"Alright, with this, the only thing left is the outer layer for providing coverage."
After noting down all the necessary changes in his notebook, Tetsuya nodded at Misumi Uika.
"Thank you for your hard work, Uika. You can leave the rest to me now."
"..."
Uika was silent for a moment before asking:
"Tetsuya-san, have you thought about what happens after the May live?"
"Hm?"
Hearing this question, Tetsuya's expression turned quite strange.
"Of course I have. I'm about to start my own business, after all."
"...I'm not talking about work. I'm talking about your personal life."
Uika shook her head.
"To put it more directly, are you prepared to deal with a fully resolved Ai?"
"Huh?"
Tetsuya scratched his head, looking completely baffled.
"Sorry, Uika, I don't quite understand what you mean..."
"First, there are only two possible outcomes after this live ends."
Uika held up her first finger.
"The first outcome is that we fail to move Ai. She will then expose everything as originally planned and do everything in her power to elope with you. If things develop to that point, the result will be the same whether you're prepared or not. Your plan to start a business will inevitably be thwarted, and she will have relations with you without any hesitation. So in my opinion, there's no value in discussing this scenario."
"Mhm..."
Although he had long considered this possibility, Tetsuya still wore a rather helpless expression.
"Indeed. If things really get to that point, I can only resign myself to my fate."
"But thankfully, her attitude has softened a lot since I spoke with you alone at [RiNG] last time. As it stands now, the probability of the second outcome is definitely much higher."
Uika said, holding up a second finger.
"The second outcome is that she continues her activities as an idol, and her advances on you will also become more restrained... but restrained does not mean she's giving up. In fact, if she makes this choice, she'll become even more difficult to handle than she is now. After all, since she chose to stay on stage, it means she's not choosing temporary peace of mind, but a much longer-term relationship. And her advances will likely shift from the current, easy-to-understand 'suicide attacks' to a more unpredictable 'long-term war'."
At this, she turned her head to look at Tetsuya.
"For a principled person like you, Tetsuya-san, that kind of desperate self-sacrifice is clearly not very effective. But if she slows her assault and starts to formulate a serious strategy, with your current defenses being practically non-existent... I don't think you'll be able to resist."
"Hey... is it necessary to belittle me to that extent?"
"Because that's the truth."
Uika said, annoyed.
"I've told you before, haven't I? You are far too unaware of yourself. For now, you have the overt threat of Ai restraining others. If Ai's crisis is resolved, with the way you are now, who knows how much more trouble you'll attract!"
"I know I lack common sense in some areas, but I'm already trying to make up for it!"
Tetsuya quickly tried to explain himself.
"I've asked So... a girl I'm on good terms with to be my consultant. If I run into anything I don't understand, I'll be sure to ask her!"
"..."
Hearing this, Uika was stunned for a moment before asking:
"A girl you're on good terms with... are you sure it's just 'on good terms'?"
"I'm sure! Er... okay, for various reasons, the two of us have been in pretty close contact recently."
Remembering that strange contract and Soyo's prior declaration about moving, Tetsuya scratched his head, feeling a little uncertain.
"But she's one of the few people around me who will properly find fault with me!"
"...How did you ask her?"
"Eh? I just told her normally, 'For the sake of the future, I need someone I can discuss these things with. Would you be willing to continue being the person I consult with,' or something like that..."
Noticing that Uika's expression seemed to be growing more and more grim, Tetsuya couldn't help but blink in confusion.
"Er, is there a problem with saying that?"
"..."
No matter how one heard it, the request Tetsuya had made was filled with a misunderstanding-inducing vagueness and ambiguity.
Generally speaking, a girl who would agree to such a request was either a fool who understood nothing, just like him, or she was a "predator" who understood everything perfectly but wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to him.
Coupled with the premise Tetsuya had just mentioned, Uika was almost certain that the truth was the latter...
"Tetsuya-san."
"Hm?"
"While I'm still not yet defeated by your natural cluelessness, I need to add to my previous warning—"
Uika said to him in an incredibly serious tone:
"Even the girls you trust the most are not without the possibility of making a move on you. In fact, the more you trust them, the more likely they are to strike when you let your guard down!"
"..."
Although Tetsuya really wanted to say, "it's not that exaggerated," when he recalled Anon's confession from that night, he obediently shut his mouth.
"Alright, I'll be as careful as I can!"
"..."
Although she got an affirmative answer from him, Uika felt that at most, this person would only try to verbally persuade the other party when they made a move. To expect him to actually restrain the "dangerousness" that was already integrated into his life philosophy was, no matter how you looked at it, unrealistic...
(Sigh... if this goes on, will Sakiko even have a chance?)
Uika shook her head, thinking to herself.
(Right now, she's still fixated on becoming Tetsuya-san's equal. While I don't doubt she can do it, by the time she does, Tetsuya-san will probably have already been eaten clean.)
Hoshino Ai alone had nearly breached his defenses directly. If a few more people were added to the mix, the collapse of Tetsuya's defensive line would only be a matter of time.
...
"How about this, Tetsuya-san. I have a proposal."
To prevent Sakiko from getting her heart broken... and also for Tetsuya's own future.
Uika decided to intervene, just a little.
"How about adding me as one of those life consultants?"
"...Huh?"