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By the time Natsukawa Kanade returned to the dormitory, whatever lingering frustration he had from earlier had completely dissipated. Not that he had been truly angry to begin with—just annoyed at the absurdity of it all. He had gone out to take a bath, hoping to wash away the irritation in his heart. And now? Now it was time for the real event of the night.
The late-night gossip session.
"Alright, enough messing around! It's your turn! Spill everything, or I swear I won't let you sleep tonight!"
"Tch, you're being way too aggressive..." Hikigaya Hachiman grumbled from his bed, but Kanade shot him a sharp glare from his own bunk, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Come on, Hachiman, you're up first!"
"Hah? Why me?" Hachiman recoiled slightly, instantly wary.
"Because we all want to know about you and Yui Yuigahama." Kanade's smirk widened as he said her name outright. "Don't forget, I'm the student council president—I see all the partner request lists."
Hachiman's expression twitched. He glanced at the other two—Miyuki Shirogane and Tanuma Tsubasa—only to find them staring at him expectantly, their eyes sparkling with interest.
"I... It's not what you think...!" He tried to deflect, but Kanade leaned in closer, patting him on the shoulder with a knowing expression.
"Listen, buddy. If you don't want to be mistaken for a guy who only likes boys or some silent pervert… you understand what you need to do, right?"
Hachiman's eyes widened. His mind raced. Wait... does he know?! No, no, no! He couldn't! Right?!
In the end, under the weight of three pairs of expectant eyes, he surrendered.
"F-fine. There's nothing much to say, really..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yuigahama just didn't want to pair up with a stranger for the test of courage, so she asked me to go with her. That's all."
The next second, he was met with nothing but dubious stares.
"...Seriously! That's all there is to it! No deeper meaning!"
"Really? Not even in that kind of atmosphere?" Tanuma chimed in. Among the four, he was always the one most invested in these kinds of conversations. It was no surprise he was the first to push further.
"Th-this isn't a light novel! Real life doesn't work like that!" Hachiman shot back, but then his voice faltered. It was subtle, but he had definitely hesitated.
Kanade narrowed his eyes. This guy is totally hiding something.
Still, he wasn't heartless enough to push too hard. Knowing Hachiman, he'd probably combust from embarrassment if prodded further. Instead, Kanade sighed dramatically and muttered, "At this rate... maybe I should just remind Yuigahama to be a little braver?"
"Huh?" Hachiman whipped his head around, eyes filled with sheer disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! What do you mean by remind?! Don't tell me—No! What did you tell her?!"
Seeing him panic, Kanade merely shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. She came to me asking about you, so I kindly provided some information."
"What kind of information?!" Hachiman demanded, looking like he was about to have a heart attack.
"Just some minor details. Your hobbies, what kind of light novels you like to read... Stuff anyone could figure out with a little observation."
Hachiman's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "B-but..."
"Alright, alright. Enough noise, Hachiman." Kanade waved him off with a smug grin. "If you keep shouting, the dorm manager's gonna come, and then nobody gets to chat."
Realizing the truth in that, Hachiman clamped his mouth shut, but Kanade could see the gears in his head turning furiously. It was obvious he had resigned himself to his fate—but not before plotting revenge.
Kanade chuckled. Oh well, what are friends for?
With Hachiman successfully flustered, all eyes naturally turned to the next target.
Miyuki Shirogane.
"Alright, next up—Shirogane! I trust you've got an interesting story ready for us?"
"Huh? Story? No, not really…" Miyuki Shirogane waved his hands in denial, but under the pressure of three expectant gazes, he started thinking seriously.
"Well… things went pretty smoothly, I guess?"
"Oh? Details! We need details!" The others scooted in closer, their curiosity piqued.
"Uh… she accepted the invitation, and the date went fine... I guess?" Miyuki Shirogane tried to recall the sequence of events. "We ran into a bunch of challenges, solved all the puzzles, and eventually got the Medal of Courage along with some small trinkets."
"…That's it?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Miyuki Shirogane nodded earnestly.
Everyone: "…"
"Dude, that doesn't sound 'smooth' at all," Hachiman Hikigaya pointed out flatly, his brow twitching.
"Seriously, Shirogane? Even I don't think that qualifies as a 'smooth' date," Tsubasa Tanuma chimed in, crossing his arms. And this was coming from a guy who, before training camp, was utterly clueless about romance.
"Shouldn't something… I don't know… unusual happen? If all you did was 'solve puzzles,' 'clear levels,' and 'complete the game,' then what was the point of a test of courage in the first place?"
"Huh? Wait… is that how it's supposed to be?" Miyuki Shirogane furrowed his brows, suddenly second-guessing everything. His questioning gaze landed on Kanade Natsukawa, who sighed and nodded with a complicated expression.
"Yeah… in a way, that's kind of the point."
Miyuki Shirogane fell silent.
Was it possible that, without realizing it, he had been completely oblivious to some deeper meaning in the experience? He suddenly felt the weight of three judgmental stares drilling into him. Maybe… just maybe… he had messed up. Just a little.