6. Higgs Fied Populi

"Oh, I got a better idea!"

Better not be something ridiculous.

"What is it, Nanase-san?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"H-hey, could you not say that like you already think I’m a disappointment?"

No. You are much more than that.

You could just feel the tension in the air—after everything we’ve talked about so far.

"How did you—"

She flicked my forehead.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Listen, dear class captain."

"I’ve known you for years."

Years? You mean months?

"And you’re not exactly hard to read."

Okay. That’s it?

...Well, fair enough. After all, she is the vice captain.

Anyway, y’all probably have some dumb ideas about all this—but please, forget about it.

And yes, for now.

There’s something else, way more important, I want to bring up later.

So, stay tuned.

"So? What’s the idea?"

Let’s hear it.

"A cocktail party… but as a blind date."

"Hehe. I’m a genius, right? So, what do you think?"

Wait.

Did she seriously just phrase it like that?

The fact she mentioned it out loud was jarring.

"Okay, I’ll think about it."

She pouted immediately.

"I bet you’re gonna talk to yourself again like usual."

Ah, she knew.

Perhaps she just wanted to feed her prideful self, but oh well… anyway...

What she said wasn’t random.

If anything, it reminded me of that old analogy—

a room full of people, and someone important walks in.

The moment they do, everything starts to gather around them.

Conversations get slower. Movement gets harder.

Weight forms slowly but surely.

…Yeah.

A social field made of Higgs Boson.

The more attention someone attracts, the heavier their presence becomes.

Of course, the analogy itself was completely unfair to actual physics.

People weren’t particles.

Social spaces weren’t vacuum fields.

And popularity definitely wasn’t measured through quantum interactions.

Yet somehow, human behavior still kept imitating those patterns anyway.

The louder someone’s presence became, the harder it was for everyone else to move naturally around them.

Some people bent conversations effortlessly.

Others disappeared inside them.

And the worst part?

Most never even realized they were doing it.

Including Hanase Shiro herself.

Especially her, actually.

And what about those rumors, then?

They spread through the room, clustering people together for just a moment—before moving on.

So what she was suggesting wasn’t just a party.

She wanted to throw everyone into the same space…

and see who ends up carrying the most weight.

…

In other words—

she was trying to force the “center” of the room to reveal itself.

I suppose it was genius—

"H-Ha..."

Heh? Ha? Ha what?

No, wait. Wrong response.

Who said that?

I glanced around, but then saw a little girl wearing glasses.

So little that she was invisible.

"Hana..."

So… she was trying to call her, but ended up stuttering, huh.

I tapped Hanase's shoulder.

She didn't react.

So, I gripped it instead. Almost firmly.

"Ah, ah, awww!"

Immediately, she looked at me.

Her face was red—like she was about to cry, holding back the pain.

Then her mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something.

"You glasses-kun idiot."

That’s what she probably wanted to say.

That’s what I got from reading her lips.

I sighed.

"Before you start insulting me for no reason, someone wanted to talk to you."

My finger and my eyes pointed in the direction where she was standing.

Awkwardly so—as if she were trying not to disrupt our conversation.

"Oh, Kuze-san! Hello!"

She smiled... like sunlight filling the room.

And of course, as expected, she dropped the notebook she was carrying midway.

It looked like her journal, agenda, or something. Not that I should care too much about it.

Shiro Hanase then hurried to help her, picking up the papers on the floor.

And yes, despite her prideful self, she's still kind.

Shiro Hanase. As helpful as always.

"Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"

Can you stop looking at me instead? I did nothing here!

She only nodded, which only added even more awkwardness compared to when she entered our space.

Yuuki Kuze.

Regarded as the quietest girl in our class.

Not because she never really spoke in front of others—

but rather... because even when she did, it still barely left any impression.

The kind of person you’d forget was there… until awkward moments like this.

And yet—

her academic grades said otherwise.

Consistently near to the top. Especially in maths.

The kind of her answers teachers would double-check—not because they were wrong.

Rather... because those shouldn’t have been that neat.

It’s the kind of precision that didn’t come from luck.

Anyway—

She kept her gaze as low as possible, her fingers clutching the edge of her sleeve as Nanase handed her the notebook back.

"Th-thank you… Hanase-san."

Her voice was soft. Not weak—just… distant.

Like it didn’t expect to be heard at all in the first place.

Hanase smiled, a little too brightly.

"No problem! Just be more careful next time, okay?"

Kuze nodded again, a bit too quickly this time.

As if staying any longer would only make things worse, yet she couldn't leave either.

…

Yeah, that’s it.

That persona created a kind of moe gap—

between how she appeared and what she actually was—

that was the interesting part.

Throw someone like her into a room full of people—

and nothing would happen.

No one would gather.

She would become as light as possible, just to leave the conversation.

…At least, that’s how it should have been.

However, since she carried a rumour in her hand, she couldn’t.

That’s just how predictable people are when it comes to social interactions.

"Kuze-san."

"May I know what brings you here?"

She inhaled, as if running out of breath.

Soon after, she began to speak about the matter.

"The prez... she...

"She said she was looking for you."

"Hanase-san."

Ah… I see.

Of course she had to get involved.

Right after things had finally settled.

After all, all of these were hers.

Now, what is it this time?

The almighty prez… Hanase Rin?