CH 13

That evening, I was laying on my bed in my room reading a manga, when my phone rang a message.

I wondered who it was, and there, was a cute dog icon with Takagaki's name on it. And then ―――

"What was that earlier?"

As I read that sentence, I remembered Takagaki's sharp glare from before, as if she wanted to strike me dead.

I was scared. I was really scared. My hands were shaking because I was too scared to answer. But if I didn't answer, then I might really be swimming in my own pool of blood at the first day next week.

Namusan! I recited out a prayer and sent a reply.

"I apologize for the delay in the report. I have come up with a plan to make people around admire them ―――"

☆☆☆☆☆☆

"Are you an idiot?"

This was the reply to the long message I had sent about today's events and motives. I could picture Takagaki being all fed up on the other side of the screen with just this.

But just as Takagaki implied, it was a failure.

"It's as Takagaki says. I failed. I regret and reflect on it."

I was sent a sticker of some girl anime character with the text, 'I'm really stunned' on top. Was Takagaki a fan of anime?

I was really tempted to ask, but I should leave that aside for now.

Today's strategy, Operation The Two Can Also Study, was really to make Tasuku and Ayane realize that they looked like the perfect couple. Basically, they were often together, and they also did well this time, and our classmates would notice that. The conclusion that these young people would arrive to with their love-filtered eyes was similar to what those girls voiced out, just like I expected. Other people from the surrounding nodding to this was proof as well.

Yes, the perception around was consistent to those from my strategy. And then after that, I thought they would transition into something like love talks.

But I didn't consider myself. The two of them were kind, and thinking about it carefully, it would have been easy to expect that they’d say I was involved as well. It seemed like a cause of concern for Ayane, to me who was always shadowing them around.

But I would have preferred that they recognize that I was doing this for two of them. I should make up for this sometime, too.

Whenever it was about the two of them, I lose sight of my surroundings. Like I mentioned to Takagaki, it was a bad habit of mine.

Haa, as I let out a sigh, I received another message from Takagaki.

"What, leaving me on read? You've got a lot of nerve."

Not good.  I left the chat screen open. This time, I could imagine Takagaki with a vein popping out while tapping her finger on the desk.

"I was lost in thought. I beg your forgiveness."

"Hmm. Forgiven."

Oh, how kind, Takagaki-san. I was bracing myself for something, but this wasn't a carrot and stick situation, was it?

"And with that, I'd like to ask your advice in the future."

"Can I call? I'm tired of typing letters."

Certainly, if I continue to consult through text, we'd have to type it out every single time, making our fingers and eyes tired. I wasn't thinking thoroughly.

"...Hello."

"Oh, hello? Is it still okay at this time?"

"It’s fine. I’ll rest tomorrow."

It was 21 on the clock right now. Come to think of it, I wonder how late high school girls stay up these days.

Before I was to bring up the main subject, I decided to lighten the mood first.

"It's 21 o'clock right now, so don't you need to go to sleep? I hear that staying up late is natural enemy of beauty."

"What do you want to do with that information?"

"Huh? No, I'm not really going to do anything?! I just wanted to ask!"

I guess I was a bit too nosy. Oh, maybe she didn't want to be asked about private matters.

Well, the mood has calmed down, I think? I should get to business.

"Ah~, so I want to ask you about something."

"It's about the sports festival next month, right?"

"Exactly, exactly."

As expected of Takagaki. She could read my thoughts. I felt glad to have her as an accomplice.

"It might take a bit long, but do you mind?"

"Yeah, it's fine...oh, wait a minute."

"Ah, sure."

"I'll be right back."

As Takagaki said that, I heard something being placed over the phone and the sound of panicked footsteps. I wonder what happened.

She told me that she would be back right away without cutting the call off, so I resumed reading that manga from earlier...and then, I picked up what seemed like voices from my phone.

Takagaki's mother, maybe? I could discern, 'Who are you on the phone with~', and 'Boyfriend~' with some breaks in between. Takagaki meanwhile, I could clearly hear, 'That's not it, Mama!!', and, 'It's just an idiot friend of mine!'. Rather, Takagaki-san, even if the other party was mistaken, wasn't it kind of suspicious of you to act like that, and weren't you too harsh on me? If she were to see me, she'd have to think I was the idiot friend of yours, right? Or rather, Takagaki called her mother 'Mama',

When I heard that voice that was far from the usual Takagaki, I was somehow nervous and intrigued at the same time.

Eh, was I some kind of pervert for doing this?

Sooner than that, I heard a faint voice saying, 'Oh my, oh my~', and I heard loud footsteps again. Stay calm, me!

"...Hey, did you hear anything?"

"No, did something happen?"

I wasn't about to make a fool of myself here. I already prepared myself, so I was able to keep my heart rate at 100. (Pounding)

"My mother was just a bit..."

"Oh~, did something happen with Mama-san?"

"..."

"Huh?"

I was cut off by a silent Takagaki. I wonder if Mama-san was peeping again. While I was staring at the screen, Takagaki sent me an image of a map to a store.

"Tomorrow, let's meet here at 10. Reflect about what happened today and the future."

"Roger that."

My reply was marked as read, and no additional replies came. Takagaki must have gone off to sleep.

Now then, I had business tomorrow so I should go to sleep, too.