Tomorrow after school I want to return the book that I borrowed from you. (Mikura)\nĀ \nYesterday night, I sent Aoto this proposal to meet up, and he readily agreed to it.\nAnd so this means that Iāve secured some time with him alone.\nIt is safe to say that the plan is progressing well.\nĀ \nāGood morning, Mikura-san.ā(Sakuraba)\nĀ \nāOh, Aoto-kun!ā(Mikura)\nĀ \nWhen I arrived at school, Aoto immediately called out to me.\nAn opportunity like this happening is really rare, so I was caught off guard.\nĀ \nāYou finished the book quite quickly, didnāt you.ā(Sakuraba)\nĀ \nāUm, yeah! In just a blink of the eye, I somehow completely finished the bookā¦.!ā(Mikura)\nĀ \nāOops, I shouldnāt have brought that up just now. Letās save all of the fun book talk for after school. Iām really looking forward to it.ā(Sakuraba)\nĀ \nSaying this, Aoto grinned happily.\nLooking at this kind of smile that I rarely ever see from him, I began to feel giddy.\nĀ \nāSo after school then. Stay after school and wait for me.ā(Sakuraba)\nĀ \nāYe- yeah! Iāll definitely, definitely be there waiting for you!ā(Mikura)Ā \n[TLN: 2 definitely for emphasis, no I didnāt proofread incorrectly]\nĀ \nāHahaha, thatās quite an exaggeration, isnāt it?ā(Sakuraba)\nĀ \nKeeping that smile on his face, Aoto walked over to his seat beside the window.\nI also went to my seat and waited for class to start.\nĀ \nPerhaps it was because I was spending the time trying to rethink the strategy that I came up with yesterday, but the morning classes passed by quite quickly.\nĀ \nOn the off chance that stuff like this ever happens, I generally put more than enough effort into studying.\nBecause of that, even if I donāt listen to todayās lectures, I shouldnāt fall behind that much.\nĀ \nWhen lunch break arrived, I went to the library.\nI went to the library because, in order to improve my plan, I needed a quiet place to work.\nIn the library, aside from me, there were only a few other students as well as the enthusiastic library committee member, Naruse Honoka.\nĀ \nSpeaking of Naruse, she is one of my former love rivals. Around 2 weeks ago, she confessed to Aoto and was rejected by him.\nĀ \nNo, itās a bit rude for me to assume that sheās a āformerā rival.\nAfter all, I know nothing about whether sheās given up on Aoto or not.ć\nĀ \nSitting down in a seat, I crossed my arms and began thinking.\nĀ \nThe plan Iām going to try to carry out todayā¦..\nTo be honest, the plan was basically just, āletās try to temporarily become Aotoās girlfriend for now.ā\nĀ \nIām going to confess to Aoto, and, even though he probably wonāt accept my confession now, Iāll try to keep Yuunagi in check by getting him to agree to become my boyfriend- at least on the surface.\nOf course, after that, Iāll have to steadily make approaches on Aoto so that, someday, I can reach the final goal of becoming his genuine lover.\nĀ \nFrankly, itās quite a dishonest and unusual approach to this issue.\nIām aware of that.\nHowever, the harsh reality is that the situation Iām in is not nice enough for me to be able to care about my appearances.\nĀ \nIf I took my time to get close to him and, during that time, Aoto got taken by Yuunagi, I definitely wouldnāt be able to live with myself.\nĀ \nAnd, since itās Yuunagi, sheās probably capable of doing that, and she might even actually do it.\nĀ \nThis plan was intended to avoid that worst case scenario while also increasing my odds of winning.\nĀ \nToday, Iām going to bet my victory on this plan.\nĀ \nāHm?ā(Mikura)\nĀ \nAll of a sudden, I felt like I saw Naruse, who was sitting at the check-out counter, looking directly at me.\nNo, Iām probably not imagining this.\nĀ \nLooking back at her for a second time, our eyes did indeed meet again.\nWearing a slightly stiff expression, Naruse stood up and began slowly walking over in my direction.ć\nĀ \nāYou-, Youāre Mikura-san right?ā(Naruse)\nĀ \nāUm, yeah. I am.ā(Mikura)\nĀ \nShe spoke to me in a whisper, and I softly replied back.\nShe sat down in the seat beside me, and she continued with a tense, nervous look on her face.\nĀ \nāIām not a hundred percent sure about this, but Mikura-san do you maybe..ā¦.like Sakuraba-kun?ā(Naruse)\nĀ \nāWhaā¦.!ā(Mikura)\nĀ \nHearing this unexpected question, I reflexively let out a loud, shocked exclamation.Ā \nĀ \nĀ \nĀ \n