My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 348

"That's enough. You all go back to your seats."

Yukinoshita hadn't let go of Miura yet, so I gently patted her hand. Although I hesitated about whether such a touch was appropriate, she was currently becoming combative, and this approach was more effective than persuading her verbally.

The instant they touched, Yukinoshita looked at him with the same sharp gaze, but she immediately released Miura's hand. Miura let his freed hand hang limply and took a step back.

I quickly filled the space to separate the two of them and gestured for Miura to sit back down. I then handed the rest over to Yui.

Miura still glared at Yukinoshita with resentment in his eyes. Yui gently patted her shoulder and led her back to her original seat.

"Calm down... okay?"

I looked at the two of them and moved my chair so that I could block between Miura and Yukinoshita if necessary later.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Didn't I say I'm already used to this kind of thing?"

Yukino took the hand that had been holding Miura's earlier and gave me a wry smile, her previous aggressive emotions completely gone.

"Xiao Yukino..."

"So now I don't take it to heart... As long as the people close to me understand, that's enough for me."

Yuihama was still worried. Yukino smiled gently at her, lightly touched Miura's hand again, and sat back down in her seat. Only after the situation calmed down did Yuihama breathe a sigh of relief and return to her seat.

Miura remained silent, squinting at them as if looking at something dazzling.

Then, she slightly pursed her lips and muttered softly:

"...That's obvious...that's why I said it."

"what?"

When Yui asked her back, she immediately looked away.

"That's right, it's someone close to me... I want to know so that I can become someone close to him."

Miura looked embarrassed and mumbled something in his voice. He touched his hair and turned to look out the window, looking sullen.

—I understand now, that explains it.

She didn't mean anything to anyone with her words, but I understood them without even realizing it—or rather, I felt a strong connection to them.

Yukinoshita is not the only one who has long been misunderstood by others.

Having gone through the same experience, he must feel the same way.

It's impossible for only one party to be misunderstood or misinterpreted. The other party would likely not have received the understanding they deserve either.

"Miura, what you really want to know isn't the past..."

My voice probably carried a hint of surprise.

Upon hearing this, Miura glared at her fiercely. However, her eyes lacked their usual strength. Instead, they were filled with glistening tears.

What she really wanted to know was not what kind of past the other person had, nor what path they planned to take in the future.

What was he thinking, and what were his feelings?

She simply wanted to know how the other person felt.

In other words, it means "wanting to understand".

"I... I just... how should I put it... I just hope that we can spend a little more time together like this..."

Miura blurted out his words in a slightly anxious manner, but he became increasingly weak and could no longer speak, and his shoulders gradually lost strength.

"Lately, I feel like there's some distance between me and Hayato... It feels like he might just leave me like this."

She gazed at a corner of the classroom and spoke in a soft voice.

I don't know when she started referring to "recently." However, the environment in which Hayama Hayato finds himself is indeed changing little by little.

Isshiki confessed to him, went on a trip with girls from other schools a few days ago, and now there are rumors that she's dating Yukinoshita...

He has never been involved in any scandals. To be more precise, he has actively distanced himself from such matters. However, recently, this balance has begun to crumble.

With distance growing between them, the issue of class reassignment came to the forefront. Therefore, she was certain that in the near future, she would lose her current relationships with everyone.

She clearly felt the separation and the sense of distance.

"Me too...it's weird. But...I don't know anymore..."

Miura's words came out in fragments. Yuihama got up, walked to her side, squatted down, and gently took her hand.

"No, it's not surprising at all. Isn't it natural to want to be together?"

She said this softly. Upon hearing this, Miura let out a heavy sigh, lowered his head, and breathed softly to avoid choking up.

Miura must understand that the current relationship cannot last forever, that the future she imagines is impossible to achieve, and that speaking out would risk destroying everything. Nevertheless, she still doesn't want to lose him.

Therefore, in order to keep Hayato Hayama, to preserve his surroundings, and to maintain the appearance of his desired existence, she hoped that she could at least stay by his side and be with him.

The email she sent seemed simple and devoid of emotion, but it was actually the only small form of resistance she could offer. Within that short line lay her intense will and desire.

That's why there are some things I don't quite understand.

I let out a deep sigh and spoke to Miura:

"But the fact that Hayama won't say it means he doesn't want you to know. He might already hate you."

"Hey, what are you doing—"

"Hikigaya-kun..."

Yuihama rebuked him, and Yukinoshita looked over in confusion.

I know that saying this sounds like I'm deliberately trying to cause trouble for Miura, but I still need to clarify this issue first. Whether Miura is truly prepared is not my focus. To be honest, I have absolutely no interest in that.

What I'm unsure about is whether it's right to insist on digging deeper when the other party doesn't want outsiders to investigate. I'm now starting to believe that even without deliberate contact, it's possible to establish and maintain a connection between two people.

This is the reason why I raised this question.

Even so, do you still want to know?

I need to confirm with Miura whether she would cross the line set by the other party, even at the risk of being disliked, alienated, considered shameless, or even hurting the other party.

Miura did not hesitate at all.

She looked straight at me with teary eyes, clenching her fists tightly.

Even so... I still want to know... is there no other way?

She spoke firmly in a trembling voice.

Miura must have always harbored the desire to know and understand the other person. Now, that desire welled up with tears. She clenched her teeth, trying hard to swallow her sobs.

Even knowing it's an unattainable wish, they still fight back fiercely, relentlessly pursuing it—

Miura in this state looks just like someone.

"Understood. I'll figure something out."

So I changed my attitude and immediately agreed.

Yuihama and Yukinoshita couldn't help but show surprise upon hearing this.

"...What's your idea?"

"Use any means necessary to force him to tell us. Otherwise, we'll investigate ourselves."

"Even if we do get the answer, there's no way to guarantee it's 100% correct, right?"

"Yes... so, we can only speculate from now on."

Moreover, that might still not be enough.

Hayama used grand principles to build a defense for himself, refusing to reveal which group he had chosen. What we need to understand first is his motivation. To find out the reason, we'll need to take a series of steps. However, we can leave that for later.

The most important thing now is to confirm Miura's own will.

"No matter what answer we get, we can't guarantee it will be 100% correct... If it's acceptable, we'll find a way."

I'll emphasize it again: Yuihama also gazed at Miura and softly asked her:

"Yumiko, is this acceptable?"

"……Um."

Miura responded like a child, then blew her nose and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. But she wiped too much, and the area around her eyes became smudged like a panda's.

Seeing Miura's makeup so smudged, I realized for the first time that he was actually quite cute.

Volume 10, Part 5: Until that day comes, Totsuka Saika will continue to wait.

The day after Miura visited the club office was a sunny day.

I was walking slowly outside, heading to my gym class. The sky overhead was quite bright; it seemed the temperature would drop significantly after nightfall due to radiative cooling.

For a day when I'm going to run an endurance race, clear, cloudless skies are definitely good news. Besides, I'll just stay home in the evening anyway, so the cold outside won't bother me.

Students from three classes were gathered on campus. Endurance running differs from other physical education classes; it doesn't require separating boys and girls. Although the distances on both sides are different, it's essentially running.

After everyone lined up on the playground, I spotted Miura in a group of girls.

Starting this morning, Miura deliberately avoided eye contact with me. Whether it was during class or break time, she would just prop her cheek up and turn her face away. Every time get out of class ended, Yui and Ebina would go over to her and talk to her a lot.

It wasn't good to keep staring, so I don't know what they talked about. She seemed much calmer than yesterday.

Regarding what happened yesterday, I left the clubroom first to let Miura calm down. If I, a guy with a weak relationship with her, stayed, she wouldn't be able to feel better.

So, I don't know if they talked about anything else. Thinking of Miura crying like that, it's hard to imagine her being able to answer properly afterwards.

That said, it's surprising that person is actually quite weak. During summer vacation, she seemed to be completely defeated by Yukinoshita, crying her eyes out...

However, despite his weakness, Miura was actually quite strong-willed.

I still want to know—that question still echoes in my ears.

As we lined up, I looked at the people in front of us.

——Hayama Hayato.

Hayama was chatting and laughing with the Ministry of Revenue and the others, unaware of my gaze.

Another possibility is that he knew I was watching him, and then, like many other things, he deliberately played dumb.

Why did he refuse to reveal his choice of group to anyone? Rather than obsessing over the final answer of "humanities" or "science" and trying to find out why he refuses to answer, it might be simpler to deduce the answer yourself.

Having considered this, physical education teacher Atsugi came to an end with his roll call.

"Alright. Now, you can go find someone you like to warm up!"

He shouted, and everyone formed pairs and began warm-up exercises.

Why not take this opportunity to find someone close to Ye Shan and see if you can find out anything?

So, who should we contact?

Within the entire Soubu High School, it's unlikely anyone understands Hayama better than Miura. Simply put, in terms of proximity, Miura and her group are the closest to Hayama, and she herself is always watching over him. Finding a more ideal candidate is probably impossible.

Since that's the case, we need to think about it from a different angle. Finding someone who has a good relationship with Hayama and shares similar traits, and listening to their perspective to reconstruct Hayama's thought process, might be one way. For example, Totsuka, who is the president of a sports club like Hayama; Totsuka, who is Hayama's classmate; Totsuka, who attends the same school; and Totsuka, who is also a boy... well, I'm not really sure; and Totsuka, who would choose this option even without a reason.

Alright—let's go find Totsuka for some warm-up exercises today! My heart leaped with excitement as I looked around, searching for him. A short while later, I heard a call from behind.

"Hachiman——"

I instinctively turned around quickly and immediately met the other person's gaze.

What appeared was Timber Stander, waving at me with a big smile, his steps heavy. Why was he so happy...?

"Hachiman—let's warm up—"

"Oh... well, don't make it sound like you're inviting me to play baseball... and unfortunately, I'm already with someone else today—"

The wood stand didn't listen to me at all and continued to pretend to be something it wasn't.

"Oh, right, although the teacher asked us to warm up with someone we like, that's not why I came to find you! Don't get the wrong idea!"

"Why are your cheeks so red... And don't look away, it's disgusting..."

I looked away and glanced elsewhere. Hayama and Tobe's group of four had already started warming up in pairs—ahhh! Totsuka had also found his other companions! I was even thinking of using warm-up exercises as an excuse to help him loosen up his joints...

"There's no other way..."

I had no choice but to give up on that idea and choose the wood bench as my warm-up partner. I stretched my body to relieve my stiff muscles, and then let the wood bench sit on the ground to help him stretch his back.

However, simply stretching like this isn't very meaningful. At times like these, I need to put my skills in observing humans to good use.