May 23, 20XX

  6:45 AM

  I wake up abruptly. It was not a pleasant morning, as I had the underlying feeling of losing. I swiftly take my phone and dial Masaru.

  “Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”

  Impatient and anxious, my feet rapidly tap forming a consistent rhythm. As, he finally picks up the phone.

  “H-Hello?” Masaru questions.

  “Did she accept the new request?”

  “Declined again.”

  Darn it. Things can’t progress this way. I can’t just rely upon Masaru to perform this pn. Things are looking real south… I can’t be absent forever, at some point the challenges will begin without me. We have to begin pnning for the next challenge.

  “Do something about it. Contact her, use another number, or follow her on other social media accounts, you choose. I’ll meet up with the rest in the market and discuss things.”

  “Can’t I come with you?”

  “No, you come up with strategies to win her heart just in case you get through. We have to be productive… goodbye.”

  I hang up on the phone.

  Will things really work out?

  “No, I have to pce faith in my teammates.”

  I switch over to the rest of the three and contact all of them in the same call to save time.

  “Meet at market, 12:00 NN, discussion,” I tell them straight to the point.

  Leaving no room for ambiguity, I leave the call instantaneously.

  I can’t have them fussing over a rendezvous. If they have compints, they can tell me over when we meet up face-to-face.

  …

  ..

  .

  “GRAGH!!! THIS ISN’T ANYTHING I CAN DO ABOUT!!!”

  I gnce at the contacts and hover my finger above Mari-san’s name.

  I’ll presss it. I swear I’ll press it.

  Contrary to expectations, nothing had happened for the past 5 minutes. Due to the extended periods of hesitation, my entire hand feels fatigue, so I let it rest on my desk.

  “Do I really have to go to extreme measures just to get in contact with her?”

  Something on the screen had changed. I instantly get up from my bed.

  “She finally accepted my request!”

  I see an ellipsis in the chat and its three dots moving up and down.

  “She’s typing right now…”

  A message appears with the chat head of her face previewing a girl holding a peace sign which seemed to be her current profile picture.

  “What do you want?”

  I type on my phone.

  “I just wanted to be friends with you”

  I didn’t bother pcing a period after my message.

  She replies, “Trying to be friends with an enemy? Sus.”

  D-Does she know?

  “I have no ulterior motives I promise!”

  Note: That is a lie.

  “Hehhh…”

  The conversation was left at that.

  The chat is dying! What should I do?! It’s too early to start flirting!

  Thankfully for me, she begins typing and another message follows up.

  “So… what’s up? You didn’t try to friend me because of the challenge, did you?”

  “No! Of course not! I’m alright. Just zing about at home. How about you?”

  “Nothing much either. The casual… eating breakfast now.”

  “What did you cook?”

  “Omurice.”

  “Oh, wow.”

  “Unimpressed?”

  “No! I just find it amazing that you can cook.”

  “And you can’t?”

  “Uhh… my mom cooks for me.”

  “wwww”

  Note: In Japanese, text messaging the letter ‘w’ is short for warau (笑う), which means ‘to ugh.’ It’s the Japanese equivalent of saying ‘Haha’ or ‘LOL’.

  She kept on spamming the message.

  “ww”

  “wwwwww”

  “wwwww”

  “wwwwwwwww”

  She’s mocking me.

  Okay, this is a bit irritating. I know, I should be able to cook soon, but what gives?

  “Anyways, talk to you ter, gotta go finish my breakfast.”

  Her status immediately turns to offline.

  Having lost all of the pressure at once, I drop my phone and let myself be consumed by the softness of his bed.

  “I don’t recall being this nervous when chatting.”

  Must be because I didn’t focus on flirting and more on genuine talk this time.

  “Wait, isn’t that bad? The point was to try and capture her heart, right?”

  Well, I suppose going for a casual talk is a good start. Friends before lovers, can’t picture myself speed running the fg of her type of people.

  Note: It’s easier done than said. Yes, I meant that statement, just let her hit you all the time, she’s a tsundere.

  “Good progress. Good progress. I’ll keep it up.”

  …

  ..

  .

  8:00 AM

  Nakatani and I were peacefully eating our morning meal at the table. Our pte was filled with curry rice.

  Casually savoring each bite with our chopsticks, that’s what it appeared to the common watcher, but I had more in mind.

  Look, I’m thankful for having a sister who can cook and all, though… Author, don’t you think having curry for a week straight is a tad bit much?

  Note: Lol, nope.

  “Um, Nakatani, I don’t mean to be a stick in the mud, but you mind if we change our meals for a short while?” I tell her, “You see, I love curry, but having it in too much amounts is-”

  “Lovely! Having curry daily is a great thing! I’m gd you agree!”

  “Yeah, but that’s not what I’m trying to sa-”

  “So we have a whole stash of ingredients in our refrigerator,” she says as the refrigerator opens; solid proof that there was indeed a full load of ingredients specifically tailored for curry. Mix in my loot from st time, of course.

  “Ah.”

  I back down immediately.

  Figured, it was useless to fight back. Thankfully, I have some snacks and drinks to spare.

  I gulf down my food since its fvor was slowly becoming pin and boring. As a fine connoisseur of curry, I simply could not have that. The desensitization from curry was one future I must avoid at all costs.

  “Thank you for the meal.”

  I must make haste.

  …

  ..

  .

  To keep my mind off the matter, I chose to study at my desk.

  “Urgh… I hate studying.”

  Time for a break.

  I take my phone and gnce at my messages. Mari-san was finally back online.

  “Yes!”

  I take this moment to take the initiative and start the conversation first.

  “So, how was your breakfast?”

  A way to get the conversation going!

  She replies, “Good. Sorry, I was preparing my stuff.”

  “For what?”

  “None of your business.”

  That response alone tells the milestone I have to overcome. I was gd I chose not to push my luck earlier.

  “How mean!”

  “Girl things. So no info for you www”

  “So I take it that you are going somewhere?”

  At the very least, I can tell by my past experience that she is about to head on to a hangout.

  “No comment,” she types.

  “I will take that as a yes,” I say out loud.

  “How about you? No pns for today?” she follows up.

  “Nope, I’m doing something, so I can’t.”

  “Can’t how? Pying games? Eroges?”

  “Nope, besides, I wouldn’t tell you even if I was.”

  She sends me a pouty sticker.

  “Studying”

  “Not that either.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Only if you tell me what you’re doing.”

  “Ehhh, what if it what you’re doing ends up paling in comparison with mine? Scaaamm!”

  “I promise mine isn’t boring.”

  “Hmmm, you better not back out and leave me on read.”

  “Oh please, what can I do with that info?”

  “Im going on a hangout with the girls. Your turn.”

  “Umm…”

  I can’t tell her that I’m trying to conquer her heart. What’s a better thing to say? Cooking? Hanging out?

  It takes me a while to answer.

  Out of impatience, she types.

  “じー” (Stare…)

  “リプをください。” (A reply, please.)

  Note: じー (Katakana: ジー, Romaji: jii) is an onomatopoeia, a sound for staring. Meanwhileリプ(Romaji: ripu) is a simple abbreviation for リプライ(Romaji: ripurai). It means “to reply”.

  Ah, I know!

  I begin typing on his phone.

  “Baking cookies.”

  That’s a lie, but she won’t know that.

  “Woah! Really? wktk” she replies.

  Note: “wktk” is an acronym of the onomatopoeia words ワクワク (Romaji: wakuwaku) which means “exciting” and テカテカ (Romaji: tekateka) which means “shining.”

  “Yup!”

  “I guess, you’re more than what you look.”

  Is that supposed to mean that I’m of low value…

  I type a kaomoji on the phone.

  “(-_-)”

  “(?>????)”

  “Um, if you don’t mind me asking? Where are you and your friends going out to?”

  “Oh? Just the market.”

  END OF EPISODE 27