I’m a Loner, Gloomy Guy Who Accidentally Witnessed the Moment the Top Girl in the Class Got Dumped. I Didn’t Know What to Say to Comfort Her, So I Just Gave Her a Cola and Somehow We Started Having Lunch Together~ - 25-26

Chapter 25: Investigation

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Just before the after-school homeroom began. After signaling with my eyes to Takashiro-san, who was standing a little distance away, I headed over to Kenzaki’s seat.

“Hey, Kenzaki, got a minute? About a week ago you said, ‘I’m going on a date with my senpai next time,’ right? What happened with that?”

“It’s rare for Murase to ask me something like that! Somehow, it makes me happy!”

“Ah… Yeah. It’s fine to do it every once in a while, right?”

I brushed it off casually.

I can’t say it. There’s no way I can tell him I’m probing into his relationship with his senpai in order to make Takashiro-san’s love come true.

A prickling sense of guilt washed over me, but I crushed it down. I had decided to help Takashiro-san after all.

“But yeah, sorry. I don’t have any good news. …I messed it up.”

Messed it up… Seriously? From what I’d heard so far, it sounded like things were going well, so this surprised me. But for Takashiro-san, that was a good thing, right? Right now, I was on Takashiro-san’s side. Sorry, Kenzaki, but for us, this meant a pretty favorable wave was coming our way.

“I got told I was being ‘too clingy.’ She said it’s embarrassing when I do stuff like that outside. But from my point of view, I’m already holding back a lot, you know? Maybe we’re not that compatible after all…”

“It’s still too early to jump to conclusions. Don’t get so down. If you make up for it on the next date, it’ll be fine.”

While I offered Kenzaki some suitably encouraging words as he looked dejected, inside I was thinking the complete opposite.

This is working!

I raised my thumb firmly toward Takashiro-san. Kenzaki was losing confidence in his relationship with his senpai. This was a really good flow. It felt like our chances were more than good enough. Takashiro-san seemed to agree with me, because she sent a determined look my way and raised her thumb back at me.

That day after school. As I was walking home, my phone rang. The caller displayed on my smartphone screen was Takashiro-san.

Why does she have my contact info.. Ah, right.

We’d exchanged TOIN the other day. Remembering that, I answered the call.

“Masa, are you free right now?”

“Yeah. I’ve got time.”

“Then let’s have a strategy meeting right now! Stuff like this is all about momentum!”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I agreed with her opinion that momentum was important. If we were going to plan our next move based on today’s excellent investigation results, the sooner the better.

“Is the family restaurant we went to before okay?”

“That’s fine.”

“Ah… No, wait. I’m kind of broke right now. Sorry, but can we go somewhere that doesn’t cost money?”

So she treated me last time even though she was broke? Maybe she was the kind of person who charged straight ahead without thinking too far ahead.

“Then I’ll treat you.”

“No. You’re already helping me out with my problems, I can’t make you do that.”

She was surprisingly principled. You wouldn’t expect it from her light, carefree appearance, but she was solid about things like that. Still, what should we do? Takashiro-san’s request was a place where we could talk slowly without spending money. Even if you say that, nothing came to mind easily…

Ah. There was just one place that immediately popped into my head.

“Then how about—”

I tried suggesting that place to Takashiro-san.

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Chapter 26: The Place That Came to Mind

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“Don’t hold back, come on in.”

“O-oh. …Excuse me for intruding.”

The place I brought Takashiro-san to was my room. When she said she wanted somewhere we could talk slowly without spending money, this was the only place that came to mind. Takashiro-san was visibly tense. This might have been the first time I’d ever seen her like this. It felt fresh.

“W-what are you staring at?”

“Sorry. It’s just… I thought you looked nervous.”

“…Well, of course I am. This is my first time ever going into a guy’s room.”

“…Ah, yeah.”

All I could think was, figures. I’d thought she was bad at romance, so even hearing that didn’t really shake me.

“What’s with that knowing look on your face…! You look like you’ve got something you wanna say!”

Her tone got rough, but I didn’t react at all. Right now, Takashiro-san was in full maiden mode. No matter how much she changed her tone, she wasn’t scary in the slightest.

“Hello!”

Along with a cheerful voice, the door banged open. Mai walked into the room.

“…What are you here for?”

“I came to say hello!”

Answering in a lively tone, Mai turned her body toward Takashiro-san.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Mai Murase! Thank you for always taking care of my big brother!”

“Heh, you’re pretty polite. I’m Karin Takashiro. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes, nice to meet you! …That said, Onii-chan—”

Mai shifted only her gaze toward me and flashed a grin.

“Three-timing, huh? You’re really something! Your scumbag level just got updated! Just how far are you going to sink…? It’s terrifying, but Mai will stay with you until the end!”

“…Mai, how about you step outside for a bit today?”

I forcibly dragged Mai out of the room. We’d finally cleared up the suspicion of me two-timing, and having it dug back up again was just a pain.

“What was that ‘three-timing’ thing about?”

“…Who knows. Mai says weird stuff sometimes. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t worry about it.”

She questioned me the moment I came back into the room, but I brushed it off with a wry smile.

“I see. Well, kids around that age have all sorts of phases. Don’t worry. I’m pretty understanding about that kind of thing.”

By interpreting Mai as going through that awkward, puberty-specific phase (the so-called middle school syndrome) Takashiro-san accepted it without trouble. It seemed I managed to dodge that one. What a relief.

“Still, that’s a crazy amount of manga.”

Takashiro-san said that admiringly as she turned her face toward the corner of the room. There stood a bookshelf packed full of manga.

“But, hmm… I don’t recognize most of these. Got any recommendations?”

“…Then how about this one?”

From among the many manga lined up on the shelf, I picked up volume one of ‘That Time I Reincarnated as the Weakest Mage.’ It was the original work of an anime that Amamiya-san and I both loved. The story followed a very classic formula, so even first-time readers could enjoy it. When I handed her the manga, Takashiro-san immediately started flipping through the pages.

Maybe I’ll read too.

Seeing someone else read it made me want to read it again for the first time in a while. I picked up the latest volume and began turning the pages.

“Oh! This is actually pretty interesting!”

After finishing volume one, Takashiro-san had a very positive reaction. She asked if she could read volume two as well. As a fan, reactions like that made me indescribably happy. I was about to excitedly hand her volume two, but…

“No, no!”

She shook her head vigorously in refusal.

“We didn’t come here to read manga, right!?”

“Ah, right! We’ve gotta have our strategy meeting!”

It seemed Takashiro-san had realized it too. As expected of ‘That Time I Reincarnated as the Weakest Mage.’ It was so interesting it made you forget your original purpose. Truly terrifying.

Once again, I was reminded just how powerful its appeal really was.

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