An Introvert's Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! Volume 3 E-Book

Yuishi

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Lovestruck introvert Yoshin Misumai and shy gyaru Nanami Baruto are steadily growing closer, so where better to go on their next date than a steamy hot spring? Things heat up as they continue to learn more about each other (not to mention see each other in traditional Japanese clothing)! But even as their lovey-dovey antics escalate, only two weeks remain until their inevitable breakup. What more turmoil could possibly lie ahead? The couple had better buckle their seatbelts and strap down their hearts, because they’re in for a sugar-sweet ride!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue: The Morning After

Chapter 1: Through the Grapevine

Interlude: The Rumors and My Left Hand

Chapter 2: Our Little Trip and My Lie

Interlude: His Worrisome Reaction

Chapter 3: Her Sister’s Thoughts

Interlude: The Car Ride Home

Chapter 4: Coming Clean and a Little Anxiety

Interlude: My Confession

Chapter 5: Bidding Farewell to the Past

Interlude: The Approaching Anniversary

Chapter 2.5: An Unexpected Remark

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Prologue: The Morning After

How do people react when something unexpected happens? I bet it varies from person to person. One person might freeze and struggle to say anything; another might scream out loud. Then there’s the type of person who starts blabbering and just can’t stop. There have to be all kinds of people.

But which one was I? I supposed I was the type who’d freeze and struggle to react. Even when I’d overheard Nanami-san and her friends talking on that fateful day, all I could do was stand there and listen. That’s what I was thinking, anyway, as I gazed at Nanami-san’s face as she slept.

Just so there’s no confusion: I didn’t sleep with her or anything. I’d slept in a different room, and I just now came in to wake her up. Apparently, Nanami-san was usually awake by now, but she was taking way longer than usual to wake up, perhaps because of all the commotion yesterday. That’s why I’d been assigned the task of waking her.

But how would she react when she did wake up? I was kind of scared by the thought but also a little curious.

“Mnngh... Huh?”

As I was still wondering, Nanami-san let out an adorable sigh and slowly opened her eyes. It seemed she’d woken before I could even say anything to her. It was uncanny, really, for her to wake up just as I was thinking I wished I could see it.

Nanami-san’s eyelids began to flutter open—and froze halfway.

“Good morning, Nanami-san,” I said.

Seeing me, Nanami-san stopped any and all movement and froze in place. Then, after a long moment of silence, she finally let out a confused “Huh?” By the looks of things, she was the same type of person as me—she was frozen, unsure what to say too.

Apparently, her brain hadn’t quite caught up to the situation. With her eyes locked with mine, she remained wrapped in her blankets and didn’t move an inch. It was almost as if she were imitating a pose from a game.

Her hands still grasping the blanket, Nanami-san slowly sat up while keeping her body covered. Was she feeling chilly? She looked around from left to right and then, tilting her head, returned her gaze to me. “Where am I?” she asked.

“Uh, the study in your house,” I said.

It seemed she was still half asleep and confused by not having woken up in her own room. I sat down next to her in an effort to reassure her and waited for her to say more.

“Why am I sleeping here? Oh, you stayed over at our house last night, right? We were gonna chat before bed, but I can’t really remember... Hold on.” Suddenly, her eyes widened. “Where did you sleep?”

Apparently, she’d completely forgotten what had happened the night before. Hmm, how much should I tell her? It’s about her, so I guess I should tell her everything.

“Don’t you remember, Nanami-san? Yesterday, you...”

With that, I proceeded to explain what had happened that night. Nanami-san immediately turned red and slid back into the futon as if to hide. She formed a little steamed bun with herself as the filling.

“Oh no... Did I really do that? That’s so embarrassing.”

She poked her head out of the sheets, evolving into a turtle. Then she poked her hands out as well and began rubbing her eyes like a cat. From a steamed bun, to a turtle, to a cat—her evolution knew no bounds!

With Nanami-san now awake, I decided to lay down next to her. Adjusting myself so that we were at eye level, I turned my gaze to her as she continued looking bashful.

“Do you really not remember what you did?”

“No, I don’t. Wait, I sort of remember. Maybe.”

Hearing that, I felt my heart skip a beat. So she does sort of remember. Wait, she doesn’t remember what I did to her, does she? No way. She was asleep, so she couldn’t have noticed. I’m pretty sure I have nothing to worry about.

My sense of guilt at the possibility of having done something wrong was building. Should I tell her now? Should I tell her I kissed her on the forehead? Ha, as if. I can’t do that, but I also feel like maybe I should. What am I supposed to do?

As I lay there conflicted, Nanami-san whispered softly, “I see. Then I guess we didn’t get to chat, huh? I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize. You had no control over it. I mean, who would’ve guessed?”

Who could’ve guessed that a drunk Nanami-san would burst into the room, especially dressed like that? I deserved a pat on the back for my ability to keep my head and hold myself back throughout the situation. I mean, I had kissed her on the forehead, but surely that still counted as holding back.

“Hmm. It’d be nice if you could sleep over tonight too,” Nanami-san said.

“You know that won’t work. Everyone was here yesterday, and it was kind of a special situation. Plus I can’t be a bother for so many nights in a row.”

“Damn. I guess you’re right. Ugh, why did I end up falling asleep? I wanted to talk to you about what you thought of the date and where you wanted to go for our next one and stuff like that!”

She had probably asked to talk knowing full well that it wasn’t going to happen, but judging by the tinge of sadness in her voice, her regret was totally genuine.

Pouting, Nanami-san got up and did a big stretch. It was then that the blanket that had been covering her lost its battle against gravity and slid off of her. Still lying down, I followed her with my gaze and saw her look down at herself and freeze. Yeeeah, it’s not like I intended on looking, but the view from that angle really was something else. Talk about a discovery.

“Why am I dressed like this?!” she yelped, quickly scooping up the fallen blanket and using it to hide herself. So much for remembering what had happened last night. “No wonder it felt chilly...”

“You came in wearing that. Don’t you remember?”

“Seriously? Did I do something weird? I didn’t say anything weird, did I?”

Instead of worrying about her own actions, why wasn’t she worrying about me doing something weird to her? Could I take that to mean that she trusted me? Nanami-san held her head in her hands, trying desperately to recall her own actions.

“It’s okay, nothing...” I started, but then I found myself unable to continue. Nothing had happened in a crossing-the-line sense, but she had felt up my stomach. “Nothing happened,” I finally said nonetheless.

“Your face says otherwise.”

“No, no, no. You just touched my stomach a little bit. It’s basically like nothing happened.”

“Excuse me?! I don’t remember that at all! Remember... Remember, Nanami,” she muttered. Nanami-san then returned to holding her head and groaning, though this time she didn’t seem to mind when the blanket slipped off of her, as she was too desperate to remember what had happened.

I stood up and reached my hand out to her, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. “Shall we go then, Nanami-san?”

“I suppose so,” she said. She looked at my hand and, as if giving up, looked away and hung her head. When she looked back up, she finally took my hand and slowly stood up. “Ugh, I’m more sleepy than usual.”

Then, with uncertain steps, Nanami-san started walking. I’d thought she’d let go of my hand once she was on her feet, but she kept a firm grip on it. She didn’t seem like she was about to let go any time soon.

I guess this works. Her steps are a bit unsteady, so I should probably walk with her in case she gets hurt.

“Can you walk, Nanami-san? Are you okay?”

“I feel kinda dizzy. Is this a hangover? I know you’re not supposed to drink until you’re twenty, but I don’t think I wanna drink even after that if it’s gonna be like this.”

Nanami-san leaned on me slightly. I walked slowly, trying to make sure she wouldn’t fall. Her body was warm because she’d just gotten out of bed, and I felt my cheeks growing hot.

So this is how she gets after eating whiskey bonbons, huh? Do people usually get this sick? I’d never had alcohol before either, so I couldn’t say for sure, but if that were the case, I didn’t want to drink alcohol either.

“Hey, Yoshin, can you give me a piggyback ride?”

“Nope. We’re about to go down the stairs. Here, I’ll hold you up while you try to walk.”

“Dang it.”

Stairs were dangerous enough, but carrying her on my back while she was wearing such a skimpy outfit was dangerous in a different way. Had Nanami-san realized that? No, she probably hadn’t. She didn’t seem to be thinking clearly yet.

Eventually, we reached the living room. Saya-chan, Nanami-san’s little sister, and Genichiro-san, her father, were cooking together in the kitchen. Her two friends, Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san, were helping out.

“Morning!” Nanami-san called.

“Good morning, Nanami,” Genichiro-san replied. “Did you sleep we— Nanami?!”

Nanami-san’s dad was so surprised, he failed to finish his greeting. Next to him, Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san exchanged guilty looks. Saya-chan, on the other hand, seemed vaguely amused.

“Oh, hi, dad,” Nanami-san said. “Did you get home late last night? You know you shouldn’t be drinking too much.”

“Uh, no, I didn’t drink that much. Hold on! That’s not what I’m trying to say.” Genichiro-san extended a quivering finger toward Nanami-san’s outfit. He apparently hadn’t noticed she was holding my hand. He then turned slowly and shifted his gaze to me.

I looked back at him, straight in the eyes. They were gleaming slightly, as if he were trying to ask me something.

“Yoshin-kun,” he said, “don’t tell me the reason you slept on the sofa last night was because...”

“It’s as you suspect,” I replied, nodding slightly.

Genichiro-san lowered his shoulders and approached me. Gripping my own shoulders firmly, he looked me in the eyes and said with much sincerity, “I’m sorry about my daughter. I’m amazed you were able to hold yourself back. That’s pretty impressive.”

The apology was a bit much. After all, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Still, it was true that I’d held myself back, so him praising me for it tickled me. I couldn’t help feeling a little happy about it.

Hey, wait a minute. I was able to hold myself back? I was?

As I tilted my head, Genichiro-san leaned closer to whisper to me. “In the good old days, I wasn’t able to hold back.”

For a brief moment, I pictured the smile of a certain woman. Genichiro-san hadn’t mentioned anyone in particular, but there was only one person I could think of: Nanami-san’s mother.

Genichiro-san and I nodded at each other and shook hands. Nanami-san frowned as she watched, no doubt wondering what we were doing. This isn’t anything you need to know about, Nanami-san. It’s probably something only guys can understand.

“Morning, Nanami. Morning, Yoshin,” said Otofuke-san, who’d finally plucked up the courage to chime in.

“Good morning, guys! Did you two enjoy yourselves last night?” Kamoenai-san added suggestively.

Kamoenai-san, why would you ask something like that? Both of you know nothing happened!

“Morning, Otofuke-san, Kamoenai-san,” I responded.

“Good morning, you two,” Nanami-san said. “Did you both help with the cooking? I’m totally sorry I didn’t get up. I can help out now, though!” However, as she let go of my hand and tried to step into the kitchen, her two friends raised their hands to stop her. Thrown off by their gesture, Nanami-san wobbled and fell back against me.

“It’s fine, you know? Today we’ll cook to thank you for letting us stay last night and to apologize for various other random things.”

“Yup! Just sit back and relax. It’s nice to take a break once in a while.”

I see. In that case, I should probably help out too—or so I thought as I took a step toward the kitchen. It was then that Nanami-san whispered something. Although her voice was soft, she spoke clearly enough for me to hear.

“But I wanna make Yoshin’s bento.”

With that, everyone froze in place.

As she spoke, Nanami-san had seemed blissfully unaware of what she was doing, but she suddenly came to her senses and covered her mouth with both hands. As for me, I was frozen in my awkward one-step-forward pose. I felt my face grow hotter.

As if to match the speed at which my cheeks blushed, everyone else’s face broke into a grin. They all seemed pretty amused and ready to tease us without mercy.

“I see. So you want to make Misumai’s bento yourself, huh?” Otofuke-san asked.

“Wow, I wish I’d gotten that on camera,” Kamoenai-san added. “Then I could show it to Tomoko-san when she gets up.”

Saya-chan looked just as ready to tear us to pieces. “You have the hots for him this early in the morning? I envy you, onee-chan.”

“You’ve grown so much, Nanami,” Genichiro-san chipped in.

Overwhelmed by their reactions, Nanami-san and I turned even redder and remained silent. I was sweating so hard that my back felt damp. The sweating was clearly from all the pressure, but I was soon going to find myself sweating even more.

“Then leave breakfast and most of lunch to us. We’ll leave Misumai’s bento to you,” Otofuke-san said.

“We’ll just do the prep work,” Kamoenai-san said. “Oh, why don’t you chat with Misumai about this instead?” She took her phone out of her pocket to show us a certain image—an image I had intimate knowledge of. It was the photo from yesterday, of me kissing Nanami-san on the forehead.

I felt Nanami-san gasp beside me. Genichiro-san wasn’t looking at the phone, so he seemed puzzled by her reaction. I, on the other hand, was sweating more than ever—not just my back, but my face as well.

“Hey, Yoshin, can I ask what’s going on here?” Nanami-san asked. She had a very sweet smile on her face and spoke in a very sweet voice. Sure, her expression was soothing, but I still couldn’t stop sweating. All I could do was respond immediately in the affirmative.

Nanami-san took my hand, and the two of us moved slowly to the living room. I hadn’t been expecting the thing I’d meant to tell her—but I hadn’t told her, I admit—to come back to bite me now, but it was no use crying over spilled milk, as they say.

As I frantically tried to come up with an excuse, Nanami-san stopped out of everyone else’s earshot and whispered for only me to hear, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not mad or anything. I just want to know why you did that.” Bringing her index finger to her lips, Nanami-san blushed slightly and smiled at me lightheartedly. She was looking forward to my explanation, or that’s how it seemed to me.

Although I was relieved to hear that, I was nonetheless confronted with the reality that I had to explain why I’d kissed her. That called up another deluge of sweat.

Wouldn’t it be better just to have her be straight-up angry with me? I thought, as I continued to search frantically for a way to explain myself.

Chapter 1: Through the Grapevine

I was getting ready for school, so the routine was familiar—eating breakfast, changing into my uniform, et cetera—but to do so in a place other than my own home felt really weird. I was dressed in the same uniform, ready to leave from somewhere else. I guess I was the only one feeling that way, though. At least for Nanami-san, it must have been business as usual.

“I’m off,” I called to a different set of people as I stepped out the door.

“Okay, have a great day, you two. Stay safe.” Tomoko-san, who was wearing cute purple pajamas, rubbed her eyes as she saw us off.

“Bye, mom,” Nanami-san said before lowering her voice. “Wow, it’s super rare to see my mom up this early.”

Scratch what I’d said before—apparently, this morning wasn’t exactly normal for Nanami-san either. I’d heard that Tomoko-san wasn’t a morning person, but I hadn’t realized just how true that was.

“Don’t overwork yourself, Tomoko-san. We’re off,” Otofuke-san said.

“Yup, it’d be no good if you ended up sleep-deprived and couldn’t do anything. See you later!” said Kamoenai-san.

They both waved to Tomoko-san as they left the house. Even while looking sleepy, Tomoko-san waved back. But boy, I never could have dreamed that all four of us would be heading to school together.

“This is so nice,” Nanami-san whispered as she walked next to me. “I wanna do this every week.”

Although that seemed difficult to achieve, I, too, found the whole situation kind of refreshing. How long had it been since I’d last hung out in a big group like this? Maybe a group of four wasn’t that big to most people, but to me it felt huge.

During my middle school graduation trip, the group might have been larger, but I’d always hung out by myself. Even back in our room, I’d always fallen asleep before everyone else had. As for going places with people I’d consider my friends, the last time might have been in elementary school. At the time, I’d probably been— No, let’s not try to remember, or else I’ll feel all hollow inside. Now was all that mattered.

Speaking of current events, I went ahead and counted Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san as my friends, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was okay for me to say that my girlfriend’s friends were my friends too. I wasn’t really sure how things like that worked.

In any case, getting needlessly friendly with girls who weren’t my girlfriend was probably bad. It would probably lead to misunderstandings—even if they both had boyfriends themselves. What was important was maintaining an appropriate sense of distance... Yeah, a sense of distance. That was important. If I got that wrong, I could be in for a shock.

Just a few weeks ago, I’d shied away from hanging out with friends and found doing so to be a bother precisely because I didn’t know how to maintain a proper sense of distance with people. I had to admit that that came with its own comforts, but I’d somehow changed a lot since then.

“What’s up, Yoshin?” Nanami-san asked.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing. It’s been a while since I’ve walked to school in a group like this, so I was just thinking I wasn’t really used to it.”

“Ah, I see. But it’s fun to hang out like this, right? I feel like we’re back in elementary school or something.”

Nanami-san seemed to have been thinking the same thing I had. The thought warmed my heart a little, and I couldn’t help smiling.

Right now, she and I were walking next to each other. The way our hands occasionally touched was both tantalizing and frustrating, but being able to feel her warmth each time was pleasant nonetheless. Normally, we would have held hands, but since her two friends were with us, both Nanami-san and I were holding ourselves back even though they’d obviously seen us hold hands before.

“Hey, you guys don’t have to worry about us. Go ahead and hold hands already,” Otofuke-san said, noticing our predicament.

“That’s right! Come on, hold hands like you always do. There’s no need to hold back,” Kamoenai-san added.

The two of them were walking a short distance away from Nanami-san and me. To be precise, they were walking behind us as if they were following us. What’s more, as if to get a reaction out of us, they were now demanding that we hold hands. They sure seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Nanami-san and I narrowed our eyes and turned around to look at them. Nanami-san even sighed a little. “It’s kind of hard to hold hands when you’re telling us to,” she said.

“What? But you’ve totally been showing off how you walk into class holding hands with him,” Kamoenai-san exclaimed.

“It just feels weird when we’re being watched from behind!”

I fully understood how awkward she felt. Feeling like we were being studied was making me feel a little—no, very—embarrassed, but for Nanami-san, that didn’t seem to be the only reason. She looked down at my hand and then turned back to the girls.

“Besides, I don’t wanna feel like I’m showing off being able to hold hands on the way to school when you two don’t get to do that with your boyfriends.”

The three of us fell silent for a moment, until finally, Otofuke-san muttered, “Jeez, you’re worrying over nothing.”

“Totally,” Kamoenai-san said. “I mean, I am jealous, but I still want the two of you to get to hold hands.”

Hearing that, Nanami-san seemed unsure of what to do, but she eventually turned a gentle smile toward them. “We’re all together today, so let’s just go as one big group.”

“I mean, it’s fine if that’s what you want. Is Misumai okay with that, though?” Otofuke-san asked.

“Oh, I bet Misumai wants to hold hands with her,” Kamoenai-san added teasingly.

Oh, shoot. Now the ball was in my court. Just how badly did they want us to hold hands? I mean, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to hold hands with Nanami-san, but if she didn’t feel inclined to do so, I didn’t want to force her.

“To be honest,” I finally said, “I do want to hold hands with Nanami-san, but I also want to respect her wishes. Besides, we can hold hands anytime.”

I thought it was best to hold hands organically rather than do so because someone told us to. When I expressed that, though, the two friends smiled, looking slightly exasperated.

“Wow, you sure said it how it is, Misumai,” said Otofuke-san.

“Seriously, how can you just say things like that?” added Kamoenai-san.

They seemed impressed for some reason, but I didn’t think I’d said anything that strange. I mean, why would I force Nanami-san to hold hands with me when she wasn’t really up for it? It would only make her uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Nanami-san was standing next to me, with a shy smile on her face. She was also nodding repeatedly, her smile seeming somewhat satisfied. Seeing her like that made me want to take it all back and grab hold of her hand. Talk about dangerous.

In the end, Nanami-san and I refrained from holding hands as we all walked to school, though the four of us were in this strange formation where Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san flanked us on both sides. For some reason, the two bombarded us with questions along the way. At that point in time, I hadn’t even thought about it—what going to school as the four of us signaled to those around us.

♢♢♢

There’s no smoke without fire.

It’s a saying often used when some kind of rumor arises—a saying that depicts how a rumor only starts because of a root cause, because there’s some kind of reason. At least, that’s my understanding of it.

But did you know there’s also a saying that has the opposite meaning? They say that flowers bloom where there are no roots—that even a baseless story can spread, or something like that. Ultimately, a proverb is only useful once you know the outcome of the situation you want to apply it to. And only once everything is over and done with can you finally decide which saying best applies.

I mention all this now because a rumor had begun circulating around school—a rumor about me. I thought the rumor was the perfect candidate for applying the “flowers bloom” saying because it seemed so baseless to me. But to the people around me, I’d apparently done something to cause the spread of such a rumor. Even though that rumor seemed absurd to the people involved, it was one that seemed well-founded to the people spreading it.

To get to the point, there wasn’t actually just one main rumor, but three:

“Yoshin Misumai was dumped by Nanami Barato.”

“Yoshin Misumai made a move on two other girls even though he’s dating Nanami Barato.”

“Yoshin Misumai has a harem of three gyaru.”

Ugh, these rumors are giving me a headache.

Incidentally, these were just the three main rumors. In addition to these, many more rumors had grown arms and legs, rumors with every kind of variation imaginable that were walking around and spreading. I couldn’t even figure out what had happened.

Is it just me, or is the first rumor the only one that seems within the realm of possibility? In fact, it’s the exact opposite of the other two!

“How do rumors like that start up in the first place?” you might ask. I’d like to offer an explanation, although it’s mixed in with some of my own speculations.

First, the day after our aquarium date, Nanami-san and I had walked into the classroom separately. That really had just been a coincidence—right after we’d arrived at school, I’d gotten a stomachache, so I’d ended up parting ways with Nanami-san and her two friends.

I mean, I wasn’t exactly used to the whole sleeping-over thing, so my body was reacting funny, you know? But it’s no use making excuses. Regardless, because of that, Nanami-san and her friends had entered the classroom first, followed by me later on. But if that had been the only incident, rumors like these wouldn’t have started.

The next factor in all of this was my new haircut.

Let me just start by saying that this wasn’t one of those trope-ish turn of events where I became all popular with the girls because I got my locks snipped, making Nanami-san all jealous. Rather, the problem was with me with my new haircut, walking into the classroom by myself with my new haircut. Not only had I not entered the classroom holding hands with Nanami-san, but I had also changed my appearance. I can only assume that those two factors combined had bred unnecessary suspicion in the minds of those around us. In reality, it was probably rarer for us to actually walk into the classroom holding hands than walking in alone or not holding hands. But then, having seen us do it a few times, our classmates had started murmuring among themselves because we hadn’t done it just that once.

The third factor that had most likely contributed to my torment was that several students had witnessed the four of us walking to school together—that is, all four of us walking together with me not holding hands with Nanami-san. Witnessing such an unreal scene must have fired up the imaginations of a good number of our peers.

So there you have it: the three “roots” that had most likely led to the three main rumors going around school. Which root had led to which rumor is probably obvious, but who would have thought a haircut would lead people to think I’d gotten dumped? I mean, I’d seen that kind of stuff in manga, but still...

As if that wasn’t enough, rumors spread way faster than I’d ever imagined. I mean, most high school students have smartphones nowadays. By late Monday morning, the rumors had already spread all over school. By the time I even heard about them, they had evolved to the point where I’d apparently been dumped because I’d cheated on Nanami-san.

Perhaps it was my fault for not going along with Nanami-san’s request of styling my hair. If I’d used wax and taken a little more care with my appearance, maybe none of these rumors would’ve started.

Actually, no. Maybe styling my hair would’ve added more fuel to the fire. If I’d done myself up and come to school with Nanami-san and the others, it might have made the rumors in the harem vein increase in credibility. All in all, perhaps I’d done the right thing.

The students in our class had seen me and Nanami-san talking about our date, so they didn’t seem to believe the rumors. The problem, though, was with the students who weren’t in our class.

As a side note, back when I hadn’t yet heard the rumors, I had only registered that people were giving me weird looks in the hallway. Nanami-san and her friends hadn’t heard the rumors until pretty late in the day either. I only found out because a certain someone told me—and that certain someone was Shibetsu-senpai.

Actually, maybe saying he’d told me about them wasn’t entirely accurate. During break, Shibetsu-senpai had practically barged into my classroom. The sudden appearance of a senior—not to mention the star of the basketball team—had sent the class into an uproar. Some of the girls had had hearts in their eyes at the sight of him, but he hadn’t seemed to care about them one bit.

As soon as senpai saw me, he stormed up to me and exclaimed, “Yoshin-kun! Is it true you cheated on Barato-kun and made her mad and ended up getting dumped?! There’s no need to worry, since it must all be a misunderstanding! Come, I’ll apologize with you! If you apologize with every bit of sincerity you have, I’m sure Barato-kun will understand it was all just a mistake!”

That was the first time I’d even heard about a rumor going around. With no regard to me or my confusion, Shibetsu-senpai continued talking to me about how I could make up with Nanami-san.

Right. Senpai, Nanami-san is sitting right next to me.

“Wait, I haven’t been dumped by Nanami-san. See? She’s right here,” I said timidly as I gestured toward Nanami-san next to me. Senpai, who was still yelling, seemed not to have noticed Nanami-san at all, because when he finally did see her, he tilted his head quizzically.

“Huh. What’s going on then?” he asked.

Right? That’s what I wanna know. What’s this about me cheating on Nanami-san and making her angry? Apparently, that was what Shibetsu-senpai had heard to make him come rushing right over.

With the still confused senpai standing before her, Nanami-san—as if trying to prove I hadn’t been dumped by her—silently hugged my head to her chest.

Wh-What are you doing, Nanami-san?! We’re in the classroom! I thought, immediately panicking.

Shibetsu-senpai, on the other hand, seemed to feel the opposite. Seeing the two of us together, he sighed in relief. “What the hell?! What a bullshit rumor!”

With that, he burst into what seemed more like annoyance than anger. I, on the other hand, was more concerned with the contents of the rumor. Nanami-san and I had finally learned of the strange rumors going around, but before I could ask Shibetsu-senpai about the details of the rumor, I heard the sound of a phone camera snapping in a flurry, followed by Otofuke-san’s voice.

“Here you go, Nanami. I got some good ones.”

“Oh, you’re right. Send them to me.”

Before I even knew what was going on, Otofuke-san had taken photos of Nanami-san holding my head to her chest and was now showing them to us. Wait, what are you doing? I thought. Nanami-san looked thrilled, so I couldn’t even say anything.

“Do you want these photos too, Yoshin?” Nanami-san asked, showing them to me.

“Uh, I suppose I do,” I said somewhat hesitantly.

With a sly grin on her face, Nanami-san sent me the photos. Seeing them made me ruminate on the softness I’d felt against my head and wonder if it had been the same back at the aquarium.

“So, Shibetsu-senpai, what’s this about a rumor?” I asked once my head was out of the clouds.

“You know, it really doesn’t help if you try to look all serious, when just a moment ago you were getting hugged and grinning like an idiot.”

Huh? Did I really look like that? I couldn’t keep touching my face to check.

With an exasperated look in his eyes, Shibetsu-senpai told us about the rumors that were going around school. Nanami-san and I, and even Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san, finally heard about the details.

“Wow, rumors like that?” I said.

“Hmm, maybe we should’ve held hands this morning,” Nanami-san mumbled.

Otofuke-san was stunned. “Misumai has a harem? And it’s us?”

“Aha ha ha! A harem, huh? Hey, Misumai, you wanna make a harem with us?”

No, Kamoenai-san. I do not.

Seeing our respective reactions, Shibetsu-senpai gave a slight nod. “I knew the rumors were unreliable. I’m glad I came to confirm. Hey, how’s about you let me do my part to let everyone know the rumors are bogus? If I text the basketball team’s group chat, I’m sure we can get things under control.”

“But you came offering to apologize to Nanami-san with me, didn’t you, senpai? Didn’t you half believe the rumor?” I asked.

“What are you talking about? I said that because I was certain you’d never do such a thing.”

It was true that he had said it must all be a misunderstanding. For better or worse, he really was a straight shooter who said what he meant and meant what he said. Now he was laughing merrily. Nanami-san and I looked at each other and smiled.

“In that case,” I said to senpai, “I’d really appreciate it.”

“Of course. Leave it to me. But what utter crap! Who in their right mind would spread trash like this?! I’ll sentence the culprits to a full regimen of the basketball team’s training from hell! Now then, Yoshin-kun, best wishes to you and Barato-kun!”

And just like that, Shibetsu-senpai left—fuming, but with a smile on his face.

Shibetsu-senpai really had changed. He seemed to be genuinely rooting for us now, and he was also calling me by my first name. I was pretty sure he’d called me by my last name before then. Those were the supreme skills of the extrovert, I supposed.

“But seriously, I had no idea rumors like that were even going around,” Otofuke-san said.

“Yeah, for real. They didn’t come up in the class group chat. Maybe they didn’t wanna ask,” Kamoenai-san replied.

What, so the two of them didn’t know either?

The class group chat...on a messaging app, I assumed. If no one had mentioned it there, then maybe individuals were getting their information elsewhere. I’m not gonna dwell on the fact that I didn’t know about that group chat. Yeah, I just won’t even think about it. Even if I did join it, I probably wouldn’t have anything to contribute. I’d exchanged contact info with Nanami-san, so that was more than enough.

Regardless, we’d managed to clear up the misunderstanding with Shibetsu-senpai. Now we just had to wait patiently until the rumors died down. They do say a wonder lasts but nine days, though having to put up with all the nonsense chatter for much more than a week did sound like a bother.

In any case, everyone’ll get bored soon, I thought.

It wasn’t until lunch break that the real turmoil began.

♢♢♢

While Nanami-san and I were sitting on the school rooftop, eating lunch together as usual, loads of people—who’d likely heard the rumors by now—came to pay us a visit. And I mean loads and loads of people.

The first to show up were Nanami-san’s girlfriends.