Being the Best Friend in a Romantic Comedy Isn't Easy!

https://ko-fi.com/senna2003

Episode 1: Subaru Aoba is Not the Protagonist… [Part 2]

“Oh, you finally made it. It’s rare to see you coming to school at this hour, Tsukasa.”

The voice’s owner wiped sweat from his forehead as he walked towards his seat.

With black hair, black eyes, and a height of around 173 centimeters, he didn’t stand out at first glance.

—Tsukasa Asahi. He and I have been childhood friends since we were kids, the so-called childhood friends.

“Seriously… Don’t say that. I had a hard time, you know,” Tsukasa said, looking exasperated as he took his seat.

“Hard time? What, did you accidentally bump into some unknown girl at the corner?” I teased.

“No, no, that wouldn’t happen… What kind of romantic comedy is that?” Nagisa interjected with a bemused tone.

In my mind, I murmured, “Geez… They just don’t get it.” Indeed, if you only listened to the words, it would sound like a typical romantic comedy event.

A cliché among clichés. A plotline so overly used that every reader has seen it countless times.

However, in reality, such things don’t happen.

Bump into a girl? You’d probably end up reported and sent to the police. Most likely.

Yet, with this guy, things change when it’s Asahi-kun we’re talking about.

“Ah, well…,” Tsukasa said with a strained smile, scratching his cheek.

…Huh? Is that really true? Huh?

I inwardly recoiled at what he said.

“…Seriously?”

Hearing my shocked words, Tsukasa hastily denied, flustered, “N-No! It’s not like that…!”

“Not like a romantic comedy… Hmm, what should I say?” he continued.

…What’s up with this guy, seriously? Huh?

Nagisa seemed equally baffled, echoing my reaction with a “Seriously?”

Should I ask for details… or just leave it alone…?

As I pondered what to do, I glanced at Renmi sitting next to Tsukasa.

…Hmm.

He was completely incapacitated, his face showing signs of utter defeat.

Seemingly short-circuited by the unexpected turn of events, his eyes remained wide open, mouth twitching silently.

…Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Pray.

“Haruka, come back to us,” Nagisa attempted to revive him.

And he did.

Haruka regained consciousness but still wore a shocked expression.

I cleared my throat, trying to calm everyone down and organize the situation.

“Cough… So, um, what was it? You bumped into a mysterious beauty during your commute. And then, various things happened, almost making you late… right?” I summarized.

“Yeah, something like that,” Tsukasa nodded nonchalantly.

He nodded as if nothing had happened.

I smiled gently and stood up from my seat.

My childhood friend had been through a tough time. It was my duty to comfort him.

I turned towards Tsukasa and—.

Grabbed his collar across the desk with both hands.

“What the hell!? What kind of romantic comedy are you playing while people are trying to get to school seriously?” I exclaimed.

“Hey! That hurts! I wasn’t doing anything serious…!” Tsukasa protested.

“Exactly! Tell me about it!” I demanded.

“Ugh, fine! I’ll tell you, so just let go for now, okay?” he pleaded.

Tsk, I let go of his collar as if spitting.

“Jeez…” Tsukasa straightened his collar and glanced at us.

“…So, um, she had long blonde hair and kind of looked like a noble lady… but—.”

“Okay, okay, I got it! I don’t want to hear any more of your protagonist episodes!” I cut him off.

He’s still talking about his encounter with a blonde noble girl during his commute?

This guy, really, has been—

Sighing deeply in my mind… Wait.

Shouldn’t there be someone who’s more damaged by this than me?

I let go of my ears and glanced at that person—Renmi Haruka.

“Bl-blond… lon… noble… love… come…” he muttered.

Oh, this is bad. He’s malfunctioning again.

Seems like his brain’s CPU has been damaged by the incomprehensible barrage of information.

Well, there’s nothing more we can do about it. Rest in peace…

“Hey Nagisa, your precious best friend is short-circuiting. Can you fix him?” I asked.

“Yeah, no chance. My skills won’t help in this situation,” she replied.

It’s like even the experts have given up. Well done.

…Sorry about that.

I shook my head left and right, and Nagisa began, “Anyway,”

“We’ve only been friends with Asahi-kun since last year, but isn’t he… a lot?” she started.

“Huh? Nagisa-san, what do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Oh… Asahi-kun might not understand… So, what about you, Subaru?” she replied.

“Rather than that, why am I the only one you call by my first name?” I wondered.

“I decline,” she replied.

That’s right…

This guy calls everyone else by their last names, but why am I the only one he calls by my first name?

…But leaving that late realization aside.

For now, let’s answer Nagisa’s question.

“A lot? He’s super popular. We’ve been friends since elementary school, and he’s been like this the whole time,” I boasted.

“Why are you so proud?” Nagisa retorted.

Well, as I said earlier, Tsukasa and I have been childhood friends, playing together often since we were kids.

During that time, well… how should I put it… Tsukasa naturally attracted girls to him.

It’s not like Tsukasa had any intention of it. He didn’t do various things to attract girls, and he didn’t even wish to be popular with girls.

Yet, regardless, Tsukasa somehow just drew girls to him.

As I mentioned before, events like bumping into a girl at a corner may happen, and there are times when multiple girls compete for Tsukasa’s attention. Or Tsukasa’s casual words may make a girl conscious of him.

Anyway, there’s never a shortage of romantic comedy situations with him.

Even though he’s clueless about girls’ feelings, this dense guy.

In a way, Tsukasa Asahi has a “Romantic Comedy Protagonist Constitution.”

And I, Subaru Aoba, am in the position of “The Protagonist’s Best Friend” who’s been watching him closely all these years.

…Somehow, saying it myself makes me feel a bit sad.

“I kind of had a feeling it was something like that…”

“Huh? What are you guys talking about?”

“Uh, nothing much… sigh.”

Oh, we’re synced.

“Huh? Why am I…?”

Ah, she’s finally back.

After recovering from the short circuit, Renmi looked around nervously… and then her eyes met Tsukasa’s.

And then she blushed and quickly looked away.

Ah, youth.

“Oh? Renmi-san, did you change your hairpin?”

Hey, what’s up with this guy starting to say stuff like that?

“Huh?”

“Huh, really?”

Both Nagisa and I looked puzzled.

Meanwhile, Renmi was surprised by the sudden question.

In response to Tsukasa’s words, I focused on Renmi’s hairpin.

…Huh? Isn’t it the usual melon bread?

What’s different?

I guess I’ll have to rely on her best friend to figure it out somehow.

“Hey, best friend.”

“Shut up. I’m seriously looking at it right now.”

Show me your determination, best friend!

“Well, even I don’t really understand the finer details, but… What about the fineness of the mesh?”

“Huh?! Correct!”

…Huh? The fineness of the mesh?

Would anyone notice that normally?

“…Honestly, I had no idea at all. Sorry, Haruka.”

“Oh, don’t apologize! I was surprised too… Th-thank you, Asahi-kun.”

“Really? I just kinda thought of it when I saw it… You know, Renmi-san’s hairpin is unique, so…”

“Huh? Wait, are you, like, always staring at Renmi or something? In that case, it’s not weird for you to notice the difference in the hairpin, yeah.”

“H-Hey, stop it, Subaru! …But yeah, it’s kinda creepy, sorry, Renmi-san.”

Despite teasing, Tsukasa turned to Renmi and bowed his head slightly.

Well… He’s a really earnest guy.

“N-No, not at all! I-I’m actually… happy that you noticed and… um… yeah…”

…

“Um…”

“Hm? What is it, Renmi-san?”

“N-Nothing!”

“A-are you sure? Well, anyway, Renmi-san, your hairpin always reminds me of a melon bread. It suits you.”

“…T-thank you… ehehe.”

…

Hey, what’s going on here?

Tsukasa praised Renmi, and she blushed and smiled shyly.

I… no, we… What are we witnessing here?

…

Casually, I glanced at Nagisa.

She was watching the sweet exchange between the two with a small smile.

Well… Anyone can see how Renmi feels about Tsukasa, and maybe she’s just happy to see her best friend’s love life progressing.

But… Am I imagining things?

…From that smile, I felt a hint of loneliness.

“Ah, come on, you two, save that romantic comedy stuff for when you’re alone. It’s giving me heartburn just watching,” I intervened.

Well, these two have been like this for ages.

“Yeah,” Nagisa agreed.

“Anyway, Tsukasa, who was that mysterious beauty you mentioned? Like, what school’s uniform was she wearing?”

“Oh, about that—”

Ding dong ding dong—

Just as Tsukasa was about to explain, the bell rang right on cue.

What the heck… We were just about to hear the most important part…

But if the bell rang, there’s nothing we can do about it.

“We’ll hear the rest of the story later.”

“Yeah.”

Except for Tsukasa, the three of us, still feeling unsettled, turned our bodies towards the blackboard in front.

We wanted to hear more about that transfer student who’s apparently a mysterious beauty…

“Hey, Subaru.”

“Hmm?”

“In typical romantic comedies, there’s a common trope where the mysterious beauty you bump into in the morning ends up transferring to your class… You know, that kind of thing?”

Honestly, I’ve thought about that too. As a guy who’s brought many romantic comedy clichés to life.

Maybe… such feelings do exist after all.

“Oh, like, the transfer student who bumps into you in the morning ends up in your class—does that really happen?”

“No way… haha.”

It’s impossible, Nagisa chuckled.

I’m half skeptical myself…

No, no, no… Surely not…

“Alright, you guys are all here.”

A low, booming voice echoed through the classroom.

As the door swung open, a tall male teacher in a suit entered.

With his rugged face that suited his unkempt beard, tall stature, and slicked-back hair, he was the epitome of manliness.

That’s our homeroom teacher, Junichiro Ohara, also known as Ikeoji-sensei. Despite his imposing physique, he teaches Japanese.

By the way, he’s apparently thirty-four this year.

“Let’s get started with homeroom! I forgot the details of what I wanted to say, so I’ll cut to the chase!”

Laughter filled the room.

This teacher is always full of humor.

“So, there’s one important announcement.”

The teacher clapped his hands on the desk.

An important announcement…?

Unable to imagine the content, we waited for the teacher’s words.

“Heh, rejoice, gentlemen—especially you guys.”

He flashed a charming smile, revealing his white teeth.

“…Uh oh, this doesn’t sound good.”

“…Subaru?”

A sense of foreboding washed over me in an instant.

Nagisa reacted to the words that slipped out of my mouth unintentionally.

This is… if my prediction is correct…

“Starting today, we have a transfer student joining our class! And she’s a beauty!”

“Oooh!”

The sudden announcement stirred up the male students in the class.

The female students were also whispering, “I wonder what she’s like?”

…Honestly, I also want to join in the excitement.

If only there wasn’t that morning conversation about Tsukasa…

“So, let me introduce her quickly. Please come in.”

“Yes.”

A dignified, beautiful voice reached us through the door.

I haven’t seen her yet, but I’m already certain.

I know who’s transferring to our class.

“Pardon me for interrupting.”

The door opened.

In an instant…

Time seemed to stop in the classroom.

Tap… Tap…

Only the sound of her footsteps echoed.

With her waist-length beautiful blonde hair, her dignified, beautiful, and somewhat cold profile, and her clear blue eyes that seemed to pierce through the sky.

Dressed in the school’s navy blazer, she had a slender figure like a model—her height must be around 160 cm.

She stood at the teacher’s podium and faced us.

Her entire presence… captivated our gaze.

“Nice to meet you. I’ll be studying alongside everyone from today. My name is Rei Tsukinose. I hope we can get along.”

She bowed deeply—a transfer student, Tsukinose, a beautiful girl.

Uncertain how to react to her elegant demeanor, we were all left bewildered.

“…Ah, it’s you after all.”

Except for one person.

A voice came from the back of the room.

It was the voice of Asahi Tsukasa.

Cold sweat trickled down my cheek.

…Ah, what on earth is happening?