Liar, Liar - Volume 5 - Chapter 1.2

“That is exactly what I’m trying to say, Ms. Evil Vixen. Would you put your hand on your chest and swear otherwise?”

“Well, sure. It’s not as filled out as yours, but it feels nice enough. Or did you want to give it a feel?”

“I…I wasn’t talking about that,” Himeji quietly protested, cheeks blushing slightly.

The provost pushed down on her breasts a little with one hand and chuckled amusedly at Himeji’s reaction. “Heh-heh… Sorry, sorry, not trying to bully you. But this time, at least, I’m not lying at all, Shirayuki. All of this is news to me, from start to finish.”

“Is it…? Really?”

“Swear to God… But maybe you’d feel better if it was a prank, huh?”

“…! That’s…”

Himeji took a step forward, her voice shrill with agitation, but then stopped herself. “E-excuse me,” she said quietly, then returned to her seat with a downcast look. “Master, um…”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

That stare from her deep blue eyes brought me back to my senses. I turned toward the provost once again, straightening my posture a bit and deliberately clearing my throat.

“Ahem! Well, it’s clear that this special Game isn’t a prank on your part. But if that’s the case, there’s something pretty odd about it.”

I stopped talking and took my device out from my pocket. I looked down at it as my thumb worked away, opening and projecting the DearScript gamebook app. I had already told the provost about the rules and game setup, but apart from that, there was also this text under the Orders section of page 0.

Order: Wage a Unique Star competition against Sarasa Saionji, the Six Star from Ohga.

Additional Information: From this point forward, three different “love counseling” quests will be offered by DearScript. You and Sarasa Saionji will tackle these challenges and aim to achieve the victory conditions set for each quest. The player who completes two quests first will be the overall winner of the Unique Star competition and will be granted rights to the purple star lost by Tsugumi Shiina during ASTRAL.

Your DearScript will begin upon acceptance of this order.

…A Unique Star competition.

When I’d first seen those words pop up, they’d seemed to come out of nowhere, but reading on, the intention was clear. Basically, we’d be fighting over who’d be awarded the Unique Star Shiina possessed. She had screwed up ASTRAL through a mix of cheating and natural talent, but since she had been acquitted of any wrongdoing, her Unique Star was still on the board, so to speak. It hadn’t been confiscated or invalidated by the authorities.

We’d be competing for it, I guess… But before that, I suppose I should explain the other person name-checked in that passage: Sarasa Saionji, the Empress and ever-victorious Six Star student from Ohga. She had been living on the outrageously untrue pretense that she was the daughter of Masamune Saionji, the most powerful person in the Academy—and now that her lie kind of got intertwined with mine, we have to work together to keep them going, even though we’re bitter rivals in public. That makes us coconspirators of sorts, and it’s the weirdest relationship I’ve ever been in.

In the latter half of ASTRAL, Saionji and I wound up in a duel with Shiina. We were playing Crossboard against each other, a Game within the Game, and for me, it was a sort of proxy battle against Mikado Kurahashi as well. It ended with Shiina’s defeat, and with that, she had lost her specially colored Unique Star…which is all well and good, but no winner had been crowned in that match yet, exactly. Shiina had been eliminated ahead of us, but neither me nor Saionji had satisfied the victory conditions for that Game. Thus, Shiina’s purple star was kept in escrow for now.

Usually, the Eimei and Ohga Schools would work out what to do with it between themselves…but these were Unique Stars, and only about a dozen were known to exist island-wide. It was a vital star for both of us—it’d get me closer to becoming a true Seven Star, and it’d restore Saionji to her former glory as a Unique Star holder. Neither of us would be giving up our claim on it that easily, and apparently the provosts of both schools were still trying to flesh out some sort of agreement.

“So…”

After re-examining the situation in my mind, I quietly raised my face.

“I knew Eimei and Ohga were still arguing over what to do with the Unique Star,” I mused, a finger to my lips. “But isn’t it weird that someone on the outside knows about that? And we’re being ordered to fight for that star…but that’s not really something that should be based on my decision alone, is it? That’s why I thought, you know, maybe you were involved, Provost.”

Really, my gut feeling about all this was a mixture of doubt and distress. I mean, even if I wanted to join this DearScript thing, I’d need the permission of Eimei, Ohga, and Saionji herself. This was a serious issue involving the awarding of a Unique Star, and I really didn’t think it’d go that easily.

“…Heh. This sure takes me back,” said the provost out of nowhere, looking at the screen while half-listening to my words. Before I could react in any way, she folded her arms over her ample chest, taking a contemplative pose.

“DearScript—a unique Game where neither side wagers a star. Yes…that certainly is convenient.”

“…Convenient?”

“Absolutely. Look at it like this, won’t you? We need to decide whether you or the Empress is awarded the Unique Star, and the most natural way to do that is through a Game. That’s the custom this whole island runs on. But, as I’m sure you know, Shinohara, it’s absolutely impossible for Eimei to propose something like this. You’re in a position where you’re socially dead if you even lose once—pitting you against the Empress is literal suicide. There’s just too much potential risk if you lost.”

“Mmm… But, Ms. Evil Vixen, do you think Ohga would even want to stage a Game, much less Eimei?”

“Yeah, I doubt that, too. The Empress has just lost their Seven Star—if she went down another rank this quickly, it’d be a huge blow to their reputation. It gives her a chance to regain the crown if she won, but in Ohga’s eyes, Hiroto Shinohara really is a Seven Star—with three Uniques, no less. I don’t think they’d try anything rash against a clearly superior foe like that.”

“Ah, yes,” nodded Himeji next to me, satisfied by Natsume’s explanation. And while Saionji knew about my lies and didn’t think I was even one iota superior to her, it was still clear that her side wanted to avoid a Game against me at all costs. Because of the complex interactions between our lies, both Saionji and I were doomed if either of us lost. The idea of us having a Game where one of us won and the other lost wasn’t an option to begin with.

But…

“That’s exactly why I said this proposal is so convenient for us. Having a regular Game would be suicidal, without a doubt, but with DearScript, being defeated doesn’t cost any stars. It’s fair, it’s safe, and it’d be entertaining for the audience, too. Perfect in every way, pretty much.”

“…Yeah, true,” I muttered quietly in agreement. Since no stars would change hands between us, the whole “defeat = instant death” equation didn’t apply…and that made a clash between me and Saionji seem a lot more realistic now. In a way, DearScript was pretty convenient for all sides involved.

Then, with a sudden “Just wait one moment,” the provost got up off her seat. Her heels clacked as she returned to the desk on the other side of the room. Waking up her computer, she began typing something at high speed.

“I’m going to share what we know so far with the provost of Ohga. It’s not a bad offer for them, either. I’m willing to bet they’ll be on board—hmm?”

“…? What’s wrong, Ms. Evil Vixen? That sounded like a very deliberate ‘hmm?’ there.”

“You never go easy on me, do you, Shirayuki? …Well, Ohga wasted no time sending a reply over. I guess the Empress is already taking action on this, too. They asked if they could have an online conference between you and her, with both provosts in attendance.”

“…Huh? What do you mean, Saionji’s already taking action?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I think I have a good idea of what’s up… Heh-heh! Now it’s starting to get interesting.”

A ferocious grin was on the provost’s face as she returned to the table, laptop in hand. She turned the screen around toward us. It was already running a video chat app, which showed two women visible in little windows. One was an elegant older lady, presumably the provost of Ohga, and the other a beautiful girl in a school uniform with luxuriant red hair and shining, strong-willed eyes of jade—Sarasa Saionji.

“…Um? Are we on? Hello? Can you hear me, Shinohara?”

There, on the screen, Saionji had her head tilted slightly as she reached out to me—or her device, I guess, to adjust the volume. I flashed my usual smile in response and spoke into the microphone.

“…Hey, Saionji. Long time no see.”

“Oh, I can hear you. Hello to you, Shinohara…but do you think ‘Long time no see’ is an appropriate way to greet me? We were working together in ASTRAL just a few days ago.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, when you put it like that. We were seeing each other daily at that event, so maybe that threw my senses off a little.”

“Hmmm? Feeling lonely now that you’ve got nobody to pay attention to you?”

“Nah, it’s more like a sense of relief that I don’t have to see you any longer.”

“Well, I feel the exact same way… Hee-hee! But regardless.”

Saionji placed her right hand on her hip—the classic Empress pose, brimming with confidence. Her lips seemed to hold just a hint of a smile as her ruby-red eyes looked at me.

“So I guess you received a request for this DearScript game as well?”

“Huh? …Oh. This is about that, huh?”

A beat later, and it all dawned on me: Saionji hadn’t been named merely as my opponent in this Unique Star competition—she was an active participant as well. Within this gamebook format, we’d be scrambling against each other for the purple star. No wonder we were both taking action at the same time like this.

Saionji smiled at me from the other side of the chat. “This looks like a Game request from the person you’re looking for, doesn’t it? She even gave me a little greeting message, too. Hee-hee! Isn’t that nice she didn’t leave me out? Still, I’ve also been offered a rather tempting reward, so I’m not about to give up the Game that easily.”

“Yeah, and I’m not gonna hand it over to you, either. So what’s the order on your page 0?”

“To stage a Unique Star competition against Hiroto Shinohara, the Seven Star from Eimei. It’s a little unnerving, how this gamemaster seems to know what’s going on with us, but it certainly benefits both of us, don’t you think? If my Unique Star is kept in limbo like this for too long, people at Ohga will start to worry.”

“I’ll bet. I’m sure a lot of folks at Eimei are interested as well. I really oughta make it clear soon that it’s my star.”

We were both trying to get each other riled up, but clearly Saionji and I were both eager to join in on this. When I’d first seen that command to stage a Unique Star competition, it hadn’t seemed at all real to me, but in the end, things got worked out pretty quickly between us.

I don’t know how far the gamemaster planned this out, though…

Either way, after coming this far, there was no reason at all to hesitate.

“Hah! Well, Saionji, let’s make it a clean competition, okay?”

“Oh, I’m not so sure I can agree to that! I’m not the type to pull my punches. Especially against you.”

The dauntless smiles remained on our faces the whole time as we glared at each other through the chat app. Then, as if swearing some kind of oath, we chose to accept the order on our devices at the exact same time.

And there you have it. That was how the Unique Star competition between Saionji and me officially began—and with it, the Game of DearScript, a special competition that would lead to my childhood friend.

The night after Saionji and I had our heated exchange, we gathered in my living room to check the next page that had been added to my DearScript app right after I agreed to the order on page 0. By we, I mean Himeji and one other person—Kagaya, the pretty but unkempt head of electronics at the Company, and a woman who constantly looked like she had just gotten out of bed. We were going to hold a strategy meeting as soon as we’d looked it over, so she was joining us from the beginning this time.

“Okay, ready for me to open it up?”

“Yes, Master. Go ahead.”

At Himeji’s nod, I nervously tapped the device with my finger. Then, with a little fwip, the DearScript app opened up the next page. Just like on the previous one, the first half of it was devoted to describing the current situation.

Unique Star Competition – First Quest

Client: Yuuka Mano Assigned to: Sarasa Saionji

Quest: “I want to confess my affections to Keiya Fujishiro, a Six Star from the Ohga School. To do that, I want to get a limited-edition plate from Café du Chocolat, which opens this week in the Third Ward.”

Victory Conditions (Sarasa Saionji): Obtain the limited-edition plate at Café du Chocolat’s grand opening event on May 23 and give it to the client.

Victory Conditions (Hiroto Shinohara): Prevent Sarasa Saionji from achieving her victory conditions.

“…Ahh, I see. This is the format?”

Himeji looked up from the screen after gazing at it for a few moments.

“In DearScript, you’re given a romance-related problem to assist with, and each player is given their own set of victory conditions. Whoever accomplishes theirs first wins the quest…”

“Yep, it sure looks that way. I guess the Empress is the main target of this quest, so Hiro’s more like a blocker here? Eh-heh-heh! Those are the rules and all, but it sucks that you’re playing the villain so soon, huh?”

“You’re right… I mean, why would you deliberately try to obstruct someone if this is about helping people with their relationships?”

I shrugged. Taken by itself, it felt to me like there was some malicious intent to this Game after all…but then again, the gamemaster of DearScript was making me play this crazy Game just to meet her, so maybe she was the type who sees creating these sorts of clashes as just adding spice to the proceedings.

Incidentally, it seemed like the quests shown by DearScript were based on the most recent relationship-advice requests posted on Meetia, an account on STOC. I looked into Meetia a little bit, and it’s a pretty famous account, almost like an urban legend sort of thing. The account owner barely replies to any of the posts, but when they do, they complete the request perfectly. I suppose whoever runs that account has some kind of connection with the DearScript gamemaster, and there was even a notice on my app stating that the clients had been informed of the Unique Star competition and agreed to be part of it.

“There’s a message from the client as well… Let’s take a look at it.”

I tapped on another section toward the bottom of the page. A new window opened up, showing a video file, which automatically began playing. It showed a girl I didn’t recognize wearing an Ohga School uniform. She wasn’t flashy looks-wise but at least cute enough that I was sure she was decently popular in her class.

The girl stared straight at the camera and began to speak softly.

“Um… Is this on? I think I set it up like they told me to, but this is kind of a first for me, so… We’re good? Okay, great.

“So… Ah-hem! My name is Yuuka Mano. I’m a second-year at the Ohga School, and I…I’m kind of in love with this guy. Keiya Fujishiro, another second-year… Do you know him? He’s a Six Star, which puts him pretty much in the upper class of Ohga. He’s got blond hair, a bunch of piercings…looks kind of rough, I guess? People call him the Final Weapon of Ohga.

“So, like, I know I’m totally not a good match for him at all. I’m a Three Star, and I get the idea that Fujishiro isn’t really interested in having a girlfriend or whatever…but still, I at least wanna tell him how I feel. It’s kinda hard for me to drum up the courage, though.

“So I looked around, and I found this thing someone posted called ‘The Magic of Café du Chocolat.’ And…like, I’m not talking about magic from games or fantasy novels or whatever, but, like, there’s this little chain of places called Café du Chocolat, and they’ve got this super high-end thing you can buy. It includes this special card that comes with a message on it…but it’s printed on this, like, metal plate, and if you bring that with you and tell the guy you like how you feel, he’s guaranteed to start dating you. At least that’s the story anyway. All the girls in class are going crazy about these message plates—like, supposedly, they go for nearly a hundred thousand yen if you wanna buy one secondhand.

“…So anyway! They’re opening up a Café du Chocolat here on the Academy, and during their grand-opening day, they’re running this thing where if you win a little contest, you’ll get this limited-edition message plate for free. So, like, I sent a message to Meetia about it…and I can’t believe I got a reply at the exact perfect timing… It really feels like fate, kinda, you know? I don’t believe in magic or whatever, but maybe this is the exact kind of push I need.

“So please…give me the courage to tell Fujishiro that I like him. ’Cuz, like, I don’t have a hundred thousand yen, but I can definitely pay you back in some way later!”

“““…”””

That was the end of the message.

Kagaya, arms folded over her usual tracksuit, sullenly nodded. “Hmm… She’s cute, too. You’re gonna be a total villain, Hiro.”

“Oh, lay off. And not necessarily, you know. My only job here is to make sure Saionji doesn’t receive that plate. I could always grab it and give it to Mano instead.”

“Yes,” said Himeji as she brushed her hair back, “fair enough. That’d be the most ideal resolution, I suppose.” She quietly raised her clear blue eyes. “This ‘Magic of Café du Chocolat’ thing is a pretty well-known story. It gets referenced a lot in magazines and so on. Apparently, there’s this very well-known cheesecake—it’s actually named the Legendary Cheesecake—and it’s sold only for limited periods at a time. They put it in a box with a silver plate with a message engraved on it: ‘May this day never be forgotten by either of you,’ kind of like it’s wishing the customer good luck in love.”

“Wow. It’s that famous, huh? Um, so what about this Keiya Fujishiro guy?”

“He’s famous in his own way, too. Among the second-years in the Ohga School, he’s reputedly second only to the Empress in talent. People call him the ‘Ace Behind the Curtain,’ though, because he almost never shows up to any public events. He’s part of the highest-achieving class for his year at Ohga, and he reached Five Star in just his first year at the school. His sixth star was awarded early this school year.”

“Okay.”

“The ‘Final Weapon of Ohga’ nickname stems from his coercive, lone-wolf demeanor, but he plays his Games with efficient, dazzling style. He’s sharp-witted, with almost a sixth sense for guessing his opponents’ moves, and he uses his athletic talents to silence foes in one fell swoop. He’s smart, too, but in Games involving physical skills, he’s among the best in the Academy.”

“…Whoa. Scary.”

I couldn’t help but be honest. This was crazier than I had anticipated. We were focused on Mano’s love issues this time, so I’d only be tangentially involved with him, but if I ever came up against him in a Game, I could just tell I was going to have a hard time.

Himeji nodded in agreement. “That’s right,” she said in her calm, clear voice. “He almost never shows up in team events like ASTRAL, in part because he’s feared by both foes and allies alike. But in individual off-campus battles, he almost always puts up good results. The strong, solitary type, if you will. Apparently, he doesn’t hang out much with other people, either, and he’s always alone.”

“Wow… Now I’m amazed this Mano girl wants to try netting him. I get that he’s strong and acts cool, but it’d take a lot of courage to approach him. I mean, I’m sure she must see something in him…”

I shook my head. This conversation was starting to get derailed.

“Anyway, it’s pretty clear what we need to do, at least. I’ll just keep Saionji from getting that limited-edition thing at the grand opening next week. I don’t even need to be there per se, but there’s no point in missing it, either.”

“That’s true, Master. Looking at the description, all Ms. Sarasa needs to do to complete the quest is give Mano the plate, so our safest bet is you procuring it for yourself first.”

“Yeah. But what worries me is…”

I stopped talking for a moment as I scrolled down to the bottom of the page on my device. Our orders were printed there, along with some related information—which was fine and all, but when you took a closer look:

“Here are the rules for Rainbow Pâtisserie, the grand-opening event for Café du Chocolat… How did she get her hands on these? The café hasn’t even released them yet on their official site.”

That was the thing; page 1 of DearScript contained not only information about Yuuka Mano’s request but also detailed rules for an exclusive event. I didn’t give it much thought at first, but now that I’d gotten curious, I went on Café du Chocolat’s website, where all it said was that the rules would be released on opening-day morning. DearScript was giving us info that hadn’t even been released to the public yet.

Kagaya, staring intently at the tablet in her own hands, groaned. “I just poked around a bit, but I don’t think even I could break into the Café du Chocolat server and extract the rules from it. The gamemaster having this kind of data is clearly illegal…but if she didn’t steal it, does she maybe have high enough access rights to get it?”

“That or she’s just involved with the event, I suppose. Maybe she’s a test player, or maybe she was the one who made up the rules in the first place. Either way, this is no mere high schooler we’re dealing with.”

“…”

Their speculation silenced me. They were right… This was the same gamemaster who’d convinced me and Saionji to agree to this Unique Star competition with barely an afterthought—clearly she was no fool. Between that and the nature of this gamebook, doling out one order after the other, it was starting to feel like she was making us dance on the palm of her hand. But there was no backing out of it now.

“…Well, if we know the rules, we can formulate a strategy. How about we get that meeting started? I get the feeling this order is gonna be pretty tricky.”

I glanced down at my device’s screen as I spoke, and my eyes settled on the first order written on the bottom of the page.

Order: During the Rainbow Pâtisserie event, your identity as Hiroto Shinohara must not be revealed to anyone besides people involved with DearScript.

It was now well into the night.

Today’s strategy meeting had ended on a high note. Unlike the 4WC and May Interschool Competition, DearScript had given us a pretty reasonable amount of time to work with. It was kind of a unique Game in that sense, and it also kept me from getting challenged to Games by other people in the meantime, allowing us to carefully tackle each quest as we received them.

We know all the rules. Now we need to work out which Abilities I should choose, and how we’re gonna win this.

I sat on the edge of my bed, yawning a bit as I pondered over this… The first part of this Unique Star competition involved a request to help Yuuka Mano out with her love life. It was an interesting challenge, to be sure, but it would also be a key moment within the Game, considering it was a best-of-three competition. Win, and I’d be just one step away from taking the whole thing—and since I was fighting Saionji here, I really wanted to score a victory.

We haven’t really had a proper one-on-one Game since that very first one, have we—hmm?

My unresolved thoughts were interrupted by a muffled knock on the door. Looking at the device in my hand, I saw it was already past midnight. Kagaya had long since gone home and was probably lying on her couch and watching videos or something by now, so there was only really one person this visitor could be.

“…Himeji? What’s up?”

“Ah…um, Master, do you mind if I come in?”

“No, of course not,” I replied immediately.

“Excuse me, then,” she politely whispered as she pushed the door open with a click and entered my room. She must have already bathed, because she was dressed not in her maid uniform, but a pair of thin pajamas with a cardigan over the top. It was rare to see Himeji in something this casual in the first place, but the pajamas in particular were pretty mind-blowing to me. The way they accentuated her chest left me totally defenseless.

“…? Master?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Himeji raised an eyebrow, seeing me suddenly freeze to the spot, but I waved both hands at her, laughing it off. She nodded, apparently believing me.

“All right. Um…so, Master…”

“Yes?”

“…Umm…can I sit next to you for a bit?”

“Huh?”

There was something furtive in her voice as she looked up at me, which caught me off guard, but I found a way to nod my consent.

“Thank you very much,” she said, bowing her head as she approached. She padded her way to the bed, bare feet against the floor, then spun around and settled down next to me.

“…I’m very sorry, Master, for visiting your room at this hour.”

“N-no, that’s fine…”

I couldn’t read what she was here for, and it was starting to make me feel flustered. What was it? Had something happened? I tried to think normally, but my heartbeat was too loud to concentrate. Whenever she adjusted her seating position, even a little, I caught a whiff of a sweet, shampoo-like scent, and all the exposed flesh compared to her maid uniform made it difficult to figure out where to look.

But Himeji, oblivious to my inner thoughts, brushed her silvery hair back.

“To tell the truth, Master, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“There is?”

“Yes. It’s about this Game, DearScript. The gamemaster is likely your childhood friend, the person you moved from Japan to the Academy to search for. Someone very important to you.”

“…? Yeah, most likely.”

“And she’s a woman, too.”

“…That, umm, how should I put this…?”

For some reason, Himeji was quietly, carefully choosing her words, placing the strongest emphasis on that part. Shifting position slightly, she brought her face closer to mine, her clear blue eyes peering into my own.

“But…that’s all right… Or, no, it’s not all right, but I have enough good sense to say it is. Just tell me…one thing, please. I imagine your goal here was to reunite with this person. So if you win DearScript and achieve that goal…”

After saying that much, Himeji suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She looked anxious, like something was tormenting her. Her lips shook for a bit, but she never did finish that sentence.

“…No,” she said with a faint smile. “Actually, never mind.”

“Hmmm hm hmm.  ”

The girl was happily humming to herself as she stared at her device.

Here was DearScript, a special Game for an important man in her life. Her offer had been accepted, and the first quest was already underway. The difficulty level of this order was pretty high, she thought, so she was sure he was worrying himself sick over it by now.

“Maybe that was a little mean of me…but that’s fine. I know Hiroto will find a way to beat it.”

There was a note of confidence in her whispered voice. Hiroto Shinohara, the man she loved, would have no problem overcoming something like this. Besides, it had been so long since they last saw each other that he could at least show off a bit for her while he was at it.

“If I’m gonna do this, I can’t go easy on him. There’s no point in setting the bar too low. The bigger the obstacles, the better.”

Still in a good mood, she turned off her device. From here on out, there’d be no reason for her to take any more unnecessary steps. If she just waited, he’d come right to her.

So…

“…Try your hardest to find me, all right?”

Her face filled with an angelic smile that would make anyone fall in love with her.