Holy crap!?
Utaha couldn't really be holding a script in her hands, could she? She knew Rita wanted to use Mashiro's old art pieces to persuade people, so she turned around and handed Mashiro's current manga to her instead. Should this move be called striking first, or using her own methods against her?
Originally, after Sogo Doma had promised Mashiro he would help her reconcile with Rita and persuade the latter, he had considered using this very move. He hadn't expected Utaha to beat him to it.
"Utaha, you haven't been studying psychology lately, have you?"
"Huh? Sogo-kun, what are you talking about...?"
"If you haven't been studying psychology..." Sogo Doma said, "then this use of the whip and candy..."
"The whip and candy?"
"That's right..." Sogo Doma nodded. "Making the other person cry first is like giving them a whip, then immediately offering them candy—Mashiro's manga..."
"Tch..." Before he could finish, Utaha Kasumigaoka chuckled. "So in Sogo-kun's heart, I'm such a scheming woman? I see. As long as you hold that impression of me, then when you grow tired of me, you can dump—"
"Isn't it supposed to be 'girl'?"
"Huh?" Utaha Kasumigaoka froze for a moment before saying, "So, Sogo-kun admits that he..."
"Admits what?" Sogo Doma hurriedly cut in. "Utaha, in my short life, I've learned one truth: the more calculating a person is, the more easily they..."
"Sogo-kun..." Hearing that, Utaha Kasumigaoka broke into a cold sweat. "Are you seriously not done with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references yet?"
"Weren't you the one making references first?"
"When did I..."
"Even if it wasn't a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure reference..." Utaha Kasumigaoka had only just begun when Sogo Doma interrupted, "the loser-girl tropes and scheming-character tropes in GALGAMEs and romance novels..."
"Tch..." Utaha Kasumigaoka clicked her tongue again. "How