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 26: Eating Out with the Top-Tier Popular Crowd

It was Saturday morning.

Amamiya was struggling in front of the mirror.

He was trying to mimic a trendy hairstyle from a magazine by setting his hair with wax, but it just would not turn out right no matter what.

It was the wax that Kumagai had recommended he buy, and he had checked the styling method in videos multiple times, yet it did not look like the model in the magazine.

Perhaps the cause lay in his hair quality after all.

Before using wax, his hair had a natural perm and was quite stiff.
On top of that, it had been quite shiny.

So he sought advice from Kumagai.

『Go to a beauty salon and consult with a stylist. They will teach you ways to improve your hair quality or keep your hairstyle in place. If you are worried about your wavy hair, I recommend straightening treatment too. It costs money, though.』

The email got read right away, and the reply came quickly too.
It included links to helpful sites and videos.

『Thanks, that helps a lot. You’re a god.』
『I promised, didn’t I? To turn you into one of the popular crowd lol』

He recalled the words Kumagai had said at his house.

Amamiya was not sure if he could meet his expectations 100 percent, but he wanted to do his best as much as possible.

“For now, is this okay…?”

What reflected in the mirror was Amamiya with a center part that looked like he had gotten a perm.

(I’m jealous of Kumagai, who can easily get straight hair.)

“Wow, big brother! Your hairstyle looks more stylish than usual~”

Anna, who was getting ready to go to a movie with her friends, had her eyes sparkle at her brother who looked different from always.

“Y-yeah?”

“Yeah, it suits you really well! Try smiling for a test!”

“Nicori.”

“Sorry, still a no.”

◇Amamiya fell silent.

“Just kidding! Your smile has improved a lot from before!”

◇Amamiya revived.

Anna showed a mischievous grin.

Anna, who had completely recovered from the incident with Tojo, had started acting bright so as not to worry her brother any more.

“You are going to a family restaurant with your classmates after this, right?”

“Yeah, so I have to take care of my appearance properly.”

He was going to eat out mixed in with the popular crowd group.

But it was not just any eating out.

This was a new challenge that Kumagai had assigned him.
It was merely one of the trials to turn Amamiya into part of the popular crowd.

【Mission: Make Friends】

The meeting spot was the usual nearest station.

Amamiya, wearing clothes he had bought off a mannequin at a trendy specialty store, arrived 30 minutes early.

He had left early to avoid any chance of being late, but no one had come yet.

“What should I do… There’s still time, maybe I can kill it somewhere…”

Around noon on a holiday, every store was crowded.

Since he was going to a family restaurant next, he decided on McDonald’s where he could just order a juice and sit down.

“Huh, what’s that? Is that Amamiya-kun by any chance?”

As Amamiya took out his smartphone to check a McDonald’s coupon, someone tapped his shoulder.

Since his name had been called, it must be an acquaintance.

His body stiffened instantly, and Amamiya slowly turned around.

“Ya-hoo.”

The one there was a classmate.

It was Hoshino Shizuka, a girl from the top-tier group with whom he had never once had a conversation.

She was the girl who had helped Amamiya when he had gotten into crisis because of greeting Takasaki.

“Ah, um… good morning, Hoshino-san?”

“Haha, it’s already noon, you know? It should be hello, right?”

“Oh, yeah… hello, Hoshino-san.”

“Yeah, hello, Amamiya-kun.”

She was kind even though she was Takasaki’s friend.

She was stylish and cute, and plainly beautiful, so it was hard to make eye contact.

“…”

But after the greeting, the conversation did not continue, and it became quiet.

Since they did not know much about each other, he did not know what topic to bring up.

The atmosphere had turned awkward, and as Amamiya tried to think of a topic to fix the situation somehow, it was already too late.

Hoshino had taken out her smartphone and turned her back to him.

(It’s awkward! The situation has gotten even worse! This is really bad!)

Hoshino had entered her own world.

It was the action one took when losing interest in the other person.

“Here, take this.”

To Amamiya, who made a bitter face, Hoshino held out her smartphone.

He could not understand suddenly, but the screen showed a QR code for a messaging app.
It was the screen for adding friends.

“Uh, um… this is?”

“Come on, we have not exchanged contacts yet, right? Let’s do it since we are here.”

“Is that okay?”

“Seriously, enough with that, hurry up~”

She urged him so much that Amamiya ended up exchanging contacts with Hoshino.
Karina, Captain Amane, and now Hoshino.

(Three girls’ names in my contacts…)

“Thanks~ Amamiya-kun.”

Hoshino put away her smartphone with a satisfied smile.

“Oh, by the way, Rin-chan has work today so she is not coming. So you can relax, okay?”

Rin-chan must mean Takasaki.

Hearing that, Amamiya felt relieved inwardly.

“I see, that’s good… I mean, no, that’s too bad. I was hoping to talk with her and get closer…”

“No way.”

“Huh?”

For a moment, Hoshino’s voice seemed dry.

“Rin-chan extremely dislikes quiet people, so it is better if you do not get too involved with her, Amamiya-kun? It would be tough if you became a target for bullying…”

She said it as if worrying about Amamiya.

Because she was a friend who understood Takasaki, she was warning him to stay away.

“Hoshino-san, were you and Takasaki-san friends since way back…?”

“Yeah, childhood friends. Together from kindergarten through high school. Rin-chan used to not be like that in the past… She had a strong sense of justice and was the best kid of all… but she changed.”

Hoshino said it softly with sad eyes. That Takasaki had a strong sense of justice.

Amamiya could not imagine it even a millimeter, but since he did not know the old Takasaki, it might be as Hoshino said or it might not.

He decided to leave it as a truth known only to Hoshino, her childhood friend.

“By the way, Amamiya-kun has changed too… Ah, everyone! Ya-hoo!”

Hoshino started to say something to Amamiya but noticed something and waved her hand.

When he looked that way, the top-tier popular crowd group, who had already gathered, was coming toward them.

Kumagai Toshimitsu, the ace of the soccer club, holding a juice can.

Tokimori Taiyo, the refreshing athletic type with muscle-macho build.

Nishihara Atsushi, chewing gum while looking at his smartphone.

Shirai Arisu, the gal with tea-dyed hair who was abundant in various ways.

Amamiya, who joined up with the popular crowd that everyone in the same grade knew, felt like his heart might burst from tension, but if he did not overcome this, nothing would change.

He had to become friends with someone in this group.

Recalling the days of training up until now, Amamiya put on a natural smile and waved his hand.

“Hello, every—”

“By the way, why is this guy here?”

The one who cut off Amamiya’s energetic greeting was Nishihara, with an unhappy expression on his face.