Chapter 33.

Chapter 33. The Popular Girl who just wants to be friends. (2/5)

When Monday came around, I was in class when an unusual visitor appeared. A second-year girl who was all but too well known. When she entered the classroom at lunch, I put my head down so she wouldn’t notice me.

She’d unexpectedly come to pay a visit to my neighbor. It was the first time I’d ever seen Rosa interact with another girl. They seemed to be on pretty good terms. I was shocked.

Still, I did my best to remain undetected.

It would be a pain in the ass if she recognized me.

“Hey Rosa, by the way, who’s that in the seat beside you with their head down? Are they feeling sick or something? It doesn’t look like they’re doing too well. Should we call a teacher?” In the middle of their conversation, she suddenly asked that question as I cursed deep in my heart. Stop being so nice and caring damn it! You’re causing problems for me!

I clenched my fist tightly but maintained my silence and feigned I was asleep.

“Oh, him? Don’t worry about him, he’s fine. He just likes to sleep through lunch.” Rosa explained.

Thank you.

“Ah, I see. So that’s what it is.”

“You should just forget about him, he’s a guy who takes pleasure in playing around with girls' hearts. Rumour has it he’s currently dating ten girls at once. That’s why he’s sleeping all the time at lunch. It’s exhaustion built up from playing around too much.”

Hey, hey, hey! Who are we talking about now, Rosa? Please refrain from defaming my name and dragging it through the dirt.

“What? Really? T-Ten girls… at once?” Don’t go and seriously believe her!

“Hahaha, it’s a joke, a joke. Relax. This guy’s actually as harmless as a fly.”

Haaaaah. Please don’t make jokes that could get someone kill.

“You shouldn’t spread false rumors like that.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. But not all of it was made up though. It’s true that he’s a villain that takes pleasure in playing with a girl’s heart.”

“You still shouldn’t say things like that. It’s not nice.”

“Putting him aside... you mentioned you wanted to talk to me about something, right?” Rosa redirected their conversation to what appeared to be the true reason for their meeting.

“Uh… yeah, I did.”

“What is it exactly?”

“Well, I was sort of looking for someone.”

“Looking for someone? You? What for?”

“Well… the thing is... I don’t really know who they are.”

I didn’t like where this conversation was going at all.

“Someone that you of all people don’t know?”

“Yeah… I was surprised I didn’t know them myself. I thought I knew and met every student in the school by now.”

“I see. But I don’t know if this is something I’d be of much help with.”

“I think you’re actually the best person in this case.”

“Why?”

“The only thing I know about the person is that they’re a first-year.”

Hold up. Hold the fuck up! Isn’t there something strange about all this? I mean, a first-year she doesn’t know. And just now, didn’t she ask who was in the seat beside Rosa. If she knows everyone else in the school and then she asks who the person beside Rosa was, then had this girl not just found the target she was searching for? 

“Hmm. I see. I see. If it was a first-year girl you’re searching for, I’d prove to be useless… but if it was a first-year BOY, then it all makes sense. Could it be, the girl everyone has their eyes on has developed an eye for a first-year boy who she doesn’t even know the name of?”

“I-It’s nothing of the sort! It’s just it seemed like he was the type to not have any friends and I… wanted to befriend him is all.”

“Oh, I see. So that’s what it’s about. You felt pity for a lonely boy and wanted to befriend him.”

“It’s not out of pity or anything like that. I just thought that I wanted to become his friend.” She sounded truly sincere.

“I see.”

Please have mercy upon my poor soul. This girl is too nice for me to even look at. Why would she want to befriend a terrible guy who was such a dick to her? Was she secretly a masochist who enjoyed being abused by terrible men? Please, Miss, please do better in picking who you want to befriend.

“But have you ever considered the possibility that he doesn’t want to become friends with you and the feeling isn’t mutual?”

“Even then, I’d still like to become friends.”

This is truly an unpleasant development. I just want to be left to my own devices. If I befriended such a girl, my life would be far from desired. I can only imagine it would cause an endless stream of problems for me. My conclusion as such is simple, I absolutely cannot ever be friends with this girl. 

To me, she can be considered a mortal enemy. The yin to my yang. Two things that should never mix. If I was a shadow hidden amidst the dark night, she’d be best described as the light from the blazing sun.

Icarus who dreams of freedom, from unnecessary worries, should never fly too close to the sun lest the wax holding his wings together will melt and he will plummet and meet his demise.

“So, what exactly does this mysterious first year look like to catch your eye.”

“Uh… well, he has deep mysterious black eyes that don’t really match his age. He has black hair that hangs down over his forehead that partially covers his eyes. He’s about six feet tall and has a strong air of solitude around him.”

“Haha… is that so?” Rosa finally seemed to have caught on with that description and let out an awkward laugh.

“What is it? Did someone come to mind?”

“N-No… it’s just that they don’t sound like someone I’d expect to catch your eye.” Exactly, you tell her girl. 

“I see. Haaah.”

“Do you have nothing more than that to go off of?”

“Uh… well, it’s not that I don’t, but it’s not something I can show to others.” It seemed she was really keeping the promise she made with me.

Now that I think about it though, although she doesn’t know who’s seated beside Rosa, she can see that my hair is black. My hair is black, but there are a lot of other guys with black hair as well. So she might just think I’m one of the other guys she knows in the class, but as she wasn’t 100% sure which one, she asked who it was.

So… it seems that I might be safe after all.

That’s honestly a relief. But for the next little while, it’d be best to stay clear of the classroom. I might as well take the chance to take some days off and catch up on my writing. I’ve almost run out of my backlog of chapters to release due to using them up when helping Rosa study. I should really build my backlog up again and make some real progress on another volume to put up on Amazon.

The sales of the first volume haven’t been too bad for a brand new no-name author. But it would be in my best interest to make another series. Second volumes for no-name authors tend to do much worse than the first volume. At least, in the beginning, I’ll need to work with that in mind.

“You have something you can’t show others?”

“Yeah, I made a promise. I can’t break it.”

“I see. That makes things more difficult. Well, I’ll try and see if I can figure anything out.”

“Thanks, Rosa, you’re the best!”

To my side, it sounded like she gave Rosa a big appreciative hug.

“It’s no problem. Anything for you, someone who’s even willing to be friends with an unpleasant girl like me who can’t befriend any of the girls in her class.”

“You’re not unpleasant at all, the girls in your class just can’t understand how great you are. The guys seem to understand though.”

“Uh… no I think that’s for a different reason.”

“You mean because of how pretty you are? You’re saying they’re just after you for your looks, rather than the whole package of the precious girlfriend I adore so much?”

“Ah. Uh. Well, yeah, I guess.” Having been complimented on something other than her looks by another girl seemed to have gotten to her.

“The boys are just blind if they can’t appreciate your personality. If a boy comes after you just for your looks, make sure to tell me. I’ll definitely give them a good lecture about what they’re missing out on.”

“Haha. Thanks.” Rosa seemed to be in quite a good mood.

“No problem. No problem. I’ll always be there to back up my girls.”

Truly, a kind girl. Far too kind. To the point, I’m starting to feel it’s a bit abnormal. Does this girl even have a single enemy in this school? Or is she friends with everyone? If she is… it sounds rather unhealthy to me.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Having friends is definitely a healthy thing for normal people. But having too many friends can reach a point where it is unhealthy.

I opened my eyes slightly, keeping my head flat down against my desk. Could there actually be something wrong with this girl? Or am I just thinking about it too deeply?

KiraMinoru

Series Progress Report: 09/23/2021

Volume 4 is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Release date is set for October 31st. 

Volume 5 is 60% done, currently at 60k words.