Chapter 38: Cool Down, Gouto Kirijo
“And with that, let’s move right into the first question!”
Fortunately, my reckless little outburst hadn’t been picked up by the microphone, allowing the event to proceed without incident.
Soon after, a long table, several chairs, and divider panels were carried onto the stage area, separating me and Inugashi into individual spaces.
After that, one of the staff members handed each of us a marker and a white answer board.
So our answers were to be written down and displayed publicly.
Hmm.
Judging by the size of the boards, even if the format was technically free-response, the intended answers were likely limited to short words or phrases rather than long explanations.
“As for the questions, Kuwajima-san and Taketsuru-kun will be selecting their favorites from a pool of prepared prompts! We’ve prepared over thirty questions in total, so memorizing them beforehand should be nearly impossible! Which means this contest will truly test how deeply the contestants understand Nekoyanagi-san!”
That was the official explanation, at least.
Though honestly, if there were only around thirty prompts, there was virtually nothing in that pool I couldn’t answer.
After all, Meiko and I had synchronized and memorized enough backstory and setting details to fill several light novel volumes.
That said, I should clarify one thing:
The foundation of those settings had always been based on Meiko’s actual preferences and personality, specifically to avoid any contradictions with her instincts or natural responses.
Which meant that if Inugashi truly understood Meiko, he should still be able to answer correctly as well.
…In theory, anyway.
“Then for our very first question—Kuwajima-san, if you would!”
“Hmph. Very well. Then let the primordial trial selected by this sovereign be… this one!”
With dramatic flair, Kuwajima swept through the list of prompts and selected one.
Barasaka-san then loudly read it aloud for the audience.
“The first question is: ‘What is Nekoyanagi-san’s favorite flower?’ Ahhh, I was worried after seeing Kuwajima-san acting so bizarre earlier, but this turned out to be an incredibly normal question!”
“What do you take me for? Even during meaningless entertainments such as this, I would never commit the vulgar act of ruining the atmosphere.”
“And with that, contestants, please answer: what is Nekoyanagi-san’s favorite flower? We’ve prepared several acceptable answers beforehand, but the final judgment will come directly from Nekoyanagi-san herself!”
Even in full Three-Thousand-Three-Hundred-Thirty-In Goethe Schwarz-sama mode, Kuwajima still unexpectedly knew how to read the room.
And so, she’d chosen a surprisingly standard question.
Meiko’s favorite flower, huh?
Well, it was one of the most classic prompts imaginable.
Because Meiko was cheerful, approachable, and naturally bright around others, people often imagined her as someone who liked vivid, glamorous things.
But in truth, her actual personality leaned far more inward.
She loved light novels.
She spent absurd amounts of time devouring web fiction.
In many ways, she was surprisingly introverted.
That probably stemmed from her upbringing.
Or rather, from a life where she’d never truly been allowed to form deep relationships with other people.
By day, she played the role of an ordinary student at school.
By night, she trained as a kunoichi.
Naturally, maintaining some emotional distance from others had been necessary if she wanted to avoid exposing herself.
And much like the quiet nature hidden beneath her outward smile, her taste in flowers was also rather subdued.
Instead of bright, attention-grabbing flowers like cherry blossoms, roses, or sunflowers—
She preferred violets.
Morning glories.
And if wild roadside flowers counted, then things like Asiatic dayflowers as well.
There wasn’t a question about favorite colors in this set, but honestly, the fact that she liked bluish-purple shades made perfect sense.
Well, I could simply write down “violet,” the obvious top answer.
But before doing so, I glanced subtly toward the partition beside me.
I couldn’t actually see Inugashi’s answer thanks to the anti-cheating divider.
However, merely looking in his direction caused another hallucination to pop into existence before my eyes.
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『Inugashi Kaito』
Current Answer: Red Roses
Inner Thoughts:
“Girls obviously love red roses! This is the royal road! The absolute correct answer! And once this ridiculous farce is over, I’ll quietly present her with a bouquet of red roses myself! Perfect…”
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“HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINT!!!”
BANG!
I slammed my hands against the table in frustration as I demanded a hint opportunity.
“OHHHH!? Kirishiro-kun requests a hint right from the very first question! Is he okay!? There are still nine questions left and he’s already spending one!?”
“If I already know we’re headed toward a wrong answer, then I don’t exactly have the luxury of saving it.”
“Very true! Such decisiveness! Such refusal to leave uncertainty unresolved! This willingness to seriously engage with his childhood friend is honestly admirable as a man!”
While tossing out improvised hype lines, Barasaka-san effortlessly transformed my desperate intervention into crowd excitement.
Apparently the audience hadn’t expected someone to use a hint immediately, because curious murmuring spread through the venue like rippling waves.
“Hahaha! Don’t make me laugh too hard, Kirishiro Kaito! If a fake childhood friend like you understands nothing about Meiko, maybe you should just withdraw now!?”
“Shut up, you braindead moron…”
“!?”
Not good.
The part of me that wasn’t remotely ordinary was starting to surface again.
Calm down.
Be cool.
Stay composed, Kirishiro Gouto.
Right now, I was nothing more than an utterly ordinary university student.
Understood?
I needed to guide this idiot toward the correct answer in the most utterly ordinary way possible.
“Then it’s Hint Time! Kirishiro-kun may now ask Nekoyanagi-san one question freely! Anything is allowed except directly asking for the answer itself! The way he uses this hint will also test his sense and strategy!”
Sense.
Yes.
This was fundamentally a matter of finesse.
I personally had absolutely no need for hints.
In fact, I was confident I could correctly match every acceptable answer category prepared for this quiz.
The problem wasn’t me.
It was Inugashi.
I needed to deny his current answer while subtly—very subtly—guiding him toward the correct one.
Guide this idiot.
This complete idiot.
Toward the correct answer…
………………
“Meiko. I want you to answer honestly. What do you think about the type of guy who suddenly shows up trying to seduce you with a giant bouquet of bright red roses?”
“Huh? Umm… I guess it kind of feels like the sort of guy who assumes every girl automatically likes red roses without thinking any deeper about it? Like… there’s this mental shortcut of, ‘Well, roses are fine, right?’ Personally speaking, I’d probably say absolutely not…”
“That’s exactly the answer I wanted.”
“Uhhh…? Was that really okay for a hint?”
Ah—!
Damn it…!
My irritation toward Inugashi had completely overtaken me.
Instead of guiding him toward the right answer, I’d accidentally shifted into attacking his entire personality.
To think Inugashi Kaito could shake my composure this badly…
I truly couldn’t underestimate him.
“F-Fuhaha… o-of course. I-It’s not like bouquets of red roses are trendy anymore anyway. D-Don’t tell me you didn’t know that, Kirishiro Gouto?”
“Indeed.”
As he said that, Inugashi quietly flipped his answer board over and rewrote his response.
A correction.
Good.
Very good.
…Wait, was it actually good?
Could he truly arrive at the correct answer from here?
I’d messed up.
Instead of showing him the proper path, I’d only crushed one wrong possibility.
Failing to guide both Inugashi and the event itself properly…
Perhaps I was unworthy of being an ordinary university student after all.
Depending on how this progressed, I might actually need to manipulate my own future answers to keep the scores close.
Though let me make one thing clear:
There absolutely were women who would genuinely be delighted to receive a bouquet of red roses.
This simply wasn’t Meiko’s taste specifically.
Preferences like that depended entirely on the individual.
I felt a powerful urge to check Inugashi’s rewritten answer.
But even if I looked, I couldn’t force him to rewrite it again.
Which meant there was no point.
Suppressing my growing anxiety, I focused on writing my own answer instead.
“And it seems both contestants are ready! First up—despite dramatically spending a hint and seemingly missing the mark entirely—Kirishiro-kun! Even though his only clue was essentially ‘not red roses,’ has he managed to arrive at the correct answer!? Please reveal it now!!”
Responding to Barasaka-san’s energetic introduction, I calmly lifted my answer board for the audience to see.
“The answer is: violets. Besides violets, Meiko also likes morning glories, hydrangeas, and even roadside flowers like Asiatic dayflowers and henbit deadnettle.”
“Oho!? That’s an unexpectedly grounded and detailed answer considering the direction of his earlier question! We still have Inugashi-kun’s response left, but first let’s hear the official answer! Nekoyanagi-san!?”
At Barasaka-san’s cue, a staff member handed Meiko the answer board she’d apparently prepared in advance.
And there—
Was the answer.
“My favorite flower is violets. Just like he said, I also really like blue-colored flowers in general, like morning glories and hydrangeas. Honestly, if it’s in the blue family, it’s probably close enough.”
“Kirishiro-kun scores a perfect hit! Truly the dignity of a childhood friend! A flawless answer without the slightest hesitation! Could it be that his earlier question was actually the confidence play of a man who already knew the answer!? Hints are not meant to be comedy material!!”
Well, naturally, it was correct.
Favorite flowers, favorite colors, favorite foods—those were among the very first settings Meiko and I had carefully synchronized.
There was no way I could possibly get them wrong.
The audience itself reacted with impressed murmurs.
“Oooh…”
“Damn…”
“Wait, that’s actually kind of amazing…”
And amidst those voices, I glanced toward Inugashi.
Was he… going to be okay?
“F-Fufu… not bad, Kirishiro Gouto. But as the true childhood friend, I won’t lose either!”
“OHHH! Inugashi-kun is overflowing with confidence! Then let us finally witness the power of this suddenly appearing self-proclaimed childhood friend! Now then—reveal your answer!!”
While I alone remained consumed by silent anxiety, Inugashi confidently displayed his answer.
And it was—
“My answer is also a blue flower—specifically… BLUE ROSES!!!”
“…Eh?”
……………………What?
The atmosphere that had just been filled with admiration instantly froze into utter confusion.
No, wait.
Seriously?
Meiko literally just explained the issue, didn’t she?
She specifically said she disliked the whole “just give girls roses and call it a day” mentality.
So after hearing that…
How did you somehow arrive at blue roses?
Sure, technically they weren’t red roses.
But that wasn’t the core issue, was it!?
Did he honestly think the color was the problem!?
Was this allowed?
Could an answer that spectacularly failed to grasp the heart of the question truly exist in this world?
Or was I the weird one here?
Had I made the mistake by assuming no sane person would continue choosing roses after that hint?
An indescribably awkward silence consumed the event venue.
And within that silence, Barasaka-san—ironically a man whose very name contained the word rose—finally rebooted his brain and cautiously turned toward Meiko.
“U-Umm… Nekoyanagi-san? Technically… it is a blue flower…? What do you think?”
Receiving the pass from Barasaka-san, Meiko smiled.
Not her usual tired smile.
Not her polite social smile.
But an overwhelmingly radiant smile so bright that even I rarely saw it.
And with that beautiful expression, she answered:
“Minus ten points.”
“WHYYYYY, MEIKOOOOOO!?”
“The fact that you still don’t understand why is exactly why you lost points, idiot!!”
Thus, despite only just beginning—
The Childhood Friend Derby already stood at a twenty-point gap between me and Inugashi.
Still.
It wasn’t over yet.
There was still time for a comeback.
Inugashi…
For the first time since meeting you, I think I finally understand fear.
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【Me＠Apparently an Appraisal Skill★】
Comment:
“I said his projected accuracy rate was 0%, but I never said it couldn’t go negative…”
──────
Shut up.