Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break? - Chapter 98: Strategy Meeting

Chapter 98: Strategy Meeting

Jingle jingle~

“Welcome!”

“Now then, I hereby call to order the ‘Second Meeting of Operation: Asakura’s Relationship Progress’!”

“Yaaay♪”

“Wait just a minute! Class Rep, Momo, what exactly is this ‘Operation: Asakura’s Relationship Progress’!?”

“It’s a ‘charitable endeavor’ (time killer) that Momoi-san and I started because we were worried about you. Despite it being summer vacation, you’ve made zero progress beyond going to the pool.”

“Incidentally, the first meeting resulted in our inviting Sakura and Andou-kun to the pool!”

“So that pool trip was part of this!?”

(Now that I think about it, these two were the ones who suggested going to the pool.)

“So we’d like a status report… Be honest with us, Asakura-san. How far have things progressed with Andou-kun?”

“Sakura? Tell us straight—how are things going?”

“Eh!?”

“”Hmmm???”” staaare

(Surely after spending a whole month together this summer vacation…)

(There’s no way nothing has happened, right?)

“……” looks away

“”S-seriously…??””

“……” nod

“Asakura-san, what exactly have you been doing this summer vacation…?”

“It’s not what you think… I do want our relationship to advance…”

(But even if I want to, I don’t know how! And Andou-kun isn’t exactly the type to take the lead either…)

“Hmm, by the way… Sakura, are you familiar with the ABCs of love?”

“Hey now! Momoi-san, isn’t that too advanced for Asakura-san—”

“…Mart?”

“…Um, not exactly?”

“We need to take urgent measures…”

“?”

(Why are they both holding their heads like that?)

“Listen carefully, Sakura. The ABCs of love are the romantic progression steps for couples. It’s no exaggeration to say that completing these steps strengthens your couple power!”

“Couple power!? That sounds incredibly strong! Momo, please teach me about it!”

“Welcome…”

(But seriously, what is couple power?)

“Very well, I’ll explain for your sake, Sakura♪ First, A stands for ‘kiss’! It’s the initial step as a couple. By the way, how many times have you kissed Andou-kun?”

“Well, considering you’re dating and he visits your house daily, a few kisses wouldn’t be unusual…”

“…Eh” thud

“”Eh”” bounce

“We’ve only… done it once during the play…”

“No waaay!? Only that single time during the play!?”

“You haven’t kissed even once since then!?”

“N-no…”

(Well, technically we kissed ‘twice’ that day, but we haven’t kissed once since…)

“I see… Class Rep, Sakura’s summer vacation assignment is hereby decided: ‘Kiss Andou-kun.'”

“It should be simple, yet after hearing this, it sounds remarkably difficult…”

“Uuu…”

(Well, Andou-kun does seem to be a ‘wimp,’ so it can’t be helped.)

(Naturally, since Andou-kun is a ‘wimp,’ it can’t be helped…)

(It’s not my fault! It’s Andou-kun’s fault for being such a ‘wimp’!)

“Incidentally, what are B and C—oh wait. Hey, Class Rep. What was B again?”

“Hyai!? M-Momoi-san? Isn’t it rather cruel to put me on the spot like this!?”

“But I genuinely forgot, so what else can I do?”

“Honestly…”

“Class Rep, I’m curious as well. What’s B?”

“Well, that’s—…it’s ‘body touch’!”

“Ah! That’s right. How silly of me♪”

“……”

(This girl…)

“I see… ‘body touch.’ In that case, I’ve already cleared that one!”

“Whaaaat!! Asakura-san! Is that really true…?”

“Wow… Sakura, that’s amazing!”

(Don’t tell me Asakura-san has already reached ‘that kind of relationship’ with Andou-kun—)

“Because for ‘body touch,’ Andou-kun has touched my chest before, even if it was accidental!” Thud!

“Oh… that incident. R-right, of course…”

“So B is cleared!”

(Come to think of it, Andou-kun consulted me about that… Looking back, it feels quite nostalgic.)

“So Sakura has been steadily progressing through the ABC steps of love… Then all that remains is ‘C’!”

“”The final ‘C’…””

“The final ‘C’ is…”

“”The final ‘C’ is—””

“”……””

“‘That’… you know♪”

“Kyaaaa!”

“No! Momoi-san, how indecent!”

“You say that, but Class Rep, you’re the one who—”

“Hehe, you two are getting quite animated, but… th-that means I would have to do that!?”

“That’s correct!”

“Indeed…”

“Impossible impossible impossible!! There’s absolutely no way I could do such a thing! I can’t!?”

(No way… that would mean I’d have to invite Andou-kun from my side, wouldn’t it!?)

“Asakura-san, you must steel your resolve! If you continue waiting, your wimpy boyfriend will never make a move!”

“But…”

“That’s precisely why you need to take action! The ultimate goal is to succeed with ‘Plan C’ before summer vacation ends!”

“C-couldn’t we at least just aim for assignment ‘A’…”

“Sakura, you’re being naive! Far too naive! With such half-hearted resolve, you won’t even clear assignment ‘A’! You’ve finally become ‘lovers’—are you truly satisfied with this?”

“W-well, I’m not satisfied, but…”

“Asakura-san! To be perfectly honest, you don’t actually have to achieve this goal… However, this is about mindset.”

“Mindset?”

“Precisely. You need to approach this with the determination to go all the way to ‘C’! Your boyfriend is that ‘dense wimp light novel guy,’ correct? Even achieving ‘A’ with him will honestly be quite the battle… That’s why you must approach it as if you intend to accomplish ‘C’!”

“Exactly… With lukewarm resolve, he’ll definitely ignore any advances you make.”

“Y-you have a point…”

(Honestly, no matter how I try to imagine it, I can’t picture ‘Andou-kun’ becoming aggressive… Actually, I can easily envision him calmly continuing to read light novels even while I’m trying to seduce him.)

“Listen carefully, Asakura-san. You have plenty of opportunities… All that’s required now is your determination.”

“My determination… I understand! I’ll use the remainder of summer vacation to seduce Andou-kun with everything I have!”

(In the end, ‘C’ simply means… ‘hug,’ right?)