Living Normally In An Abnormal World

Chapter 67: Training to be an Regular Boy

After breaking the record in the full marathon and being given the unwanted nickname ‘The Mad Runner’, the public was once again in an uproar. However, my surroundings remained peaceful, as everyone already knew my true identity.

But setting that aside, at the moment,

“Yuuto-kun, you’re at it again?”

“No, this is pretty normal.”

“It’s abnormal, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t answer. No smiling. No talking to anyone.”

“How cruel.”

“This is for the sake of a peaceful life in middle school!”

“I know.”

I was putting in the effort to become a regular boy.

Although I’m acting wild now, I want to have a peaceful life in middle school. I thought about it, but when it came to action, my behavior was deemed to be quite problematic.

So, everyone decided to judge whether my behavior was that of a regular boy. However, my path seemed to be full of obstacles.

“Don’t even make eye contact.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“Yuuto-kun, ordinary women are easy to please!”

“Eh…”

“Okay, practice. Hey, stop glancing at me! If you do that, they’ll think, ‘Oh, he likes me!'”

“Yes.”

Perhaps leading an ordinary life was not meant for me.

“This is exhausting. Do regular boys always do this?”

“Well, compared to you, Yuuto-kun…”

“No, it’s just that I dislike women, so I respond that way.”

Because I dislike them, my responses are rough, and I don’t really care. I don’t mind what others think of me.

That’s why I can usually behave like that.

It doesn’t bother me.

Maybe it’s because my feelings towards women are fundamentally different, so it’s difficult for me.

“Well, I’ll just have to do my best.”

And as the days went by, the evaluation became even stricter.

“Always maintain an unhappy expression and a cold gaze.”

“Don’t forget to sigh when someone calls your name.”

“It might be better to say bad things about them.”

Following their advice,

“Cross your legs and act superior.”

“If someone approaches you, make it obvious that you’re moving away from them.”

“And no physical contact, okay?”

I tried to do everything they suggested.

And after repeating this for several weeks,

“Shut up and get lost. Do you not feel ashamed of wasting my time by talking to me? Why would you even assume I’d be nice to you? There’s no way someone like me would ever be on your level. Ugh, just leave already.”

(… He’s gotten even worse since we started! How do we bring him back?)

(He’s gotten worse since we first met! How are we going to fix this?)

The stalker who had been watching over Yuuto-kun all this time thought,

(He’ll probably stay like this for a while. Hmm, a message from Yuto-kun? ‘For now, I’ll keep up this act for two more weeks.’ Well, I guess I don’t need to worry.)

Since she had received this information, the stalker had no problem continuing her activities.

A few days later, everyone else also learned about this from Yanagida’s newspaper, but they were already at ease.

Indeed, when they talked to Yuuto-kun, he responded with cold eyes and didn’t say a word. If he did speak, it was only to hurl insults.

He even ignored younger children, but when they started crying because they thought he hated them, Yuuto-kun would turn around, squat down to their eye level, pat their heads a few times, and then leave.

It was like a delinquent showing kindness to a puppy abandoned in the rain.

Everyone was relieved, thinking, ‘He’s fine after all,’ and they spent the next week without any issues.

However,

“No one’s talking to me anymore, so there’s no one for me to act cold towards now.”

Normally, no one would talk to someone who they know will respond coldly. For those around him, even though they knew he didn’t mean it, it was still hard to bear his cold attitude. Especially since he had always been kind to them.

The members of the Special Friends also judged that if they were treated with such an excessive attitude, it would take a while for them to recover.

And so, for a week, no one approached him, talked to him, or did anything but watch him from a distance.

Yuuto-kun realized that continuing this behavior would be pointless, so he returned to his usual demeanor.

There were a few people with the M trait, but since no one approached him, it was difficult for them to do so as well, and they were hesitant to expose their own fetishes to the public. (T/N: Masochist.)

In the end, everyone, including Yuuto-kun, agreed that this attitude was acceptable, and the issue was resolved with the condition that he must never do it again until middle school.

“Kimi ga, ore to, no wait, ore ga, kimi to… Eh…”

(T/N: He’s trying to remember his previous way of referring to himself and others. As he referred to himself and the others in a rude way. Kinda like saying, Do you think someone like me(Ore ga) has the time to waste with someone like you(Kimi to)?)

Apparently, Yuuto-kun’s slightly negative attitude hadn’t completely gone away.

By the way,

“Yuu-kun?”

“Yes?”

“That kind of attitude is not good for your mental health, so please stop.”

“Okay…”

Mana had seen through Yuuto-kun’s struggle and warned him.

Thus, Yuuto-kun’s plan to become a regular boy ended in failure.