I Chose the Plain Girl Instead of the Class’s Top Three Beauties, and Somehow She Became the Heroine - 64

Chapter 64: Courage

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《Hiroko Anno’s POV》

The signal that autumn was ending rang from the morning mirror. I had cut my hair, which had reached below my shoulders, to a length I could tie under my ears, and it no longer hid my face. I still didn’t have the courage to wear contacts and go to school. I wanted to make sure that, when I raised my fan high during cheering, my vision didn’t shake. So I wanted to use contacts only for Sora-kun.

The wind passing through the school gate already carried the taste of winter. The air touching my neck felt light, and my steps grew just a little larger. While I was changing my shoes at the entrance, the first person to notice me was Miura Yua-san.

“Hiro-chan!? Eh, it suits you way too well.”

“Good morning, Yua-san.”

When I bowed my head, she hugged me tightly. Like always, Yua-san was physically close. But I envied her brightness.

“Wow… Your vibe really changed.”

Behind her, Kiritani-san smiled, and Hino-san walked over too.

“Nice. Cute and functional.”

Their words melted warmly inside my chest like white breath on a cold winter morning. Not long ago, I never imagined a day would come when the three of them would speak to me.

“Thank you very much.”

As the four of us walked and opened the classroom door, the air quivered for just a moment. From the blackboard side, someone let out an “Ooh.” The rabbit keychain lightly bounced against my pouch, and I grabbed it tightly. It helped calm my heart. Before I could sit down, someone spoke to me.

“Anno-san, your hair… It really suits you.”

It was a boy from the row next to mine. Someone who normally never looked at me. But after the play ended, he started talking to me. I was just about to say thank you when a faint ripple of voices ran through the classroom like sound traveling across steel beams.

Sora-kun walked into the room. Just him entering the classroom turned change into sound. I learned that for the first time. During lunch break, while hurrying down from the fourth floor with a stack of returned handouts so I could have lunch with Sora-kun, someone called my name, and I stopped.

“Anno-san! Do you have a moment?”

Outside the window, a thin layer of clouds could be seen. Inside, my breath could be heard. When I turned, there was a boy from another class. I felt like we had met eyes a few times during PE. He was tall. I was pretty sure he was in the basketball club.

“Um, Anno-san. Sorry for calling you out all of a sudden like this, but could we talk for just a bit?”

The handouts felt heavier in my arms. People with big builds were a little scary. When I nodded, he glanced toward the window and seemed to steady his breath as if searching for the right words.

“The play at the cultural festival was amazing. And… Recently too, the committee displays and everything were really good. Earlier, when I saw you cut your hair, I just… I just wanted to talk to you properly. This is the first time I’ve ever felt like this.”

Winter light was honest. His unadorned voice reached my ears straight on. My heart thumped as if urging me to answer.

“Thank you very much…”

If it had ended there, it would have been a beautifully quiet lunch break. But he added words.

“…I like you. If you’re okay with it, would you go out with me?”

The world was filled with white noise. Until now, I had only ever seen moments like this as a distant scene. It was supposed to be a world unrelated to me, just stories on paper, friends’ rumors, movie lines. But now, the smell of dust on the landing, the chill of the railing, even the chips in the tiles near my feet—all approached with the weight of reality.

If someone said that kind of thing to me, I probably wouldn’t have known what to do. Normally, I couldn’t refuse well. I would smile vaguely, let things pass vaguely, and leave my own feelings behind somewhere.

But today was different.

Before my mind reacted, one person’s face surfaced in my chest. His profile as he steadied his breathing on the tatami. The angle of his bow. His fingers checking the knot of his obi. His eyes that looked straight at his opponent, whether he won or lost.

Sora-kun.

The dull ache in my throat turned into a strange kind of strength. I took a deep breath, and without choosing my words, I just honestly said to him.

“I’m sorry.”

The thin cloud outside the window shifted shape. He lost his words for a moment, then showed an expression like a wry smile. I thought he was a strong person. He quickly recovered and nodded.

“I see… I just wanted to say it. Sorry for making things weird. Thanks for listening.”

“No… Thank you for talking to me.”

The hand on the clock in the landing advanced quietly by one tick. He stepped away from the railing and adjusted his scarf. Straightening his back, he returned to his usual time. His footsteps faded down the stairs. In my heart, I bowed my head slightly toward his retreating figure.

I gently straightened the corner of the handouts in my hands. I had never practiced turning someone down. But when I thought of Sora-kun, the words came naturally. The words my sister taught me settled surely in my fingertips. A “I’m sorry” not for avoiding hurting someone, but for not lying to my own heart.

The scenery outside the window looked a little different. The white lines on the field were faintly rubbed by winter, the zelkova branches were getting ready to scatter the light. In the wind blowing through the hallway, my hair loosened lightly. Thinking of Sora-kun, I told my heart—

Today, I managed to be brave… Just a little.

I looked up at the sky. From autumn to winter, the season shifted without sound. And the me who had cut my hair shifted quietly too.

A me who didn’t lean on someone’s “I like you.” A me who walked on my own feet toward the place where I could say “I like you” to someone.

Cold wind brushed my cheek. Gentle, right before it hurt. I smiled softly. Maybe… I could enjoy the accumulation of one-second moments like this. The warmth left on the palm that had rejected someone, and the “I’m sorry” I managed to say—both sank quietly into my chest, creating heat.

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