Rin is sitting in the corner, flipping
through "Finnegans Wake", which I'm sure she doesn't understand even
a single line of, with her lips puckered up in a grimace.
（Isn't she too pretentious? On the contrary,
she looks like an idiot...）
I didn't invite her, and I guess she came
here today to ask me to play with her again, but it's too public to do so.
Still, she didn't give up and was going to stay with me until everyone left.
While I was looking at the bookshelf of
foreign fantasy books, leaving Rin alone...
「Um...」
I heard a girl's voice behind me.
I turned around to see a familiar girl
standing there with her hand over her mouth in shame.
**a
（Monkey...huh?）
I believe her name is Mangi Nagashi. She has
freckles on the tip of her nose. And today, her dark brown hair is tied back in
two.
（Well... let's see, I guess we've never met
before）
Sankon and I had lunch together at lunchtime
today, and due to a mysterious push by Masaki-chan, we have decided to go on a
date this coming Saturday. While she is coming on strong, this is the first
time for Monkey to make contact with me.
（But... Shiratori-san might be helping her,
right? ）
With that in mind, I cannot be too
defenseless. I should be a little cautious.
I glanced at Rin, who was somehow hiding her
face by holding up a book.
「Um... something?」
I tilt my head, and she stares into my eyes
and opens her mouth.
「You're a member of the library committee,
aren't you? I-I don't read many books... and I'm thinking of starting to read,
but I don't know where to start...」
Her small black eyes appear to have a
trifocalsis. She does not have a lovely face, but I smile back at her, not
looking away from her as she makes eye contact with me with some earnestness.
「Um...what kind of genre do you like?」
「Well...I'm not really used to reading books,
so...I'd like something as easy to read as possible among the books that the
library committee members have read and found interesting」
「Easy to read, huh...?」
Shiratori-san may have been making it up,
but I get the general idea of what she was aiming for. Anyone who understands
his/her own tastes will be liked by him or her.
（Well, it's a straightforward way. I don't
think I need to be so cautious about this）
Rather, she must be struggling with her
acting, which she is not accustomed to. Monkey tried her best to open her eyes
and looked at me, which made me smile a little.
「Then, is it okay if it's a novel?」
「Y-yes」
I move to the stacks of novels and check out
a couple of books.
『Qualia the Purple』 and 『Criss Cross』
The recent novels are a bit erotic, so I
can't see them in the stock, and the ones I can find are only classic
masterpieces.
I remember that both of them were quite
interesting, although they were a little old.
When I checked out these two books at the
counter and handed them to her, she looked me in the eye and smiled at me.
「T... Thank you very much」
Then she bowed her head and walked out of
the library.
In the end, there was no end to the number
of people in the library that day until it closed, and Rin kept looking at me
with a reproachful gaze.
**b
* *
*
「Um...Shiratori-senpai, I did as you asked...
is this really okay?」
As I left the library, I met
Shiratori-senpai, Takasago-senpai, and Sato at a fast food restaurant in front
of the station.
「As I said, did you stare into his eyes?」
I nodded my head and Shiratori-senpai said
"OK, then" and reached for the fries as if she had lost interest.
To be honest, I think she is an unreliable
person.
But I did as I was told yesterday, and I
surpassed Sakon in terms of likability. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I
have no one else to rely on.
Shiratori-senpai simply thinks that I am in
love with Kijima-senpai and want to go out with him. That should be the case.
But in reality, I am involved in a deadly game. The gap between the two was
frustrating.
「Shirasaki... Ahhhm!」
Takasago-senpai opens her mouth wide toward
Shiratori-senpai.
「Why don't you eat yours?」
「I want Shirasaki's fries」
「It's the same thing...」
With a look of exasperation on her face,
Shiratori-senpai picks up a long piece of French fries with her fingertips and
offers it to Takasago-senpai, who bites into it like a fish into its prey.
「Delicious...」
Sato, perhaps noticing my dull expression,
opened her mouth while moving the apple pie away from Takasago-senpai.
「Well, if senpai says it's OK, then it's OK,
isn't it?」
Sato, you're not helping.
（If you're going to follow up, follow up
properly... you know, I'm getting impatient when I heard that Sakon had dinner
with Kijima-senpai...）
I pouted my lips involuntarily, and
Shiratori-senpai pushed a fries toward me.
「Yes, yes. You should read the book you
borrowed. As soon as possible」
「I'm really not good at reading...」
「Actually, there are very few people who read
recommended books properly. It's the same with manga, movies, and everything
else. That's why. Just by reading a book properly and saying what you think of
it, the likability will increase dramatically. In human relations, you should
consider it as a bonus if someone recommends something to you」
「Oh... so that's what today's contact was
for?」
「That's just a bonus... Since you seem to be
interested, if you buy Takasago an apple pie, I'll explain it to you」
「If it's at least an apple pie...」
I buy an apple pie at the counter and hand
it to Takasago-senpai.
She raises her hands in the air with an
"Uoh" and I look at Shiratori-senpai.
**c
「Please... explain」
「Do you remember my instructions for today?」
「Look his eye when talk to him, look his eye
when listen to him, talk to him with all your might, listen to him with all
your might」
「Right. On a different note, why do you think
it is that, with a few exceptions, the cheerful people are popular and the
gloomy people are not?」
「Because they're not good at talking, right?」
「No, it's not. The correct answer is that
they don't look people in the eye when they talk. The majority of human
communication is not verbal, but non-verbal. If you don't look them in the eye
and don't listen to them, it's the same as saying you're not interested in
them. That kind of person is not popular with the ladies. On the other hand, if
you make eye contact all the time, you're unconsciously sending a sign that
you're interested in them」
「Huh...」
「As you've probably learned by doing it, it's
very hard to keep eye contact with someone. That's why people usually don't do
it. So, if you do it, you'll be surprised how effective it is in increasing the
likability of the person」
「Oh...」
「Earlier, I told you that reading a book that
was recommended to you would make you more likable, why do you think that would
happen?」
「Because... if people are interested in what
they like...」
「Then, let me ask you, who is your favorite
human being? It goes without saying. You yourself. It is impossible not to like
a person who is passionately interested in you. Even subconsciously」
「I see...」
「Besides, Kijima-senpai is probably aware
that I'm the one telling you what to do」
「Eh!?」
Sato said that Shiratori-senpai is a close
friend of Kijima-senpai, but I wonder what kind of relationship they have.
「That's why this "doing it all your
might" is so important. That "this girl is made to do reckless things
by Shiratori, and she's doing it so hard" to captures Kijima-senpai's
heart affectionately. Well, he has a weakness for that kind of thing. That's
him」
（No, that's an afterthought... there's no way
she could have included that in her calculations）
When I looked puzzled, Shiratori-senpai
popped the last of the fries into her mouth and said.
「I think you're probably a nice, healthy girl
in Kijima-senpai's mind」
New series! About adventuring in dungeon! You can see it on here => here
