The Japanese pronunciation of "Tooru-chan" made it clear.
Virtually no one would use "-chan" to address a male, so it was rather obvious...
Though... it wasn't actually that hard to accept...
If anything, having her identity discovered actually made it easier to have this conversation with Ihei-senpai.
"Um... Ihei-senpai, you already knew...?"
Mutsuki asked tentatively.
"...Ara?"
Hairu immediately realized what Mutsuki meant by "knew," recognizing she had accidentally let it slip. "Did my unconscious way of addressing you give it away?"
"Mm... After all, nobody would normally use that form of address for a boy, right...?"
Mutsuki's voice was soft and weak.
"That's true... I don't know why Tooru-chan dresses as a boy, but you don't seem to be having much of a reaction?"
Hairu asked curiously.
"Mm, it's fine even if you found out. Because Ihei-senpai is so kind."
Mutsuki nodded slightly.
"Oh, now you're making me embarrassed."
Hairu smiled gently.
"But come to think of it, how did you figure it out, Ihei-senpai?"
Mutsuki was curious about this.
She had thought only Amaha-san knew her secret. She hadn't expected Ihei-senpai to have known all along.
Could it be that Amaha-san had privately told Ihei-senpai...?
"You probably don't know this, but I'm a half-human like Arima-san and the others. My observational abilities are quite keen, so I could tell Tooru-chan was a girl from our very first meeting."
Hairu explained.
"Oh, I see."
Mutsuki nodded, somewhat dazed.
She really didn't know much about half-humans. If Ihei-senpai hadn't mentioned it, she wouldn't have known about her half-human identity.
Coming back to her senses, Mutsuki remembered what she had actually wanted to discuss.
"Ihei-senpai... I heard that you and Amaha-san are dating. Is that true...?"
Mutsuki mustered her courage and asked.
Hairu's expression showed surprise—she hadn't expected Mutsuki to ask something like this.
"That's... of course not true. I'd like it to be, but I'm definitely not dating Byakuya-senpai."
Hairu answered honestly.
"Ah..."
Mutsuki pondered the implications of Ihei-senpai's words for a moment. "So what Ihei-senpai means is... you do like Byakuya-senpai, right?"
"Mm, I do."
Hairu smiled without hesitation.
"...I see."
Mutsuki's tone carried a hint of dejection.
Even if they weren't dating, Ihei-senpai had already so directly expressed her feelings to Amaha-san. It was probably only a matter of time before they got together.
In the end, it still wasn't good news.
"Tooru-chan seems a little unhappy?"
Hairu noticed the subtle change in Mutsuki's expression and asked.
"No, no, that's not it!"
Mutsuki quickly denied it. "How should I put this... Um... I have a friend who seems to have developed feelings for Amaha-san, so I was feeling sad on her behalf just now..."
Her flustered manner made it obvious she was hiding something.
However, despite the classic "I have a friend" setup, the innocent and naive Hairu didn't think too deeply about it.
Hairu nodded, appearing to believe her. "I see. In that case, please convey my apologies to your friend."
"That's... not really necessary..."
Ihei-senpai's excessive politeness made Mutsuki feel uncomfortable.
"Of course it's necessary. My existence must have made Tooru-chan's friend hesitate to act, right? But..."
Halfway through, Hairu's words trailed off.
She was hesitating over whether to tell Tooru about Eto, Akira, and the other girls.
If Tooru passed it on to her friend, it would surely make that friend even more upset, wouldn't it?
"But what?"
Mutsuki asked, confused.
"But I don't actually have any intention of competing. I don't really understand much about relationships. I just feel that being able to stay by Byakuya-senpai's side is already enough for me."
After her hesitation, and considering the feelings of Tooru's friend, Hairu decided not to mention Eto and the other girls.
"Is that so..."
Mutsuki was somewhat surprised.
Ihei-senpai didn't intend to compete...?
Did that mean... she still had a chance?
"Mm. Also, you can pass this message along to your friend: if she has feelings for him, she can express them directly. Byakuya-senpai is actually someone whose heart is very easily softened."
Hairu directly shared the secret to winning over Byakuya-senpai—a conclusion she had reached from spending so much time with him.
Putting it nicely, he was soft-hearted. Putting it bluntly, he was a scumbag who never rejected anyone...
Rize Kamishiro would never have imagined that even after forming an alliance with Touka and the Yasuhisa twins to monitor Byakuya, she still couldn't defend against situations like this.
"..."
Hearing this, Mutsuki's eyes widened slightly.
Even she hadn't expected Ihei-senpai to tell her something like this.
Was Ihei-senpai really... completely selfless?
Mutsuki was astonished and couldn't help but feel admiration.
If it were her, she definitely couldn't be as selfless as Ihei-senpai.
After a moment of daze, Mutsuki immediately bowed deeply. "I'll tell my friend. Thank you so much for your help, Ihei-senpai."
"No need to thank me."
Hairu smiled. "By the way... who is Mutsuki's friend? It's not Kurona or Nashiro, is it? Could it be Saiko?"
She had known about Kurona and Nashiro's situation with Byakuya-senpai for a while, and she also knew that Byakuya-senpai was already aware of their feelings. So she could rule out those sisters.
That meant among the girls in the Qs Squad besides Tooru, only Saiko remained.
Mutsuki shook her head repeatedly. "No, it's not Saiko. It's a friend I knew from my time at the Academy. She also works at CCG now but she's only a Rank 3 Investigator."
She immediately felt some regret—if she had known Ihei-senpai was so kind, she wouldn't have used the "I have a friend" excuse.
Now she was stuck in an awkward position. She couldn't explain, but she also couldn't not explain. She could only keep up the lie.
"I understand."
Hairu still didn't suspect anything. "Then I won't ask more questions. After all, I don't know this person, and it would be impolite."
"..."
Mutsuki's gaze wavered with guilt...
...
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