My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 197

"You mean that mysterious pressure, right?"

Thinking back, the feeling from that time resurfaced, and I unconsciously answered. Yui responded twice and nodded in agreement, then continued the conversation:

"I'm not a fast walker, so it was really tough back then~"

"That's right, that's right, because there are always people like that~ Nagayama from the soccer club, who starts yelling and cursing whenever his classmates are overtaken by players from other classes."

"Who is that? Why are names suddenly popping up!"

Yuihama turned around in surprise. "You don't know? Nagayama, my classmate from junior high. It would be scary if you knew."

Oh dear, I really do hate that guy, even though he probably hates me too.

But it's not just Nagayama from the soccer club that I hate. Because of the phrase "class relay race," my folder of emotionally scarred memories is practically spitting fire. (Note 15: A common phrase used in discussion threads sharing pictures on the Japanese 2ch forum.)

"And the female classmates who didn't want to take over were the same. Why did they specifically say things like 'That's ridiculous~' in front of me in that situation? Were they being tsundere?"

No matter how I think about it, the only explanation seems to be that the other person is deliberately trying to make me feel down. Is this the psychology of wanting to tease the person you like the most? In other words, am I actually super popular? Or is that not true?

I unconsciously revealed a self-deprecating smile, and Yuihama also laughed bitterly in response.

"Uh... then it should be..."

Ugh, Yuihama's slightly pitying gaze hurts so much... Gentleness and consideration can sometimes be painful.

"I think you already know this, so I won't go into details. But when a girl expresses reluctance, there's a high chance she's serious, right?"

But Yukinoshita, putting the cold facts in front of you doesn't necessarily make you feel relaxed, does it?

"Didn't you just make it clear? Go look up the meaning of 'make it clear' in the dictionary, okay? Also, when talking about the sports meet, you absolutely have to mention that."

"There's more to the story..."

When Yuihama realized I was about to continue, her smile began to twitch. Foolish girl, the memories of the sports meet are absolutely endless!

"Of course there are more. This might only be for boys, like rhythmic gymnastics. When you're divided into groups, there's always one person short, so in the end, the teacher has to accompany them. And when you have to do moves like the 'fan,' there aren't enough people."

That's right, that's right~ About 80,000 people in my mind agree with this, but Yukinoshita and Yuigahama seem completely baffled, just staring in disbelief. Because rhythmic gymnastics isn't a women's event, they didn't know that...?

"In rhythmic gymnastics, it's not just about 'fans,' but basically no matter what you do, you'll be in the same group as the teacher. Thanks to that, I was quite the center of attention at the sports meet."

"It's so pitiful for your parents to see their son like this..."

Yukinoshita placed her hand on her temple, a bitter expression on her face. "Thank you for worrying about my parents, but don't worry. My parents were either laughing hysterically or completely forgetting I existed, busy filming Komachi. That's what a brother is like..."

Just as I sighed self-deprecatingly, feeling gloomy as I recalled the past, a short, rhythmic knock sounded on the door.

Although it didn't sound like much force was being used, the knocking was louder in the quiet room.

We both turned to look at the doorway without prior arrangement.

"Please come in."

Upon hearing Yukino's reply, a female student who had previously visited the school walked into the clubroom.

"Excuse me—"

A gentle aura surrounded her, and as she looked around the classroom, her neatly tied braids swayed. Her bangs were secured with hair clips, and the setting sun shone on her bright and beautiful forehead, perfectly reflecting her lively personality.

Cheng Huixun. A third-year student, one year ahead of me. She's also the student council president of our Soubu High School. I met her once when Yukinoshita and I were helping out on the school anniversary executive committee.

After patrolling the student office with a curious look on her face, the senior student smiled at us.

"Um, this is the Service Club, right? I sent an inquiry letter about the sports meet before, but I thought it would be faster to meet in person and talk... so I came here."

Upon hearing this, we looked at the computer screen.

Pen name: Xun☆Xun.

I see. This must be the letter that Senior Xun was referring to. The letter also mentions the sports meet, and the description of "the last time" perfectly matches the inference.

"The sender of this letter..."

Yuihama looked at the computer and Xun-senpai, and the other person pointed to herself.

"Ah, I probably sent it."

As she spoke, the senior student walked up to me.

"I want to make the sports meet as exciting as the school anniversary celebration. Could you please help me? Yukinoshita-kun and, uh…"

When Senior Xun looked at me, she seemed to have something stuck in her throat and made a face as if she couldn't think of an answer. Yuihama then whispered something to me as if giving a secret signal.

"Hikigaya, it's Hikigaya."

Upon hearing this, Senior Xun clapped her hands. Then, she smiled at Yuihama.

"Ah, are you Hachiman Hikigaya? And this is...?"

Then, Senior Xun looked at me with a troubled expression. Realizing her words had been misunderstood, Yui quickly corrected herself:

"No, that's Yuihama! This is Hikigaya."

"Ah, I see."

The senior student seemed to finally understand and nodded.

"Yes... um, being called Hachiman or something... it bothers me a lot..."

Yui turned her face away, and her voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible. Yes, hearing those words now, I'm also very unsure how to react.

"A name that bothers you when people call you... it's practically a taboo name. Typical of Hachiman-kun..."

Stop it! (Note 16: The original text is "やめたげてよぉ", a famous line shouted by the female supporting character "Hakuru" in the Pokémon Black and White series when she is in a hurry.) Stop making jokes using other people's names! Stop calling Kondou-kun "condom"! In my case, people call me an autistic guy, which is actually quite miserable when I think about it calmly.

"I'm sorry, I'm really bad at remembering people's names..."

"It's like the senior student who's looking down in embarrassment," she said.

Seeing this, Yukinoshita gently replied in a calm tone:

"Please don't mind it. It's just that he's not good at making people remember his name."

"Isn't it a bit strange for you to say that? Although you're not wrong."

In fact, when people call me, they usually use "that" or "hey," so I have to suspect that people really don't remember my name.

"Then there's no problem, right? Besides, you're pretty good at making yourself disappear, aren't you?"

A smile appeared on Yukinoshita's face. Even the "that" at the beginning of the sentence is completely unclear, followed by an "and." Unfortunately, all of the above are true, so they cannot be denied.

"N-nothing like that!"

However, a negative statement unexpectedly came from someone's mouth. Yui interrupted my conversation with Yukinoshita.

"Because she's always alone in the classroom, it actually feels out of place!"

"Oh, there's even this kind of 'cheering' technique..."

It didn't help at all. What are you planning to do by continuing to hunt me down like this? Some kind of fishing method?

"Aha."

The senior student watching our interaction suddenly laughed.

Then, it took a step towards me, closing the distance.

"Hikigaya-san."

Being called by name at such close range, I unconsciously took a step back.

"Yes, yes."

As soon as I answered, Senior Sister Xun nodded.

"Hachigaya-kun, right? Yes, I remember. You worked really hard to help when we were short-handed for the school festival, so we'll have to rely on you this time too."

Compared to seeing such an innocent smile, the fact that my name wasn't remembered is utterly trivial. In fact, having your name mistaken for someone else's is hardly a big deal.

More than that, what touched me was that Senior Sister Xun remembered my efforts at the school anniversary celebration.

At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Despite the close proximity between us, Senior Xun seemed completely unconcerned, continuing to gaze at me with a smile on her face.

Thanks to my senior, I unconsciously turned my face away.

"Uh, um... I'll do my best..."

As a result, after turning his face away, he saw a guy with a puffed-up face.

"snort--……"

What the heck? You're a pufferfish! Has the enemy appeared?

A chilling voice came from behind Yuihama, who seemed rather displeased.

"Senior Shiro. It's fine to leave that guy alone, so please tell us the details of your request."

Her voice was so cold that it could make people actually feel the change of seasons, exclaiming, "It seems to have suddenly gotten colder lately..." Perhaps because of this sentence, Xun-senpai's smile suddenly turned into an expression as if she remembered something, and she clapped her hands.

"Oh, right, right. I'd like to ask you all for a favor: come up with ideas for the final events of the men's and women's sports meet."

"The main event of the eyeball competition (Note 17: The Japanese word for 'final competition' is 目玉竞技, which can be directly translated as 'eyeball competition'.)..."

An image flashed through my mind of a monster with only eyes on its head, screaming and running around wildly, its hair standing on end like radar. (Note 18 alludes to the work "GeGeGe no Kitarō".)

This request is so vague, so vague, that it makes you start imagining how boring it is. To put it in perspective, it's like being in the middle of a break at work, and a senior colleague suddenly says, "Hey, tell me something interesting." Asking someone for a favor is one thing, but when you say something, they might actually reply, "How boring—it's not funny at all—"? If you state from the beginning that you have nothing interesting to say, they'll complain, "You're such a boring person—". So what am I supposed to do? People who start conversations this way are themselves boring.

I don't think Senior Xun is that kind of person, but what we've heard so far still lacks specificity. Even if we hear it, we don't know what to do.

I wasn't the only one with the same idea; Yuihama also raised her hand with some hesitation.

"What kind of competition are you referring to?"

Yukinoshita, who was next to Yuihama, also crossed her arms.

"Speaking of which, what events were held at last year's sports meet...?"

"Ah—I really can't remember right now..."

I tried to dig into my memories, but couldn't find anything relevant. I vaguely remember just sitting in a chair, staring blankly. I think I participated in some projects, but I can't recall anything at all.

If I had to recall anything, it would just be the group of people from the sports club complaining, "We're high schoolers, doing sports meets is exhausting—" "Seriously—", but when the competition started, they were more serious and enjoyed the sports meet more than anyone else. They even gave girls high-fives on the way back. And all I could do was stare at the girls' knee-high socks.

I couldn't recall the most important final match for a long time, and when Yukino saw this, she sighed as if in pity.

"Humans tend to seal away memories that are too painful..."

"Please don't treat my sports meet as a dark history, okay? If you could just forget about it so easily, you wouldn't have any emotional trauma. Besides, you can't even remember it anyway."

"Isn't it true that yesterday's death is today's rebirth?"

For some reason, Yukinoshita replied with a proud expression.

"Huh? What? That kind of 'I've already attained enlightenment' vibe? You didn't say anything particularly profound, okay?"

"Ah, haha... but, I don't remember very clearly either."

Yuihama seemed to agree with us out of consideration for us. But your situation is probably just simple forgetfulness, right?

It seemed that all three of them had completely forgotten about last year's final competition, and Senior Sister Xun appeared very disappointed.

"I really don't remember... We had a cosplay race last year, it's a competition where you cosplay and race at the same time..."

cosprace... I feel like I've heard of it before... Oh no, that's probably Comp Ace (Note 19, a monthly manga magazine published by Kadokawa).

I still can't remember. But back then, watching the competition, I must have seen those guys at the top of the school pyramid fooling around with their costumes and looked at them with a bitter expression. Even now, I would feel the same way.

Despite listening to the commentary on the match, Yukinoshita and Yuihama still looked completely confused.

The senior student could only manage a wry smile in response to their reactions. She sighed softly, "I see—", then seemed to change her mind and perk up again.

"Our competitions are pretty uneventful every year. So this year I want to organize some more exciting competitions."

A pair of gentle yet energetic eyes stared directly at us. Perhaps overwhelmed by their presence, both Yukinoshita and Yui took a step back.

“I-I see…”

"I understand what you mean. When should the proposal be made...?"

As soon as Yukinoshita asked a question, Senior Xun took her hand.

"About that, there's actually a meeting of the sports meet operations committee later. Could you come up with some ideas for us at that meeting?"

"Huh? Uh, there's nothing wrong, but, why... could you please let go of my hand...?"

The sudden physical contact startled Yukinoshita. She and Yui were always engaged in yuri (lesbian) talk, and she'd assumed Yui was used to it, but it seemed that wasn't the case. It was less about being used to their constant yuri interactions and more about being used to Yui.