Confinement King

In the library after school, there are strangely more people today.

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.

（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.

「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.

「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」

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