"...I see."
I thought Yukino was about to tear into me again, but she merely sighed in resignation and gave me a look of profound sympathy.
"...No one listens when you talk, do they?"
"That's not true..."
I really wasn't confident anyone would want to respond when I initiated a conversation. After all, starting a conversation and expanding on a topic took an enormous amount of mental energy, like Madante consuming all your magic power.
"While I didn't find the culprit, I did discover something else."
The moment I said that, all three of them leaned in to listen more closely. One looked surprised, one was full of anticipation, and one seemed thoroughly intrigued. As I basked in everyone's attention and lightly cleared my throat, Yukino immediately asked:
"What did you discover?"
"That group belongs to Hayama."
"Huh? Why are you still saying something so obvious?"
Yuihama clearly thought I was a colossal idiot. Her eyes were plainly asking, "Are you a virgin? Or are you Ooka?" Hold on, what did Ooka have to do with this?!
"Um... Hikigaya-kun, what do you mean by that?"
"Oh, I might not have explained it clearly enough. The 'Hayama' part is possessive. It means it belongs to you, exists for you."
"Still, I don't think that's true..."
He only thought so because he had never noticed. In fact, the other three people in that group might not have noticed either.
But as an outsider, I could clearly see the difference.
"Hayama, have you ever watched what those three are like when you aren't around?"
"No..."
"Why would you even ask that? How could he watch them if he wasn't there?"
Yukino said with a smile, as if I were an idiot. I nodded in agreement.
"That's why he doesn't know. Watching from the sidelines, I noticed that once Hayama leaves, those three don't get along at all. To put it more bluntly, Hayama is their only 'friend.' The others are merely 'friends of a friend.'"
Of everyone there, only Yuihama reacted.
"Ahh, right, I totally get that! Without the central person who keeps the conversation going, things get awkward. When nobody can think of anything to say, everyone just starts playing with their phones..."
Yuihama seemed to recall something and abruptly dropped her head. Yukino gently tugged at her sleeve and asked in a soft voice:
"Is, is that really what happens?"
Yuihama folded her arms and made little "Mm-hm, mm-hm" sounds into her ear. As expected of Yukino. Since she had no friends, she had even fewer friends of friends.
Hayama remained silent, as though he were chewing over what I had just said. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the current situation. To him, all three of them were friends, but beyond that relationship, the people involved had to figure things out for themselves.
When people become friends, they must accept all the conflicts, large and small, that come with it.
That was why I had never thought having many friends was necessarily a good thing.
At that moment, Hayama was trapped in that mire. The reverse meaning of "being surrounded by friends" was being encircled by a crowd, unable to escape as one wished. In Dragon Quest terms, it was a sign of a total party wipe.
However, I knew how to escape.
"If what Hikigaya-kun says is true, then the motives of all three suspects become clearer. Is there a way to identify the culprit more conclusively? If we don't eliminate the culprit, this won't be resolved. Or perhaps we should simply eliminate all three of them..."
Yukino rested her chin on her hand and thought. The fact that she could casually use the word "eliminate" was terrifying.
Could it be that Sagawa and Shimoda had already been eliminated by her?
Still, people mysteriously disappearing from campus would be pretty terrifying, so I offered another suggestion.
"There's no need. What we need to eliminate now isn't the culprit, but something else."
At that, Yukino tilted her head, practically sprouting a question mark above it.
To prevent a crime, directly eliminating the culprit was certainly one method. But there was another case. Suppose there was a jewel theft today. If there had been no jewel in the first place, the theft naturally would not occur.
All we had to do was steal the targeted jewel before they could. Considering my ninja-like abilities, I might actually be better suited to being a phantom thief than a detective.
"Hayama, if you're willing, this can be resolved. We won't need to keep looking for the culprit, those three won't keep scheming against one another... and they might even become true friends."
I wondered what expression I had worn when I said that. At the very least, I must have been smiling. A dazzling smile that would make Yuihama take several steps back and cry, "Waaah~~."
All of a sudden, I had the urge to imitate Zaimokuza's "Heh, heh, heh" laugh. If demons that made evil contracts with humans truly existed, they might look like I did right then.
"Do you want to know?"
Faced with this devil's bargain, the pitiful lamb—Hayama Hayato—chose to nod and accept.
× × ×
The day after Hayama made his decision about his fate.
The classroom blackboard displayed the Workplace Internship group assignments, everyone's names arranged in groups of three.
The three girls next door apparently had discussed things in advance. When it was their turn, they excitedly exchanged smiles and walked to the front to write down their names.
As for me? I didn't go looking for anyone. I simply sat at my desk, spacing out as I watched it all unfold.
This was how I always dealt with every group activity.
The most important thing at times like this was to remain still. Takeda Shingen, the great general of the Warring States era, once said, "Immovable as a mountain." It was absolutely true. I had expanded that into, "Go home early like the wind, sleep quietly like the forest, envy like fire, remain still like the mountain."
As events gradually unfolded, I waited for the teacher to finally announce, "All right, I know nobody likes Hikigaya-kun, but excluding him is wrong! You mustn't exclude your classmates!" That old hag Isehara, my fourth-grade teacher... I would never forgive her.
Anyway, as the saying went, "Those blessed need not hurry." As long as I kept pretending to sleep, another lone wolf like me—or a pair unable to find a third member—would reluctantly ask whether I wanted to join them. Then everything would be settled... Ah, I might as well sleep.
I deployed the pretending-to-sleep technique from my eighteen martial arts. Incidentally, another of those arts was "becoming a good person once the series gets long enough." Hey, wasn't that ○Tiger?
Just then, someone gently shook my shoulder. Even beneath clothing, that slender arm did nothing to diminish its softness. And the voice calling "Hachiman" sounded like a melody from heaven, as though I were drifting among the clouds. Then I opened my eyes.
"Good morning, Hachiman."
"...An angel? Oh, it's just Totsuka."
Whew, that scared me. Totsuka was so cute, I thought he was the Little Angel. He gave a soft smile and sat in the seat where those girls had been sitting earlier.
"What is it?"
When I asked, Totsuka lowered his head and gripped the hem of his tracksuit. He only looked up at me as he stammered:
"Th-the group... group assignment..."
"Hm? Oh, that. The groups are probably mostly decided by now."
I had the impression Totsuka had already found a group. What a shame.
I stretched and casually looked around. With most groups already formed, it would soon be time for lone wolves like us to step forward. I had to prepare myself to form a temporary group with other lone wolves. Though being grouped with lone wolves was still preferable. If I moved too slowly, I could end up joining a pair who were already extremely close.
I scanned the list on the blackboard to see who still lacked a group. At the same time, the three people writing their group names on the board looked rather familiar.
"Overconfident blond Tobe."
"Indecisive, oblivious Yamato."
"Opportunistic virgin Ooka."
New Three Demon Slayers! How fortunate I was to witness the moment this group was formed! Of the three roles, I particularly recommended "Opportunistic virgin Ooka." Once they had written their names, the three looked at one another and smiled shyly. This time, Hayama Hayato's name was not on the blackboard.
As I watched them, someone beside me suddenly spoke.
"Can I sit here?"
Without waiting for my answer, he sat down beside Totsuka.
"Eh? Um..."
The sudden arrival of an unexpected visitor left Totsuka at a loss. He looked unbelievably cute like that.
"Thanks to your help, everything worked out perfectly. Thank you."
Hayama Hayato smiled cheerfully.
"I didn't do anything."
Why was he talking to me so casually? Was he actually a good person?
"Don't be modest. If you hadn't told me those things, they might still be fighting among themselves now."
Though he said that, I had not helped at all. I had only wanted to lure him onto the path of the lone wolf.
After all, the reason they had fought was because they wanted to be in the same group as Hayama. In that case, all we had to do was remove the root cause of the incident—namely, make Hayama Hayato leave.
Lone wolves were like permanently neutral nations. They did not stir over nonexistent disputes, nor were they dragged into any conflicts. If this world were made up of one hundred lone wolves, there would definitely be no war or discrimination. Hmm, perhaps I deserved a Nobel Peace Prize?
"Until now, I always thought it was enough for everyone to get along. I never imagined I would become the source of the conflict..."
Hayama murmured that, looking somewhat lonely.
I could not think of anything to say to encourage him, so I could only laugh helplessly. Hayama had come to the Service Club for help solving the problems of his friends, his group. But the choice I gave him had only caused him pain.
He was willing to talk to me on his own, and he knew Zaimokuza. He was clearly a good person. His school life should have been more wonderful than anyone else's.
However... no, precisely because of that, he said the following:
"When I told those three that I wouldn't be in the same group as them, they were all shocked. But I hope this chance will let them become real friends."
"...Yeah."
To be honest, Hayama was so kind that I wondered whether he had some kind of illness. I subtly put a little more distance between us and gave him a perfunctory nod.
"Thank you. Also, I still haven't found group members. Do you want to join?"
He smiled and held out his right hand to me.
...What? A handshake? Why were Normies always so good at dealing with people? I couldn't stand it... Please, cut it out! What were you, American?
"Oh, okay."
Because of him, I ended up answering in English.
I slapped Hayama's hand, and he smiled as he said, "That hurt." Maybe because we were both lone wolves now, we could understand each other.
Then we only needed to find one more person, and the group issue would be settled.
"Mm..."
At that moment, a cute little guy beside me made a protesting sound.
"Totsuka, what's wrong?"
Totsuka's eyes welled with tears, and his cheeks puffed out in displeasure. He was ridiculously cute.
"Hachiman... what about me?"
"Huh? Um... Wait, but didn't you say you had already decided?"
"That's what I mean!"
He excitedly grabbed the sleeve of my jacket.
"From the beginning... I decided I wanted to be in the same group as you, Hachiman."
"So that was what you meant by deciding..."
What kind of word game was this...? Still, lone wolves were good at reading between the lines, so if people did not clearly state the subject and predicate, we could easily misunderstand them.
Totsuka stared at the floor, his cheeks flushed bright red as though he were sulking. Seeing him like that, my expression softened on its own. When I smiled, he lifted his eyes and gave a quiet laugh too.
Hayama smiled as he watched Totsuka and me. Then he stood up and turned back to ask us:
"Then I'll go write our names. Where do you want to do the internship?"
"You decide."
When I answered that, Totsuka nodded in agreement.
So Hayama wrote the names of the three of us on the blackboard.
"Hayama," "Totsuka," "Hikigaya."
Ohh! If he wrote it in kanji, he would not get my name wrong. Just thinking that made me a little happy. Maybe this was what friends were supposed to be?
After writing our names, he continued by writing down the workplace we wanted to visit.
"Ah, I want to choose the same place as Hayato too."
"No way~ Hayama-kun is going there? Then we're changing too!"
"Then I'll go there too:"
Before you continue