I Went Out With a Losing Heroine, But Before I knew It, My Childhood Friend, Who’s Supposed to be Th

“Rejecte―”

“I think that’s a good idea!”

　Faster than Yō could shrug off Nagisa’s suggestion, Kasumi leaned forward with great momentum.

　Her eyes lit up and she looked at Nagisa with a devouring gaze.

“Kasumi, just stay quiet for now.”

“Then will you do as Nagisa says?”

“No, I won’t.”

“See? If I don’t say anything, Yō will never agree to it!”

　When Yō refused, Kasumi’s cheeks puffed out and she began to get angry.

　When Kasumi showed her refusal, Yō patted her on the head to calm her down.

“That’s a little too much…”

　Nagisa, seeing Kasumi meekly sitting back in her chair and letting Yō take care of her, muttered in disgust.

　However, Kasumi did not seem to mind Nagisa’s words and meekly continued to be stroked by Yō.

　It seems that being petted by Yō is more important to her than being repulsed by Nagisa’s words.

　And then―

“…………”

　Marin, too, silently offered her head.

“You won’t be competing with Kasumi…?”

“I promise.”

　Marin gave a slightly sulky look in response to Yō’s words.

　With that, Yō began to stroke Marin’s head with his other free hand.

“Akimi-san’s reserve is completely gone compared to the first time we met…”

“I’m just keeping my word…”

“Akimi-san is surprisingly straightforward, huh?”

　Marin was acting as if she was letting him pet her, and Kasumi had a look of disapproval on her face.

　Marin, on the other hand, blushed and looked away.

“Kasumi-chan, who looks twisted but is actually more honest than anyone else, and Marin-chan, who looks honest but is actually stubborn. They are complete opposites, and that’s why they are such a good pair.”

“”…………””

“Oops, my apologies.”

　Nagisa said with a funny laugh, but her instincts told her that it was not a good idea to continue after the two gave her the cold stare.

　With that, she simply backed away and turned her attention to Yō.

“So, why do you object, Yō-kun?”

　She knew that she had to subvert this man.

　Nagisa, who understood this, smiled and tilted her head.

“Don’t you know the famous saying, ‘Don’t put a man between two lilies?'”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you even know that saying. Well, that’s true, but there shouldn’t be any problem with a man if you don’t treat them like a yuri from the beginning.”

“No, they’d treat me like a distraction.”

“‘I don’t care if they’re on good terms, if they’re showing a confrontational attitude, they’d rather be seen as a buffer, wouldn’t they?”

“Isn’t this a video about spoiling the two of them?”

“I think they would easily get bored with just pampering each other. Instead, they should make a video in which they compete with each other in some kind of competition, and the winner gets a reward. People would love to watch something like that, wouldn’t they?

“But if the reward is that one has to do the same thing to the other afterwards, then the competition becomes less serious, doesn’t it? No, it’s funny that you could even call it a reward…”

“If it’s a reward, then why not the loser as well? This way, the two of you will be taking the game seriously. And you should admit your position.”

“What if they get so heated over the game that they start fighting?”

“That’s just impossible, you know? Marin-chan would never pick a fight, and Kasumi-chan, as long as they’re in the video― and I don’t have to tell you that, you know that.”

“…My viewers might be jealous of me or even call me a scumbag.”

“You’re not the type to worry about that, are you?”

“”…………””

　No matter what Yō said, Nagisa was quick to retort.

　They stopped speaking and began to check each other silently.

　And the silence was broken by Yō.

“Are you trying to make Kasumi and Akimi cooperate with each other, or are you trying to make them oppose each other, or is there some contradiction in what you are doing?”

　Nagisa was attempting to do something contradictory, so Yō couldn’t understand what Nagisa was trying to do.

　At first, he thought she was suggesting all that stuff to get Kasumi and Marin to get along with each other in cooperation with Yō.

　However, the earlier exchange made him think that Nagisa might have a different aim.

“Don’t worry, even if that’s true from your point of view, we’re all going in the same direction. You just don’t know it.”

“…Anyway, I disagree. What about the cameraman?”

　If Yō were to take the lead, there would be no one left to shoot the important video.

　It would be possible to do so by fixing the camera, but the angle would inevitably limit what could be done.

　Of course, it is possible to fix the video angles by adding more cameras, and it would be possible if Yō were to appear only as a reward.

　But Yō had no intention of doing either of these things.

“Why don’t I just do it?”

“I don’t know what kind of pace Akimi is going to be able to keep up, but it’s impossible for Nagisa to come all the way from Tokyo every time, isn’t it?”

“Fufu, don’t worry about that. I’ve already taken care of that.”

“…How long have you been anticipating this development?”

“No, no, I just came up with the idea on the train. I just happened to be able to use something I had prepared for something else.”

　Nagisa tilted her head with a smile, and Yō gave her a suspicious look.

　Nagisa cowered her shoulders and laughed.

“Yō-kun, are you trying to get Marin-chan’s permission to make a yuri video? It was Marin-chan in the first place who said she wanted to start a channel, wasn’t it? Then why don’t you do what she wants to do?”

　Here, Nagisa poked at Yō’s weakest link.

　Nagisa had seen from the train and from conversations between Yō and Marin since they arrived here that Yō intended to leave the final direction of the video to Marin.

　So, after denying all concerns that Yō might have, she opened up the subject.

“As Nagisa said, it’s Akimi who should decide what she wants to do with this channel… Akimi, what do you want to do?”

　And then Yō turned to Akimi, just as Nagisa had intended.

　It was annoying to be at Nagisa’s beck and call, but Yō was not a child to misjudge what was the most important thing to consider.

“Eh, y-you’re dragging me into this…!?”

　Marin suddenly began to hesitate when she was suddenly asked to speak.

　Marin looked at Yō straight in the eye.

“Of course, we will give our opinions, and if Akimi starts to say something absurd, we will stop you. But in the end, it is Akimi who makes the final decision. Otherwise, it won’t be what Akimi wants, will it?”

“T-That’s true, but…”

“But let me tell you one thing, if you want to be popular, it should be a yuri video with Kasumi, and I honestly don’t see how Nagisa’s proposal would work, since there is no precedent for it.”

“Yō-kun, you’re so sly~. You say you’ll leave it up to Marin-chan’s judgment, but you’re trying to lead her on. Marin-chan, what do you want to do here? Why do you want to be a video streamer? That’s what’s important.”

　Marin has to give an answer, while Yō and Nagisa offer their own opinions.

　Kasumi also wanted to say something, but she felt that if she spoke up, Marin would choose the opposite.

　So she decided to keep quiet and see what would happen.

　Marin’s answer was―

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Translator’s Afterword: I forgot to point out that video streamers are basically just youtubers. This had been going on for so long and idk why I only chose to say this now. Also, I’m very sorry for these late uploads.