After I Picked up a Notebook Filled With Intense Emotions, the Girls Started Acting Strange - SS5 Award Commemoration

Mizuki suddenly appeared, and even in the dark, I could tell from her voice that she was a little angry.

Then she walked straight toward me and grabbed my hand.

“Eh?”

“Come on, let’s go. Yuu-kun.”

“W-Wait!?”

She pulled my right arm and tried to drag me off the rooftop. But.

“Ugh!?”

A strange sound escaped me.

That was because someone grabbed my left arm with the same force from the other side.

“That’s not allowed. It’s not my turn now. Isn’t this breaking the rules?”

“Breaking the rules? You went and did whatever you wanted.”

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

What are they even talking about? Whatever she wanted? Is she mad because Rei went and did what she wanted?

But I don’t care about that! Just loosen your grip, please!!

“Guh…”

“Sena-san, if this goes on, Yuu-chan’s arm might get pulled off.”

“Yeah. Maybe Kuroe-san should let go?”

“What a silly question. I’d love to, but if I do, you’ll just take him away. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“Which mouth is saying that? So, are you planning to keep fighting over me? Nothing’s going to get solved like this.”

“That’s right. So, how about this? I take the left arm, and you take the right. How about that?”

“That would make things fair… It’s worth considering.”

Worth considering?!

What are they doing, treating my arm like a toy part?

Are they trying to turn the school rooftop into a murder scene?

“W-Wait a minute. Seriously. You don’t need my arm!? Just let go!”

“What are you saying, Yuu-kun? Of course, I want your arm.”

“Yeah. I want it.”

“…”

I’m probably going to die today.

No. I shouldn’t expect them to have any sense of ethics.

“Joking aside, there. I let go. You let go too.”

“…I guess it can’t be helped.”

After a bit of struggle, my arms were finally free.

I swear my arms feel longer than before. My armpits hurt.

“How did this even happen? Tell me properly. I have the right to know.”

When I said that, the two of them looked at each other and sighed softly.

“It started with me.”

Mizuki said quietly and looked a little guilty.

◆

That was a few days ago.

It was the day of the regular meeting to decide whose Yuu-kun would belong to for this week.

“I was finally able to get everything back for him.”

“From now on, we have to do our best for Yuu-kun.”

“Of course. I’ll spoil him as much as I can.”

“No, I’ll do it. Sena-san doesn’t need to do anything.”

“…Kuroe-san, you don’t need to do anything either.”

“…”

“…”

Kuroe-san and I glared at each other. I couldn’t let this go.

I had to be the one managing Yuu-kun.

I couldn’t let her have him all to herself.

“Come on, you two. If you keep staring at each other like that, we won’t get anywhere. Today we were supposed to decide what we’ll give Yuu-kun, remember?”

“…That’s right.”

“I’m sorry…”

Orihara-san sighed and scolded us a little.

Yeah. Today we were supposed to talk about what kind of gift we could give him.

“So, Mizuki-chan, do you have any ideas?”

“I… want to give him a letter.”

“A letter? That’s a good idea! Rei-chan, don’t you think so?”

“We each pour our feelings out to him. And then we can see how he reacts. Not a bad plan.”

Orihara-san and Kuroe-san agreed with me. That was better than I expected.

“But isn’t that a little plain just telling him our feelings in a letter?”

“Then, what kind of letter should we make?”

“That’s─”

◇

“So that’s why we decided to send letters.”

“…I see.”

Ah, so that’s why the letters were so intense?

No, I was honestly just happy they were sharing their feelings.

“But did you really need to put it all into one letter?”

“That’s Kuroe-san’s fault.”

“Instead of giving three separate letters, it’s more fun if you don’t know who it’s from.”

“Really…?”

“And she sent it without even asking us when. So when I heard about the letters, I thought ─Oh no.”

Ah, so that’s why they reacted like that.

“When I realized Kuroe-san was behind it, I knew she was plotting something. So I’d been looking for her since lunch, and that’s why it happened now.”

“It’s fine. At least for the last one, I wanted to keep him to myself a little. After all, we already gave you two some time together.”

“But even if we were hanging out, we weren’t supposed to meet where no one else could see. And… the last one was against the rules, right?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

It seems like they have some complicated rules for meeting me.

Still, that last one was definitely risky. In that sense, maybe it’s okay that they have their own rules.

“So that’s what happened. I was really nervous, wondering whose letter it was.”

“Well, that’s what matters as long as you enjoyed it.”

“Yeah. I guess I’ll just leave it at that.”

“…By the way, where was that place exactly?”

““Huh? I don’t know (you know)?””

“─”

◆

In the end, I went home without ever figuring out what the letter actually said.

When I told the two of them about it, they both looked puzzled.

That made it pretty obvious who was suspicious.

It was Setsuna who hadn’t been there.

The idea for the letter came from Mizuki.

And Rei put it all together and wrote it.

So, what about Setsuna?

I thought back carefully over today’s conversation.

Rei had definitely said she wrote it.

But Setsuna?

—Ah, maybe she added something.

“Added something?”

I felt a little uneasy at those words, but went into my room anyway.

On the way, I picked up the letter again and opened it.

I read the feelings written inside one more time.

It was clear that the content combined the three of them.

But looking closer, some sentences near the end felt a little strange.

Like they were added later.

Could it be that Setsuna added something afterward?

Still, I had seen Setsuna during the day…

“Well, I don’t know what that place is, or what the important thing is, but it should be fine since I met everyone.”

I thought that and reached for my room door, but stopped for a moment.

On the door was a small plate that said, “Yuu’s Room.”

I felt a little strange about it, but went in anyway and collapsed onto my bed.

Lying on my back, I held the letter up to the light and looked at it again.

“!?”

Then, faint letters appeared.

—Try to match them to the places you went today↓.

“Match them? The places we went today?”

I sat up and tried to remember where we went today.

The first place.

A café called “Knot.”

The second.

A game center called “Spiral.”

The third… the rooftop?

No, it’s weird that it’s just in Japanese. What’s the English word for it?

I pulled out my phone and checked.

“Rooftop?”

Knot. Spiral. Rooftop.

Match them to something?

◇

I can’t sleep at night because I keep thinking about you.

No matter what I’m doing, I’m always thinking of you.

My one and only wish is to have you.

Everything I am already belongs to you.

So now, it’s your turn to be mine.

I’ll never let anyone else have you.

“Knot”

If you try to refuse, I’ll make sure to hold you close.

You can’t escape. You won’t escape. I’ll never let you go.

“Spiral”

“Rooftop”

◇

When I held it up to the light, I matched the faint letters that were left behind besides the hints.

What did this mean?

“…”

—Try matching the letters↓

That little arrow “↓” what did it mean?

“C-Could it be a vertical reading?”

—I will make you mine alone.

“What the, a hidden message?”

My heart dropped instantly.

I couldn’t believe something like this was secretly hidden in the letter.

“Haha… ha…”

A nervous laugh echoed through my room.

“Did you notice? Yuu-kun.”

“Gasp!?”

◇◇◇

Afterword

I’m sorry for the late update.

This SS ends here.

So, what did you think of this little mystery story?

I just wrote down the idea as it came to me, so I didn’t have much time, and some parts might feel a bit rough. I hope you can forgive me.

There were things I thought I could have done better, but I couldn’t fit them all in. I always get new ideas while I’m writing, haha.

Actually, this was a volume focused on Setsuna.

And “The Most Important Thing” …That’s what it was about.

By the way, this SS doesn’t really connect to the main story, so it won’t change any of the relationships in the main story. Please keep that in mind.

I’ll keep working hard on the book, so when it’s released, I hope you’ll consider buying it.

Well then, until the next update.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and impressions!!