After I Confessed to My Childhood Friend and Got Rejected, I Threw a Game Offline Meetup to Cheer Myself Up, Only to Find Out My Long-Time Gaming Buddy Was Actually the Quiet, Silver-Haired Swedish Beauty Who's the Cutest Girl in School - Chapter 22.1: I Liked You First

Chapter 22.1: I Liked You First

One day came to an end, and Amamiya stood in front of the bathroom mirror, using lotion and emulsion to moisturize his face.

According to Kumagai, men’s skin tends to dry out more easily than women’s, so if you don’t moisturize after washing your face, it can lead to rough skin or acne.

Amamiya’s face, which had never been properly moisturized until now, was covered with acne in various places.

There were also unshaven patches in his beard, making it look a bit dirty.

“Girls like guys who have a clean look. Suppose you get a girlfriend and it comes time to kiss. The mood is perfect, you lean in close to each other, your lips are about to meet… and that’s when! She says this: Gross! To avoid that, I’ll tell you about my recommended brand. You have to do this every day without fail. If you skip a day, I’ll use you as the goalpost!”

This was also to become a man suitable for Karina.

In front of the mirror, Amamiya grinned as he imagined himself reborn with beautiful skin.

Anna, who happened to pass by, caught sight of it and warned him, “That’s creepy, cut it out.”

Moisturizing is good, but he needed to train his facial muscles too.

The next morning.

The mirror reflected Amamiya’s exhausted, dry, flaky face.

As expected, just a few days wasn’t enough to bring any change to his skin, so he let out a sigh and felt down.

He decided to go to bed earlier and stay hydrated.

“Hey, Takaaki-kun. Your skin looks kind of nicer than usual…”

A voice called from the seat behind him, and when he turned around, Karina was gazing at him with narrowed eyes.

As always, her face was too close.

“Y-yeah, you think so?”

“No, wait. It might just be my imagination.”

Which is it! He nearly tumbled off his chair.

Amamiya’s heart couldn’t take Karina’s natural way of saying things that always built up his expectations, as usual.

“But it might not be my imagination, so can I touch it?”

“Uh… touch…?”

Pat.

Without waiting for his reply, Karina reached out with a face full of eager curiosity.

Amamiya’s cheeks flushed red as he was startled by how surprisingly cold the palm of her hand felt against his skin.

“Wow, so smooth~. It’s not fair that a boy has skin like this~.”

She said it happily, but he was the one who felt even happier.

She still smelled nice, as always.

“…Then, next, Takaaki-kun, you touch and check if it’s smooth?”

As if she’d just thought of it, Karina tucked her silver side hair behind her ear and looked up at him with upward-gazing eyes as she said that.

Was she doing it on purpose, or was it unconscious?

No, but with her, it could be unconscious.

(My hand… on Karina’s face… touching… there’s no way that would be allowed… no way…)

Even as he hesitated in his mind, his body was honest, and his hand started moving on its own toward Karina’s cheek.

His hand drew closer and closer, as if pulled in by the snow-white, beautiful skin of the untouchable high flower that even the gods weren’t allowed to touch.

“…!”

(Eh…?)

It might have been his imagination, but Karina’s face seemed to be turning red too—

“Amamiya-kun, Nagase-san. This is class time. Please refrain from talking.”

They were stopped by the world history teacher when they were just a few centimeters apart.

Classmates’ gazes gathered too, and Amamiya, embarrassed, pulled his hand back.

“Ah…”

She turned to the blackboard right away, so it might have been a mistake.

But Amamiya felt like Karina had made a regretful face, and because of that, he couldn’t focus on the lesson at all until break time.

During PE class.

Amamiya ended up doing a three-legged relay with Kumagai and one of Kumagai’s friends.

Kurihara from the baseball club had a buzz cut, and like Kumagai, he was a central figure in the class, an outgoing type, but there was a decisive difference from Kumagai.

That was,

“You’re too slow, Amamiya! Don’t dawdle!”

His foul mouth and the way he looked down on Amamiya.

He seemed like the same type as Takasaki, snapping at him strangely for a while now.

But since it was class, Amamiya had no choice but to go along, so the two outgoing guys and one introverted guy took their positions.

Kumagai on the right, Kurihara on the left, Amamiya in the middle.

“Yay! Go, Kumagai-kun!”

“Fight, fight, Kumagai-kun!”

Kumagai responded to the girls’ cheers by raking back his hair and winking.

With his title as the soccer club’s ace, his high facial attractiveness, and his good personality.

Kumagai was the perfect outgoing guy who couldn’t possibly not be popular.

(Nice, the girls’ cheers. A guy’s dream…)

“Go, go, Takaaki-kun! Fight, fight, Takaaki-kun! Win—!”

(K-K-K…)

All the girls who had been cheering for Kumagai fell silent, and only Karina’s voice cheering for Amamiya echoed across the schoolyard.

Unaware that the surroundings had gone quiet, Karina kept cheering even louder.

The sight of the high flower Nagase Karina cheering for Amamiya Takaaki made the whole class react like they’d spotted a UFO.

And that made sense, because it was something that normally wouldn’t happen.

“Fight, fight… f-fight…”

Karina’s volume dropped as she noticed the silence around her.

No, it was already too late.

But there was no boy in the world who wouldn’t be happy to be cheered on by her.

For the first time since entering high school, Amamiya felt his fighting spirit ignite during PE.

Kurihara smacked the top of Amamiya’s head hard.

“Ow!? Kurihara-kun! What…”

“Don’t get cocky, Amamiya? Karina’s probably just cheering for you because of some penalty game with her friends or something. Got it? Then get to your position already.”

“…Y-yes.”

Kurihara had a good build from the tough baseball practices.

Plus, his face looked scary, and Amamiya knew he definitely couldn’t win in a fight, so he quietly obeyed.

“Come on, stop bullying the weak, and get ready already, Kurihara.”

“Huh?”