Chapter 5: Manual.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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The next day, Tsukino and I met behind the local station.

“Hey, what about the report?”

“Re-Report?”

“Did you get so worked up with the talk yesterday that you missed my text? I told you to report what happened at the cafe to me.”

“Oh, sorry. I fell asleep while thinking about what to write. I’ll send it during class.”

What an exasperating girl.

“…Hey, you’re not thinking about making him confess or something cheeky, are you?”

“W-Well, I’m a girl, y’know. It just feels more romantic if it comes from the guy.”

“That’s why you haven’t been getting anywhere. Save that for any other guy. In this case, just think about confessing yourself.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He’s not gonna confess to a girl on his own. There are other candidates, too. And no one is complaining about putting the relationship on hold,” I said, fiddling with my phone. A few seconds later, I sent a spreadsheet I’d converted into a PDF to her. “This is a manual. I’ve assigned percentages for meeting places and choices you can take to likely gain his favor. Memorize it so you can talk flexibly in person.”

That was Version 1.0. In it, I took into account Tsukino’s popularity as well as her free time, according to the school schedule. There should be no mistakes there.

“This thing has 50 pages?!”

“You should confess on the third day, so memorize it like your life depends on it.”

“Three days?!”

“You already have the foundation, but don’t slack off. If you do, some powerful romantic events might happen with the other girls. To suppress their luck, you need to pursue him intensely, and increase the sheer number of interactions you two might have.”

With that, I turned on my heel and headed for the platform. If everything goes as usual, Hareta will board the sixth car of the next train. If she can engage him in conversation there, she’ll be one step ahead of what was scheduled in the PDF.

“W-Wait a minute.”

“What’s up? The train’s in 5 minutes.”

“U-Um, y’know, a new cake shop opened in Machiya Hanaka¹ recently. I wanna thank you for what you’ve been doing, so, wanna go together?”

Machiya Hanaka is the nearest downtown area to our hometown. Despite it being a provincial city, it has a decent selection of shops.

“No need to thank me. And think a bit before you suggest something like that. Just being spotted by any of the other girls will cause insurmountable damage.”

“B-But I want to show my gratitude.”

“Don’t. If you’re going to ask Hareta out, do it on the train. Applying ‘Day 1, Morning C’ should naturally connect here.”

“…Alright. I get it.”

I thought she was just a dirty girl who’d do and use anything to win, but she had a surprising sense of duty and honesty to her. Still, it was better that she didn’t get involved with me any further to avoid any fallout.

After investigating Hareta’s past and dropping hints on their next date, I should back off. On another note, it might be a cause for concern, but if things go as I anticipate, there should be a significant event during today’s lunch break that will yield tremendous results.

And that event will be proof of the success of this romance. Not just that, it will also be a trigger for Tsukino to gain confidence in herself.

Just leave it all to me, girl. I’ll get you this mediocre guy in no time.

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T/N: Means prosperous townhouse. Something like that.

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