Even Today, the Genius High School Programmer Cashes In on Day Trades, Completely Flustered by Beautiful Girls' Growing Affection.

Sakuraba in Middle School.

“I think this was about Sakuraba back in middle school…”

“Hm? Oh—right, yeah.”

Yamano straightened her posture slightly, as though preparing to tell a story she’d kept close for a long time.

“Yukina and I were in the same class starting in second year of middle school. We got really close back then. Even after we ended up in different classes in high school, she’s still my number-one best friend.”

Her voice softened as old memories surfaced, and she began to speak slowly, almost reverently.

“Even in middle school, Yukina was always smart. But back then she wore glasses, kept her hair plain and simple, and her personality was super reserved. If you had to put a label on her, she looked exactly like the classic ‘studious plain girl’ type.”

The Sakuraba I knew… as a “studious plain girl”?

I couldn’t picture it at all.

“She’s always had that genuinely good heart, though. Super kind, never said a bad word about anyone. That’s why I loved her so much—of course, I still do.”

Yamano’s tone was unusually gentle, almost tender.

“But you know how middle school kids are. Total brats. They tease people based on looks. Yukina was quiet and plain-looking, so she got picked on a lot.”

Yeah… middle school really is a lawless jungle.

The popular kids targeting anyone who doesn’t stand out visually is practically a cliché.

“It wasn’t outright bullying or anything that extreme. Just behind-the-back stuff like ‘study-obsessed glasses girl’ or ‘that bowl-cut head.’ But the moment I overheard it, I couldn’t hold back. I’d yell things like ‘Who just said that?! Get over here right now!’ at the top of my lungs.”

“Wait—you were that kind of person?”

I genuinely couldn’t hide my surprise.

“On the surface I play the airheaded, giggly type, sure. But when someone’s trash-talking my best friend? No way I’m staying quiet.”

I was stunned all over again.

Damn… she’s actually kind of intense when it counts.

“Stuff like that happened over and over. And Yukina… it must have really hurt her, even if she never showed it. After we finished our high-school entrance exams, she came to me and said, ‘Hina, I want to change.’”

I see. So that’s how it started.

“‘I’m always the one being protected by you, Hina. I want to change myself. I don’t want to be called study-obsessed glasses girl anymore.’ And after that… she really put in the work.”

So Sakuraba really was the hard-working type.

My hunch hadn’t been wrong.

“She already had amazing potential to begin with. Just switching from glasses to contacts and changing her hairstyle was enough to completely transform her image. Once high school started, she studied fashion magazines on her own—how to wear the uniform, how to style casual clothes. She even dieted seriously. Back in middle school she was a little chubby, you know.”

Chubby?

I couldn’t even imagine the current Sakuraba that way.

“She learned natural makeup techniques too… With her raw beauty, plus getting even prettier, and still having that wonderful personality on top of it? Total cheat code. Around the summer break of first year, people started calling her ‘Snow Princess,’ and suddenly boys were confessing to her left and right.”

Yeah… that really is unfair.

“But deep down, she’s exactly the same person she was in middle school. She’d say things like ‘Why me?’ or ‘What if I hurt his feelings?’ She’s still just as kind and considerate. And because of that… she’s never actually had a boyfriend, not even once.”

Come to think of it, Sakuraba herself mentioned something like that before.

“But the story doesn’t end there. That’s when the real trouble started.”

“Real trouble?”

“Yeah. This time it was jealousy from other girls.”

I suddenly remembered what Sakuraba had said that day at the pool.

“There are a lot of unpleasant things too. Especially from other girls.”

Right.

There really is nothing quite as terrifying as a woman’s envy.