"But you're a first-year student without a partner yet, right? Then could I be your partner?" Junior Yagami politely extended his hand. "I hope Senior Kushida can team up with me."
"Huh?"
"Though I'm still a clueless newbie, I also hope to find a senior partner I can trust," Junior Yagami said. "And I think Senior Kushida is very trustworthy."
"Um..." Kushida looked rather troubled.
She glanced at Horikita, then at Oreki.
Then she gently shook her head. "Actually, our class has already agreed to team up with Class 1-D."
"So we won't be teaming up with anyone else."
"I see..." Although he had been rejected, Junior Yagami nodded. "Then I won't team up with anyone else for now. I'll stay available until the final period, so I don't end up having my spot taken when someone needs me."
As he spoke, Junior Yagami received a message from a classmate.
It said that some second-year seniors were holding an exchange meeting at the Gymnasium, and someone was asking whether he wanted to join.
So he politely took his leave.
Watching that harmless-looking junior leave, Oreki turned to Kushida.
In Oreki's view—
There was something wrong with this Junior Yagami.
Because when Hirata had brought him over to match partners earlier, Ayanokouji had taken out his phone and mentioned that Kushida had said in the class group chat that she had secured Class 1-D.
And if Yagami had been interested in Kushida as a person, then he should have been curious when Ayanokouji first mentioned "Kushida," or at least asked a question or two.
Instead, he had waited until he saw Kushida before coming over and greeting her on his own.
That was where the bug lay.
The people who would approach Kushida were White Room Students.
So now that Yagami