play up to

Naoki Matayoshiの 'spark' を読んでいます。

Until now I never seriously considered the possibility of people being prejudiced agaist Kamiya for hanging out with someone as boring and troublesome as me, and calling him a hypocrite for it. I thought Kamiya and I were the same--incapable of playing up to others--but that wasn't so.

Phrasal Verbとしての "play up" で幾つかの異なる用法が出ていましたが、上記の文脈にピッタリする意味では使われていませんでした。 "play up to" で調べなおすとありました。

・Collins Dictionary: to try to please by flattery, etc.: We have to play up to Schrader if we're going to have any chance of getting invited to his party tomorrow night, you know that.

・Macmillan Dictionary: to behave in a very friendly or polite way to someone because you want them to like you or to do something for you: He took great pains to play up to Joan’s mother.
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To try to win the favor of one, especially in order to gain an advantage.: John's been playing up to the boss so he'll be considered for the promotion.