Case 10: All’s Fair in Love and Sports (Part I)

“Uh, hello. Are you the one people call the love detective…? Eep!”

One lazy autumn afternoon, Yua finally found the oasis to quench her thirst in the desert of cases. Well, that metaphor didn’t work quite well because it was a client that came to us, but still.

Yua immediately pounced upon the newcomer like a man jumping into water after a long trek in the desert (I managed to fit it after all).

“Yes, yes I am! Shiomi Yua, at your service! I can solve anything, from closed rooms to tracking love letters to everything you want! And I’m much, much better than that Love Sage or whatever!”

“Err… I’m glad to hear that, I suppose…?” said the newcomer, a meek-looking girl with round glasses. She then presented a bag of dorayaki. “Will this be fine?”

“Yes indeed! Amari-kun, do your thing!”

“Yeah, yeah.” I promptly received the offering and went to store it with the others. While we hadn’t had a lot of cases recently, it was Yua herself who replenished our stocks with snacks she herself had bought.

Meanwhile, the girl—introducing herself as Nakayama Harumi—looked somewhat overwhelmed while seated across Yua.

“I was wondering,” said Nakayama, “if you could tell, um, whether someone likes me, or… well, whether someone is worth pursuing, I guess.”

“I do, indeed, offer such services,” Yua said with a smile. “Just note that I can’t help you with any confessions or things like that… b-but that Love Sage is a fraud, so don’t go to her!”

She was still really salty about that one, huh?

“O-okay?” said Harumi. She started fidgeting and bit her lips. “I’ll be running in the upcoming sports festival, so I thought… I might try to look cool for him.”

Ah, the sports festival.

The yearly event where groups of sweaty boys and girls would cooperate and/or compete against each other… certainly, this could help foster some romantic feelings.

I was surprised by the girl’s suggestion, however; she had this “library girl” air about her, yet she was suggesting a sportsy appeal.

“Certainly a novel approach,” I noted out loud.

“Do you think it’s not going to work…?” she asked me, frowning behind her glasses.

If I was being honest, probably not. The other way around might do the trick, but most boys wouldn’t be looking at girls running and think, “wow, she’s so cool, I’m falling for her”. They may be looking at girls running for… other reasons, though.

Anyway, as I spotted Yua giving me the stink eye from nearby, I refrained from elaborating.

“That is not in my purview to say,” I said, shrugging. “I am but a humble assistant.”

“Indeed you are,” said Yua, sounding satisfied. “Nakayama-san, surely you haven’t come to ask me just about that? I get the feeling that there’s something more.”

Looking hesitant, the girl bit her lips yet again—and then gave a slight nod. “Yes, there’s another issue at play here. I’m not planning on giving up on him, but… someone else is gunning for him.”

“Oh?”

“A few days ago, I received this letter in my shoe rack,” she said, producing a paper from her bag.

This time it was definitely no love letter. Instead, it said, in printed letters:

Please stop aiming for Kawamoto-kun. I intend to make him mine.

“An anonymous threat, huh?” said Yua, unable to suppress her smile and the sparkle in her eyes. “How very interesting. But is it really that anonymous?”

“What do you mean?” asked Harumi.

“Surely your aspirations aren’t exactly public knowledge, right?” the small detective continued.

“…Oh, that’s what you mean. Well, yes, I obviously didn’t just go and tell everyone who my crush is… several of my friends are aware of it, though.”

“Sounds like one of them isn’t happy about it, then,” I said grimly.

However, Harumi shook her head. “I-I really don’t think it’s them…! Well, I guess it could be, but on the other hand, I’m not exactly being subtle, either… it could be anyone from class, really. I don’t want to suspect my friends, they’ve been really supportive.”

“Hmm. The truth isn’t always so kind… but at the same time, the truth might not be as obvious as it seems, either,” said Yua, crossing her arms. “For now, can you provide me some details about your crush and your friends?”

“I will, but… if I’m being honest, uncovering the culprit is not my main priority,” explained Nakayama. “I’m still going with my plan for the sports festival, so if at all possible, I’d like for you to tell me if you think I have any chance.”

Yua looked hesitant. “Well… I suppose I can take on two goals at once. I can’t promise anything, but since you’ve already paid me, I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you so much!” said Harumi, wearing a shy smile.

However, for some reason I could tell Yua was troubled—though I wasn’t sure why. I came to know her fairly well during this month of our acquaintance, so I could tell through her eyes.

She wasn’t actually interested in this case.

When Nakayama left the room and I remained alone with Yua, I decided to broach the subject.

“Say… is something wrong?” I asked her.

“Wrong? What could be wrong?” she asked me back.

“You just don’t sound too enthusiastic about this whole thing. Is it still the Love Sage thing bringing you down?”

She frowned. “I mean… I guess it feels like it falls more into their purview, rather than mine. I obviously want to help Nakayama-san… but still. Wanting to impress the boy she likes? That’s so…”

“Shallow? Stupid? Not everyone thinks like you, you know.”

“…I know that very well, trust me.”

As I saw her growing a little mad, I raised my hands. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that you’re….”

“Hmph. As a detective, I prioritize logic. That’s all.”

That wasn’t the case at all. Sure, she was smart enough to solve all these cases, but that was a far cry from saying she was a cold, calculating person at all times.

I felt like I was on the cusp of something important, but it was probably too early to try and prod it.

I had another idea, though.

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

“Well… I don’t really have anyone else to ask.”

Faced with Hitomi’s somewhat dark eyes, I couldn’t help but avert my gaze. I didn’t get what the big deal was, though.

All I did was ask her how to approach a female friend and try to help her work out through her issues.

I had the feeling Sagara would butt in if he was present while I asked this, so I caught her before he came to class.

“Seiji-kun… What is she to you?” Hitomi asked me.

“My boss.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes…?”

“You’re spending a lot of time with her, though. Are you sure she’s not your girlfriend?”

I shook my head. “She thinks love and that sort of thing is stupid, so obviously not. I mean, she’s cute, but I’m not really looking at her as a girl, if you know what I mean,” I lied.

“Hmm.” Hitomi did not look convinced by my words. Maybe for good reasons; she knew me better than anyone in this school. “Okay, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

“Yes?”

“Girls hate it when guys don’t understand how they’re feeling without being told.”

I sighed. “I know that much… but it’s a pain to understand what they’re feeling.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“I do like challenges, but that’s still tough.”

Hitomi half-turned. “I don’t know Shiomi-san well, so I can’t speak for her… but I get the feeling someone like her wouldn’t like you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Especially if you regard her as a friend. …Did you really need me to tell you that?”

I shrugged. I wouldn’t usually go to other people for advice of this sort, but Yua was a unique individual, so I wanted all the help I can get.

“Well… thank you anyway, Hitomi-chan.”

“Sure thing. Maybe next time you’d better ask the Love Sage instead of me, though?”

“Oh, you’ve heard about him?” I asked.

Hitomi nodded. “Yeah, some people were talking about it… I even heard this might be a student in our school,” she explained. So the rumors spread this far already, huh? “I checked the page, too, but I’m not really interested.”

“Well, me neither. It’s more fun to figure out these things by yourself, right?”

“And yet you came to me?”

“Err, you understand what I mean.”

Hitomi smiled, but her eyes weren’t. She sometimes had this look to her, like her eyes were black pits… which was my sign to back off.

“Anyway, thank you. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, then.”

“Yes. Oh, and good luck in the sports festival.”

Left with these words, I wondered how the actual festival was going to turn out.