CH 22

Chapter 22 X-Day Decision! (Part 1)

February 17, 2022

The next day, Monday, three o’clock in the afternoon.

A coffee shop at a station far from the university.

This is the place where I first told Touko-senpai about this matter.

I was 10 minutes before the appointed time.

Touko senpai arrived five minutes before.

You’re still early as usual.

When Toko-senpai saw me, she sat down on a chair and said so.

“I can’t keep you waiting, Touko-senpai.”

I replied.

“You don’t have to worry about that.

She chuckled.

I was a little relieved.

It was the same old Touko-senpai.

On Saturday night, Touko-senpai was crying as if letting out her emotions.

It was the first time I saw her vulnerable side.

And I feel as if her existence has changed in my mind.

I was afraid that if Touko senpai felt that something had changed about me, then we wouldn’t be able to see each other in the same way as before.

So here’s my plan for the future: ……

After ordering lemon tea, Toko-senpai cut to the chase.

I’m not going to go out with Tetsuya forever, now that it’s clear that he and Karen-san are having an affair.

Hai, that goes for me too.

That’s what I was thinking, too.

You can’t continue to pretend to be deceived by Karen and go out with her like this.

“So, when we first talked about ‘when you’ve made them fall in love with you the most, dump them and spend the night with someone else,’……”

I nervously waited for Touko-senpai’s next words.

I’ll do it on Christmas Eve.

“What?”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice in surprise.

Isn’t Christmas Eve too early?

It’s late October now, so there are only about two months left.

It’s true that a ‘cruel farewell’ on the holy night when lovers spend time together would have a great impact on the other person.

What? What’s the problem?”

Toko-senpai looked at me with probing eyes.

“No, it’s not a problem. I’m just wondering if by then I can make Karen fall in love with me so much that she won’t be able to stay away from me.”

After all, Karen’s feelings seemed to be on the verge of leaving me right now.

You mean you don’t have the confidence to make Karen fall in love with you in two months?

“Yes, because, as I said yesterday, Karen’s feelings seem to be leaning towards Kamokura right now.

“You’re still as weak as ever.”

I’m not sure what to do.

That’s why it’s so important to do it now. The first three months of a relationship is the fork in the road between two people’s relationship burning up further or cooling down and disappearing spontaneously.

Is that so?

At least that’s what I know. After a month, three months, six months, a year, three years, there comes a time when lovers think about breaking up.”

I thought to myself, “Really?

That’s pretty frequent.

A couple that breaks up within a month is when they decide that they were just going out, but it’s not the same. That’s why many of them don’t even count as relationships.

Just for fun.

But isn’t it a bit awful to say that it doesn’t count as a relationship?

“Three months is the time when, if two people are compatible, they see the good side of the other person and their love deepens. On the other hand, if the chemistry isn’t so good, the bad side will bother you and you’ll think, ‘I don’t get along with this person,’ and you’ll lose interest.”

Well, I suppose you could say that.

“Isshiki, you and Karen are in this three-month period, right? What did you think of Karen-san before this? Before you found out about this one?”

You mean before this ‘Karen and Kamokura are having an affair’ thing came to light?

That’s right. I think I was quite crazy about Karen. She was my first girlfriend. When we were going out, I did feel that she was different from what I expected, but it wasn’t that strange.

As we talked, I was reminded of the fun days I had with Karen.

My heart started to ache.

But ……

Yes, ‘first time’ is very special. ……

The sad words of Toko-senpai struck me hard, “Throbbing! hit me hard.

It’s a shock several times greater than the pain I felt with Karen.

…… I knew it, Touko-senpai would think of Kamokura as a ……

When I think about it, I feel suffocated, as if the oxygen in my lungs is gone.

But if you were feeling uncomfortable in that way, Karen-san might have felt more. If you can’t ‘make her like you’ now, at this time, are you confident that you can make her like you farther down the road?”

The last part was said with a hint of sharpness.

Yes, you’re right.

This problem will not be solved by time.

In fact, the more time that passes, the worse it might be for me.

But ……

I understand what you’re saying, Toko. It’s true that delaying won’t make things any better.

Touko-senpai nodded silently.

But I don’t think it’s going to be easy to turn her back to me when she’s on the verge of leaving me.

It might not be easy, that’s for sure, but I think it’s still possible.

When I made a strange face, Toko-senpai explained to me.

You know, Karen-san is still hiding what happened with Tetsuya from you, right? In other words, Karen-san herself thinks that Isshiki-kun is her true love right now.

I think that’s probably true.

I’m sure she’s leaning towards Tetsuya. But I don’t think Tetsuya is that serious about Karen-san yet.

I looked again at Toko-senpai.

This is not a case of overconfidence.

Even if you only look at her appearance, Karen is no match for Toko-senpai.

No matter how much Karen tries to put on her “pretty girl mask”.

You can judge it from Tetsuya’s usual attitude, but you can also see it in the case of this “trip”. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not. But Tetsuya was at the level of “I might go. In other words, depending on my attitude, the trip plan may be put on hold.

That’s for sure.

If Toko-senpai says to Kamokura, “Don’t go on a trip! This plan would go down the drain.

“How would a woman feel if a trip she was looking forward to was cancelled by her man? I can control this.”

Toko-senpai said without any hesitation.

That’s amazing, Touko-senpai.

Rather than saying that it was as I expected, it kind of scared me a little.