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"..."
Mina stares intently at Yu.
They were clearly wary of me. This was probably the first time someone had called out to me like this.
It would be one thing if it was a male student she knew, but this was the first time he'd spoken to her, and he was a second-year student older than her. In other words, it wasn't surprising that someone she had no connection with spoke to her like this.
"Well, um..."
I was at a loss for words, wondering what to do since I was the one who spoke to him.
"What is it?"
Although she didn't show it in her attitude, the tone of her voice when she said this conveyed a sense of urgency, wanting to finish talking with this senior quickly and go look for Takuya.
"...Is it okay now?"
Mina gets impatient and tries to go ahead, but he hurriedly stops her.
"No, wait..."
Look around.
Yu knew because Yui had told him, but that wasn't the same as Mina publicly declaring it. If Mina was hiding the person she liked, even if it was obvious from her behavior, it wouldn't be something she should be talking about in a public place like this.
"Well, why don't we go somewhere where there aren't many people?"
"It's probably a story you don't want other people to hear," was what I had intended to say, but when I saw Mina frown in front of me, I realized I'd made a mistake.
From the other person's perspective, it is a situation where they are being approached by a strange male senior and invited to a secluded place.
No matter how you look at it, you have to be cautious.
Mina took a step back as she thought about what to say next, knowing that if she got the next word wrong she'd be able to escape.
"No, that's not it. I just wanted to talk to you about... Takuya."
Realizing that this was no longer the time to think about it, he stopped trying to hide it and told her straight out.
"H"
Mina realized many things from those words and looked around before turning her gaze back to Yu.
"...In that case, can I decide the location?"
In a one-on-one battle between wanting to talk to a stranger and wanting to get to know a man she likes, the latter seems to have won by a narrow margin.
"Of course."
"Then please follow me, senpai."
I follow a few steps behind Mina who is leading the way.
The place we were guided to was near the warehouse near the playground where things used for physical education classes were kept.
Today was the school festival, so no one would be coming here. And yet, it wasn't a place that was completely invisible to the people around, so if Mina called out, someone would notice and come to check on her.
It would be the perfect place to talk with Yu, but it also meant that he was being watched, which made me feel a little down.
(Yes, she does have a cute appearance, but I have nothing to do with girls other than Yui-chan... Oh well, never mind.)
"So, what is it about Takuya-senpai?"
First, Mina asked a question lightly, trying to confirm whether what she had guessed was correct.
If Yu had approached him for some other reason than to talk about his feelings for Takuya, it would have been like digging his own grave.
"Um..."
On the other hand, even though Yu knows, he is unsure whether it is okay to suddenly tell someone he has just met that he likes Takuya.
"...It's about Takuya. You've been watching him all day."
"..."
Without confirming or denying it, he stares at Yu with caution.
(If I don't say this properly, the conversation won't progress.)
Not only is she wary of Yuu when they first meet, but she's also someone who likes to talk. Yuu decides to prepare himself for things to continue like this unless he puts things into words.
"So, I thought maybe she likes Takuya."
"...Well....well, yes."
He seemed indecisive, perhaps because he didn't want rumors to spread and was worried about the possibility of being threatened.
"Oh, don't worry. It's not about that. I like you, Yui-chan."
To ease his suspicions, I told him about myself, hoping that he would realize that our interests were aligned.
"...So you want us to cooperate?"
"I wouldn't say I was cooperating, but I wanted to teach you something."
"Something... what is it?"
"It seems like things haven't been going well between Takuya and Yui lately. It seems like they'll break up if something happens."
Whether it's true or not doesn't matter at this point. The question is whether Mina will believe it.
"The trigger?"
"That's right. For example, a cute junior who is a loyal manager of a club might confess her feelings to you."
"..."
Mina looks at me as if to confirm the authenticity of the information.
If Yu was lying, he would simply be rejected, so it makes sense that he would be cautious.
"I'm not lying. It seems like things between Yui and Takuya never got along. You see, Yui has never even gone to see Takuya practice for club activities."
This is because she had been hiding the fact that she was dating Takuya, and Yui was not at school in the first place because of filming etc. However, since they were in different grades, Yuu assumed that Mina could not possibly know. And he was not wrong.
Even if you go to the same school, if you are in different grades you won't get that kind of information.
This is because a topic is meaningless if both people know about it or are not interested in it. In other words, even if two people talk about a student who is not particularly famous and is in a different year, there is a high chance that one of them will not know about it, so it is difficult to make it a topic of conversation.
It would be a different story if it was Yui, a famous actress, but for another reason, that would be an inappropriate topic to talk about with Mina.
Another reason for that is that.
Mina is a girl who is so bad at hiding her feelings that Yuu could tell just by looking at her today. Yuu thinks that his classmates and soccer club members must have noticed that Mina has feelings for Takuya. And yet they don't bring up the topic of Yui, who is dating Takuya.
And that prediction has come true.
"Certainly not..."
"Plus, I'm good friends with both Yui-chan and Takuya. They often ask me for advice, so I know a lot about them."
"...May I ask your name, senpai?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, sorry. I'm Someya Yuu."
"Someya, Yuu...senpai."
Fortunately, it seemed that she had heard that name in conversation with Takuya, and Mina felt that what Yu had said had some credibility. Her wary gaze softened a little.
"So, Takuya was telling me the other day that he's been interested in the club manager because she's cute."
"Huh?"
"That manager is Asakura-san, right? So I thought if Asakura-san is interested... I spoke to him today."
"..."
There is no girl in love who wouldn't be shocked when her crush tells her that they are interested in her.
"You know, Yui-chan. You have a movie coming out soon, right? So you haven't been able to come to school recently because of filming, and you haven't been able to see Takuya either, so things are really awkward between you two right now. You feel like now is your chance to confess."
"...Can you prove that everything you just said is true?"
I've told some lies, but they're not all lies. And yet, if you ask me to prove anything, I can't.
"I can't do that... but..."
"but...?"
"I think Asakura-san will be in trouble if I don't confess now."
"What do you mean?"
"Because if Yui and Takuya make up and everything works out, Asakura-san will be the one who's in trouble. If Yui and Takuya make up, he won't be able to confess his feelings to her anymore. But if she believes what I said and confesses now, maybe Takuya will break up with Yui and go out with me. Even if what I said was a lie and Takuya had no intention of breaking up with Yui-chan, the end result will still be that he rejects her."
"...I think there is also the option of waiting for the two of them to naturally separate."
"Aren't you regretting it now after saying that and waiting?"
"Huh..."
Takuya had always had feelings for her, but he didn't confess, and then he started dating Yui. That's the situation he's in now. When Mina is told that she's going to make the same mistake again, she looks hurt, as she's been hit right on the mark.
"...I'll think about it."
As Mina was leaving with those words, someone called out to her from behind.
"If you're going to do it, it's better to do it early. Don't you think the atmosphere will be good today or tomorrow during the cultural festival? Plus, there's an after-party tomorrow after the cultural festival is over."
After-party. Participation is free.
A campfire is held in the playground using burnable garbage from the school festival, and there is also a small stall run by the student council.
A different school than usual. A different atmosphere. A different night lit by flames. It would be just the right atmosphere for a confession.
Mina seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she stopped for a moment, but then continued walking away without looking back.
(At best 60%... but with my hopes included, maybe 70% or 80%.)
A higher probability than I thought.
(I'm looking forward to tomorrow's after-party)
If he would just kiss me after confessing, that would be perfect.
Yu hadn't mentioned the after-party out of kindness. Even if Mina had confessed her feelings and kissed him, it would have been pointless if Yu hadn't been able to take a photo of it. In other words, he needed to have some idea of the time and place to capture that decisive moment.
Yuu smiled as he watched Mina leave.