Chapter 51

“I lost with rock again…”

It was Thursday after-school, following my heart-pounding lunch with Yuzu senpai.

Having lost the trash-duty rock-paper-scissors to Ayato right after Tuesday, I was walking down the stairs today with a garbage bag in hand.

Ah, do it to me lots later…

The words whispered during the lunch break replayed infinitely inside my head.

Because of that, the fifth period, and even the sixth period, somehow just ended before I even noticed.

I felt like my own wording hadn’t been great either, but Yuzu senpai… she really does start saying outrageous things out of nowhere.

It was definitely not good for my heart.

As for whether I called her by name or not, the initiative was firmly held by Yuzu senpai…

“Is this what an abandoned dog waiting around feels like…?”

“Could that be a lewd topic?”

“Whoa!?”

“Wahya!?”

Suddenly.

Lemon-chan’s face appeared right in front of me.

I thought Lemon-chan’s face, with her long golden hair hiding one eye, was well-featured and cute, but appearing so suddenly gave me a huge shock.

If Yuzu senpai did the same thing to me, my heart might actually stop for real this time.

“Whoa, you scared me…”

“Sorry. I didn’t notice you.”

“Nah, my bad. I smelled the scent of a lewd story.”

“What even is the scent of a lewd story?”

Lemon-chan possessed a unique sense of smell.

She looked cool today as well in her uniform featuring a mini-skirt and exposed midriff.

“Oh, is Ayato-kun not here today either?”

“Ayato grabbed victory with his furious hair-ruffling power and energetically departed for club activities…”

“Hair-ruffling power?”

“Even Ayato couldn’t defeat the immense wholesome aura…”

“Immense wholesome… Could that be about Hime-chan?”

“Eh, how’d you know?!”

“Oh, nailed it? Hehehen! There are no mysteries that this beautiful girl super sleuth Lemon-chan cannot solve!”

Lemon-chan, having claimed the title of beautiful girl super sleuth, put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

Not that I would comment on what, but it was big.

“But does Ayato-kun even have any connection to Hime-chan? C-Could it be a confession…?! An inter-sport cross-species marriage?!”

“No, we just happened to sit at the same table when I was with her in the cafeteria.”

What on earth is an inter-sport cross-species marriage?

“Whaaaat? I honestly thought… Eh? If Hime-chan was there, does that mean Yuzu senpai was there too?!”

“Of course! It was the first time I got to eat lunch with her!”

Even though I couldn’t taste the food at all!

“I-I wanted to see it…!”

Lemon-chan dropped to her knees in the hallway in despair.

Even though sweeping time was over, that was dirty.

Since Lemon-chan seemed to like Yuzu senpai too, it probably would have been fun if she’d been there.

…Huh?

“Come to think of it, Lemon-chan.”

“Hmm?”

Lemon-chan turned just her face with a spin.

Her bangs shifted, offering a brief glimpse of her previously hidden left eye.

“Are you an acquaintance of Yuzu senpai or Hime-chin senpai?”

“Eh?! A-Ah, w-well, that’s! …Hime-chin?”

“Ah, yeah. Yuzu senpai called her that.”

“…………”

“Lemon-chan?”

Just as she hurriedly stood back up, Lemon-chan suddenly fell deep into thought.

The sight of her pressing a hand to her chin was the picture of a beautiful girl super sleuth.

“…Kakeru-kun, this morning. Did something happen with Yuzu senpai?”

“Eh? Ah, yeah… We talked on the phone a bit.”

“Ah… I knew it.”

Knew it, huh?

Man, this beautiful girl super sleuth is amazing, how does she figure this out?

“D-Don’t tell me… Did you change how you call her name recently or something?”

“I did! Eh, awesome, how did you know?!”

“…………”

She was amazing, yet she went quiet again.

She looked like she was calculating something crazy inside her head.

“At that lunchtime… did you… call Yuzu senpai by her name?”

“Well, at Yuzu senpai’s request, outside the clubroom… Ah, sorry, keep that a secret please!”

I ended up blurting it out.

Why was it that whenever it came to Yuzu senpai, I always ended up telling Lemon-chan?

Was this also the power of the beautiful girl super sleuth?

“So that’s what this morning’s emotional rollercoaster was about…”

“Eh?”

“Well, but if that’s the case, then I’m the one who said unnecessary things…”

“Lemon-chan?”

She was muttering to herself.

This might be the deduction phase.

“…Kakeru-kun!”

“Ah, yes!”

“I’ll take custody of this trash!”

“Eh!?”

She wasn’t a detective, she was a phantom thief!?

“If you want this trash thrown away, you better get to the clubroom right now!”

“W-Wait… Doesn’t this only benefit me?”

“No sweating the small stuff! Hurry, run!”

“I can’t run!”

“Sorry!”

Her pacing was great.

“Yuzu senpai is a lonely person just like she looks, so get along with her!”

With that, Lemon-chan snatched the garbage bag and took off running.

That was something I had also vaguely noticed, but right now, more importantly—

“Wait! Lemon-chan! Aren’t you way too knowledgeable about Yuzu senpai?! Also, thanks for the trash! I’ll pay you back later!”

“Hahaha! Because I am the world’s number one Yuzu senpai expert! Sweets sound good as a reward!”

Lemon-chan—formerly the beautiful girl super sleuth, then phantom thief, and now Yuzu senpai expert—ran off into the distance.

I felt like I kept being taken care of by Lemon-chan.

Why to this extent…? She’s full of mysteries, that Yuzu senpai expert.

Plus, world number one—I couldn’t afford to lose to that.

“Thanks, Lemon-chan.”

I called out one more time to Lemon-chan, who was no longer in sight, and headed toward the clubroom at as fast a walk as I could manage.