And so, once again, it was Saturday.
Or rather, a special Saturday at the end of April. What the world calls the first day of Golden Week.
"Good morning... *yawn*..."
Kato arrived at our meeting spot in front of the station. Once again, she was about three minutes late, but her arrival was so reliable that there was hardly anything to call her out on.
"You look kind of sleepy."
"I only got two hours of sleep..."
"Don't brag about how little sleep you got. It's kind of annoying."
There was absolutely no trace of excitement on her face—nothing to suggest she'd been too thrilled about today to sleep.
"Anyway, should we buy our tickets? Where are we going again?"
"Wago City."
"Wait, isn't that in the next prefecture? Whoa, tickets are so expensive."
"I told you yesterday we were going far."
"Still, spending over an hour on the train together for an outing... feels a bit like a date, doesn't it?"
"It's not."
"I guess not."
Wait, this was bad. I'd denied it instantly, without any hesitation.
And she agreed without showing even a hint of minding it.
Seriously, how should I put it? In a way, we have the ideal friendship.
Or maybe we're like a couple in a rut. Even though we aren't even dating yet.
"Well, we still have some time before the train, so I'm going to drop by the convenience store."
"Make sure you use the restroom too. It's a long ride."
"I used 'convenience store' as a euphemism to include that, you know. How unrefined."
"If you think it's unrefined, don't go and spoil the euphemism..."
I watched Kato walk away, her pace as casual and unhurried as ever, showing no signs of excitement.
She wore a white tank top under a light gray hoodie, and the legs peeking out from her breezy culottes were clad in flesh-colored stockings.
So she was wearing a different outfit from last week today, too.
She really does have quite a wardrobe.
Well, I admit she's fashionable, but in the 2D world, changing outfits too often dilutes a character's identity. Plus, it just means more sprite variations to draw.
That's why I think it would've been much better for both users and developers if she'd deliberately worn her school uniform and said with a straight face, "Huh? Isn't it common sense to wear your uniform on holidays when you're traveling far?" like some ultra-serious girl. But what do I know...
...Too bad your companion is a game otaku who thinks like this, Kato.
"Oh, so you actually read the whole thing?"
"That's why I'm so sleepy. The books you lent me, Aki-kun—there were five of them in total."
"You're really a good sport, you know that?"
"Just kidding. They were so interesting I couldn't sleep. Thanks for recommending them."
"I-I see...!"
On the train bound for Wago City, Kato smiled sleepily as she spoke.
In her hands was the first volume of Metronome in Love, which I had handed to her yesterday.
I had given it to her during our circle meeting yesterday as "required reading" for the holiday weekend.
"I thought light novels were strictly for boys, but this is a story that even a girl can cry over."
"Right?! I knew it! It really hits you in the feels, doesn't it?"
"It's just like that galge from the other day—judging things before trying them is bad... Though it would help if the covers were a bit easier to hold in public."
"K-Kato... you really are..."
All I had wanted was for her to read at least the first volume and understand its worth by today. Kato's reaction went way beyond my expectations—it was absolutely perfect.
"So, would it be okay if I returned them after Golden Week? I'd kind of like to read them again, but slower this time."
"Don't worry about it! Actually, you don't even have to return them. The set I gave you was for missionary work anyway. I have two more sets at home—one for reading and one for keeping in mint condition."
"R-Really? Well, if you don't have to buy them again, maybe I'll gladly keep them?"
"No, of course I'll buy them again! It's only natural to restock your missionary copies once you hand them out."
"I-I see... thanks."
Kato gave me a slightly exasperated, strained smile. Clearly, she didn't yet understand how a believer feels when their missionary work succeeds.
"So, what did you like about it? Tell me your thoughts, including what you didn't like!"
"Ah, yeah, well, let's see... Where should I start?"
"Hurry! Raw feedback right after reading, while the excitement is still fresh, is the most important of all! Come on, let's hear it!"
"A-Aki-kun...?"
Compared to the joy of gaining a fellow fan to talk with about my favorite series, what's a trivial waste of a few thousand yen...?
"Man, we got to Wago City in the blink of an eye!"
"...Well, I'm sure it felt that way to you, Aki-kun."
Kato said as we got off the train. Her face looked even more exhausted than it had this morning. Had the lack of sleep caught up to her after all? Or maybe she'd gotten motion sickness on the train. She looked a little pale.
"Anyway, to change the subject, the flow right after the confession scene in volume three! That was absolute genius!"
"You're still talking about it... And you didn't change the subject at all."
"But you didn't expect it, did you? Who would've thought she would butt into the love triangle?"
"I certainly didn't expect... this topic to drag on for a whole hour."
"Hey, if I wanted to, I could talk about it for three days and three nights straight."
"I don't think I could ever become an otaku like you, Aki-kun, even if I spent my whole life trying."
With her sounding this defeatist, she really must be exhausted.
"Come on, don't say that! Get your energy up! After all, the place we're heading to right now is a holy land, in a sense!"
Yeah, times like this are when a guy needs to lead the way.
Paying attention to minor details like this is probably the secret to being a normie. Probably.
"A holy land... Oh, wait a minute."
"Oh, you noticed?"
As we exited the station and looked up, Kato gasped slightly.
To a first-time visitor, it should have looked like nothing more than an ordinary, unfamiliar shopping district in front of a station. But to a reader of Metronome in Love, it evoked a completely different set of emotions.
"It was here..."
Because spread out before her was the exact landscape from the color frontispiece that greets you when you open volume one...
"These benches in the station park—this is where the kiss scene in the final chapter happened, right?"
"Ah, I see. The composition is from exactly this angle."
Kato compared the view to the illustration on page 211 of volume five, which I held open.
"And that burger joint over there is where the two heroines first crossed paths in volume two, right?"
"I don't think you could figure that out just from looking at the illustration..."
"True, but information isn't just buried in the illustrations."
"Which means..."
"Right after this scene, the two of them cross the crosswalk and immediately reach the station, right? That means only this restaurant, located just across the street from the station, fits the bill!"
"...I can't believe you actually checked such tiny details."
Kato muttered, without even looking at the passage on page 148 of volume two that I was showing her.
Hey, actually verify it.
"Now, here's the main event... See that bookstore further down the street?"
"Ah, right... So that's the one from volume one?"
"Yes! Jobundo Books, where the protagonist and the main heroine have their fated encounter... That's our destination for today!"
I showed Kato page 48 of volume one, along with two tickets tucked inside it. This was our ultimate goal for the day...
"But he ends up breaking up with her in the end, though."
"...Well, yeah."
The shocking development of the protagonist choosing the other heroine—the one who only appeared starting from Volume 2—had apparently caused quite a stir online when the final volume went on sale...
"Oh, come on. If there was an autograph session, you should've just told me," Kato said, staring intently at the ticket I'd handed her as we lined up on the third-floor event floor of Jobundo Books.
It had today's date and Utako Kasumi-sensei Autograph Session: Commemorating the Release of the Final Volume of Metronome in Love printed on it in a simple design that looked like someone had lazily whipped it up in a word processor.
It was exactly the kind of amateur work you'd expect from a small bookstore that didn't usually host events.
"No, seriously, I didn't expect you to get so hooked on it. I was worried you'd turn me down..."
"But still, what kind of logic is, 'So I'll just drag her out without telling her where we're going'?"
"Hey, it was faster than trying to explain it, right?"
"...I really wish you'd treat real-life girls with as much care as 2D ones."
"U-Ugh..."
She seemed a little sulky. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.
In a situation like this, what if I were to blush, look away, and mutter, "I-I only treat you like this because it's you!"?
...No, if I were the childhood friend or the best-friend character, that might trigger a flag. But doing that with someone I've known for less than a month would just cement my status as a minor background character.
Then again, this was Kato...
"Still, I'm surprised you managed to get tickets. Two of them, even."
"Well, yeah. I had to shell out train fare and lunch money for two, not to mention making a three-hour round trip."
"This is my first time going to an autograph session, but getting to meet the person who created a story you loved really is exciting, huh? Thanks."
"Right?!"
What an incredibly understanding girl... Seriously, she was just overflowing with this pointless sense of security.
"By the way, what kind of person is this Utako Kasumi-sensei? Do you know her, Aki-kun?"
"Oh, y-yeah... She had an autograph session here before, when Volume Two was released."
"Is she a woman, like her name suggests?"
"...Yeah. You'll find out soon enough anyway."
"After I finished reading, I tried searching 'Utako Kasumi' online, but the top result was just a fan site. It doesn't seem like she has her own blog or Twitter."
"...I see."
"What's wrong? Do you have a fever or something?"
"No, well... the truth's gonna come out in a minute anyway, so it doesn't really matter, but..."
"? Aki-kun?"
Kato looked up at me with a puzzled expression as I suddenly turned away with red cheeks and muttered to myself.
Well, yeah. A real-life creepy otaku suddenly trying to act like a tsundere is nothing but cringe.
"...It's about to start."
"Ah, you're right."
While we were talking, 11:30—the scheduled start time—came and went, and a middle-aged woman who looked like a store clerk appeared on the floor.
Once the clerk—who also looked completely out of her depth—finished her boring five-minute explanation of the rules, the partitions at the back of the floor opened. Utako Kasumi-sensei emerged to a round of applause.
And her appearance was...
"...I can't see her at all, Aki-kun."
Blocked by a wall of guys who looked exactly like me, Kato couldn't see a thing.
"...It's fine. You'll see her face-to-face when you get your book signed."
I was a head taller than Kato, so I'd already spotted the author, but I didn't bother giving her a play-by-play.
No, I wanted Kato to see it with her own eyes...
Because that was the whole point of today—and the ultimate setup for the punchline.
In other words...
"...Rinri-kun?"
"Huh?"
"Hi. Long time no see in a place like this... And like I've told you a million times, stop using that nickname."
"Kasumigaoka... senpai?"
"No, Utako Kasumi-sensei... at least, while we're here."
With things turning out like this...
When my turn finally came, the world between Utaha-senpai and Kato froze for a split second.
* * *
"Alright, let's try this again. This is Utaha Kasumigaoka-senpai, Class 3-C."
She's a genius who has never once slipped from the top spot in the rankings since she enrolled—some even call her the greatest prodigy in the history of Toyogasaki Academy.
"Also known by her pen name, Utako Kasumi-sensei."
Her debut work, Metronome in Love, spans five volumes and has currently sold over 500,000 copies. She's a highly popular, up-and-coming light novel author who also happens to be an active high schooler.
"And this is Megumi Kato, Class 2-B."
No other notable characteristics.
"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way, let's just chat casually..."
And so, here we were, in the burger joint from page 148 of volume two of the original work.
"............"
"............"
"Hell-oooo?"
For that matter, this awkward atmosphere was almost identical to the situation on page 148 of volume two.
The only difference was that the protagonist wasn't in that scene... Dammit, I'm jealous of that protagonist.
"Hey, um, Aki-kun..."
Kato, unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, whispered to her side instead of looking straight ahead.
"Look, whispering to me isn't going to help."
"But still, this is bizarre."
"Well, sure, even I admit her track record is ridiculously abnormal, but it's rude to say that right in front of her."
"The bizarre one is you, Aki-kun."
"That's why I'm telling you, you shouldn't call her abnormal right in front of her!"
What an incredibly tone-deaf girl. Does she not feel any pity for me?
"A popular illustrator, a best-selling author... Aki-kun, why are the people around you always like this?"
"Hey, come on, you're right there to balance things out perfectly with your complete lack of defining traits, Kato."
"Can we leave me out of this for once? Besides, you don't have to force me into being the punchline."
Actually, it's not forced, you fit the role perfectly. You're underestimating how weak your presence is, Kato. Or wait, is it overestimating in this case?
"Were you really saying you wanted to make an indie game with such amazing people? That's reckless, but in the opposite direction."
If it's the art club princess and the school's top student, they're underqualified.
But if it's a popular doujin illustrator and a best-selling commercial author, they're overqualified.
...Man, Japanese is tough.
"But it's not like I know anyone else who can draw or write."
"That sounds like an army whose only weapons are two nuclear missiles."
"But if those two can completely wipe out the enemy, then we—nhgooooh?!"
"Whoa?!"
My scream, which sounded like I had been brought low by a total scumbag, overlapped with Kato's surprised voice, which sounded like she was lamenting her low annual income.
Well, those analogies didn't actually mean anything, but what I was trying to talk about was...
"...How long are you two going to keep flirting? Right in front of your ex-girlfriend, no less."
"If you think we're flirting, then stop doing such misleading things! And stop spouting such careless nonsense!"
...It was Utaha-senpai's utterly bizarre behavior: she had erased her presence, circled around to the side opposite Kato—meaning to my right—and suddenly blown air into my ear.
"I mean, what are you even doing here, Rinri-kun? Did you want to show off your current girlfriend that badly?"
"Like I said, you're pretty famous in this city, you know!"
"It's fine, no one is paying attention. For example, look at those three boys by the window—I'm pretty sure they were in the front row at the signing session."
"You've sampled the absolute least reassuring group possible, haven't you?!"
Whoa, they're staring right at us with bated breath...
"Still, wouldn't stirring up a scandal over a messy love life help my brand as an author? What do you think?"
"At that point, you're not aiming for the Fantasia Prize anymore, you're aiming for the Naoki Prize, aren't you?!"
Such wicked fabrications and outrageous remarks that even I shuddered... What a powerhouse of an archetype.
But unlike a certain Eriri, this person before me possessed a dangerous unpredictability where you never knew what she would do next.
Though in this case, it came with the dilemma that her personality was so incredibly overpowering that it was hard to keep up.
"And then, if it turns out I'm actually still a virgin, wouldn't that instantly turn me into a total moe character?"
"Seriously, an unnatural virgin setting gets heavily flamed! And besides, how on earth are you going to prove it?!"
See? Just like this.
"Hey, um, Aki-kun?"
"Kato... I don't know what kind of impression you had of her until now, but this wicked person right in front of us is, without a doubt, the real Utaha Kasumigaoka-senpai."
"Oh, come on, I wasn't thinking anything that bad."
"But you felt the gap between her and the image you had of her, right?"
"W-well, I suppose."
Sure enough, Kato's expression had gone completely flat.
This was her trademark look when she was overloaded with things to call out... which is to say, one of the rare moments where Megumi Kato actually stood out as a character.
...Unfortunately, even if we tried to market her as an expressionless character, she couldn't even hold a candle to the sharp-tongued upperclassman standing before us.
"I mean, Kasumigaoka-senpai is a legendary figure among the underclassmen, and I'd only ever heard about her in rumors..."
"Right, right? You never would've dreamed that she's actually a malicious, pathological liar with a toxic mouth and personality."
"It seems you've been starving for my verbal abuse, Rinri-kun. Honestly, that masochistic streak of yours hasn't changed a bit since the old days."
"See?! Just like this!"
Usually quiet and soft-spoken, but that's just because she finds talking to be too much of a chore. Once she opens her mouth, nothing comes out but controversial statements, bombshells, or dirty jokes.
While hiding her identity as an author, she lets her dark personality show completely bare.
To the underclassmen who only watch from afar, she's an object of admiration; to the classmates and teachers who get torn to shreds because they're close to her, she is a symbol of pure terror.
And yet...
"And yet, who would've thought she was actually Aki-kun's ex-girlfriend?"
"I really think if you'd listen to a single word I say, Kato, you wouldn't have reached that conclusion."
"So, why did you come after all? Going out of your way to see the woman you abandoned."
"Seriously, please drop the ex-girlfriend bit already, senpai..."
Even though heroines with that kind of past connection are hard to handle in galge because they break the game's balance, this person just has to...
"Well, I'm sure it's for revenge on that galge proposal of yours, anyway."
"Oh, so you do understand."
"After all, your persistence and inability to give up on anything are your greatest defect and your fatal flaw."
"Isn't the rule of that template that you're supposed to put a strength or a virtue in one of those spots?"
Besides, having her say that with a "gosh, what am I going to do with you" kind of smile made it feel incredibly awkward.
"In any case, if that was your goal, you didn't have to come all this way..."
"Well, to be honest, half of my reason was the signing session."
"Eh..."
With that, as if I had been waiting for this exact moment, I pulled a small paper-wrapped package from my pocket.
"Senpai, congratulations on the completion of Metronome in Love... Thank you for all your hard work over the last year and a half."
"Th...anks."
It might be a little rude of me to think so, but my congratulatory words seemed to catch senpai off guard, and she showed a brief, genuinely embarrassed expression.
These little gestures, when contrasted with her usual coldness, made her look incredibly cute.
But anyone who would be fooled by that kind of gap has a hopeless galge brain. Like me.
"...Wait, what is this poorly sculpted bishoujo figure?"
“No, it’s just that I pulled two tickets for the prize draw and ended up with a duplicate C-prize.”
“...I see. Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”
“Then why are you performing a ‘cast-off’ on it right as you say that?”
However, the next moment, Senpai’s expression sharpened, which thankfully prevented me from being led further astray.
“U-Um, Kasumigaoka-senpai... or rather...”
“...‘Senpai’ is fine. Let’s see, was it Kato-san?”
I wasn’t sure if she was trying to follow up on this tense situation or if she just wasn’t thinking very deeply... well, probably the latter, but Kato summoned a bit of courage to speak to Utaha-senpai.
“Congratulations on the release of the final volume. I only started reading from the first volume yesterday, but it was so interesting that I finished them all in one go.”
“Thank you for the compliment—telling me it’s so light and thin that you can breeze through five volumes in a single night.”
“That wasn’t a compliment, and she didn’t even say that in the first place.”
“U-Um... thank you for the autograph today.”
“Oh... yes...”
“Actually, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever received an autograph... so I’ll cherish it, okay?”
“Kato-san...”
Surprisingly, Utaha-senpai seemed a bit overwhelmed by Kato, who spoke with an unexpected sincerity that didn’t wither in the face of such irony.
However...
“I’m sorry, but give that book back.”
“Eh? But why...?”
“Senpai, no matter how you look at it, that’s just...”
It seemed Kato’s words hadn’t quite reached Utaha-senpai’s heart after all—
“I’m going to rewrite it. So just give it back for a moment, okay?”
“Eh? Rewrite... rewrite what...?”
“Wait, what is this signature?! I didn’t notice because the handwriting looks like a wriggling earthworm, but looking closely, it says ‘Shoji Gatoh’!”
While I was at it, I took a close look at my own signed book. It said “Buriki”...
“Well, regardless of that.”
“Don’t you ‘regardless of that’ me! I was about to show this off to my friends and die of embarrassment!”
I hadn’t realized that her sleight of hand was just as wicked as her tongue.
“Thank you. For going out of your way to come to an autograph session for such an unpopular author.”
There she goes again, shamelessly saying things she doesn't believe for a second...
“That’s not true. There were tons of people here today, weren’t there?”
“I-Is that so?”
“Y-Yeah.”
Kato was more of a pure, good person than I thought, sincerely refuting what I would have just let slide as obvious self-deprecation. Well, I also couldn’t deny the possibility that she simply wasn’t catching on to Utaha-senpai’s routine.
“Besides, it seems like things are really heating up on the internet, too.”
“Ah, yes, it seems they’ve split into factions for the two heroines and are busy bashing each other.”
Well, that’s your fault for writing such a razor-edge love triangle...
“No, they’re really praising the work itself. I saw plenty of comments saying it’s the best rom-com in recent years.”
“Th-thank you.”
“O-Oh.”
This was bad. Every time I hear Kato’s mercilessly kind compliments, the stains on Utaha-senpai’s and my own hearts are thrown into sharp relief.
“Among those, I found a really enthusiastic fansite... It’s the first result that comes up when you search your pen name, so maybe you’ve seen it, Senpai?”
“A fansite...?”
“Ugh...”
“The introduction article written by the admin, a person named TAKI, was just so passionate... It was almost overflowing with love for the work.”
“I see, so it was overflowing...”
“............”
Utaha-senpai glanced over at me, looking more and more awkward.
“That person syncs up so much with the protagonist that their favorite heroine changes every time a new volume comes out. It was almost funny to see how into it they were.”
“I see, so it was funny... He-he-he.”
“A-Haha.”
“But seeing that they were able to encounter something they could get that passionate about... I actually found myself a little envious.”
“Yes, quite envious indeed... He-he-he.”
“Ahahahaha.”
I had no choice but to force out an incredibly dry laugh.
“Being able to make a reader get that invested is proof of how much power this work has, don't you think?... Oh, I'm just parroting the admin's words there, though. Ahaha.”
“He-he, he-he-he.”
“Aha, ahaha, ahahahaha!”
“...Was what I said that funny?”
“No, I think it’s a very lovely story, don’t you? He-he-he.”
“I-It’s not funny, not funny at all... Ahahahaha, *whew*.”
Yes, it really was a lovely story.
Compared to the usual Kato, she was exceptionally heated and intense. Yeah, it was almost like listening to an otaku rant. Whether that’s a compliment or not is another matter.
...It’s just that the premise of the anecdote was pathetically awkward.
“It was a shame the review for the final volume wasn’t up yet, though. I was curious to see how the admin felt about that last scene...”
“You hear that, Rinri-kun?”
“I’m sorry, I’ve been neglecting it lately... I’ll definitely have it up by the start of the week.”
“............Eh?”
In that moment, our discomfort reached its absolute peak.
“Aki-kun, that was your site!?”
“Well...”
The admin name “TAKI” being Tomoya Aki was a very simple riddle... or rather, it’s just his name in Romaji. Figure it out, Kato. No, I know I’m asking for the impossible, but I have a sense of shame, too.
“Th-Then, Kasumigaoka-senpai and Aki-kun, are you two actually dat—”
“Wait, why are we back to that?!”
“But Aki-kun, that means you’re Kasumigaoka-senpai’s number one fan, right?”
“The idea that a hardcore fan can date the author is just an otaku delusion!”
“But don’t you think the ‘real reality’ increases when you add the setting of being real-life acquaintances? Like, ‘What kind of eroge is this?’”
“Don’t go baiting her while dragging me into it, Senpai...”
I mean, if it’s an eroge, then it is an otaku delusion. Also, you’re supposed to be a writer, so knock it off with the redundant “real reality.”
“Still, is it just my imagination, or is there an atmosphere suggesting something happened between you two in the past?”
“Nothing happened in the past except for a few little things! I just happened to get a little obsessed with the work, start a little website, and the author just happened to be a Senpai one year above me at the same school!”
“Ah, you certainly said something similar the first time. ‘Just the tip.’”
“I didn't even put the tip in! I mean, I didn't say that!”
Good grief, I don't even know which direction to face to focus on my defense anymore.
“Otaku boys really do wimp out like this when it counts. You should be careful too, you know?”
“Um, so it really is...?”
...Rather, the attacks from the right are clearly heavier. This is strange—she should be in the same position as me, so why is it turning out like this?
“When you're writing romance, you inevitably need to accumulate various 'material' in that department, don't you? It's not like I'm at an age where I've piled up that much life experience yet.”
“I-Is that how it works?”
“In a moment like that, when a boy claiming to be a die-hard fan appears before you and talks passionately about you, don't you think one might just... sway a little?”
“The one I was talking passionately about was your work, not you...!”
This is why I hate 3D...
"Besides, if you're told by an editor that sales for a book went up by thirty percent thanks to the influence of a site run by a boy like that, it's hard to have any regrets, right?"
"W-Wait, that site had that much of an impact!?"
"That feels kind of calculated. I don't like it," Kato added.
This lingering sense of awkwardness is the absolute worst...
"And so, even though everything was perfectly fine on my end, this Rinri-kun goes and..."
"None of the characters here are over eighteen years old!" I shouted. Stop, please just stop... No more of this...
If this conversation goes any further into dangerous territory, the editor is going to step in and put a stop to it.
"I-I mean, the idea that you can't write about romance if you're a virgin is nothing more than an urban legend! It's specifically the explosion of longing, ideals, and delusions regarding the unknown territory of virginity that draws in the hopeless virgin users—well, I don't know about the girls! But trying to deal with the cynicism of some playboy is just a waste of time! Besides, if the author is a virgin, it lets the users sink into a whole other level of delusion, which is the best! And then, if it gets an anime and even the heroine's voice actress is a virgin, then—!"
"Aki-kun, Aki-kun, where are you going with this..."
"I think we're just about at the point where the editor would step in..." Utaha-senpai remarked.
No more... please...
"Anyway, Kato-san, you should be careful too."
"Eh? About what...?"
"He might dote on you for about six months, but once next year rolls around, he'll immediately have his eyes on another girl... or rather, his next project target. That's the kind of man he is."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll update the site, so please stop spreading misinformation!"
I even read the final volume ten times while crying a liter of tears, and this is the treatment I get...
"Well, he loves new things, he's good at riling people up, he's overly familiar, and he's persistent. In a way, he's an excellent doujin grifter. Though that basically just means he's a bottom-tier human being."
"Calling me a doujin grifter is a bit much, don't you think?" I protested.
Though I completely agreed with the sentiment that an "excellent doujin grifter" is a bottom-tier human being.
"U-Um, Kasumigaoka-senpai..."
Kato, who had been listening to our conversation with a bewildered expression until now, finally spoke up.
"I think that, at least when it comes to Aki-kun this time, that might not be the case..."
"K-Kato...!"
She was actually tossing me a lifeline...
"What makes you think that? Do you have some solid grounds for confidence, like, 'Oh, I'm just so super loved, I feel so sorry for the senpai who got dumped (lol)'?"
"Please stop ruining everything..."
"No, first of all, Aki-kun isn't actually interested in me."
"I'm talking to you too, Kato..." I sighed.
I thought she was rowing out to save me, but that wasn't the case at all.
"What makes you think that? Don't you ever suspect something like, 'He's always acting so cold to me, but that's just his way of hiding how embarrassed he is~♪'?"
"Eh, is that true, Aki-kun?"
"Could you please not react with such genuine, utter surprise?"
I at least wanted her to have a "N-No way, what are you thinking, you idiot!" kind of expression, but well, it's Kato...
I felt a sense of relief at her usual reaction, which prompted another kind of sigh from me.
"Um, Kato-san..."
"Yes?"
However, it seemed that the "usual Kato" was a bit unexpected for Utaha-senpai.
"Then why are you going along with his unreasonable demands? Suggesting things like 'Let's make a galge with you as the heroine' is basically the level of having a fever dream."
"Um, Senpai... No, never mind."
Well, that said, the way she wasn't affected in the slightest by her sharp tongue was impressive as always.
"Well, it seemed interesting enough, and I was pretty much free."
"Did you sympathize with his... *ha*... passion for game making?"
"Why did you laugh so artificially in the middle of your sentence?"
"It's not exactly that, but I'm not quite as pessimistic as you or Sawamura-san, Kasumigaoka-senpai."
"Do you think his project will succeed?"
"Hmm, I don't really know... but I feel like with Aki-kun's drive, maybe something interesting might happen."
"Then... do you trust him?"
"Eh? Aki-kun? Why?"
"Please don't look so cutely puzzled at the most crucial part!"
I at least wanted her to say, "Eh? T-That's... are you an idiot?! There's no way I could trust him! Not some stupid, lecherous, pushy guy like him!"... but I guess even if it weren't Kato, that would be asking too much.
"Hey, Rinri-kun. This girl doesn't seem to have any feelings for you at all. Is your 'I'll make you the heroine... so, you know what comes next, right? Heh heh heh' strategy really going to work in this state?"
"I didn't have a strategy like that to begin with!"
"I see... So that's why she doesn't react even when I provoke her this much. That certain childhood friend of yours, on the other hand, blew her top immediately."
"Um, I hate to ask out of the blue, but that childhood friend is..."
"If it's out of the blue, you don't have to ask!"
At that moment, for the first time, I felt like I understood the helpless frustration of a head referee who has to give out yellow cards to players on both teams.
* * *
"It's gotten quite dark..."
Past eight o'clock at night, the moon hung in the gap between the buildings in front of Wago Station.
It looked just like the night the love triangle in the final volume of Metronome in Love was finally resolved...
"Hey, Tomoya-kun."
"............"
"...Tomoya-kun?"
"..................Eh, ah, me!?"
I'd like to state for the record here that my delayed reaction just now was because I was lost in sentimentality while looking at the moon, and absolutely not because it was the first time today I'd been called by my first name.
"Are you really planning to turn that girl into a heroine?"
"That's... yeah, well."
Just like on the way here, while we waited for Kato who had stopped by a convenience store, Utaha-senpai and I struck up a conversation about the main heroine who wasn't currently present.
"Is it because you fell in love with her?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah, well, something like that."
"...The fact that your answer is so incredibly half-hearted is very unsettling."
"No, I mean, I definitely thought it was love at first sight in the beginning... but..."
Yes, that's why this project was born. There's no doubt about that truth.
It's just that, somewhere along the way, my motivation started heading in a rather strange direction.
"In other words, what you're trying to do is a mere act of substitution... By turning a girl you 'might' have liked into something charming, you're just trying to indulge in the self-satisfaction that your aesthetic eye wasn't wrong?"
"Guh..."
I had absolutely no words to fire back with...
"Well, regardless, neither Sawamura-san nor I can cooperate with you as things stand."
"Utaha-senpai..."
"It's not that I'm bothered by you relying on a woman you've already dumped at this late stage, it's just that what's lacking is far too obvious..."
"Was the first half of that sentence really necessary for this conversation to work?"
To begin with, there wasn't a single fact suggesting we'd ever dated.
At this rate, Utaha-senpai was going to be my only choice, and she'd have the ultimate "evil ex-girlfriend" attribute added on top of everything else.
"But Kato's got good raw materials, and if we can just manage to establish her character somehow..."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what...?"
"Let's see. What you guys are lacking is..."
In the next instant, I felt a soft breath against my right ear.
"Sorry for the wait—oh? Where's Kasumigaoka-senpai?"
"...She said she was heading home."
"Was that okay?" Kato asked casually.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Utaha-senpai had been wicked, deceitful, and full of dirty jokes right up until the moment she left.
But at the very, very end, she had given me a piece of heartfelt advice—and a chance.
The ultimate concession: "I will listen to you, just one more time."
"Kato..."
"Hmm?"
Everything was going to be fine now.
"I'll handle it somehow."
"Aki-kun?"
What Utaha-senpai had told me really hit home, even if I didn't actually have any prospects for a solution yet.
I had no choice but to keep doing what I'd been doing.
"So don't you worry. I'm definitely going to get this proposal approved."
I just have to see it through...
"Ah, right... But even if it doesn't get approved, you don't really need to fret over it, you know?"
"I think you could be just a tiny bit more considerate of my motivation, Kato."
By the way...
On the train ride home, Utaha-senpai sat in the seat directly across from me and glared at me for an entire hour.
It wasn't my fault we ended up on the same train—there was only one every thirty minutes!
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