The World of the Lovesick Is Beyond His Understanding

Late at night, in the second-floor reception room of the Fujino Detective Agency.

Milky-white lights shone on the pristine floorboards of the room, casting down patches of light.

Brand-new furniture was neatly arranged, and the scent of slight wood shavings even lingered in the air.

Mieko Shibasaki sat on the white sofa, dazed as she looked at the brand-new furniture around her.

Was this really a detective agency's reception room?

How did it feel more luxurious than the reception room of the record company their band was signed to?

"Have some tea, Miss Mieko Shibasaki."

Sitting in the white single-armchair diagonally across, Fujino handed Mieko Shibasaki a cup of freshly poured black tea.

"Thank you..."

Mieko Shibasaki took the black tea, her movements appearing somewhat constrained. "Excuse me, Detective Fujino, have you already investigated who the person Tatsuya likes actually is?"

"It has already been investigated."

Fujino nodded, then spoke with a hint of profound meaning, "It is definitely someone you could never imagine."

"Could it be Hiromi Koizumi?"

Mieko Shibasaki frowned, her words carrying a hint of agitation. "I originally thought the news of them dating was media hype, but I didn't expect..."

"It's not her."

Hearing this, Fujino hurriedly interrupted the adolescent girl's baseless speculation.

"If it's not her, then who else could it be?"

Mieko Shibasaki asked in confusion upon hearing this.

"Actually, the person Tatsuya Kimura likes is no one else."

Fujino paused, then continued, "The person he truly likes is none other than your band's manager, Mari Terahara."

"Huh?"

She let out a sound of surprise, then confirmed once more, "You mean Manager Mari Terahara?"

"That's right."

Fujino pushed up the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. "According to my investigation, the person Tatsuya Kimura likes should be her; there can't be anyone else."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

Mieko Shibasaki chuckled lightly, waving her hands repeatedly with an incredulous look. "I might believe that the person Tatsuya likes is Hiromi Koizumi... but something like Mari is simply out of the question."

She knew Mari Terahara; she was the manager of the band she was currently in.

Although she usually seemed very concerned about Tatsuya Kimura, Tatsuya Kimura didn't appreciate it at all.

Besides, he often made sarcastic remarks toward her; no matter how one looked at it, it didn't look like liking someone at all!

"Do you know Tatsuya Kimura very well?"

Watching Mieko Shibasaki's incredulous expression, Fujino couldn't help the corners of his mouth curving into an arc as he chuckled lightly.

"Of course!"

Mieko Shibasaki proudly lifted her chin.

The extent of her understanding of Tatsuya Kimura, while not reaching the point of knowing how many underarm hairs he had, could still be considered knowing him inside and out.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have confessed so easily.

And then gotten rejected.

"Then you should also know that before Tatsuya Kimura joined the band at your company, he used to perform in underground bands, right?"

"I do know about that."

Hearing this, Mieko Shibasaki nodded. "Tatsuya told us about it before."

"However, what does that have to do with who the person he likes is?"

"Of course it has to do with it."

Saying this, Fujino leaned his torso slightly forward and placed a document on the coffee table.

Mieko Shibasaki eyed the report on the coffee table and couldn't help asking in confusion, "What is this?"

Fujino explained, "These are all the materials I've investigated over the past few days. All sorts of evidence within them indicate that the person Tatsuya Kimura likes is definitely Mari Terahara."

Mieko Shibasaki tightly clutched the investigative report in her hands, her heart tightening involuntarily. "But Tatsuya clearly always looks like he completely looks down on Mari..."

Fujino chuckled softly, asking with profound meaning, "As someone by Tatsuya Kimura's side, don't you know his personality?"

"Tatsuya's personality..."

Mieko Shibasaki lightly bit her lower lip. "Tatsuya gives me the feeling of being cheerful, optimistic, and somewhat lacking in frankness... Could it?!"

Before she finished speaking, she stopped, revealing an expression full of surprise.

"That's right."

Fujino nodded and placed two photographs on the coffee table. "These are old photos of him and Mari Terahara back in the band."

"This really is Mari? It doesn't look like her..."

Mieko Shibasaki studied the man and woman in the photo, looking exceptionally puzzled.

There was no doubt that the man in the photo was Tatsuya Kimura.

But who was that woman?

Why didn't she have any recollection of her?

Seeing her thoroughly puzzled expression, Fujino affirmed, "That person is indeed Mari Terahara."

"You're saying she's Mari?"

Mieko Shibasaki stared at the freckled woman in the photo and uttered in surprise, "The change is way too huge."

"The reason her appearance underwent such a drastic change is because she went for plastic surgery..."

Fujino nodded and continued, "Actually, Tatsuya Kimura and Mari Terahara have known each other for a long time."

"Back then, Tatsuya Kimura and Mari Terahara were in the same underground band and went through a lot together. Later, the band disbanded, and he was signed by your company, and upon signing, he even requested to bring Mari Terahara along with him."

Mieko Shibasaki nodded and continued to ask, "But since the two of them knew each other before, why does Tatsuya treat her with such disdain now?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's probably because of the plastic surgery."

Saying this, Fujino stretched out a finger and pointed at the photo on the coffee table. "The lyrics written by Tatsuya Kimura on the back of that band group photo, 'I want to convey it to the bare-faced you,' are the best proof. If I'm not mistaken, these lyrics were probably written for the post-surgery Mari Terahara."

With that, he even recited the lyrics from above: "Even though your appearance has changed so much, I still like the you from back then..."

"I think the things he said to you weren't actually brush-offs, but rather that he really was waiting—waiting for the former, bare-faced Mari Terahara to return."

"So that's how it is..."

"In other words, the reason he rejected me is because there's no room for anyone else in his heart anymore?"

As she spoke, Mieko Shibasaki couldn't help swaying in a daze, a hint of red tinting the corners of her eyes.

"Judging from the results of the investigation, that's how it is."

Fujino nodded silently, pulling out two tissues and handing them to Mieko Shibasaki. "Actually, from the moment this commission began investigation, the outcome was already destined. Whether it was Hiromi Koizumi or anyone else, it was all the same to you."

"I know, I know that too, but... but I just can't let go..."

Gazing at the sobbing Mieko Shibasaki, Fujino let out a lingering sigh.

Sure enough, the world of the lovesick was truly beyond his understanding.

Just like that, the girl's sobs echoed on the second floor of the Fujino residence.

A moment later, she finally calmed down, bowed toward Fujino, and expressed her gratitude: "Detective Fujino, thank you for helping me investigate who the person Tatsuya likes actually is."

"No need for that, I was merely fulfilling a client's commission."

Fujino chuckled softly, then rubbed his hands together and said sheepishly, "Speaking of which, when will the remaining four hundred and fifty thousand of the commission fee be settled?"

As he spoke, he took out a POS terminal. "This time, credit card payments are accepted, you know."

I hit a slight writers block and only just wrote this out now.