yamaboshi | ( closed ) this is how confessions work, right?

( closed ) this is how confessions work, right?

[ Today, Naegi Makoto made the decision to call Kirigiri out for something important. At least, it was important to him, anyway. He was nervous about going through with it, especially since this would probably be easy for someone who was known for her talent as a detective, but he also thought that maybe she'd appreciate his hard work.

So when he invites her over, he has a rather large rectangular table that has boxes of many different shapes and sizes, Naegi standing behind the table, gulping a little nervously before he warns her, carefully: ]

Ah... don't touch the boxes, Kirigiri-san. [ It's like a warning, even if it doesn't work out with the slight wavering of his voice. But he's trying! ] I know you're a really good detective, and I'm probably not that good at making puzzles like this myself, but--

I wanted to try something. I guess you can call it a deduction game? Um, anyway, I brought in twenty boxes. They're all different sizes and colors. One of the boxes has something that the other twenty don't. If you want to play, there's just a few rules you have to follow. The first is that you can't touch the box unless you've chosen it. The second is that while you can ask me any question and I'll answer truthfully, you're not allowed to ask me a question like "is this the box the item is in?" or anything that indicates which box hid the item. And the third is that you can ask up to thirty questions... although if you've figured out the answer, you can pick up the box and open it to see if you're right. Only one box has a good item while the other nineteen are duds.

[ That isn't to say that they're empty, however. ]

If you don't want to do it, Kirigiri-san, it's okay. We can do something else, instead. [ AT LEAST HE TRIED???? ]

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[ When Naegi had invited her over, Kirigiri hadn't expected to be greeted by a sight like this: a mishmash of boxes laid out on a table, so discordant that it had to be intentional. That in itself could have been a mystery to solve, if it weren't for his quick explanation.

Once she gets the idea, though, she can't help but smile in amusement. It's so like Naegi to put in this sort of effort for his friends. She can only assume he'd made the puzzle for her, knowing her penchant for reasoning through cases, the same way he'd tailor an activity for their other classmates to their interests. She doesn't expect it to be an amazing challenge, but it doesn't need to be. ]

No, this is fine. I'd hate to let all this effort go to waste.

[ ...Which might be as close as he'll get to a thank-you, depending on how all of this ends. But it's at least an acknowledgement that she recognizes that he'd worked on this, and appreciates it at least somewhat.

As for the questions... she figures there are a couple of different ways to narrow things down, but it depends on whether or not he'd consider them fair game. So she'll start with something basic, more to frame her mindset than anything else. ]

What is the item I'm looking for?

[ That should be a valid question, right? Though if he means it as a surprise (a bit of a risk considering her feelings on surprises), he might try to wriggle out of answering it regardless. ]

[ That's definitely a leading question; especially one that Naegi didn't expect to hear as the first one coming from her. While he's definitely glad himself that she's smiling in amusement. It's a plus for him, at least. That's the thing that matters here. ]

There's a piece of paper inside.

[ At least that's not a lie, although he doesn't state that there's something he's written on it. He's keeping track of the number of questions starting now and hoping that she doesn't ask a question that means that he has to dodge the question... or answer vaguely. ]

[ ...Too bad. A piece of paper could fit in many different sizes of boxes, especially if it'd been folded up. And while she technically could ask whether or not he'd done so in order to try and get some sizing information out of it, she'll abandon that line of inquiry for now. She can't guarantee it'll give useful information, after all.

Instead, she'll opt for a more direct way of trying to narrow down the potential boxes. ]

Is this paper hidden in a box whose color is a shade of blue?

[ That's not asking which specific box it's in, so she figures it should be all right... if she gets it down to a hue, that'll at least narrow the field rather significantly. ]

[ At her second question, Naegi shakes his head. Of course, asking about the color does narrow it down by a bit; there are five boxes out of the twenty given that are different shades of blue, some darker, some lighter. The designs on some of them vary as well from a plain one toned color to stripes and some with cute pictures on them.

In terms of colors, there seems to be quite a variety: five in blue, two in red, three in green, four in white, four in yellow, and the last three in patterns that don't make it exactly a single shade. ]

It isn't, Kirigiri-san. That already knocks out quite a bit of possibilities, doesn't it?

That's the idea. You've been quite generous with the number of questions, but I'd like to focus on just a few potential boxes.

[ It shouldn't use too many of her questions to figure out what color the box is, and from there, she can ask more directed questions to try to narrow it down further. But if nothing else, that'll leave her with a 25% chance of picking the correct box even at random. ]

Does the coloring of the box contain green or red, then?

I wasn't sure if I should have cut down the question amount or not.

[ So he picked a decent number for the amount of questions and essentially rolled with it. The next question she seems to ask causes Naegi himself to wear a smile that's almost guilty as if he got caught red-handed. ]

It does.

[ So it's either a green box, a red box, or a patterned box that has either red or green in it. At most, that makes 8 boxes, depending on what the patterns are. She's getting there. ]

I imagine you've caught on to what I'll ask next. [ So, getting straight to it: ] Would I find this paper in a green-colored box?

[ Naegi nods his head; he's definitely figured out what she'd ask next. It would either be question about one of those two colors, so she would want to narrow it down even more. ]

You would, Kirigiri-san.

[ He won't specify if it's a single colored one of a patterned one. ]

[ She does notice that he's not more specific - and it occurs to her that she probably should've been clearer on her wording as well, as she'd meant to ask about the solidly green boxes. But luckily it wasn't a complete waste of a question either way - it just might mean that she needs to use an extra question here in narrowing. ]

Does the box have any sort of pattern on it?

[ That should clearly distinguish between the two possibilities, she thinks. ]

[ She's getting really close. The answer to this next question makes him swallow a little nervously. ]

It does not.

[ That narrows the choices a lot, actually, he's sure. ]

[ Down to just the three green boxes, now, and with 25 of her 30 questions remaining. She notices his nervousness, but figures it's just because she's clearing his game so quickly. She'd feel bad about that, except for the fact that she sees no reason to feign confusion when this was the entire point of the puzzle.

Now, to figure out which of the three it is... ]

Since we now know the item is in a green box... is it in the largest of the green boxes?

[ Assuming they're different sizes, of course. ]

[ There's definitely more to it than that. But it's true; there are three green boxes of various sizes. One is long, one is really small, and the third is really, really big. ]

It's not.

[ The closer she gets, the more nervous he is for a reason besides her clearing the game so quickly. ]

[ Two left, and she can probably figure out which one it is with a single question, but first: ]

...Are you all right, Naegi-kun?

[ It's not meant to be one of the questions (at least, not in a mocking way, anyway), but she doesn't really care if he counts it as such or not. But his increasing nerves are becoming more and more apparent, and she might as well call him out on it. ]

I--I'm fine!

[ He tries to be reassuring, but he also realizes that he's probably not with the fact that he's stammering. Is he counting this question as one of the thirty? Probably not, but he tried.

Give him a gold star. ]

...If you say so.

[ This is a voice that says I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, but she'll leave it there for now. She's not a fan of him hiding things from her, but she can try to wring it out of him after she beats his game. Especially since she has a hunch that the two things may somehow be connected. ]

Then, is the paper in the smallest green box?

[ He knows that voice all too well and he tries to smile it off, although he is definitely looking rather nervous as he quietly nods. ]

[ She would use another question now, to confirm that he was indeed being truthful with all of his answers, in order to make sure that she wasn't led astray somehow. But that was a fairly clear answer, and his continued nerves reassure her that there weren't any misunderstandings.

So, without any further ado, she'll pick up the small green box and open it. Time to see what's so special about this paper. ]

[ The paper itself is folded up several times to where it's rather small. If she chooses to unfold it, however, what she'll find is that there's writing on it; obviously it's written by Naegi himself. ]

Ah...

[ Yeah, he's nervous. He has his reasons for it, however; given what it says:

If you've found this - which I don't doubt you would, Kirigiri-san, I wanted to say that I really like you as more than just a friend or a best friend.

]

[ Kirigiri is, of course, unfolding that paper to look for a message as soon as she finds it. It'd be very anticlimactic for all of this to have been over a blank piece of paper, after all.

So finding a message in Naegi's handwriting isn't remotely surprising. The contents themselves, however, are a bit more so. Though it certainly would explain all of his nervousness. ]

Is this your way of asking me out on a date, Naegi-kun?

[ She lifts the piece of paper into his view as she speaks, to make her meaning clear. Though her voice doesn't give any hints as to whether or not she'd consider that a good thing. She'd rather confirm this first before revealing her hand. ]

[ And now he's blushing. She asks that question and he decides to go with the truth. He said he'd be honest for thirty questions, even though this doesn't count for it anymore since she found the object already. ]

Y-- yeah. Do you not like it, Kirigiri-san?

I didn't say that.

[ ...Not that she's saying anything, really. But there's a small smile on her face, now, which is probably a good sign (unless he thinks she's about to mock him instead).

It's cute of him, to come up with this 'deduction game' as a means of confessing his feelings for her. Sure, it had its design flaws, but she wouldn't expect anything perfect from him. He tried, and somehow, that means something to her. ]

...Dinner, tonight. Will that work?

[ That's a date, right? She's not going to admit that she's not particularly well-versed in these matters... her detective work has always kept her busy, too much so to focus much on boys. ]

[ It's true that he didn't say it, but she didn't... not say it, either. Which makes him nervous for what seems to be a few seconds before she finally asks that question, something that makes him gasp in what seems to be definite surprise.

Ah. ]

Y- Yeah, that would... [ He's so bad at being smooth. So bad. Maybe he should thank the gods that she doesn't mind it too much -- it seems. But eventually, he manages a smile himself, finally relaxing a bit. ] I'd really like that.

Edited (i forgot to edit the icon whoops) 2017-09-04 03:25 (UTC)

Good.

[ She should... probably say more, but she's not any better at this than he is, honestly. He told her he liked her, she answered him by asking him out on a date, and now he agreed. She's not sure where to go from there, aside from actually going out later. ]

I was wondering how long it'd take you to confess.

[ Now, this is teasing. For all her detective prowess, she actually hadn't picked up on his feelings... but he doesn't need to know that. ]

Wha-

[ It's official: Kirigiri Kyouko is the worst. It's true that he likes her regardless of that, but still... ]

H-How long have you known?!

Long enough.

[ Which is technically true, if you count "since a minute ago" as enough. She's purposefully being vague so she can continue teasing him without outright lying. ]

You have too honest a face, Naegi-kun.

[ Also true, if not actually related to the conversation at hand. She really is the worst. ]

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that'd be a very different ship...

shhh you saw nothing

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