Mizuto Irido
I casually watched as Asuhain was dragged off by Yume. Fortunately, neither Kawanami nor Minami-san seemed to have noticed. I didn’t want the two of them needlessly prying into what was going on. While I occasionally poked into their conversation in order to buy time for Yume, Minami-san suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, Irido-kun, Yume-chan told me something.”
“Oh? Do tell,” Kawanami said excitedly.
Minami-san glared at Kawanami who’d jumped onto the topic before I could even say anything.
“Butt out of this, you stupid voyeur! Shoo!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll just stand over there with my ears covered, all right? Sheesh.”
Kawanami raised both of his hands, emphasizing his surrender, and walked deeper into the store. He began looking at the gifts on the shelves while being true to his word and covering his ears. Wow, she’s really got him whipped.
After he left, Minami-san lowered her voice and continued what she wanted to talk about earlier. “So, I was talking to Yume-chan last night, and I was wondering...did something happen?”
“How about you tell me what you two talked about first?”
“Don’t worry, there’s no need to be shy. I saw you two go into the pool, after all.”
“I guess it’s pointless to ask why you saw us...”
“Oopsie!”
I’m not sure if she followed us or staked it out, but either way, this is definitely one of the things she’s good at.
“Let me confirm something first, though. How much did you see?”
“Well, I was there a little before nine—pretty much at eight fifty. Not really sure since I didn’t have my phone.”
“So you were staking us out... What makes you ask if something happened?”
“Well, after we talked, Yume-chan seemed like she was thinkin’ hard about something. That’s why I was wonderin’ if anything happened. Judgin’ by the vibes, I doubt it was a fight or anything.”
“Well, I guess something happened, in a manner of speaking...”
I wasn’t entirely sure if I should come out with what exactly had happened. If I did, I had no doubt that Minami-san’s huge network of contacts could help us out, but there was something about her that gave me pause. Plus, her best friend Yume hadn’t even told her what was going on, so...
“What did you talk to Yume about? Give me the details.”
“Pretty much the same thing that you and I just discussed. I was stationed outside the pool entrance the entire time that you two were in there.”
“Huh?” If that’s true, then where did the culprit run off to? “Is there anyone who can corroborate your story?”
“Oh, goin’ interrogation mode? But yeah, you can ask either Sakamizu-chan or Kanai-chan since they were both with me.”
“Were there any other people who knew that you were there?”
“Nope. Just little ol’ me. I wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone else.”
“I see...”
No wonder Yume got lost in thought after this. This is the closed-room mystery that people like her love. But in that case... “Hm?”
Wait. Wait a second. Wouldn’t that make it impossible for Asuhain to be the culprit? During our squabble this morning, I’d heard from Yume that there was already someone back in the room before her.
“Hm...”
“Gosh, why are you going into concentration mode too?! Seriously, what’s going on?!”
“Minami-san, sorry, but do you mind if I ask you one more thing? And don’t ask for context.”
“Okay, I guess. Shoot.”
“Were you watching over the pool entrance until we left the first time or the second?”
“Oh, that’s all you wanna know? I saw you two leave once and then go back inside and then back out to the elevator.”
“I see...”
If she stopped watching after we left for the first time, then our current theory would’ve worked. But if she was watching the entire time, there was no way it could’ve been Asuhain. The culprit isn’t her.
✦ ✦ ✦
Yume Irido
As we looked at the colorful Ryukyu glass bowls lined up on the shelves, I looked for my chance to bring up what I wanted to ask her. I was waiting for the natural timing to confront Asuhain-san about the truth, but no matter how I thought about it, there wasn’t any way that was happening naturally.
Ultimately, all I could do was brace myself. If I had misunderstood things, then that would be fine. Even if she had seen us, I wouldn’t be angry. At the very least, I hoped that she’d tell me what she was thinking. That would be enough, in my mind. As I watched her glance at the Ryukyu glass, I hesitantly began talking.
“Hey...could I ask you something weird?” Asuhain-san turned towards me. I gulped once and turned away, not able to look her in the eyes, but I continued. “Where were you last night around nine?”
Even from my standpoint, this was a weird, rude question. But even so, I didn’t want to try and beat around the bush. As expected, though, Asuhain-san furrowed her brow, confused by my question.
“May I ask where this is coming from?”
“S-Sorry! Actually, last night, I was meeting with my boyfriend...” At this point, I had to come clean. I would simply keep the fact that I was with Mizuto specifically a secret. “When I did, someone saw us. I’m curious about who it was, and was wondering if you might know anything...” I glanced at Asuhain-san to see how she reacted, but she wasn’t looking at me anymore.
She let out a long, heavy sigh as she stared at the colorful glass that almost looked like a kaleidoscope.
“You’re so simpleminded...” Her response was so unexpected that I could only stare at her. “Every time you open your mouth, it’s all about love, love, love. Despite how much I perceive you as my rival, I’ve never been on your radar no matter how hard I try.”
“Asuhain-san...?”
“It’s unfair when you’re all that’s been on my mind.”
As soon as she said that, her head snapped up to look me straight in the eyes, noticing the bewildered expression on my face.
Asuhain-san pursed her lips and looked down. She looked so frustrated and embarrassed, and there was nothing I could do. I had no clue what the right thing to do here was. While I clammed up, fully at a loss, she turned her back to me.
“Asuhain-san!” I called out, but my voice wasn’t enough to stop her before she darted out of the store.
I reflexively ran after her into the brightly lit resort grounds. I needed to chase after that small back of hers before it disappeared into the darkness. I just barely caught up to her.
“Where is this coming from all of a sudden?!” I asked, grabbing her arm.
Asuhain-san still didn’t turn to look at me. “It’s not sudden at all...” she said, squeezing out these words.
“Huh?”
“This entire time... I’ve been so frustrated... I didn’t want to admit it... I was so angry... My head and feelings have been a mess...” Asuhain-san trembled. It was like watching a dam that was primed to burst. “Why can’t I stop thinking about you?! I’ve been trying for so long!”
“Did I do something? Then, I—”
“You...didn’t do anything. I... I’ve thought of you as a rival this entire time, but it looks like the feeling wasn’t mutual.”
Her rival? Suddenly, I remembered when we met for the first time on the student council, and how her eyes had seemed filled with fire to challenge me. Every time we had a test, those same eyes were filled with the desire to compete with me. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen that same fire in her eyes since we started as second-years. No, this didn’t just start this year. She’d felt this way ever since she got the top score on the finals. Oh, I see. I...
“Why weren’t you even the least bit angry?!”
That was the first time she had beaten me. At the time, my head had been in the clouds. I’d been so happy that Mizuto and I were dating again that I couldn’t think about anything else. My rank on the test was the last thing on my mind. So when it had happened, I’d bluntly and honestly told her “Congratulations.”
“I was serious! I thought you were taking it seriously too! That’s why I earnestly kept the promise we made about my sleep schedule! I used every chance I had to study, and I finally—finally—won!” Her true, unfiltered feelings rang out into the night. “Am I weird for having tried so hard on some stupid test?! Are love-addled people like you normal?! Then tell me! How can I be normal?! Not once in my life has a guy ever made my heart race!”
How did I not see this before? I’m so dense. President Kurenai, Aso-senpai, and I—we had all gotten boyfriends. Ever since then, that’s all we ever talked about. Asuhain-san was the only one who didn’t have someone, so she was left out. I never thought she was the type who would be bothered by something like that... I thought she’d just brush off our talks as something stupid and uninteresting. I’d simply assumed all of this without even bothering to ask her.
“I... I’m so sorry. I had no idea...”
“It’s fine...” she said in a voice so cold, it made me doubt her emotional outburst earlier.
But when she turned around, there were tears in her eyes.