“Joking aside, but we can’t ignore Zaolai Qianxiao.”
At this moment, Momoka Aoi pulled out her classic ‘Holmes’ special little glasses from somewhere, clipped them onto her nose, and walked back and forth in front of Akiba Sakura with her hands behind her back, looking dead serious.
“Sakura-chan, I think we need to change our plan. At this rate, I’m afraid Yuuma is going to be taken away by that Zaolai girl.”
‘Taken away, huh?’
Akiba Sakura sat on a small stool on the playground, watching Momoka Aoi speak with great authority, feeling a bit nervous inside.
As the key figure in her “NTR Plan” — how could her childhood friend be stolen away before he even got together with her?
‘To be fair, I’m a seasoned NTR expert. There’s no way I can just swallow this! I’m not some weak victim! The kind who watches their things get taken without a peep!’
Just as Akiba Sakura was grumpily wrestling with these thoughts, Momoka Aoi suddenly came in front of her, bent down, and looked at her seriously with a grave expression—
“Sakura-chan, are you even listening to me?”
“Of course—”
Akiba Sakura, with a helpless expression, used her hand to push Momoka Aoi’s face a bit farther away, then looked at the students still running and playing on the plastic track of the playground, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“But the current situation is that I can’t participate in training in my state… Although I think I can compete normally on the day of the school sports meet, before that, the plan to bring water to Tsuguo and so on, I probably can’t do it!”
“I’m not talking about that, Sakura-chan! You need to understand the main point!”
Momoka Aoi quickly shot back, looking at Sakura with an expression of frustration, even more anxious than Sakura herself.
“What I mean is, if we don’t think of something soon, Yuuma is going to be taken away by Zaolai Qianxiao!”
“I know that. What I just said was hinting that I’m injured now and can’t interfere with anything…”
“…”
Hearing Akiba Sakura’s excuse… ah no, hearing Akiba Sakura’s explanation, Momoka Aoi just straightened her back, placed her hands on her hips, and looked down at Akiba Sakura from a superior position.
“I’m very disappointed in you, Sakura-chan.”
“?”
Momoka Aoi straightened her back again, the little Holmes glasses on her nose sliding down to the tip without her reaching to fix them.
Her serious expression was exactly like an old mother worrying about her daughter’s marriage.
Akiba Sakura was stunned on the spot, shifted her butt on the small stool, and blinked blankly—
‘Why… why is she suddenly so serious and stern?’
Akiba Sakura didn’t understand why the Momoka Aoi in front of her suddenly seemed like a different person, becoming extremely serious—
Before Akiba Sakura could react, Momoka Aoi started her heartbroken and disappointed mode—
Her brows knitted into a small knot, her tone full of frustration, and she even lightly stamped her foot, looking like she hated that Sakura wasn’t living up to expectations.
“How can you be so cowardly! It’s just a little leg injury, isn’t it? It’s not like it won’t heal forever. How can you just watch Yuuma get taken away by Zaolai Qianxiao over such a small thing!”
After saying that, she leaned in even closer, raising her voice a few notches.
“Think about it. You and Yuuma grew up together. After so many years of childhood friendship, can it really not compare to a twin-tail junior you just met? If you give up now, and he really gets taken by someone else, you’ll have nowhere to cry!”
‘Wait… how did she turn this around to make me seem wronged…’
Akiba Sakura was a bit dizzy from the scolding, helplessly scratched her head, and couldn’t help but mutter a rebuttal—
“Then what can I do! My leg is injured like this, I can barely walk. Forget about going to Tsuguo to argue, I can’t just limp over to him and ask him if he likes Zaolai Qianxiao, that’s too embarrassing!”
The more she spoke, the more deflated she became, hanging her head like a deflated ball—
“And I can’t just force myself over and start a quarrel with him for no reason…”
“Ah! Why is your head so dense!”
Momoka Aoi poked Akiba Sakura’s forehead in frustration, then suddenly puffed out her chest, hands on hips, the little glasses on her nose sliding up a bit, looking proud and smug, as if glowing with light.
“But it doesn’t matter! Who made me the most outstanding and greatest ‘Love Expert’ of this century, Momoka Aoi! When it comes to love, I have tons of good ideas and little tricks in my head. Dealing with a dense straight guy like Yuuma, and that clueless Zaolai Qianxiao, it’s a piece of cake!”
Seeing her self-praising attitude, Akiba Sakura’s mouth twitched, and she was half-believing, half-doubting in her heart.
‘As expected, “Pure Love” only hinders my “NTR” career…’
“You’ve said so much…”
“Sakura-chan, come here!”
Momoka Aoi instantly dropped her smug expression, looked around mysteriously to confirm no one on the playground was paying attention to them, then bent down to Akiba Sakura’s ear, cupped her hands around her mouth, and whispered her love strategy in a voice only the two could hear.
As Akiba Sakura listened, her eyes widened, her expression going from confusion to surprise to full helplessness.
By the time Momoka Aoi finished and straightened up, she was looking at her with a dead-eyed expression, mouth drooping, and a tone full of doubt:
“Little Aoi… are you sure… this will work?”
“Hey! What do you mean by that!”
Momoka Aoi, upon hearing that Akiba Sakura seemed to doubt her, immediately became displeased—
“Sakura-chan, you have to believe me! I’m the undefeated ‘Love Master’ across the world. If you don’t believe me, are you just going to hand Yuuma over to her?”
“…”
Although Akiba Sakura had a feeling things weren’t as serious as imagined, if in the future something really happened like her being taken away by other girls before she could conquer Yuuma Tsugumu, then this matter deserved attention.
“But…”
“No buts!”
Seeing that Akiba Sakura still seemed hesitant, it was Momoka Aoi’s turn to be restless.
She pushed up the little glasses on her nose again—
“If you miss this opportunity, you might directly face a ‘bad ending’ next time, you know?”
“’Bad ending’?”
At this moment, for some reason, a cloud began to appear above Akiba Sakura’s head.
On the cloud was a display screen, and on the screen was playing a scene of what would happen if Yuuma Tsugumu was taken by another girl ahead of time—
In the screen, Akiba Sakura was wearing a tattered school uniform, her face covered in dust, looking on resentfully as Yuuma Tsugumu and Zaolai Qianxiao passionately kissed under the cherry blossom tree at school.
Then, an otherworldly teleport bus came and knocked her flying…
‘No way, I don’t want this!’
Akiba Sakura quickly shook her head, and the cloud that had appeared above her immediately dissipated.
“Fine, then let’s do it your way! Little Aoi.”