There's No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?! E-Book

Sekaiichi

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: There's No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?!
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 258

Beschreibung

“I just love you sooooooo much, Senpai!”

My name is Tomoki Yuuki, a second-year high school student. I’d say I’m a fairly normal student, save for the fact that everyone avoids me like the plague because I apparently look like I’m out for blood. Ike Haruma is the only one who doesn’t steer clear of me. He’s your typical ‘perfect guy’ in every sense; the protagonist with no real flaws that you see in any given story.

Life at school was continuing on as usual… until one day, Haruma’s super popular little sister confesses to me out of the blue?! Though she later clarifies that her feelings toward me are anything but romantic and that she has an ulterior motive, I end up accepting my new role as ‘fake boyfriend’ as a favor to Haruma.

Believe it or not, the moment I start going out with her, Haruma’s idol-tier childhood friend and my super hot teacher get involved with me too!

Wait a minute. This can’t be a dream rom-com scenario setting itself up for me, can it?! I mean, there’s no way a side character like me could be popular, right?

Leseprobe

Contents

Chapter One: There's No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?

Chapter Two: The Side Character and the Protagonist

Chapter Three: The Side Character and the Heroine

Chapter Four: Confession

Chapter Five: The Falsehood

Chapter Six: Lunch Break

Chapter Seven: Returning Home

Chapter Eight: Commuting to School

Chapter Nine: The First Date

Chapter Ten: The Student Counseling Room

Chapter Eleven: Trip to the Library

Chapter Twelve: Another Main Character, or an Antagonist?

Chapter Thirteen: The Denunciation

Chapter Fourteen: Her True Motivations

Chapter Fifteen: Her Smile

Chapter Sixteen: The Classmate

Chapter Seventeen: The Fight

Chapter Eighteen: An Amicable Settlement

Chapter Nineteen: Her Secret

Epilogue: My Feelings

Afterword

Extra Story One: How to Become Popular?

Extra Story Two: Backhug

Extra Story Three: Yuuji’s First Time

Extra Story Four: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Extra Story Five: Embrace?

Extra Story Six: An Unusual Experiment

Copyright

Guide

Contents

Start of Content

Chapter One

There's No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?

My time in middle school wasn't the greatest. Actually, scratch that—I’d say my past 15 years on this earth have been pretty shitty.

People have always avoided me. I don't know whether it's out of fear, hatred, or something else. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's because of my looks. Apparently, I look like I'm constantly out for blood. Well, that's the story of my life summed up: people stay well out of my way, so I never had much chance for social interaction.

Most people approached high school with a sense of optimism—they considered turning over a new leaf, having a fresh start, and all that. They'd think to themselves, "Maybe things will be better.” To be honest, I never entertained any of those ideas.

As it turned out, my pessimistic outlook was both right and wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, though. Everything was still basically the same: people avoided me like the plague, hated on me, you know the deal. I was already used to it, though, so I didn’t really mind.

“Oh well, I guess that's just how it is.”

I repeated that to myself over and over again, so I wasn't the least bit surprised that things remained the same once I'd entered high school.

However, not everything turned out the way I'd expected...

“Yo. Wanna hang out at DonMac later after school? I mean, we’re in the same class and all, right? So, why not?”

He was the only one who talked to me with a friendly smile on his face. He was none other than the protagonist of our story.

Not only was he attractive, but he was also super athletic and smart. He was the kind of guy who got scouted by modeling agencies whenever he went out. He was the kind of guy who would always top the charts for our test scores. He was the kind of guy who'd be the ace of any sports club… even taking into account the fact that he was part of the student council.

Most people would figure a guy that perfect must be a cocky douchebag, but he was nothing like that. Actually, he treated everyone as equals. .

He was the perfect hero to any story, the kind that people looked up to and aspired to be.

So with all that said, it's safe to assume that Haruma—that’s his name, by the way—was pretty popular around school. You'd be right.

And, for the cherry on top, he was also popular with the ladies. Because he was the perfect package, he was always surrounded by cute girls who wanted a little slice of the cake.

Take his childhood friend, for example: she was one of the popular girls in school, and she was always hanging around him. The student council advisor, a pretty hot teacher, relied on him most of the time. He even had a cute little sister, to boot.

Mix it all up, and you had the perfect recipe for the leading role: handsome, popular, and studious. This placed him right at the very top of the school’s social pyramid. I mean, if he wasn't the protagonist of the story, then who the hell would be?

So, long story short...

The more you knew Ike Haruma, the more you'd think that he should have been the main character of this story.

Don't even bother comparing yourself to him; it would just drive you mad. The only thing you really could do would be to wave the white flag and admit defeat. You couldn't help but think, “Damn, this guy is really amazing.”

At some point, I ended up becoming his friend. I don't really know how or why, but it happened. You know the character who tended to stick around the protagonist, the side character? That was me. I didn’t really mind that, though, as I was more proud of my status than anything.

I didn’t really give a damn about how the others at school might have hated me. As long as Haruma understood my struggle, I would be fine. Just the mere thought that the protagonist of the story got what I was going through was enough for me. It was nice to know that he had my back, and it eased the burden off my shoulders a bit.

…Anyways, back to my life at high school.

At this point, you might be thinking that it was mediocre at best, and shitty at worst. Then again, it couldn’t have been that bad, right?

It's true. Thanks to Ike Haruma, the whole experience wasn't as bad as I had expected.

☆

Nothing really outstanding happened in my first year of high school. Once we reached our second year, though, something happened to me; something that was totally out of the blue for a side character like me.

“Senpai, will you be my boyfriend?”

She was a total cutie, with light brown hair that skirted around her shoulders, and makeup perfectly applied to highlight her features.

So that begs the question... Why did she confess to me, of all people?

“Say what?”

She sighed at my response. Was it wrong of me to assume that I'd misheard her? I mean, look at me: I’m the guy that everyone at school ran away from. Why did someone as beautiful as her want me to be her boyfriend?

This was something Haruma should have experienced, not me.

“You’re gonna make me repeat myself? You’re such a meanie, Senpai… I said, 'Will you be my boyfriend?'”

She smiled faintly at me, but there was a serious look in her eyes as she repeated herself.

She happened to be the protagonist’s sister. Like her brother, she was also at the top of the school hierarchy. Definitely someone who could have been considered the heroine of any story.

Her name was Touka. Ike Touka.

Chapter Two

The Side Character and the Protagonist

It was spring, and the start of my second year of high school.

For some people, it was a beautiful season in which you could watch the cherry blossoms flutter around. Personally, I wasn't a fan of spring—it meant new faces in class, just like every year. Such was the life of a high school student.

It was the opening ceremony for the new term, which meant I needed to figure out which class I was in. There was a bulletin board with our class assignments posted near the school's gate, so I headed straight toward it. A fairly sizable crowd had already formed around it when I got there. While the excitement for the new term around me was palpable, I didn't really give a damn. I just wanted to get in and leave. Unfortunately, though, I happened to bump into someone. He recognized who I was, and, well...

“Oh, sorry du—, Augh?! T-Tomokiii?! S-Sorry! I’m really sorry! I’m so sorry, dude!”

The moment he saw my face, he started apologizing like crazy. Yeah… he was terrified, all right. Just as I was about to tell him it wasn't a big deal, another guy noticed the situation and decided to add fuel to the fire.

“Huh?! T-Tomoki-kun?! Hey! Make way for him, guys!”

Well, everyone's eyes were on me then. They even started stepping back. The only guy who hadn't moved was the one I bumped into—he was practically frozen in place, on the brink of tears, and still profusely apologizing.

“Look, it’s Tomoki…”

“He bumped into Tomoki?! Oh man…”

“He’s definitely gonna get murdered later. Rest in peace.”

The whole thing had become a bit of a public spectacle, and even the new students had started staring at us curiously. I wasn't surprised that people would eventually start talking about me, but I didn't really expect it to have started right off the bat. Seriously... right at the beginning of the term before I even knew what class I was in. I felt pretty annoyed, to say the least.

I'll explain: apparently, everyone at school thought I was some sort of dangerous criminal, so they avoided me. Why, you may ask, did they think that? Well…

“Damn, Tomoki. You look scary, dude.”

It was my face. My face was really scary looking.

I was born with this face, so there's nothing I could do about it. To add insult to injury I had a small scar under my eyebrow that I got from an incident years ago. It made me look even more menacing than I already was, like I was a thug or something. That's how everyone saw me, anyway—like some kinda monster, not even human.

“I m-mean... forgive me, Tomoki-kun!”

I told him to just shut the hell up and go. I passed him and headed straight to the bulletin board to see which class I was in. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy breathe out a visible sigh of relief, a hand on his chest.

All I wanted to do was get the hell out of there and head straight to class.

… Finally, I found my name.

It seemed like I was in class 2-A for the upcoming term. Right after I found my name, I started searching for someone else's. I hoped he was in my class, too.

“Hey, Yuuji. Looks like we're in the same class again. Let’s make the best out of it.”

I heard someone address me from behind, and recognized him right away. It was my only friend—no one else would have talked to me as casually as he just did. I turned around to face him.

“Yo, Ike. Same goes. By the way, how long have you been creeping behind me?”

He was Ike Haruma, the story’s protagonist, and my only friend in school. He was the whole package: athletic, attractive, outgoing, and sharp. It was like the gods cheated when they created his character sheet and gave him all the best stats.

I bet he'd have been surrounded by people right now if I hadn't been standing next to him.

“I just got here. Looks like no one wants to approach you yet... At least it makes you stand out in a crowd.”

“Oh, piss off.”

We bantered back and forth. That's just how we were as friends.

“Well, I’m just gonna go to class now, and… actually, scratch that. I’ll just kill some time somewhere first.”

I could already picture it: the moment I entered the classroom, everyone would cower in fear. I really didn't want to deal with that if I could have avoided it, so I’d just go somewhere else until classes started.

Originally, I'd planned on arriving right before the ceremony started. But, on the other hand, I knew that looking for my classroom would eat up some of my time. Arriving late wasn't a good look for me, since it would've just reinforced the idea that I was some kind of thug. I didn't want people to look at me like that, since it'd only make my school experience even shittier.

He smiled brightly at my words and replied, “Oh, sure. See ya later.”

I stepped away. Instantly, the vacuum of space filled in, and Ike was rushed at from all sides.

“Hey Ike, we’re in the same class, man!”

“Me too! Wanna exchange LINE profiles?!”

“Hey! Trying to get a head start, huh?! Ike-kun! W-Wanna exchange profiles with me too?!”

I witnessed something truly surreal. No matter how many times I'd seen it, I just couldn't get used to it. And you know what? For some reason, I never felt any sort of jealousy toward him. I never really asked myself, “Why him, and not me?”

I was his friend, after all—when I saw him happy, it made me happy, too.

☆

The Opening Ceremony ended.

I glanced at my classmates out of the corner of my eye; they all seemed pretty excited about the new term. I prepared to leave, but Ike called out.

“Hey, Yuuji! Wait a sec!”

“Huh? What is it?”

My reply was terse, but I wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible. We tended to stand out a little too much when we talked—someone at the very top of the school hierarchy talking to someone like me, the school thug.

“Everyone's planning to get together and hang out after this. What about you? You’re coming, right?”

The room went deathly silent after he said that, and all eyes turned to us.

I shook my head.

“Sorry, but I’ve got some stuff to do.”

Ike looked like he wanted to say something, but then bit his tongue after a moment of hesitation. He nodded instead. Good—it seemed like he understood the situation.

“Oh, okay. Sorry for keeping you, dude. See ya tomorrow.”

“Sure, see ya.”

As I went to leave, I could visibly see the relief on everybody's faces. Before I could head out the door, though, Ike called out and stopped me again.

“Oh yeah, Yuuji—one more thing."

“What is it now?”

“Well, it’s about my sister. She’s a freshman this year, so hopefully you two get along."

He said with a smile on his face.

“...Thanks, I guess.”

I finally left the classroom. Get along with her? Yeah right. I knew she'd take one look at my face and be too scared to talk to me, just like every other girl at this school. I didn't see how it'd be any different just because she was his sister.

…Back then, I never expected that she would be the first girl to ever ask me out.

Chapter Three

The Side Character and the Heroine

It was the next day, and I was at school once again. Same old, same old.

I entered the classroom, and all the lively chatter that was going on immediately stopped. It was dead silent.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I just went to my seat. I felt a little upset about the situation.

“Yo. Morning, dude,” Ike called out to me the moment I sat down.

“Morning.”

As we exchanged greetings, everyone else slowly went back to chatting. Weird.

Last year, people wouldn't even talk while I was in the classroom. I figured it would have been the same thing this year, too. Maybe it was because they had some extra time before classes started? Maybe it was because it was a new class with fresh faces? I didn't know why, but at least they seemed to be less on guard than I'd expected.

“Well, yesterday, I pretty much told them how you're anything but a criminal. Seems like I've managed to convince them, at least a little."

Ike didn’t sound very happy about the classroom’s attitude, though.

“Always sticking your nose into other people’s business.”

“I just wanted everyone to know that you’re actually not a bad guy at all. You haven't really done anything since last year to warrant the way they've been treating you, so that's why they trusted me. I guess you didn't want me to do that, though?"

“Do whatever you want.”

I tried to answer as coldly as I could; in reality, though, I couldn’t have been happier—he'd actually helped me, his friend, out. Then again, he was the protagonist—of course he’d help his friend out, right?

“Yep. Will do,” he retorted with a smile.

The bell rang, which signaled the beginning of class. Our teacher entered the room.

“Good morning. I’m taking attendance, so everyone sit down in your seats.”

“Smell ya later.”

And with that, Ike returned to his chair.

☆

Classes ended without much fuss. The final bell rang, signalling the end of school, and I stood up, ready to head home.

“Yuuji—if you're free, could you lend me a hand for a bit? I have some printouts for the first years here, and I have to carry them from the printing room to the student council one. I can’t really carry them all alone, so…”

Ike bowed his head apologetically. He was popular in school, so he'd managed to win the vote to be the Student Council’s president, no problem.

“Hm? Helping the Student Council? I mean, sure. As long as it doesn’t take an eternity.”

“Thanks! Sorry to ask you. I owe you one."

“Sweet.”

Before we went to the printing room, we decided to leave our bags in the student council room. There were a number of buildings in the school: one where the classes were located, one that dealt with the administrative side of things, etc. The student council room was located on the second floor of the administrative building, so we headed over there.

Ike fished a key out of his bag once we reached the door.

“Wait a sec, lemme open the door real quick… Oh, wait, it’s already open.”

“Forgot to close it last time?”

“No, it's gotta be…," he whispered as he opened the door. It opened to reveal a woman inside the room.

“Good work today, Makiri-sensei.”

“Yeah, the same for you, Ike-kun… Looks like you’ve come to help out again, Tomoki-kun?”

She was Makiri Chiaki, a teacher at the school and the advisor for the student council. She was pretty new—she'd transferred here last year—but she’d already built up a fanbase because of her youth and cute looks.

I wouldn't let her looks deceive you, though. She was tough as nails and acted like it around everyone. She garnered not only admiration, but also fear.

“I didn’t have anything better to do, so yeah.”

I actually liked her. Not because of her looks or anything like that...

“I see, thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”

…It was because she didn’t look at me like everyone else did. She wasn't guarded around me, nor did she hate or fear me. She always looked at me gently instead. She didn't judge a book by its cover, so she saw me for who I really was. That was something I couldn’t really say about the rest of the teachers I’d had so far.

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Ike-kun. I just came here to grab the council's daily activity report.”

She took the report and left.

“Good for you, huh?” Ike joked and nudged me with his elbow.

“Oh, shut up,” I answered with a smack to his shoulder.

“Come on, bro! That hurt! Let’s get to carrying those prints, Yuuji.”

☆

"Hey, Haruma! Doing Student Council work?”

As we headed toward the printing room, we heard a cheerful voice calling out to Ike.

“Yep. I gotta hand these out to the freshmen.”

“Oh, really? Nice work!”

The girl who called him out smiled. Her name was Hasaki Kana, and she was one of the school's beauties. She was also one of Ike’s childhood friends, so you can already guess that good looks weren’t the only thing she had going for her.

There were a lot of guys who chased after her because of her celebrity-tier looks, but she was more than just a pretty face. She was also a great athlete. She was part of the tennis club at school, and apparently also pretty famous—known nationally, as a matter of fact.

“What about you? Going home and straight to the court?”

“Mhm. Sorry that I can’t help you while you're stuck doing all the Council work alone,” she replied in a light-hearted tone.

Heh, I would expect no less from one of Ike’s childhood friends. Your run-of-the-mill childhood friend would have probably been super awkward and embarrassed when talking to the protagonist—you know, blushing, stuttering, and all that. But she acted completely normal around him.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Yuuji’s here helping me out.”

And the moment he mentioned my name…

“Wait. By Yuuji, you mean… Tomoki-kun?” She whispered to him, looking rather nervous.

She had been so focused on talking to Ike that she hadn't even noticed me. Not wanting to be the elephant in the room, I popped out from behind him so she could see me clearly.

“Eek! T-Tomoki-kun! S-Sorry! I couldn’t see you behind Haruma, and…!”

She looked seriously nervous. Well, when it came to interacting with girls, that was nothing new. I mean, I actually felt bad for scaring her because of my face. For real.

“Don’t sweat it.”

“O-Okayyy!” She shouted. Her face was beet red, and her teeth were chattering.

“...I’ll just go ahead to the printing room before you.”

“Don’t. I’m coming with you. Anyways, Kana, do your best at the tennis club today," he told her before running up to me.

“Oh, okay. Do your best with the Student Council stuff too, Haruma… and you too, Tomoki-kun!” She answered, trying to hold her fear back as much as possible.

Well, “A” for effort. Most of the students just ignored me and never talked to me ever again, so…

I nodded in reply, and she sighed in relief. She placed one hand over her chest, her face still bright red.

Was talking to me really that much of a nerve-wracking experience? I couldn’t stop thinking about her reaction and the way she spoke to me the moment she realised I was there. I might have looked scary on the outside, but I was actually very self-conscious.

☆

"Thanks, Yuuji. You seriously helped me out."

Ike thanked me after we finished carrying all the papers.

“Don’t sweat it. Like I said, I had nothing better to do anyway."

No, really—I had no plans after school. I’d never been able to join a club, so all I did when I got home from school was stuff like studying, playing sports, reading manga or light novels... that sort of thing.

Some people played games, but that wasn't really my thing. I'd tried them before, but most of them were multiplayer and required other players to join in on the fun. Now, they mostly just annoyed me.

“Anything else you need help with?”

“Nothing really springs to mind. I can finish this stuff pretty quickly on my own.”

“Okay, then I’m out.”

“Hey! Wait a sec, dude!”

I turned around and managed to catch the can of cold coffee that he threw at me. It was probably from the fridge in the room.

“Here's your payment for today.”

“Didn't you say earlier that you owed me one?” I said jokingly.

“Come on dude, how could I forget about that? Consider this a bonus.”

“I'll take it then, no complaints.”

“Nice. See you around.”

“See you.”

We both looked at each other and nodded. Just as I’d opened the door to step out, though, another girl passed in front of me. She stopped and turned around—I assume because of the noise the door made when I opened it. Our eyes met.

“Eek!” She screamed and quickly backed away. She saw my face and started trembling. Even though something similar had just happened with Hasaki, I still found the reaction just as shocking.

She had a red ribbon on her uniform, so she must've been a first year.

I felt sorry that she had to look at my mug on her very first day of school.

“What’s wrong, Yuuji?”

Ike came out of the room, no doubt concerned by the scream he'd heard.

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

Nothing out of the norm, anyway. If this was how she'd reacted just from looking at me, imagine how she would've been if I'd actually said “hi” to her. She would’ve run away screaming and crying for sure.

“Oh, Touka, it’s you. What are you doing here?”

Ike seemed to know her, given how casually he was speaking to her and calling her by name. She regained her composure after seeing him, and that small window of time gave me the opportunity to see what she actually looked like.

She had light brown hair that reached her shoulders. She wore a little makeup, but it looked pretty natural. My initial opinion of her was a normal fashionable girl, if you know what I mean.

“Didn’t I tell you to not talk to me while we’re at school?” She whispered, not even looking at him.

Wait, what the hell?! Ike talked to her, and she wasn't happy about it?

Ike interrupted my thoughts by answering, “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. By the way, I’ll introduce you two. He’s Tomoki Yuuji, the guy I’m always talking to you about. Be sure to treat him nicely.”

He completely ignored the fact that she said not to talk to her.

“Do I need to repeat myself? I said… wait, he’s the Tomoki Yuuji?”

She looked at me again, clearly puzzled.

What had he meant by "the guy I’m always talking to you about"? And what was up with that look on her face? As for me, I was just as clueless about the expression on my face, or even what I should have been feeling.

“‘Sup.”

I attempted to be as expressionless as possible when I whispered to her; I couldn’t even muster a smile.

She stared straight at me.

“Hmmm… Hi there. I’m Ike Touka—Ike Haruma’s little sister. He’s always talking about you, Tomoki-senpai. He says you’re a reliable person.”

He did? I mean, I’d take her word for it. Damn, did I ever feel lucky. I was honored to be his side character.

…Wait a sec, that wasn't what I should've been surprised about!

“Wait, you’re his little sister?”

My head was still a little clouded by what she said. When I took a better look at her, though, I could see the resemblance. I mean, she was beautiful, so I guess they'd both gotten their equal share of the beauty gene.

“Yep, that’s me.”

Judging by how she had treated him earlier, I assumed she was a tsundere. She had to be the type that really cared for her brother deep down, even if she didn’t show it on the outside. Or maybe she lied to herself too, pretending that she didn't care when she really did. Whatever the case, I was sure she was one or the other.

“I’ll get back to my job. Could you spend some time with her, Yuuji?”

“Uh, sure. Break a leg, dude.”

Ike returned to the Council room. I could see his sister glare at his retreating figure.

I bet she was annoyed because she'd wanted to spend more time with him, but he left early… or something like that.

“I’m honestly surprised. I never figured I'd be able to meet you of all people.”

“I’m also quite surprised, Tomoki-senpai. You look super menacing!”

She'd changed her attitude and was smiling. This was a total 180 from the way she first looked at me; maybe she was playing coy? I didn't really have any experience speaking to girls like this, though, so my answer wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped.

“R-Right?” I managed to stutter, not really knowing what else to say. I wasn't the most sociable person, and it showed.

“The hell? What do you mean, 'right'? I’m starting to like you."

She flashed me a bright smile.

It seemed like my fumbling ass was accidentally funny. Nice, I guess?

“Gotta say, though, Senpai—you really are menacing. And funny.”

“I am?”

It was the first time a girl had ever called me funny. Actually, I don't think a guy had ever called me that, either... So it was more like the first time anyone had ever called me funny. Period.

“Yeah! Actually, let’s exchange phone numbers! Pretty please?”

“Huh? I mean, sure?”

“Yaaay!”

Judging by her reaction, not to mention the look on her face, she was happy about receiving my number.

I opened my phone and managed to add her to my contacts after a bit of struggling. Hey, prior to this, I'd only ever used it to talk with Ike. I didn't really know how it worked.

Now I’d be able to talk to his sister, as well. I guess it was one more excuse to use my phone.

The moment I added her number, I received a message. It wasn't even a normal message. It was some kinda sticker of… whatever the hell that thing was supposed to be, accompanied by a speech bubble that read, ‘Let’s get along!’

I’d never received a message like this from a girl before, so I’d be lying if I said that I hadn't been happy about it.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s get along,” I answered.

“Mhm! Let’s get along from now on, Seeenpai!♡”

Ike Touka, in a move that filled the role of the protagonist's little sister perfectly, gave me a brilliant smile while clutching her phone with both hands.

Chapter Four

Confession

It happened the day after I met Touka, Haruma’s sister.

There was nothing really special about that day. I’d say it was just another ordinary day. Although people in class had lowered their guard a bit with Ike's help, everyone outside of our class still avoided me. In the end, Ike was still the only person I talked to.

Anyway, yeah. Nothing really special happened that day, with the exception of a text from his sister. The message read:

"Wanna ask u about smth. U free this afternoon? Meet me behind the gym."

“Looks like today’s going to be busier than usual,” I thought.

Looking back, I hadn't been able to read between the lines. I hadn't given her message a second thought. I'd just figured she wanted to ask me about her brother or something.

And if I was a character in some light novel, I imagined I'd be the one giving life counseling to the typical cute little sister.

"Sure, let’s meet. Not behind the gymnasium, though. Otherwise, people are gonna think that I’m trying to kill you or something."

It hadn't even been 10 seconds before I received a reply.