CH 14

Yuu and Touko, weren’t able to pinpoint Kamokura Tetsuya and Mitsumoto Karen’s love nest.

The two of them asked their best friends, Ishida Youta and Kanou Kazumi, for their assistance, but no results were obtained.

While at a strategy meeting of the four of them, Kazumi spoke:

“Touko already has the next plan.”

“Touko, isn’t it about time you told us about the new plan you came up with? The one about standing guard at the station has already outlived its usefulness, right?”

“The new plan?”

Ishida and I inquired in unison.

“Yes, the new plan. Even if we continued this same strategy of tailing them, we wouldn’t see any result coming from it, right?”

Touko-senpai said and she then looked at each of us.

We gave a silent nod.

“That’s why, instead, we’ll identify a time and place where they’ll absolutely have their affair.”

“How would we do that?”

I thought it was precisely because we couldn’t do that that we were going through all this trouble.

“This weekend, on Saturday, Tetsuya’s brother will go on a business trip, apparently. That’s why Tetsuya has pestered me a lot telling me to stay over with him on Saturday.”

Imprudent as it may have been, I couldn’t help imagining Touko-senpai and Kamokura doing some lewd stuff in the apartment.

“However, I’m not going. I told him that that day, I have to go to my grandmother’s place in Tochigi with my family. What do you think Tetsuya will do now that I did that?”

Touko-senpai’s mouth formed a smile which insinuated a hidden deeper meaning. 

“He’ll try bringing Karen over to his apartment in your stead, correct?”

Hearing my answer, Touko-senpai smiled as she moved her head up and down.

“That’s the most likely thing. For a couple of cheaters, these kinds of chances where they can take it slow should be very hard to come by.”

I quietly listened to her.

It’ll most probably happen like Touko-senpai said.

Unable to spend the night with his legitimate girlfriend, Touko-senpai, Kamokura will undoubtedly call his cheating partner, Karen, over to his apartment.

Once I had thought that far, I noticed that Touko-senpai was staring closely at me.

“What is it?”

“Are you, okay?”

“About what?”

“Because, I mean… If we stand watch over it, you would be seeing your girlfriend coming over to Tetsuya’s apartment right before your eyes…”

Finding it hard to put it into words, Touko-senpai spoke only that far.

She must have been considerate of me, considering that I once said that the mental damage from the cheating was too big, and I couldn’t carefully watch the proof of their affair.

“There’s no problem. I no longer consider Karen my girlfriend. Besides, even if I stopped her now, it wouldn’t change the fact that the two of them are cheating.”

“You really ok? You’re not forcing yourself?”

Ishida barged into the conversation with that.

“Oh, come on! I’m not forcing myself here!”

I may have said that, but in truth, I still was somewhat uncertain about it.

… Karen will enter Kamokura’s apartment right before my eyes…

As if having seen through to those feelings of mine, Touko-senpai spoke to me.

“If it’s too much, say it. The last thing we need is the plan falling apart. Not to mention that it’s natural to not be fine with these things. I’m the same as you in that we are under emotional duress…”

The moment I heard those words from Touko-senpai, I mysteriously found myself calmed down.

Right, I wasn’t the only one who was experiencing painful emotions from Karen and Kamokura’s love affair.

Touko-senpai was the same as me.

It was simply that Touko-senpai was strong and able to calmly cope with the situation.

“I really am fine. Whatever Karen does has nothing to do with me anymore! That’s why, there’s no need for you to worry about me.”

Touko-senpai then gave me a warm, kind smile.

“I guess it’s okay then. But try not to think too much that Karen is no longer your girlfriend. After all, your goal is to make Karen-san think that she wants to stay together with you for her whole life, that she doesn’t want to ever let you go.”

At that point, Kazumi once again began to speak.

“Also, we’ll need Isshiki-kun to tell his girlfriend, Karen-san, that he also has something to do on Saturday and will be out, right? Otherwise, Karen-san won’t feel relaxed enough to have such a long affair.”

“Right. Isshiki-kun, could I bother you with that?”

“Leave it to me. I shall tell her that I also have to leave somewhere else.”

Ishida then spoke.

“Then, tell her you’re going to my family’s village. We’ve been talking about it for a long time now, and we just talked recently about ‘going fishing’, so it wouldn’t feel forced or unnatural, no?”

“Touko-senpai nodded.

“I see. That would make it more natural and allow you to get your story straight with Ishida-kun too.”

“It’s decided then!”

As if Ishida’s words were her cue, Kazumi-san brought up the next issue.

“If we’re going to lie in wait, then it’ll turn into a drawn-out vigilance. And if they’re going to spend the night in the apartment, that means we’ll have to pull an all-nighter. Couldn’t we at least narrow down the time at which the two of them will enter the apartment?”

Touko-senpai gave a proposal regarding that point.

“Then, I’ll hold back Tetsuya until around noon. I’ll tell him I want to see him before going to my grandmother’s home, even if for a bit only. By doing that, the time window would be restricted to the afternoon at least.”

“That’d save me a bunch. Also, we can’t exactly stand on the streets, so we’ll be needing a car, right? I can bring my own car, but what do we do with the second one we’ll need? I imagine bringing Touko’s family’s Mercedes-Benz is out of the question, right?”

“Yeah. We’ll rent a car then. A minivan type car probably wouldn’t be so cramped, too.”

“That should be ok. Since it’ll be a long stay, next is the rotation for our lookouts, then.”

“Can’t we install some listening devices or hidden cameras? We could get our hands on even more solid proof of the affair with that.”

Ishida spoke his mind.

However, Touko-senpai shook her head sideways.

“That’s a criminal offense. It’ll turn into a major incident the moment they find out. Presently, it’s a matter of privacy even with married couples, so for couples who are only dating, there’s no way it’d be allowed.”

“That so? I mean, I only thought about it ‘cause it’d be undeniable proof of them cheating.”

“If that’s what worried you, I think Isshiki-kun’s proof is already enough. We’re only doing this for my sake, so that I can be fully convinced. Part of me still wants definite proof that Tetsuya is actually cheating on me. That’s why, determining that the two of them spent a number of hours together after entering a love hotel or an apartment is enough for me.”

I looked at Touko-senpai when she said that.

… Part of me still wants definite proof?…

Could it be that she still believed in Kamokura?

“Isshiki-kun, did you get it? All that’s left is for you to tell Karen-san what we agreed upon, ok?”

Touko-senpai turned the conversation to me out of nowhere.

“Ah, yes. No problem. I’ll pass on to Karen what Ishida said just now within the day.”

I answered her as such.

Kazumi-san then smirked.

“You’re quite the schemer, Touko. Just like the saying, ‘A dead Zhuge scares away a living Zhongda’.”

(TL Note: Search the phrase of Google, not even sure how else to keep the conversation)

{ED/N: Following Zhuge Liang’s death, the Shu forces quietly withdrew from their camps while not revealing news of Zhuge’s death. Sima Yi was convinced by the locals that Zhuge Liang had died, so he gave chase to the retreating enemy. Jiang Wei then had Yang Yi turn around and pretend to strike. Seeing this, Sima Yi feared that Zhuge Liang had faked his death to lure him out, and immediately retreated. Common folklore tells of a double, or a wooden statue, disguised as Zhuge Liang, driving Sima Yi away in this incident. Another folktale tells that Jiang Wei dressed up as Zhuge Liang. In any case, word that Sima Yi fled from the already dead Zhuge Liang spread, spawning a popular saying, “A dead Zhuge scares away a living Zhongda (Sima Yi’s )” (死諸葛嚇走活仲達). When Sima Yi heard of such ridicule, he laughingly responded, “I can predict the living, but not the dead.”

credits: Battle Of Wuzhang Plains from military-history.fandom.com}

“You know I’m not dead, right?”

Without a moment’s delay, Ishida retorted.

“Then how about this? “Contriving Touko-senpai routs the mating Kamokura!’.”

After hearing that, we all burst out laughing.

Touko-senpai alone had a hard to describe bitter smile.

At any rate, it was as if the heavy atmosphere had been dispelled.

All right! Let’s do this!

All that was left was to carry out the plan on Saturday.