My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 740

"Oh, um, thank you... I'll accept it then. As for whether I can drink it, I'm a little unsure..."

This child is incredibly honest... but even when he's unwilling, he still doesn't squander other people's good intentions, which I think is amazing.

"Happy birthday."

I smiled wryly and said, "Let Isshiki hold the MAX coffee."

However, Isshiki did not answer. She stared blankly at the MAX coffee cup that was wrapped in her hands.

“…………”

She blinked in surprise, only to hear the sound of silent breathing.

I looked at her, asking what was wrong. She snapped back to reality and hurriedly started fixing her bangs.

"...So you remember. You didn't say anything, I thought you must have forgotten."

"Because I couldn't find the right time to say it..."

When I saw Isshiki, I was too far away from her. And when we were talking just now, I was so scared by the plastic bottle attack that I wasn't in the mood to congratulate her...

Besides, I couldn't possibly forget Iroha Isshiki's birthday. She's been subtly hinting at it to me all the time, and more importantly, the Service Club I joined has been talking about it these past few days. I heard that after school today, all the club members are going to celebrate her birthday together.

However, even though there was a surprise planned, it felt a bit awkward that the topic of my birthday wasn't even mentioned when we met. Someone as sensitive as me would immediately see through it: "Strange...it's my birthday today, why didn't anyone wish me a happy birthday...haha, I know, they're planning a surprise for me, right?" And then the day would end like that, with nothing happening.

If I congratulate her now, I'll divert her attention from her anticipation and doubt about the surprise. This will double the effect of the surprise. That was such a brilliant move of mine…

Just as I was enjoying myself, someone tugged at my sleeve. What? I looked at Issei, who pouted and turned her head away.

"I'm not so easily satisfied with just a can of coffee."

She muttered in a tone that sounded like she was sulking.

I understand. I also prepared a gift… I resisted the urge to say it. That'll have to wait for the surprise party after school.

She said she wasn't a promiscuous woman, but she didn't intend to return the MAX coffee to me; instead, she put it in her suit jacket pocket.

Then he handed me something else.

"...Um, this is for you."

"Oh, thank you."

I'm sorry to take your things for free... I reflexively nodded and accepted them; it was the "I-Lu-Hai-Mizu" that she had been holding in her hand.

"...Huh, why?"

I shifted my gaze from the plastic bottle to Issei's face. She still didn't turn her head back, and surprisingly answered my question honestly.

(Illustration 010)

"Exchange...exchange with coffee."

Oh, I see. I don't understand. Why did this child give me "I-Lu-Bo-Shui" (a type of beverage)? I gave her MAX coffee because it's her birthday today. But I can't think of any reason why I would take something from someone else.

"Oh……"

Are they playing the Straw Millionaire meme? I stared at the "Iroha" in my hand, completely confused, when Isshiki cleared his throat loudly with an "Uh-huh!"

Then she pointed at me forcefully, puffing out her cheeks as if to hide her blush.

"...This is an exchange! So the gift from before doesn't count!"

"Eh..."

Is there such a rule about gift-giving? Doesn't returning the gift count? Ignoring my confusion, I simply continued:

"So, I'll send the gift another time... How about this weekend? I'm pretty free, aren't I—?"

"Oh, no, I've been thinking of giving a different gift..."

I'd rather say I expect to give it to you after school... Although I really want to say it like that, it's a surprise so I can't say it outright, it's so agonizing!

I had no words to express my suffering. Ishikatsu didn't know how to understand my reaction. She raised the corners of her mouth and leaned out from the bench.

"The gift is just an excuse."

She gently placed one hand on my shoulder and the other to her lips. Then she brought her lips closer and whispered in a sweet, alluring voice.

What kind of excuse is this? Before I could use this somewhat lame line to play dumb, Isshiki quickly distanced himself from me, smiled slightly, and acted as if nothing had happened.

The school bell rang, drowning out my sigh, and Isshiki stood up at the same time. She turned and took a few steps, then turned back, her skirt billowing in the air with the movement.

"I'm looking forward to the weekend—!"

She waved and finished speaking before quickly walking towards the school building, as if she knew my answer without even hearing it.

"Whoa whoa……"

I could only nod helplessly at her receding figure, knowing full well that she couldn't possibly hear me.

My weekend was taken up by other people's invitations.

Ah, as expected of Iroha.

You perfectly recycle and reuse bottled water, even creating another opportunity for yourself—I'll eat my hat. Don't even mention playing with it in your palm; you've made me dizzy just looking at it…

This conversation, which was as usual, had been repeated countless times.

Her technique was theoretically the same as before, but it felt like she had improved.

She's more affected, cuter, and smarter than before.

It happens casually and without leaving a trace, through daily accumulation.

That one action truly shook me and opened up a path for the future.

So, as expected.

Iroha is amazing...

Volume 14.5⑤ However, they will certainly continue to make mistakes.

Spring is coming to an end, and the signs of early summer are beginning to emerge.

Looking down from the skywalk, new buds are sprouting on the branches of the trees in the courtyard, swaying in the refreshing breeze.

The white petals have disappeared, and the verdant green of the cherry blossoms has become even more vibrant, finally stabilizing the atmosphere for the start of the school year.

By this time, it's about time to distinguish between those who are naturally good at socializing and successfully build interpersonal relationships, those who want to use high school as an opportunity to change their image and successfully debut, those who are unable to integrate into groups, and those who deliberately maintain an aloof style.

However, it is not possible to generalize about who is in the light and who is in the dark.

For example, having someone to talk to or someone to pair up with in PE class doesn't necessarily mean happiness.

Establishing a relationship with someone means you've touched a corner of the fence surrounding their heart.

Friendships aren't just about that one friend. Whether you want to or not, you have to interact with "friends of friends," "friends' lovers," "people your friends dislike," and other interpersonal relationships that are distant from you.

You can't be unkind to someone you're close to as a friend. If your friend has a girlfriend, you'll have to be considerate, and it's also difficult to get along well with someone your friend dislikes.

Those who understand how restrictive this is might say that being alone is better and more relaxed.

Like me in my new class, I was trapped right in the middle of the fence.

Since the seating arrangement is based on the Japanese syllabary (hiragana and katakana), except for elective courses, I'm seated next to Hayato Hayama in almost every class, which is really a headache. What's the headache? Ebina, who often chats with Hayama, also comes over frequently, which is extremely annoying.

There is no one more difficult to deal with than someone with whom you have only a superficial or indifferent relationship.

No, I've gotten somewhat used to Hayama, so it's not too bad.

Hayama and I are both very direct, and from the beginning, we never expected any real communication between us. Even if a sudden silence falls because we weren't paying attention to each other, we wouldn't mind it much.

In the end, we just assumed we understood each other, and we were both talking to ourselves, so the conversation was almost equivalent to silence.

Thinking about it this way, in a sense, talking to Hayama was actually quite easy.

...However, when I was alone with Ebina without realizing it, I had a terrible headache.

I have no idea where Ebina's minefield is, and when she suddenly falls silent, I can't help but worry, "Huh...did I say something wrong...?" It's only at times like this that I wish, "Hayama-san! Come quick!"

Well, thanks to my experience in my second year of high school, I know to some extent how to get along with Hayama and Ebina.

The problem is how to deal with people outside of Hayama.

There's no need to say more now; Ye Shan is quite likely to attract attention and become the center of attention in the class.

During physical education classes and other classes where there's often a sudden lull in the activity, he would often chat with others, not to mention during breaks.

As a result, even I, who was sitting near him because of my seat number, often got caught up in it.

I don't know if it's because the semester has just started and everyone is eager to make new friends, or if our class is full of kind and friendly people, but they are especially considerate of me, who has been silent for my entire life, and they would throw topics at me when they chat with Hayama.

Honestly, it's painful to have a conversation with someone whose name and appearance don't match, purely to relieve awkwardness, but I'm not heartless. I can't bear to ruin other people's kindness.

Therefore, whenever they throw a question at me, I would respond at the best moment, just like at work, with vague phrases like "I don't know," "That's good," "Never heard of it," "I can't explain," or "That's right," barely managing to get by with these common conversational skills.

Once this tactic is used, most people will feel "I can't start a conversation..." and show a troubled expression, unable to establish a dialogue. Are your social skills too low? Can you be considered a social expert only if you can communicate with people with social anxiety? Do you need to learn this before entering the workforce?

In short, my terriblely paced conversations often created a silence, much like a blank space. And it was Hayama and Ebina who helped fill that silence.

Thanks to them, I have now established a solid position in the class as "the one who is taken care of by Hayama and Ebina".

Although I pulled a team with a high chance of dying in the class-specific gacha pool that I couldn't reroll for, this start was actually smoother than I expected. The difficulty was so low...

Now that I'm in my third year of high school, I naturally don't have any special expectations for my relationships with my classmates.

As long as you get through this safely and don't make any major mistakes, it's a state of mind similar to enlightenment.

However, that was merely the opinion of worldly-wise people who had been poisoned by various forms of corruption.

What about the freshmen?

Thinking about this, I suddenly became curious about my sister, Komachi Hikigaya's, new life.

This spring, Komachi enrolled at Soubu High School, officially becoming my junior, but I don't know the full picture of her high school life.

We'll definitely meet at the club office and talk at home, but I can't control her role in class.

During spring break, she excitedly put on a solo fashion show in her uniform, and after starting school, she happily went to school with me. Recently, that excitement has calmed down.

Even the newest life will gradually lose its novelty as the days go by.

In addition, high school life puts people in the same place and they meet with classmates every day. As a result, even those with poor memory can at least remember names. By observing the words spoken by classmates during conversations or their movements during breaks, one can also figure out where each person is.

After more than a month, one's outward appearance and status in the class will be quite evident, and most interpersonal relationships will begin to solidify.

Komachi has excellent social skills, so I'm not too worried about her, but as her older brother, I still care.

So, what kind of school life does Komachi lead? I wondered as I headed to the Service Club.

Komachi opened the office door and sat inside, propping her cheek up and staring blankly out the window.

(Illustration 011)

Textbooks and notebooks were on the table, probably for preparing for the midterm exams in two weeks, or simply to pass the time. However, the mechanical pencil wasn't in her hand; it lay alone on the notebook.

Hearing the clatter of the door opening, Komachi turned around, her previous listless expression vanishing, and smiled at me.

"Oh—brother."

"Oh, you're here so early."

As I spoke, I walked toward the seat that had somehow become a fixed location.

"After all, if Komachi doesn't come, no one will open the door."

Komachi shrugged gently, exhaled a smile, picked up the mechanical pencil on the table, opened her notebook, and continued reading.

Nearly a month has passed since the Service Society was reorganized.

After taking over as president, opening and locking the doors became Komachi's responsibility, and she was quite dedicated to it. She was always the first one to arrive at the office, which she did very well.

Upon closer reflection, it seems that the previous president, Yukinoshita, was always the first to arrive at the club office, indicating that her earnest personality has been successfully passed on to the next president.

Speaking of Yukinoshita, I just remembered...

"Yukinoshita and Yuihama said they're not coming today."

"Yes, Komachi knows."

Komachi didn't even lift her face from her textbook.

"Oh, really..."

Well, she's the company president, after all; they should inform her about things like this. Komachi didn't ask why the two were absent and started writing with her mechanical pen.

Oh dear, if she asked me why the two of them didn't come today, I would be in a real bind, so it's okay.