And then there was Sakiko.
Soyo refused to believe that Sakiko was genuinely together with Kamijou Mutsuki.
How could she possibly fall for that scumbag?
Honestly, even Soyo liking him would be more convincing than Sakiko liking him.
Of course, now that she knew Mutsuki's true nature, there was no way she could ever fall for a jerk like that.
But the problem was—Sakiko was in his hands.
Even Mutsumi and Tomori had been deceived by him.
Soyo was starting to regret ever trusting Kamijou Mutsuki. This was practically letting the wolf into the house!
Sure, what happened with Mutsumi had been a misunderstanding…
But the situation right now wasn't much better!
Still, now that things had come to this, what was she supposed to do?
…Eh?
Got it!
Her innate skill—World-Shaking Wisdom—activated once more, and Soyo quickly came up with a plan.
She was certain Sakiko had been coerced by Mutsuki. If she could rescue her from this sea of suffering, not only would she make up for her earlier mistake, she'd also earn Sakiko's gratitude.
Maybe Sakiko would even return to Crychic because of it?
As for the method…
Naturally, it would be Miss Nagasaki Soyo offering herself to feed the tiger.
Although, due to her upbringing, she had barely interacted with boys, Soyo was very aware of her own charm.
Even plenty of the young ladies at Tsukinomori Girls' Academy couldn't resist her.
Handling one Kamijou Mutsuki? Wouldn't that be child's play?
As for Mutsumi and Tomori…
Once those two deceived girls saw a certain scumbag's true colors, they would surely thank her!
This bad man's waters run too deep for you to grasp—let her handle it!
[Soyo: Mutsuki, even if you say that, I still think boys should be more honest. Being so fickle isn't very good, you know~]
Now that she had a plan, Soyo naturally began putting it into action.
Wait—can you produce a cutesy, clingy tone through text now?
What kind of cultivation level is that?!
Soyo's sudden change in attitude nearly made Kamijou Mutsuki throw his phone.
Even through the screen, he could practically see the girl's exaggerated coyness.
What is this? Sudden-onset insanity?
Water droplets are just for laughs—if you want a real sharp turn, you've got to watch Miss Soyo.
Diagnosis: long-term vegetarianism.
[Capitalist: Uh… Miss Soyo, did you suddenly get a fever and burn your brain out? Want me to come take you to the hospital?]
[Soyo: Go die!]
Soyo, who had just been thinking about how to攻略 Kamijou Mutsuki, instantly darkened.
Sure enough, she could never like this scumbag—even pretending was impossible.
But after her anger faded, and she calmed down, Soyo began to regret it.
The plan hadn't even properly started, and it had already failed before the first victory.
What now?
After thinking for a while, Soyo suddenly remembered—
Didn't that scumbag seem rather interested in her mother?
A bold idea suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Should she let Mom make a sacrifice?
Let Mrs. Nagasaki suffer a little; I'll bear the infamy!
But she quickly crushed the outrageous thought before it could take root.
How could she even think something like that? That was way too absurd!
It must be that innately evil brat Kamijou who infected her!
Seeing that Soyo didn't reply again, Kamijou Mutsuki didn't pay it much mind.
The question was—what should he do next?
Mutsumi and Tomori had both gone to school. Being alone, Mutsuki found it rather boring.
But after thinking for a moment, he suddenly remembered something.
Right—Mutsumi's guitar hadn't been bought yet!
Yesterday, Mutsumi had been directly whisked home by him after school, so naturally she hadn't brought anything with her.
As for last night's "cat accompaniment," it was only thanks to her habit of carrying her guitar around that they even had one to use.
Even though Mutsumi had never truly been happy playing in a band—and perhaps hadn't even started learning guitar of her own free will—it was still a habit she'd developed since childhood.
At the very least, over the past few days, Mutsuki had occasionally noticed the girl looking a little lost and out of place.
No matter what, having one was better than not. Besides, he had nothing better to do anyway.
So just as he was about to head home, Mutsuki immediately told the driver to turn the car around.
And then—
The car jolted violently, nearly throwing him out of his seat.
What the hell just happened?
After a moment, he realized—
They'd been rear-ended.
Yes, he was the one who got hit.
There wasn't any serious damage, but it stirred up some unpleasant memories.
Was his luck bad today? Should he have stayed home?
When he opened the car door, he saw the culprit behind the accident—
A black-haired, mature-looking woman in office attire.
Staring at the deformed rear of the Maybach she'd just crashed into, the light in her eyes completely faded.
Because she knew—
One tire on that thing cost more than she did.
Mutsuki didn't pay much attention to her reaction.
But when he saw a blonde girl step out from the back seat of the other car—wearing the uniform of Hanasakigawa Girls' School—
His expression changed.
Perhaps…
His luck today wasn't that bad after all?
-----------------------------------
Unlike Kamijou Mutsuki, Uika felt that her luck today was absolutely terrible.
Yesterday, she had suddenly gotten news about Sakiko.
Except—it was through an anime.
Which was… kind of ridiculous.
Originally, she'd planned to ask a certain emotionally intelligent classmate who might know something about it. But before she could even open her mouth, her manager had called her out of school.
That's just how bosses are. Workers only need to obediently work overtime. But when bosses want to squeeze their employees dry, they have a lot more to consider.
And that alone wouldn't have been so bad.
Except her manager had been driving too fast—and ended up rear-ending a black luxury sedan.
And the owner's demand was actually—
Kamijou Mutsuki: "Sing Haruhikage for me. Three times. Three times!"
"Haruhikage?"
Inside Hazawa Coffee, Uika looked at the boy in front of her, surprise written across her face.
"Is that really all?"
She hadn't expected that someone they randomly crashed into on the street would turn out to be a MyGO!!!!! or Crychic fan.
"Of course it's not that simple!"
The mature-looking manager, who had just begun to show a glimmer of hope, immediately fell back into despair.
"Miss Uika, have you ever considered changing workplaces?"
Mutsuki had originally been wondering how to get in touch with her.
And yet she had delivered herself right to his door.
With such a perfect opportunity, how could he not make good use of it?
Voice acting?
Mutsuki chose to skip the intermediate steps and go straight for poaching her outright.
Oh? Digging up talent right in front of me, are you?
But upon hearing his words, the manager's expression changed dramatically.
Oh? Trying to poach her right in front of me?
That bold, huh?
"You too," Mutsuki added. "I'll pay the breach-of-contract fee. And we'll call the rear-end accident even."
The manager instantly fell silent.
...........................