Amane sat beside Horikita and quickly pecked her on the cheek.
This outrageous act startled Horikita. She quickly looked around. Fortunately, many people had already returned to their cabins or gone to the open-air pool to play at this time, so no one saw this scene.
But even so, Horikita still felt somewhat constrained.
"Don't do such things casually outside, it will bring unnecessary trouble to you, Amane."
Horikita gave Amane a helpless glance, then, as if thinking of something, a hint of panic appeared in her heart. To hide her panic, Horikita lowered her head, picked up the water glass on the table, and pretended to drink water to cover her embarrassment.
"You mean that photo of me and Airi, right?"
Crack.
The water glass slipped from her hand, fell to the ground, and shattered into pieces. The water in the glass also splashed onto Horikita.
Horikita, startled, quickly stood up. Amane silently took out a tissue and bent down to wipe Horikita's soaked pleated skirt and over-the-knee socks. Even her wet shoes were wiped clean by Amane.
"Amane..."
"I'll clean up the shards first, Suzune, you stand aside so you don't get hurt."
Amane said, giving Horikita a smile, then continued to clean up the shards.
Horikita closed her eyes in some pain.
She finally understood why Amane felt a little unfamiliar to her.
"Did you know about that matter a long time ago?"
"Sort of, I knew after I taught Kanzaki a lesson."
Amane answered casually, as if talking about a very ordinary matter.
Only Horikita knew what that matter implied.
When Amane helped Shiraha resist harassment by defeating Ishizaki and others, and thus confronted Class C in the Student Council, Class B was initially hesitant about Ryuuen's cooperation proposal.
Because there was another person present besides Amane, Ishizaki, and Shiraha.
Sakura Airi.
Class D having an extra witness made Class B somewhat hesitant, they didn't know if Sakura had really taken photos, so they didn't dare to agree to Ryuuen's request.
Until... Kanzaki received an anonymous email.
Inside was a photo of Sakura Airi and a certain girl passionately kissing, along with other inappropriate actions. This photo became a crucial tool for Kanzaki to threaten Sakura, because the photo looked like a selfie, and although most of the features of the other person had been cropped out, it was not difficult for someone familiar with Amane to recognize that it was Amane.
Coincidentally, Shibata recognized that the person intimately interacting with Sakura was Amane, so Kanzaki sent a threatening message to Sakura.
If it was just exposing her idol identity, or even the public opinion caused by overly intimate behavior with a person of the same gender.
Sakura Airi would not have been swayed by Kanzaki at all, because she knew that if it weren't for Amane, she would have been expelled long ago. This debt of gratitude could no longer be shaken by simple threats or benefits.
But Kanzaki revealed Amane's name.
If Kanzaki exposed Amane's misconduct, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Amane, who was already deeply embroiled in a public opinion storm of violence at the time.
Adding to that, intimate photos of Amane and Horikita had already been leaked. If someone with ulterior motives got involved and slandered Amane, from Sakura's perspective, Amane would have no way to stay in school.
So Sakura made an agreement with Kanzaki: she would only give false testimony if Kanzaki guaranteed that Amane would not be expelled. Kanzaki agreed to Sakura's demand.
That's why Sakura bore the stigma of a traitor and stood against Amane.
Sakura also knew that the other party would sooner or later use this condition to coerce her, but she had no idea how to deal with it; the only thing she could do was buy time.
The result was that Amane was suddenly backstabbed, almost causing her downfall, and she even made the decision to almost completely cut ties with Sakura.
And the instigator, who provided that fatal photo, was Horikita.
She provided the photo, not only wanting to teach Amane a lesson not to easily trust those around her, but also with the intention of throwing out bait. Once Kanzaki took the bait, Horikita would have evidence of him threatening others.
If Amane was at a disadvantage, Horikita could use this to turn the tables for Amane. In Horikita's view at the time, once false testimony was exposed, that group of scoundrels from Class B, Sakura, and even Amane would all be caught in a storm of public opinion.
Sakura betrayed her classmates and benefactor, plus her own misconduct, did she still have the face to stay in school? Sakura's best choice was to drop out.
Amane would also suffer accusations and be ostracized and disliked by the girls. At this time, Amane's only choice would be her, Horikita Suzune.
She was her only choice.
This was the most foolish thing she did, blinded by infatuation and consumed by jealousy at the time.
Well, because it failed.
No one expected Amane to actually turn the tables.
She actually managed to turn the tables!!!!
Gulp.
Horikita lowered her head like a child who had made a mistake, waiting for Amane's impending fury, like a storm.
However, after Amane finished cleaning up the shards, she found a waiter, apologized to him, and compensated for the cup's points. Although the waiter declined, Amane still paid the compensation, then took Horikita's hand and left the buffet restaurant.
Watching Amane, who was holding her hand and walking briskly ahead.
Horikita, in a trance, felt as if she had returned to when she first met Amane.
At that time, she also carelessly held her hand and wandered around like this, then when they came to a vending machine, she would always ask her what she wanted to drink, and then deliberately buy two bottles of tomato juice for her to drink with her. Horikita found the tomato-flavored drink quite unpalatable, but Amane enjoyed it immensely.
"Suzune, what do you want to drink?"
Clang, clang.
Before Horikita could speak, she heard the sound of two cans of drinks falling into the delivery slot.
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