Toko-senpai Schemes, Sending A Horny Kamkura Running!

“Toko, why don’t you go ahead and tell them the next plan you thought of? The ‘stakeout at the station’ strategy is a dead end, isn’t it?”

“‘The next plan’?”

Ishida and I asked in unison.

“Yes, the next plan. The current operation of following them won’t show results even if we keep at it, right?”

Toko-senpai looked around at everyone as she spoke. We nodded in silence.

“That’s why we’re going to flip it. We’re going to specify the ‘exact time and place where they will absolutely cheat.’”

“How do we do that?”

I thought that the reason we were struggling so much was because we couldn’t do that.

“This coming weekend, Tetsuya’s older brother is apparently going away on a business trip. So, Tetsuya has been relentlessly asking me to ‘come stay over on Saturday.’”

Despite it being inappropriate, I couldn’t help but imagine Toko-senpai and Kamokura together in his apartment.

“But I’m not going. I told him, ‘My family has to go visit my grandmother in Tochigi that day.’ Now, what do you think Tetsuya will do?”

An enigmatic smile played on Toko-senpai’s lips.

“He’ll try to bring Karen to his apartment instead, right?”

When I answered, Toko-senpai laughed and nodded.

“Most likely. For a cheating couple, a chance to spend a long period of time together like that doesn’t come around often.”

I listened to her words in silence. She was probably right. Kamokura, unable to spend the night with his primary girlfriend Toko, would undoubtedly call his mistress Karen to the apartment.

While I was thinking about it, I realized Toko-senpai was staring at me.

“Is something wrong?”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“About what?”

“Well… because we’ll be watching, you’re going to see your girlfriend being led into Tetsuya’s apartment right in front of your eyes.”

Toko-senpai said it hesitantly. She was likely worried because I had previously mentioned that the “mental damage was too great to look closely at the evidence.”

“I’ll be fine. I don’t think of Karen as my girlfriend anymore. Besides, stopping them now won’t change the fact that they’ve been cheating.”

“Are you really okay? You’re not just acting tough?” Ishida interjected.

“Shut up. I’m not acting tough.”

I said that, but in truth, I still had a lingering sense of unease.

Karen is going into Kamokura’s apartment right in front of me…

As if seeing through my feelings, Toko-senpai spoke up.

“If it’s too much, say so. The worst thing that could happen is for the operation to be ruined. Besides, it’s only natural that you wouldn’t be ‘fine’ with this. I feel the same pain as you do…”

Hearing those words from Toko-senpai made me feel strangely calm. That’s right—I’m not the only one suffering because of Karen and Kamokura’s betrayal. Toko-senpai feels the same way. She is simply dealing with the situation more stoutly and calmly.

“I’m really fine. I don’t care what happens to Karen anymore! So don’t worry about me.”

At that, Toko-senpai gave a gentle smile.

“If you say so. But try not to think ‘Karen isn’t my girlfriend’ too much. After all, you have to make her think, ‘I want to be with Yu forever! I never want to leave him!’”

Then Kazumi-san spoke up again.

“Also, Isshiki-kun, you have to tell Karen that you have business and will be out for the weekend. Otherwise, Karen won’t be able to relax and cheat properly.”

“Right. Isshiki-kun, can you handle that?”

“Understood. I’ll make it so that I’m away somewhere.”

Then Ishida chimed in.

“Then let’s say you’re going to my family’s vacation house. We’ve talked about it before, and we were just talking about ‘going fishing’ recently, so it won’t seem unnatural.”

Toko-senpai nodded.

“Good. That sounds natural, and Ishida-kun can back up your story.”

“It’s settled then.”

Taking Ishida’s words as a cue, Kazumi-san brought up the next issue.

“A stakeout means it’ll be a long haul. If they spend the whole night in the apartment, we might have to stay up all night. Can we at least narrow down the time they’ll enter the room?”

Toko-senpai proposed an idea for that as well.

“I’ll keep Tetsuya occupied until noon. I’ll say, ‘I want to see you even for a little bit before I go to my grandmother’s.’ That way, the time they meet will be in the afternoon at the earliest.”

“That helps. Also, we can’t just stand on the street, so we’ll need cars. I’ll bring my family’s car for one, but what about the other? Toko’s family’s Mercedes would be too conspicuous.”

“True. I’ll get a rental. A van-type wouldn’t be too cramped.”

“That should work. After that, since it’ll be a long stretch, we’ll need a lookout rotation.”

“Can we install bugs or hidden cameras?” Ishida asked. “Then we could get even more definitive proof.”

But Toko-senpai shook her head.

“That’s a criminal act. It would be a disaster if we were caught. Nowadays, privacy is an issue even between married couples; for a boyfriend and girlfriend, that kind of thing is not permitted.”

“Is that so? Well, I just thought it would provide absolute proof.”

“I think the evidence Isshiki-kun already has is enough. I’m doing this for my own peace of mind. I want confirmation within myself that ‘Tetsuya definitely cheated.’ If I can confirm they entered a hotel or apartment and spent hours there together, that’s enough.”

Hearing that, I looked at Toko-senpai.

She wants confirmation for herself?

Does she still want to believe in Kamokura?

“Isshiki-kun, understood? All that’s left is for you to tell Karen.” Toko-senpai suddenly turned the conversation back to me.

“Ah, yes. I’m on it. I’ll contact Karen today about the plan Ishida mentioned.”
Kazumi-san gave a wicked grin.

“What a strategist, Toko. It’s practically like the saying: ‘The dead Zhuge Liang scares away the living Sima Yi.’”

“I’m not dead yet, you know?”

Ishida immediately followed up with a quip:

“Then how about this? ‘Toko-senpai schemes, sending a horny Kamokura running!’”

Everyone burst out laughing at that. Only Toko-senpai gave a somewhat strained smile.

In any case, it felt like the heavy atmosphere had lightened. Alright, let’s do this! All that’s left is to carry it out on Saturday.