Chapter 124: Stop Using Your Boyfriend To Battle!

I was sitting on a bench on campus with my laptop spread out, play it cool while looking at research data.

"A-Ano!!!!"

"Eh? Moo-chan? What's wrong?"

Moo-chan is standing right in front of me. She looks somewhat pinched and tight-fisted.

"I have a favor to ask you!"

"What is it...?"

I have a favor to ask you -> you can only ask me -> you like me (one chance). Moo-chan sat down next to me, took my hand in hers and said

"I just want you to pretend to be my boyfriend for one day!"

At that moment I felt a shock like an electric current coursing through my entire body. A fake boyfriend-girlfriend relationship! That is definitely a sign of a definite liking! Not just over one chance, but definite! Not only does she like me, but she really love me! Yahoo!

"Anyway, can you tell me what's going on?"

"Yeah. Well ... actually, I'm meeting a friend of mine from elementary school for the first time in a while ... and I got the idea that I have a boyfriend out of the conversation..."0

"Heh. But you have a lot of boy friends, don't you, Moo-chan? Why don't you ask them?"

"Because ...Tokiwa is the best ... ah, please don't make me say it again..."

Moo-chan turned over and her face turned a little red. Can I win this? I can win, right?! Oh no! It's wonderful to see such a wonderful youth event popping up!

"Okay, I'll go with you if it's okay with me."

"Thank you! You're a nice guy, Tokiwa!"

Thus, I decided to take on the role of Moo-chan's fake boyfriend.






And here we are in Shinjuku. She's supposed to have tea with her friends here.

"Moo-chan! Over here, over here!"

We meet up with a pair of men and women in front of the Kabukicho entrance. Moo-chan was high-fiving and cackling with the girl.

"Long time no see! How are you, Hina-chan?"

"Fine, fine! Is Moo-chan still doing difficult things?"

"No, no. See, This is how I got a boyfriend!"

"Hi, I'm Kanata. Nice to meet you."

I introduce myself casually. Hina-chan and the others look at me with a somewhat condescending look.

"...Are you a bad person?"

"Haha. Kanata is not like that. He's just a normal college student."

"Oh, really? I see."

She didn't seem too interested in me.

"I'm Nomoto Hina. And this is my boyfriend!"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Watanuki Hozumi. Nice to meet you, Kanata. And Moo-chan."

Watanuki was a very handsome man. But the way he moved his body gave me the feeling that he was trying to be cool. And the way he looked at me was a little strange. He didn't seem to be interested in me at all, but he was giving Moo-chan the most intense stare. It's a mixture of the eyes of a man looking at an attractive, pretty woman, but more than that, it smells somewhat businesslike. Feeling something strange, we headed for the café.







After ordering tea as appropriate, the ladies began to chat. They were talking about their elementary school days and middle school days.

"You're really funny, Moo-chan. Even when a popular guy from the soccer club confessed his feelings for her, she turned him down, saying, "I guess that's impossible unless you're someone who understands the theory of relativity...!""

Is she some kind of chuunibyou? But in this girl's case, I guess they'd have to be understand the Theory of Relativity. But me? Of course I don't understand that stuff.

"Stop it - already! I just thought that kind of thing was kinda cool back then!"

"Oh, I see. Then why did you go out with Kanata over there? What did you like about him?

Is this...? Don't tell me you girls are trying to find each other's boyfriends? That's the kind of pressure I'm feeling from Nomoto. It's commonly known as the boyfriend card battle! This is a fight peculiar to girls, in which they mount each other with the presence of their boyfriends!

"Let's see. I guess it's ...... the tall part. ...... ahaha."

Moo-chan's tone of voice sounded unsure. Well, I'm a fake boyfriend after all.

"Yes, he's the tall one. About the same as Hozumi?"

My attribute of being tall was sealed off by the specs of the boyfriend on the other end!

"Kanata is a Kodai student, right? But Moo-chan is the same too. Well, it's normal to date someone from the same university."

"Gah."

Moo-chan is taking damage. The "boyfriend of a Kodai student" card is quite strong, but if she is also a Kodai student, the card is null and void.

"Hmm. Where is Hina-chan's boyfriend from? What does he do?"

Moo-chan's mentality of boldly attacking here is rather dependable.

"Oh, you're going to ask that? Fufufu."

But the other person's reaction is definitely a smile at a sucker caught in a trap. And then the card opens!

"Hozumi, you know. He's an underground idol!"

"Gyaaah!"

Moo-chan was damaged again. It is more girlish to be dating an underground idol than a stable Kodai student in the future.

"I've already received so many gifts from fans. I've been trying to clean up their rooms, but they keep cluttering them up with gifts! I'm furious!"

"Buroro!"

Girls' mounts are scary. Even the current line, "My boyfriend is super popular! But I'm the one girl in the army who has free access to his room! Suck it!" That's what it feels like. Why am I being tested so hard on my language skills? Is the fake boyfriend event really this tough?

"Huhuhu! Ahahaha!"

Ah, something about Moo-chan's eyes have gone. Her heart must have been broken by repeated mount damage. She's got the same look in her eyes as she did during her battle with Yuzuriha the other day.

"Underground idol? Heh? That's great, but Kanata is great too. He's retired now, but when he was a ronin, he was the best host in Sapporo."

And voila! The forbidden card! Her boyfriend is a host. Hosts are the number one men in the male caste ranking in the eyes of girls. But dating a host means that the attack power of the card changes dramatically depending on whether you are dating the host as a client or as your true love.

"Oh, so he's a host. But does that mean he's serious about Moo-chan?"

"Yes. Because I've never paid him any money! Even Kanata confessed to me first!"

It's scary how easily she can come up with a lie! Is this how Princess Rikejou talks?

"Kanata was really amazing when he was a host. He never used a pillow, in fact, he lent girls to junior hosts so that he didn't have to worry about women. His sales style was that of an orthodox prince, but he would drown the girls he got into with in the bathtub. The girls who were so impressed by his DV sales style, which suited his smile, formed a long queue outside of the store! It's really hard for me to handle that line, but they are so sweet and cute to me."

Stop it! Stop acting like I'm a habitual DV offender! I've never done anything like that once! Girls are going to become shura in boyfriend card battles even to the point of muddying the honor of boys ... horrible, huh?

"So, you're amazing, aren't you? Ahaha..."

The other side is also attracted to me! She's pulling away! The way she look at me is so cold. She look at me like I'm a piece of trash!

"Oh, that's right! Hozumi's going to do a live concert, you two should come. He's super cool! And I'll give you tickets for free."

Nomoto said and offered us the tickets. I took it and was ushered into the live concert hall. The girls were already waiting in line.

"Well, you two go in from the front. Hozumi and I will go in from the back. I'll see you at the launch."

They waved and left. We, the fake couple, were the only ones left behind.

"I'm sorry, I treated you like a DV prince! I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay. Why are you so competitive? You and Nomoto seem to be getting along well."

"I've always had trouble getting along with other people. I was the kind of girl who always read books, but Hina-chan was my only friend. She taught me how to dress up and wear makeup. She was my favorite girl. But I was always jealous of her. I envied her because she was cheerful and liked by everyone. So today, for once. I wanted to win as a girl for once. But I guess that's not going to happen. A fake boyfriend and girlfriend is no match for her."

"Well, yeah. But..."

"But?"

"I don't think we're the only ones with secrets."

Moo-chan nodded her head, but I was sure. I don't think Moo-chan was summoned by Nomoto today just to have fun or to show off her boyfriend. I could smell something fishy. So I decided to jump in. Let's eat through their schemes, trap by trap.



Next time! Kanata, the underground idol!





***Author's musings***

The royal fake boyfriend event becomes a boyfriend card battle, which is a personal favorite of mine.