I Just Wanted a Girlfriend, But Now I Have Three Fiancées! …Even Though I Don’t Remember Proposing to Any of Them - Chapter 01: I Drank Coffee… and Ended Up With a Fiancée

Chapter 01: I Drank Coffee… and Ended Up With a Fiancée

“Haru-senpai! I was about to grab some drinks from the vending machine downstairs—want anything?”

That cheerful voice belonged to my junior, Mitsuki Minase. She was one of only two members in our school’s Literature Club.

By “downstairs,” she meant the vending machines. Our school didn’t have a school store or anything fancy like that.

“Hmm… anything’s fine.”

“Got it~ I’ll be right back!”

With a little bounce in her step, Minase dashed out of the clubroom.

“Ah—my wallet…”

I forgot to give her money.

Well, whatever. I’ll just pay her back when she gets back.

Thinking that, I turned my attention back to the light novel I was reading. But before I even made it a few pages in, Minase returned.

“Here you go, senpai! Got you a drink!”

“Thanks, Minase. What’s this?”

“Coffee!”

She plopped a paper carton of coffee down on my desk with a bright smile.

“…Oh. R-Right. Thanks.”

“Huh? You don’t like this kind of thing?”

“Nah, it’s not like I hate it…”

Truth was, I wasn’t great with coffee.

Because of how weird my body worked, caffeine hit me like alcohol. Just one sip and I’d start getting a headache.

That’s why I tried to avoid drinking it whenever I could, but…

“Okay then, here you go!”

Mitsuki beamed at me with her usual carefree smile.

“Oh, right. I should pay you back for this.”

“No need! Today’s your birthday, isn’t it, Haru-senpai?”

“This is my birthday present?”

“Yup!”

Well then, guess I’ll just accept it with gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“No problem! I’ll be waiting for your return gift, okay?”

Ah, so that’s your angle.

“Just kidding! I’m not the kind of greedy girl who expects payback for something like that!”

“Greedy, huh…”

Man, I haven’t heard that in ages…

With smooth, practiced movements, Mitsuki plopped down beside me and opened the paperback she brought with her. It was literary fiction—the real deal. Unlike me with my light novels, she actually read proper literature. Kinda impressive, honestly.

For a while, the only sound in the room was the soft rustling of pages turning.

Then Mitsuki looked up from her book.

“You’re not gonna drink that?”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t even touched it, Haru-senpai.”

“I-I was just… really into my book, y’know?”

Come to think of it, not drinking something your junior bought for you might be kinda rude.

Trying to play it cool, I grabbed the straw, poked it into the paper carton, and took a sip.

“Jeez… If you were the kind of guy who’s like, ‘As if I’d drink something my junior bought!’ I was ready to quit the club.”

“Wait, is that how you see me?!”

I literally joined the Literature Club because I couldn’t stand that kind of meathead jock energy…

“Just kidding, just kidding!”

Mitsuki laughed beside me, while I was too busy bracing myself for the usual caffeine-induced headache.

Except… it never came.

Instead, this weird, floaty kind of buzz washed over me.

Huh?

Did I… build up a tolerance or something?

“Thanks for getting this for me. It’s actually really good.”

“I figured you didn’t like coffee since you never buy any, but if it tastes good to you, that’s all that matters!”

“Whoa, you know me pretty well.”

“’Cause I’m always watching you, senpai.”

She said it so casually, with that sweet little smile—

And my heart skipped a beat.

This girl… always drops stuff like that out of nowhere.

“Senpai, your face is a little red… you okay?”

She asked with a teasing grin.

“Y-Yeah… I’m fine…”

“By the way, Haru-senpai. Is there anything you want right now?”

“Something I want?”

“Yup! It’s your birthday, remember?”

“…What about this?”

I lifted the coffee and gave her a look.

“C’mon, no way I’d give just coffee as a birthday present! You’re always super helpful, so I’m planning to get you something proper!”

“…Something I want, huh.”

I fell silent, trying to think.

But my head felt floaty, and I couldn’t focus at all.

“…A girlfriend, maybe.”

And just like that, I blurted out something totally random.

Even I was like, what the heck did I just say?

“In that case… should I become your girlfriend?”

Mitsuki said it with a playful little smile, looking just a tiny bit embarrassed—but mostly like a mischievous little devil.

My face went bright red.

“D-Don’t say stuff like that.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the kind of guy who could handle bold girls. That was the best response I could come up with.

“Why not?”

“B-Because… you’ll make me get the wrong idea.”

To dodge the conversation, I quickly took a sip of the coffee.

Actually—

More like chugged the whole thing in one go.

And after that—

I remembered absolutely nothing.

Like, zero. Complete blackout.

――――――――――――――

The morning sun streamed through the window as I slowly woke up…

Which was normal.

What wasn’t normal was the sound coming from the kitchen.

That creepy clattering noise jolted me fully awake.

…Wait.

Don’t I live alone?

My mom passed away when I was a kid, and I’d been raised by my single dad ever since. But even he was away right now on a solo work trip—so the house should’ve been empty.

Feeling nervous, I peeked into the kitchen…

And saw long, flowing blue hair swaying in the air.

“Ah, Haru-senpai. You’re finally up! Geez, you sleep way too much.”

It was Mitsuki.

“…M-Minase?”

Why the heck was she in my house?

I was about to ask—

But then her expression suddenly turned sour.

“I don’t like it when you call me that.”

She pouted, clearly annoyed.

“Call me by my name—like you did yesterday.”

“…Y-Your name?”

What in the world was she even talking about…?

“You’re the one who called me that, senpai.”

“R-Really…? S-Sorry, Mitsuki.”

As soon as I said her name, she gave a satisfied little nod and started ladling miso soup into bowls.

“Go ahead and sit down. Breakfast is ready.”

“R-Right…”

So this is what people mean when they say it feels like you’ve been tricked by a fox.

I still had no clue why my junior—no, Mitsuki—was in my house, but I couldn’t just ignore her now. So I did what she said and sat down like a good little boy.

“Senpai, your rice bowl has a chip in it.”

“I-It’s fine. I can still use it…”

Still only half-convinced I wasn’t dreaming, I picked up the chipped bowl.

“Then let’s go buy a new one together this Saturday!”

Clap! Mitsuki clapped her hands and smiled like sunshine.

“Eh? You really don’t have to go that far…”

“Can I buy some dishes too? Matching ones—with yours, senpai.”

Mitsuki lit up with joy as she said that.

She looked as cute as ever… but something felt off.

This wasn’t her usual playful teasing—there was something different about her vibe today. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…

“Oh, and senpai, you really do live alone, huh? When you gave me the spare key, I thought, ‘No way, this has to be a joke,’ but… turns out you’re actually super bold. I love that about you ♡”

Mitsuki proudly pulled a key from her pocket and held it up for me to see.

Huh!?

A spare key?

To my house??

Why???

I mean, I wasn’t some key expert or anything, so I couldn’t even tell if it was real or not.

“Hmmm. Senpai doesn’t really seem like the type who can handle housework, so I guess I’ll just have to come over regularly and help out!”

“Wait—you’re coming over?”

“Of course I am! I mean, we’re getting married, after all.”

“…Ha?”

…What did she just say?

My face went completely pale.

I had no memory of anything that happened yesterday.

But Mitsuki wasn’t the type to lie about this kind of thing.

“Oh come on, senpai. You promised so seriously yesterday, remember?”

And the scariest part was—I knew she wasn’t bluffing.

That voice, that look in her eyes… everything about her was dead serious.

Because I knew her better than anyone.

“We said we’d start dating… with marriage in mind, didn’t we?”

I was the first one to realize—

That this wasn’t a joke.

Wasn’t a prank.

Wasn’t some huge misunderstanding.

It was real.