Hayama's Request

"No, no!" Mio Akiyama refused outright. Just thinking about everyone watching her made her almost too shy to bear it.

"Aww, Mio, don't be shy." Ritsu Tainaka hugged Mio Akiyama directly. "You're the only one left."

Seeing this, Tsumugi Kotobuki's eyes lit up as she watched Ritsu Tainaka and Mio Akiyama.

They had almost forgotten that this young lady liked watching yuri.

Mio Akiyama still refused. "Isn't there Luo Yu? He's a guitarist too, and he's more suitable to be the lead vocalist than me."

"I can sing," Luo Yu said. "But I can't be the lead vocalist. After all, Mio's voice is more suited for it. (That was a lie; Luo Yu was just lazy, and being the lead vocalist was too much trouble.) Besides, our band will definitely perform songs with female lead vocals in the future. So leave the lead vocalist position to you, Mio."

Seeing everyone's expectant looks, Mio Akiyama finally agreed to take the position of lead vocalist.

"Now that you've solved the lead vocalist and lyrics issues, all that's left is coordination," Sawako Yamanaka said. "I can't help you with that. You'll have to practice on your own."

"Oh, right. You'll be participating in the School Festival, won't you?"

"The School Festival?"

"You don't know?" Sawako Yamanaka looked at the confused girls and explained, "It's the School Festival next term. Every year, our school holds it not long after the semester begins following summer vacation."

"We're joining!"

At that, the girls were all brimming with enthusiasm.

"Then shouldn't you be practicing properly?!" Seeing the girls starting to drink tea and eat snacks again, Sawako Yamanaka could not help getting angry. "You're still sitting here drinking tea and eating snacks!"

"Would you like some cake?" Tsumugi Kotobuki carefully offered Sawako Yamanaka a slice of cake.

"Yes!" Sawako Yamanaka accepted the cake without hesitation and began eating.

Weren't you eating too?

Everyone mocked her inwardly.

After that, no one mentioned practicing again, and the Light Music Club returned to its leisurely state.

This was what the Light Music Club was supposed to be like.

Just as Luo Yu was sighing with satisfaction, someone suddenly appeared at the clubroom door. Well, someone he knew.

"Hello. I have something I'd like help with. This is the Service Club, right?" Hayato Hayama asked the people in the clubroom.

Well, if it wasn't Hayama-kun, everyone's favorite guy.

"Who are you looking for?" Ritsu Tainaka asked.

Hearing that, Hayato Hayama looked toward the Light Music Club members. "Hello, I'm Hayato Hayama. Isn't this the Service Club?"

"The Light Music Club and Service Club share this Club Room. Hayama-senpai, you're probably here to see Yukino-senpai and the others, right?" Luo Yu pointed out the three Service Club members in the corner.

"I see. Thank you, underclassman." Hayato Hayama thanked Luo Yu before walking over to the Service Club.

"Teacher Hiratsuka said that if I had any worries I needed to discuss with someone, I should come here. Though, with club activities being so busy, nobody was willing to let me go..."

"Spare us the boasting," Yukino Yukinoshita interrupted him. "You came here because you have something to ask of us, didn't you, Hayato Hayama?"

"About that..." Hayato Hayama took out his phone. "Take a look."

"Ah, it's a strange email." Yui Yuigahama sounded surprised after seeing it.

"A strange email?" Hachiman Hikigaya felt rather regretful.

"Come to think of it, Little Hachiman really doesn't know." Yui Yuigahama suddenly realized something. "I looked everywhere for you today. When I asked other people, everyone said, 'Hikigaya? Who's that?' I was exhausted from searching. Little Hachiman, don't you have a single friend in our class?"

"Sorry." He really did not.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Give me your Penguin Account. It's strange that we still haven't added each other after all this time."

"Here." Hachiman Hikigaya handed his phone directly to Yui Yuigahama.

"I have to do it myself?" Yui Yuigahama's expression was complicated. "Still, it's impressive that you can hand your phone to someone else without a second thought."

"Because there's nothing on my phone that needs to be kept secret."

"Let me see... Penguin, Penguin... Found it." Yui Yuigahama suddenly froze. "Little Hachiman, why is Little Luo the only person on your friends list?"

At that, everyone in the clubroom looked at Hachiman Hikigaya. They also wanted to know what kind of person could be so miserable that he only had one friend on his list.

"How rude. Back in middle school, I added some other girls as friends too, you know."

Seriously?

That only made everyone more curious. There had actually been girls willing to add Hachiman Hikigaya as a friend.

"What kind of girl was she?" Yui Yuigahama asked while continuing to work on his phone.

"I think she was a healthy, quiet girl," Hachiman Hikigaya said. "After all, if I emailed her at seven in the evening, she would only reply the next morning with, 'Sorry, I fell asleep. See you at school.'"

The girls looked at Hachiman Hikigaya with pity.

"Little Hachiman..." Yui Yuigahama looked at him through tear-filled eyes. "Don't run away from reality."

"Fine, give me back my phone once you're done. There's still a request to deal with here."

Someone was getting anxious. He would not say who.

Hayama's Request

After pitying Hachiman Hikigaya for a while, everyone brought the topic back to Hayato Hayama's request.

"Tobe is a minor delinquent from Inage Ward who picks fights with students from West High at arcades. Yamato is a shameless scumbag cheating on three girls at once. Ooka crippled the other school's trump card with a rough play. These are chain messages."

Yukino Yukinoshita read out the messages she had seen.

Hayato Hayama said, "Receiving something like this has made the atmosphere in class worse. And seeing someone say bad things about my friends, of course I'm angry too."

"So, Hayama-senpai wants to find the culprit?" Luo Yu inserted himself into their conversation.

"Luo Yu." Yukino Yukinoshita sighed. "Why are you joining in again?"

"What's the problem, Yukino-senpai? An extra person means extra help." Luo Yu smiled. Come on, this was much more entertaining than the last one.

"This underclassman has misunderstood."

"You can call me Luo Yu, Hayama-senpai."

"Oh, then Luo Yu-kun has misunderstood." Hayato Hayama promptly changed how he addressed him. "I don't want to find the culprit. I just want to find a way to resolve this. Can I ask that of you?"

"In other words, as long as we can calm the situation down, that will do," Yukino Yukinoshita summarized.

Hayato Hayama said, "More or less."

Yukino Yukinoshita said, "Then we'll have to find the culprit."

Hayato Hayama's expression stiffened slightly. "Why did you come to that conclusion?"

"Because the culprit is the source," Luo Yu said. "Even if we settle these messages, as long as the culprit remains, he can make up more rumors whenever he wants."

"Just as Luo Yu said, I will find the culprit. After that, you can decide how to deal with him. You have no objection, correct?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked Hayato Hayama.

Hayato Hayama said, "Oh, that's fine."

Yukino Yukinoshita said, "Then when did these messages begin appearing?"

"Probably last weekend," Hayato Hayama said uncertainly.

While Yukino Yukinoshita questioned Hayato Hayama and Yui Yuigahama about various details, Luo Yu walked over to Hachiman Hikigaya and quietly asked, "You'll be doing a Workplace Visit soon, right?"

"How do you know that? Huh? A Workplace Visit?" Hachiman Hikigaya asked.

"Looks like you've thought of something." Luo Yu wore a broad smile.

"Say," Hachiman Hikigaya said as he looked at the smiling Luo Yu before him, "don't tell me you already know who the culprit is?"

"Mhm-hm~"

Elysia's smiling method of muddling through was especially useful at times like this.

Yukino Yukinoshita's side had made no progress either, so she asked Hachiman Hikigaya, "Hikigaya, do you have any thoughts?"

"It's the Workplace Visit," Hachiman Hikigaya revealed the information he knew.

"Oh, I see!" Yui Yuigahama understood as well. "I think I might know who the culprit is."

"Could you explain?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked.

"With activities like this, the groupings affect future relationships, so some people become especially sensitive about them," Yui Yuigahama said.

"The Workplace Visit is in groups of three. Out of four people, one of them has to be excluded," Hachiman Hikigaya said.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait. How did you decide that the culprit was among those three? The messages were saying bad things about all three of them."

"Pfft!" Luo Yu could not hold back his laughter. "How could someone be so naive? Doing that is obviously meant to clear suspicion from himself. Though this method is way too crude. Hikigaya, if it were you, would you do that?"

"Obviously not. I'd deliberately avoid saying bad things about one person and make him the scapegoat," Hachiman Hikigaya said excitedly.

"Right? The culprit is incredibly stupid if he couldn't even think of such a simple trick." Luo Yu gave Hachiman Hikigaya a thumbs-up. "You really get it, Hikigaya!"

"No, no, you're the same way."

"No, no, I still can't compare to you, Hachiman."

"You're too kind, you're too kind. But why are you calling me Hachiman?"

Watching the two modestly praise each other over something like this, everyone could not help sighing inwardly.

They were both terrible people!

"Little Hachiman, you're absolutely awful." Yui Yuigahama said it out loud. "And Little Luo, how did you become like this too?"

No, no, he had always been a scumbag!

The Light Music Club girls frantically reminded Yui Yuigahama in their hearts.

"Anyway, can you first tell us about the three of them?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked Hayato Hayama.

Hayato Hayama thought for a moment. "Although Tobe doesn't look like a good student, he's the best at reading the room and livening up the atmosphere. He's very proactive at every event."

"So he's someone who can only egg people on and stir up the atmosphere, right?" Yukino Yukinoshita wrote her summary in her notebook.

Impressive! Yukino Yukinoshita had summed up everything about a person in just a few words.

"Hm? What is it? Go on." Seeing everyone standing there blankly, Yukino Yukinoshita reminded them.

Hayato Hayama said, "Yamato is very calm. He listens carefully to others and handles things at an unhurried pace. He gives people a reassuring feeling."

"Slow-witted and indecisive." Yukino Yukinoshita continued writing.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Hayato Hayama's face as he continued, "Ooka is approachable and always speaks up for others."

Wasn't that just a fence-sitter? Sure enough, Yukino Yukinoshita came to a conclusion as well. "A fence-sitter who can only rely on others."

"Still, what Hayama says can't be used as a reference," Yukino Yukinoshita said as she looked at the conclusions written in her notebook.

She then turned to Hachiman Hikigaya and Yui Yuigahama and asked, "What impressions do you two have of these three?"

It looked like they had watched enough entertainment. Time to reveal the answer.

"Ooka is the culprit."

Luo Yu's sudden statement drew everyone's attention.

"You say Ooka is the culprit? Do you have any evidence, Luo Yu?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked.

"None at all! But I can guess his motive."

"His motive?"

"That's right." Luo Yu looked at Hayato Hayama. "Hayama-senpai, after you leave, you probably don't know how your three friends get along, do you?"

"I really don't know. Does that have anything to do with this?" Hayato Hayama asked.

"Of course it does." Luo Yu wore the expression of someone eager for drama.

Seeing that expression, the Light Music Club girls gathered together and whispered:

"Luo Luo has that look again."