The Story of Making a Popular Girl Dependent on Me - Chapter 8

After parting with Setsune, I took a train alone and reflected on what had just happened.

(Setsune’s lips were soft. Her tongue was also soft and gentle. Every intertwining brought a sweet stimulation flowing through me. Is kissing really such a pleasant thing?

Above all, Setsune’s melting expression when we kissed was intense. If she makes that face at her place, I definitely wouldn’t be able to hold back.)

As I pondered the kiss with Setsune, I realized I had arrived at my usual station before I knew it, so I hurriedly got off the train.

“I wonder if Setsune made it home safely.”

I worried whether Setsune had made it home alright after that, but since I chose a place near her house, I believed she’d be fine and headed home myself.

***

Several hours after arriving home, I received a message from Setsune.

“Rokka, I want to talk on the phone. Can I call you?”

According to my plan for the second stage, I intended to maintain some distance even after kissing, so I didn’t reply immediately.

About an hour later, I sent a reply saying I couldn’t talk right now because I was busy, and it seemed unlikely we could talk tonight.

Setsune immediately replied to that, but I decided to leave it alone for a while.

During that time, I messaged Riho about what we should do when we hang out the day after tomorrow and discussed our meeting time.

“Riho, is 1 PM okay for the meeting time the day after tomorrow? Also, I’m thinking of going to see a movie. Do you have any preferences?”

After sending the message, I waited a while and got a reply from Riho.

“I want to see a horror movie.”

“Got it. I’ll look for something.”

With the plans for the day after tomorrow roughly set, all that was left was to check current horror movies and adjust the timing.

While arranging plans for the day after tomorrow and doing things like dinner, bath, and reviewing my studies, time flew by in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Setsune messaged me several times, but I wanted her to think about me a lot, so I kept my replies minimal and declined the usual phone call before going to bed as scheduled.

***

The next day, since I had no special plans, I woke up late. When I checked my smartphone screen beside my pillow, I saw many messages from Setsune.

Messages filled with lots of love, wanting to talk on the phone, asking if we could meet up — they made me feel happy since early morning.

I decided to brag about this to Riho tomorrow, closed my smartphone screen, and headed downstairs.

I had breakfast and lunch there, then went back to my room to play a smartphone game.

The simulation game I’ve been addicted to lately involves managing a hot spring inn using characters based on animals and developing it.

After playing the game to my satisfaction, I replied to Setsune.

What is my beloved Setsune doing now? Is she thinking only of me?

It seems like I can’t help wanting to see her after kissing her yesterday. I ended up thinking only of her.

(No, aren’t I always like this?)

After finishing my reply to Setsune, I had some free time, so I killed time watching VTuber game streams and such on the video app.

Even during this time, messages came from Setsune, but I ignored them.

Before I knew it, it was dark outside, and my mother called me for dinner. I went downstairs again, had dinner, rested a bit, then took a bath.

It was there that I came up with a prank to play on Setsune. Since I always bring my smartphone to the bath, I set it to the front camera, aimed slightly above my chest, and recorded a video.

“Setsune. Sorry I can’t talk much. Looking forward to seeing you on Monday.”

I sent the recorded video to Setsune, and it was read immediately. However, since no reply came after waiting a while, I decided to get out of the bath.

After that, Setsune didn’t reply, and I was a little worried. However, if I called her now, it would ruin my plan, so I managed to endure it somehow.

And so, that day, I ultimately received no reply from Setsune.

***

Sunday. Today is the day I’m going out with Riho.

I woke up and checked my smartphone, but there was still no reply from Setsune.

I wondered what could be happening, but as long as she’s at home, her parents should be there, so I concluded she would be okay. I got ready to go out.

After getting ready, before leaving the house, I sent a message to Setsune.

“I’m going out with Riho now.”

I reconfirmed that I was going out with Riho, trying to stoke her jealousy.

With this, if she gets a little jealous, my plan will move forward another step.

After sending the message to Setsune, I left home and headed to the meeting place with Riho.

I arrived at the meeting place five minutes early, but Riho was already there, waiting for me.

“Good morning, Riho. You’re always early, huh?”

“Is that so? I just hate making people wait, that’s all.”

“Very much like you, Riho. Oh, by the way, have you had lunch?”

“Not yet. What time does the movie start?”

“It’s at 3 PM. We have some time, so let’s eat lunch first.”

“Okay.”

Before watching the movie, Riho and I decided to have lunch, so we headed to a family restaurant nearby. Inside the family restaurant, after looking at the menu and deciding what to order, we called the waitress.

“So? Did you find any good movies for today?”

“There were good reviews from word of mouth, so I chose that one. Let’s look forward to it.”

“Well, since it’s something Rokka chose, it should be good. The one you chose last time was interesting too.”

“Hehe, I’m glad you trust me, but I can’t promise I’ll live up to your expectations, so please keep them reasonable.”

As we discussed the movie we were about to see, the waiter brought our orders.

I had ordered seafood soup pasta, while Riho had chosen cream soup pasta with plenty of honey drizzled on top and a Danish decorated with fruits for dessert.

While eating our meals, we talked about movies we had seen together before, and by the time we finished eating, it was just the right time to settle the bill and leave the restaurant.

When we arrived at the movie theater, we bought tickets for the movie we planned to watch. Since there was some time before the movie, we went to where goods were sold, looked at pamphlets and items, and passed the time.

Then, it was time for us to enter the theater where our movie was showing, so we showed our tickets at the entrance and went inside.

***

After finishing the movie, we entered a nearby cafe and discussed the movie we had just seen.

“Wow, that was pretty interesting. Foreign horror movies are definitely more captivating.”

“I agree. Especially since this one was based on home videos, it had a lot of realism.”

“Yeah, Japanese horror often feels too artificial. And sometimes they end in such confusing ways. Remember that one we saw where they suddenly threw in a battle at the end? It made no sense.”

“Oh yeah, that one. It was scary enough until midway, but fighting ghosts at the end was just bizarre.”

Afterward, we continued sharing our thoughts on today’s movie for a while and, satisfied, took a break and drank the beverages we had ordered.

“Oh, by the way, about that plan we talked about before, how’s it going now? You mentioned setting it up for Friday.”

“Hehe, remember how we went home together on Friday? After that, we stopped by a cafe near Setsune’s place. And on the way home, I led Setsune into an alley and kissed her deeply.”

“Huh, seriously?!”

“Yeah, for real. And it was pretty intense. But I didn’t do anything else after that.”

“Why not? I thought you’d go all the way once you started.”

“Because I think this way, Setsune will think about me a lot over the weekend, you know? As proof… look.”

Saying that, I showed Riho the messages Setsune had sent me yesterday and the day before. Riho paused for a moment and expressed her surprise in a voice that couldn’t hide her shock.

“Wow, is this really Setsune? The change from before is amazing. It’s like… her love is so intense.”

“Right? It’s cute how she’s filled with thoughts of me. I’m truly happy.”

“You’re the most dangerous one here. Well, if you’re happy, that’s what matters. With her loving you so much, isn’t it enough?”

“No, I think there’s more to come. So Riho, I might involve you in this more from now on, but I hope you’ll be okay with that?”

“…I feel like I might get killed by Setsune someday.”

“Don’t worry. If that happens, I’ll definitely come to your rescue.”

“Seriously, I’m counting on you. I’m not ready to die yet.”

“Leave it to me.”

After sharing the lovey-dovey talk between me and Setsuna with Riho, and finding that the timing was just right, we left the cafe and headed to the station where we parted ways.

After returning home, I checked to see if there were any messages from Setsune, but ultimately, there were none that day.

So, after eating dinner and taking a bath, I relaxed and fell asleep, thinking about seeing Setsune tomorrow.