Tokyo's Most Affectionate - Chapter 150

Confirmation Bias

The voice connection was established, and Kurosawa placed his phone to his ear, remaining silent.

“Hello?”

After a few seconds, Ninomiya tentatively took the initiative to speak. Her voice was pleasant, cool, mature, and had a touch of elegance, making it a very pleasant sound.

“Good evening, Miss Ninomiya.”

Kurosawa sat on the bed with a grin as he greeted her.

“Good evening,” responded Ninomiya.

In reality, this wasn’t their first time having a voice call; they had spoken before during school emergencies. However, that time was business-related, and this time was different—no official business, just personal matters.

“Well, the thing is, the reason I went shopping for clothes with Miyazaki today is that he consulted me for dating advice this morning.”

After the greeting, instead of teasing her, Kurosawa went straight to the point.

“Dating advice?”

Ninomiya was somewhat surprised to hear this.

“He thinks Miss Runa is my girlfriend and also my ex, and that we got back together. He sees me as a dating master and wants to know how I managed to pursue such a beautiful and wealthy lady.”

Kurosawa explained the situation truthfully, without any lies.

“Oh.”

Understanding the reason, Ninomiya nodded.

“Oh?”

Kurosawa raised an eyebrow, surprised by her calm reaction.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Due to his repetition, Ninomiya noticed his unusual response and asked.

“Everyone thinks Miss Runa is my girlfriend. Are you not bothered by that?” Kurosawa directly addressed the issue.

“You two aren’t really a couple. It’s just a misunderstanding because everyone saw Runa picking you up at the school gate,” Ninomiya paused for a moment and replied.

“Do you really not mind everyone thinking that Runa and I are together?” Kurosawa was genuinely surprised by her reaction and couldn’t help asking.

To be honest, he expected Ninomiya to be quite concerned about this matter. 

However, he noticed it today and brought it up, hoping to gain her approval and clarify the situation. 

After all, this matter was not a big deal, and clarifying it shouldn’t be troublesome.

“I…” Ninomiya choked up, unsure of how to explain.

She could sense that Kurosawa’s statement had a somewhat accusatory tone. 

Since his reaction from the moment he said “Oh?” wasn’t quite right, she hesitated in responding. 

Seeing her silent, Kurosawa didn’t rush to press for an answer but patiently waited.

“Are you angry?” After a while, Ninomiya asked.

Her tone was no longer as calm as usual; instead, it carried a hint of uneasiness and timidity, sounding cautious.

“I’m not angry. I just thought you might mind this.”

Kurosawa, hearing this tone, paused for a moment, then responded.

He wasn’t the type to get upset over such matters, just a bit displeased. 

Earlier, when Itsuragi got drunk and he carried her home, Ninomiya deliberately pretended to be unsteady on the stairs, wanting him to carry her as well. 

Because of that, he always felt that Ninomiya was somewhat jealous and easily prone to jealousy, with a competitive personality even towards close friends. 

Given this, why wasn’t she showing jealousy this time?

“…” 

On the other end of the phone, Ninomiya didn’t know how to respond.

She could sense that, even though Kurosawa might not be angry, he was not particularly happy, like someone awaiting a response.

“I thought having this rumor wouldn’t be bad because everyone thinks you have a girlfriend, so no one will pursue you, and it won’t affect your studies.”

After much hesitation and inner struggle, Ninomiya finally spoke.

I see.

Hearing this, Kurosawa had a moment of realization, reading between the lines and translating her words in his mind.

Because of this rumor, everyone thinks you have a girlfriend, so no one dares to pursue you.

Ninomiya probably thought like this, that’s why she didn’t mind at all and never mentioned it before. 

After all, if he remained single, someone might take an interest in him. 

However, if everyone believes he has a girlfriend, even those who admire him may hesitate to approach. 

In this situation, Ninomiya could patiently wait for him to graduate without worrying about unwanted attention.

“I see.”

Through this sentence, guessing her thoughts, Kurosawa suddenly laughed.

This was a classic confirmation bias.

The confirmation bias refers to making a choice between a certain benefit and “taking a chance,” where most people will choose the certain benefit. In his previous life, he saw a short video.

Suppose you are given two different buttons, one that gives you five million, and another with a 50% chance of getting ten million. 

Faced with this choice, the majority of people would choose the first button. When you are sure you will get five million, you won’t take the risk with the second button because the benefit is sufficient, and there is no need to take a chance.

In short, for Ninomiya, this rumor was beneficial without harm. 

First, she was well aware it was a rumor, and she knew the nature of his relationship with Itsuragi, it was not a romantic one.

 As long as she didn’t interfere, letting the rumor persist had the advantage that he wouldn’t be pursued by other girls, yielding high returns.

On the contrary, if she intervened, such as clarifying the rumor, it would be actively choosing the risk and placing him in a situation where other girls might pursue him. 

Ninomiya, being knowledgeable in finance and investment, evidently understood the confirmation bias.

“What are you laughing at? Stop laughing.”

Ninomiya felt that he had guessed something, and being laughed at made her a bit embarrassed and annoyed. 

Originally, she mustered up great courage to say those words, but this guy ended up laughing at her.

“I was just thinking, your voice is really nice.”

Kurosawa noticed her embarrassment and became even more amused.

“I’m done talking to you, I’m going to sleep.”

Ninomiya felt quite awkward and uncomfortable in this situation, so she left a sentence and hung up the phone.

“She hung up?”

Kurosawa took the phone away from his ear and glanced at it, realizing that she had indeed hung up, true to her word. 

Although she was annoyed and embarrassed, Kurosawa knew she wasn’t angry, she was just shy and escaping.

“Good night.”

With that, Kurosawa sent her a message.

“Good night.”

She read the message instantly, and after about ten seconds, she replied.

With this matter settled, Kurosawa no longer sat down but relaxed his body, falling onto the bed.

“Confirmation bias huh…”

He held his phone, stared at the ceiling, his eyes bright and thoughtful, muttering to himself as he recalled the recent events.

Reflecting on this confirmation bias, which was perfectly suited to explaining investment psychology, he suddenly realized something.

Thinking carefully, wasn’t the reason why Shiromiya chose him exactly this?

Rather than marrying someone unknown in the future and turning a blind eye to their escapades outside, it was better to choose him in front of her.

He was quite handsome, skilled in archery, and, with the advantage of coming first, he excelled in various aspects far more than the man Shiromiya had to marry, whom she didn’t even know.

This was the confirmation bias; since there were known benefits, there was no need to gamble on unknown risks.

……

Tuesday’s classes were relatively simple.

“Today, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but it seems like people are looking at me more. Am I looking weird or something?”

Before class, Miyazaki’s expressions were a bit varied. He crouched on the desk, looking around, whispering softly.

“It’s not your imagination, and no one thinks you’re weird. Keep your eyes firm, stop glancing around randomly, be confident, stand tall, and don’t slouch.”

Seeing his appearance, Kurosawa admonished him.

“Yes.”

Hearing his guidance, Miyazaki nodded energetically, raising his head and standing tall.

“Not bad. Keep it up like this.”

Seeing him straighten his posture, looking serious and somewhat handsome, Kurosawa nodded in satisfaction.

Helping others become better and more excellent brings a sense of accomplishment.

A day of classes passed in a state of diligent study.

……

At 4:30 in the afternoon, in the top-floor duplex study of a high-end apartment in the city center, the door opened, and Shiromiya Mirai walked in.

According to the formal tutoring process, the lesson was scheduled to start at 4:30, but Kurosawa arrived early to wait for her.

As the two sat down at the desk, they took out textbooks and notebooks.

“This is the homework from last time. I’ve worked it out; take a look.”

Shiromiya pulled his notebook over, wrote down some content with her pen, and then pushed it in front of him.

“Just couldn’t wait for class to start?” Seeing this action, Kurosawa couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised.

Although checking homework and previewing the lessons before class was a standard procedure, taking his notebook and starting to write was an unexpected move.

Is it because he didn’t accompany her to the dojo on Sunday, and she felt lonely?

With this question in mind, Kurosawa took the notebook, flipped to the page she had written on.

 “Are you Zero Hour?”

The first words from Shiromiya went straight to the point. After all, during their tutoring sessions, there was not much time for casual conversation until break.

“Yes, how did you guess?” Kurosawa realized that she was in a hurry because of this. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he wrote down a single character, pointed with his pen, and then pushed the notebook toward her.

“Because you said I would figure it out quickly, and I was wondering how. I didn’t expect it to be like this. Also, you mentioned wearing a mask while playing the piano. Although it’s unbelievable, looking at Zero Hour’s hands, I confirmed it was you.”

The many words written by Shiromiya indirectly expressed her excitement.

“A detective, you were able to figure it out by looking at his hands?”

“I’ve been in class, and I’ve seen your hands too many times… I’m starting to look forward to playing together. I’ll play the violin, and you’ll play the piano. Let’s perform together.”

“Same here. Let’s focus on the class for now.”

During the tutoring session, Kurosawa didn’t want to neglect her studies, especially considering her goal of getting into Tokyo University. 

They could chat during the break around 6 PM.