Volume 1 - CH 1.4

Translated by: Seiryuu

Revised by: Chocolala

Rumors spread in no time.

Of course. 20% of the boys in the class had a crush on her, 70% would say yes if she confessed, and the remaining 10% was said to be conflicted and didn’t know how it would turn out, but she got a boyfriend now. And it’s Yamato Izumi.

Of all my classmates, 20% would tilt their heads and say, “Who was that?”, another 70% would show their disinterest by saying “Oh, I remember now there’s that guy”, and the remaining 10% of the classmates would say, “He’s always looking at his phone alone, isn’t he?”, ruthlessly pointing out the fact that I was indeed a gloomy person through and though. 

There was no way this gap1 would not be talked about. Thanks to this, my once peaceful school life quickly turned into a bed of needles.

“I….don’t want to go to school.” On my way to school in the morning, I couldn’t help but mutter to myself. I haven’t felt like this since the May blues2. 

Two days had passed since I received the confession. Yesterday, Nanamine had easily revealed our relationship to the people around us and for the misdeed of causing a panic throughout the class, we were sentenced to being barraged by questions from them.

I escaped from being a target because I usually had too little presence, so I was able to run away, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case today.

“……Nanamine was questioned and questioned until she could answer no more.” Naturally, the public will turn to me for new stimulation.

“Good morning, Yamato-kun!” As I was in a depressed mood, I suddenly heard a cheerful greeting from ahead. It was Nanamine, as expected.

“……Good morning.” I returned the greeting with low spirits. No surprise there. After all, the two of us had agreed to meet here.

“What? You’ve met your girlfriend, you should be happier!” Nanamine’s lips pouted, and she lightly made a fist and smacked me on the stomach. 

From the outside, I wonder if this looks like a couple flirting.

“Yes, yes, I’m happy to see my girlfriend’s pretty face again this morning.” Just enough to answer her request, I expressed my ‘joy’ with words, Nanamine looked disappointed and narrowed the distance between us.

“……Hey you. I’ll properly give you the reward, so do it seriously… It’s only for when you succeed, so if you fail, I won’t give it to you.” Nanamine whispered to me from a distance so close that her breath hung in my ears. The sudden proximity and the softly wafting scent of shampoo startled me.

“Okay I got it, get away from me, Nanamine!” When I tried to open the distance with a high-pitched voice, Nanamine was dumbfounded, then approached me with a nasty smile on her face.

“Ho…Hohoho…….You appeared to have zero interest in me, but isn’t your heart beating quickly now? Hey, hey, am I cute? Did your heart thump? You’re about to develop real feelings for me?”

“You’re even more annoying than I thought!” I forced myself to take a step away from Nanamine, who was giving me a deliberate upward glance at close range.

“Even if you are embarrassed. Come on, get closer ” Nanamine beckoned to me with a triumphant look on his face. This girl was exquisitely annoying.

“I’ll tell you what, I’m not interested in your personality, it was just that you’re so good-looking that I get a physiological thrill when you suddenly approach me. Just keep in mind that only your face and body can make me excited.”

“Oh my God, that’s the worst thing you can say to your own girlfriend! You’re the worst boyfriend!” Even Nanamine, as expected, was taken aback by my immoral statement.

“Anyway, I’ll try to keep up appearances in public, no need to be so flirty with each other.” As I said this, I put the distance between me and Nanamine back up. I can’t breathe into her ear, but we’re close enough to touch shoulder to shoulder. This would make us look like we were dating.

“Yes. Geez…… If we’re going to do this, don’t you think we should have a good time?”

“I do think so. That’s why I try not to get closer than necessary. “

“……That sounds like you’re saying you don’t enjoy being with me?” Nanamine stared sideways at me, I cowered silently in response.

“You’re such a rude man.” *smack* Nanamine formed a fist again and hit me with a light one-two punch to my shoulder.

“I give up, I give up. That was my fault. Being with Nanamine is the most enjoyable thing in the world. “

“Hmph. It’s best if you know that.” Nanamine gave a satisfied smile at my surrender. 

It would be embarrassing for me if we were to be a clingy couple, but I felt strangely comfortable talking with her with this sense of distance. To say that our compatibility is high….. Not really. It was just that Nanamine was really good at matching her pace with others. So I kind of understood a little why this girl was always at the center of the circle of people.

“Oh, yes, Yamato-kun. From now on, you can call me Yuzu. We’re originally a very unlikely couple, so if we expose any fault, everyone will know our relationship is actually a lie. I’m making an effort to make us appear lovey-dovey even a bit.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll be careful.” I nodded and looked forward again.

……However, the hot stare from beside me still didn’t stop for some reason.

“Ji…….” In addition, she deliberately voiced out the onomatopoeia.

“…What is it?” I asked as I couldn’t stand the strange atmosphere, with upturned eyes, Nanamine looked into my face with an inviting look.

“In such a situation, aren’t you supposed to actually say it out?”

“Is that even necessary?”

“It’s an important rite of passage.” Nanamine said so seriously that I ended up feeling like that too. 

‘It can’t be helped if it’s a rite of passage.’

I took a deep breath and stared back at Nanamine, who was staring at me.

“……Yuzu.” I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but when I actually called her, it was unexpectedly embarrassing. 

But when Nanamine—no, Yuzu, heard my words, her expression brightened.

“Yeah! It feels good, Yamato-kun!”

“Well, good then.” Embarrassed, I averted my gaze in a blunt manner.

‘……Geez, it seems that dating a girl is a lot harder than I thought..’ The two of us walked to the classroom together, and sure enough, the whole classroom was staring at us with their piercing gazes.

“Good morning, everyone. See you later, Yamato-kun.”

“Alright.” 

Yuzu and I waved at each other and headed for our seats. Normally, everyone would have stopped looking at me at that point, but today, even after I had sat down and started looking at my phone, I couldn’t get rid of the piercing stares.

“Hey, Izumi. What are you looking at?” On the contrary, someone came to my desk and started talking to me. 

When I raised my face, there was a guy who seemed to have high communicative skills. He was one of the boys in the same group as Yuzu, his name was……um, Namase? I’m sure it was something like that. Needless to say, I had never spoken to him before.

“… It’s an e-book.”

“Wow. What do you read? Novels?”3

“I’m reading ‘Frankenstein’.”

“Oh, that famous one! Well, what’s that story about?” I didn’t intend to have a conversation with him at all and just responded to him with a few words, but he responded well and tried to connect with me. This guy was tough.

“It’s a story about a monster killing its creator and his relatives.”

“Well, is it that gore-y? Seriously, it looks fun. I should read it too.” I know people who say these things never read them. So I waited for him to get straight to the point without actually getting into the book topic he was not interested in.

“By the way, Izumi, is it true that you’re going out with Yuzu-chan?” As if sensing that the conversation was about to be cut short, Namase cut in before the place was enveloped in silence.

“Oh. Did you hear that from Yuzu?” I gave him a quick nod, and Namases eyes widened in surprise.

“Wow, you’re serious. I thought Yuzu-cchi was joking.”

“Well, I can understand how you feel. We don’t seem to have any connection at all, do we?” I intentionally mentioned the part that Namase had doubts. It would be easier in the long run if we just lay everything out than leave them in suspicions.

“Yes, that. Where did you two get so close?”

“We used to meet sometimes at the library. We had the same taste in books, so we just kind of…” This was ‘the beginning of our relationship’ that we had made up in advance.

“Hmm… library. That’s why others in the class don’t know. “

“I guess so. Well, it’s no wonder you didn’t know about us before, since you never bothered to bring me up in your conversations.” As I answered, the chime rang, signaling morning homeroom.

“Oh, no. See you later, Izumi.”

“Yeah” Namase returns to his seat. The other students were curious about his findings after he managed to  interview me, and those who were close to him seemed to be whispering something to him.

Well, did I do a good job in convincing him?

Relieved that I had finished a task, I looked down at my e-book again.

Seiryuu: I hope you like my translation! More parts will be posted soon! Liven up the comments and don’t forget to read The SS (Side Stories) Translated by chocolala, they are super cute and fun!

If you like my translation, consider sending Kofis to foxaholic including my name~