"So, what are your overall thoughts on what I just told you?"

Extremely efficacious if true, but far too counterproductive if the information itself is false.

Is what I would tell him, but knowing Kawahara, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he just pulled out a moody stream of outbursts in response.

"It's okay. I think it's cool that you are able to share your opinion on this. Thanks."

"Dan, it's not my opinion. It's a fact. You'll see it for yourself. Now, how about you join me?"

I forgot. This had an ulterior purpose.

"No way. What if this is all false? Also, you said that you would do something no matter what I and Kuzan asked and that that would be the demonstration of your 'ability'. That's why I must confirm it first."

Still, no guarantee that I will join him in his unknown endeavors. Actually, it's probably an extremely good idea that I just take this piece of information and just that.

I can't help but feel insecure whenever I'm making deals with Kawahara.

"And I told you it's the truth. That's why I'm proposing you side with me earlier. Because you will just waste time. Here is what will happen... You will see that I am right and you will realize that I was right all along, therefore, aligning with me."

"Yeah, yeah, keep on talking. But even if you are supposedly right, Kawahara, it doesn't really matter in the end..."

That's right. Because right now, it doesn't fully matter if I know how to pass the exam, there is a greater wall that I must trespass in order to fulfill my desire of excelling at this exam.

"Why? I just told you how to beat the exam, how does that not matter at all? Are you insecure or something?"

"No... Ugh, listen. Even if I know how to beat the exam, what good does it do if my partner doesn't cooperate?"

As soon as I told him this, Kawahara's expression went from being puzzled to an expression that would symbolize immediate understanding.

"I see! You and Julia had a stupid argument!"

"It's Yulia, y'know?"

"What does it matter? You're going to bother with some stupid pronunciation details?"

"Well, it's fine I guess."

He's right. I'm not too fond of pronunciation details, really.

And I'm somewhat mad at her.

"Wanna make a deal, Dan? It's super gooood. I would advise you to listen to it."

I'm not trusting that smirk. That smirk of his means that he's up to something bad. Plus, there's no point in being here anymore.

Figuring out a plan of action with this information is fairly advisable.

Manipulating Yulia into doing something that is beneficial for our passage is still passable, even if she will never be aware of it.

"No. I'm fine. If your information is correct, then that's all I really need."

"Hm? That's odd. A while ago you were complaining that my information wasn't enough and now you say the exact opposite. What exactly changed your mind in this one minute, Dan? There must be something that your brain just suddenly clicked, right? What was it? Tell me."

"Nothing happened. I wasn't just thinking straight. That's why, now that I've thought this out a bit, I've come to the conclusion that I can pull something off."

All that happened was the sudden realization that Yulia was not yet beyond my reach and that that would give me the superior edge if I acted accordingly.

But realistically speaking, it will be a pile of work.

"Mhmmm. I see... But ya know. My deal, the deal that you just declined without even listening to it, if you accept it, then I can tell you how to make your partner swiftly side with you. Sure, I don't know what argument you two had, but if you don't mind explaining it to me, then I can be of great help."

I knew it would be something like this...

Then again, I can just use the same strategy, which is to make him willingly tell me what he has in mind without actually having to comply with his deal.

But, that won't work. Because if I accept his deal, which is still unknown to me, I will be dragged into his game.

Thus, I took my seat yet again. All this time, I was viewing the cryptic enigmatic books on the bookshelves and some even caught my interest. I'm definitely bringing a certain book with me when I leave this place.

"Explain your deal, first."

Kawahara's smirk exploded as soon as I uttered those words. His omniscient smirk is going to be on my nightmares for sure.

"I like that attitude. Not too prideful to know when you could use an upper hand but you take small cautions by taking small steps on at the time. Really good, if you ask me. Well, here is the deal. I did tell you how to achieve positive results in the exam, which was by nailing the second formula. However, I didn't give you the method. Surely, the method will depend on whether or not your partner complies and that's why, I'm saying, I can help you with that."

"So you are saying that you could somehow help me solve my problem with Yulia? But what do you want in return though?"

That's what I wanna know honestly.

"For I, to be able to help you out, you'll have to explain the whole situation first. What do I want in return? Let's see... I could just ask you to immediately comply with me in my ideas but you need proof first, so you'll just reject me."

I'm surprised that even though his ego is inflated, Kawahara can see that that would be what I would exactly do, should he propose something that unreasonable.

"That's why I will give you something worthy. I'm feeling generous right now, so listen up. You are passing this exam along with your partner. No doubt. As long as you follow everything I tell you, that is. But what about the exam in March?"

"What about it? We are like one month prior to it. Are you saying that I have to be cautious about it even though we are so far from it?"

Subsequently, Kawahara facepalmed me in response?

Why though?

"Dude... That's such a narrow way of thinking. Of course you have to be cautious. Thus far, there has been 1 exam and with the upcoming one, it will be the second one. Quick maths, but if we are to evaluate how many exams we will have throughout the future from here on out, then that's a grand total of 34 special exams. Now, let me ask you this, are you feeling confident enough that you can pass through 34 special exams like it's a breeze?"

"I think if I seriously try then I should have no problem."

"Naive. Dan, you can't be serious. The degree of difficulty in the upcoming exams will surely increase. If we were only dealing with the degree of difficulty, then I would say that's nothing to really worry about, but we have to worry about way more than that."

Who knew that the carefree Kawahara actually had this much on his mind?

Could it be that he's secretly nervous about this?

"I get it. I shouldn't be this carefree about it. But what's your point?"

I didn't mean for my words to sound rude, but he has this bad habit of delaying the actual point.

"My point is that even though you can pass this exam, there is no guarantee that you will pass the next one. Well, normally, that would be the case."

"Normally? What are you talking about?"

Though, I'm seriously confident that if I stop being lazy about the exams that I can pass them. It's just unfortunate that we had a sudden exam that revolved around pairings.

"Without a doubt, should you pass this exam, then you'd have to worry about the upcoming one. Because if you fail the upcoming one then you would have two supply exams accumulated. Now, I'm not sure if you have noticed but if it wasn't for my grand kindness, you would be a sitting duck right now. If it wasn't for I, you would not pass this exam, which would give three supply exams."

I will kill Tsudo one day, I swear.

"Get this now, if you fail this exam and the upcoming one AFTER this one, then you are done for. That's it. Game over. Next life."

So Kawahara truly believes that whoever is out of the program will actually be subjected to those forms of execution? Dying from an electric chair is horrifying, but dying from asphyxia is mortifying.

"Kawahara, I would appreciate if you'd stop evaluating yourself this high. I'm better than you are expecting me to be."

"Yet thus far you haven't shown any signs of that. Fuck, we lost the first exam because you motivated the other retards to invade the girls' dorm! On a scale of 0 to 10, how retarded do you think that is?!"

".........Sev-"

"INFINITE! So, shut up and listen."

His mood exploded once again. But we just couldn't be defeated back then. It couldn't be helped.

It had to be done.

"Your methods are essentially suicidal for all I know. It doesn't take a fool to know this. That's why, my deal will involve, I, giving you the correct methods to pass the upcoming exam."

"......Serious?"

His offer is somewhat irresistible, in all likelihood.

"Dead serious. The conclusion being, I'm willing to offer you protection for not only the exam that we will have tomorrow but in the upcoming one in the next month."

"Yeah okay, but what's the catch? There has to be a catch..."

It's pure insanity to think that Kawahara would just give all of this for free. He's not the type of person to just make deals this willingly and kindly.

Without a doubt, there has to be a catch.

"There is no catch. That's the catch."

"What?! No way that's true. Come on, spill it out. What is it?"

"Dude, I'm fucking serious. Learn to believe."

I can believe sometimes, but this is just too hard.

"Oh, I get it. Evidence first. Fuck, why not? I'll tell you how to solve your situation and then you will realize at the end of this just how much of an awesome person I am!"

In addition to proposing unexpectedly profitable deals, I can't tell if Kawahara just wants to do actions that would make him someone great or if he wants to help me.

...It has to be the first option, no doubt.

"But Dan, in order for me to do so, you have to tell me every single detail. It actually matters."

............

"Sure..."

There are no consequences in telling him this or so I thought, thus I went forward and explained the whole thing to him.

"Man, what a bitch."

I chuckled.

"B-But, haha, there must be something that I can do, right?"

My laughing aside, it would all come down to either me or Kawahara. In my mind, I already have a plan, but I wanted to know how he would perceive this.

"There are plenty of things that you can do. I already have a few plans in mind. The problem isn't what you can do, but if you can do it."

"What are you on about? Why would I not be able to do it?"

It's seriously confusing how there is supposedly something I can't do when this is obnoxiously easy to solve.

With all things considered, I should just respect Yulia more and more and pretend that I care when I don't.

That's how I should perceive this.

"No... I'm not saying that you can't do it. But there is a high chance that you will object my way of perceiving this. Essentially, it's pretty obvious how you should go about this. From what you have told me, you and she have developed a level of intimacy which would be considered high. I'm even surprised that there isn't any sort of tension between you two. Or you lied about it."

What is Kawahara talking about...? Why would there ever be a level of intimacy between I and Yulia?

Makes no sense...

"There isn't really any tension between us."

"Mhm! I see why there isn't any tension between you two now!"

The thing about Kawahara is, whenever he is self-indulging and colliding with his own thoughts, he makes this really deep and thoughtful face yet as soon as he realizes something he bursts with excitement.

"Dan, you really are dense. That's why you haven't noticed. But why haven't you noticed...?"

"Huh?! How am I dense?"

It's against my creed to be dense and act like a harem protagonist. I thought that I made this clear already yet this guy thinks that I am dense.

Bullshit.

"Dude, you are totally dense. So, from what you have told me, she wants to know things about you and thus, you two even share secrets, which you didn't tell me by the way."

"I'm not telling you. I can't. It's a thing between me and her. Apologies."

"That's exactly my point! If you two have this hidden chemistry then how come you haven't noticed what's going on?! The only logical explanation is... you are fucking dense as hell."

Kawahara's so wrong but he doesn't even understand why he is wrong. Guess I have to prove to him why he's wrong.

"I'm not dense, man. This is just normal, there's nothing going on. This exam's essence is for you and your partner to work it out better, so it's only normal for you to get to know your partner better. Even if that means growing a bit closer. But it's all for the sake of passing the exam."

Hopefully, Kawahara realizes just how flawed his point of view is now.

"Hahaha! That's what you think?"

"Yeah, it is..."

"Well, you're wrong. While you perceive the essence correctly, that doesn't matter right now. What I meant by dense, you completely explained to me why you are dense just now."

"I don't get it. I seriously don't. You keep on calling me dense, but I just can't see how I am dense. Mind explaining?"

Being called dense over and over is surprisingly annoying. Furthermore, claiming that I've explained why I am dense just adds salt to the injury.

It's like Kawahara's saying that I've defeated my own argument with my own words.

"Daniel, you built up this bond with her for the sake of passing the exam, but you just don't get it, man. You don't get them at all."

Them?

"What?"

Kawahara, before speaking to me again, inhaled deeply.

"Women! Girls! Those fragile creatures that are around you, that also unknowingly get attached to insensitive assholes like you on accident! Get it now?!"

His words resembled a bit of white-knight mannerism, but I could sense a small fragrance of truth behind them. Plus, his intention wasn't to protect the opposite gender.

Although I know that, I still can't see his point.

"No, I still don't get it. I'm also not insensitive. I'm actually quite emotional deep down, you know?"

"Your deep down doesn't count because on the surface you don't speak about your emotions. Therefore you are perceived as insensitive, heartless and whatnot. In other words, you basically are emotionally incompetent."

No way that's true.

Do I not express myself constantly? I think I do.

"Not true. If that was the case, then I wouldn't have made any progress with Yulia at all. Yulia is an emotional person and to synergize with her, I had to show her a bit of emotion."

"Oh, you dumbfuck, realize this already! You only were able to synergize with her to a reasonable extent because you were worried about the exam. Thus, you faked your caring and all that. And that's why you are dense. Because you don't realize that she bothered to talk to you because she cared about the exam. If she knew that she would already fail the exam, then why would she continue to speak to you? Especially about her secrets? No sense. That's why there is an ulterior reason, dumbass."

Kawahara's so rude. I bet that I would start to cry if I was an emotional person.

His words sting yet that's about it.

"What ulterior reason though? Also, that's why I'm dense? Because I care about the exam? Well, so sorry for actually caring about what needs to be taken care of!"

"Not my point, Dan... Not my point at all... Caring about the exam is really good. But you didn't realize something or maybe it just didn't click to you. Without Yulia, you can forget winning. If you knew this, then you would just analyze the situation and realize that you were wrong about certain aspects. Yet, what do you do? You fucking argue. You show an insensitive coherence. Lack of caring. Fuck, you didn't even chase her back. It's as if you are telling her: 'Whatever, I don't need you anyway. Go take a hike, thot.'"

Why am I receiving such a sassy scolding...?

"I can't believe you. Are you arguing that I should have done the right thing instead of the wrong thing? Are you deep down a righteous person?"

This caught my attention. Kawahara might turn out to be an incredibly good person.

"You keep on missing my point. Wow. Just wow. Alright... My point overall is that you can't see things from her perspective and that's the main reason why you and Yulia are constantly arguing. Though, she's really dumb. Why the fuck would you deny a chance of winning all just for the sake of this loyalty bullcrap? Unreasonable."

"I know right?! If only Yul-"

"Not the time to vent. I said that there was an ulterior reason for all of this. The reason as to why she has done all of this despite knowing what the end goal would be. Do you know that reason?"

Now that Kawahara mentions this yet again, it doesn't make much sense. All this time, the reason as to why I bothered to talk to her was to please her mood, which would ultimately benefit me since that would give her some sort of emotional strength. Which, in the end, might prove to be useful in the exam.

Then again, we decided to quit. After that, she was pretty happy. It's still on the back of my mind, her constant smiling.

She was happy because I went along with her plan, well, my plan, but that vanished as soon as I proposed that we should take a new approach.

Hell, Yulia even viewed that as infidelity.

But why? I can't understand her pattern.

Why would she do something when it doesn't regard the exam anymore?

"No... I don't think I can find a possible answer. If it doesn't concern the exam then I don't see why she would bother to create such interaction with me."

I tried to think more and more by relaxing my back on this comfy couch, but nothing was coming to mind.

"Yulia was totally fine with failing. Why is that though?"

...She never really explained that.

"Let me answer that for you since you have no way of knowing it."

"And you do?"

"Yeah. The losers will be placed next to each other throughout the whole year. That's a huge reward for her."

Is it? How? I don't get it.

Shouldn't your priority be, passing the exam?

"Furthermore, Yulia showed to be revolted once you proposed a winning strategy. Not really a winning strategy, but just the idea that there might be a winning condition. Aren't you curious to know why she expressed herself in such a revolted way?"

"She's just really emotional, what do you expect? Also, she viewed that as an act of betrayal. No clue why, though."

"Truly dense. I don't think harem protagonists have a single chance against you. They are mortals while you are their god. Clap yourself on the back."

"Your sarcasm hurts. Please stop."

It really does okay?

Saying that I am the god of harem protagonists is excruciatingly hurtful.

"It wasn't sarcasm."

It wasn't?!

"Anyway, as I was saying, there is an overall reason for all of her reactions. Since it doesn't make any sense for her to be revolted about this without having an actual reason for being so revolted, you have to think about her emotional state. But, you can't do that. Yulia even told you why. You just can't see things from her perspective. There is something that's forbidding you from doing so."

"Oh? But what? Don't tell me it's my lack of emotion. I already told you that's not the case."

Because, if it was the case, then what about the times where I have shown her plenty of emotion?

It doesn't make much sense for him to claim that I can't see things from her perspective just because my emotions aren't on a higher level.

"It's your obnoxious dogmatic tendency to supremely focus on the exam and nothing else. Listen, you are correct. So correct. Winning is the overall goal, but you don't know how to win and that's killing you right now. Even though the answer to winning was in front of you all this time."

"You mean Yulia? I get that. She's important, I really get it. But I screwed up. It's too late."

Kawahara then dropped another smirk bomb in my direction.

"You're not out of luck, my guy. It's still not too late. But let me tell you the reason for her actions thus far. Otherwise, you might view your actions as illogical. Now... prepare yourself. Your virgin heart might not be ready for this, so hold on tight."

"Oi."

While I'm happy that Kawahara will finally explain the overall reason as to why Yulia has been acting the way she has, his words are so painful.

Virgin heart? Bruh.

"This is just a single hypothesis, but... I'm noticeably right and correct here. Out of the 1143 options that were there to evaluate and to take into consideration, this is it. No doubt here, this is the ultimate option."

What the hell?! 1143 options!? What is this Doctor Strange shit?!

"Dan..."

W-What?! Why are you placing your hands on my shoulders without saying no homo?!

"Yulia has a crush on you."

?

"Nonsense. No way that's possible."

I have no clue why, but my brain completely and immediately rejected that idea of his.

"Do I have to explain my entire theory to you as to why I think she has a major crush on you EVEN THOUGH it's completely obvious?! Well, I like explaining my theories, so why not."

Bipolar man strikes again.

But there's just no way that's possible.

"I'll just point out a few references Yulia made to you, but you, being the obnoxious little shit that you are, refused to notice her signals. Ah, fuck. Why do all the hotties fall for the wrong selfish pricks?! I'm alive you know, world?!"

Says the guy who's borderline narcissistic and the guy who essentially has a fan club at this point.

Hypocrite!

"First clue! She asked for your number! There is literally no reason why she would ask you for your number if you think about it. If she already knew that she was going to fail the exam, then why even bother? Although, out of all my clues, this is the weakest one. So, if you want to disregard this one, feel free to do so. I have stronger clues anyway."

"I will respectfully do so."

"Second clue! She played a game of catch with you. Remember when she texted you saying that you had to find her and in the end, she didn't give you her location? That's Yulia saying that she wanted you to seek her. Of course, I would immediately label her as an attention whore, if it wasn't for the upcoming clue!"

Kawahara, back when I was explaining the whole situation even asked me about that. The man wants to know everything.

"Third clue! She talks to literally no one EXCEPT you! Not her table parter, Susaga, but you. Fuck, you can't tell me that's coincidental. I know all about being socially awkward since I have a history with that, but no way is this a coincidence. In other words, she's not an attention whore because she wants your attention alone. It would be a different story if she wanted the attention of others along the way, but that's not the case."

What did he mean by having a history with that?

"Fourth clue! She allowed you to train her and ultimately allowed you to stare at her body while planking. How the fuck is that even allowed?!"

He's burning with jealously while explaining his points. Kinda funny.

"Fifth clue! She pays you meals. Why would she do that? Does she seem like someone who wants to extract the truth from you by paying her food? No, you denied that already. Therefore, she wants to have quality time with you. Basically, she most likely had in mind a plan or something."

I thought she did that out of kindness.

"Sixth clue! Noodle challenge!"

Seriously?

"Seventh clue! You two have an astonishing level of intimacy considering you two only started to talk a few days ago. My lord, you two even shared secrets supposedly. And considering she most likely only opened herself to you, how the fuck are you blind to the point of not seeing the obvious signal here? Listen up, you prick, girls don't emotionally open up unless they are telling you a blatant lie OR if they want to share something with you. Now, I have no clue what she saw in you, but apparently, you are worthy of her!"

Kawahara's shouts are piercing my eardrums. This is worse than that one time when I listened to music way too loud and was almost deaf.

"Eighth clue! Even after trying to possibly struggle and pass the exam, as soon as you gave her reasoning and as soon as you told her that she didn't even try at this exam, she immediately agreed with you. And no, don't view this as something that happened due to her physical inability. To her, she must've viewed this as an act of kindness!"

All this time, I really wanted to argue with him on his points but they are slowly clicking in.

"Ninth clue! Not only did she agree with your plan because she viewed that as an act of kindness but there is yet another reason! Remember how the pairings that lose will be paired up until the end of this year? After this exam, March will hit the scene. That's motherfucking 10 months paired up with you! Remember, we don't have vacation because this system is unfair as fuck, so from her perspective, it makes total sense to be by your side throughout the whole year!"

Just how many clues will he bother to explain to me? He's making me feel dumb.

Not because of his words, but due to his reasonings.

"Tenth clue! She saw your act as infidelity because, in her mind, you were already deemed to be paired up with her for a long time yet as soon as you project an objection to her idea, she showed you a revolted response because it's like you are saying that you don't want to be with her. Fuck, normally that's fine, but she's clearly upset because you are too dense to see things from her perspective and that killed her mood. That's why she's currently mad at you. Because you are not understanding the whole damn thing even though it's so fucking obvious!"

His perception is amazing. He knows all of this even though he wasn't present on the actual scene. In other words, this is all just according to my words alone.

I wonder just how far would he be able to perceive the whole situation if he was present?

Well, I bothered to explain to him the whole thing to a very vast extent though.

"For the record, I have way more clues, but these were to me, the most obvious ones. Now, the question is, do you still believe that she doesn't have a crush on you?"

"...It's hard to say now. I was convinced that she didn't but your words are making me see this whole event from a different light. I'm surprised just how much I'm accepting the possibility even though I literally rejected the possibility in my mind initially."

Plus, I'm extremely confused and have no clue how I should act when I'm around her again.

Suddenly, a spiral of anxiety and insecurity began to swirl around under my consciousness.

"What's important is that you acknowledge the possibility that she has a crush on you. But what's more important than that is that you don't act like it's a possibility. Act like it's a fact. This is what I was talking about earlier. Remember when I said that there was a chance of you not being able to coop up with my words? This is it. I'm asking you to act like Yulia's crush on you is the most apparent and obvious fact on this planet. Well, can you do that?"

This time, I smirked back.

Kawahara formed a shocked expression in response, as expected.

And that's because he doesn't know that I also possess narcissistic tendencies and views about myself, although minimal, to my arsenal.

"Leave it to me. Actually, no. Just how is this any relevant to the situation?"

I was too focused on what Kawahara had just told me to realize the flaw here.

How would this connect to winning the exam?

"It's plenty of relevant, trust me. She's mad at you for the reasons I've already explained. And you, are going to please her mood."

"What are you suggesting exactly?"

How the hell can I possibly please her mood? Well, I already know the answer to that though.

Initially, my plan was to leave the scene and find Yulia and just talk this out to her. And then, I would manipulate her into siding with me.

Though, now that Kawahara has explained to me that she might have a crush on me, that completely changes things. Because if that's the case, then my acting could all just be a waste.

"Go out with her. Answer her feelings. Make her be aware of how she actually feels towards you because there is a chance that she's not even aware of this. Man up, essentially."

"What? Are you kidding me? I don't even love her... I can't possibly do something like that."

"Why not though? Are you secretly noble? Is that why you are being a wuss about this? Just pretend that you love her and it will be fine. Your feelings are not important, her's are. Can you not see what I'm telling you? You don't have to be genuine about this, all you have to do is show a genuine act. Acting and being are worlds apart."

"I see... Essentially, all I have to do is to portray a more genuine act and I don't have to be genuine about this at all? But what then? Let's suppose that this works... We would probably grow closer and all that. I don't think I can coop up with that."

"Dan, it's easy. Take your time, but don't be too slow either. But you must get this done quickly. As soon as you are done portraying how you feel towards her, IN A POSITIVE WAY, you have to trick her. Lie to her over and over. Show her that you have similar feelings and that she must cooperate with you. Explain her the second formula and that it doesn't matter if you two won't be paired up all year. Do something fun such as saying that instead of being paired up, you two could become something greater. Hey, that's a pretty good line now that I think about it."

This guy's actual human garbage.

But I'm not in a greater position.

"With that said, what are you waiting for?"

"Huh?"

"Dude, fucking call her. No messages. You have her number right? Spam her fucking voicemail until she picks up."

He's not taking into consideration that Yulia might've turned off her phone.

Yet it's arguably worth the shot. I think what Kawahara is saying is that, by calling her, I'm showing that I actually want to chase after her.

Though, that's a huge problem.

"I can't do that. The guy can't chase after the girl. That's a beta way of acting."

"Shut the fuck up and call her right now or I will."

"Yeah, okay."

I'm still right though.

5 minutes later.

"Well, at least her phone isn't turned off which means that the missed calls are actually going through. She's just not picking up. Keep on trying though. The moment you can't even call her means that you have to find her physically but until she does that, you have to keep on trying."

It seems Kawahara doesn't exactly care about the alpha code.

He just does whatever must be done in his mind.

Strangely enough, I'm starting to think that his mindset and way of doing things will turn out to be successful.

"Let's try again... 24th call, what could go wrong?"

Roughly 10 seconds after, I heard my call being picked up but no voice came from it.

It took me around two seconds to act, and I acted because Kawahara gave me a push on my shoulder.

"I want to talk to you."

But she turned the call off as soon as I said that.

"What the fuck, she turned the call off!"

"Just insist again. If she picked it up it means that it's working. If you stop now, the effect will be gone. Try again!"

It hurts my soul to chase after a girl like this, but according to Kawahara, this is absolutely mandatory.

Thus, I called her once more.

This time, it only took her 5 seconds.

"Please don't cut the call. I really want to-"

Ah fuck, not again.

I didn't have to look in Kawahara's direction to realize what had to be done once more.

One second this time.

"What?"

What a surprise, she actually spoke. But her voice is aggressive as hell.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong and you were right all along. Please let me talk to you in person. I think we both would like to have it that way."

"...That way?"

"Yeah. You'll see what I mean in no time."

Kawahara blew a whistle as soon as he heard those words.

"Where?"

"Where do you want to talk, Yulia?"

Giving her the priority here is also mandatory.

"Where do you want to talk, Daniel?"

"Wherever you want to talk, Yulia."

Claps came from Kawahara.

It's giving me a strong feeling of embarrassment. I wish he would stop.

"Do you remember that time when I gave you that riddle? Well, that's it. Good luck!"

After saying that, she cut the call.

"That's enough. Don't insist. Do what you must now."

"What about you, Kawahara?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do? Are you just going to stand here?"

If so, then he was literally going to skip out a lot.

"Yeah. Gotta take a nap. Pretty comfy couch, if you ask me. Perfect for a nap. Might just read some of the books here. They've been on my mind for a while. Now, you go. No need to thank me when you pass the exam. Let that serve you as evidence that I am omnipotent in this small round world! It's small because the grandness of my existence makes the Earth's Axis quake!"

How can someone change his own mood so quickly? It's actually impressive.

Yet before leaving, I just had to ask him one small question.

"Kawahara... Um... I know that I have to find out who she is, but if you know all of this then why haven't you made your move yet?"

Since he has someone he loves, why hasn't he made his move even though the result could potentially be great?

Also, as soon as I got up from the couch, Kawahara's legs extended throughout the whole couch as he formed a napping position.

He even yawned on top of it, before replying to me.

"Shut up. Everybody's got their problems."

Around 1 day left until the exam.