X-Day Decided!

“Also, I have one more idea regarding Karen-san.”

Toko-senpai held up her index finger. She had a slightly mysterious air about her.

“What is it? This idea of yours.”

“Women are creatures of the pack. Especially her type.”

“Creatures of the pack? What do you mean by that?”

Humans are social creatures by nature, but what does that have to do with making Karen fall for me?

“If you don’t see it, you might be laboring under a massive misunderstanding, Isshiki-kun.”

“A massive misunderstanding?”

Puzzled by her choice of words, I pressed her for more.

“Yes. Or rather, it’s a misunderstanding common to most men who think they aren’t ‘popular’ with women.”

I had absolutely no idea what Toko-senpai was getting at.

“What do you think are the requirements for a popular guy?”

Seeing my confusion, she posed the question to me.

“Well, being handsome, athletic, or tall. In terms of personality… maybe being smart or kind?”

“Those are the requirements for a ‘popular guy’ from a man’s perspective, aren’t they?”

“Are they different for women?”

“I’m not saying the things you mentioned don’t matter, but I don’t think they’re the essence of it. Isn’t there a much more vital element?”

“A vital element?”

“For example, let’s look at your criteria: ‘handsome, athletic, tall, smart, kind.’ If these were absolute requirements, wouldn’t it be strange that comedians who aren’t particularly good-looking often marry beautiful, talented female announcers?”

“Isn’t that because comedians have money? And they’re good at talking.”

“There are plenty of comedians who aren’t even that successful who have married announcers or famous actresses, right?”

“Well… I guess that’s true.”

“And one of the elements I’m talking about includes what you just said: being ‘good at talking.’”

“Does that mean being good at flattery or something?”

“No. It means being a ‘good listener,’ making ‘statements that grasp the other person’s intent,’ and being ‘good at setting the mood.’”

A good listener, grasping intent, setting the mood. I felt like I understood what she meant, albeit vaguely.

“Women don’t usually like ‘good talkers’ who just drone on about themselves. Being a ‘good listener’ who can empathize with their feelings—that’s the kind of person who is often preferred.”

“So, you’re saying I should just listen to Karen more?”

I thought I had been doing a pretty good job of listening to her. After all, Karen is the type who always unilaterally pushes her own opinions.

“Not quite. I think you’re naturally the type who listens well. I can tell that just from talking to you.”

“Then is it about my statements? Or the mood-setting?”

“Yes, the mood-setting. But I’m not talking about creating a romantic atmosphere between a couple.”

Once again, I found myself losing track of Toko-senpai’s point. It was like solving a riddle.

“Then what kind of mood-setting is it?”

“The social mood. To put it more bluntly, it’s about ‘increasing your popularity among women in general.’”

“…Huh?”

I stared at her, dumbfounded.

‘Increasing my popularity among women in general’?

That basically just means ‘become a lady-killer,’ doesn’t it?

If I could do that, I wouldn’t be in this mess. Since Toko-senpai’s boyfriend is Kamokura—the kind of guy girls scream over—does she just think it’s easy?

“That sounds like it has an incredibly high difficulty level. I’m struggling just to get one person, Karen, to fall for me; getting women in general to like me seems impossible. Or rather, it feels like putting the cart before the horse.”

However, Toko-senpai closed her eyes and gave a small shake of her head.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying ‘make every woman fall in love with you.’ That’s impossible since everyone has their own preferences. What I mean is simply ‘raising your favorability among women as a whole.’”

“I see… I understand what you’re saying. But if my favorability among women in general goes up, will Karen really like me more?”

“I think it’s one very effective method. Especially for someone like Karen-san.”

Hmm. To be honest, there were parts of Toko-senpai’s logic I didn’t quite grasp, and I couldn’t swallow it all whole… but I suppose she sees a side of Karen that I can’t.

“But how am I supposed to do that?”

“I’ll explain that in detail later. Don’t worry—if you do as I say, we have a great chance of winning. After that, it’s just a matter of your resolve and motivation.”

Toko-senpai took a slow sip of her lemon tea and placed the cup back on the table.

“More importantly, what matters right now is that we’ve decided on the day we deliver the knockout punch to those two cheaters!”

She looked at me with eyes that shone more intensely than ever before.

“No matter how many plans you make, they won’t happen without a deadline. So, we’re setting Christmas Eve as X-Day. Understood?”

She was right. There was no point in dragging this out forever. I had to steel my resolve and take the gamble. That was why I was here.

“Understood. Let’s do it. We still have two months!”

“That’s the spirit!”

Toko-senpai flashed me a cool, confident smile.