"...Is that so?"
Hearing Yuihama-san say that, Yukino turned her face away. Whether it was because of the setting sun or because she felt embarrassed, a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
But hadn't I said I'd help too? Why was her reaction to Yuihama-san so different from her reaction to me?
Hayama looked at the two girls and flashed a bright, refreshing smile.
"You two are really close."
"Mm? Yes, they are close."
"Hikigaya-kun too."
What was this guy talking about...? Besides, there was no one named Hikigaya in our club.
× × ×
The next day, Yuihama entered battle mode.
During lunch that day, instead of heading to my usual spot, I ate the bread and SPORTOP sports drink I'd bought beforehand in the classroom. That was when Yuihama came over to conduct a simulation.
"Anyway, I'll try asking around as much as I can... S-so you don't need to force yourself at all, shut-in boy. Actually, you basically don't need to do anything!"
"Oh, is that so? That certainly makes things easier for me. You're really fired up, though..."
I instinctively leaned back.
"O-of course I am! B-because it's Yukino's request!"
"I-I see..."
She was willing to go that far for Yukino, so I leaned back even farther. Her entire body gave off the aura of someone who was definitely going to waste her effort, and I had an indescribably bad feeling about this.
"It's good to be motivated, but what are you planning to do?"
"Um... I'll start by asking the girls. Girls know more about the relationships between classmates. Besides, if you bring up someone everyone dislikes, they'll get excited and just keep talking."
"Girls' conversations are terrifying."
The enemy of my enemy is my ally—what an ingenious strategy...
"It's not as dark as you think! It's more like complaining, or maybe exchanging information?"
"Everyone interprets things differently."
"Either way, you're not good at this kind of thing, are you? So leave it to me. You don't need to worry about it."
She was absolutely right. Honestly, I wasn't suited for chatting people up to gather information. They might get wary the moment I opened my mouth. I wouldn't even need to ask anything before they asked me, "Who are you?"
From that perspective, Yuihama's position in class was perfect, and she was good at dealing with people too. She had probably learned to read the room from a young age, and now that skill was finally coming in handy.
"You have a point... Sorry, I'll leave it to you. Do your best."
"Yeah!"
After giving herself a pep talk, she headed over to Miura's group of girls, who were close with Hayama's crowd.
"Sorry to keep you waiting~"
"Ah, Yui, you're so slow~"
The girls led by Miura responded lazily.
"Oh, right, Tobe, Ooka, and Yamato have been acting kind of weird lately~ Don't you think something's up?"
Pfft! Yuihama's words reached my ears, and I nearly sprayed tea everywhere.
What an insanely direct pitch! And it was a 160-kilometer-per-hour fastball! If this were a baseball game, its speed would definitely be S-rank, but its control would be F-rank.
"Huh... Yui, I don't remember you being the kind of person to say something like that..."
The first one to take a step back was, if I remembered correctly, Ebina.
Then Miura's eyes gleamed as she prepared to strike at the weak point.
"Hey, Yui~ That's not really okay, is it? Talking about your 'friends' behind their backs isn't a good thing~"
With that lofty-sounding line, she placed herself in an absolute position of superiority.
Now Yuihama was the one in danger of being ostracized. What was she thinking?!
Still, Yuihama desperately tried to cover it up.
"N-no! It's not like that! How should I put it? I was just a little curious..."
"What, do you like one of them?"
"That's completely wrong! There is someone I'm a little concerned about... but he has that kind of personality... Ah!"
Yuihama instantly made a face that said she'd messed up. At the same time, a smile bloomed on Miura's face.
"Oh? Yui, you have someone you like? Tell us, tell us. We'll definitely help you!"
"I-I told you, that's not what I mean! What I'm concerned about is probably the relationship between the three of them, okay? I really think they've been acting kind of weird lately."
"What~ You meant that? How boring~"
Miura immediately lost interest and took out her phone to fiddle with it.
Ebina, however, took the bait.
"I get it... So Yui feels that way too... Actually, I..."
"Right! Don't you think things have been really awkward between them lately?"
"That's what I think too..."
Ebina wore a serious expression and let out a sigh.
"From what I can see, there's definitely a love triangle between them! Tobe is absolutely the bottom! Then Yamato is the dominant top, and Ooka is the seductive bottom!"
"Ah~ I get it, I get... Huh?"
"But, but, they're all definitely after Hayato! Ughhh! This feeling of everyone taking a step back for the sake of their friend is just so moving!"
Hey, seriously? Ebina was into that sort of thing? She was even getting a nosebleed.
Yuihama made a confused little whimper, while Miura merely sighed, apparently already used to this.
"Ebina's acting up again. You'd be really cute if you just stayed quiet. At least pretend to behave, and wipe your nosebleed."
"A-ahaha..."
Overwhelmed by Ebina's intensity, Yuihama could only laugh it off. Then she noticed I'd been watching the whole time, so she discreetly raised her hand and signaled, Sorry, I failed.
...It couldn't be helped. She'd taken several wrong steps from the very beginning. Even without Ebina there, she probably wouldn't have gotten anything useful out of them.
In that case, I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands.
That said, I couldn't exactly go around asking everyone in class.
So what method should I use to gather information?
The answer was actually simple: I just had to observe carefully. Since I couldn't talk to people... no, precisely because I couldn't talk to people, I had to gather information another way.
They said only thirty percent of human communication came from words, while the remaining seventy percent came from small movements, like the way people moved their eyes. The saying, "Eyes carry as much weight as mouths," illustrated just how important nonverbal communication was. If you turned that around, it meant a lone wolf who didn't talk to others could still manage about seventy percent of communication... Hmm, that didn't sound right. It definitely wasn't right.
So allow me to introduce another of my eighteen talents—"observing humans." As for the others, there was also "shooting" and so on. Was I secretly some kind of action hero?
The process of observing humans was very simple.
First, put in your earphones, but don't turn on any music. Instead, listen carefully to what the people around you are saying.
Then, pretend to space out while carefully watching the expressions on everyone in Hayama's group.
That was all.
Hayama and the others sat by the windows. Hayama leaned against the wall, while Tobe, Yamato, and Ooka gathered around him.
That formation alone made Hayama's leadership position in the group obvious at a glance. Claiming the strongest spot against the wall was exactly the bearing a king should have. They might not have been conscious of it, but the fact that they weren't made it even clearer that it was instinctive.
The three of them each played a different role.
"Yeah, lately when we practice defense, the coach keeps hitting baseballs over toward the Rugby Club. He's seriously crazy~ They're hardballs, you know~"
"...So our advisor's really pissed off."
"I think it's hilarious~ But the Rugby Club has it easy. The Soccer Club has it worse. Outfield flies just come flying right at them! It's brutal! We're practically losing our minds!"
Ooka threw out topics, Yamato provided responses, and Tobe livened things up. It all played out like a carefully rehearsed scene. Shakespeare once said that all the world was a stage, and from where I stood, men and women merely played their assigned roles.
As for the director and audience of this stage—Hayama—he sometimes laughed along with them, sometimes added a topic, and sometimes joined in the excitement.
As I watched, I noticed quite a few little details.
Ah, he clicked his tongue when no one was looking.
Whenever the guy beside him started talking, he suddenly fell silent.
He idly played with his phone, probably because he couldn't fit into everyone's conversation.
Whenever he heard a slightly dirty joke, he wore a strange smile. He was definitely still a virgin... That information came from personal experience.
When the topic suddenly turned dirty, people became flustered, then a beat later proudly boasted, "Lately, I haven't really had much of a sex drive~" Why was that?
...Why was I only getting information that was completely useless?
It looked like this avenue wouldn't get me anywhere either, and I let out a sigh.
"Sorry, I'll be right back."
Just then, Hayama stood and walked over to me. I'd probably stared too hard and been caught. Was he going to provoke me with something like, "What're you looking at? What school are you from?" I was so nervous~
"...What?"
Uneasily, I spoke to Hayama as he stood beside me. But instead of getting angry, grabbing my collar, or threatening me for money, he simply smiled brightly.
"It's nothing. I was just wondering whether you'd figured anything out."
"No..."
If I had figured out anything, it was that Ebina was a fujoshi and Ooka was a virgin.
Speaking of Ooka, I turned to look at the three of them and noticed a somewhat unexpected change.
They were all listlessly playing with their phones, occasionally sneaking glances at Hayama.
In that instant, the truth suddenly became clear. A flash of insight ran through my mind, as if I'd been shot in the neck with a watch-shaped tranquilizer gun.
"What is it?"
Hayama asked me curiously, and I answered with a smile.
"The mystery... has been completely solved!"
Of course, before you hear my deduction, we have to go to commercial break. We'll be right back after these messages.
× × ×
After school, Yukino, Yuihama, Hayama, and I gathered in the clubroom.
"How did the investigation go?"
Yukino asked first.
Yuihama gave an awkward laugh, then honestly lowered her head in apology.
"I'm really sorry! I asked the girls, but I couldn't get any information at all!"
Still, that couldn't be helped. After that, Ebina had crammed her full of irrelevant things about tops, bottoms, and pairings, leaving her unable to continue investigating.
Yuihama slightly raised her head and checked Yukino's expression, only to find that she didn't seem angry.
"I see. That's all right."
"Huh? It's all right?"
"Looking at it another way, it means the girls have no interest in this matter and aren't involved. That means the issue lies with you boys in Hayama's group. You did well, Yuihama-san."
"Y-Yukino..."
Yuihama's eyes welled with tears as she moved to leap at Yukino, but Yukino dodged. With a thud, Yuihama slammed her entire head into the wall.
Seeing her look like she was about to cry, Yukino reluctantly rubbed her forehead, then turned to me.
"Then, did you find anything?"
"Sorry, I didn't find any clues left behind by the culprit."
Before you continue