After a proper struggle,
Amane finally became much more well-behaved.
At least, that's how Horikita saw it.
Slowly turning the pages of her book, she heard no noisy sounds.
Amane leaned obediently beside her,
peeking at her like a small animal.
"Aren't you tired after a whole day?"
Horikita pulled the blanket up for Amane.
Amane seemed to handle classes quite easily,
but the archery in the evening had consumed a lot of her physical strength.
If she didn't go to bed early, she might feel sleepy in class tomorrow.
"I want to listen…"
"If you dare ask me to read a bedtime story…"
Horikita gave Amane a kind smile.
Amane shrank her head.
"But I can't sleep, what can I do?"
Horikita was troubled.
Why did this child dislike sleeping so much?
"Amane-san, I have a trick that can help you fall asleep quickly."
"Really?"
Amane's eyes sparkled.
"What do you see outside the window?"
"Outside the window?"
Amane instinctively turned her head to look out the window.
Then her neck hurt.
She fell into Horikita's arms.
"Physical sleep aid is more effective after all."
Seeing Amane's obedient sleeping face,
Horikita also turned off the light.
"Good night."
Although she didn't know if Amane could still hear her,
a basic good night still needed to be said.
Originally, she planned to push Amane aside.
But somehow, she remembered the body pillow at home.
Amane was soft.
She should be similar to a body pillow.
So, Horikita simply held Amane and gradually drifted off to sleep.
By the time Horikita's breathing became regular,
Amane opened her eyes.
She touched her aching neck.
Ugh.
It hurt so much.
Horikita's hand chop was very strong.
And very precise.
However, Amane was already used to this level of back attack.
Horikita's hand chop couldn't knock her out at all.
She could only consciously feel the pain in her neck.
Originally, she had wanted to scare Horikita.
But Horikita didn't play fair.
She actually put facial cleanser on her.
So Amane… lay there obediently for a long time.
Finally, she could breathe a sigh of relief.
Looking at Horikita's cute sleeping face,
Amane couldn't help but reach out to touch her face, and then—
Suddenly, Horikita raised her hand and grabbed it.
Under the hazy moonlight,
Amane stared blankly at Horikita, who was watching her.
Horikita said nothing.
She just tucked her hand back into the blanket.
Then she hugged Amane again.
"Good night, sleep early."
"G-good night."
…Unbeknownst to them, almost a week had passed.
When Horikita and Amane walked into the classroom that day,
they noticed that the class atmosphere was not right.
The girls were all whispering about something with disgusted expressions.
The boys, on the other hand, were all talking animatedly.
They even kept staring at Amane.
What had happened?
"Good morning, Amane-san."
"Good morning, Kushida~ By the way, why does the class feel… today?"
Amane didn't make her words very clear.
But Kushida still understood what she meant.
"Eh? Amane-san, you don't know? We have swimming class today, so the boys might be a bit lively, but everyone probably doesn't have any bad intentions… probably."
Kushida's smile was a bit forced.
That 'probably' made Amane even more uneasy.
Speaking of which,
if it was swimming class,
wouldn't that mean… she could see Horikita in a swimsuit!!!!
It seemed… to make her a little excited too.
No.
This should be impatience.
Soon, swimming class arrived.
Boys and girls entered separate changing rooms to change into their swimsuits.
Although they were all girls, changing into swimsuits was still a bit embarrassing.
The first to finish changing was a girl named Onodera.
"Onodera-san, you changed so quickly!"
Kushida looked at Onodera, who was already warming up, with some surprise.
"Ah, I used to be a sports student, and my main event was swimming. For girls who train in sports, changing clothes is commonplace. If you're shy and hesitant, you'll be laughed at."
As she spoke, she pointed to Wang Meiyu, who was being laughed at by everyone in the corner.
The reason was that all girls had to wear one-piece swimsuits for swimming class.
As a result, Wang Meiyu was shy and hesitant.
Then Karuizawa, who was passing by, mocked her.
She even compared her with her own female features.
After winning, she seemed to have made a malicious mockery.
"What's wrong, Suzune?"
Amane came to Horikita's side after changing into her swimsuit.
It had to be said that Horikita in a swimsuit made Amane's eyes widen.
She perfectly displayed her feminine charm.
"She went a bit too far."
Horikita looked at Karuizawa-san with a somewhat cold gaze.
"Does Suzune dislike Karuizawa-san?"
"I suppose so. My personality doesn't allow me to get along with someone like that. Maybe she was just joking, but the prank was a bit too much, and she didn't consider the feelings of the student being ridiculed."
Horikita rarely spoke so much.
Amane didn't respond.
She just met Horikita's gaze.
She understood Horikita's thoughts.
"Then I'll go."
"Try not to get into a conflict."
"Mm-hmm."
Amane walked towards Wang Meiyu.
By then, several girls had gathered around Karuizawa.
They were all girls who were good friends with Karuizawa.
They had almost formed a small circle with Karuizawa at its core.
Wang Meiyu, on the other hand, was in Kushida's small circle.
She usually hung out with Kushida.
However, Kushida and a few friends had changed into their swimsuits and left.
Wang Meiyu was a step behind, which was why Karuizawa cornered her.
"Isn't this Xiao Yu? Why haven't you changed yet?"
Amane naturally stood in front of Wang Meiyu.
"Amane-san."
"Put on your swimsuit first."
You're exposing yourself like this~
Although it wasn't that big, the shape was quite pleasing to the eye.
Cough, cough.
She didn't do it on purpose.
"Miyako-san? Are you planning to stand up for Wang Meiyu-san? Unfortunately, we are not bullying her."
It was Sato who spoke.
It must be said that her words were very skillful.
Right off the bat, she eliminated any impropriety on their part and also nullified Amane's motive.
Since they weren't bullying her, Amane naturally didn't need to stand up for her.
"I just saw that Xiao Yu was a bit slow changing, so I came to check on her. I didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastically teaching her how to put on clothes. As expected of the good students of Class D."
Amane showed a hypocritical smile.
For a moment, the faces of the surrounding girls didn't look too good.
Enthusiastically teaching someone else how to put on clothes?
Did Amane herself believe that when she said it?
Karuizawa rolled her eyes at Amane.
"Let's go. There's no fun to be found here anyway."
Karuizawa waved her hand, intending to leave.
"Karuizawa-san, aren't you going to change?"
"Stop minding my business. I'm not feeling well today and can't attend gym class, so I applied for an observation. Is there a problem?"
Karuizawa looked at Amane with an annoyed expression.
She didn't really like girls who smiled so brightly.
Why could she smile so happily, while she could only hide under her covers and cry alone?
It wasn't fair at all.
Karuizawa subconsciously touched her lower abdomen.
The scar beneath her clothes seemed to throb faintly.