Life is a Mess Ever Since My Mother Won an Ero-Novel Grand Prize - Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1 part 2

The next morning, I went to school as usual.

The school was a thirty-minute bicycle ride away. It was a public school which preferred academics over sports.

I passed through the main gate, parked my bicycle in the parking lot, and changed my shoes at the locker.

Today is my morning duty for the library. I quickly headed to the library and stepped inside the counter. There I found some brand new books on display.

“Oh, this one finally arrived.”

It was a sequel to a novel series I’ve been interested in lately.

After taping, I registered it on the PC and borrowed it on the spot. It’s a privilege of being on the library committee.

As I was working on a couple of books, the door slid open delicately.

Oya?, as I turned my head, I saw someone…

“Excuse me, you can’t use the library in the morning… R-Rinka!?”

I was surprised to see a familiar beautiful scarlet hair beauty come in.

“My bad!”

Rinka scowled at me, but her grumpy face was adorable. I couldn’t help but smile at her eyes.

We’ve been in the same class since our first year. Since the first day, she was recognized as the most beautiful girl in the school, and considering her popularity she seems to have a lot of fan clubs.

The name of the beauty in front of me is Rinka Takigami.

And yes, she’s the one I’ve decided to confess to when I make my debut as a writer…!

“H-how come you’re here early in the morning, Rinka?”

 “… It’s none of your business.”

“Something new to read. Just a minute, I’m almost done. I have a recommendation for you. You like romantic fantasies, don’t you?”

“Who told you? Don’t make assumptions on your own.”

She’s always a little pissed off. But I’m so happy she answered me. Pretty girls are such a blessing to mankind.

“I think this book would be good for you. You haven’t read any of this author’s books yet, right? Considering your preferences, I think you’ll like it.”

“Who asked you? I mean, how do you even know my preferences? Are you a stalker?”

“That being said, I’m well aware of your likes and dislikes. It’s pretty obvious and I know you’ll end up choosing my recommendations anyway.”

Rinka’s grumpy expression changed to a blush.

“S-shut up. I’m not that obvious! You’re just so pushy! So I had to.”

Thorny. But I’m used to it, so I don’t mind.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Ha?”

This time, she was surprised.

“Why are you so happy? … I don’t understand…”

The next thing I noticed was that she squirmed, blushed, and mumbled to herself.

“I wonder what part of the exchange just went well… I should note it down so I can make her happy anytime… Oh god what am I saying…”

Gaaa… She suddenly clutched her head and groaned.

It’s always interesting to see how her expression changes from time to time.

Yes, Rinka was quite popular from day one because of her beauty, but…

She had no friends. She was indeed popular, but due to that she became the sole target of envy and backbiting, and was considered haughty. As far as I had seen, she didn’t fit well with the class.

The one who reached out to Rinka, who was alone, was me, of all people.

──Here, you can have this.

I offered her a romantic fantasy novel popular among women.

That day in the library when I first spoke to her, she was surprised.

Well, I knew that this book was the only thing that could support Rinka at that moment, so I mustered up the courage to talk to her, and half-heartedly pushed it on her with a lot of sales talk.

With a skeptical look on her face, she wondered if this was really that interesting, and left the library in a hurry.

And the next morning.

──You’re here.

She kept staring at me through the hallway… looking a bit upset and fumbling.

I was a little worried about the eyes around me. Rinka Takigami, the iron faced cool beauty, had something to say to me. Very unusual.

──Why aren’t you coming to the library?

──Ah, I’m not on duty today.

I was a little troubled that the Rinka Takigami was talking to me,

──Here.

And she returned the book I lent her yesterday.

──Oh, how was it? Did you like it?

She didn’t answer.

There were so many thoughts swirling around  her brain that she couldn’t come up with the right words.

The next moment, she burst into tears as if she had been weaned.

Since then, Rinka has been a frequent visitor to the library, for recommendations. 

However, she never said anything, just kept emanating an aura that I should guess from her mood.

──Shimomura, why are you so kind to me…?

She asked me that once, looking a bit frustrated, and kept mumbling that I was kind to her~ but I couldn’t quite hear the rest of it.

I told her that it was just my parents’ education. My mother always told me to be kind to others, ──you know.

… Actually, I was trying to be cool in front of her.

It was because I was really interested in a pretty girl like her.

That’s right, I’m full of ulterior motives. I’m not nice to everyone, just her!

I was trying my best to talk to her for the past year, and It seems it has been progressing well.

“I made a vow to confess my love for her when I debuted as an … author, but I haven’t won any awards in a whole year…! I need to become a man worthy of Rinka as soon as possible…!”

The creepy me muttered to myself in a full-blown shady manner.

Rinka, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to notice and is mumbling something else.

“… Rinka! Why are you not looking at him? You’ve ignored him for almost a year and yet he’s doing all this for you… You’ve been trying so hard to talk to him for so long. Come on, it’s time for you to be more than just friends…! Why don’t you just go ahead and confess your feelings? You idiot!”

Gaaaa… While Rinka was holding her head pondering.

Gaaaa… I was doing the same.

… We stayed like this for a while and then I wondered, what is she anguishing over?

“Here…”

I should give her a few more books again.

“Hm…”

But Rinka, as usual, took it and murmured, 

“… What should I do, should I tell him…? He might get shocked, but it’s a chance for our relationship to progress…”

Oya?, She seems different today.

“Is something wrong…?”

“No, um…. But… what if he hates it… if he starts ignoring me… nooo… he’ll no longer take care of me… NO, I don’t want that…”

I wonder what’s going on. Today she’s fidgeting even more than usual.

“O-okay… I’ve to be a little more brave today…! Because if I don’t, we’ll never get anywhere..! I’ll definitely make our relationship even better than it already is.”

Rinka looked up at me in hopes…

“Shimomura, you write novels too, right?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

On the surface, I responded as a matter-of-fact, but inwardly I felt awkward. The thing that happened yesterday…

I’m actually going to make my debut as a professional writer, but on behalf of my mother. With an inc*st story featuring forbidden love between a mother and her son, with pen name “Mating Press”…

As if I could say that.

Haha-ha… I covered it up with an awkward smile.

“I write it too.”

“Eh?”

“… I was actually writing a novel, you know.”

This was an unexpected turn of events.

“You’ve been writing a novel? You? Rinka?”

“What? Am I not allowed to?”

Why are you mad at me…?

It was unreasonable, but it made me happy, because we now have similar hobbies. I guess this is another result of my “Operation Rinka”. Maybe in the future we, the two romantic writers will be together.

“I was hoping that one day we’d be writing together, but… I didn’t expect this to happen so soon.”

Rinka looked uncomfortable for some reason, but I asked her what she was interested in.

“What are you writing about?”

“Eh? Well, I write romantic fantasies…”

“As expected, I already knew that.”

I remembered that my colleague Karin’s award-winning work was also a romantic fantasy. The grand prize in the fantasy category, “Let’s meet at the place where stardust crumbles.”

The title alone was cool. How could the text not be interesting? It will definitely sell.

If I was going to be an author, I’d definitely be someone like Karin-sensei.

Why do I have to be nicknamed “Mating Press”? Just what am I supposed to do with this name?

“Rinka, do you believe in fate…?”

“W-what’s that out of the blue? Of course I believe in fates…  just the fact that I met you out of the 8 billion people in the world is a miracle in itself…”

“Yeah, one can’t escape their fate…”

“Yeah, you can’t escape your fate… huh? Shimomura, what’s wrong…? You’ve suddenly sunk into darkness again…”

It’s because of something that happened yesterday.

Oh, God, I felt like killing myself when I remembered. What is this dark law of cause and effect? Did I do something in my previous life to anger the gods…?

“Hey, are you okay? You feel off today…”

Rinka gave me a worried look.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I worry you?”

“No, As if I’ll ever be worried about you!”

She turned away from me with a pout.

“Thank you very much.” I thank her for such a cute gesture. “So, what were we talking about? Rinka, you were so popular when you first entered the school that now everyone thinks you’re haughty. Right?”

“Nooo… I’m not haughty! I’m writing a novel too!”

“So you have been tossed aside because you were haughty?”

“Nooo… I’m not! Shut up!”

“But don’t worry, we both are loners. It’s natural. I’ll be there with you spitting on what they say, “friends” or “love” or “trust” right?”

“Are you okay with your head? You’ll stand out in class!”

She also gave me the tweets I wanted. Such an interesting girl.

As I smiled, Rinka gave me a subtle look, as if she was looking for a way out, 

“… By the way, Shimomura, about after school… today.”

“After school? About what?”

“Umm, you see.”

Rinka acted a little suspicious, rolling eyes, fidgeting.

“You know, I always borrow books from the library, and I thought that would be bad for the authors and publishers…”

Indeed. If you want to support creators, the best way to support them is to buy their products.

“And then?”

“So, you know Animate, right? I’m thinking of buying some of my favorite authors’ works there…”

Animate is a store specializing in subcultures, dealing in novels, manga, anime related works and goods. I also buy things there when I have some spare cash.

“That’s great!”

I was about to snicker, but Rinka’s next words made me open my eyes.

“So… will you show me around Animate!”

She pointed her index finger at me and said it out loud.

“Oh, you wanna go to Animate? With me? Just the two of us?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I just want to go there, that’s all! D-don’t think of it as a date or anything, you know…”

“Oh, god…”

I thought she was a model tsundere, but, what am I seeing? Is she really dere? Wow, my “Operation Rinka” was already a success! Seriously?

“I’m sorry, but please don’t take this the wrong way! It’s really, really, really not a date!”

Rinka’s face turned bright red as she shouted, probably from overexertion. She was also in tears.

Yeah, I get it..

“… Oh, dear.”

I shook my head lightly and took a breath.

Rinka was confused…

“What’s that look on your face like you know everything!”

“I understand, I know how you feel.”

I smiled gently and Rinka began to squirm with tears in her eyes.

“T-that’s not… true… You’re saying that my feelings are already that obvious…?”

“Yeah, Yeah, I wouldn’t be so sure about that otherwise.”

I made a funny move and shook my bangs with my hand.

“You, Rinka Takigami, a haughty beauty that has been popular since the start…”

“Stop exaggerating it!”

“Could never fall in love with someone like me just because we sometimes talk in the library. In fact, even though we’re in the same class, you never talk to me there. The only time you talk to me is when we’re in the library and it’s mostly books.”(E/N: Uh… did anyone expect this. With him acting like he knows everything?)

“Eh?, no… that’s because… the only thing we have in common is books…”

Don’t get me wrong, Rinka is really a very beautiful girl who is out of my league as a geeky nerd. Unless I win an award and become a professional writer, there’s no way she’ll date me… Right?

 “… W-why are you saying that, you stupid…!”

Rinka was shivering and seemed to be holding in some kind of anger.

I didn’t know, but anyway…

After school that day went normally as I showed her around Animate. As we parted at dusk, Rinka shouted, “You flag crushing idiot!” and ran off.

What did she mean by that!

… Oh I guess I’m getting closer to her day by day.

To be honest, it’ll become complicated to be a substitute writer for my mother, but soon I’ll make my debut as a writer. And after getting a good professional training there…

I’ll have a real date with Rinka!

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