Checkmate

3

Human Observation.

It is one of the numerous (108, to be exact) special skills that I have developed and honed as a loner over a long period of time. I would even argue that it is one of my best skills alongside Inner Monologue, Stealth Hikky, and Feigning Sleep, possibly even competing for being the skill I've mastered the most. The reason for that being the fact that observation is crucial for loners in terms of survival, as being able to observe the environment and people around us allows us to avoid unnecessary social interaction, and gain valuable information regarding our immediate surroundings, which can in turn – for example – be used in case we need to fight or flee when confronted with an adversary. Suffice it to say, being the self-proclaimed King of Loners, my skills with human observation are top-notch. I am easily able to observe the people around me and gather information from them without drawing any attention to myself, the best results coming from using the skill in conjunction with my Feigning Sleep skill. However, even in situations where feigning sleep is not an option (such as during class, even if I would like for it to be so, but getting chewed by Hiratsuka-sensei is not always fun), I am perfectly capable of observing others without being discovered doing so.

At least, that would usually be the case. But, with my eyes always meeting the olive-green ones of Miura Yumiko whenever I inconspicuously glance towards the back of the class, I'm starting to question whether my skills have regressed.

No, I doubt this is because of my skills weakening, but rather because of the girl in question being on edge, and thus hyperaware of her surroundings – and I don't blame her for it.

When lunch break ended, Miura had walked back into the classroom – some time after I had already returned, of course – without saying a word, the expression on her face as neutral as could be. Her face also lacked the distinct signs of crying I had seen previously, telling me that she had likely freshened herself up in a bathroom on the way back to the classroom, so as to not arouse any suspicion. However, knowing what she had just gone through, I could clearly see she was tense, and she didn't so much as spare a glance at Hayama – let alone speak with him – as she made her way over to her desk. Hayama's demeanour also changed ever so slightly when the blonde entered, but he kept his cool expertly. No-one knew what had happened between the two of them, and Hayama clearly wanted to keep it that way. Unbeknownst to him, someone did already find out. Me.

After Miura's return, it didn't take long for our mathematics teacher to arrive and class to start. However, despite already feeling that my involvement with Miura's situation had come to an end, I couldn't help my curiosity, and kept observing Miura and her clique during class – though that might have also been due to the subject of the class not being one I was particularly fond of, and thus I sought something else to keep me occupied. As everyone had to keep quiet while our teacher droned on and on about something or other, I couldn't use my Heightened Loner Hearing to my advantage, and had to instead rely on my sight. And since I couldn't very well stare at the back of the classroom continuously, I had to conduct my observation with quick and inconspicuous glances during seemingly natural movements of my body. Reaching to scratch my leg here, a small stretch of my arm there, or a slight turn of my head when changing which hand I leaned against. Simply genius, if I do say so myself. And given that my presence in class was already almost non-existent, I could easily observe Miura without bringing attention to myself. I'd wager that even if I had brought attention to myself, most of my classmates would have likely gone "Who's that?" over something like "Oh, it's just Hikitani.". Hmph. If you normies are going to ignore my existence, you might as well learn my name properly, so you know who you're ignoring.

Anyway, back on track: Miura.

Despite having taken every measure to remain undetected while I satisfied my curiosity by observing Miura, every single time I shifted my gaze towards the blonde and her clique, the girl in question would raise her own gaze to meet mine, as if she had some sort of sixth sense to know whenever I would be looking in her direction. The first couple of times I assumed she just happened to look in my direction, since – as I already had deduced – she was clearly on edge because of what had happened, and thus more aware of her surroundings, and likely more aware of me, due to our prior conversation. After we locked eyes for the umpteenth time, however... it became clear it wasn't just a coincidence. Like myself, she was not concentrating on the class at all, her mind likely a jumbled mess of self-consciousness, anxiety and stress.