THIS IS A FAN TRANSLATION, THOUGH THE WEBSITE NAME...HAS MTL IN IT...

Tricksters deceiving each other

TL: Furby

ED: Danny

The next day, Monday. Unlike all the other times until now, Touko-senpai and I were now at a coffee shop in Ochanomizu.

Of course, it was in order to discuss our plans from hereon. Due to the school festival being right around the corner, our lessons also finished earlier.

By the way, today too Kamokura and Karen appeared to be having a rendezvous.

For goodness’ sake, Karen, lately, she has been meeting with Kamokura more times than she’s met me if I’m not mistaken.

These days, she has met with me about once per week, while she has met with Kamokura once or even twice.

Well, knowing that those two are in the middle of having their affair allows me to meet up with Touko-senpai to discuss in peace, so on that point, it’s convenient for us.

“I know what day the two of them will go on their trip.”

Taking her seat, Touko-senpai drew her face closer to me and spoke in a hushed voice.

“It’ll be from November 6th to the 7th. They’re planning for a two-day one-night-stay trip.”

“That’s the time of the school festival.”

It was like we predicted. Because we don’t have any classes during the week around those days, they can go and have their fun without worrying. 

“Still, what nerves of the two of them to go on a trip despite everyone in our group saying that we’ll do a refreshment stand. I would imagine some rumours going around the group from that.”

“It’s because Tetsuya is already a junior. There are many juniors that don’t attend the school festival. As for Karen-san, if it’s only for 2 days, she can just say that she felt bad those days and it wouldn’t be so strange for anyone, right?”

Was that how it was? I thought that the school festival was a big event within university life too.

“Now then, the important part is this next one. I have already told Tetsuya that it’s fine if he goes on the trip. Hence, we can expect Karen-san to contact you before long. At that moment, you too are going to tell her in a gentle tone that it’s okay for her to go on the trip. Make sure you don’t question nor reproach her in any way. The same goes for blaming or suspecting her, obviously.”

“Don’t worry, I’m aware of it.”

“Then, on the day before the trip, I’ll cry to Tetsuya, ‘Please don’t go on the trip!’. With that, Tetsuya should cancel the trip with most certainty.”

… Mhm hm…

“Afterwards, I imagine that Karen-san, having had her plans cancelled at the last minute, will contact you. Something like, ‘My friend cancelled me at the last minute, so the trip has been cancelled’.”

“Will she really contact me so soon after her cheating love trip is cancelled?”

I voiced my concerns and Touko-senpai answered with confidence.

“According to my predictions, she’ll contact you with 70% certainty. Because she wants you to listen to her complaining and as revenge towards Tetsuya. Karen-san should feel considerably discontented with Tetsuya after he doesn’t prioritise her. I believe that that’s when she’ll want to hear your voice, her boyfriend who has always given her priority, to feel safe, and she’ll also want to be comforted by someone. Don’t you agree?”

… I’m really being played for a fool a lot here, aren’t I?...

{TL/N: Yes you are. }

{ED/N: Yes you are.}

{Literally everyone else: Yes you are.}

“So, when Karen-san contacts you, I want you to comfort her kindly. Even if she only sends you a message, you have to call her and speak to her in a gentle voice. By doing that, she would think to herself, 'It really is Isshiki-kun who is always thinking of me first at the times it matters most’.”

“I’m being quite the calculating man here, no?”

“It can’t be helped. The fact that Karen-san is cheating on you means that either she likes her paramour more than you or that she’s the kind of girl who isn’t satisfied unless she’s constantly loved by multiple men.”

As I remained silent, Touko-senpai continued on.

“However, that’s fine for us. So long as we can get Karen-san to think that Isshiki-kun really is her favourite, it means that we can give her that absolute sense of security that whatever happens, she can always go back to you, Isshiki-kun.”

“Absolute sense of security?”

“Yes. Then, if at the last moment, that place disappeared forever?”

I see, the existence that was like a ‘last bastion’ or ‘lifeline’ that always did what she wanted would disappear forever.

That would be an incredibly shocking happening for Karen.

“Understood? Anyhow, for now, focus on making Karen-san fall in love with you. You have to keep a mindset of becoming Karen-san’s guardian at least .”

… Guardian, for real?...

With this, if it all went like how Touko-senpai said, I will really hold Karen in contempt from the bottom of my heart.

And at the same time, I’ll feel like giving a beating to the past me who was all merry-merry about dating a girl like that.

All of a sudden, I noticed that Touko-senpai was watching me fixedly. Her expression told me she wanted to say something.

I remained silent as I stared back quizzically at her for a while, after which she finally opened her mouth and spoke to me.

“Next is… your turn…”

“My… turn?”

Eh, was there some kind of plan or strategy I wanted to talk about?

“Come on, you promised! My reward…”

Ah, that? We were talking about our plan of retaliation against Kamokura and Karen, so I couldn’t connect the dots instantly.

However, I didn’t have anything I could be proud to present…

“Ah, yes. The thing about ‘cute girls’, right?”

Touko-senpai nodded in a ‘yes’ gesture. There was a certain kind of expectation in her eyes.

… Now then, where should I start?...

I guess the sensible thing to do in this situation was to start from the inner, personality-wise part.

“Okay then. As you’d expect, she has to be a ‘kind and gentle’ woman.”

Not saying anything, Touko-senpai continued to stare at me.

“Also, she has to be strong-willed, to not allow herself to be easily swayed by others.”

As you’d imagine, Touko-senpai said nothing and continued to look directly at me.

“However, it’d be nice if every now and then she would let herself be spoiled. Something like those tsundere or kuudere characters.”

Even now, Touko-senpai remained silent as she stared at me.

Huh, I felt like the light in her eyes got somehow dimmer…

“She has to be graceful, or something along those lines.”

Th-the silence was starting to scare me.

“Of course, a homely-type woman would be likeable too.”

Damn, I already ran out of things to say.

“And, the important condition is that she would never cheat.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Touko-senpai muttered under her breath.

Oh damn, was it me or did she look angry?

The only things I could think of after that were the things about the outer appearance that Ishida had mentioned.

Maybe it was better than not saying anything like now?

“As you could imagine, it would be good if her looks were those of a beauty.”

I felt as if the temperature of the gaze from Touko-senpai had gotten colder…

“Also, I guess big b*****s would make her have men yearn for her.”

Touko-senpai crossed her arms as if to hide her chest.

Not good, did I just step on a landmine?

“Her hair can also give a strong impression, right? Something like blonde hair and twin-tails…”

Touko-senpai was staring at me motionlessly. I could feel the gelid emotions coming from that stare of hers.

However, those eyes of hers suddenly softened.

“Thank you. So that is what a ‘cute girl’ is to you, Isshiki-kun.”

Touko-senpai gave me a gentle smile and she spoke with a kind tone.

Nonetheless, behind that expression of hers you could see a glimpse of disappointment peek through.

“Right. The image that most boys come up with for a ‘cute girl’ is close to that, all right.”

The kind yet resigned tone of hers pierced my chest.

No matter how I saw it, I seemed to have been completely mistaken about this.

The answer that Touko-senpai had been after was not the image that every man comes up with.

If she wanted the superficial appearance of what was cute, she could’ve found as many examples as she wanted by looking at magazines about that.

The mannerisms of cute girls too, she could just copy those idol-like cherubic personalities like Karen’s. There was no need to go out of her way to ask someone about it.

That said… Wasn’t the cuteness that Touko-senpai was looking for something very complicated?

A cuteness only for the person who looks at the inside.

The definition of ‘cute’ varies from person to person. 

Even the same mannerisms, if one person does them, they may be cute, but if someone else does them, it could be nothing more than irritating.

I too did my best and utmost thinking about what a ‘cute girl’ was.

Nevertheless, I got the sensation that everything I thought was for me a ‘cute girl’ at the moment ended up being connected to Touko-senpai. That was why I had no other choice but to tell her the elements of what constituted something ‘cute’ for the average boy.

That was what I had been telling myself as an excuse.

However, there was no denying that I had been unable to meet Touko-senpai’s expectations.

I couldn’t leave things as they were right now.

“Please wait a moment. I too have only spoken about the general conditions that make up a cute girl without being able to speak of my own thoughts.”

Touko-senpai looked at me once again.

“Could I ask you to give me one more chance? I’ll tell you the qualities of a cute girl that I thought in my head that are important for me. If even with that my answer is not something you can be satisfied with, Touko-senpai, then there is nothing we can do about it.”

“No, there’s no need for you to force yourself. Even I myself don’t have a clear answer for it, so if that is your opinion, Isshiki-kun…”

“No, I beg you. Please let me try once more.”

I asked her in a calm, yet strong manner.

Touko-senpai gave a small sigh. How curious! That looked as if she was relieved.

“Fine. In that case, once again, I’ll ask for your help. I also feel like I hurried you too much this time as well. Think about it in your own way a second time.”

“Understood. Next time without fail, I’ll bring my best answer with me.”

I put all my determination behind those words.

Touko-senpai wouldn’t say it, but she must have had some expectations for me.

Moreover, I got the feeling that whether my answer satisfied her or not would have a serious effect on Touko-senpai’s and my future relationship.

That's how it was, I had to get the correct answer to this question whatever it took.

The night of the day I heard from Touko-senpai about the date for their cheating love trip, I got a message from Karen.

> (Karen) It’s about the trip with Karen’s friend that we talked about before. It’s been decided it’ll be from November 6th to the 7th. 

> (Yuu) Is that so? Have a nice trip.

I didn’t reply any more than that. Touko-senpai had told me to not be the one to ask where she was going or with whom she was going. According to what she said:

“If it’s a cheating love trip, just asking, ‘where are you going?’, is enough to raise suspicions from the other party. That wariness will turn into a feeling of annoyance associated with you and will make Karen-san become estranged from you.”

Likewise, she told me that asking for a souvenir was no good either. Apparently, there were many cases in which a cheating couple was discovered by others because of the souvenirs. Well, of course everyone would find out if two people disappeared during the same period of time and they brought souvenirs from the same place. 

By taking away that psychological pressure, the other party would be free from their wariness and furthermore, the important thing is that we would be getting rid of one element that could cause her to become estranged.

> (Karen) It would be nice if Yuu-kun too went somewhere to enjoy. At long last the university will be having a long-term vacation, after all. It may be good for Yuu-kun to go on a trip together with Ishida-kun.

If I went on to have fun myself too, maybe it’d lower the psychological feeling of guiltiness for her?

Or perhaps she wanted to be aware of where I would be?

> (Yuu) I’ll be fine since I’ll go to the university’s school festival. We also have the refreshment stand from our group too.

> (Karen) The school festival isn’t going to be such a big thing, right? As for the refreshment stand, everyone else is going to be there too. If there are too many people together there, they’d instead hinder each other, no?

Why was this girl so reluctant in my going to the school festival?

Did she want to prevent me from getting suspicious because Kamokura wouldn’t be here at the same time?

Or was it the other way around? By saying this she wanted to make sure that I would be here during the school festival.

> (Yuu) That may be so. Still, it’s our first school festival since we entered university.

I guess I really wanted to know what the atmosphere was like.

After a while of silence, I received a reply from Karen.

> (Karen) Ok. Then go and have fun in Karen’s place too. Make sure to tell Karen Yuu-kun’s opinions of the school festival.

This girl… So it was that she wanted to know what I would do after all.

And I imagine she intended to ascertain how long I was at the school festival after it.

Based on what I saw, I surmise she would then ask her own friends about what I did during the school festival.

However, if this was an expression of Karen’s suspiciousness, did it mean that I made a blunder somewhere?

Did Karen notice that I was getting suspicious of the two of them having an affair?

> (Yuu) Okay. You too go and enjoy yourself at pleasure, Karen.

> (Karen) Yeah, thank you! Well then, bye bye!

> (Yuu) Bye.

And like that, I closed my conversation with Karen.

After that, Touko-senpai and I spent the last week until the school festival pretending not to know anything and simply watched over Karen and Kamokura in silence. I was worried if Karen hadn’t sensed something, but there didn’t seem to be any particular problem about it.

Perhaps excited from the fact that they would be going on a trip together after this, the two of them met not only on Monday and Tuesday, but also on Saturday.

During that time, Touko-senpai and I were refraining from having any kind of direct contact with each other. This is because Touko-senpai had said that it was best not to make too many moves right now and instead let the two of them relax and increase their expectations for the trip, which was necessary for our plan. That said, we were still keeping in contact with each other. And we were doing so at previously arranged times and days.

We had decided to not contact each other carelessly outside of those hours because we ran the risk of me being with Karen or Touko-senpai being with Kamokura.

However, for me, more than Karen meeting Kamokura, Touko-senpai meeting with Kamokura weighed more in my mind already. 

November 5th

 Today was the school festival’s exhibition within the school. From November 6th, the festival would be open for the public in general too.
(TL/N: School festivals in Japan usually span more than 1 day of exhibition, where the first is usually only for students themselves and sometimes family members. Afterwards they are open to the public in general)

At long last, tomorrow was the day when Karen and Kamokura would go on their cheating love trip.

Hence, if everything went as planned, just about now they should…

My cellphone vibrated. It was Touko-senpai.

> (Touko) Succeeded at cancelling T’s trip according to plan.

> (Yuu) Understood. I shall contact you when K makes an appearance.

> (Touko) T hid from me a little while ago and apparently contacted K to cancel the trip. I’m almost certain you'll get contacted by K soon, wouldn’t you say?

> (Yuu) Will it really come so soon? She was planning to go on a love trip with another man until just a few moments ago. If it were me, I’d be more careful.

> (Touko) It’ll probably come. Trust my intuition on this one. Also, I know I’m always repeating this but, remember you mustn’t be cold when interacting with K. I understand that you’re angry, but this is when you have to simply endure it. You must be kind and try to understand her feelings until the end as you listen to her story. You have to give her that ‘absolute sense of security’.

> (Yuu) Understood.

Immediately after I replied to her, I received a phone call.

… It was exactly as Touko-senpai predicted…

I answered the phone with that thought in my mind.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Yuu-kun?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Listen to this, it’s awful! Can Yuu-kun believe that tomorrow’s trip was cancelled just now, today!?”

… Can you call it ‘awful’ when an awful woman tries to do an awful thing and that gets cancelled?

Taken aback as I was, I still asked her.

“Is that so? For the trip you were so looking forward to getting cancelled all of a sudden like this is really awful.”

I answered her with those words completely devoid of emotion.

“Right? It’s awful, just awful, no!? Karen was really really looking forward to it, and despite thinking that it got cancelled today at the last minute!”

Perhaps it was because we were on the phone, but it seemed that Karen wasn’t bothered by those lines of mine into which I hadn’t put my heart.

Still, Touko-senpai had been telling me all this time. That I had to try and get closer and understand Karen’s feelings here.

“I see. Karen, you poor thing, I’m so sorry for you.”

Ah, dang, those lines didn’t carry any sentiment at all.

“Thank you, Yuu-kun. Karen, she’s starting to feel sad. Looks like she's also crying a bit.”

{ED/N: The cry you bish- oops im getting too much into the story }

It seemed like even those empty words of mine were enough for the full ‘tragic heroine mode’ Karen was in.

“Don’t cry. I would comfort you in person if you were close by.”

I had become quite the actor myself.

“Yes, Karen wants to meet with Yuu-kun. If it was Yuu-kun, he wouldn’t do this kind of awful thing to Karen, right?”

I-idiot, just how horrible a thing do you think you’re doing to me, bastard?

However, to think that it all played out according to what Touko-senpai outlined.

Unthinkingly, I had a smile forming on my lips as I listened to her.

Nonetheless, my words, however empty, would still continue to be those of the kind boyfriend of Karen.

“But of course. Isn’t it obvious that I’m always going to be Karen’s ally?”

I could hear the sobbing of Karen from the other side of the phone. 

However, compared to the sobbing I heard from Touko-senpai when Karen went inside Kamokura’s apartment, they sounded very cheap. They didn’t arouse even a speck of compassion in my heart.

“Karen is… so glad that Yuu-kun is her boyfriend…”

Oh? If she said that, did it mean that the level of dependency she had on me increased?

For me it was the worst thing to have you as my girlfriend, though.

“Are you okay with the cancellation fees and all that? Having been the day before makes me think they’ll charge you in full.”

I didn’t have anything to talk about, so for the time being, I tried asking for things that made it look as if I was worried for her.

A period of silence elapsed after that. It seemed that Karen was at a loss for words.

“There shouldn’t be problems with the cancellation fee… The plan was to go in a car…”

Ah, it couldn’t be that I pried into something I shouldn’t have, right?

Maybe Kamokura had taken care of the lodging fees, or perhaps they had intended not to make a reservation and instead just stop at any love hotel they found nearby?

“I see. Well, I was just thinking that it would be horrible if you had to pay for a cancellation fee on top of all, Karen.”

For now, I tried covering it up. And it seemed Karen was satisfied with that too.

“Thank you, Yuu-kun. For worrying about Karen.”

Talk about easy. This girl, she really is an easy woman.

“Then, Yuu-kun. Can Yuu-kun meet Karen tomorrow?”

“Eh?”

Unintentionally, I expressed my unadulterated surprise in my voice.

If we were on the phone with only our voices, I could pretend, but being face-to-face with this cheating woman and treating her kindly was impossible. If I saw Karen trying to act all cute and innocent in front of me right now, I would get a strong urge to punch her right in her face.

I mean, remember how until just now she was planning on going on a love trip with another man?

Not to mention that it was with someone I knew, my senpai. I already thought she had some nerve and shamelessness to be calling me by phone, and now she wanted to meet with me because her little trip plans came down to nothing? Just how impudent could she be!? She must be the quintessence of shamelessness and unscrupulousness. 

“I’m sorry. I also want to see you Karen, but I already made arrangements for tomorrow.”

For now, I left it at that. By no means did I intend to be the replacement called during the time she was supposed to be screwing another man but got cancelled at the last minute.

“I see…”

Karen spoke seemingly depressed.

“I’m really sorry, Karen. I’ll make the time for the next occasion.”

I hung up after saying that.

After that, I immediately called Touko-senpai. I want to discuss directly with her all the particulars of what had just transpired. 

“It was exactly like you said, Touko-senpai. Karen, that girl, she called me immediately after you said it!”

Even so, Touko-senpai remained composed from start to end.

“Yeah. Most likely, she has an image of herself as a ‘cute person’ in her mind. She constantly thinks of herself as the ‘tragic heroine’. That’s why she looks for people who’d come to save her and sympathise with her.”

“But isn’t it a little too shameless of her to ask that of me, who is a victim of her cheating?”

“I think that maybe for her, she ‘who is being forced to cheat’ is a victim herself. She may be thinking something like, ‘my boyfriend doesn’t understand me’, ‘my boyfriend is pushing me aside’, ‘my boyfriend won’t give me what I want’.”

Hrmm, those were some emotions I couldn’t understand. Actually, if Karen was thinking something like that, that would infuriate me even more.

“By the way, what did you say to get Kamokura-senpai to cancel the trip, Touko-senpai?”

“Simple. I said, ‘I want to go on a trip too’.”

“Just that?”

I was flabbergasted. I thought that she had used some more complicated technique for that.

“Yes. I told him there was a place that I wanted the two of us to go no matter what. I made a small tantrum saying that the only time we both could go on a trip alone without worrying was during this period.”

Uh huh, women truly are formidable. Nonetheless, the current problem for me didn’t lie there.

“So, you’ll be going on a trip together with Kamokura-senpai, Touko-senpai?”

However, that was denied in an instant.

“I won’t. I intend to cancel at the last moment. When tomorrow comes, I’ll tell him that I suddenly felt sick. Just who’d go on something like a trip with a man who’s in the middle of having an affair with another woman!”

As expected, Touko-senpai too said that last part with disgust.

… Thank goodness…

I found myself patting my chest in relief unconsciously. 

“Karen told me that she wanted to meet me tomorrow too. But as you can imagine, I didn’t feel like seeing her, so I turned down her invitation saying that I already had an arrangement for tomorrow.”

Touko-senpai then spoke with a stern tone.

“That’s unacceptable. You have to go and meet with Karen-san. And when you do, you must comfort her in a gentle manner.”

Those words of hers came as a surprise to me.

“Eh? Touko-senpai, you don’t want to see Kamokura-senpai, right? The same goes for me.”

“Our situations are different. At the present moment, I hold cards that are effective against Tetsuya, but you, on the other hand, I imagine you don’t have any ace up your sleeve that could work with Karen-san. That’s why you have to do the most you can to make Karen-san’s feelings for you grow. As such, we need you to meet Karen-san tomorrow and completely accept her feelings.”

… Effective cards…?

I was curious about the meaning of those words. But before I could ask about that, Touko-senpai continued to speak.

“Also, once Tetsuya finds that he won’t be able to go on a trip with me, he may try inviting Karen-san again, you know? In order to prevent that from happening, you have to ensure that Karen-san will spend tomorrow with you!”

“Understood. If that’s what you say, Touko-senpai.”

I may have answered like that, but in reality I was dejected.

… Does Touko-senpai think nothing even if I meet with Karen?...