Parameter Supremacy: The Man Who Seizes a Harem Through Sheer Effort. - Chapter 78.

The Great Detective Matsuri-chan.

The next day after school, I told Moe I had something to take care of, then headed to the family restaurant with Shiina to call Matsuri-chan over.

“Heyyy~! Good work today!”

Matsuri-chan plopped down into the seat at our meeting spot with her usual boundless energy. The anxious knot that had been twisting in my chest over the rumors eased just a little. In a situation like this, her relentlessly bright personality was a genuine blessing.

“Sorry for taking up your time.”

“Nah, it’s totally fine! Aside from stuff at home, I’ve got loads of free time anyway!”

“That helps a lot. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Talk? Is it about the rumor?”

“…You already knew?”

“Yeah. I’m close with both Shiina-cchi and Moe-cchi, after all. Everyone seemed pretty worried about Shiina-cchi.”

“Worried?”

Shiina’s expression shifted to one of mild surprise at Matsuri-chan’s words.

“Yep. Something like… even though Shiina-cchi is dating Sagara-cchi, he’s cheating on her with Moe-cchi. That kind of rumor?”

“I see. So it really is what I expected…”

“Yeah. But why did it turn into a cheating scandal? Did you two actually go on a date or something?”

A date, huh… No, we hadn’t. Unless you counted—

“During summer break, we studied together once at the library. You know, the time Shiina couldn’t make it.”

“Oh yeah! When we went to buy swimsuits, Moe-cchi mentioned something like that!”

“Other than that, we went to the convenience store near Moe’s house a few times together.”

“So maybe someone just happened to see you two?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t remember running into anyone from school. Well, I don’t remember every single face, so I can’t say for sure.”

“I see…”

Shiina folded her arms, a troubled look settling on her face.

“Ahem!”

Both Shiina and I, who had been deep in serious discussion mode, turned toward Matsuri-chan as she let out an obviously fake cough.

“For now, let’s eat something sweet~! If you don’t get some sugar, you’ll wear yourselves out!”

As always, Matsuri-chan marched to the beat of her own drum.

Still, in this suffocating atmosphere, her cheerful smile and gentle, carefree attitude were exactly what we needed to loosen the tension in our shoulders.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Shiina said with a soft laugh.

“Alright, let’s order something.”

“I want the chocolate sundae!!”

“Ah, me too! Hey Ryuuji, want to share one?”

“Sure, sounds good. I’ll just have coffee for now.”

“Sagara-cchi, stop trying to look cool. And stop flirting already~”

Matsuri-chan complained with her eyebrows scrunched into a perfect ‘八’ shape. Both Shiina and I couldn’t help but burst into smiles. The school rumors were certainly bothering us, but knowing Matsuri-chan was on our side gave us more strength than anything else.

***

“I’ve been denying it to everyone who asked, by the way~”

Matsuri-chan spoke with a serious expression, a dollop of fresh cream still clinging to the corner of her lips. For some reason, the gravity of her words didn’t quite land.

“Thanks. I guess the only way forward is to quietly put out the fire one person at a time.”

Shiina looked down slightly, thinking hard, but the bit of cream on the edge of her lip kept drawing my attention, making it hard to focus on the conversation.

“That kind of approach won’t be enough. Matsuri-chan, do you know the exact details of the rumor?”

Even though the cream was driving me crazy, this was a serious discussion. I tried to stay focused.

“Sagara-cchi. Even with that serious face, you’ve still got cream on your lip~”

“So do you. And so does Shiina, for that matter.”

We all wiped our mouths with napkins. Time to get back on track.

“So, about the exact content of the rumor?”

“I’m not sure how accurate it is, but what I heard was exactly what I said earlier. That even though you two are dating, Sagara-cchi is cheating with Moe-cchi.”

“What could they possibly be basing that on?”

Shiina’s question was spot on. When you thought about where the rumor originated, without any actual evidence of cheating, it shouldn’t have been possible to claim something so definitive.

If it had been “maybe he’s cheating,” that would have been easier to understand… Had the rumor mutated and grown more extreme as it spread…?

No good. We were just going in circles.

We tossed ideas back and forth again, but no solid solution emerged. In the end, we ended up wasting about an hour with nothing to show for it.

***

“Matsuri-chan, do you think you could try to find out where the rumor started?”

“I’m not sure, but I can give it a shot~?”

“If it gets too difficult, feel free to stop. I’m counting on you.”

“Okaaay~!! I’ll do my best!”

“Isn’t it going to be hard if you just ask around blindly?”

Shiina’s doubt was reasonable. But I already had an idea about this.

“The source of the rumor is almost certainly a first-year. I don’t know about Moe, but I hardly interact with any upperclassmen outside of club activities. Plus, the rumor about me and Mahiru-chan was also only circulating among the first-years.”

“Oh right, there was that rumor too~”

Matsuri-chan grinned mischievously at Shiina, who quietly averted her gaze.

After clearing her throat with a small “ahem,” Shiina composed herself.

“I don’t think Moe has any connections with upperclassmen either. Obviously, I’ve only ever spoken to the seniors in my own club.”

“Same here~!”

Matsuri-chan raised her hand energetically.

“Unless it’s something really big, gossip doesn’t usually cross grade levels. And upperclassmen wouldn’t bother spreading rumors about first-years they don’t even interact with.”

“Besides…”

This next part was the key.

“Like I mentioned earlier, every time I was alone with Moe, it was always around her family’s neighborhood. The person spreading the rumor is probably someone who lives in that area… or at least someone who spends time there.”

“I see…”

Both Shiina and Matsuri-chan fell into thoughtful silence after hearing that.

“So I think the best first step is to start asking around among the people who went to middle school with the two of them.”

“Yeah…”

“Right~…”

Neither of them looked particularly happy.

They were probably thinking of the same person I was. At first I hadn’t considered it either, but as I explained it out loud, one particular name had floated into my mind.

“There’s a chance it could be Satou, of course…”

““!?””

Both girls looked at me with wide-eyed surprise.

“But I can’t figure out why he would spread a rumor like this. If it was just a bad rumor about me, I could understand. But this time it’s different. Moe is actually being called a slut… I don’t want to believe that Satou would spread a rumor that puts his precious childhood friend in this kind of situation.”

“…”

The two of them listened to me in silence.

***

“There’s something I never told you two…”

Shiina suddenly began to speak.

“What is it?” “What is it~?”

Matsuri-chan and I urged her to continue.

“Actually… that day. The day Moe was attacked by that thug. The day Ryuuji got stabbed. Minato-kun confessed to me…”

“Eh?”

Matsuri-chan’s eyes widened in shock. Shiina kept going.

“It happened right after Ryuuji rushed off to help Moe. I wanted to go after them right away too, so I brushed off the confession quickly. It wasn’t the right time, and I also made it clear that I liked Ryuuji… After that, there was no contact, and summer break started.”

“While Ryuuji and I were dating—and after everything that happened—we properly spent the summer as a couple. But during that time, Minato-kun obviously didn’t know about any of it…”

“Then, when the new semester started… Minato-kun found out that Ryuuji and I had started going out…”

“So that was when…”

“Ah~ It’s my fault~”

Matsuri-chan clutched her head.

Come to think of it, Satou’s attitude back then had felt a little off. He had acted surprisingly calm, but his eyes had looked pitch black, like empty voids. I still remembered feeling a faint sense of unease.

“Even if that’s true, would it really lead to him spreading a rumor?”

“When you put it that way… it’s kind of hard to argue…”

Shiina fell into thought once more.

“Hey~”

Matsuri-chan raised her hand again.

“For example, if the person Sagara-cchi was rumored to be cheating with wasn’t Moe-cchi, but some other girl—like Mahiru-chan—how would you feel, Shiina-cchi?”

“Eh? Hmm… I’d probably feel jealous and get angry, I guess…”

“See? That’s it!”

Matsuri-chan pointed at Shiina with a triumphant, cheeky grin, as if she had just solved the entire mystery.

“Eh?”

“That’s why! If Sagara-cchi was cheating with some girl other than Moe-cchi, you wouldn’t just stay quiet about it, right??”

“W-well… yeah.”

“Right? And it doesn’t even have to be anyone specific. For example, what if I was the one Sagara-cchi was cheating with?”

“That would be very welcome♡”

““Eh?””

Shiina’s words made both Matsuri-chan and me freeze in place.

“Anyway, that’s the point! If Minato-kun were in that position, he might think that spreading a rumor like this would cause you two to fight and break up!”

Matsuri-chan’s face turned bright red as she hurriedly tried to move the conversation along. Still, it was true that the possibility existed.

“I see… So Minato-kun spread the rumor hoping to break Ryuuji and me apart…”

A vein throbbed visibly on Shiina’s forehead. It was honestly a little scary…

“H-hey, this is still just speculation. We haven’t confirmed that Satou is the culprit. It’s all just guesswork… Shiina, try not to get too angry.”

Shiina let out a long, heavy sigh.

“You’re right. We still don’t know for sure.”

“I think the Satou culprit theory is still pretty low probability. For now, starting tomorrow, I’d like Matsuri-chan to do a little digging.”

“Ehh~ Minato-kun, huh…”

Matsuri-chan immediately made a reluctant face. Had something happened between these two as well…?

“We can put Satou on the back burner. It’s fine to start with people closer to us first.”

“Got it! For Moe-cchi’s sake, I’ll do my best to clear her name!”

Matsuri-chan answered with overflowing enthusiasm. Shiina still looked somewhat upset. Well, it was still too early to be certain.

Anyway, it was getting late. We’d start fresh tomorrow.

We would do everything we could to clear away these rumors.