My youth romance is always confusing

"Then I declare that the winner of the first match is - Hikigaya-kun!"

Ebina enthusiastically announced the winner of the first game, and the crowd reluctantly broke into sparse applause.

But wait, this violates the rules.

I raised my hand to the referee.

"Hikigaya-san, is there a problem?"

"Yes, of course."

I pointed at the two pieces of drawing paper that Mitsuki and I couldn't tell apart.

"Isn't this game supposed to let players identify what they drew? Why did they announce the winner without even trying to identify it?"

Yes, that guy Ebina didn't follow the competition procedures at all and directly announced that I won. This is against the rules no matter how you look at it.

"Oh? Really? I think this painting is really to my liking, so..."

Ebina held up my drawing paper and began to show it around like a missionary.

"Hey, everyone, look, the boy drawn here is undoubtedly Totsuka-san!"

What! This guy can actually tell what I drew.

Damn it, that was just something I drew casually at the time, but I didn’t expect this guy to recognize it.

"You're looking at it wrong. That's not Totsuka at all... I just randomly drew a picture of a male celebrity who appeared on TV yesterday."

Even though I was caught red-handed by Ebina, as long as I don't admit it, then it's not true.

This is what they call 'a cooked duck still refuses to give up'.

Hmm? Why do they feel like two proverbs? Never mind.

But when Ebina passed the drawing paper to everyone present, they all showed an expression of "this guy is hopeless"

Huh? Why? Is it that obvious?

"Xiaoqi."

Yuigahama also showed an embarrassment. She really couldn't pretend that she couldn't see the person on the drawing paper. Anyone who had seen Totsuka couldn't deny that. Should they say that Hachiman was obsessed or that he had superb painting skills?

But no matter what, the person on the drawing paper is undoubtedly Totsuka.

Ebina held the drawing paper and began to fantasize about all kinds of random things, muttering to himself.

"HuXbi, a taboo between classmates, oh!"

Seeing her like that, I was really afraid that she would pass out from excessive blood loss due to nosebleed in the next second.

For some reason, even that woman named Yukinoshita gave me an inexplicable look. Maybe she thought my painting disturbed the order on the scene.

I get it, I get it. I will pay attention next time, Minister.

After a series of adjustments, all of us finally returned to the competition venue, even Yuigahama, who had abandoned herself in the first round, participated.

It seemed like she was upset that she didn't get to participate in the first round.

Under Ebina's supervision, everyone put on their blindfolds obediently and waited for the referee's announcement.

"So! The topic for the second round is - watermelon!"

Wow, the second question is so simple?

I started to prepare to move the pen in my hand, but before I started writing, I found something wrong.

Watermelon...should it be drawn in a circle or in pieces?

Although both are fine, if you choose the former, you may end up drawing the same thing as everyone else, because the way to draw a circle is similar.

However, if you choose the second option, the deviation may be too big and the referee may think you are making secret signals.

There are risks in both, so no matter which one you choose, you will bear the corresponding risks.

For safety reasons, I chose the first option.

Because it is always better to make difficult choices than to be eliminated directly.

"Then please stop writing!"

At Mr. Ebina's command, everyone stopped writing again.

When I took off the blindfold, the whiteboard in front of me was already filled with everyone's works.

But what was different from the last time was that there were colors other than black on those sheets of drawing paper.

"Hey, this is prepared to disrupt your potential impression."

Holding a piece of drawing paper with "green watermelon" on it, Ebina had a smug look on his face.

But it is true that doing so would indeed interrupt people's underlying impressions, but I don't know why she didn't tell us about this in advance.

And...where did those pens of other colors come from? They look exactly the same.

"Ah! Ebina, where did you find those pens?!"

But compared to me, Yuigahama seemed more excited.

Why, is that thing important?

"Oh, I remember it was at the bottom of the cabinet over there, and there seemed to be something inside—"

"Ughhhhhh!"

In order to stop Ebina from continuing, Yuigahama quickly stood up and shouted.

Looks very nervous.

Yuigahama's nervousness also scared Ebina, but when she thought back to what she saw, she understood why.

There was a teasing smile on her lips, and she looked at Yuigahama meaningfully.

"Don't worry, it's okay, I won't say anything."

Actually, there was nothing in that drawer, just a bunch of photos of Yuigahama when she was a child.

But the Yuigahama in those photos is completely different from the one now.

"Okay, Ebina, hurry up and put everything up."

Miura, who was waiting on the side, realized that something was wrong in the atmosphere, and quickly changed the subject, urging Ebina to get to the point of the game.

Don't forget, she and the Ice Girl over there still have a fight to decide the outcome.

"Don't worry, Yumiko."

After sending away the somewhat clingy Yuigahama, Ebina shuffled the papers in his hand and placed them on the board.

There are five pieces of paper in total, and the things drawn on them are different.

...

So why are the five pieces of paper drawn differently?

The one I drew is naturally the most traditional round watermelon, dotted with stripes, making it easy to identify.

Everyone except me picked one without hesitation.

Oh, except for our birthday party protagonist, Yuigahama, everyone else has been selected, leaving only one

, no choice.

I looked at the watermelon drawn on the paper by Xiao Meiyue next to me, and sure enough, it was almost what I had guessed before, just the watermelon in cubes that I had imagined.

It looks like an oval that has been split in half, with a few watermelon seeds placed on it.

"Well... generally speaking, everyone's is about the same, but Yui's pass."

After looking around at the choices of the people around him, Ebina once again made a great judgment.

"Eh? Why me again?!"

Hey, Yuigahama-san, are you really so ignorant of yourself? Look at what you drew. Can something like a mixture of ovals and circles really be called a watermelon?

"Well, Ebina-san's judgment is also reasonable, but I want to ask, can Miura...-san's judgment also be considered qualified?"