I Chose the Plain Girl Instead of the Class’s Top Three Beauties, and Somehow She Became the Heroine - 44

Chapter 44: Support and Friends

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《Hiroko Anno’s POV》

When the temporary pinning and the notes reached a stopping point, Yua-san said, “I’ll go borrow an iron from the staff room,” and left the classroom. It was just the four of us in the room: me, An-san, Fuu-san, and Yua-san.

“Hiro-chan, want some water?”

“Ah, thank you very much.”

When I accepted the paper cup, An-san approached me with a cheerful smile.

“Hey, Hiro-chan. Do you have someone you like?”

“Eh…?”

My hands stopped. I couldn’t dodge it well. Fuu-san rested her elbow on the desk and laughed.

“That reaction is way too honest. Yep, she has someone.”

“N-No… I… I don’t…”

“Is there someone whose voice you raise by one pitch when you talk to them?”

“…There is.”

All three of their gazes focused on me. There was no escape. I gave a small nod.

“It’s Mukei-kun.”

“Knew it!”

“Bingo!”

“I thought so.”

The three of them let out small triumphant voices at the same time. An-san clapped her hands together.

“What do you like about him?”

“Who’s Mukei?”

“Mukei-kun, huh…? I can kind of see it.”

Following the comments from An-san and Fuu-san, the words Yua-san added took all of us by surprise.

“Eh!?” all three of us reacted.

At our reaction, Yua-san continued speaking.

“He’s calm, he listens when you talk, he’s good at sports and studying… He just feels like a good guy, you know?”

“How unexpected!”

“A dark horse!”

An-san and Fuu-san looked shocked by her words. But inside me, a small, prickling ripple spread through my chest.

“Yua-san.”

“Hiro-chan, you know… Mukei-kun helped me once when I was being groped.”

“Oh right, that happened before.”

“I see.”

It seemed An-san and Fuu-san already knew from hearing it earlier.

“But his kindness, his vibe… I think it matches well with the way you talk, Hiro-chan.”

Embarrassed, I lowered my head and Yua-san offered me a tissue.

“I know you’re not crying. This is just…For sorting out your feelings.”

“Thank you.”

“You know… I might actually start getting interested in Mukei-kun too.”

I lifted my head at An-san’s words.

“Yeah. It’s totally fine for me to cheer you on and make you look cute, Hiro-chan.”

“For the day of the cultural festival, we’ll help with your hair and lip color too! Hiro-chan will definitely be cute.”

Fuu-san and Yua-san hugged me happily.

“For your hair, a half-up style would be nice. Put the pin a little higher than now. It’ll brighten your face.”

“What about your glasses?”

“…I’ll keep them like usual! Taking them off still makes me nervous!”

“Yeah, that’s fine. We can just make you cute even with glasses.”

The three of them surrounded me and started discussing all sorts of things. It was the first time I had ever talked this much with other girls, but I found myself slowly able to speak without getting tense.

“For the culture festival, match your break times and walk around together with him.”

“The play is only once, so we’ve gotta make it a success.”

“Yeah… I’m excited.”

They pushed the conversation forward rapidly. But the thought of walking around the culture festival with Mukei-kun made me happy. Yua-san showed us her phone calendar.

“We’ll handle the scheduling, so leave it to us!”

“We’re the cheering squad!”

“Yep! So lovey-dovey!”

“Lovey-dovey!!!”

Fuu-san lightly tapped my wrist.

“Aaah, having a boyfriend must be nice~”

I could tell she was teasing me, but I didn’t know how to respond.

“Yeah. But none of us have any guys in our lives, huh~”

An-san licked a candy while looking out the window.

“Well, we’re cheering for Hiro-chan. I also kinda think he’s nice, but Mukei-kun is the type who’s kind to everyone, so I’d get jealous.”

Her words startled me.

“That’s why… We’ll be cheering for you!”

“…Okay. I’ll do my best!”

An-san came closer to me.

“You know, Hiro-chan, you’re really cute. Wanna take a picture?”

“Eh—”

“Let’s take one close together, all four of us.”

“All four?”

“Yeah. As a friendship commemoration!”

The three of them changed the mood and the conversation for my sake, knowing I was nervous. I laughed. The tension unwound. They were so kind and it made me happy.

“Hiro-chan, your smile is so lovely.”

“…Thank you.”

An-san held out her hand.

“Okay, circle formation!”

“Circle formation?”

“In high school, this stuff matters a lot.”

The five of us stacked our hands. Yua-san gave the cue.

“Hiro-chan, do your best.”

“Yeah!”

The voices were small. But the words echoed in my chest. My face grew hot. But I didn’t hate it. Everyone let go and started getting ready to return to work when An-san spoke softly to me.

“I hope you can talk to Mukei-kun the same way you talked today.”

“Yeah.”

“If you’re stuck, just LINE me.”

We exchanged contact information, and new friends were added to my contacts.

“Thank you very much.”

While tidying the edge of the desk, Yua-san smiled.

“Hiro-chan, you’re already one of us.”

“…Yes! I’ll do my best.”

The after-school light had grown a little weaker. I took a deep breath and held my pen. I wrote my first line carefully. The shaking in my hand had almost disappeared.

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