V1 Ch-3 part 1【Shrinking Distance】 - ◆Part１【I Thought There Was No Such Thing As An Event In School For a Loner Like Me】

Translator: AJ1703

Editor: Matsu

■Chapter 3【Shrinking Distance】

◆１【I Thought There Was No Such Thing As An Event In School For a Loner Like Me】

Perhaps it was because I was so close to Takarai that I remembered exactly how she felt after the incident on the rainy day, but on this day, I was unnecessarily nervous just seeing her at school.

So far, we have been pretending to be complete strangers in the classroom, but since we are classmates, there are times when Takarai and I look at each other.

When this happens, Takarai casually turns to me and winks one of her eyes at me.

I feel a hundred times more embarrassed than usual.

It’s not that I like Takarai or anything.

I think she’s a good person because she’s kind to Tsumugi, a person who easily cries for others, and she’s surprisingly good at housework for a gal like her, but that’s all there is to it.

Takarai is only pretending to be “my girlfriend” for Tsumugi’s sake, and it would be wrong if I misunderstood her.

If I look up, I’m sure my eyes will meet Takarai’s again, so I decided to escape by staring at my phone. At this rate, I won’t even be able to study during the break.

Then a wallpaper appeared on my phone showing Takarai with Tsumugi.

I don’t think there’s a boy in the school who can take a picture with the confession-busting Takarai, or get ridiculously close to her on the couch at home.

Maybe I’m the most involved with Takarai out of all the boys in the school?

No, no, no, that can’t be it. Takarai is a popular girl, and I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other guys who are close to her that I just don’t know about.

I turned off my phone and plopped down on my desk, embarrassed by my momentary hubris.

★

The afternoon class was a two-hour PE session involving two classes.

The class was held after lunch, so the active boys were moving around the gym, just to work off their hunger.

I, who was not good at ball games, somehow managed to get through the basketball mini-game without hindering my teammates, and took a break by the gym door.

The door was open, connecting to the field.

In the outside world, filled with fresh air that is different from the hot and humid space filled with boys, girls are running short distances. I was not interested in my classmates’ games with their balls, so I just watched in a daze.

Just then, it was Takarai’s turn.

She was wearing a white t-shirt with the school’s name on it and a red school jersey with half pants.

Takarai showed off her overwhelming running ability with her long legs and her natural spring.

I don’t know how a go-home club member can run like that.

Takarai must be training for her beauty regimen, so she must be doing a lot of running.

It seems like a joke when I think back to the fact that I’m spending time with such a high-spec girl at home.

“Takarai is amazing, isn’t she?”

Before I knew it, a group of boys had formed behind me to watch Takarai.

The gathering of adolescent boys with no shame and no sense of respect begins the Takarai critique.

They seemed to have one of the lowest decencies among boys, and they would praise her for her breasts, buttocks, legs, and other superficial things.

Now that Takarai was in my category of “close friends,” I didn’t feel so good about them doing so.

I didn’t mean to insist that I’m different from them, but…

“Hey now~, you boys there!”

Just then, a pink-haired twin-tailed girl comes up to us at breakneck speed.

It’s Rumi Ousaki.

Unlike Takarai, who’s like a tall model, Ousaki is short and has an idol-like cuteness about her. Her eyes were large and her nose was rounded, which made her look young for a high school student.

Ousaki, however, now has a devil-may-care look in her eyes.

“I can feel you guys looking at Yua-chi with your dirty eyes!”

Ousaki, like Takarai’s faithful watchdog, chased back the boys who had been watching.

In spite of her idol-like appearance, Ousaki does not flatter her male counterparts, and is devoted to Takarai.

“…I’ll admit you have the guts to look like you’ll never move from that spot.”

She was looking at me.

I was completely caught off guard.

I thought I was an outsider who wasn’t taking part in the nasty competition, but from Ousaki’s point of view, I guess I’m just another member of the obscene legion.

“No, I was just cooling off…”

“You’re in good shape to be enjoying Yua-chi as a side dish while cooling off, aren’t you?”

Ousaki stood in front of me, looking down.

“Just because you’ve been having eye contact with Yua-chi lately… doesn’t mean you should get carried away…!”

“Eye contact…? I have nothing to do with Takarai-san…”

That’s not good, I thought to myself.

Ousaki was always with Takarai.

It’s not surprising that Ousaki would be suspicious of me because of the way Takarai has been looking at me and the way we’ve been socializing after school.

But if it was just a matter of worrying about eye contact, I could disguise it as her imagination.

“Why did it have to be a stick figure guy like you… Yua-chi’s partner has to be bigger, stronger and more dependable…”

She was complaining about something, but I couldn’t hear her.

“That’s exactly how Nagumo is…”

“Um, what was that about Nagumo?”

“Huh!?”

Ousaki’s expression became even more grim, as if somehow, I’d incurred Imperial wrath.

“Rumi~, what’s wrong?”

And then Takarai appeared.

She was a little breathless, probably because she came here right after finishing the 100-meter run.

The feeling of being hugged back by Takarai flashed back to me.

I wanted to hold my head in my hands, but I knew that if I did that, I would be treated like a weirdo in front of Takarai.

“Fuun~! It’s nothing! I was just trying to change the appearance of the boys who were looking at Yua-chi in such an obscene way!”

“Are you saying that Nagumo-kun was looking at me in a dirty way?”

It’s a complete misunderstanding, but I was the only one in the room who was limited to “boys.” The guys who were having a really outrageous competition earlier are now gone since they returned to their basketball games.

I guess even Takarai doesn’t like being looked at by pricks when she’s partaking in class seriously. Well, she’s a complete wet blanket though.

“I’ve got to say something to Nagumo-kun, it’s not good. Leave this to me.”

I couldn’t see Takarai’s expression because she was looking at Ousaki. This might be the pattern when she loses her temper…

“Oh no, that’s no good at all! You’ll be driven away with trauma! Justice is on our side after all.”

Ousaki smiled a smile that was completely disproportionate to her words and actions, and trotted off.

“Nagumo-kun, you see…”

Takarai turned around and looked dumbfounded. She walked right up to me and bent at the waist while standing.

“If you want to do something naughty, I’ll do it at Nagumo-kun’s house. This is a school, remember? Let’s try to be patient.”

“I don’t want to do anything naughty at my house either though?”

I have to correct her, because she seems to have misunderstood me.

Takarai bent down, made eye contact with me, and pointed his index finger at my forehead.

“Didn’t we just do it yesterday?”

When she smiled provocatively at me, I remembered what happened yesterday, and my body temperature suddenly rose.

“T-That wasn’t my doing!”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. It was my wish after all. I just wanted to squeeze Nagumo-kun, okay?”

I couldn’t get rid of my inferiority complex because she said it without showing any embarrassment.

“Do you want to do it again today~?”

“No. I only did it because Takarai was about to catch a cold, but if the weather had been fine, I wouldn’t have done anything.”

“Although you keep saying that, you didn’t resist, you just let me do what I wanted.”

“I was just a little surprised, that’s all!”

“But I think it helped you get used to me, didn’t it?”

Instead of getting used to her, I now feel much more embarrassed in front of her than before.

Takarai stood up abruptly.

“Oh, it’s my turn again, I have to go.”

She was about to leave, but then she turned around as if she remembered something.

“Let’s go to the pool this weekend!”

I think they had mentioned that when we went to buy Tsumugi’s phone, but I guess they hadn’t forgotten.

“Tsumugi-chan seems to be looking forward to it, too.”

It’s true that Tsumugi has been talking about swimming pools a lot lately, and since Takarai has been communicating with Tsumugi directly on the messaging app, she probably knows how Tsumugi feels.

“…All right. See you on Sunday.”

I can’t take away Tsumugi’s fun.

Takarai nodded her head in satisfaction as she heard my words.

“After cuddling on the couch, we’re going to have a swimsuit party~.”

“Be careful when you say something like that, we’re at school, you know!?”

I couldn’t help but shout out loud, but thanks to the echoing balls and footsteps in the gym, no one around us could hear her.

Don’t take any strange gambles, Takarai, even though it could get you into a lot of trouble if people at school misunderstood our relationship.

This time, a swimsuit huh…

It seemed that my annoyance was going to accelerate.