Time rewound to the day of the competition with Ayanokoji.
Oreki had already set a trap to find out how strong Kiyoko was, both physically and intellectually.
Her arm muscles were well-developed.
She also put a lot of power into her tennis swings.
Her physical strength was probably S-rank.
As for her intelligence...
She'd deduced the truth in a short time, so her reasoning and observational skills were probably above average.
Yeah, she was a little troublesome.
But only a little.
Besides, Oreki had already thought of a way to deal with her strength.
Afternoon.
Time unknown.
Hashimoto Masayoshi was carrying a birdcage back to the dormitory.
He didn't understand why Sakayanagi had asked him to do this, but since he'd become one of her subordinates, he might as well do as she said.
"Caw, caw—"
"Ugh... I know, I know."
Hashimoto stopped walking.
He found a secluded spot nearby.
After taking out a few fries, he began feeding the crow.
"Caw~" (a delighted cry)
The crow happily picked up a fry.
Then it swallowed it whole.
"Why does the great me have to feed you, you stupid bird?"
Hashimoto grumbled in annoyance.
But despite his complaining, he took out a second fry and fed it to the crow.
"Caw!" (an uneasy cry)
"..."
Hashimoto stopped what he was doing.
He clapped his hands.
"You've been following me this whole time. What do you want?"
After a brief silence,
Oreki emerged from around the corner.
"Nice to meet you."
"Skip the pleasantries. Get to the point."
"Is that so? Then I'll keep it brief. Come over to my side, Hashimoto Masayoshi."
"Hahaha... Is it April Fools' Day? That's a pretty funny thing to say."
"You'll find out soon enough whether it's a joke."
"Oh?"
"Your current task is to train the crow to drop tennis balls onto the steel frame in the gymnasium. Am I right?"
"...Where did you hear that?"
Hashimoto's expression turned unmistakably serious.
He seemed like a completely different person from a moment ago.
This was no trivial matter. If someone else knew that Sakayanagi had assigned him this task, Hashimoto would have to think carefully about what to do.
Should he side with Sakayanagi or Katsuragi?
Someone who couldn't even guard against surveillance wasn't worth serving.
"Why don't you calm down a little?"
"Fine. I'll hear you out, for now."
So Oreki told Hashimoto about how he'd helped Sakayanagi.
But he still kept a lot to himself.
To put it bluntly...
He probably only gave him a brief explanation of the Crow Project.
"I see. So that's why Sakayanagi suddenly started keeping a crow."
"Yeah. So now you can make your choice."
"No... I can't yet. You understand—the risk is too high."
"Is that so? What a shame."
"???"
Hashimoto stared blankly as Oreki turned and walked away.
What kind of development was this?
Wasn't this usually when they started negotiating?
What did he mean, just flipping the table and leaving?
"Hey, wait!"
"What? Have you changed your mind?"
"Not exactly..."
"Then let's not waste each other's time. Goodbye."
"That guy..."
Hashimoto didn't try to stop Oreki again.
Let him go if he wanted to.
Hashimoto wasn't falling for some ploy to make him beg Oreki to stay.
A few days later.
That is, last night.
Hashimoto toyed with a coin as he looked through the information in his hands.
"That was a miscalculation..."
"I didn't expect this method to actually work."
"So Sakayanagi couldn't recruit him? Interesting..."
Houtarou Oreki.
In just one day, he'd helped Sakayanagi resolve the gymnasium incident.
And the method he'd used was quite ingenious.
Also... Ryuen Kakeru from Class C seemed interested in working with Oreki, too.
But it looked like Oreki had turned him down.
Hashimoto pondered.
"Ding—"
A familiar sound came through.
There was no need to guess. It had to be a message from Sakayanagi Arisu.
After all, most people Hashimoto knew were probably out at karaoke or somewhere similar at this hour.
"She wants me to protect him? I didn't know our little Sakayanagi had a girlish side."
"Even though that kid's spending time with another girl."
"Whatever. I wanted to go take a look anyway."
Hashimoto quickly replied that he'd received the message.
He still had to keep up appearances.
Soon, he disguised himself as a staff member on duty at the art museum.
According to Sakayanagi, Oreki should just have left the Literature Club.
It seemed he'd been with Shiina Hiyori from Class C.
Hashimoto hadn't paid much attention to that girl.
Probably because she was so inconspicuous.
"Found them."
He hid behind a streetlamp.
There, right before him...
Oreki hurried down the stairs.
He seemed to be in a rush.
He was probably trying to find Sakayanagi Arisu and explain things to her.
Hashimoto thought.
He'd seen this sort of thing plenty of times.
There were only two possible outcomes.
Either they made up.
Or...
"He gets stabbed with a kitchen knife."
"Tch, now isn't the time to think about that."
Hashimoto straightened his clothes.
Soon, he waved his right hand and called out loudly:
"Hey, student! You there!"
But no matter how much Hashimoto shouted, Oreki showed no sign of stopping.
Hashimoto couldn't help cursing under his breath.
So he quickened his pace and stepped directly in front of Oreki.
"Excuse me, could you wait a moment?"
"...What is it? I'm busy right now."
Oreki looked impatiently at the bespectacled man in front of him.
He was bundled up from head to toe...
Very suspicious.
"Sorry, sorry."
"Get to the point."
"Um, could I take a look at what's in your shoulder bag?"
"Why should I show you?"
"I guess that's a no... But that makes sense, since you're the young lady of the Sakayanagi Family's boyfriend."
Hashimoto pretended to look dejected.
That remark wasn't just a probe.
His real goal was to figure out one thing.
What exactly was the relationship between Oreki and Sakayanagi?
He was probably doing this to prepare for the future.
"? Don't joke around."
"I'm terribly sorry. Please give me another chance."
"...Go on."
"Please let me deal with that old man for you."
Hashimoto bowed as he made the request.
He'd deliberately followed Oreki that afternoon.
That had been before Sakayanagi sent him a message.
So he knew that the old man at the art museum had given Oreki a hard time.
This wouldn't be difficult.
Because...
That old man had made Hashimoto's life miserable, too.
It was a rare opportunity. He might as well get rid of the old bastard while he was at it.
"...Goodbye."
"Huh? Please, believe me! Let me handle this!"
"You're such a pain..."
"Please!"
"Ugh, take it, take it. Just stop bothering me."
Oreki made a copy of the file and shared it with him on his phone.
Then he left in a hurry.
He was afraid Hashimoto would keep pestering him.
Once Oreki had hurried off to Sakayanagi Arisu,
Hashimoto took off his hat and glasses.
"An interesting guy..."
"Fine, I'll join your side."
"I hope you can lead me to graduate from Class A, Houtarou Oreki."
--To be continued
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