Volume 1 - CH 2.1

Episode 2: Ryuuzaki Ryouma, “The hero”

I woke up, seemingly still in a trance.

“…I became friends with Shimotsuki-san.”

Yesterday was a very happy day, so much so that I thought all the events were a lie. Even after a day, I could still feel that sense of happiness.

“Good.”

The morning was even more refreshing than usual.

I slapped my cheeks vigorously to get myself going for the day.

Somehow, I had a feeling that today would be a good day.

Feeling good, I got ready and went to school.

When I arrived in the classroom, I was unconsciously looking for her.

It seems that…Shimotsuki-san hasn’t arrived yet.

I sat down, feeling slightly disappointed.

I was seated at the end of the corridor, where the least sunshine shines through.

“Hey, Nakayama. Good morning.”

The male student sitting right in front called out to me.

His name was Hanagishi Souma. He was a good-looking young man with a shaved head and a basketball club member.

He was also one of my few friends.

“Yes, good morning Hanagishi-san. It’s great to see you studying so early in the morning.”

“No, no, I’m just working on an assignment. Well, I don’t really know how to do it, so I’m just looking at it.”

On Hanagishi-san’s desk was a printout of a math assignment.

The printout was full of blank spaces, and only his name, which was written messily, stood out.

“Shall I teach you?”

Yesterday, after making friends with Shimotsuki-san and dropping her off at night because the streets were too dangerous, I headed home to solve my math assignment. I thought I could teach him some of it or let him copy it if he wanted to, but Hanagishi-san just shook his head as if he’d given up.

“I give up. I’ll just happily hand her the blank sheet of paper. Though that’ll make the teacher more angry than happy, am I right?”

“I see.”

If he’s decided to do this so gallantly, then it isn’t in my best interests to interfere.

As I was exchanging light morning greetings with him, ‘they’ arrived at the classroom.

“Hey, it’s hot, don’t touch me. I’ll get sticky!”

“Hmm~. Just let me touch you a little.”

“But you touched her too much, Azusa-chan. It’s not fair.”

“Azu-chan is so good at pampering. Hey, why don’t you do me next time?”

“Oh, you’re not going to respect my wishes?”

The “Ryuuzaki Ryouma” harem group enters the classroom.

In an instant, the noise level increased right away. The group was as conspicuous as ever.

“Ah, what a busy morning it is…I’m so envious of their everyday morning antics.”

Hanagishi-san sees this and lowers the volume of his voice.

“Ryuuzaki-san is really popular, isn’t he? I think his face is pretty good looking…but that doesn’t mean he’s at the level of a celebrity, so why is he so well-liked?”

I want to know the answer to that as well.

Ryuuzaki-san certainly seems like a nice guy. His face isn’t half bad, he can exercise, and he studies reasonably well.

But there’s nothing outstanding about him.

At least, I don’t think he has the status to form a harem.

It would be more convincing to say that the girl’s minds are being manipulated by some unforeseen force──hence why he’s so unusually popular.

Perhaps he really is the 『hero』of some romantic comedy. If that’s the case, then I’m convinced that they like him merely because of opportunism.

Well…whispering behind his back like this won’t mean anything.

So I returned a vague smile to Hanagaishi’s words and passed on the topic.

It was just then.

“──Ah”

Suddenly, a silvery white-haired girl appeared in my vision.

It was Shimotsuki-san.

She came in through the door at the front of the classroom.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Following my gaze, Hanagishi-san also turns his attention towards Shimotsuki-san.

“Ah, Shimotsuki-san. She looks like she’s in a bad mood today too.”

Hanagishi-san looked at her and laughed in amazement.

“That face is just crazy… I can’t even imagine confessing to her or anything like that.”

This was the general perception of the girl named Shimotsuki Shiho.

She was too fearful from the standpoint of ordinary boys like Hanagishi-san and me.

（But that girl and I were friends.）

For a moment, I thought about telling him that, but I soon realized.

（No…that would be way too conspicuous. It’s not like me to get carried away by something like this and start talking about it.）

I’ll have to keep myself in check.

Yesterday, she confided in me that she was 『Shy』.

When people looked at her, she couldn’t behave normally.

I have to be careful because if someone like me, a mob character, were to be caught having a conversation with Shimotuski-san, that would make her stand out.

If I wanted to, I could dress up freely, but that would be a different story if I wanted to cause trouble.

（I should probably stop trying to talk to Shimotsuki-san in the classroom.）

With that in mind, I immediately took my eyes off Shimotsuki-san.

“…Fu.”

A sigh spills out unconsciously.

I felt good when I awoke…but now that I think about it calmly, I realize that Shimotsuki-san and I existed in two completely different worlds, to begin with.

Again, I understood that, and I felt a little down.

Today, I’m going to have to go about my daily life as a mob character again.

……As usual, I was depressed on my own.

But she couldn’t seem to forgive my negativity──。