The Eve Of The Decisive Battle!

After I finished eating, I asked her.

“So, you’re going to serve these dishes on X-Day?”

Toko-senpai’s expression suddenly turned stern.

“Yes. But before that, there’s one thing I have to do.”

“What is it?”

“I have to talk to the circle leader, Nakazaki-san, in advance.”

“To Nakazaki-san?”

I was puzzled. Junpei Nakazaki, the circle leader, was also an alumnus of our Prefectural Kaihin-Makuhari High School and a third-year Electrical Engineering student. He was a solid, reliable person, but he had been friends with Tetsuya Kamokura since high school and they were in the soccer club together. In other words, he was essentially “on Kamokura’s side.”

“Is it necessary to tell him? He and Kamokura-senpai have been close since their soccer club days, right? Wouldn’t the plan just leak to Kamokura-senpai instead?”

Toko-senpai looked troubled as well.

“That’s true, but… if something happens, Nakazaki-san is the only one who can keep Tetsuya in check, right? Besides, he views things fairly and hates dishonesty. He’s someone who follows proper procedure. I think if we talk to him properly, he’ll understand.”

I thought about it for a while.

“Understood. But I’m going with you. Or rather, let me be the first to talk to him. I want you to join us once I call for you.”

It would probably be difficult for Toko-senpai, being a woman, to bring this up herself.
“Alright.”

Silence followed for a bit. For my part, I was anxious about “the person she would spend X-Day night with.” Isn’t it about time for an answer?

“Toko-senpai…”

I started, despite my hesitation.

“What is it?”

“About the night of X-Day…”

Toko-senpai stared at me. She looked somewhat anxious herself.

“The person you’ll spend the end of the night with—”

“Wait! Don’t say it now!”

Toko-senpai spoke in a quiet but firm voice.

“I’ll make the preparations if necessary. So please, I want you to wait without saying anything.”

Toko-senpai looked at me with pleading eyes. Seeing that look, I couldn’t say anything more.

Three days after Toko-senpai’s cooking practice.

There was less than a week left until Christmas Eve, the X-Day. I called Nakazaki-san, the circle leader, to a family restaurant some distance from the university. He appeared about fifteen minutes after our scheduled time.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine. More importantly, did you make sure not to tell anyone you were coming here?”

“Yeah. You wrote in your message that you wanted to consult me about a ‘personal matter’ and didn’t want anyone else to hear.”

With that, he sat in the seat across from me and ordered a hot coffee.

“So, what’s this about?” Nakazaki-san asked.

“You know I’m dating Karen Mitsumoto, right?”

“Yeah, Karen stands out, after all.”

“And who is Kamokura-senpai dating?”

Nakazaki-san looked surprised. “Why are you bringing up Kamokura’s name now?”

“Sorry. I’ll explain everything properly later, so could you just answer my question?”

“It’s Toko Sakurajima, right? The ‘Shadow Miss Joto University,’ our circle’s goddess.”

I nodded silently.

“Then, do you know that Kamokura-senpai and Karen meet alone sometimes?”

Nakazaki-san looked at me in shock. “Hey… ‘meeting alone’? What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. A relationship between a man and a woman that goes beyond just being friends.”

“Isshiki. What on earth are you—”

Just then, the coffee was served. Nakazaki-san looked at the waitress with a momentarily awkward face. After she left, he continued.

“I don’t care how much of a player Kamokura is, there’s no way he’d lay a hand on the girlfriend of someone in the same circle—especially a high school junior like you…”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I assume you have evidence?”

I took out my smartphone and displayed the very first thing I had captured: the SNS exchange between Karen and Kamokura. I handed it to him. Nakazaki-san’s eyes widened as he looked at the screen. Eventually, he scrolled slowly, looking at each image one by one.

“That’s not all. I have photos of them entering Kamokura-senpai’s apartment together. And there are witnesses.”

Nakazaki-san stared at the phone in silence for a while, then finally muttered.

“That damn Kamokura… even with someone like Toko-san… why would he do this…?”

“Do you believe me now?”

Nakazaki-san returned the phone to me.

“So, what do you want to do? Do you want me to tell Kamokura to stop cheating with Karen?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then what?”

“At the Christmas Eve party, I’m going to confront them with these facts in front of everyone.”

Hearing this, Nakazaki-san panicked.

“Wait a second, Isshiki. Reconsider that. It’ll cause an absolute scene.”

“I expect so.”

“To begin with, if you make that public, what will Toko-san think? Have you considered her feelings?”

“Toko-senpai feels exactly the same as I do.”

Saying that, I raised my hand toward a woman sitting in a booth further back. A woman wearing sunglasses stood up, approached us, and sat down next to me. She removed her glasses. It was Toko-senpai.

“Nakazaki-san. I have the same idea as Isshiki-kun. I have no intention of forgiving this. Therefore, on Christmas Eve, I will make this public in front of everyone and break up with Tetsuya.”

“Me too. I have no intention of forgiving Karen for deceiving me all this time. I plan to expose their relationship in front of everyone and cut ties with her.”

“Even Toko-san…”

Nakazaki-san looked back and forth between us, utterly stunned. Finally, he let out a deep sigh.

“It seems you’ve both made up your minds. This doesn’t look like a situation where I can say much.”

Toko-senpai and I nodded simultaneously.

“So, why did you two tell me about this? You must want me to play some kind of role.”

Toko-senpai nodded again.

“Yes. We want you to hold Tetsuya back if he gets violent. If we reveal their affair in front of everyone and I declare our breakup, there’s no telling what Tetsuya might do.”

Nakazaki-san nodded slowly, looking exhausted.

“Fine. Does anyone else know about this?”

“Yes, my best friend Kazumi Kano and Isshiki-kun’s best friend Yota Ishida. Those two were there when we caught them at the scene of the affair, so they can act as witnesses too.”

I interjected there.

“Nakazaki-san, please do not speak a word of this to anyone. If you do, it’ll give those two a chance to make excuses.”

However, Nakazaki-san fell silent with a troubled expression. Seeing this, Toko-senpai leaned forward.

“Please. We told you because we trust you. Since we’re making this public at a circle event, we thought we should at least explain it to you as the leader.”

Toko-senpai continued.

“Actually, Isshiki-kun was against telling you. But I persuaded him, saying ‘I can trust Nakazaki-san. He’s a man of principle!’”

Being told that much by Toko-senpai, Nakazaki-san couldn’t say no. Eventually, he spoke with a reluctant tone.

“Alright. I’ll keep this to myself. And I promise I’ll stop Kamokura if he makes a scene. But I’ll tell you one thing: don’t let it turn into a brawl. Even if Kamokura throws the first punch, neither of you must hit back. I’m making that a condition.”

“Understood,” we replied in unison.

But I had no intention of keeping that promise. If I’m the one being hit, I don’t care—but if he tries to lay a hand on Toko-senpai, I’ll put my body on the line to stop him!