Gamers, p.36
Gamers!, page 36
“H-how embarrassing.”
“That’s not a compliment.”
“Is that so…”
Amano looked despondent. This guy’s emotions are really hectic. Wait, that might be my fault.
…Well, can’t help it—I’ll simply summarize everything I want to say right now.
“Hey, Amano. This is for your future. Try imagining this for a bit. For example, if you and Tendo become friends… what will the other students think when they see you two walking together?”
“…Ah, I see…”
Amano’s eyes opened wide in realization. I continued to talk.
“A relationship that isn’t recognized by other people is difficult to maintain, Amano. It might be… a bit overkill to relate it to a story like Romeo and Juliet, but there isn’t a healthy relationship is this world that lasts if it’s only recognized by the people in the relationship.”
“I guess. It’s strange that I’m trying to get closer to Tendo-san for no reason, after all.”
No, I didn’t go that far. Rather, it would be a pain to follow up, so I just continued to say what I wanted to say.
“In other words, that’s why it’s good to have a few people see you ask her to be your friend. It’s also good to do it in a place with some distant acquaintances who will irresponsibly spread the information about it. Maybe an area like downtown where strangers walk by. And, to fulfill all the conditions, somewhere where it’s easy to ask her—”
“Class 2-F! There’s lots of people, and enough time during lunch break!”
“Yup, it’s perfect.”
I smiled. For some reason, Amano looked really excited and grabbed my hand.
“As expected of Uehara-kun! You’re amazing! Sorry, I was being foolish! Thank you! Thank you very much!”
“No, no, I did nothing.”
I stayed humble. Right then, the chime rang through the hallway. Letting out a voice in panic, he returned to the classroom. While chasing after him… I secretly let out a crooked smile.
“(—But that was all a superficial reason!)”
While looking at his back, I laughed evilly.
“(My true aim is to see how Aguri will look!)”
Naturally, Aguri will also come to today’s lunch event to watch.
When Amano asks Tendo to be his friend… I’ll be hidden among many students and will be properly able to observe Aguri! I may be nice to Amano, but I also have my doubts—she’s my girlfriend!
“(In a circumstance where only Amano’s acquaintances are watching, Aguri might try to conceal her actual reaction! That’s how it is in a classroom full of people! However, it’s difficult to completely hide your reaction! Since everyone’s eyes will be on Tendo, Aguri won’t even have a hint that I’ll be there watching her!)”
That was my aim.
Right when Amano asks Tendo, I have to look for Aguri’s initial reaction.
If Aguri and Amano were really just friends, Aguri would cheerfully support Amano and Tendo’s friendship from the bottom of her heart.
However, if she shows an expression of mixed feelings, then she is definitely cheating. It’s proof that Aguri has been charmed by Amano.
“(…Well, the worst possible reaction is if Aguri awkwardly sees me, who is worthy enough to be her boyfriend, looking at her…)”
I set up this event with Tendo as a facade to see if Aguri and Amano were together… In other words, I cannot be seen. If Aguri looks at me with an awkward expression… Uwa, I’m shaking just from the thought! Well, that still isn’t the worst case!
“(Anyway, this will settle things. I should know Aguri’s true feelings!)”
So, this event is pretending to be “Amano’s friend request”… but it’s actually litmus test for Aguri’s feelings!
“(Don’t underestimate a riajuu’s strategic prowess!)”
I let out a war cry in my mind to no one in particular. However, I feel like my middle school self is still looking down on me—what does this have to do with you!? Be quiet, you studious bastard! Your studying is finally being useful for once!
Yes yes, I also have another reason why I got Amano to ask in front of class 2-F. That would be to get Hoshinomori to see it as well.
“(If there were only a small amount of people, she would definitely not come, but she might watch since there will be a lot of onlookers in this situation. And then, if Amano and Tendo become friends, she’ll feel jealous, and if they don’t become friends, she’ll feel sympathetic for a fellow loner, then develop a crush on him! No matter what happens, I’m a genius!)”
If I say so myself… my mind is terrifyingly sharp. In this world, do you think there are any other high school boys that are this good at manipulating human relationships? Nope, I think not.
As I followed Amano into the classroom and went to my seat, I was no longer able to hold back my grin.
“Fufufu… kuku… kufufufufufu!”
“No, Tasuku. Honestly, you’re so gross today. I wish you weren’t my friend anymore.”
Ignoring Masaya’s words, I marveled at my own professional human relationship skills, and kept laughing creepily.
Aguri
“(Amano-chi’s gonna ask during break, huh…)”
It’s third period right now. Aguri is skillfully spinning her pen as she gazes at the boring kanji written on the blackboard.
“(…Aguri doesn’t mean to incite anything, but honestly, Aguri thinks that something will go wrong…)”
Aguri let out a sigh.
“(Somehow… even though there’s no evidence, Aguri has a hunch that things won’t go as planned. Aguri’s sixth sense is tingling…)”
After hearing Amano-chi’s story, Aguri doesn’t think that there’s no hope at all regarding Tendo-san. After all, Amano-chi is really self-deprecating, so his words didn’t seem like they were just wishful thinking. Also, Aguri thinks that their relationship isn’t bad to begin with. But…
“Somehow, it feels like Amano-chi and Tendo-san have a different relationship than Aguri actually thinks they do. It’s strange.)”
It’s doesn’t seem particularly bad… but if Aguri had to say something, then it feels like their fate is fatally bad?
Aguri stopped spinning her pen and started to draw circles and arrows to create a relationship diagram.
“(Amano-chi likes Tendo-san… or rather, admires Tendo-san. Aguri likes Tasuku. No, love. It’d be great if that could be confirmed right now, but…)”
Aguri can’t move her pen anymore. …Even though there are lines drawn from Tendo-san and Tasuku to Amano-chi and Aguri, Aguri can’t confirm their feelings. Furthermore, with the addition of Hoshinomori Chiaki, things are even more complicated.
“(Amano-chi hates that girl… is what Aguri would like to say, but those two clearly get along well. Yea. Well, it’ll be fine to just write my guesses too.)”
This time, Aguri included all the unconfirmed information too.
“(Tendo-san feels… well… normal? Towards Amano-chi. It doesn’t look like she hates him. And then, Amano-chi and Aguri are comrades. Then, Tasuku’s feelings towards Tendo-san is… love, it seems like.)”
After drawing a line from Tasuku to Tendo-san, Aguri wrote “Love?”. …The tip of my pen is shaking. …Uu, don’t cry, Aguri! Don’t cry! Aguri is strong!
“(Well then, the problem is this girl…)”
Hoshinomori Chiaki. She’s honestly harder to read than Tendo-san. Aguri doesn’t know much about her. Well, if Aguri were to write what she does know…
“(Clearly she has feelings… towards Tasuku, right?)”
Again, Aguri drew a line from Hoshinomori Chiaki to Tasuku and wrote, “Love?”. …Well, Tasuku is the coolest person on the planet, so it can’t be helped that he’s so popular. It’s not a shock. It’s completely not a shock.
The problem is, what does Tasuku think of her…
“(Hoshinomori Chiaki… even Amano-chi says that she’s a quiet, boring otaku girl…)”
For some reason, it seems like Amano-chi tends to underestimate girls, so his words were untrustworthy. Honestly, she’s super cute. However…
“(But Tasuku’s type was… a cheerful, light-hearted girl, right?)”
At least Aguri thought that was the case, so that’s why Aguri is the Aguri now.
But thinking back on it… Tasuku has never been super into the Aguri now! Even back then, Tasuku was always kind to Aguri, and Aguri thought that was really nice, and Aguri really likes him, really really likes, ahh, Tasuku…
“(…Hah! No, no, I got off topic!)”
Aguri has to focus. Not on the lesson, but on this relationship diagram.
“(Thinking about it again… maybe Tasuku just likes everyone.)”
Tasuku’s always nice to everyone without discriminating. In other words… he might not like cheerful, light-hearted girls, but he might also like cheerful, light-hearted girls.
There are various events lately that line up with this theory. But…
“(Uu…)”
Oh no, tears are forming. What is this, this is bad! Aguri might actually start crying in the classroom. That’s no good. A girl who cries about her boyfriend during class is seriously scary. Aguri knows that. Calm down. Calm down, Aguri.
…Fuu. Alright… let’s write…
“(The line from Tasuku to Hoshinomori-san is…)”
The tip of the pen kept shaking as Aguri started to write the word “Like”—the pen escaped from the piece of paper. The braid-glasses class chairman sent me a look, but Aguri ignored it and held her head in her hands.
“(What is this great resistance!? When it was Tendo-san, Aguri was barely able to draw the line, but… when Aguri thinks that Tasuku might like Hoshinomori Chiaki, a girl just like the plain, boring Aguri, Aguri hates it!)”
As expected, Aguri won’t allow this. Aguri doesn’t want to allow this. …No, even though Amano-chi and Aguri already saw the definitive evidence… s-still, Aguri doesn’t know yet! Yea! That’s right! Aguri might be mistaken!
“(Y-yea, Aguri still doesn’t know. So… let’s confirm it again! Let’s do that!)”
Aguri suddenly came up with a good idea and raised her head from her desk.
“(That’s right! Amano-chi’s event at lunch! Let’s measure Tasuku’s feelings then!)”
The new idea lifted Aguri’s spirits.
“(First of all, if Tasuku actually likes Tendo-san, he won’t like Amano-chi’s request. He might be helping since Amano-chi’s his friend and he can’t help it, but… if he doesn’t like it, it’ll definitely show on his face!)”
Also, among a huge crowd, he won’t bother to hide his feelings!
“(And then, if he really likes Hoshinomori-san… Tasuku won’t be looking at Amano-chi, but at Hoshinomori-san instead! He’ll be wondering what Hoshinomori-san thinks of Amano-chi! He’ll definitely look at her reaction!)”
At the very least, Aguri can figure out if Tasuku likes Tendo-san or Hoshinomori-san.
Oh, but…
“(The worst thing that could happen is if Tasuku looks over at Aguri. After all… if he sees his girlfriend while meeting the person he cheated with, mou, I don’t know how a cheater thinks! Well, Tasuku probably won’t do that, though!)”
At any rate, everything Aguri learns during lunch will be the truth.
In other words… Amano-chi’s event has turned into a litmus test to find out Tasuku’s true feelings by focusing on his expressions!
“(Ah, Aguri is such a smart girl! As expected of Tasuku’s girlfriend and Amano-chi’s shishou! Aguri’s craftiness is amazing!)”
While ignoring the lesson going on, Aguri let out quiet laughter.
“Ufu… fufu… kufufufu…”
“A-aguri-san?”
Ignoring the class chairman’s worried look, Aguri marveled at her own professional human relationship skills, and kept laughing creepily.
Hoshinomori Chiaki
It looks like Tendo-san will go to Keita during lunch.
I heard the information from my classmates during break time—or, more accurately, after I overheard my classmates’ conversation, I stopped using up my stamina in my social networking game and contemplated over the information by myself.
“(Tendo-san… has business with Keita? I wonder why…)”
I peeked at Tendo-san. The concerned person was in the middle of the classroom, having a pleasant chat with the other students. As always, she’s beautiful, even to me. A sight for sore eyes, one could say. …For some reason, a sigh leaves my mouth.
“(Obviously, people other than Uehara-san would like her…)”
It’d be absurd to call her my rival in love. There’s a huge difference between her and me, who’s currently sitting down in the corner of the classroom, playing a social networking game quietly. Or rather, I feel like I haven’t said a word since I left the house. Even though it’s break time after 3rd period. …I think my vocal cords are deteriorating.
While thinking about such things, I looked at Tendo-san again. Obviously, the rumors about what will happen at lunch haven’t reached her friends in the middle of the classroom. The people talking about the rumors were still hanging around the edge of the classroom, looking towards the middle.
“(Isn’t the evidence really weak? No, no… but…)”
I looked at Tendo-san again. …Fumu.
“(The normal Tendo-san would clearly say whether a rumor was true or not…)”
This aspect of her is really refreshing, and it’s probably part of the reason why she’s so popular.
Thinking about it that way, even though there are rumors floating around about Keita, the fact that she’s not reacting to it shows that the situation isn’t normal…
“(W-wait. Is she really going to see Keita…)”
For some reason, I feel uneasy.
“(I mean, I really can’t see the reason. She’s stopped trying to ask him to the Gamers Club… so for her to go see Keita…)”
Since even I can’t tell why, even though I know their circumstances pretty well, other people would be even more doubtful. Well, but…
“(Like the rumors are saying, I don’t think it’s a confession. Between Keita and Tendo-san… well, at best, it would probably be something like ‘please be my friend’?)”
That might be the case. …I mean, I don’t really want to admit it, but Keita and I have a similar sensitivity to things. And for a while now, I’ve felt restless because I wanted to get closer to Tendo-san, who also likes games.
“(Rather than Tendo-san going to Keita, she was probably called there instead. Class F is more or less Keita’s home.)”
After that thought, my curiosity disappeared. I didn’t really want to see Keita get rejected by Tendo-san. Since we’re so similar, I really want to run away from that.
Letting out a sigh, I went back to my social networking game… but as I reopened the application, my hand stopped suddenly.
“(Huh? Doesn’t Keita already have a girlfriend? Aguri-san. Even then, he’s calling out to another girl?)”
Although it’s probably not related to love, it felt a bit strange. I suddenly remembered Tendo-san’s words from the other day.
“(Oh right, Tendo-san… said that ‘I feel like Aguri-san is actually dating Uehara-kun’…)”
Honestly, I don’t remember it too well, but I feel like that’s what she said.
Looking up from my smartphone, I started to fidget again.
“(No, no, that can’t be. After all, I’ve seen Keita and Aguri-san together before. I feel like Keita’s love for Aguri-san is deep…)”
Then, I suddenly hit upon a good idea!
“(Then, then, is Keita’s love for Aguri-san super one-sided!?)”
My body stiffened like it was hit by lightning.
…No way… But everything makes sense that way. I always thought that Keita and Aguri-san didn’t really match, and wondered why a beautiful girl was dating a water flea-like presence. Everything…
“(If we assume that Aguri-san doesn’t have any feelings for him, then various things are explained!)”
My lips trembled.
I-it’s clear to me now. Keita is really the same as I am!
“(After all, Keita and I are super easy!)”
When someone does something remotely nice for us, we stick to them, and if it’s the opposite gender, then we fall in love with them. That’s the history of a loner like Keita and me.
Originally, Aguri-san is like a person from another world for us. However… by some small chance, she must’ve done some minor nice thing for Keita sometime.
“(It’s not strange that Keita fell in love in one blow!)”
Feeling confident, I nodded. In the beginning, Aguri-san would’ve ignored a small flea like Keita. However, that developed into a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship.
How did that happen?
…There’s only one answer.
This is love detective Hoshinomori Chiaki’s excellent love sleuthing skills!
“(Keita is being played with by Aguri-san!)”
This is the only possible truth.
Having glimpsed at one of the frightening mysteries of the world, I trembled.
“(Since Keita’s body isn’t her goal… i-it’s probably money. Asking him to pay at the game center… or, now that I remember, getting him to pay when they went to the cafe together…!)”
The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced.
“(H-how scary. T-that’s why people like us can’t go outside! All riajuus are evil! They’ll have us on the palm of their hand, dressing up as angels even though they’re actually the devil! Oh, but Uehara-san is different.”
I’m amazed at how easy Keita is. Good grief, that hopeless chibi fell in love just because someone was somewhat nice to him. Good grief.
“(I… I have to make sure!)”
I looked up with a determined look. …I really hate Keita, but I can’t stand to see someone so similar to me get played by a riajuu.
“(I-I have to make him see the truth…!)”
I, the love detective, suddenly noticed something.
“(That’s right…! Asking Tendo-san to be his friend… is an SOS from Keita! Since he can’t separate from Aguri-san by his own will, this is the best SOS he can do!)”
