Chapter 17: The Galgame Offensive

With the sound of a crisp bell, Sakura Akiba and Tsugumu Yuuma welcomed the end of school.

“Goodbye, Akiba!”

“See you later!”

Sakura Akiba responded in a friendly manner to every classmate who said their goodbyes to her, then looked impatiently at Tsugumu Yuuma, who was still organizing his bag.

“Tsugumu, hurry up! Time waits for no one!”

“I… I know, I know…”

Tsugumu originally wanted to complain about Sakura being a King of Rush, but when he thought about the ‘jerk things’ he had done yesterday, he swallowed his words.

“Sakura, then I’ll head back first?”

At this moment, Momoka Aoi had also finished packing her bag.

She slowly rose from her seat and looked at Sakura with a calm expression.

“Mm-hmm, you go ahead by yourself today, Aoi! Tsugumu and I have an appointment—”

“Okay!”

Aoi nodded with a smile and then walked toward the back door of the classroom with her bag.

“I’m ready. Shall we go?”

Just then, Tsugumu finished packing and slowly stood up.

“Wait—”

However, Sakura reached out to stop Tsugumu as he was about to leave his seat.

“Tsugumu… first, look ‘carefully’ to see if you’ve left anything behind. Check again before we talk…”

“…I’ll look again, I guess…”

Tsugumu understood Sakura’s hint immediately.

Helpless, he could only sigh, then sat down and pretended to rummage through his desk drawer.

‘Sigh…’

‘I feel like a thief…’

After waiting for ten minutes, once the last few students remaining in the classroom had left one after another, Tsugumu looked up at Sakura, who was still staring out at the hallway.

“I say… is it about time?”

“…”

Sakura didn’t answer, only nodding.

She then picked up her small shoulder bag, put it on, and took the lead toward the back door of the classroom.

At this time, Tsugumu also left his seat and walked toward the back door.

He watched as Sakura slowly opened the back door and poked her little head out to look left and right.

“Mm-hmm… it’s safe. Let’s go!”

“…”

Looking at such a vigilant Sakura, Tsugumu even felt a bit of doubt in his heart as to whether she was still angry.

‘But… even if she isn’t angry…’

Tsugumu reconsidered his thoughts.

‘Even if she isn’t angry, I still need to be clear about the things I did wrong and give her a proper apology…’

Thinking of this, Tsugumu glanced at Sakura’s small back again, feeling quite uneasy.

‘If only… she wasn’t that kind of person…’

“…”

“What are you doing, Tsugumu? Weren’t you the one who wanted to leave just now? Keep up with me!”

Hearing Sakura’s voice, Tsugumu snapped back to reality and met her pure, lively eyes.

The sense of ‘pity’ in his heart grew even larger.

“Right… I was just thinking if I forgot anything.”

“…”

Hearing this, Sakura couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“You actually took what I said earlier seriously?”

Then, Sakura directly grabbed Tsugumu’s wrist and led him toward the stairwell of the school building.

“Slow down, slow down! It would be bad if we fell! Slow down—”

“Alright, stop acting like an old lady, let’s just go!”

***

As Sakura and Tsugumu’s voices grew fainter, a yellow-haired little head popped out from the corner of the stairs one floor up—

It was Momoka Aoi.

‘Sakura, oh Sakura… and Yuuma… we’ve been classmates for so many years after all. Don’t think you can hide anything from me…’

Aoi recalled how Sakura’s hands would always fidget whenever she lied, and the corners of her mouth curled into an arc.

‘Hee-hee… let me see with my own eyes exactly what you two are up to!’

Aoi pushed the Pince-nez Gold-rimmed Glasses she had put on at some unknown point, then hurriedly went downstairs to carry out her stalking plan…

‘Out of the way! Miss Aoi is on the case!’

***

“This… should be the place, right?”

Looking at the simply decorated Coffee Shop before her, Sakura’s expression seemed filled with anticipation.

“This is… the shop Momoka mentioned?”

Tsugumu looked up and followed Sakura’s gaze to inspect the storefront.

He seemed quite satisfied with the minimalist style.

“Yep, I think this is it.”

Sakura looked at the sign on the side and found the promotional activity Aoi had mentioned.

“There—look there, see it?”

Tsugumu lowered his head and looked in the direction Sakura was pointing.

He saw a long string of small text written on the sign.

Most of it listed today’s signature coffees and their prices, but the most important part had been specifically circled by the shop, with the font enlarged and bolded—

Couples entering the store can enjoy a 30% discount and receive a free pair of couple’s keychains. Limited quantity while supplies last.

“Mm-hmm… then this must be the one. Let’s go in!”

After seeing the discount on the sign, Sakura’s eyes sparkled.

She could not wait to go in and implement her plan.

Tsugumu, on the other hand, glanced at the discount on the sign before looking at Sakura’s overjoyed expression.

He was a bit puzzled about what this girl was so happy about.

Whether it was for couples or best friends, it shouldn’t have anything to do with them, right?

‘Don’t tell me… she’s going to say I’m her male bestie?’

***

Not long after Sakura and Tsugumu walked in, Aoi also stood in front of The Coffee Shop.

‘Alright, Sakura… you said you were going to meet someone… and it turns out you ran here for a sweet date with Yuuma?’

As the peer who had spent the most time with Sakura and Tsugumu, Aoi naturally knew about Sakura’s excessive attention toward him.

She vaguely remembered back in middle school when Tsugumu became obsessed with a certain game.

Every day after class, he would chat with another boy in the class about the game’s walkthrough and plot.

As his ‘childhood friend,’ Sakura didn’t know at first which game Tsugumu was so engrossed in late at night at home.

Consequently, she did something that Aoi still considered incredibly bold to obtain the key information—

She took the boy who discussed games with Tsugumu to the small woods behind the school and subjected him to…

The coercion and bribery known as the Galgame Operation.

This operation went very smoothly—it was ‘fatal’ to that young boy.

A young, innocent middle school boy, upon seeing those anime beauties printed on the covers, instantly developed a deep interest in those discs.

Although he claimed to be uninterested, his eyes couldn’t look away once he saw the galgame discs—

At that time, Sakura showed a very regrettable smile.

The moment she raised her hands—her ‘deadly weapons’ were fully revealed.

A game disc was wedged between every single one of her fingers.

The scene was spectacularly grand!

And under such a fierce Galgame Offensive, the boy directly ‘surrendered.’

Clutching dozens of galgame discs, he sold out Tsugumu on the spot…

Thinking back on it now, Aoi was still certain that if the boy hadn’t accepted the ‘bribe,’ he might have been met with Sakura’s rain-like fists instead…

Therefore, Aoi still believed one thing today—that Sakura did all of this absolutely because she liked Tsugumu.

‘Maybe… I’ll get to see a very nice love story!’

So thought the Love Story Enthusiast, Momoka Aoi.