I Want to Know Everything About Love

This is a continuation of the previous chapter.

【From Ootsuki-kun’s perspective.】

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It’s already been a week since I mustered the courage to transfer schools.

My only reliance is the bizarre advice of the Branch Manager Eva.

It’s not enough to just think about the mission; I also have to keep up with my regular school studies, so I don’t have the time to join a club.

What is particularly important is communication with classmates.

Subtly, I need to gather information on my targets, Kihino-san and Nijou-san, and I also need to know who might send them love letters.

──Ah, this is difficult.

It might be starting to feel a bit more like my usual missions.

■■■■■

It’s already been two months since I transferred schools.

Finally, the preliminary research and preparations are complete, so it’s time to open the new premium tea leaves for the party.

Holding a solo event at home with no one around. That’s also kind of fun.

…

When I pour 95°C water over the tea leaves, the color of the black tea seeps out.

This moment is the happiest time in my life.

I speak to the tea leaves steeped in hot water and the teapot.

“Would you listen to the results of my two months of work?”

I was talking to black tea and I can’t help but feel embarrassed thinking about what my father-in-law would say if he heard me.

However, since he only comes home once a week, it’s only natural that he wouldn’t be here.

It’s a monologue knowing that.

“First, from Nijou-san. She was incredibly clear and amazing.”

She has many friends, regardless of gender.

It was significant to hear about her from the guy.

If it’s between guys, they just tease me by saying, “What, are you worried about her?” and then spill all the information like a dam in flood season.

There are rumors that she has a strong sense of masculinity and isn’t afraid to hit boys who annoy her. According to a student who attended the same middle school, she has only hit someone once since becoming a high school student, but apparently, she used to be much more aggressive. It seems that she has also made a lot more friends since starting high school.

“She’s probably got a delinquent streak, for sure.”

I was told that she is the manager of the baseball club, so I also talked to the female student who is the manager of the same club.

Apparently, Nijou-san seems to like athletic guys with shaved heads.

The girl who heard the story mocked me by saying, “Ootsuki-kun, you should just give up. First, you should shave your head and come back, haha.” But honestly, she’s not the type I want to date. I don’t want to shave my head, and my athletic skills are just average.

I decided to give up on making her mine.

“Next, Kihino-san. She’s too hard to understand in the opposite way.”

In the first place, I couldn’t find any students who had ever talked to her.

Could such a thing really happen?

Even her classmates say they have never heard her voice except when the teacher calls on her to answer a question. Moreover, she has no friends and is always alone. She never leaves her seat except when moving to and from gym class or going to the restroom, and she doesn’t take any detours. She doesn’t participate in any clubs either.

──What on earth is she living for?

There was a witness saying, “She might have walked home together after the entrance ceremony,” so it’s likely that they attended the same junior high school.

However, don’t directly ask Nijou-san about Kihino-san.

Minimize contact with the target. I’ve done that in previous missions. It’s not because I’m afraid to talk to them.

The only clue to track down Kihino-san is the weekly study group. It seems she never misses it.

So, I decided to give it a try myself.

I memorized the faces of everyone who was there, and if possible, their names too. I only remembered the names, and I have no idea what I went there to study.

And later, while recalling their faces and names, I will conduct a door-to-door inquiry with the students who attended the study session that day.

Then, all I understood was that “she seems to be quite smart.”

──No good. I don’t understand anything. I can’t achieve anything.

──Who on earth is she? Kihino-san.

I’m stuck without any clues. I thought it was the end.

“However! The man who didn’t give up there was Ootsuki Taiyou!”

The study group is structured so that upperclassmen teach underclassmen, so upperclassmen graduate before summer break to focus on their own studies. Just like regular clubs.

That’s why we couldn’t interview the alumni of the third-year study group.

I also carried out a rolling operation against the third-year study group alumni.

As a result, I was able to hear good information.

──Apparently, third-year Kageyama-senpai seems to like Kihino-san.

“When I found out about that, I was really, really happy.”

All that’s left is to egg that senpai on and get them to send a love letter.

So, I can achieve the branch manager Eva’s advice.

I told senpai that I also liked Kihino-san and suggested that we both fairly send love letters on the same day.

The execution will be one week from Wednesday.

“Between men, no hard feelings, okay?”

The week that followed felt as slow as picking up the tea leaves that had been spilled all over the floor.

I’ve never written a love letter before, so I don’t know how to write one.

Since I didn’t even know what kind of envelope to put the letter in, I bought the most elegant and cool one, a pitch-black and heavy-duty envelope.

“Anyway, there are just too many things I have to think about.”

In the hectic days that felt like being overwhelmed, I didn’t notice it until recently. As I went around listening to stories about Kihino-san, I realized that I’d started to care about her a little.

She seems to be smart, and she also meets one of the conditions for the girl I like. Since she is always at her desk, I have many opportunities to see her profile, and sometimes, when I look closely, the cold expression she has while looking down at the other students seems beautiful and cute.

──Actually, I might want to date her.

Is this what they call love?

How far ahead is the branch manager Eva planning?

I really trust her advice!

I thought it would be troubling if a long love letter suddenly arrived from me, someone I had never even spoken to, so I made the message as short as possible.

The more I reread the love letter I wrote, the more anxious I become, but there’s no point in thinking about it anymore. I’ll just send it as it is.

According to Eva, the branch manager’s advice, I should lay out a carpet outdoors since I need to take off my shoes.

A place that’s hard to be seen by others might be behind the school building.

“That’s it! Why not serve some tea?”

They would understand me better than anyone else.

Since I’ve built a good relationship with the teacher, I won’t get in trouble for making tea during lunch breaks or club activities.

The only thing that wasn’t allowed to be taken for cutting the lemon was the fruit knife. But I’ll sneak it in.

Just in case, it’s for self-defense if Nijou-san tries to hit me.

“Isn’t it about time?”

Since the black tea is ready, I tilt the teapot over the cup and pour the shimmering reddish-brown liquid.

Finally, tomorrow, I will drop the love letter into the shoe locker.

While drinking this cup, let’s think of the words for the confession.

“I don’t think we have a special relationship right now, and I don’t think we have any particularly special feelings for each other either.──”

How about something like this?

I can finally talk to the enigmatic Kihino-san, who never engages in conversation.

I can’t help but wonder what kind of voice she has.

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◯ Author’s Comment

It was the behind-the-scenes story just before Ootsuki-kun confessed to Yuki-chan.

I would be grateful if his favorability could increase even a little.

Since Ootsuki-kun trusts the branch manager Eva, he doesn’t think it will fail, but he is filled with anxiety as it was his first time doing everything.

The past stories are over for now.

In the next chapter, we will return to the main story.