During the first-period break on the day Nakamura came
back, Hinami, Izumi, and I joined his group by the back
window to finish our conversation from earlier. We were
chatting noisily when a loud shout exploded from the front
of the classroom.
"So you finally decided to come back, huh, Shuji? Don't
you think a week is a little too much to skip?"
It was Erika Konno. She was sitting cross-legged on top
of her desk, cackling like a classic trendsetter.
"Guess I felt like coming today," Nakamura shot back,
and there was some weight behind it.
Erika Konno climbed down from her desk and walked
straight up to him with two members of her posse.
"Seriously, though, why were you out for so long? Just
tired of school?"
Konno's friends blended into our group by the back
window, meaning the new group was made up of Hinami,
Nakamura, Mizusawa, Takei, Izumi, Erika Konno, her two
hangers-on, and me. Nine of us, and I was the only bottomtier character. All of a sudden, I felt totally out of place, and I
was getting the sense that I shouldn't say anything.
"Yeah, kinda. As long as I make it to third year, I'm good,
right?" Nakamura said intimidatingly. It was like the
showdown in the old principal's office. Konno and
Nakamura were terrifying when they talked to each other…
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This was max difficulty here. As far as what I could do
here—well, observation was about it. I wanted to join in on
the conversation, but that was obviously impossible. I mean,
I went off on the queen before, and I hadn't talked to her
since. Shit. Wish I could just slip away from this little
meeting.
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"Why's Tomozaki here? Kinda out of place."
Just as all those thoughts were running through my
head, Konno put me right in my bottom-tier place. Ugh, stop
it. I know I don't fit in. I want to disappear; you don't have
to rub salt in the wound . Her words got to me because I
more or less agreed. Or… Erika Konno-san, you aren't still
mad about that fight, are you? Figures. I gave you hell.
"Sh-shut up. I'm not out of place. I'm right here."
I guess my gamer's hatred of losing took control and
made me want to fight back a little, and I had been
practicing messing with people. And that's how I ended up
saying something really dumb. I think that was the world's
dumbest response to being told I was out of place.
"…Huh?"
When she turned her frown on me, all my fighting spirit
evaporated. I was like a deer in the headlights. Like a
random NPC when the dragon attacks. No chance of
survival. Welp, I'm screwed.
Mizusawa smiled and pointed at Konno's hair.
"Hey, Erika, did you curl your hair yourself?"
"Oh, can you tell? You're sharp, Takahiro." She petted
her hair.
"What can I say? You're almost as good as me."
"What?! Shut up!"
The conversation rolled on smoothly. Nice one,
Mizusawa. He'd pushed her buttons on her favorite topic—
beauty—added just the right dash of teasing, and expertly
seized control of the conversation. As I was replaying the
series of events in my head, I realized something. That
analysis was a sign of some fairly significant improvement.
I'd been working on observation day in and day out lately,
which was probably why I was noticing this little stuff.
"What, too cheap to pay for a perm?" Nakamura said.
"Huh? I'd rather spend the money on clothes. Right,
Yuzu?"
"Yeah, we went shopping together the other day! I keep
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buying so much stuff, it's crazy…"
"I get you! I'm like that with food…," Hinami said.
"You mean cheese, right?" Mizusawa teased.
"Ah-ha-ha, nooo, don't share my secrets!"
"Seriously! You eat so much cheese whenever we go
anywhere!" Takei jumped in.
The conversation hurtled on. I couldn't join in, so I
focused all my energy on observing. As I watched the eight
of them talk, I picked up on a couple of points. It was mostly
vague stuff like who was looking where, the combination of
what they were saying and their body language, and various
inferences based on information I'd already collected. But
still…
If what I noticed was right, I had the feeling that I'd
finally found the last key to clearing Hinami's assignment.
* * *
During the break before we went to class in another room, I
went to the library for the first time in ages. Lately, I'd been
busy with my assignment, and I had the option of seeing
Kikuchi-san on the weekends, so I hadn't been here in a
while. Today, though, I wanted to talk to her about
something.
I slowly pushed open the door and looked inside. She
was sitting at her usual table in her usual chair, quietly
reading a book. When she was surrounded by books, she had
a uniquely intellectual, holy presence that was also a warm
and pure presence. Like there was a sacred flame burning in
her—that was probably the easiest way to put it. Kikuchi-san
wasn't in the library; the library had arisen with her at its
center. At least, that's how it felt to me.
As I stepped into her world, our eyes met. I walked
slowly and calmly up to her, sat down next to her, paused to
take a breath, and then looked her in the eye again. Her kind
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smile, peaceful as the night sky in autumn, struck something
deep in my soul.
"…Hi."
She greeted me with a voice like the soft tapping of
fingernails on a church bell—delicate and profound but also
elegant and welcoming.
"…Hi."
My voice began with a quiet breath delicately vibrating
my vocal cords, amplified in the resonant chambers of my
throat and nose.
By the way, the reason I'm describing my voice in terms
of the body's physical structure is because coming here alone
feels like coming home to Kikuchi-san—it feels like I can
finally relax.
"It's good that Nakamura-kun is back," Kikuchi-san said
with a gentle smile. I nodded, thinking about how observant
she was with our class.
"Yeah," I said.
Kikuchi-san smiled mischievously. "And you had a hand
in that, didn't you?"
Her tone was teasing but warm. Recently, she'd been
doing that a lot. The impression wasn't devilish or angelic—
just very human. Very Kikuchi-san. It made me happy
because I could tell she was opening her heart to me.
"Yeah, you could say that…"
"Hee-hee…I thought so," she said, smiling brightly and
nodding slowly in an almost loving way, like she was
affirming my whole self. "Good job."
Wrapped in her motherly aura, like getting a pat on the
head, I could feel the bashfulness coming on, and I started
talking in order to hide it.
"B-but…it was really Izumi who did all the work."
"Izumi-san…"
She rested her chin softly on the top edge of her book
and looked up, thinking quietly.
"…What's the matter?" I asked, still a ball of nerves. She
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blushed and glanced around. A few people were sitting
nearby. She pressed her book to her lips and brought her
face to my ear, like she was about to tell me a secret.
"Izumi-san and Nakamura-kun like each other, don't
they?"
Thanks to her breathy, incredibly delicate whisper, my
right and left brains instantly melted together so that all I
could do was nod mechanically.
"Yeah."
My overheated neurons barely managed to produce a
single, monotone syllable before creaking to a halt. My MP
(mental points) was dropping to zero, or maybe I should say
the healing power had been too much for me and just wiped
it out… I dunno, man. I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Kikuchi-san hugged her book to her chest and giggled.
"I hope it goes well for them. I'm a bit envious."
Her good-willed smile was pure and honest, and her own
yearning for love was completely noble. Thank you, Kikuchisan's parents—thank you, planet Earth, for giving birth to
this girl. These were the thoughts passing through my mind
with utter seriousness as I watched her smile. More
accurately speaking, these were the thoughts I was trying to
focus on to cool down my overheated face.
Funnily enough, Nakamura was one of the topics I'd
wanted to ask her about today. I refocused my attention on
the business at hand.
"Um…can I get your opinion about something?"
* * *
After school that day, I headed to Sewing Room #2. It was
the first time Hinami and I had met alone since Nakamura
came back to school.
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"Now that the Nakamura situation has been sorted out,
I'd like to quickly review that and then focus on the Konno
assignment." Hinami sighed, stroking the hair resting on her
shoulders. I bet the stress from all that illogical planning was
building up in her.
"Gotcha. Well, the route may not have been the most
rational, but the outcome was fantastic," I answered,
needling her with just a bit of irony. Hinami smiled like she
relished the challenge.
"Listen to you! Well, you certainly did a wonderful job of
leading everyone into wasting their time and effort," she
calmly retorted.
"Thanks," I replied, just as sarcastic. "I did have a few
thoughts about that, though."
I wanted to talk about all this heart-following stuff,
which was my top priority. Hinami's eyes turned serious.
"Was all that pointless meandering what you consider
staying true to what you want?" she asked provocatively,
staring into the depths of my eyes.
I realized this was an important moment.
That time Hinami and I argued, I'd talked about what I
really wanted . I was certain she was using this situation as
another opportunity to decide whether that was something
that was even measurable. It's a common argument to say
that being logical all the time is just suffocating and cold, but
that's emotion-based. If I said that, Hinami wouldn't even
want to consider my side of the argument.
I carefully organized my thoughts before answering her.
"Well, this is just a theory, or like…one of several
possible arguments."
"…Uh-huh."
My proof-oriented tone must have gotten me over the
first hurdle, because Hinami shifted her posture into
listening mode and nodded. It would be impossible to prove
my point unless I did it in her ring—with logic.
"Anyway, here's my thoughts about what happened. You
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were making rapid-fire suggestions on how to solve the
Nakamura problem using the most rational and quickest
approach, right?"
"Yes, I was."
"But Izumi and I kept interrupting you with our silly
ideas, so you weren't able to fully do it your way."
"Precisely. I don't even know how many times I gave
in…"
Hinami sighed. As I suspected, the experience had
exhausted her. My hope was that it was the first step toward
pulling off her steadfast mask.
"Yes, you did give in a lot. But…"
"But what?"
Again, she gave me a look like she was challenging me,
and I tried to break through my words.
"If you hadn't given in—if you'd pushed ahead with your
own approach…I think the problem would have taken even
longer to solve. Don't you agree?"
Hinami blinked a few times.
"…What are you talking about? That's obvious. I mean, I
wanted to wait until Nakamura came to us for help."
I shook my head.
"That's not what I mean. I mean after that."
"…After?"
In other words, after we'd decided to start laying the
groundwork to help Nakamura before getting his go-ahead.
Even when we were taking a less straightforward path,
Hinami had tried to apply her logic.
"Don't you think if we'd done everything you said after
that, solving the problem would have taken longer? I mean,
you were trying to get us to convince Nakamura's mom that
playing Atafami wasn't bad—in order to solve the problem
of the Atafami ban, right?"
"What do you mean? Wasn't that the problem that
needed solving?" she said, as if it was obvious. But I just
pointed back at her.
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"Well, we never did solve the problem of the Atafami
ban, did we?"
Hinami nodded twice, slowly, and smiled like she was
enjoying this argument.
"Aha, I see what you're saying."
I nodded back at her.
"Yeah, I think you're with me now. The Atafami ban was
the source of the fight, but like I said, it was never resolved.
But we were still able to get Nakamura back in school within
less than a week of launching our plan. This was the shortest
possible route to a solution—and one that your logic didn't
find."
"Ah, I see." Hinami raised her eyebrows happily.
"I think you already know this, but the key was Izumi's
desire to help Nakamura. And because he realized how she
felt, he came back to school even though the root problem
wasn't fixed. If we'd followed your method, we'd have had to
wait until that root problem was resolved to get him to come
back. Your way would have taken longer."
"I'll admit, that's fair."
She was resting her chin in her hand, but her eyes blazed
with fighting spirit. I met them head-on.
"You set these goals based on your own rules, but you're
unable to step outside of the rational approach. But when
you follow your instincts and do what you want to do, you
can find shortcuts that you wouldn't otherwise. That's what
happened this time."
Hinami nodded again.
"I see. So what you want to say is, your and Yuzu's
desires were effective in finding the shortest route."
"Right."
I nodded. She thought for a moment, finger on her lips,
then smiled sadistically.
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"I give you a score of sixty percent."
I yelped with indignation. "Wh-what?"
She looked at me with complete and utter calm.
"Think about it. You're trying to argue for following your
heart over logic, right?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, right now I am."
Hinami shook her head. "It's weird. You're saying you
should follow your heart because it allows you to find the
shortest possible route to your goal."
"…So?"
Hinami sighed, as if to say You don't get it?
"You're saying it's great because it allows you to find the
shortest possible route. But you're ultimately just saying it's
great because it's rational, right?"
"…Oh."
Her point dawned on me.
"You wanted to explain why focusing on what you want,
on something irrational, is so great, right? But you ended up
essentially saying you found a method that's more rational
than mine. Which makes you even more of a logical
extremist than me."
She was right. I'd wanted to say that by pursuing what
you want, you could achieve something more wonderful
than was possible through logic alone. In which case, I
should have shown how it could give you something
Hinami's approach couldn't. But without even noticing it, I'd
ended up arguing that my way was just more rational, which
was to say, I'd fallen into a value system that said logic was
better.
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"Y-yeah, that's true…," I groaned. Hinami looked at me,
apparently pleased to see me speechless. Her smile was
devilish and extremely amused.
"Well, you get the picture. It wasn't a bad attempt. Better
luck next time. If you're going to argue for the merits of
prioritizing what you want, you need to show me something
I can't get by doing it my way," she chided, poking my cheek
like she was my big sister. Ugh, shit. This is just
embarrassing.
"B-but it's hard to find the most effective method just
doing it your way, isn't it? Aren't there some approaches you
can only discover using my way? I mean, we wouldn't have
achieved the results we did this time otherwise…" I was
refusing to admit I'd lost.
"Okay. If that's the case, then prioritizing rationality isn't
bad in itself—we just set the wrong goals this time around.
Sure, things turned out this way because I made getting rid
of the Atafami ban my goal, but what if I'd focused on
getting Nakamura to stop skipping school instead? We
would have been able to take a variety of approaches,
including communicating Yuzu's feelings to Nakamura,
right?"
Hinami smiled triumphantly.
"At least, I would have been able to," she added.
"Damn…"
That was all I could say. She was right that simply by
shifting the goal, she would have had a whole bunch of
options: having Izumi call Nakamura to say she was worried
about him, using the ever-straightforward Takei, or… Well,
that was about all I could come up with, but anyway, she
could have made a plan and achieved results just as fast as
we had this time.
As long as she didn't mess up setting the goal, she could
reach the same territory through her extremely rational
approach that we could reach only by chance through ours.
That was her version of "correctness."
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Some people made the mistake of setting goals in pursuit
of mechanical, numerical efficiency only, so their version of
logic ended up ignoring emotions entirely. And that made it
weaker.
But the final boss, Aoi Hinami, mechanically and
numerically included emotions in the calculations that
formed the basis for her pursuit of efficiency, which she in
turn incorporated into her overall rational approach.
In which case, she had no need for my approach. At
least, not for the reason I'd just given.
Hinami tapped her chin twice with her pointer finger,
looking happy.
"That's why I gave you sixty percent. I'll admit, your
argument was quite a bit better than some others you could
have come up with. Some people might slap together an
argument by insisting something's self-evident when it isn't
—like a religion or something. You made a genuine effort to
prove your point. That was fun."
Hinami's little speech was getting kinda high-handed,
but she had me beat.
"…B-but why'd you mess up the goal this time? I think
you failed to see that Nakamura coming back to school was
the most important thing. And you missed it because your
thinking was overly rational, no?"
Hinami looked more pleased than ever as she
responded.
"Oh, no… It was the opposite, actually."
"…Wh-what do you mean?"
She looked at me triumphantly.
"I wanted to stop Nakamura's mother from thinking
Atafami rots your brain."
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She smiled sadistically.
"Oh…"
By pointing out exactly how her irrational feelings
toward Atafami had led her to a more time-consuming
solution, Hinami declared a decisive victory. She was just
too strong.
* * *
That night, I was eating dinner with my family and thinking
over my assignment. I was fairly sure I'd discovered Erika
Konno's weakness by watching Izumi work to help
Nakamura, but I didn't think I could deliver a one-hit KO
with that alone.
I would need another trick to help conquer her.
There was her desire for people to not look down on her,
and then there was the strange feeling I'd noticed when
Nakamura came back to school.
I connected all the dots and put the finishing touches on
my plan, for what it was. What I ended up with was such a
classic bottom-tier-character strategy that I was half-afraid
Hinami would get mad at me for even suggesting it. But I
figured this was the only way to take down a boss like Erika
Konno.
My strategy was extremely simple.
If I couldn't take her down with a single arrow, then I'd
keep shooting until she finally fell.
I sat on my bed, organizing my thoughts and going over
what I needed to do. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
The next day, at my morning meeting with Hinami, I
went over the points I needed to confirm before
implementing my plan.
"I'd like to review a few things about my assignment with
you."
"Like what?"
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I mentally reviewed my strategy.
"At our meeting the other day, you said asking other
people for help was a good approach to this assignment,
right?"
Hinami nodded. "Right. Since Erika Konno is such a
powerful opponent, there are things you'll have a hard time
handling with your skills alone."
"Exactly," I said, nodding. "…So about that…"
Hinami nodded encouragingly. I paused, then
continued.
"Can I ask you to help?"
She looked at me suspiciously. "What exactly do you
mean by 'help'?" she asked.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to tell me what to
do… I just want to ask you to do something, and have you do
it for me."
In other words, I'd be the one gripping the controller,
and Hinami would be one of the characters I was using. I'd
still be the gamer, here.
"…Ah, I see," Hinami said, apparently satisfied, and
paused for a minute. "In that case, I'm okay with it."
"Oh, really?"
She nodded.
"Yeah. Just know I'm not going to say anything, even if I
think your plan will fail. I'll do what you ask me to, and no
more."
I nodded.
"Yes, that's all I want."
"Otherwise—"
I interrupted, pointing at her. "The assignment is
meaningless?"
"…Well, yes."
She seemed extremely irritated by my cockiness, but I
decided not to worry about it. I knew to expect as much.
"Oh, but you care what people think of you, so make sure
that's not a problem."
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"Obviously. I won't do anything embarrassing."
"Good. Anyway, about my strategy…" I filled her in.
"Got it. I can handle that. I'll start today."
"Okay. I appreciate it!"
Now that I had Hinami's approval, the meeting came to
a close. Right! Time to lay the groundwork.
I headed to our classroom and looked around. Izumi had
just arrived and was heaving her books onto her desk. Now
was my chance to talk to her. This was the second phase of
preparation. Plus, what was the situation with Hirabayashisan? I wanted to ask her about that, too.
"Izumi."
"Oh, hey, Tomozaki!" she responded at several times my
volume.
"Oh, uh, hey!" I said, flustered, as she switched into a
dramatic, formal tone.
"I am now the captain!"
"…Oh, wow!"
It sounded like she'd talked to Hirabayashi-san and
taken over her role. A woman of her word. Now that she'd
found her way, she was a powerhouse.
"So it's all you, huh?" I said.
"Yeah, she was really struggling. And on the actual day of
the tournament, the captain has to do stuff like trade out
players and call time-outs. She said she was super nervous
about that."
"…Huh. So it was good that you took over, then."
"Yeah!" she said with a strange sense of excitement. She
was really wound up. "Oh, so what did you want to talk
about?"
"Oh right. Actually…"
I lowered my voice.
"What?"
"It's about Erika Konno…"
I told her about my strategy, and she frowned.
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"…You think that's all it'll take?"
Not a very good reaction—but I'd expected that.
"I can see why you're worried, but there's more to it than
that…"
I explained my combo strategy, which was the core of my
plan.
"Ah, now I get it! That makes more sense. That could
work!"
"R-really?!" I was clinging to Izumi's encouragement.
"You should be more confident!"
"Y-yeah, I know."
I could feel Izumi's exasperation. But how was I
supposed to feel confident when I was going up against
someone as strong as Erika Konno?
Anyway, I'd gotten Hinami and Izumi to agree to help.
Now I just had to tell Mizusawa about my plan.
"Well, I hope it works!" Izumi said.
I nodded. "Me too. Okay, I'm off to talk to Mizusawa."
"Oh, you haven't told him yet? I'll do it right now, then!"
she said energetically.
"Huh?"
"Hiro!"
With almost impulsive speed, she called out to
Mizusawa, who was talking with Nakamura's group.
"'Sup?"
Mizusawa being Mizusawa, he immediately slipped away
from the conversation and walked over to us. Normies tend
to be very decisive when it comes to communication.
"Tomozaki and I were just strategizing about the sports
tournament…"
"About the tournament? Why? Girls and guys are
separate, right?"
He looked back and forth between the two of us
suspiciously. Their momentum was starting to overwhelm
me, but I managed to pull my wits together and explain the
situation to Mizusawa. "Uh, that's not quite what's going on.
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Actually…"
When I was done explaining, Mizusawa smirked.
"Sometimes I really do think you're secretly evil."
"Sh-shut up!"
He was kind of right, so I didn't protest that strongly. I'd
picked up a little of Hinami's ruthless pragmatism. But this
time, I was also trying to help everyone enjoy the
tournament, which was what Izumi and I both genuinely
wanted. Plus, I wasn't planning to do anything terrible, so in
my mind, it was fine. As long as the goal itself was honest, I
was good.
"Hmm, hmm. Okay. So you want me to work with Yuzu
on all this?"
"Basically. I hate to ask, but do you mind?"
"Leave it to me! We'll be your mood-reading duo."
"Ha-ha-ha! Okay, thanks."
With that, I had all three of them on board. And my work
here was done.
Yup, you've got that right. For this assignment, I'd
thought up the strategy, but the implementation was totally
up to other people. Or I should say, as a weaker character,
I'd run around collecting the items needed to bring down the
dragon and then asked a bunch of high-level characters to
use them. I felt slightly guilty for doing so little, but I'd
gotten Hinami's permission to rely on other people for help,
and she'd said anything went as long as I was the one
holding the controller. I'd also gotten her approval for the
plan itself, so all in all, it seemed like I was meeting the
assignment's requirements.
A sense of accomplishment washed over me as I sat back
and recalled what Kikuchi-san had told me the day before in
the library—and what had become the core of my strategy.
* * *
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"Um…can I get your opinion about something?"
I'd asked her the question after Kikuchi-san whispered
that she thought Nakamura and Izumi liked each other.
We'd already talked about Erika Konno once before, at the
café, but I had more I wanted to know.
"Yes…about what?"
She could tell I was serious; she stuck a bookmark in her
book and laid it on the table before turning back toward me.
"Um, thanks," I said. "Actually, it's about Erika Konno
again…"
I'd made three guesses, and now I was looking for a way
to confirm them. It would have been one thing if I was
carrying out the plan myself, but since I was relying on other
people so heavily, I wanted to be sure before I asked them to
help. That was why I'd decided to ask the observant Kikuchisan about a couple of things. Guesses I made on my own
were unreliable, but if someone else had the same thoughts,
then the chance I was right would skyrocket.
"Hmm, what should I ask you first…? Okay, I'll start
here."
"I'm listening."
I told her my first conjecture.
"The other day at the café, you said Erika Konno cares
about her friends, right?"
"Yes…"
She nodded.
"Why do you think that is?"
When Kikuchi-san told me Erika Konno didn't want
people to look down on her, she'd followed up by saying she
did care about her friends. At first, I assumed she was just
saying that, but thinking more about it, I realized Kikuchisan wasn't the type of person to say things she didn't mean.
Then when I saw Izumi working so desperately to help
Nakamura—when I witnessed her kindness up close—I
remembered a certain characteristic that the most successful
people share.
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Take the time Mizusawa and Mimimi came to my house
and started seriously discussing the romantic potential
between Nakamura and Izumi. Or the time Hinami gave me
her bag but acted like she was "trading" it for a little pin so I
wouldn't feel guilty. Or the way Mimimi always acted like a
goofball to protect Tama-chan. I'd learned from experience
that normies, especially those at the top of the group, were
often capable of genuine thoughtfulness.
Of course, there were exceptions, and maybe it was just a
coincidence that the normies I knew were like that. But
Erika Konno was the leader of a top-level group. From
experience and from what Kikuchi-san had said, I might
have found a possible route to success, no matter how scary
she was.
"Well…," Kikuchi-san said with a slightly troubled smile.
It didn't take long to figure out why. "For example, if
someone's making fun of one of her good friends, she'll
protect her friend by making fun of the other girl even
more… And if one of her friends is rejected by a guy, she'll
pick on him…"
"Oh…ha-ha."
I chuckled a little wryly. Kikuchi-san's examples were a
demonstration of Konno's eye-for-an-eye approach, but I
also realized she was right to say that was a form of
thoughtfulness, too. Konno seemed to be attacking people
for no reason, but she was actually doing it for the sake of
her friends. It took speaking with Kikuchi-san for me to see
that.
And that's when my first strategy took form.
I'd get Izumi to tell Erika Konno directly that she wanted
everyone to have fun at the sports tournament.
That was my first weapon. Izumi was a close friend of
hers, enough that they'd been shopping together multiple
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times already. As far as I could tell, Izumi was closer with
Erika Konno than anyone else in her group. If Izumi told her
straight up that she wanted to enjoy the tournament, it
ought to have some impact—and all the more so if Konno
cared about her friends.
Simply stating her feelings might sound like an easy job
for Izumi, but keep in mind who she'd be telling this to. This
was a fairly difficult mission. The strategy was only possible
because she had grown so much lately and gotten better at
speaking her mind. The weapon was only completed when
Izumi became stronger. I'd better be grateful she leveled up.
"Thanks… And there's something else."
"Yes…" Kikuchi-san nodded, and I asked my next
question.
"Erika Konno pays pretty close attention to Hinami,
doesn't she? Y'know, as a rival?"
I waited for Kikuchi-san's response. She paused and
looked down, like she wasn't sure what to say.
"Yes…I'd agree with that."
Okay. I had my second confirmation.
"Thought so."
I'd realized this on the day Erika Konno and her posse
joined up with our group. I'd been observing the
conversation between her, Nakamura, Mizusawa, Takei,
Hinami, Izumi, and two of Konno's other hangers-on from
outside the circle. Erika Konno and Hinami had hardly
spoken to each other. I had never seen them talking before,
but the way they even avoided making eye contact was just
weird. And neither of them was quiet in the conversation
overall, which must mean they were intentionally avoiding
each other. And that meant there was an invisible but deeprooted conflict between the leaders of the two groups.
If that conflict did exist, I couldn't imagine Hinami being
the one to start it. The only scenario I could imagine was
that Erika Konno initiated it, and Hinami went along
because she didn't have any other options.
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I didn't know if Konno viewed Hinami's brilliance in
every area with hostility or plain old fear, but she definitely
held some kind of negative emotion toward her. Ultimately,
though, if I took Konno's pride into account, I'd bet she
wanted to avoid taking an inferior position relative to
someone stronger than her.
In other words, Konno saw Aoi Hinami as a greater rival
than any of her other classmates. And that's where I'd aim
my second weapon.
I'd make her think that if she didn't play well in the
sports tournament, Hinami would look down on her.
I'd taken a hint from Hinami's own approach to
problem-solving. For instance, with the Nakamura incident,
she'd planned to use her own good grades to improve
Atafami' s image. In the student council election, she'd used
her achievements on the track team. All the effort she'd
poured in beforehand produced major results. This time, I'd
get her to use her high position in the class hierarchy.
All I had to do was ask Hinami flat-out to fan the flames
of Erika Konno's insecurity, and the plan was as good as
done. I'd asked her to make little comments to Konno's
posse: Is Erika going to play? and If she's not feeling up to
it, she can leave it to me. I don't mind at all! and Guess this
isn't really her thing, huh? If the message reached Konno
through them, that should spur her on somewhat. Thank
you, Hinami. I know the lines I'm giving you are kinda iffy.
But this strategy wouldn't necessarily yield big results.
If Konno was able to avoid Hinami's contempt by
making fun of the sports tournament, she could get what she
wanted that way instead. To prevent this, I needed my third
weapon.
And so I asked Kikuchi-san another question.
"Also…"
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"Yes?"
I thought for a moment about how to phrase it.
"Erika Konno probably still likes Nakamura, don't you
think?"
Kikuchi-san nodded a little reluctantly. "…I think so."
Okay. All the pieces were in place.
My reasons for that guess were simple. First, I'd heard
her say in the old principal's office that she liked Nakamura
in the past. Second, she'd showed her hand when he came
back to school after his long absence.
The one and only Erika Konno had gotten up and walked
over to join our group with no prompting whatsoever. It was
strange for her. But when I thought about it, it all seemed
very straightforward. She wanted to talk to Nakamura
because he'd been away—and she wanted it so badly that
instead of calling him over to her, she went to him.
This was my final weapon.
I'd get Mizusawa to smoothly drop a hint that Nakamura
liked sporty girls.
It's kind of an idiotic plan, but some people say the
simplest strategies work best. I don't really need to explain
this one, right? The idea was to convince her that if she gave
her all at the tournament, Nakamura might think she was
hot. I had some qualms about using this weakness against
her, but, well, sometimes the end justifies the means?
So that was my strategy, and I had a reason for using
three prongs, thanks to what Gumi-chan had said at Karaoke
Sevens. She belonged to the same tribe as Erika Konno, and
she'd told me what was most important for conquering her.
"If you want to motivate the queen, you need to make it
worth her while!"
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In other words, cost performance was the key. Let me lay
it out:
She wants to make her friend Izumi happy.
She wants to avoid having Aoi Hinami look down on her.
She wants Nakamura to like her.
Based on the information I'd collected, these were Erika
Konno's three desires. I just had to set things up so that
through the single action of getting involved in the sports
tournament, she could fulfill all three of those desires. Once
I did that, the payoff for that one little thing would be extra
tempting.
Even if each individual element was weak, the three of
them together packed quite a bit of punch, and the cost
performance of participating improved. And when that
happened, Erika Konno, Gumi-chan's fellow apathetic alien,
would act.
That was my strategy to take down Erika Konno, made
possible with the help of a lot of other people.
All I had to do now was watch how my three arrows
changed the mood.
* * *
Several days had passed since I finished laying the
groundwork for my strategy, and everyone had completed
their tasks. Among the girls in class, the attitude toward the
tournament hadn't changed dramatically, but it had
definitely changed nonetheless.
"Hey, Yuzu! Has the sport been picked yet?"
"Yeah! I'm going to announce it at the next long
homeroom, but we're doing softball!"
"Huh."
"Basketball was popular with the other grades, too, so we
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did rock-paper-scissors, and I lost. But then softball was our
second choice, and I didn't even have to rock-paper-scissors
for that one."
"Uh-huh. Gotcha."
If I told you the one asking all the questions was Erika
Konno, you could see how much the mood had changed.
She'd gone from being totally uninterested in the
tournament to actively asking questions about it. Okay, so
that "uh-huh" was a sign she was still pretending not to care,
but I felt she really was just pretending. This was major
progress.
"So who's our pitcher gonna be? Yuki?"
"Uh, I played softball, but I was on third."
"Yeah, but aren't you the only choice?"
And in response to their leader, the other members of
the Konno group gradually started to show some interest,
too. Some were probably just following her lead, but my
guess is that the others were always interested and had just
been hiding it because of her. In any case, when the person
who normally set the mood changed direction, the group
around her immediately changed, too. This was the opposite
of the Nakamura incident—when he was absent, everyone
started dividing into new factions. When the central figure
indicated a clear direction, the group came together.
After that, I could have safely said the girls in the class
were excited for the tournament, I think. But while my
strategy was partly to thank (along with the work of Hinami,
Mizusawa, and Izumi), the cleanest hit surprisingly came
from the fact that Izumi was now captain. Just when Erika
Konno was starting to show a willingness to participate a bit,
Izumi gave her an extra push, and the end result was a kind
of synergy.
Also, if I was right that Erika Konno had her eye on
Hirabayashi-san for some reason, then it's highly likely that
she was being so stubbornly unmotivated because of who
was captain. When her friend Izumi took over, that had a big
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impact. I was so grateful for Izumi's personal growth.
Anyway, all those little factors came together to make a
big change in Konno's attitude. Instead of using one hard
push to turn everything around, I'd nudged her little by little
and ultimately achieved a big result. In that sense, my
strategy had the same structure as my general approach to
life, and to lots of the games I played. Now I just had to wait
for the tournament itself.
* * *
We had three days to go, and school had just let out.
"Yeah, it's safe to say you've passed your assignment."
Hinami was giving me her grade before the big day even
arrived.
"Really? I'm already done?"
"Yep."
True enough, in the few days that had passed since I saw
her bombarding Izumi with questions, Konno had become
totally wrapped up in the tournament. She had an inherent
desire to be better than other people, so I guess once she
gave in and started to do something, she felt the need to do it
well. In that way, she reminded me of Nakamura.
"I doubt we have anything to worry about at this point…
and even if everything goes south, I'd still say you passed
after how much you managed to influence Konno."
"Yesss!"
I pumped my fist without a hint of self-consciousness.
Man, that was a long assignment. But it was a fun one—it
really felt like a game.
"I hope you can stay this positive for the tournament, but
for someone as out of shape as you, that's gonna be hard."
"Ouch…"
My spirits fell as Hinami put into words what I'd already
faintly sensed myself. She grinned at me with satisfaction.
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"Anyway, it was fun to watch nanashi put together a
strategy. I meant for this to be a tough one, but you did a
surprisingly good job of it."
"Uh, oh, really?"
I was wide open, and the sudden pivot from insults to
praise landed a solid hit. Shit, now what do I do? I was
happy, though; I couldn't help it.
Hinami must have instantly recognized that my guard
was down; she smiled with a mature sexiness, parted her
soft lips, and hit me with a "Nice work." Okay, Hinami, now
I know you're just trying to embarrass me. I won't give in
that easily.
"So, uh, so what's my next assignment?"
Fighting against her seductive gaze, I changed the
subject. She smiled sadistically as I struggled to regain my
composure.
"What's the matter?"
"N-nothing. I just asked about my next assignment."
"Is that so?"
"Y-y-yes, it is."
She was intentionally winding me up with her relentless
questions. Nope, I'd lost. I could barely get a hit in during
this exchange. She really knew how to push my buttons.
Apparently satisfied, she returned to her usual cool
attitude.
"Anyway, you're right. Rather than waiting around to see
what happens, you'd be better off moving efficiently ahead. I
think you should leave Erika Konno behind and go on to
your next assignment."
"…Got it."
I nodded, finally calm again. I'd had a break over the
past few days as I watched my strategy unfold, so I was
ready to go again. Bring it on!
"Now then, your assignment for the three days between
now and the tournament is…"
"Oh boy…" I braced myself.
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"…to devote yourself completely to improving your
layup." With the utmost gravity, she announced a majorly
disappointing task in the most serious of tones.
"…Seriously?"
She smiled teasingly at my reaction.
"The whole class is excited for the tournament now. It
would be a shame not to win, wouldn't it?"
"…Ha-ha."
Hinami's smile was oddly amusing, and I couldn't help
laughing a little. Here it was again—her obsession with being
number one. The boys' team really had nothing to do with
her, but I guess she wanted a double win for our class?
"I'm fairly sure the girls will manage to take first place.
My work on the student council hasn't really started yet, so I
can focus on this. Having Erika Konno on board now is
huge, and so is the fact that Nakamura is back at school. You
guys need to get on top of this. Considering who you've got
on your team, winning isn't a complete fantasy."
"You think so…?"
"Not that it'll make much difference even if you do
improve, but I'd like to shore up that weak point of yours."
"Weak point…"
She was right, but hearing the truth still hurt. I wanted
to have a good time at the tournament, but maybe it'd be
better if I just didn't play at all.
"But…three days of practice won't change much, will it?"
I asked. Hinami wagged her finger at me.
"Listen. You're not going to be practicing every move in
basketball, just your layups. If you focus on that, you can
wait by the basket for someone to pass you the ball at the
right moment and toss it in. It's not a typical position, but
that's fine. There probably won't even be real man-to-man
defense in the tournament."
I couldn't help smiling at her bizarre but weirdly
practical strategy.
"Okay, I get it…but is this really the assignment you want
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to give me? I mean, everything else has had to do with social
stuff."
Hinami smiled smugly.
"What are you talking about? This is going to help on
that front, too."
"Really?"
Hinami answered in her usual rational tone. "You can
finally join in on conversations with Nakamura's group, but
you're still mostly incapable of talking to more than half the
kids in our class. I heard Tachibana even forgot your name
the other day."
"Uh…"
So my classmates still saw me that way.
"You already have the skills to speak normally with the
other guys in class; you just haven't had the opportunity. I
know three days is a lot to spend on something completely
unrelated to communication skills, but remember this is like
taking a shortcut to making conversation opportunities. It's
not an entirely inefficient thing to do."
Hinami smiled proudly.
"Um…so you want me to practice layups and find a role
to play in the tournament so I can talk with the jocks in
class…"
"Basically."
So she wasn't just trying to score a win; she was also
thinking about my position in the class. Hats off to you,
Hinami.
"Plus, you should get some EXP from the new
environment this assignment creates."
"…Oh right."
I thought back a couple of days to the incident with
Tachibana-kun. He'd joined our conversation for the first
time, and I'd gotten so nervous that the whole series of
exchanges felt like uncharted territory. It really lit a fire
under my butt. By intentionally pushing me out of my
comfort zone, she wanted me to collect more EXP on a daily
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basis.
"This will be a good opportunity, right?"
"Well, now that you've put it like that…yeah."
I had to admit she was right.
"Anyway, I want you to start layup practice after school
today… Remember, you're aiming for number one."
"Ha-ha…got it."
Hinami told me about a park between school and the
train station where I could use the basketball courts, and
with that, my intensive training began. She would stop by
after track practice to give me tips and correct my form. And
make fun of my horrible coordination.
Seriously, though. She's even found a way turn layup
practice into EXP for my ultimate goals—just how logical
was she?