My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 37

"……Yeah?"

Upon hearing Yuihama's words, Yukinoshita turned her face away. Whether it was due to the setting sun or her embarrassment, a blush rose to her cheeks.

But didn't I say I'd help? Why is her reaction to Yui Hama so different from her reaction to me?

Ye Shan looked at the two girls and gave them a bright and cheerful smile.

"They have such a good relationship."

"Hmm? Yes, they have a very good relationship."

"The penguin is one too."

What nonsense is this guy spouting... Besides, our club doesn't have anyone more than Penguin.

× × ×

On the second day, Yuhihama entered battle mode.

During lunch break that day, instead of going to my usual spot, I enjoyed bread and SPORTOP sports drinks that I had bought beforehand in the classroom. At that moment, Yui came to me for a sand table exercise.

"Anyway, I'll try to ask as many questions as possible... So, you don't need to force yourself at all, in fact, you don't need to do anything!"

"Oh, I see. That definitely makes things much easier for me. But you're really energetic..."

I couldn't help but shrink back a little.

"W-Does that even need to be said? Because, because it was Yukino's request!"

“I-I see…”

I shrank back even further when I saw that she was willing to go to such lengths for Yukinoshita. She seemed to emanate an aura that indicated she would be wasting her time, and I had an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

"It's good to be motivated, but what are your plans?"

"Hmm... let's start by asking the girls. The girls are usually more familiar with the relationships between classmates. And if the conversation turns to someone that no one likes, they'll get excited and start talking non-stop."

"The topics girls talk about are really scary."

The saying "the enemy of my enemy is my ally"—what a brilliant strategy that is...

"It's not as dark as you think! Was that some kind of venting, or perhaps an exchange of information?"

"Everyone interprets things differently."

"Anyway, aren't you not very good at this? So leave it to me, you don't need to worry about it."

She's absolutely right. Frankly, I'm not suited for striking up conversations to gather information. The moment I open my mouth, people are already on guard. I don't even need to ask questions; they'll ask me first, "Who are you?"

From this perspective, Yuihama's position in the class is quite appropriate, and she also treats people very well. She probably developed the skill of reading people's expressions from a young age, and this finally came in handy.

"That makes sense... Sorry, then it's up to you. Good luck!"

"Um!"

After encouraging herself, she joined the Miura Girls' Group, which was very close to the Hayama Group.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~"

"Ah, Yui, you're so slow~"

The girls, led by Miura, responded lazily.

"By the way, lately, Hubu, Daigo, and Yamato have been acting strange. Don't you guys think there's something wrong?"

Pfft! Yuihama's words almost made me spit out my tea.

That was an incredible straight shot! And a bullet shot at 160 km/h! If this were "Pro Evolution Soccer," the ball speed would definitely be S-level, but the ball control is only F-level.

"Huh... Yui, I don't remember you being the type to say something like that..."

The guy who took the first step back, I think his name was Ebina.

Then, Miura's eyes gleamed, preparing to launch an attack on a vital point.

"Hey, Yui~ Isn't this a bit inappropriate? Talking about 'friends' gossip isn't a good thing~"

She used this high-sounding phrase to put herself in an absolute position of advantage.

As a result, Yui is now in the midst of a crisis of being ostracized. What is she thinking?!

However, Yuihama still tried her best to cover it up.

"No, no! How should I put it? I'm just a little concerned..."

"What, you like some of the people in them?"

"That's not right at all! There is someone who's a little on my mind... but that's his personality... ah!"

Yuihama's expression instantly turned grim. At the same time, Miura's face broke into a smile.

"Oh? Yui, do you have someone you like? Tell us, we'll definitely help you!"

"I told you that's not what I meant! What I'm concerned about is the relationship between the three of them, right? I really feel like they've been acting a bit strange lately."

"What? Are you talking about that? How boring!"

Miura's interest vanished instantly, and he took out his phone to play with it.

However, Ebina took the bait.

"I understand... So Yui thought the same thing... In fact, I..."

"Exactly! Don't you think the atmosphere between them has been really awkward lately?"

"I thought so……"

Ebina's expression turned serious, and he sighed as he said:

"In my opinion, there's definitely a love triangle between them! Tobe is absolutely the bottom! And Yamato is the dominant top, while Ooka is the seductive bottom!"

"Ah~ I understand myself now... Huh?"

"But, but, their target is definitely Hayato! Ugh! This feeling of everyone taking a step back for their friend is so touching!"

Hey, really? So Ebina has that kind of fetish, huh? He even got a nosebleed.

Yuihama let out a bewildered whimper, but Miura, probably already used to it, simply sighed.

"Ebina's acting up again. You're actually quite cute if you just stay quiet. But you should pretend for now and wipe the blood from your nose."

"Ah, hahaha..."

Yuihama, intimidated by Ebina's imposing presence, could only manage a laugh to cover it up. Then, noticing I was watching, she secretly raised her hand, giving me a coded signal that she had failed.

...There's nothing she can do; she's made several wrong moves from the very beginning. Even without Ebina's presence, she probably wouldn't have gotten any useful information.

Since that's the case, I'll have to take matters into my own hands.

That being said, it's impossible for me to ask around among my classmates.

So, what methods should be used to gather intelligence?

The answer is actually quite simple: just observe carefully with your eyes. Since we can't talk to people... no, it should be said that precisely because we can't talk to people, we need to gather information in other ways.

It's said that in human communication, only 30% of the information comes from language, while the other 70% is gleaned from subtle eye movements. The saying "the eyes carry just as much weight as the mouth" illustrates the importance of communication beyond language. Now, if we reverse this statement, does it mean that a lone wolf who doesn't speak to others can also achieve about 70% communication...? Hmm, that doesn't seem quite right, does it? Definitely not.

So, let me introduce another of my eighteen martial arts skills—"observing humans." As for other skills, there's "shooting," and so on. Could it be that I really am a ○ male?

The steps to observe humans are very simple.

First, put the earphones in your ears, but don't turn on the music. Instead, listen carefully to what the people around you are saying.

Then, he pretended to be in a daze and carefully observed the expressions of each member of Hayama's group.

That's it.

Hayama and the others sat by the window, with Hayama leaning against the wall, while Tobe, Yamato, and Ooka gathered around him.

Just from that formation, it was clear at a glance that Ye Shan held a leadership position within the group. Occupying the strongest, most secure position against the wall was indeed the posture of a king. They might not have been consciously aware of this, but it was precisely this lack of awareness that indicated it was an instinctive behavior.

The three people each played a different role.

"By the way, lately when we've been practicing defense, the coach keeps hitting the baseball towards the football club area, which is really reckless—that's a hard ball, you know!"

"...so it really annoyed our consultants."

"I think it's hilarious! But you guys in the rugby club are lucky; the soccer club is the real victim. A fly ball just flew right over there! It was so tragic! We're all going crazy!"

Ooka posed the question, Yamato offered a response, and then Tobe heated up the atmosphere—it all seemed like a meticulously rehearsed play. Shakespeare once said, "All the world's a stage," and in my view, all the men and women are simply playing their roles.

As for the director and audience member of this stage, Hayama, he would sometimes laugh along with them, sometimes offer a topic of conversation, and sometimes join in the commotion.

As I looked at it, I noticed a lot of small details.

Ah, he clicked his tongue in surprise.

When the guy next door started talking, he suddenly fell silent.

He started playing on his phone out of boredom, probably because he couldn't join in the conversation.

He'll give a weird smile whenever he hears a slightly vulgar joke, so he must still be a virgin... The above information is from my own experience.

When the topic suddenly turns vulgar, people become flustered and, after a moment's hesitation, proudly boast, "I haven't had much of a sex drive lately~". Why is that?

...Why do I keep getting information that's completely unimportant?

It seems there's been no progress in this area either, and I couldn't help but sigh.

"Excuse me, I'll be back in a bit."

Just then, Hayama got up and walked towards me. I must have been staring too intently, because he noticed me. Was he going to provoke me with, "What are you looking at? Which school do you go to?"? I'm so nervous!

"……what?"

I nervously spoke to Ye Shan, who was standing next to me, but he neither got angry nor grabbed my collar or threatened me to hand over the money. He just laughed heartily:

"No, I was just curious if you noticed anything."

"No……"

If I had to say what I noticed, it would be that Ebina is a fujoshi (female fan of BL) and Ooka is a virgin.

Speaking of Ooka, I turned to look at the three of them and noticed a somewhat unexpected change.

They were all lazily playing on their phones, and occasionally stealing glances at Ye Shan.

In that instant, the truth suddenly became clear. A flash of insight struck my mind, as if I had been shot in the neck with a wristwatch-shaped tranquilizer gun.

"what happened?"

Ye Shan asked me with a puzzled look, and I responded with a smile.

"The mystery... is all solved!"

If you want to hear my reasoning, you'll have to wait for a commercial break. We'll be right back after the break.

× × ×

After school, Yukinoshita, Yuihama, Hayama, and I gathered at the clubhouse.

"What were the survey results?"

Yukinoshita was the first to ask a question.

Yuihama let out a dry laugh of "Hahaha~", then bowed her head and apologized quite honestly.

"I'm so sorry! I asked the girl, but I didn't get any information at all!"

However, there was nothing that could be done about it. After that, Ebina relentlessly bombarded her with a bunch of irrelevant information about top/bottom relationships and pairings, making it impossible for her to continue her investigation.

Yuihama raised her head slightly to observe Yukinoshita's expression and found that she did not seem angry.

"Oh, I see. It's alright."

"Huh? Are you alright?"

"Conversely, it means the girls aren't interested in this and aren't involved. This means the problem lies with you guys, Hayama-san. Thanks for your help, Yui-hama-san."

"X-Xiao Yukino..."

Yuihama was so moved that her eyes welled up with tears. She was about to rush towards Yukinoshita, but Yuihama dodged her, causing her head to hit the wall with a "thud".

Seeing that she looked like she was about to cry, Yukinoshita could only helplessly touch her forehead and then look at me.

"So, what did you learn?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't find any clues left by the perpetrator."