Living Normally In An Abnormal World

Chapter 17.3: Newspaper

One day on my way to school, I found a piece of paper on the floor in the school hallway. Someone must have forgotten to dispose of it, or maybe they dropped it. At a glance, I could tell that there were about five sheets stacked on top of each other.

I decided to pick it up and throw it away on my way to the classroom. When I took a closer look, I realized it was a newspaper.

The content was as follows:

[Weekly KiYu Newspaper: As Always, a Close Look at Kinoshita Yuuto’s Weekly Activities]

…What the heck is this?!?!

It was all about me. And it was a weekly newspaper, so it was probably distributed every week.

I had no idea that something like this was going on without my knowledge… The photos they used were definitely taken without my consent, as my gaze was directed elsewhere in them.

I’ll have to confront the newspaper club later. For now, I’ll take a look at the content in the classroom, and maybe ask Maria, Rina, and Asuka about it later.

Asuka told me to just call her by her name, so that’s what I’ve been doing.

Anyway, let’s take a seat in the classroom and see what this is all about.

[On ○ month × day, Kinoshita Yuuto arrived at school at 7:40 am. As always, he maintains a disciplined lifestyle. He then replaced the water in the vase at the back of the classroom and sat down to read a book. The title of the book is “Once the Rain Stops, It Won’t Rain Again.”]

…

[On ○ month ◇ day, Kinoshita Yuto arrived at school unusually late at 8:20 am. The reason seems to be that he slept through his alarm. His hair was messy and sticking up (photo included).

Today was also the day of the classroom seat change, and T-san became his new neighbor.

During the first period, he was reported to have read “Gon the Badger” out loud.

In the second period, he was spotted teaching T-san, who sits next to him, something she didn’t understand. T-san also confessed that she was “so nervous that nothing went into her head!”]

Eh… Scary! Am I being watched this closely?! Wait, no, this is probably based on information provided by someone in the class. So, some of my classmates must also be in on this.

[During the break between the second and third periods, he accidentally bumped his thigh on the desk and fell (photo included).]

You didn’t have to write about that!!

Wait, hold on… Are they watching me even now?

I shifted my gaze slightly towards the hallway and…

…There she is! She’s watching from the door on the hallway side!

A girl with semi-long tea-brown hair, or rather, Yanagida-san, was pointing her camera at me. She clearly has the spirit of a paparazzo and is eager to take photos herself.

I wonder what would happen if I chased after her right now. It’s definitely dangerous for me to confront her when she’s not aware of my presence. It would be natural for her to run away. But I know her face, name, and class.

…She’s in a pinch, isn’t she?

She must have ill intentions, but I need to hear her out.

I got up from my seat and started moving. I switched my smartphone camera to selfie mode and checked behind me as I walked down the hallway. I confirmed that she was following me from a distance.

I turned the corner of the hallway and waited a little further ahead.

As soon as I saw her, I grabbed her arm with my right hand and pushed her against the wall.

“Well, well, well. Would you mind explaining that newspaper article that I just saw.”

I kept a hold of her arm to make sure she didn’t escape. There’s no way she can get away now. But…

“…”

She didn’t say a word.

“Yanagida-san?”

“…”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey.”

“…”

Then, blood started flowing from her nose… This is definitely a case of…

“…She’s fainted.”

I carried her to the school nurse’s office.

Because of something I did, I ended up carrying a girl first thing in the morning.

—Lunch break—

As I was thinking about the newspaper,

“Yuuto-kun.”

“Hmm… Ah, Rina. Well, well, you changed your hairstyle. It suits you.”

“Hehe, thank you.”

I thought about asking Rina, but she would probably evade the question skillfully if she knew about it, and it would be difficult for her to talk about it since the newspaper was unofficial and done without my knowledge. Maybe I really do need to ask Yanagida-san directly.

By the way, Rina’s hairstyle was semi-long black hair, but now it’s a ponytail. Asuka’s was long black hair, right?

Most people in Japan have black hair, after all. Everyone is beautiful and cute.

“But it’s sudden. Is it an image change?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d try something new. Do you like this style, Yuuto-kun?”

“I like it quite a bit. I often play with my hair as well.”

“Fyeah?”

“I do Yuuna’s hair for her.”

“…”

“Recently, I’ve even been doing Mana’s.”

“…Can you do something that suits me with my hair next time?”

“Hmm… How about a three-strand braid?”

“My hair isn’t a friendship bracelet, you know?”

“Ah… Do you want a friendship bracelet? I made a nice one the other day, missus.”

“Oh my, sir, I’ll have one, please.”

As I was joking with Rina,

“Ah… Sir, I’ll have one too, please!”

“Ah! Me too, me too~!”

“You’ve been doing a good job lately, sir.”

“As expected! The Yuuto-kun brand friendship bracelet is made with great care~!”

My classmates joined in with great enthusiasm.

“You guys are the best.”

Because of my high spirits, I ended up saying that I would make friendship bracelets for all my classmates.

I really am the type to tighten the noose around my own neck, aren’t I?

And I was warned by Asuka, Rina, and Maria: “Don’t overdo it.”

It’s fine, no problem. By tomorrow in your eyes, I’ll have already finished making them and distributed them.

—After school—

“I have something to talk to you about.”

Yanagida-san came to my class. It’s most likely about the newspaper.

“I understand. But first, I’m sorry for making you miss class today because of what I did.”

“No, I was actually enjoying my r-… Never mind. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

“Okay.”

You totally were going to say “role”, weren’t you?

She led me to a place that seemed like a club room that I didn’t know about. When I entered, there was no one there.

“It’s a place I don’t know.”

“Yes, it’s a place Yuuto-kun doesn’t know about.”

“So, everyone else knows about it?”

She nodded quietly.

“But first of all, I’m sorry. I’ve been following you around and writing newspaper articles about you.”

She bowed deeply.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!!”

I didn’t set her up just to make her do that!

“I’m not angry that you wrote a newspaper article about me! I just thought it would be nice to have at least one person say something, and since you happened to be there, I thought I’d ask you! Now, lift your head up, your beautiful face is ruined like this!”

“But…”

“There’s no buts, get up.”

It hurts my conscience to make a woman bow so deeply.

“Look, celebrities and popular people are often pestered by paparazzi, right? It’s okay, you’re not in the wrong!”

“No, it’s my fault.”

This is too much trouble.

“Get up… Get up, I say!”

“Eh… Why am I being scolded when I’m the one apologizing?”

“I’m not scolding you, but seeing you bow deeply like that doesn’t make me feel good.”

“I understand.”

She finally stood up reluctantly. Now, let’s get to the main point.

“What made you start writing these articles?”

“Because you’re a man and different from others. I thought it was a chance to pursue various topics and scandals in the future. Also, people from other classes have asked me if they could see your articles.”

“So, you were writing about me as practice?”

“Yes. And now there’s even a fan club for you.”

“Huh?”

“Look at this.”

She brought a computer from a nearby table and opened a website after entering her ID and password.

[Yu-Yu Fan Club]

So there was even a fan club… Well, I kind of guessed that when she brought the computer.

“The current number of members has apparently exceeded 10,000.”

“What?!”

“From children to parents, from parents to relatives, from those relatives to other relatives, and so on, information about you has been spreading. To be honest, the newspaper I’m making is also aimed at those people. The number of members will only continue to grow. Oh… It’s increased again.”

“Isn’t my safety in danger?”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t posted about you going out in women’s clothing.”

“I see, thank you.”

“It’s not something I should be thanked for. It would have spread anyway.”

“Well, I don’t mind if you continue writing the newspaper. I approve. So, do as you please.”

“Eh?”

Even if I told her to stop, someone else would probably start doing it anyway. So, I might as well let her, whom I can somewhat trust, continue.

“Well, good luck.”

“Yuuto-kun is really strange.”

“I think so too. Write that my head is screwed up.”

“Yes, I’ll write that about you…!”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll find any good material anyway.”

“Just being a man is enough material♪ There’s no problem with the way you are now.”

Ugh… Why?

“Men are rare, and people like Yuuto-kun are people you might not meet even if you live your life over and over again. Let me just say one thing: Yuuto-kun should be more aware of his own value. Even my mother is a fan of you.”

“I see. Well, I’m satisfied as long as I can live my life the way I want to.”

“But anyway, I’ll continue to stalk you.”

“Then, please do.”

I may have just approved of a stalker. Oh well.

“Ah… I have some material. Here.”

I gave her the photo of me in a wedding dress that I had kept as a memento.

“!!… This is a scoop. Is it really okay?”

“It’s called fan service. Give it back to me after you’re done with it. See you.”

“Okay. See you.”

And she started working on it right away, and I headed home.

Well, let’s make those friendship bracelets first.

—The next day—