Intersection of Pranks 5

A few hours later

Yuuta: He pisses me off! Did you see the look on his face?! I can’t get that damn grin out of my head, it’s just making it worse!

Arashi: Now, now, calm down. You’re the one who pulled all of this together, right Yuuta-chan?

If Ibara-chan figured it out and got you back, it’s just karma basically.

Kuro: Yeah, but Aoi’s not the one who got the karma, though. Sengoku’s the one who was hit with it full force.

Hey, Sengoku. You doin’ okay? Say somethin’ if you’re there.

Shinobu: ......

Kuro: Guess not. Dude’s fully left the building. You gotta chill out on the spice, Aoi. How much did you even put in that thing?

Yuuta: Sorry. I didn’t even think it was that spicy, but I guess I got a little carried away.

I’m so sorry, Shinobu-kun. You were so happy to go along with my prank, but then it ended up like this...

Kuro: Sigh... for now, just line up those chairs over there Aoi.

It’ll be more comfortable for him if he can lay down instead of havin’ me haul him around.

Yuuta: Okay...

Arashi: Still, I never would have guessed that the project was a prank...

Kuro: For real. Crazy how little you notice when you’re in the thick of it.

Yuuta: Hold on a sec, what are you saying?! It’s crazier that you guys didn’t know it was a prank!

Arashi: Huh? What do you mean?

Yuuta: I asked you to be part of the whole thing, remember? How come you didn’t know anything about it?

Kuro: I mean, doesn’t change that we didn’t know what was goin’ on...

Rinne: Gyahahaha ♪ You’re looking all pathetic as shit, Yuta ♪

Yuuta: ...Rinne-senpai. What do you want?

Rinne: To console my cute little kouhai who failed epically at his prank.

You looked sooo embarrassed when you came out with the Huge Success sign. I just can’t stop thinking about it! Makes me laugh every damn time, gyahaha ♪

Yuuta: So you were hiding to watch me mess up my prank. Do you have an estimate on when you’ll finally do something about that awful personality of yours?

Rinne: What’s with the third degree, huh? You’re just as much to blame for tryna pull one over on Vice President Four-Eyes with such a shitty plan.

Yuuta: Shitty? I pulled out all the stops for this! I ran myself ragged trying to get everything set up, even though I didn’t have a lot of connections.

Rinne: You set it up all by yourself, huh? With no one else’s help whatsoever?

Yuuta: Well... I did get some help from Anzu-san.

‘Cause it probably would have come off as weird for me to ask the VP to help with a fake project.

Rinne: And that was your first mistake. If nothing else, you shouldn’t have gone to Anzu-chan for this.

Yuuta: A–and why not?

Rinne: She’s got a rep as a top-notch producer, right?

So another producer, like our VP for example, should be well aware what she’s capable of.

And then she goes and asks him to be a taste tester—something anybody can do. He’s way overqualified for something like that.

So he’d get suspicious. Ya dig?

Yuuta: Ugh... I mean, that’s just...

Rinne: Like, it was Anzu-chan who got the ball rolling on this prank, right?

If she gave you a suspicious-sounding proposal just a few days after talking about a prank show, you’d smell something fishy, too.

Narushi and Dora-chan would too, if they were in his shoes.

Arashi: Hello? I’m “Narushi,” right? So Dora-chan is, uh...?^[1]

Kuro: Where’d you even get that name from...?

Rinne: It’s obvious, isn’t it? The ryuu in your name means “dragon,” so just lop off the end and play with it a li’l ♪^[2]

Yuuta: Knowing the etymology doesn’t make it sound any less like Doraemon, honestly.

Kuro: Sigh... anyway, it’s a matter of whether Aoi’s proposal was suspicious?

Yuuta: That’s a pretty aggressive way to get back on track.

Kuro: When you put it that way, the story does come off kinda fishy.

Arashi: If I were in that position, I’d probably ask if it was a prank right then and there.

Rinne: —So that’s that, Yuta. Don’t it sound a bit lame now?

Yuuta: Gh...

Rinne: Once you know there’s a trap waiting for you, you can deal with it no sweat. ‘Specially since the VP’s basically a pro in that field.

It would’ve been a piece of cake to use the plan you’d already set in motion against you.

I’m guessing you only really talked this thing over with Ninja-kun, right?

That’s why Narushi and Dora-chan didn’t pick up what you were putting down.

Yuuta: ......

Rinne: And in the end, neither of ‘em could stick by you while the VP made his moves, and they ended up getting used for his purposes.

Kuro: Was that Saegusa guy seriously able to pull our strings so quickly...?

Arashi: Kind of terrifying, actually... did he really need to go that far?

Yuuta: ...So in the end I was just dancing in the palm of the VP’s hand.

Rinne: How’s that feel, Yuta, to have it all turned against you? Huh? How’s it feel?

Yuuta: —Shut the hell up. And leave me alone, please.

Why do you like seeing me so upset, anyway...?

Rinne: Gyahaha! You’re pissed, right? That’s just like you, Yuta ♪

—So if you had another chance, what would you do?

Yuuta: Huh? What do you mean by that?

Rinne: Oh, I shan’t say more here. For now, just take it at face value.

Yuuta: (Take it at face value? Am I getting another chance to prank him?)

(Actually, I just remembered: Rinne-senpai is working the same job I am, right?)

(...No way.)

(Is he bringing back his idea to team up with him?)

Rinne: You’re not the type of guy who can shut up and accept his defeat, right?

But for the record, I don’t have that much time to waste. If you don’t gimme an answer here and now—

Yuuta: I told you before. I can’t see things working out if we do this together.

Rinne: Well, I guess them’s the breaks—

Yuuta: But I can’t stomach the idea of letting the VP get away with this.

...So I’ll accept your invitation, Rinne-senpai.

Rinne: You’re actually going along with it? And this isn’t like Chocolat Fest; Hina’s got nothing to do with it.^[3]

Now you’re making me feel like you like me a lot more than you let on.

Yuuta: Don’t be an idiot. Remember that I don’t actually want to do this with you.

It’s just that I won’t be able to sleep peacefully until I get him back.

Rinne: Hell yeah, look at you go ♪

All right, now that we’ve figured that out, come with me. We’ll talk about this somewhere else!