The next day.
Amane reluctantly climbed out of bed and checked the time on her phone. It was almost ten o'clock.
If it weren't a holiday today, she would have missed the discussion.
However, compared to the displayed time, the red notification numbers were even more attention-grabbing.
She seemed to have received a large number of unread messages and missed calls.
Clicking on it, a long list of Horikita Suzune's name filled the screen.
"I'm doomed."
Amane flopped back onto the bed, her fingers tracing the keys as she pondered how to reply in a way that Horikita could calmly accept the situation.
It was then that Amane noticed Karuizawa was already gone.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Amane. Even if she was completely blinded by desire, she wouldn't do *that* kind of thing while Karuizawa was still injured. So, last night, she simply held Karuizawa and slept through the night.
When she woke up this morning, her clothes were neat and tidy, so she definitely didn't do anything bad to scare Karuizawa away.
Mhm, mhm, Karuizawa must have gone to eat.
Amane felt very good about herself. In her opinion, people with as much integrity as her were rare.
While Amane was still contemplating, her phone buzzed with another message.
"Read but no reply? Amane, are you thinking about how to fool me?"
Seeing the message from Horikita, Amane's scalp tingled.
She had forgotten again about the cursed chat app's setting that shows 'read' once a message is viewed.
But what to do next?
Was she really going to explain to Horikita that she and Karuizawa booked a luxury suite yesterday, but not to worry, she didn't do anything?
Amane looked at the words she had typed and found them unbelievable herself.
Given Amane's image in Horikita's eyes, if she didn't devour such a readily available prey, Horikita might actually find it strange.
Moreover, Amane had a previous record of being caught on the deck, and this time it was a private room. No matter how she explained it, Amane couldn't find a reason for Horikita to believe her.
Suddenly, Amane had a flash of inspiration.
If answering Horikita's questions as 'Miyako Amane' wasn't ideal, why not pretend to be Karuizawa and indirectly inform Horikita about it?
For example, Karuizawa was bullied last night and rescued by Amane. Amane spent the night taking Karuizawa to various doctors for treatment. After her condition finally stabilized, Amane, not wanting to wake her roommates, asked a teacher to open a room. Finally, fearing Karuizawa's condition might worsen, Amane stayed by her bedside all night, and is now still sleeping—a story like that.
In that case, Horikita might even think from Karuizawa's perspective that Amane was truly too diligent and should be rewarded or something.
Amane involuntarily snapped her fingers.
The logic all made sense. Could she be a genius at storytelling?
Amane picked up her phone and recalled Karuizawa's usual tone of voice.
Then, her slender fingers quickly tapped on the keys.
"Sorry, I'm not Amane. Amane just fell asleep because she was too tired. I'm Karuizawa Kei, and I got a bit injured due to an accident. I'm with Amane now. Is there anything you need me to relay?"
Amane excitedly pressed the send button.
The other side immediately showed 'read'.
It seemed Horikita was still waiting for her reply.
After about a minute, Amane looked strangely at the chat interface, which kept intermittently showing 'The other party is typing.' (typing…), feeling a bit apprehensive.
Horikita wouldn't be so angry as to write a long diatribe against her, would she?
Now that she thought about it, pretending to be Karuizawa Kei might have been a mistake. Horikita already didn't think highly of girls like Karuizawa, and now being in the same room with Amane, it was hard not to imagine some bad things.
Even if Horikita erupted in fury, it would be understandable.
But… if Horikita started a verbal attack, it would be *her* who got hurt!!!
Oh no, why did she get a whim to be clever? Isn't this clearly taking the bullet for Karuizawa?
Just as Amane was holding her head, ready to accept Horikita's various verbal abuses and even personal attacks, she saw that Horikita only sent a question mark.
"?"
A simple, clear symbol made Amane blink more than a dozen times before she reacted.
"Phew, you almost scared me to death. Why does it keep showing 'typing…' just for a question mark? Honestly… Ugh, maybe she typed something and then deleted it."
Now Amane could somewhat understand why it kept showing 'typing…'. After all, her explanation was very vague, summarizing everything that happened in one sentence. Perhaps Horikita was initially angry and intended to send some accusatory and insulting words, but after calming down, she deleted the unpleasant language and decided to first understand the situation before considering whether to unleash her full fury on Karuizawa.
Amane nodded.
She didn't expect Horikita to grow so fast. In just half a month, she had matured to the point where she could control her emotions.
If it were before, there was no doubt that Horikita would first bombard her with questions, then provoke her with sarcastic remarks, and when the other party became exasperated, she would seize on a flaw in their words and thoroughly humiliate them.
Amane was already well-versed in Horikita's routine.
That's why she felt such a headache when she saw it constantly displaying 'typing…' from the other party.
However, now that Horikita had learned to manage her emotions, should she give Horikita a heads-up? Karuizawa's situation would definitely have to be revealed sooner or later.
Confessing now was much better than being caught later.
If Horikita wasn't satisfied with Amane's methods, then Amane could only… try to persuade her again.
After all, Karuizawa hadn't been 'eaten' yet, and she absolutely couldn't give up on Karuizawa.
Amane quickly tapped the keys and began to reply to the message.
The gist was that she accidentally fell and got injured last night, and since it was late and no one could help her, she coincidentally ran into Amane. Amane kindly took her to find a doctor, and so on.
Amane carefully weighed every word and phrase before finally sending the message.
Again, it immediately showed 'read'.
Amane smiled. She knew Horikita must be glued to her phone right now.
Just then, her phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Horikita, which immediately disrupted Amane's plan.
She hadn't expected Horikita to be so bold as to call Karuizawa directly for a confrontation.
If Karuizawa were back, Amane could have had Karuizawa handle it, but now she was alone in the room. She couldn't possibly answer the phone, could she?
Even if Horikita could control her emotions, if she heard the voice of Amane, the culprit...
She would probably still blow up, right?
Amane quickly hung up the phone and then rapidly sent a message in the chat box.
"Amane is sleeping soundly. It's not convenient for me to answer the phone."
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