Booby Trap!

It was nearly 4:00 PM by the time Toko-senpai and her best friend, Kazumi Kano, joined up with us.

“How is it? I don’t think Tetsuya is back at the apartment yet,” Toko-senpai said as her opening remark.

“Right. Kamokura-senpai hasn’t returned yet. And that Karen person hasn’t shown up at the apartment either.”

“Any chance you missed them?” Kazumi asked.

“No chance. We’ve been parked right where we can see the apartment entrance, keeping watch the whole time.”

“Is that so? Well, if there was a possibility we’d missed them, I was thinking of putting on a disguise and visiting the room myself,” Kazumi replied.

“It’s fine, Kazumi-san. No need to go that far,” I answered with a wry smile.

“Well then, shall we swap out? You two go take a little break in the meantime.”

“Understood. We’ll be back in two hours.”

Ishida and I left the scene for a while.

Two hours later, Ishida and I returned to the spot overlooking Kamokura’s apartment. Kazumi’s car was a minivan with a spacious interior. For the time being, we all piled into her car.

“Toko-senpai, Kazumi-san. You haven’t eaten anything, right? I bought some burgers and drinks.”

I handed over the bag containing the food to the two of them.

“Oh, you’re quite thoughtful,” Kazumi said as she took the bag, pulling out the contents to hand to Toko-senpai in the passenger seat.

“Still no sign of the two of them returning to the apartment?” I asked.

Kazumi answered. “Not yet. Once they’re back, the apartment lights will flick on at least once, so we’ll know immediately.”

Ishida spoke up, sounding puzzled. “That’s strange. This is a rare chance for them to spend the night together, right? I thought they’d head straight to the apartment and get busy right away.”

Hearing this, Toko-senpai disagreed.

“That’s a man’s way of thinking. From a woman’s perspective, it’s only natural to think, ‘Since there’s finally no one to get in the way, I want to go on a proper date and feel like a couple for once.’ Since they can be together all night, they probably figure they can save the ‘other stuff’ for later when they can take their time.”

Kazumi chimed in.

“I agree with Toko. Men always want to get in the room and do it as fast as possible, but if that’s all a guy does, a woman starts to feel ‘not cherished,’ and her feelings cool off. I don’t think Kamokura, who is experienced with women, would ignore that.”

“Is that how it works?”

Ishida still sounded skeptical, but I was fully convinced by their explanation.

As Kazumi finished eating, she said, “I want to go gas up the car. And use the restroom while I’m at it.”

Then Ishida said, “Sorry, me too.”

I said to him, exasperated, “Couldn’t you have gone earlier?”

“Sorry. It just hit me suddenly. Besides, better to go now while we can,” he answered sheepishly.

At that, Kazumi said, “It’s perfect timing. If the same vehicle stays parked in the same spot for too long, the locals might get suspicious. It’s a good time to move. Toko and Isshiki-kun, stay here and keep watch in the van. Ishida-kun and I will take this car to get gas and hit the restroom.”

“I suppose that’s fine,” Toko-senpai said, gathering her things to get out. I hurriedly followed after her.

We were careful of our surroundings as we exited the car, making sure we didn’t run smack into Kamokura and Karen. Once we were out, Kazumi quietly drove the minivan away. We rushed over and climbed into the van.

The rear windows of the van were covered in black UV-protective film. We sat in the back seats so we wouldn’t be visible from the outside. The sun had set and it was already getting dark; you probably couldn’t see inside the car anyway, but we weren’t taking chances.

Once we were alone, conversation didn’t come easily for some reason. Truthfully, there were so many things I wanted to know, things I wanted to ask, and things I wanted her to hear.

I stole a glance at Toko-senpai. She didn’t seem particularly concerned about me; she was watching the street outside with intense focus.

Toko-senpai truly has incredible concentration—she’s the type to get completely absorbed in a task. Even now, her mind was likely focused more on the “goal of catching them in the act” than on the “reality of her boyfriend cheating.”

While I was lost in these idle thoughts…

“They’re here!” Toko-senpai whispered sharply.