Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?

"If you want coffee, make it yourself."

"Hey, Futaba, you've become so cold lately. Have you forgotten about your friends now that you like someone? You really put love before friendship."

"Cough-cough."

Miss Futaba, who almost choked on the tea, took a long time to calm down. After returning to normal, she chose to gently cover the lower half of her face with the teacup, and stared at Azusagawa, who kept saying shocking things, with eyes that were filled with anger and a little panic.

"If you say one more word of nonsense, I'll put something stronger in your coffee next time."

"Okay—that's enough. If you have any new experimental ideas, Futaba-san, please conduct them on Hoshimi-san."

Azusagawa Sakuta used his skill - [A Real Man Can Bend and Resilience], and met Futaba's eyes, which clearly had a hint of murderous intent, with a smile that clearly meant "I give up."

Then, as if he had thought of something, a light bulb suddenly flashed in his head.

"Ah... Is Hoshimi also included in the plans for this trip?"

"Yeah, so what if that's the case?"

Ms. Futaba, who had been calmly drinking her tea after Azusagawa admitted defeat, suddenly had her arm tremble slightly, and she almost lost control of the teacup with her cell phone on it.

As for herself, she was still able to maintain a calm and composed appearance.

“…Oh, so that’s it.”

However, after carefully observing Miss Futaba's expression, Mr. Azusagawa Sakuta also revealed a faint smile of interest. His eyes, which usually had no emotional fluctuations, now had a sense of sudden enlightenment and relief.

"I see. I was wondering, Futaba, why are you suddenly joining the travel plan like a real person?"

"...What do you mean, Azusagawa?"

Miss Futaba gave him a very rude roll of the eyes.

"Nothing, nothing."

Mr. Azusagawa smiled slyly, his face full of an unfathomable look of someone who sees everything but refuses to reveal it.

"Honestly, you look like you deserve a beating."

"After all, Futaba is rare nowadays. It's tiring to get a standard girly heart."

"I have to emphasize again that my participation in the travel plan has nothing to do with that idiot Xingjian."

"Yes Yes Yes."

"If you insist on saying it has something to do with me, it's just that I was worried that the idiot would get into trouble or encounter some kind of mishap during the trip, so for the sake of the reputation of the girl traveling with him, I decided to go along and take care of him—you pig-head, you keep smiling disgustingly, do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand. I have always understood."

Perhaps he was already used to Futaba's attempts to cover up something, but he only made it more obvious. Azusagawa Sakuta kept nodding his head like a chicken pecking at rice, his face full of the satisfaction and kindness of an old father who said, "My Futaba has finally made it."

However, soon, Azusagawa Sakuta, who was still immersed in the good news that "our Futaba finally got it", soon noticed that something was wrong.

"Wait, Futaba, you just said... other girls?"

"Ah, that's right."

Futaba glanced at Azusagawa, who had discovered the bright spot, with a cold look tinged with contempt.

"I never told you this was a solo trip for Xingjian and me. It's you, a jerk, who's making up your mind."

"…………well."

Seeing Futaba looking so self-righteous and confident that she had won the debate, Azusagawa began to sigh with a complicated expression, his face showing his discouragement without any concealment.

"You better be more careful, Futaba."

"Hmm? What are you thinking?"

I didn't expect this guy to ask such a question seriously and with a confused look on his face. This time it was Azusakawa's turn to hold his temples with a slight headache.

Never mind, maybe it was good enough that Futaba didn't blurt out "Snacks? Where are the snacks?"

"Alas...it seems you still have a long way to go, Futaba."

Azusagawa Sakuta shrugged helplessly, then changed his lazy and uninterested look and straightened his slightly bent upper body a little.

At the same time, his eyes shone with a light that was rarely seen in normal times.

"Forget it, the die is cast. It's too late to dwell on your strategic mistakes now. Listen up, Futaba."

He stretched out his hand expressionlessly, then clenched his fist under Miss Futaba's confused gaze.

"Since there are other members of the opposite sex here this time, you need to grit your teeth and not let go—understand?"

"...?"

"Alas... having no sense of crisis will only push boys away."

Seeing that Futaba still had a confused expression of "I don't understand what you are talking about", Azusagawa spread his hands helplessly, as diligently as a teacher teaching a stupid and slow student.

"Forget it, then I'll give you a simple packing tutorial that even a fool can master in one second."

He held out his hand and raised a finger gravely.

"First, if you can keep Xingjian company during travel, don't leave him alone with other girls."

"??? Huh? Wait, why would I—"

"Second, don't miss any opportunity to create space for two people."

"Hey Azusagawa, you pig-head—"

"Third, find the perfect opportunity with the right time, place, and people, and seize victory in one go. If the other party already has a strong base affection for you, it's entirely possible for you, Futaba, to push the issue. If your relationship is deep enough, forcing it is not impossible. Futaba, you should just elevate your feelings and then be careful about the limits—hmm."

Perhaps he felt the strong murderous intent of "If you say another word I will kill you" revealed on Miss Futaba's blushing face, so he stopped tactfully in order to protect himself.

Seeing that Azusakawa had shut up and stopped talking, Futaba, who had already raised the teapot, narrowed her eyes slightly, regained her rationality, and put the teapot back to its original place.

"really."

The boy did not get angry but laughed, and expressed his feelings in a very gentle voice to his good friend.

"Futaba, you're not some slow freak. I thought you didn't realize what state you were in."

"...Azusagawa, what are you doing here, acting like a love guru and giving me advice? I'm not some love idiot who knows nothing about emotions."

Feeling like she was being offended, Futaba turned her eyes away awkwardly, looking like a sulking child and not very intimidating.

"It's not that I don't understand what you mean, Azusagawa...it's just that that's not what I should do."

She put down the teacup and looked out the window with a dark look and a hint of indescribable gloom.

"I won't do anything that isn't what a friend should do—I'd be more than happy to curb my own thoughts."

At least in that way, I can become a very competent and perfect friend.

Azusagawa blinked, carefully examining his best friend in front of him—he had rarely seen her like this.

However, after thinking for a moment, he said what he had been holding in his heart for a long time.

"But if you really like someone, how can you be willing to just be friends with them forever?"

"Well………"

Seeing Futaba speechless, Azusagawa, knowing that she was slightly moved by his point of view, shrugged his shoulders and spoke slowly in the most nonchalant tone.

"I just can't do it anyway. How can I be friends with someone who makes my heart flutter at first sight?"

"...Don't impose your own experiences on others, Azusagawa. I don't have any feelings for you—"

"Futaba, do you always use this kind of words to deceive yourself?"

"........."

Azusagawa only used a few simple words to make Futaba feel uncomfortable. Even if she wanted to explain herself, she didn't know where to start.

"Let me warn you first. If you keep telling yourself things like 'We can only be friends' or 'He must only see me as a friend', you'll end up being the one who's trapped in your own web, Futaba."

Azusagawa put on a lazy expression that looked like he had seen through everything, and propped up his face with his hands on the table.

"If you really like someone, you should fight for it yourself. Being friends is about getting close to them, not about restricting yourself. I'm explaining this to Futaba in such a simple way, right?"

"I'm not like some people who always fail Chinese. Of course I can understand what you have to say. It's just..."

After returning the other person's cold and disdainful look, Futaba stared at the tea leaves in front of her that reflected her face, her eyes looking a little melancholy.

"I can't stop that guy from running towards someone better than me."

"…But Futaba, you're already great in my opinion."

"No, Azusagawa, you don't understand."

The gray-haired girl chose to respond to Azusagawa's confusion with a faint smile, and she also concealed the subtle sadness in her eyes so that it would not be discovered.

"I'm already quite content with my current status—really, if I were to venture any further, I might just end up being a gambler with nothing."

She suddenly stood up and walked to the window with steady steps. She looked at the curtains blown by the breeze and the scenery outside the window in a daze.

"For me, this is enough right now. When I'm tired of everything, as long as I think of that guy, as long as I think of him living and existing somewhere in this world, I'll feel that none of this matters anymore. His mere existence is important to me, and I don't want to force anything else. And there's no need for me to add instability to the relationship between us with an extremely unstable so-called romantic relationship."

"...Although I'm happy that you, Futaba, would tell me so many sincere words on such a rare occasion, I really don't understand the romance of you science students."

And after quietly listening to Futaba's frank words, Azusagawa spoke calmly with a subtle and experienced expression, supporting his cheek.

"Just imagine that because of your inaction, another woman ends up falling for that guy."

“…That has nothing to do with me.”

"What if he also succumbs to the temptation of women chasing men and starts a formal relationship with her?"

"...I will wish him happiness."

"What if Xingjian refused because they were on their honeymoon when you invited her out? You were secretly sad and drinking late at night, but she was in a warm room, doing something indescribable for love—"

"Stop, enough with the inappropriate topics for children. Tell me all the dirty shit in your head, Azusagawa."

Well, no matter how high-sounding the excuses Futaba came up with were—but her blushing cheeks and somewhat embarrassed and angry look could only point to one result.

She is in a hurry.

"Isn't this because I'm not completely content at all?"

Knowing this, Azusagawa smiled softly, and the next things became much simpler.

"Forget it, forget it. I can't take this guy's daily double-talk seriously."

It’s better to help her a little.

----

Master Azusagawa is here to teach (shark)! (Funny)

A Week of Never-Ending Time at the Divergence Point of the World Line: Chapter 4: Azusagawa Sakuta's Love Lesson (Unreleased) (Part 2)

As we all know, boys are actually very simple creatures.

Whenever a girl shows shyness or concern towards him, it will pluck his heartstrings, and he will unconsciously have wild thoughts like "Is she interested in me?"

It is also very easy to conquer a boy who has a crush on you. Just say some sweet words and pull the progress bar and he will be almost conquered.

However, if you want to transition from "friends" to "lovers", this stage is actually quite difficult.

Therefore, the first task that Mr. Azusagawa Sakuta set for Ms. Futaba Rio was to "cause trouble to the other person within the boundaries that are not too excessive."

Slowly use behavioral habits or words to break away from the current relationship of mutual politeness and unwillingness to trouble each other, and hint to the other party that "we are no longer just friends", then there is a possibility of further development between the two.

Well, to put it simply, it means taking the initiative to create opportunities and presence and start attacking.

The people who understand boys the best are definitely boys. Although Azusagawa and Hoshimi don't have much interaction, he still knows some tricks to target male classmates.

Well, if it weren't for his limited makeup skills, Azusagawa's best strategy would have been to pretend to be Futaba, take Hoshimi down, and then retire after his success - of course, he couldn't say this to Futaba.

At first, Miss Futaba was a little reluctant - or rather embarrassed, but after Azusagawa's continuous instigation like "If you don't do this, there will definitely be other girls who will do it" and "By then, you won't be inferior in skills or feelings, but you will miss it completely because of hesitation and fear. Are you willing to accept that?", she was persuaded and took the matter to heart with an annoyed look on her face.

Then came the willful requests of "Please ask Hoshimi to pick me up at the station early in the morning" and even further "If I feel that the trip is boring, I can quit at any time."

Just as Azusagawa Sakuta expected, Hoshimi did not dislike Futaba for being unreasonable, but agreed immediately.

"But... we agreed to meet you privately before everyone else when we set out in the morning..."

Futaba briefly recalled what happened a few days ago and held her forehead with her hand. Her expression was a bit complicated when she looked at the black-haired boy outside the gate and the blonde girl beside him.

It seems something went wrong.

It was obvious that the smiling blonde girl who appeared next to Xingjian had met the boy earlier than herself and had also traveled with him earlier than herself.

He clearly promised to pick me up first.