Chapter 581: The Threads Unravel into a Thousand Pieces
Truth is, our high school has a cafeteria. Buying from the school store is cheaper, so most people—myself included—just do that, and there are even some Heroes who go off-campus to eat at ramen shops, but that doesn't mean the cafeteria is completely unused. By the way, there's a high probability of finding teachers at the ramen shops near the school, so the "Heroes" usually end up getting scolded while eating their ramen.
Well, that aside, the important thing is the situation I'm currently in. Any student visiting the cafeteria would notice a crowd gathered in one corner, mostly made up of second-years. And right in the center of it all... are me and Rei-san. It seems she couldn't escape the interrogation on her end, either.
"Umm, Ra... I mean, Hizutome-kun, you too?"
"Ah... yeah, basically."
I wanna run. I want to run, but I can't. Damn it, don't just stand a prefectural tournament-level judo club member right next to me. Are you saying you'll choke me out if I try to make a run for it? What happened to the treaties?
"Alright, representing everyone's opinions, I'll be acting as the moderator."
"Hey Zappi, what's the latest on 'The Little Fairy and the Lost Angel'?"
"Ngh... It'll be published in two weeks, so look forward to it."
Impossible, my attack didn't work?!
"Too bad, Rakuro. It's already a well-known fact, so that's zero damage."
"Apparently he's drawing his own illustrations now, too."
"Eh, seriously? We'll have to start calling him 'Maestro' from now on."
"Just because I took zero damage doesn't mean you get a free pass to kick my corpse!?"
The illustration that the male students surrounding me showed off—Akatsuki Heart-sensei's absolute masterpiece—had a very... well, let's just say a very "soft" touch to it.
"It's a pretty cute art style, honestly."
"Shut up!! The interrogation begins now!! I mean, just admit it already! You guys are totally dating, aren't you!?"
"D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D!!!!?!?!"
"No, I keep telling you, we aren't dating..."
These damn puberty-ridden teenagers... do they want to force me and Rei-san into a relationship no matter what? But the crowd gathered here surrounding us, regardless of gender, seems desperate to hear just that. Piercing glares of sheer curiosity and suspicion stabbed viciously into me and Rei-san.
"Then what the hell is this all about? This was filmed in Tokyo, you know?"
"You aren't going to say you just 'happened' to meet up, right?"
"Surprisingly enough, it actually was a coincidence. No, it seriously was a coincidence. Probability theory sure is terrifying, huh?"
I tried playing it off with a deadpan excuse, but that only made their suspicious glares grow even denser. Honestly, even if we were, this isn't something you surround and interrogate people over...
"So you coincidentally got mistaken for a couple?"
"That's a more likely probability than quantum tunneling, isn't it?"
Silence. Perhaps unable to come up with an effective strike against me—since I remained stubbornly silent to show that trying to drag a convenient confession out of me was pointless—they shifted their interrogation target to Rei-san. If I recall correctly... Ema. Yeah, EmaRaika. Were we in the same class during our first year?
"So, how about it, Rei? Are you guys really not dating?"
"D-Dating, that's just... no, we're not, ahaha..."
"So you coincidentally ran into each other in Tokyo and he protected you from someone trying to pick you up?"
"If anything, wasn't Hizutome the one being protected?"
"No, that's a completely different context."
"U-Umm... if possible, I'd really appreciate it if you could stop playing the video on repeat..."
"Yeah, what she said~."
I tried jumping on the bandwagon, only to have headphones silently slapped onto my ears. Let me look away! Stop this inhumane torture!!
"...! ...!!"
"The infinite loop of your try-hard edgelord memory must be tough to sit through."
"I silenced him."
"Ra-Hizutome-kun..."
"Hizutome-kun mentioned this a while ago, so we already know you guys got close because of a shared hobby... But with that in mind, are you really not dating? We're not trying to break you up or anything, we just want to get things straight."
"Stop putting it on repeat... Ugogogo... B-By the way, what are the odds?"
"Sixty percent say you're dating, forty percent say you're not."
It's a close race?! The worst part is that absolutely none of this is based on facts.
"U-Umm, a-anyway, regarding the, um, context of this video... well, we received event tickets from a mutual friend, and so, um... 'might as well go together'? Or something..."
"Defendant, you are permitted to speak."
"Well, that's mostly the truth. Ah... is it okay if I just blurt it out at this point? About Saiga-san's hobby."
"Eh? Ah, um... I don't particularly mind, but..."
Hm? Wait? Isn't it a hobby she doesn't really want people to find out about? Oh well, if she's giving the okay herself, I might as well say it to clear our names.
"ShanFro, it's ShanFro. We went to a gaming event that day."
"JGE?"
"Yeah, that's the one. We're gaming buddies. Well, um... Saiga-san is someone who plays quite a bit, so I figured it wasn't really something to loudly advertise. That's all."
This isn't about the social standing of gamers or anything, but there's no way she built up a save file of that magnitude while keeping her real life completely intact. I mean, um... she probably cut corners on things that could be cut, like bathing or eating. Bragging about that kind of thing only works with other gamers; normal people would just be repulsed. I occasionally cut corners myself on weekends, though I've never had to resort to using empty plastic bottles.
"Saiga-san was playing ShanFro...?"
"Why would she need to hide that?"
"Probably wanted to avoid getting bogged down in small talk about it, right?"
"Ah, like, 'Let's play together!' kind of stuff."
By outing Rei Saiga as a hardcore gamer, a good portion of the curious and suspicious glares began to mix with a look of understanding. But Yamamoto from the judo club was still standing right behind me... Ah, when the hell did this guy go and buy a coffee?!
"...Want some?"
"No thanks. Don't try handing me something you've already drank from."
"I thought it was mildly sweetened, but I accidentally pressed the sugar-free button. I don't really like it."
"Ah, the vending machine layout changed about half a year ago, huh."
Apparently, only specific buttons on the vending machine got bugged, so they temporarily rearranged the layout and just left it like that. But since the change happened to be in the coffee section of all places, I've heard a lot of people press out of habit and get the wrong one.
Perhaps because the girls were transitioning into 'girl talk' and causing the group to clearly divide by gender, the interrogation atmosphere gradually faded, turning into nothing more than idle chatter. A few people were still trying to dredge the topic back up, but the overall mood of the crowd was already settled. It's finally over... For now, I need to report that damn video. It cannot be allowed to exist in this world.
"......Hm?"
Wait, um, that's him, isn't it? That Student Council President guy who completely panicked after getting stung by a bee. He's glaring over here with a pretty harsh look on his face... Well, a massive clump of students causing a racket isn't exactly something to be praised for. Even so, the wrinkles between his brows are pretty deep... Hmm? Oh well. As long as I live a normal school life, he's someone I'll have absolutely no connection to.
"Hey, if this is an interrogation, bring out the katsudon."
"You're way too shameless."
"If you're going to make me your errand boy, at least fork over the cash."
"Yeah, go buy it for me, picture-book author. Once it gets published, make sure to give me an autograph."
"You're really just taking every opportunity...!!"
Author's Afterword
The surrounding conclusion: It seems they aren't actually dating just yet (Maybe there's still a chance?) (She plays ShanFro, huh...) (We made a big deal out of it just like we were told to, but is this really okay?)
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