Infiltrating The Girl’s Night Out!

That day, I was heading toward Koenji, which was different from the station I usually used. Near JR Koenji Station, there’s an all-you-can-eat sweets shop. Toko-senpai and the others were there to discuss what the girls wanted to do for the “circle’s winter events.”

It was now mid-November. Ahead of us lay a string of “hot winter events” like Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day. Our circle organized events for these every year. They were gathered under the pretext of consolidating the girls’ requests. My “setting” was that I had just happened to come to the shop alone to eat cake.

I ordered a drink and two slices of cake on the first floor, then carried them up to the second. Although it was a weekday afternoon, the seats were fairly well-filled.

First, I need to find the table where Toko-senpai and the others are and get close to them…

Just as I started moving toward the back with that thought in mind, a voice called out.

“Oh, isn’t that Isshiki-kun?”

I looked over and saw Kazumi-san waving from behind a pillar. She was with Toko-san and four other girls from the circle. Still holding my tray, I approached their table.

“Are you alone, Isshiki-kun?”

Kazumi-san asked naturally, exactly as we had rehearsed.

“Yes, I’m alone.”

“If you like, why don’t you sit here?”

Kazumi-san pointed to the seat next to her.

“Thanks. I’ll take you up on that, then.”

I pulled over a nearby empty chair and joined them. Aside from Toko-senpai and Kazumi-san, the other four were all girls from the circle: Mina and Ayaka from the Economics department (2nd and 1st year respectively), Manami from Literature (2nd year), and Yuri from Commerce (1st year). All four were influential figures among the girls in the circle. As expected of Toko-senpai, her selection of members was flawless.

Mina, the 2nd-year Economics student, asked me:

“So, Isshiki-kun, where did you meet Kazumi? She’s not even in our circle.”

Before I could answer, Kazumi-san jumped in.

“I knew his face through Toko. Then the other day, we ran into each other at the library while I was looking for a book on programming. I’ve been asking him for help with my programming assignments ever since.”

“Oh, is that so? But Kazumi, don’t go messing with the freshmen in our circle from the outside. Isshiki-kun is a pretty promising newcomer, you know.”

Mina said with a laugh.

“I’m joining the circle starting next time anyway, so you’ve got nothing to complain about, right?” Kazumi-san shot back with a grin.

“But Isshiki-kun is dating Karen, isn’t he? It’s already too late for us,” said Manami, a 2nd-year Literature student like Karen.

“Ah, yes… that’s right.”

I dodged the topic with a vague reply.

“Mitsumoto Karen, huh? Honestly, I don’t really like that girl. She seems popular with the guys, though,” Mina said bluntly.

“Wait, Mina, it’s mean to say that right in front of Isshiki-kun,” Manami cut in to stop her, though she was smiling as she said it.

“Ah, true. Sorry, Isshiki-kun. I tend to just say whatever’s on my mind, so don’t let it bother you.”

Then Ayaka, the Economics freshman, spoke up.

“But I agree with Mina-san. Karen’s attitude changes so much depending on whether guys are around or not.”

“Yeah, she was pretty awful during the summer training camp too. I was actually kind of repulsed by that,” Yuri from the Commerce department added.

I knew from Toko-senpai beforehand that Karen had a bad reputation among the circle’s girls. And here was my cue…

“Well, I’m Karen’s boyfriend, so I believe in her. She’s a good girl at heart,” I said, following the script.

According to Toko-senpai: “If they start badmouthing her, you must always defend her. This is the one thing you should never agree with the other girls on.”

The four girls exchanged glances for a moment.

“W-well, yeah. I’m sure she has her good points, which is why you’re dating her, Isshiki-kun.”

“Karen is cute, after all. She has that soft, airy vibe.”

“From a guy’s perspective, she’s probably the type they feel they have to look after. Don’t worry about us.”

However, Mina didn’t miss the chance to add one last stinging remark.

“But still, ‘you might want to be careful about the kind of woman you date’—that’s all I’m saying.”

In truth, I wanted to completely erase the fact that I ever dated Karen. Saying “she’s a good girl at heart” made me feel like my mouth was rotting. I wanted to scream the truth: “Karen is rotten to the core!”

But Toko-senpai had warned me: “Girls think a guy who badmouths his own girlfriend is the lowest. So even if they trash-talk Karen-san, you must never join in.”

Still… even though I’d heard it from Toko-senpai, the other girls’ evaluation of Karen was really low. If I hadn’t already known about the affair, I might have been quite shocked.

“Ugh, this selfie I just took… I look so ugly!”

Kazumi-san said while looking at her phone. She was trying to change the subject—and this was my signal to transition to talking about camera apps.

“How is it? Can I see?”

I immediately followed Kazumi-san’s lead.

“Look, I just took this in the shop. Don’t I look gross?”

She looked perfectly normal, but since we were both acting, it didn’t matter.

“I see. It’s probably the light source. If you adjust the skin tone or the white balance…”

I said this while operating Kazumi-san’s phone.

“Oh! It looks way better now! As expected of Isshiki-kun. I couldn’t post it on social media looking like that.”

Kazumi-san said with purposeful exaggeration.

“Are you an expert on camera apps, Isshiki-kun?”

Mina was the one who bit, as expected. The other three girls were also looking at me with interest.

“I wouldn’t say an expert, but I’m interested in making one myself, so I’ve looked into it a bit.”

This was true. I had tried making a camera app for Android once, thinking it might be a good way to earn some pocket money. However, making people look “cute” or “pretty” apparently required a lot of specialized know-how, and the app I made wasn’t exactly commercial quality.

“Then which apps do you recommend right now?” Yuri leaned in to ask.

“K-app used to be the major one, but right now I think SO-app, UL-app, BP-app, or B9-app are the popular ones, right? If you want a natural ‘glow-up’ (mori), SO is good, but if you’re planning to edit it, UL or BP are better.”

“I use UL, but there are so many features I don’t know which ones to use,” Manami said.

“I think the most important thing is the skin texture, so if you’re using UL…”

I spent the next little while explaining the features and recommended points of various selfie apps to the girls. I also added a few “editing techniques for different situations.”

The source of all this information was, of course, Toko-senpai. All I had researched was which apps were currently popular and their paid services. I would have had no clue about editing techniques on my own. I was just passing on what Toko-senpai had heard from her model friends.

Ayaka said, looking impressed:

“That’s amazing, Isshiki-kun. I didn’t know you were so knowledgeable about this stuff.”