“Tomorrow after school, I’d like to return the book I borrowed.”
Last night, Aoto-kun readily agreed to my message request.
This meant I had secured time alone with him.
I could say the plan was progressing smoothly.
“Good morning, Mikura-san.”
“Ah, Aoto-kun!”
When I arrived at school, Aoto-kun immediately called out to me.
Since opportunities like this were rare, I was caught off guard.
“You read books quickly, don’t you?”
“Ah, yes! I finished it in no time…!”
“Whoa. Since we have the chance, let’s save the book discussion for after school.”
Saying this, Aoto-kun smiled happily.
His smile, the kind I rarely got to see made me feel dizzy.
“Well then, stay after school and wait for me.”
“Y-yes! I’ll definitely wait!”
“Ahaha. Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”
Without losing that smile, Aoto-kun walked over to his seat by the window.
I also went to my seat and waited for class to begin.
Perhaps because I was refining the strategy I’d thought of yesterday, morning classes passed in a flash.
Anticipating such situations, I always put more than enough effort into my studies.
Missing one day of classes wouldn’t put me behind.
When lunch break came, I moved to the library.
I needed a quiet place to further improve the quality of my strategy.
In the library, there were only me, a few other students, and the diligent library committee member, Nonoka Naruse-san.
Speaking of Naruse-san, she was my former love rival who had confessed to Aoto-kun about two weeks ago and got rejected.
No, perhaps it was somewhat rude to arbitrarily add “former.”
After all, even I didn’t have information on whether she had given up on Aoto-kun or not.
I sat in a suitable seat, crossed my arms, and let my thoughts wander.
The strategy I planned to execute today.
To put it bluntly, it was “getting Aoto-kun to be my boyfriend for now.”
I would confess my feelings to Aoto-kun, and even if we weren’t mutually in love yet, having him be my boyfriend in name alone would keep rivals—mainly Yunagi-san—at bay.
Of course, my ultimate goal was to properly approach Aoto-kun afterward and eventually become genuine lovers.
Honestly, it was probably an underhanded and unconventional plan.
I was aware of that.
But it was also true that the situation wasn’t lenient enough for me to worry about appearances.
If I dawdled and Aoto-kun got taken by Yunagi-san, I probably wouldn’t be able to go on living.
But Yunagi-san might be capable of that, and she might really do it.
To avoid that worst-case scenario and increase my chances of winning.
Today, I would take a gamble.
“…Hm?”
Suddenly, I felt like Naruse-san, sitting at the checkout counter, had glanced my way.
No, it probably wasn’t my imagination.
When I looked back, our eyes met.
With a slightly stiff expression, Naruse-san stood up and slowly approached me.
“Mi-Mikura-san, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
I responded to her, who spoke in a whisper-like voice.
She sat down next to me and continued with a tense expression.
“…Um, by any chance, Mikura-san… do you, like… Sakuraba-kun?”
“Wh…!”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I unintentionally raised my voice.