I Just Want A Single Ending!

After Kita Ikuyo explained her situation, everyone around the table fell silent.

Kamigawa Saku just nodded, as if he'd expected this reaction.

Chihaya Anon was the first to speak up, though: "Pretending to be a couple? What's that all about? What would make you even consider doing something like that?"

Just when she'd felt reassured that nothing was going on between them, this "pretend couple" situation had her heart right back in her throat.

Sure, fake dating was easier to accept than the real thing, but still—she didn't want it to happen at all!

It was too intimate.

Well, unless she got to be the one pretending to date him…

"Would you mind telling us why you need to pretend to be a couple? That'll help us give the right advice."

Nijika Ijichi was just as curious about the reasons.

Ryo Yamada and Gotoh Hitori stayed silent, but they were definitely interested too.

"It's like this…"

Not seeing any reason to hide the details, Kita explained the situation fully.

"Oh, I see."

Nijika nodded thoughtfully once she was done.

"..."

Anon didn't know what to say.

She'd been there when Kita first asked Kamigawa about putting her picture online; back then, she hadn't imagined things would escalate this far.

If anything had gone even slightly wrong, none of this would even be necessary.

The situation reminded her of that time Kita and Kamigawa went to see a movie together.

Now here they were again, needing to play pretend… it was too strange!

What exactly did Kita Ikuyo think of Kamigawa, anyway?

"Well, if it's for an outing with your former classmates, just hold hands and then kiss once. That'll definitely keep anyone from doubting you're a real couple," Ryo suggested, completely serious.

If even that didn't convince people, then they'd have some incredible skeptics on their hands.

"No way!"

Kamigawa rejected the suggestion immediately.

Seriously?

Pretending to date meant that, maybe, if absolutely necessary, he could hold hands—but kissing was definitely out of the question.

Not to mention he'd never had his first kiss, and doing it just to play a role felt like it would spoil his dream of a pure single ending.

Honestly, not even holding hands would be ideal.

Seeing his strong reaction, Anon felt a huge sense of relief.

It seemed he had absolutely no interest in pretending to date Kita!

It was all Kita's fault for putting him in this position. Kamigawa was innocent, a victim of circumstance.

"Exactly, that's why I'm asking for suggestions!" Kita quickly retorted.

Of course, she knew kissing would erase all doubt, but they were just pretending, not a real couple.

Holding hands was one thing, but kissing was completely out of bounds.

"Then maybe you two should act a bit closer, like if Saku wiped your mouth during lunch or something," Nijika suggested. "I've seen scenes like that in TV dramas."

"That's a good idea."

Kita nodded in agreement.

Just wiping her mouth wasn't a big deal, and it was much easier to handle than kissing.

She turned to Anon with a hopeful look. "What about you, Anon? Do you have any ideas?"

"Nope." Anon put on a helpless expression, shaking her head. "I've never had a boyfriend, so I'm completely clueless about these things."

Sure, she could probably come up with quite a few ideas to make the two look like a real couple, but she wasn't about to share them.

If Kita was fake-dating anyone else, she'd be happy to give as much advice as possible.

She'd suggest things like matching outfits, wearing accessories with each other's names, or setting their phones to each other's pictures—there were plenty of ways to make it convincing.

But since that "boyfriend" was Kamigawa, no way. Not even as a fake couple!

If she gave those ideas, what would that make her? Helping the two look more convincing?

The best she could do was not protest outright—no way was she going to assist with this at all.

"Yeah, makes sense," Kita said, accepting her reasoning.

She hadn't dated anyone herself, so it was understandable.

Turning, she asked Hitori, "Gotoh, do you have any suggestions?"

"N-no, not really!"

Hitori shook her head vigorously.

Outings with classmates and pretending to be someone's girlfriend were so far outside her experience that she had no advice to offer.

"Then I guess we'll have to ask the adults for advice."

With that, Kita walked over to Seika and the PA manager.

"Can they really give helpful advice?" Nijika muttered, doubtful.

But when Kita finished explaining, their response was…

"Sorry, but I only went to high school for a year before I dropped out, so I never had a boyfriend or that kind of youthful experience," the PA manager said with an apologetic smile.

Seika nodded in agreement. "Same here—no experience in that area."

"Oh, I see."

Kita had thought they might have some mature insights to offer.

Guess she'd overestimated the difference age made.

"They're useless adults after all," Nijika remarked with a sigh.

"Speaking of which, Saku, do you have any suggestions?"

Seeing that no one else was able to help, Ryo turned her gaze to Kamigawa.

"Oh, right, we still haven't asked Kamigawa-senpai!"

Kita's eyes brightened, putting her last hope in him.

"Well…"

Kamigawa considered something.

Could he use his experience from gal games as a reference?

As a gal game master, he'd played through countless pretend-relationship scenarios.

However, reality wasn't a game, so he couldn't just copy everything directly.

"How about we pretend we're a couple who just started dating?" he suggested after a moment. "That way, even if we act a little awkward, it won't seem weird, and it lets us keep some distance."

After thinking it over, Kamigawa decided to rely on his gal game skills.

Did they really think all his gal game experience was for nothing?

Don't underestimate him!

"That sounds like a great plan," Anon quickly agreed.

If pretending to date was unavoidable, then keeping some distance would make it bearable.

A small mercy in an otherwise unfortunate situation.

---

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