I Just Wanted a Girlfriend, But Now I Have Three Fiancées! …Even Though I Don’t Remember Proposing to Any of Them - Chapter 09: I Drank Coffee, and Suddenly Everything Around Me Started Changing

Chapter 09: I Drank Coffee, and Suddenly Everything Around Me Started Changing

“The heck, man? You got anything to say for yourself?”

“What now?”

The moment I stepped into the classroom, Kyousuke came at me full throttle.

“You told me yourself, didn’t you?! You said you weren’t dating that underclassman!”

“I did say that.”

“Then why the hell were you two walking to school together?!”

Jeez, calm down.

I get that he’s in the sports club and all, so yelling’s kind of his default setting, but still—

“Even if we’re not dating, it’s not that weird to walk to school together, right?”

At this point, I might as well just roll with it.

Felt like being upfront was the better move here.

“HUH?! ‘Even if we’re not dating, it’s not that weird to walk to school together’—seriously!?”

“Yeah.”

“DIE, YOU FREAKIN’ LADIES’ MAN!!”

Kyousuke shouted and lunged at me like some wild beast.

“C-C’mon, chill out! Mitsuki’s just a junior, that’s all!”

“Why the hell are you calling her by her first name like it’s nothing?! You trying to show off how close you are or what?!”

…Ah.

Right. I usually call her by her last name when others are around.

“Well, whatever. Relax, Kyousuke. Your spring will come too, y’know?”

“Oh, real funny! ‘Spring will come’ for Haru, huh?! Huh!?”

“That wasn’t even a pun, Kyousuke.”

“You’re the one who said it, dammittttt!!”

And so, after getting randomly chewed out for absolutely no reason…

I was seriously dreading lunch today.

Please… let nothing happen…

Just thinking about it made my stomach start hurting again.

I popped one of those traditional herbal stomach pills and washed it down with some tea.

Lately, the stress had been tearing my insides apart, so I finally gave in and grabbed some medicine from the pharmacy this morning.

“You got the runs or something?”

“Kyousuke, could you not? At least try to say it in a less disgusting way. It’s just a stomachache, okay?”

“Man, you’re weird. You walk to school with a super cute girl and still end up with a stomachache? What, did you eat something cursed or what?”

“That sounds more like something you would do…”

I muttered while focusing on the sensation of the pill sliding down my throat.

Hopefully, it’d take the edge off.

But really, that was just putting a Band-Aid on the symptoms.

What I needed was an actual solution.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.”

“Hm?”

As I was putting my stuff down, Kyousuke suddenly spoke up like he’d just remembered something.

“Apparently, there was this super hot girl spotted near the school yesterday!”

“Uh-huh.”

“What’s with that half-dead reaction? You’re totally curious too, right?”

“Sorry, but I’ve got too much going on to care about that right now…”

“‘Too much going on’?! Do you even hear yourself?! She had blonde hair, dude! Blonde! A total bombshell!”

“Blonde? What, like bleached?”

“Don’t be dumb—it was obviously a foreigner!”

“…………”

…Wait.

That… sounds a lot like Luna.

“So, what about this ‘super hot girl’?”

“Right! Apparently, she was wandering around near the school looking for someone. And get this—she was wearing a Shirajo uniform. Maybe she’s an exchange student or something?”

Yeah, no doubt about it.

That’s 100% Luna.

“Shirajo” was the nickname for the all-girls school Luna said she attended.

And around here, whenever someone mentioned “Shirajo,” that was the school they meant.

And if she was looking for someone—

Then that must’ve been before she bumped into me.

Well, she is a foreigner, so of course she’d stand out more than most…

“You’re acting like you don’t even care. What, you only go for the whole pure black-hair type or something? Freakin’ virgins, man…”

“You’re a virgin too, though.”

“Y-Y-You f-fool! I’m totally different, alright?!”

The thing about Kyousuke was, I could never tell if he was being serious or just messing around.

So, as usual, I just let it slide.

Apparently, the rumor about Luna had spread more than I expected.

During every break, the guys kept bringing her up like she was the hottest news of the week.

Maybe that’s why—

When Mei showed up at my classroom during lunch break, she looked noticeably annoyed.

“W-What’s wrong, Mei?”

“…Nothing.”

Yeah, no.

After nearly ten years of knowing her, I knew better than anyone that her “nothing” meant absolutely not nothing.

“…I’ll listen, if you wanna talk.”

“I just remembered something from the past that kinda ruined my mood. It’s got nothing to do with you, Haru.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking about a girl I seriously can’t stand.”

A girl she can’t stand…?

“…Luna-chan?”

“Tsk.”

Whoa there—was that a click of the tongue, Mei-san?

“Don’t let it get to you… It’s all in the past, right?”

“…Then let me ask you something, Haru.”

“Hmm?”

“Say you go to a restaurant, and they’ve got this hamburger steak you really love, okay?”

“Okay.”

“But it’s super popular—only one person can order it.”

“Uh-huh…”

“So you make a reservation. Five years in advance. And you wait. You wait and wait and wait… and finally, it’s your turn. But just as they’re about to bring it out… some random customer swoops in and steals it. How would you feel?”

“…Yeah, I’d be pissed. I’d be seriously mad.”

“Exactly.”

…Okay, but—what exactly?

I swallowed that thought.

Best to just nod along when it comes to situations like this.

“Anyway, where are we eating lunch?”

“This way.”

I’d already messaged Mitsuki saying, “Gonna eat with a friend today,” so that part was covered.

Still, my stomach started acting up again—probably from this creeping sense that I was slowly turning into a total scumbag.

Might need another dose of that stomach medicine before lunch…

“Here.”

She led me to the staircase that went up to the roof.

Naturally, the door to the rooftop was locked—had always been.

Which meant nobody ever bothered coming up these stairs.

“This spot, huh? Yeah, no one really comes up here.”

“Exactly. Which means… we can eat lunch, just the two of us.”

“…Yeah, I guess so.”

Mei really emphasized the “just the two of us” part.

I decided not to comment and sat down on the stairs.

Today’s lunch was the leftover hamburger steak Mei had made last night.

She’d cooked a big batch, so we packed up the extras into a bento and brought it along.

“How is it? Tasty?”

“Yeah. It’s great. Thanks for making it.”

“Fufu. I practiced just for this, you know.”

…Practiced, huh.

“Thanks again, Mei.”

“No need to thank me. I already got something way more important from you.”

…Wait, did I give her something?

She said it with her cheeks flushed, but honestly… I had no clue what she meant.

I couldn’t remember giving Mei anything.

Actually, come to think of it—why does she even like me this much?

I didn’t really get that part either.

“So don’t worry and just eat, okay? Haru.”

“…Thanks.”

She said it all flustered—face red, eyes sparkling.

It kind of embarrassed me too, so I just mumbled a reply.

And right then—

Buzz buzz—my phone vibrated.

“Sorry.”

I quickly apologized to Mei and glanced at my phone…

It was a message from Luna: “Look at this!”

Probably a photo of her lunch.

Sure enough, it was a super colorful bento packed with veggies—looked healthy and really well made.

“Hey, Haru. Look at me.”

“Hm?”

“We’re all alone here… so I want you to look at me.”

“…Alright.”

I sent a simple sticker back to Luna, then slipped my phone into my pocket with a small smile.

Both my stomach and my heart throbbed painfully.