It's Super Effective!

At such an unexpected response, Takumi blurted out a dumbfounded sound.

Wanting to give a greeting, yet not having to speak.

As he directed a suspicious glare at Aki for spouting such nonsensical, Zen riddle-like advice, she wore a sly grin, turned her mouth into an ω shape, and raised her left hand.

Unable to grasp her intent right away, Takumi furrowed his brows. As he stood there flustered, Aki stretched up on her tiptoes several times as if urging him on. When she simultaneously fluttered her raised right hand in a beckoning motion, anyone could tell what she was asking for.

As Takumi timidly raised his right hand in the same manner, she brought her hand against his, making a crisp, satisfying sound as they high-fived. Then Aki declared with utter pride:

“See? Don’t you think what we just did counts as a greeting too?”

“Ah!”

“I also think just looking at someone, smiling, and giving a small wave works just fine. This way, it still counts as a greeting even if you can’t talk, right?”

“It does, it really does!”

“In short, greetings are all about communicating in a way that lets the other person recognize, ‘I have no hostility toward you~ I just want to get along~’, right? That means words aren’t strictly necessary.”

Scales fell from Takumi’s eyes. Even though Kotori couldn’t speak up this morning, she had walked right up to Toba. While giving a beaming smile might be a high bar… giving a small wave was certainly doable.

If she could pull that off, it made sense—he at least wouldn’t think she hated him. It might even draw a reaction from him, making it easier to transition into actual spoken greetings.Ahem. Aki placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her modest chest.

Takumi spoke up in a voice tinged with admiration, yet carrying a hint of lingering curiosity.

“Thank you, I think we can make this work! But… to be honest, I was surprised to hear a method like this from you, Aki-senpai, since you seem able to talk to anyone without hesitation.”

“Aha, even I flinch and hesitate to speak up around people who seem intimidating~ But when I still have to talk to them, I have to show that I mean no harm~”

“Eh?!”

“Waah?!”

As Aki shrugged her shoulders, Takumi raised his voice, completely unable to hide his astonishment this time. Staring intently at Aki, who jumped slightly at his volume, Takumi asked timidly.

“Well, it’s just that people have often been scared of me and avoided talking to me until now…”

“Eh, really? I just thought you looked a bit like a rowdy kid, though.”

“‘Rowdy kid’?”

“Because look, compared to people who are genuinely furious and ready to throw a punch any second, or folks who might wave a blade around if something happens, looking a bit rowdy is nothing, right?”

“That’s, well… true.”

“There are people out in the world who are belligerent from the get-go, so compared to them, you’re not scary at all.”

Although the charming phrasing of “rowdy” forced a strange laugh out of him, her following explanation made odd sense. Indeed, if people with those kinds of attitudes were the point of comparison, he was rendering quite approachable.

Takumi murmured deeply, full of admiration.

Takumi murmured deeply, full of admiration.

“So the Volunteer Club actually deals with people like that sometimes.”

“Pretty much! Welp, I gotta return these books, so I’ll be taking my leave!”

Saying so, Aki headed back to helping the library committee.

After watching her walk away, Takumi immediately sent Aki’s advice to Kotori.

Upon receiving Aki’s advice from Takumi, Kotori jumped on it, realizing there was such a solution.

She eagerly sent text after text, exclaiming, 《Wow, that’s genius!》 and 《Even I can do this!》

The chime signaling the end of lunch break rang out, leaving only a brief moment before afternoon classes began.

Kotori, brimming with motivation as she returned to the classroom, headed straight toward Toba as if striking while the iron was hot. Takumi watched over the scene from his own seat, holding his breath.

Right now, Toba believed he had done something to make Kotori dislike him.

As Kotori approached Toba’s desk, a taut thread of tension stretched across the surrounding classmates.

When Kotori reached Toba’s desk just as she had this morning, his expression froze and his cheeks twitched, but he consciously tried to speak to her in his usual cheerful tone.

“Nabata…-san…?”

“…gh.”

In response, Kotori raised the corners of her mouth slightly into what resembled an awkward smile, raising one hand lightly in a wave.

Seeing Kotori manage a proper greeting despite her awkwardness, Takumi made a mental victory pose.

However, her intent didn’t seem to get across to Toba.

He let out a silly “Huh?” looking thoroughly bewildered.

Perhaps Toba’s reaction was unexpected, because Kotori shot him a helpless glance for assistance, prompting Takumi to give a firm nod as if telling her to try it one more time.

Taking that in, Kotori let out a shallow exhale and raised her hand once more with another awkward smile.

This time, Toba nervously raised one hand in the same manner, murmuring tentatively.

“H-Hey…”

“!”

Kotori nodded repeatedly as if declaring, “That’s correct.”

Relief washing over him, Toba’s expression relaxed, and he put on an intentionally exaggerated grin.

“Haha, glad I got it right! Could it be you were just trying to say hi this morning too?”

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

As expected of Toba, a man who could read the room. Takumi marveled at his sharp deduction.

With Kotori taking full advantage of the opening to jump on board, voices rose from the surroundings—“Oh, so that was it!” and “It’s hard to tell, but that’s so like Nabata-san”—and the tension melted away.

Having somehow cleared up the misunderstanding, Takumi and Kotori both breathed a sigh of relief.

But Toba casually dropped an absolute bombshell as if it were nothing.

“So, what did you need me for?”

“!”

Kotori and Takumi froze completely. Toba beamed, looking to be in high spirits.

Thinking about it, Kotori, who normally showed interest in no one, had gone out of her way to approach Toba. It was only natural for him to assume she had business with him.

Their foresight had been flawed. They had been so focused on executing the greeting that neither had given any thought to what came after.

Saying she had no business with him after all of that would come across as far too misleadingly flirtatious.

Panic-stricken, Kotori’s eyes spun as she shot Takumi a desperate look for help.

Flustered, Takumi reflexively sent a message reading simply 《Day duty》 on his smartphone.

Noticing the notification while completely overwhelmed in front of Toba, Kotori instantly pulled out her phone and read the text out loud.

“《Day duty》…”

“Day duty! Oh right, isn’t that coming up soon? Are you saying you want to exchange contact info for that?!”

“M-Mm.”

Kotori nodded, swept along by the momentum. Though he had made a odd misinterpretation, it fit naturally into the flow.

Seeing Toba foolishly shout, “Gotta get Nabata-san’s contact info~!”, Takumi and Kotori both let out sighs of relief.

However, the two were so relieved to have escaped the situation that they failed to notice the commotion stirring around them.