An Introvert's Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! Volume 1 E-Book

Yuishi

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: An Introvert's Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! Volume 1
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 327

Beschreibung

When the gorgeous Nanami Barato confesses to Yoshin Misumai, it seems too good to be true! Only, it is—and Yoshin knows it. How’s an introverted guy like him supposed to keep his cool when he knows this is all just a dare? Even more puzzling, despite her gaudy appearance, this supposed gyaru isn’t actually all that good with guys! Perhaps this is the perfect chance for this shy guy to pluck up his own courage and say yes to the guy-shy girl. So begins their new cushy life of morning meet-ups and handmade lunches. The thing is, judging by the way she’s acting, Nanami has fallen head over heels for him!

From dares and dating to downright disasters, can these two first-timers figure out their feelings and maybe even fall in love—for real, this time?!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue: We Have No Relationship

Chapter 1: Confession on a Dare

Interlude: Her Feelings

Chapter 2: Dating on a Dare?

Interlude: Her Change

Chapter 3: A Challenger Appears

Interlude: Her Bold Actions and Their Result

Chapter 4: Our First Date

Interlude: Her First Date

Chapter 5: The Past and the Future

Interlude: Her Future

Chapter 4.5: Us on Our Date

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Prologue: We Have No Relationship

That day, like any other day, began and ended without any particular incident. Or at least that’s how it was supposed to play out.

“Yo, you wanna go do karaoke? I feel like a song or two.”

“What? But it’s only Monday!”

“Oh, come on. I’ll blow this gloomy Monday away with one note of my beautiful voice!”

As I prepared to head home, the voices of the most extroverted of my peers calling out to their friends entered my ears. They were the popular kids⁠—those at the top of the school caste.

“Hey, you guys come too! Let’s hear some anime songs for a change.”

The extroverts had addressed the class’s group of otaku, guys who weren’t that unlike me. The otaku guys reacted in a grandiose manner as they gladly accepted the invitation.

Fortunately, in my class, there was no bullying of any kind. At least, none that I knew of. The students each had their own clique, which inevitably determined who had a say in what and who had the most authority, but on a basic level, the different groups tended to get along.

I was probably the only exception. I didn’t belong to any particular group, and I basically only said a few words to my classmates every now and then, so I didn’t have any close friends there. Even now, no one took any notice of me while they chatted about their karaoke plans.

In the middle of it all, having seemingly made up his mind, one of the guys called out to a group of three girls—three of the most eye-catching girls in the class. His voice rose shakily, as though he were nervous.

“Hey, Nanami, you guys are coming too, right? It won’t be any fun unless you three are there.”

Despite the male student’s resolve, the response he got was far from positive. A girl with black hair spun around and waved her hand, declining the invitation immediately.

“Oh, I think we’ll pass this time. We have something to take care of with Nanami. You guys have fun!”

“Oh, come on. Doing karaoke with everyone is way more f—”

“If you don’t drop it...” The black-haired girl turned a terrifying smile on the guy, who withdrew dejectedly.

“Oh, okay, okay. The three of you aren’t coming this time; I get it.”

At that, the female student nodded, satisfied. Behind her, the girl he’d called out to—Nanami—seemed somewhat relieved, or was that just my imagination?

All three girls were what you’d think of if you imagined a typical gyaru—that is, they were showing a lot of skin and seemed like they were pretty experienced with guys—so perhaps it had been my imagination. Her name was...Nanami, right? It was a name I thought I’d heard somewhere before, but I couldn’t really remember where.

Well, that has nothing to do with me, I thought as I left the classroom.

Even outside it, I could hear them deciding among themselves on a decent karaoke bar, but my own mind was already occupied with thoughts of playing my online game when I got back home.

You see, this was just a difference between having friends in class and having friends outside of it. I simply chose to prioritize hanging out with friends I’d made online. That’s all.

With that considered, thoughts about my classmates heading off for karaoke and the group of gyaru who already had plans quickly disappeared from my mind. I had no relationship with these people—people that I’d never have anything to do with. Those three eye-catching gyaru in particular would never be interested in me.

Or at least, that’s what I thought until that day.

I never even imagined it. I never imagined that those girls... No. I never imagined that I would become deeply involved with that girl, a girl I had no relationship with, and that so many things would change.

Whether that was good or bad, the present me had yet to discover.

Chapter 1: Confession on a Dare

The girls’ voices reverberated throughout the classroom, which had been left near empty now that the rest of our classmates had set off for karaoke.

“Nanami loses! It’s decided⁠—Nanami faces the penalty!”

“Pe-nal-ty! Pe-nal-ty! Yaaay, I’m so glad it’s not me!”

“Huuuh, why me?!”

The gyaru—the girls at the top of the class caste system; the embodiment of extroverted, beautiful, and cute; and thus the girls who already belonged to the winning team in life—were, for some reason, playing cards in our classroom after school.

They didn’t seem to be betting money; instead, they were setting up a game of some sort—a game where the loser had to face a dare. I was impressed that, despite their gaudy appearances, they would play their card game so wholesomely.

I, Yoshin Misumai, had no direct contact with the girls in question but had just so happened to come across the scene. I’d forgotten something in the classroom and caught them here—with no intention of eavesdropping, of course. But since I’m an introvert without much of a presence, it seemed that they hadn’t even noticed me.

It was ironic, really. That is, being an introvert when the “yo” in my name meant “extroverted.” I sure wasn’t living up to the name. Not that I really cared.

For the time being, I couldn’t help but wonder what was so important about their penalty game that it had kept them from joining their friends for karaoke. Couldn’t they have just made the karaoke a part of the game?

Well, it had nothing to do with me. It was time I forgot about the whole thing and headed home. It was no big deal—I’d just forgotten my pencil case.

I grabbed the container from my desk, put it in my bag, and began to leave the classroom. As I’d imagined, the girls continued talking without noticing me.

My seat was at the back, and the door was open, so I hadn’t made a sound when I entered. But considering how loud they were being, even if the door had been closed, the sound of me opening it would probably have been drowned out anyway.

“As for the penalty... Let’s go for a confession! Tomorrow after school, I dare you to go bare your heart to a guy you don’t normally talk to!”

“Oh, that’s good! Confessing on a dare... That’s a classic!”

“Huh? A confession?”

The girl who had been sentenced to the penalty... Her name was...Nanami, wasn’t it? Yeah, I was pretty sure it was Nanami Barato-san.

Barato-san responded in a tone that signaled displeasure and, despite wearing an unreasonably short skirt, crossed her legs on the desk she was sitting on. From the front, her secrets probably would’ve been in full view, but I suppressed my desire to circle around to the spot in front of her.

Hey, even introverts have sex drives, so I couldn’t help wanting to do so. Not that I had the courage to go stand there and look.

“Toying with someone’s emotions is the worst! You can’t ask someone out on a dare. A confession has to be more serious, like to someone you’re really into!”

“You keep saying that, but you’re the only one of the three of us who doesn’t have a boyfriend, you know?”

Barato-san didn’t have a boyfriend? I’d thought for sure all three of them had boyfriends.

Anyway, I’d thought that since she was a gyaru, she’d be all into the whole hooking up on a dare thing, but it turned out she actually had some common sense. What she was saying was perfectly reasonable.

“Right, right. But come on, you’re the hottest one here, and people ask you out all the time, but you always turn them down, don’t you?”

“Uh... That’s because...guys are kinda scary, and...when they ask me out while they’re just ogling me the whole time, it’s like...”

So she thinks men are scary, huh? Again, this was unexpected. Perhaps that relieved expression I’d glimpsed earlier hadn’t just been my imagination.

While her two friends—whose names I’d already forgotten—continued talking, their voices full of concern, Barato-san remained silent.

Hey, wait, you need to speak up, Barato-san! You’re right about this. Don’t give in—stick it out! Having formed a better opinion of her, I rooted for her in my mind. Just mentally, of course, not out loud.

“You don’t know the first thing about guys, Nanami. So, for now, try asking out a guy who seems harmless, and go out with him for at least a month! That’s your penalty.”

“What?! For a month?”

“It doesn’t matter how you get started. You just have to get used to guys. We’re worried about you. At this rate, we’re afraid you’re gonna get attacked by some weirdo.”

All things considered, it seemed the two friends were worried about Barato-san in their own way—even if they were going about it in the wrong manner.

Come to think of it, I was totally eavesdropping, but there was no way I could leave now. I was curious to hear Barato-san’s answer. Fortunately, I hadn’t been noticed yet. What was a guy to do?

“Let’s see... We should go for a no-libido or celibate type, who wouldn’t try to pounce on you when you’re alone.”

“It’s just a dare, so there’s no need to force yourself to keep going out with them, but of course it’s okay if you do! And anyway, even if you two do break up, if he doesn’t know it was on a dare in the first place, he wouldn’t be that hurt either, right? I mean, if you confess to him and he gets to go out with you for a whole month, he’ll be totally happy! And we’ll never spill that we dared you to do it!”

Both friends were thoroughly into the idea and continued goading Barato-san to do it. True, if they dated for a month and the guy didn’t find out, his feelings wouldn’t get hurt. In fact, that month might even feel like a reward, except... Did these girls realize? Did they have any idea how a guy confessed to by Barato-san would be looked at by other guys?

Nanami Barato.

Thinking the name sounded familiar, I culled through my memories and recalled an anecdote about her. It was the name of the girl made legendary for having attacked, exploded, and sunk the love boats of numerous good-looking guys.

It was such a well-known rumor that even I knew about it, and to go out with that legendary girl would for sure mean being looked at by said good-looking guys with eyes filled with jealousy and envy.

If I were that guy—the guy that she chose to go out with—I didn’t think I’d be able to stand it. My stomach would be filled with holes, and instead of sweat, digestive fluids would come spurting out of my body. In the end, I’d dissolve into oblivion.

It sounds like a joke, but that’s just how high the hurdle was.

I didn’t know who the guy was who would taste heaven and hell simultaneously—the guy to be both envied and pitied—but that was no concern of mine. I wished him the best in a situation that was none of my business. I’d overheard the details about the confession and the one month of dating, but I’d keep it all to myself.

Having made up my mind, I was about to stop eavesdropping and sneak away unnoticed when their next words froze me in place.

“Then, tomorrow, go confess to the quietest guy in class: Yoshin Misumai!”

Was it my imagination, or did I just hear a familiar name?

“Misumai, huh? I guess if it’s him... Yeah, okay. I’ll do it!”

Oh? So the name of the guy to be envied and pitied was Yoshin Misumai. That sure sounded familiar. Yeah, that sounded like a very near and dear name. I bet we’d get along.

No, wait. Was there someone else in our class—or in our school, even—with that same exact name? No, there wasn’t. This wasn’t the time to be escaping reality.

Um, I’m here. I heard everything.

Hey, wait. I’m gonna be confessed to tomorrow? By Barato-san?Should I prepare myself for this?

“But how am I supposed to confess?”

“Huh? I mean, if you just ask him to meet you behind the school building and tell him you like him, that’s all it takes, right?”

“It’s like in a shojo manga! Good luck, Nanami!”

“Speaking of which, how did you guys confess to your boyfriends?”

Having heard enough, I set off home, unnoticed by the three girls who had begun chattering about their own confessions. With my head spinning with the plans I’d just witnessed, I felt uncharacteristically perturbed.

Fortunately, no one had arrived home just yet, so my state of shock passed by unseen.

♢♢♢

Canyon: ...And that’s what happened, Baron-san. What should I do?

Baron: Ha ha ha, confessing on a dare, huh? How very high school. Ah, the joy of youth.

Back at home, I was discussing today’s happenings with Baron-san, who belonged to the same team as I did in one of our online games. I wasn’t comfortable with voice chat, so I took the liberty to play in a way that was comfortable for me: using my phone to chat and my computer to play.

A team-based tournament was starting today, and despite being in the middle of the qualifiers, I was asking him about my personal problems. I felt bad about it, but he had very graciously accepted my request for help.

Although I had no friends at school, there were loads of people I could talk to online. It doesn’t matter where your friends are these days. Even online friends are friends—it just so happened that I didn’t seek any out at school.

Canyon: It’s no laughing matter, Baron-san. Please try putting yourself in my shoes...

Baron: But these aren’t my shoes, and it’s hilarious. Anyway, how did they not notice you? They singled you out as someone who’s quiet, so your presence can’t be going that unnoticed. It’s a relief, really.

That was a surprise for me too.

Actually, I was more surprised by the fact that the three of them knew my name than I was by the whole penalty game thing. Before now, I’d just assumed they didn’t know my face or name.

Perhaps the reason I’d been able to sneak out of the classroom successfully was that the three of them hadn’t realized I was there at all.

And perhaps I was going to face that confession tomorrow.

Canyon: But what should I do? It’s all just a dare...

Baron: Well, it’s not so bad, is it? You should just go out with her. You don’t have a girlfriend, right? You can think of this as an opportunity for her to get used to boys and for you to get used to girls.

I couldn’t help but sigh at the chat response from Baron-san, who seemed to be taking all this way too lightly. How easy would it have been if I could make that choice?

Peach: I’m against it! Toying with someone’s emotions like that... You have to reject her, Canyon-san!

Canyon: I appreciate that you’re getting angry on my behalf, but you can’t say that so easily, Peach-san.

Canyon was the name of my in-game character, and the one who’d piped up with concern was Peach-san, a girl on the same team whom I got along pretty well with. That said, I’d never met Baron-san or Peach-san in real life, so I didn’t actually know their genders, but Peach-san was most likely female.

Peach: Why not? You’re only being confessed to, so you should just reject her.

Baron: Now, now. Deep breaths, Peach-chan.

Baron-san was doing his best to pacify Peach-san for me. There were just the three of us in the chat; other folks were too busy fighting their way through the qualifiers to join in the conversation.

This is the chat for the entire team, so I bet they’re all going to see this later. I was anxious just thinking about it, but at least we had the chat to ourselves for now.

Peach-san had told me to reject the confession, but it really wasn’t that simple. If an introvert like me were to reject Barato-san, just how many people would I make enemies of?

Of course, she’d be the one in the wrong for doing this because she’d been dared to, but that tidbit of information was only known to the parties involved. Barato-san would be at an advantage in every other regard—in terms of her social position, I mean.

Damned if I said yes, damned if I said no... That was why I needed Baron-san’s advice.

Baron: So I take it you feel you’re damned either way?

My heart skipped a beat as Baron-san seemingly read my mind. How could this guy know exactly what I was thinking, with only a text chat to go off of? This was precisely why I’d chosen to ask this guy for advice.

Baron: Then just say yes. It’d be more beneficial for the both of you.

Canyon: And by beneficial you mean...?

Baron: I mean that you’ll get loads of curious and disapproving looks no matter what you say. She’s popular, right?

Canyon: Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.

Now that I thought about it, Barato-san was pretty sought-after by guys. With her sweet and chipper personality and her tendency not to discriminate against her classmates, guys at school seemed to fall for her every single day, each clinging to a rose-tinted misconception that maybe she liked them.

It was her fashion that identified her as a gyaru. I’d only ever seen her in her school uniform, but she wore it in such a way as to maximize its cuteness without breaking any school rules. Her short skirt, for example, struck that fine line between keeping her covered and flashing her underwear.

She would also leave her shirt unbuttoned at the top, revealing a generous portion of cleavage between twin mounds that seemed out of place on a high school student. This was part of the reason I’d had the impression she liked to fool around with guys, but...

I didn’t expect her to be that inexperienced. I guess that’s why she turned down all the good-looking guys that confessed to her, whether they be handsome sports team captains; handsome bad boys; or handsome, serious, studious types.

I had mistakenly thought she was in a position to take her pick of anyone she liked, but because she was so unaccustomed to men, not one of them had a chance of dating her to begin with.

People aren’t always as they seem. I’d do better to remember that.

Granted, I was just as much of a sucker as any of those guys, but being confessed to by a girl like that was beyond unexpected, even if she had been dared to do it.

Baron: You’ll leave a better impression as the guy who was confessed to by the popular girl and got dumped a month later, than as the guy who flat out rejected her. Besides, you should think of this as an opportunity.

Canyon: An opportunity?

I began to wonder if Baron-san was talking about what he’d said earlier about me getting used to women, but as it turned out, that wasn’t what he meant at all.

Baron: If you were to accept her confession, you’d be going out with her for at least a month, right? Then during that month, how about you try to make her smitten with you?

Peach: Baron-san?! What are you saying?!

Canyon: Huh?

Peach-san was shocked at Baron-san’s suggestion, while my response was downright idiotic.

Baron: Oh, maybe “smitten” is kind of old-fashioned. Did I sound old?

That’s not what we’re so surprised by, Baron-san.

My hands paused at the unexpected suggestion. Peach-san seemed just as speechless.

Baron: Look, you have a huge advantage: the fact that you already know she was dared to do it.

Canyon: Right... Yes, I do know that. But is that really an advantage?

Baron: Sure is. Think about it. What would happen if you didn’t know? You’d be elated, thinking she had a crush on you, wouldn’t you?

That was certainly true. Even as an introvert... No. Especially because I was an introvert, the feeling of superiority that would come with being “chosen” by one of the popular girls would have brought about a considerable change in me.

Canyon: Well, I would definitely be happy. I might get cocky for being chosen by her and get kinda carried away.

Getting so full of myself when I didn’t even have any friends would be ridiculous.

Baron: If that were the case, you’d go through all that only for her to break up with you a month later. But because you know this is a dare, you’ll be able to accept the situation calmly.

Calmly... Do I seem like I’m calm to you? I’m talking to you precisely because I’m not calm.

Baron-san continued explaining, paying no mind at all to my thoughts.

Baron: You should work hard for a month to get her to like you, and then you can break up with her yourself. If not, you can continue going out with her. The choice is yours, but...if it were up to me, I’d say your life would be way more fun if you continued dating her.

Canyon: Baron-san, are you by any chance enjoying this?

Baron: Of course I am. Oh, and do keep me posted, okay? Hearing about the love affairs of a real high school student makes for an amusing pastime.

I slightly regretted having consulted Baron-san about this, but the more I listened to his logic, the more I came to think it made sense.

It could have been that my thoughts were being conveniently strung along, but it was ultimately his advice that helped me make up my mind—I was going to accept Barato-san’s confession.

Baron: Oh, but do act like a good little high schooler. She’s not comfortable around guys, so don’t immediately get all touchy-feely.

Canyon: I would never!

An introvert doesn’t have the guts for that! Besides, I was chosen for this precise reason. The whole premise would go up in smoke.

After that, I got back to the game while keeping an eye on Baron-san’s advice. Peach-san was still against the idea, but maybe she gave up in the end, because she stopped replying.

Did I make her mad? She seemed worried about me, so I should apologize next time she replies back.

On a side note, we successfully made it through the qualifiers, only for me to be teased by my teammates later on...but that’s a story for another day.

♢♢♢

That night, maybe out of nervousness that I would soon be confessed to, I found it hard to get to sleep. Even at school the next morning, I was kind of spacing out, and with the near empty classroom so quiet, I was close to dozing off at my desk.

It was in that near empty classroom, with me in my absentminded state, that someone called out to me.

I turned toward the source of the voice, my gaze locking onto a pair of thighs visible from below a skirt, and... No, no, I’ve got to look at her face.

“Hey, Misumai, do you have time to talk after school today?”

As expected, the voice belonged to Barato-san. Her long brown hair looked soft as it swayed, and her voice was trembling slightly.

“Oh, yeah. No problem, Barato-san,” I said.

“Thanks. Then I’ll see you after school,” she said.

In that near empty classroom in the early hours of the morning, that was all Barato-san said to me. She seemed somewhat brusque and nervous, or did it just seem that way because I knew the circumstances?

After her short exchange with me, she quickly returned to her two friends.

I didn’t like to be tardy, so I usually arrived at the classroom early, but today, the girls were just as early as I was. Maybe they’d chosen to get here now so as not to create a scene.

The two friends avoided looking at me to an almost unnatural extent and were patting Barato-san on the back as they encouraged her. “Good job, Nanami. Good job!”

If I didn’t already know the circumstances, I might have misunderstood. It was as if it had taken her a great heap of courage just to talk to me. Actually, since she wasn’t used to guys, she would probably be nervous no matter who she was talking to.

From that point on, she and I had no contact at all until after school.

I tended to sit alone by default, only speaking a couple of words here and there with some of my classmates. She, on the other hand, hung around her friends or with the extroverts in the class. Our meeting after school never came up.

Still, it was impossible for me to put it out of my mind, so I stole glances at her from time to time. Maybe she felt similarly, because there were a few times when our eyes met. Each time, she would turn away, seemingly flustered and blushing. If I wasn’t already clued in, I could have easily misunderstood her reactions.

She had to be nervous. I was nervous too, but perhaps thanks to all the advice from Baron-san yesterday, I was able to remain somewhat calm.

And just like that, school ended, and the fated moment arrived.

“Thanks for waiting, Misumai. So, um, can you maybe come with me for a bit?”

Everyone else had left the classroom, so it was only me and Barato-san. Even her friends weren’t there. Since it was only a dare, I had thought that she’d confess to me right there in the classroom, but it seemed she wanted to do this somewhere else.

Neither of us spoke as I followed behind her.

This wasn’t looking good. I’d been so sure I was calm, but with every step I took, my nerves intensified. Not only that, but Barato-san’s hips were shaking as she walked, making her short skirt sway and my gaze travel toward... Oh shoot, this is not good! Remember what Baron-san told you yesterday.

Baron: Now listen, women are more sensitive to eye contact than men think. When she’s confessing, make sure you look her straight in the eyes. No matter what, don’t look at her cleavage, her legs, or anywhere else you shouldn’t be looking.

Right, stay calm. Stay calm. Look straight. As I remembered Baron-san’s advice, I felt my composure returning.

We eventually arrived at the back of the school building, where the surrounding wall kept students from leaving the campus. The place was empty, so there was no danger of being seen. Instead, it was dangerous in the sense that there was no one there to keep an eye on you, and the random scrap lying around made the place seem like a health and safety hazard.

“Okay. This should be good!” Barato-san muttered to herself as she stopped and turned to face me. Her skirt fluttered as she spun, making it impossible for me not to stare.

Even that small act made my heart jump, but I had to remain calm. It’s just a dare. Don’t misunderstand. But even knowing that, I couldn’t help but feel my heart race.

Barato-san began speaking after putting a considerable amount of distance between us. I didn’t know if that distance was there because she was wary of me or because she was wary around guys in general, but I waited quietly for her to finish before answering.

“Thanks for coming, Misumai. I, um, had something I wanted to say. Do you...know what that might be?”

“I’m sorry, uh... I’ve never really spoken to you before, Barato-san, so I’m not sure why you wanted to see me. If it’s money you want, I don’t really have much,” I said, feigning naivety.

“I’m not trying to get money out of you or anything like that!” she cried.

Though I wasn’t sure if I’d successfully duped her, things seemed to be going okay.

“Um... Well, I...uh... I...”

She continued fumbling for words, failing miserably to get to the point. She was the epitome of a girl gathering her courage in order to confess to someone. It didn’t seem like a dare at all.

Even though I was nervous, despite knowing that it was a lie, I looked her square in the face, too afraid to take my eyes off hers for even a moment.

That said, the more I consciously did so, the more my gaze faltered.

Remember, Baron-san said to look up a little bit, not down in times like these.

If I looked down, it would seem as if I were staring at her body, but if I looked up, that could be avoided. Upward... Up...

Following his advice, I raised my eyes.

And so, it was thanks to that advice—but also by complete coincidence—that I was able to see it.

“I...l-l-like...you, so, um, will you...go out...with me?”

Even before she’d finished speaking, I broke into a run toward her.

On a typical day at home, I would often either play games or lift weights while watching videos. I’d never heard anything about lifting weights making you run faster, and honestly, I’d never really run before, but...if it’s this short of a distance, I should be able to make it!

Believe in yourself even if you have no basis for that belief! Make it in time!

What I’d spied by sheer coincidence was a large bucket peeking out of an open window. It was a bucket used for cleaning on campus, peeking out from the open window.

The moment I saw it, I remembered that this was the exact spot where students tended to toss the dirty water when they were too lazy to take it out. And at that same moment, Barato-san was under that bucket.

At this rate, she’s gonna be drenched by filthy water.

The moment I thought that, my body moved without me thinking.

It wasn’t like you’d get injured by being doused in dirty water, but you’d sure get drenched in filth.

Some would say it was a well-deserved punishment for confessing to me on a dare. But I couldn’t feel that way. Even though it was a dare, seeing her standing there with that blush across her cheeks, trying to weave her words together...

Maybe it was all an act. But for Barato-san to get drenched in water when she was mustering up her courage to talk to a guy... Somehow, I just didn’t want that.

“Huh? Eeeeeeeeek?!”

Barato-san screamed when she noticed me closing the distance with such speed, but I covered her with my body without hesitation. Thank god. I made it!

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, cold water slapped across my back. Gah, it’s more painful than I thought! It’s cold, and it’s dirty, and it hurts! The cold water soaking into my uniform knocked down my body temperature immediately, turning me into a quivering mess.

Damn you! Don’t clean with such cold water! Use warmer water! No, wait—don’t toss it out the window in the first place!

“Huh? Wha...? What?! What is this?! Water?! Why?!”

Opening her eyes, Barato-san looked around from under me as if finally grasping the situation. Looking down at her, all I could think were out-of-place thoughts, like wondering if her shirt had gotten dirty because the ground wasn’t paved or thinking her disheveled clothes were too tempting to the eye.

And then, before I could say anything, I received a blow across the back of my head. At the same time, I caught sight of the bucket at the edge of my vision. Apparently, the person who’d tossed the water from the window had been startled by Barato-san’s scream and dropped the bucket. At least keep hold of it, would you?

There was a little bit of water left inside it, which spilled out onto the ground. Good, if that had hit her, she might have been hurt,I thought. I looked down at Barato-san’s face and frowned when I saw a red spot on her cheek. Oh, wait. Did she get hurt?

“Are you okay? Barato-san...? Are you hurt?”

“I’m...okay. I mean, are you okay, Misumai?!”

“I’m okay, my body’s just cold and damp. No injuries.”

“You are injured! Your head’s bleeding!”

It was then that I realized that I did in fact have a small cut on my head where the bucket had hit me and that the red spot on Barato-san’s cheek was actually my blood.

“Oh, sorry... I shouldn’t bleed on you. I’ll move. You didn’t get wet, did you, Barato-san?”

“Who cares about me?! It’s you who’s...!”

Those were the last words to reach my ears.

The moment I stood up, moving away from Barato-san, my body swayed. It seemed the impact of that bucket had been greater than I’d thought. I was suddenly overcome with that dizzy feeling that comes with standing up too fast, and all at once, the strength drained from my body.

“Misumai! Misumai?!”

The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was Barato-san’s worried voice screaming my name.

♢♢♢

“Huh...? Is this the nurse’s office?”

When I came to, the ceiling above me seemed somehow familiar. It was the ceiling of the nurse’s office. It was reassuring to know where I was, but...

Why was I in the nurse’s office?

If I remember right, I’m pretty sure I was talking to Barato-san, and...she’d just confessed to me... Oh, that’s right. A bucket fell on my head, didn’t it?

Just then, my thoughts were disrupted by a voice calling my name.

“Misumai?! Thank god! You’re awake!”

It was a girl’s voice, Barato-san’s voice, and it was coming from next to me. Was she the one who’d carried me here?

“Oh, right. Did you bring me to the nurse’s office, Barato-san? Thanks... I’m not exactly the lightest,” I said.

“Thank goodness, you’re awake! Thank goodness... Ugh...”

Without responding to my question, Barato-san began to cry, seemingly overwhelmed by joy and relief. While I felt bad that I’d made her worry, I was also kind of flattered that she would worry about a guy like me.

But come on, what did I matter? I was just glad Barato-san was okay. At any rate, she didn’t seem to have changed out of her usual school uniform.

“Um, your clothes didn’t get dirty, and you weren’t injured, were you?” I asked her.

“Oh, no. Thanks to you, I’m fine. Wait, this isn’t about me! Are you okay?! You were bleeding so much! Did you catch anything from that dirty water? You’re not feeling sick, are you?”

Has there really been that much blood? I’d been treated, so I didn’t feel that much pain. I’ve heard you bleed a lot from your head, so maybe that was why.

Well, maybe the bump on my head does hurt a little. But it’s not a huge pain, and I don’t feel nauseous. It looks like I can even get up.

“I’m fine, but I’m glad you’re not hurt,” I told her. I sat up in bed and flashed her a smile, but she averted her gaze.

Huh? Had I made her mad? I didn’t remember saying anything to upset her, though.

Barato-san seemed a little flustered and began to speak while still turned away. “Um, Misumai, can you stay in bed? That way it’s...a little easier for me,” she said.

She was blushing and throwing sideways glances at me. Thinking her reaction was a little weird, I looked down at myself, only to find...I wasn’t wearing a shirt. Naked. I was buck naked. No wait, I was still covered down there, but still.

Even though it was just my upper body exposed, my face grew hot at the thought of a girl seeing me naked.

“I...I’m sorry! Talk about an eyesore!” I rushed to cover my body with the blanket and lay back down.

“N-No... But, um...you’re more muscular than you seem, huh? Like skinny but still kind of ripped. Oh, I mean, it’s not like I was staring or anything!”

Since I didn’t hang out with friends much, I spent most of my free time at home. This gave me plenty of opportunities to work out. I hadn’t thought my physique was all that useful, but for the first time, I could say that it had come in handy.

Barato-san and I fell silent—me from the embarrassment of having been seen naked by a girl and she from the embarrassment of having confessed that she’d seen a boy half-naked. This silence continued for a while, filling the air between us until it was eventually broken by the arrival of the school nurse.

“Well, well, what do we have here? Two lovebirds, red in the face! Don’t tell me you were using my office for a rendezvous?” she asked.

Barato-san and I glowed even redder, but the nurse continued before we could deny her suggestion.

“Here you go, young man,” she said, handing me a change of clothes. “I packed up your dirty uniform for you to take to the dry cleaner’s, or you could go ahead and wash them yourself.”

I had things I wanted to say, but being relieved that the silence had been broken, I accepted the pile of clothes. As I did, I caught sight of Barato-san as she momentarily stepped out of the room.

The nurse had handed me a spare school uniform. When I asked, she said that they always had extra sets on hand for times like these. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to go back to class or walk home in my gym clothes.

While I pulled my arm through the sleeve, the nurse summed up what had happened.

It seemed that after I’d collapsed, I’d been carried to the nurse’s office by a male teacher that Barato-san had called to the scene.

Since she hadn’t wanted to move me after my head injury and knowing she couldn’t carry me all by herself, she’d run to the teachers’ lounge to get help and rushed inside to tell them a boy had been injured.

You’re pretty level headed, Barato-san. If that had been me, I probably would’ve panicked and tried to carry the person myself.

Turns out, no one seemed to know who had dumped the dirty water out the window. It wasn’t like they had cameras set up around the campus, so it would be impossible to determine the culprit. At most, each class would probably receive a stern warning, and that’d be the end of that.

Well, it wasn’t like it mattered that much.

“Make sure you thank the little lady. She’s been keeping you company since you were brought here. Oh, to be young again,” said the nurse.

Hearing this, I felt my cheeks grow hot. For the time being, though, I chose not to humor them and continued changing in silence.

“Oh, your head injury wasn’t a big deal, but I did take care of that cut. Are you feeling okay? If the pain persists or if you start feeling dizzy, I recommend you go to the hospital immediately.”

When I finished changing, I found a thin square of gauze taped to my head. Other than that, I felt the same as usual, with no pain or nausea of any kind. I felt pretty alert too, so I probably didn’t need to go to the hospital. I’d just have to let my parents know about the accident.

“Young lady, you can come back in now. Your boyfriend’s finished changing. It’s sweet, really. Fancy getting all red at the sight of one bare chest.”

The nurse laughed warmly as she left the room. When Barato-san came back inside, her face was still a bit flushed.

No, I’m not her boyfriend. Hey, wait, she did confess to me before all this, so is that what I am now?

“Misumai, are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. You fetched the teacher for me, huh? Thanks. That was a huge help.”

“Actually, I should be thanking you for protecting me.”