, that place is so dangerous! I was afraid she would have an accident so I quickly followed her... but it turned out she was just taking photos."
Amane spoke quite slowly.
This ensured that everything he said was true, while also ensuring the key information remained vague.
However, Amane clearly underestimated Horikita's keen senses.
"So you just held him in your arms and comforted him, right?"
A smile appeared on Horikita's face.
Her fingertip gently traced Amane's cheek, then tapped her lips.
"I won't say anything this time. From the moment you concealed his name, I guessed there might be something inconvenient for you to tell me. But that's no reason for you to try and gloss over it. You can shower by yourself tonight."
As soon as Horikita finished speaking, Amane hugged her waist.
"No, no, we said we'd shower together—whoa!"
Sanction.
Amane's coquettish voice abruptly stopped.
She slumped softly onto Horikita's shoulder.
Horikita effortlessly picked up Amane and tossed her onto the bed.
Her movements were practiced and seamless.
"Honestly, you pick the worst times to act spoiled."
Although Horikita said she would let Amane off the hook, she still felt a little uncomfortable.
The fact that someone else's hair could be found on her shoulder only meant their relationship was quite intimate.
Yet, Amane chose to conceal it.
Hmph.
"Is Suzune jealous?"
Amane suddenly realized something and poked her head out from the bed.
"Wh-what are you talking about! Who would be jealous of an idiot like you?"
A blush began to creep onto Horikita's face.
"Suzune, you're blushing, you know."
"..."
Horikita also felt the temperature of her face rising sharply.
She quickly reached up to cover her face.
Was she really jealous?
How could that be?
Amane, that idiot, no matter who she hugged, Horikita Suzune would never... Horikita imagined a red-haired girl resting her head on Amane's shoulder, acting spoiled or saying mushy words.
Crack.
Accompanied by a shattering sound, Amane, who had just been about to tease Horikita, was completely stunned.
Horikita had actually crushed the teacup.
Amane wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Hmm.
It was probably better not to speak at this moment.
Horikita, meanwhile, looked at the shattered teacup in her hand with a puzzled expression, then glanced at Amane, who was lying on the bed like a good child.
Perhaps... she was a little bit jealous.
Really, just a tiny bit.
"Speaking of which, didn't we agree you'd cook tonight? What are we having?"
When Amane heard Horikita's question, she immediately remembered that Horikita had indeed told her it was her turn to cook tonight.
Oh no!!!
She had forgotten the most important thing.
"I'll go buy groceries right now."
Just as Amane was about to go out to buy some vegetables, her hand was pulled by Horikita.
"Just eat whatever's easy."
Horikita's tone was very soft.
Faced with Horikita's sudden change, Amane was a little curious. Originally, she wanted to investigate further, but after glancing at the unfortunate teacup that had just been crushed, she chose to remain silent.
She wasn't being cowardly.
She was just afraid that Horikita would hurt her hand if she hit her.
"I'll go see what else there is."
Amane opened the refrigerator and began rummaging for ingredients.
Just then, Amane's phone chimed with a message notification.
"Someone sent you a message, oh."
Horikita merely glanced at it without looking too closely.
Everyone had their privacy.
She had no right to interfere too much.
But it wasn't a problem if she didn't glance.
When she did glance, she actually saw a familiar name: Horikita Manabu.
This name sounded a little familiar, didn't it?
Isn't that her older brother's name?
"Who sent me a message? I found carrots, onions, potatoes, and chicken. How about curry rice tonight...?"
Amane held the chicken and carrots in her left hand, and the potatoes in her right, even performing the trick of balancing an onion on her head for Horikita.
"It's a message from my brother."
Horikita brought Amane's phone to her.
"Oh, it's President Horikita. What did he say?"
"Points have been credited to your account. Please check."
With that single sentence, Amane and Horikita's expressions differed greatly.
Amane didn't know what points Horikita Manabu had transferred to her.
Hadn't the points from their last collaboration, where she acted in front of Horikita, been settled in full at once?
Why would he transfer points to her again?
Suddenly, Amane's cowlick perked up, knocking off the onion.
Horikita Manabu, that scoundrel!
He wouldn't be stingy with 200,000 points and deliberately sell out his teammate, would he?
If Suzune found out that Amane had cooperated with Horikita Manabu to put on a show last time, with the goal of forcing her to change... she would probably be rolled up in a blanket by Suzune and thrown directly out of the dorm, right?
No way!!!
Horikita, meanwhile, was a little uneasy.
Horikita Manabu was quite a bit older than Suzune.
Plus, they shouldn't have known each other for long.
It shouldn't be the case that the two of them would have such thoughts.
As for dating... that also seemed a bit inappropriate.
Horikita opened the phone, and when she saw the huge number of 200,000 points, she froze.
"Amane, what kind of points did my brother... transfer to you?"
The number 200,000 points was clearly suspicious.
And Horikita had scrolled up a bit.
There was actually another transfer of 200,000 points, and it was just last month.
This meant that Horikita Manabu transferred 200,000 points to Amane once a month.
This... no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like... Horikita looked at Amane.
She wanted a negative answer from Amane.
But what she didn't expect was that the next words Amane said would drive her crazy.
Because Amane also didn't know the reason for this transfer.
She could only say as vaguely as possible, "It's aid points... right?"
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