With the introductions finished, it was naturally time to eat.
Kakeru immediately stood up and went to help Hatsune carry the dishes.
Mana instantly regretted hesitating.
Why had she frozen for even a second?
Honestly, even she found herself strange today.
She couldn’t understand why she was acting like this.
Everything Kakeru did was perfectly normal, yet whenever he approached Uika, irritation inexplicably welled up inside her.
What happened next hurt even more.
After bringing out the food, Kakeru and Hatsune sat beside each other, leaving Mana all alone on the opposite side of the table.
‘What happened to being partners bound by the same fate?’ Although she felt bitter inside, Mana said nothing.
She could only reassure herself that they were childhood friends enjoying their long-awaited reunion.
She might even have believed that excuse if Uika hadn’t looked at her only three times throughout the entire meal—and only after whispering privately with her male best friend.
‘Does she really not love me anymore?’ In reality, things were nothing like Mana imagined.
That would have been far kinder.
The poor girl had no idea that Hatsune was currently discussing with her male best friend exactly how they would claim her tonight.
Every time Hatsune glanced at her, it wasn’t because her conscience had awakened.
She was simply adjusting their battle plan.
Kakeru was actually the one who kept speaking in Mana’s defense.
He had already gained plenty today.
If possible, he would rather avoid destroying the friendship between Hatsune and Mana.
He had originally planned to merely bring them closer.
Who could have expected Hatsune to immediately suggest turning the uncooked rice into cooked rice?
The person Mana trusted most wanted to sell her, while the stranger she had just met was trying to protect her.
Wasn’t this another peculiar form of NTR?
Although Kakeru tried to dissuade her, Hatsune had already made up her mind.
Hesitating when a decision had to be made would only invite disaster.
Since she had already completed the first step, she intended to see everything through to the end.
Since that was the case, Kakeru gladly accepted.
The food had practically been chewed up and delivered straight into his mouth.
Continuing to refuse would simply make him ungrateful.
Once the plan was settled, Hatsune began chatting with Mana.
She didn’t openly praise Kakeru too much.
Instead, she merely shared amusing stories involving him.
The chances of Mana noticing anything were small, but acting too obviously might still expose her intentions.
After coming this far, Hatsune refused to reveal even the slightest flaw.
As expected, Mana noticed nothing suspicious.
She didn’t question the earlier whispering at all.
In fact, she even became slightly smug.
‘See?
Uika really does love me more!’ Kakeru could barely continue watching.
‘Donut Lady…’ ‘Forget it.
I’ll treat you well afterward.’ The three continued chatting, with Hatsune remaining especially lively.
She constantly introduced amusing topics and kept Mana engaged.
Sometimes they laughed, while other moments became sentimental.
Hatsune was also exceptionally skilled at reading the atmosphere.
Whenever Mana showed signs of fatigue or seemed ready to end the conversation, Hatsune would turn toward Kakeru and begin chatting with him instead.
Every time that happened, no matter how exhausted Mana felt, she would immediately force herself to recover and draw Hatsune’s attention back toward her.
That was exactly the response Hatsune wanted.
To maintain the proper sense of novelty, she sometimes redirected the conversation toward Kakeru even while Mana was still speaking.
She had completely mastered the art of rewarding and punishing someone’s behavior.
Watching the smiling tiger before him, Kakeru couldn’t help wondering whether this Hatsune and the gloomy girl from Ave Mujica, who crawled around muttering Saki’s name, were truly the same person.
It reminded him of a joke video made by a band-content creator in his previous life.
According to that theory, everything in Ave Mujica had been secretly orchestrated by Hatsune so she could sleep with Saki.
Sakiko’s father falling into debt and CRYCHIC disbanding had all supposedly been part of her scheme!
Every step of the plan was connected.
Her goal was to strip Sakiko of her status as a wealthy young lady and everything she possessed, forcing her to rely on Hatsune.
Even Ave Mujica’s first breakup had supposedly been encouraged by her so she could finally lock Sakiko inside her basement!
The creator had even presented evidence.
Hadn’t Sakiko eventually moved into Hatsune’s enormous house?
Unfortunately, Hatsune supposedly lost control of the plan.
The day before she intended to lock Sakiko in the basement, Sakiko suddenly ran away.
It nearly broke her heart!
Fortunately, Hatsune possessed astonishing wisdom.
After another series of elaborate schemes, she finally achieved her wish and ended up together with Saki.
Kakeru had assumed it was nothing more than fabricated fandom history.
He never expected it to be somewhat true!
Still, Hatsune’s current behavior was actually quite understandable.
Whenever romance became involved, girls tended to grow blind and sometimes even lose intelligence.
This phenomenon had also been documented in Saekano.
Without love interfering, however, their intelligence returned to normal.
In Hatsune’s case, she was currently using that intelligence specifically for love.
Her present intelligence might be ten thousand times greater than when she was hopelessly lovestruck.
Hatsune herself was the perfect proof.
Just look at how thoroughly she had conditioned Donut Lady, who was still sitting across from them completely absorbed!
For some reason, Kakeru suddenly felt even more sympathy for Mana.
Hatsune continued advancing her plan with a smile.
Meanwhile, poor Mana forced herself to keep talking with her, resembling a weak husband who believed his wife’s heart still belonged to him, unaware that she had already spent countless rounds with another man.
Even Kakeru was beginning to feel guilty.
‘Hatsune, look what you’ve turned this poor girl into!’ Donut Lady remained entirely unaware.
When she noticed Kakeru’s sympathetic gaze, she even became smug.
She proudly smiled at him as though declaring: ‘See?
Uika really does love me more!’ What could Kakeru possibly say?
Mana had already begun manipulating and encouraging herself.
Even if he revealed the truth now, she would probably assume he was trying to sow discord between them.
He should simply remain quiet and cooperate.
Under Hatsune’s PUA-style delaying tactics, time gradually passed until night finally arrived.
Hatsune checked the clock.
Once she confirmed that everything had proceeded exactly as expected, a smile appeared on her face.
Her plan had finally reached its next stage.
Pretending to have only just noticed, Hatsune looked out the window and exclaimed softly.
“Oh my, I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.
I had such a wonderful time talking today.” “It’s been ages since I enjoyed a conversation this much.
Thank you, Mana!” Mana instantly brightened.
“It was nothing.
I had a wonderful time too…” Kakeru laughed inwardly.
Did “having a wonderful time” mean constantly forcing herself to remain engaged and agree with everything?
Of course, he kept that thought to himself.
Seeing that the large fish had taken the bait, Hatsune immediately prepared to reel it in.
“It really has become quite late.
It might be dangerous for you to return home alone, Mana…” She pretended to consider the problem before arriving at a conclusion.
“Why don’t you stay at my house tonight?
Then we can go to work together tomorrow!” At last, her true intentions were revealed.
This was the next stage of Hatsune’s plan— Keeping Sumita Mana overnight.
It encourages me!