My Popular-as-Hell Best Friend Is Annoying, So I Want to Get Him a Girlfriend and Shut Him Up - Chapter 177 & 178 & 179

Chapter 177: Home Visit

Having escaped school, I was heading to Misono Izumo’s house based on the info I got from Kirita Akari.

I figured Kirita Akari, being Izumo’s friend, might know where she lives, and I was right. It’s not too far from school, and apparently, Kirita’s been over a few times to hang out. Asking her was the right call.

I take a train one stop from the nearest station, switch lines, and go three more stops. In just about ten minutes, I arrive at the station closest to Izumo’s house. It’s almost as close as Uryu’s place—pretty convenient.

Exiting the ticket gate, I pull out my hand-drawn map and start walking toward the destination. Just like when I left school, the sun is relentlessly trying to roast me alive. My throat’s parched, but if I stop at a convenience store, I might not want to leave. Stay strong, Hirose Yukiya. A tough battle awaits, and you can’t falter now.

Sticking to the shade as much as possible, I walk for about seven minutes. The residential area, slightly off from the subway station, comes into view. The houses here don’t seem much different from my own, which is reassuring. If there were a bunch of mansions like the Aoyagi estate, I’d be floored. Normal is best. Calm is justice.

It’s the middle of a weekday, but the neighborhood is eerily quiet. No aunties gossiping by the street, no housewives walking their dogs. Maybe even the animals don’t want to be out in this heat. Honestly, I’d rather be out in the morning or evening myself.

Lost in pointless thoughts while trudging along the asphalt, I finally reach what seems to be the destination.

The house faces the road with an open parking space and a small iron gate to the left. Naturally, there’s no room for a garden between the gate and the front door. That kind of fancy space is exclusive to the Aoyagi estate.

There’s no nameplate, but this should be Izumo’s house. It matches Kirita Akari’s description. If a complete stranger comes out, I’m suing Kirita for being the mastermind of some elaborate prank. At the very least, I’m billing her for my train fare—this isn’t worth the hassle otherwise.

Surely Kirita wouldn’t pull that kind of dark joke, so I press the doorbell. The classic ding-dong echoes inside the house. Oh no, I’m suddenly nervous. If some scary, grizzled old man comes out and glares at me, I don’t think I can win. If that happens, I’ll retreat and wait for a better chance. I want to settle this today, so even if I lose a skirmish, I’ll win the war.

“Oh, that’s the same uniform as Izumo’s school.”

Drawn by the doorbell, the gatekeeper who appears is a refined woman with traces of Izumo’s features. From her hair color to her vibe, it’s clear Izumo takes after her mother.

“Hello, I’m Hirose, a classmate of Izumo-san.”

As I introduce myself, the woman—who has a gentler air than Izumo—widens her eyes and puts a hand to her mouth.

“Hirose? You mean the troublemaker Hirose-kun?”

“Huh? Must be someone else, right?”

Apparently, I’m labeled a troublemaker in the class rep’s household. I try to play it off, but isn’t that a bit harsh?

Whatever, I expected some light jabs like this. Let them graze me—I just need to land the critical hit. First, I need to tell her why I’m here.

“I came to check on Izumo-san today. Could I possibly see her?”

“Oh my, how thoughtful of you. …Wait, what about school? Isn’t it still in session?”

“I rushed over because I wanted to see Izumo-san as soon as possible.”

“Oh my goodness, what a commendable attitude. Could it be, Hirose-kun, you’ve got a thing for Izumo?”

“No way, nothing like that. I’m just a humble classmate—someone like Izumo-sama is in a whole different league.”

“…What’s gotten into you?”

Crap, I overdid the politeness and ended up sounding too servile. Being overly formal just makes me suspicious—what a blunder. I need to talk a bit more casually.

“So, uh, can I see Izumo-san?”

“Hmm, I’d love for you to meet since a classmate went to the trouble of coming, but she just ate and went back to her room. I’m pretty sure she’s asleep.”

“I… see…”

If she says that, I can’t exactly push my luck. She’s sick, and her mom’s probably worried. Guess I have no choice but to back off.

“She’s awake, though!”

“She’s awake! She was reading a textbook!”

Just as I’m forced to consider a tactical retreat, a lively boy’s voice rings out from deeper inside the house.

Two boys, looking almost identical with a hint of childish charm, come running toward the entrance.

“Hey, you two, don’t make a scene in front of a guest. You’ll startle him.”

“But we’re bored!”

“Bored, bored!”

“Then go play outside.”

“It’s too hot, no way!”

“No way, no way!”

“…Such cheeky kids.”

The woman sighs as she watches the two boys energetically wreaking havoc indoors. Then, remembering I’m here, she quickly composes herself.

“Sorry about the noise.”

“No worries, I deal with way rowdier people, so it’s fine.”

“Haha, what’s that supposed to mean?”

She laughs lightly and pats the heads of the two boys standing beside her.

“These are my sons, Kaito and Rikuto. They’re in fifth grade but have zero sense of calm—it’s exhausting.”

“Uh-huh.”

I give a vague response. What’s the right thing to say here? Agreeing feels rude, but denying it in front of the kids might make them cocky.

Fifth graders, huh? They seem a lot younger, probably because of how they act.

“It’s because Izumo spoils them rotten, so they’ve turned into such brats.”

“Don’t badmouth Nee-chan!”

“Don’t badmouth her!”

“What do you think, Hirose-kun? Don’t you feel bad for their poor mom?”

Please don’t ask me questions that are so hard to answer.

I manage an awkward smile—very unlike me—when her gaze shifts back to her sons.

“By the way, is your sister still awake?”

I’d been thrown off by getting dragged into their family banter, but I recall the boys mentioning something about her being awake. If she’s up, I’d like to see her now.

“She’s awake! She wouldn’t play with us, though.”

Apparently, they barged into her room wanting attention, but she kicked them out to study. The brothers wanting to play with their sick sister are something else, but studying while sick? That’s Izumo for you.

“I see, alright then. Rik-kun, Kai-kun, can you take our guest to your sister’s room?”

“Sure thing!”

“Huh?”

At her command, the boys flank me, grabbing my arms.

And just like that, they start dragging me into the house.

“Whoa, hold on! Let me take off my shoes first!”

“Hurry, hurry!”

Overwhelmed by the fearless twins who don’t bat an eye at a stranger, I step into the Misono household.

The homey atmosphere nearly sweeps me away, but this is where the real challenge begins. I need to stay sharp.

“This way!”

Trying to organize my thoughts, I let the boys pull me toward Izumo’s room.

Chapter 178: A Meeting in a Closed Room

I’m being dragged up the stairs by Misono Izumo’s little brothers, each pulling one of my arms. It feels a bit like I’m being hauled off to jail, which isn’t great, but I’m not about to complain.

We reach the second floor and head to the room at the far end on the left. A wooden door has a sign that reads “Izumo’s Room.” Looks like we’ve arrived.

“Nee-chan! Can we come in?”

“Can we come in!?”

Rikuto and Kaito call out to Izumo, who’s presumably inside. From what they said earlier, she’s not sleeping but studying.

“Hey, I told you I’m studying! What’s going on?”

A surprisingly lively voice comes from the other side of the door. It’s gentle, too—she must adore her clingy little brothers.

But she could just be putting on a brave front to hide her condition from family. I can’t judge her state based on her voice alone. Any convenient assumptions need to be tossed out right here and now.

“We brought a guest!”

“A guest?”

“We’re coming in!”

“Wait…!”

Ignoring Izumo’s obvious panic at the word “guest,” the brothers fling open the door.

I follow them in and lock eyes with Izumo, who’s sitting on her bed holding an English textbook.

“Wha—!?”

Noticing me, she hurriedly wraps herself in her blanket, her face flushing red as she glares. She must’ve let her guard down in the privacy of her home. Sorry, but I’ve already caught a full glimpse of her in her pajamas.

“Why are you here!?”

Now she’s frantically trying to tame her bedhead with her fingers. I don’t know what’s driving her, but I honestly don’t care. She’s sick—she should just relax.

“No need to freak out…”

“Of course I’m freaking out! Ugh, I haven’t even showered today…!”

After her hair, she starts worrying about her body odor. Sure, if you’re sick and running a fever, you’ll sweat—especially this time of year. But taking a bath and risking a relapse would be worse, so it’s understandable. Still, I bet that’s not the point for her.

“Haha, Nee-chan’s face is all red!”

“All red!”

“Shut up! Get out of here, both of you!”

“Wah, she’s mad!”

“Nee-chan’s mad!”

Scolded, the brothers scamper out of the room to escape their angry sister.

In an instant, it’s just the two of us. Silence blankets the room. Izumo’s wary gaze pierces me, and all I can do is shrug.

“…Should I leave too?”

“It’s fine. You came here for a reason, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“But no coming closer. Talk from there.”

“Just so you know, you don’t smell.”

“Talk. From. That. Distance.”

She’s dead set on keeping me at bay. Sensing her resolve, I sit down a bit away from her bed.

The room is plain, with a bookshelf full of study guides that stand out. The lower shelves hold board games and a deck of cards—probably for playing with her brothers, I assume.

“By the way, what about school?”

“Skipped it.”

“…I’m speechless.”

“Shut up. Your brothers are skipping too, aren’t they?”

“What are you competing with? They’re already home by one because of a staff meeting.”

“Oh, right, those things.”

Back in elementary school, we’d get sent home early for random reasons. I used to love it, but now it feels like teacher laziness. It must’ve been rough for dual-income families. They should just hold those meetings later.

“So, what’s the deal?”

As I’m quietly lamenting the state of modern education, Izumo asks the same question she did when I entered.

Her confusion is fair. Even if she’s sick, it’s weird for a not-so-close classmate to skip school to visit her.

So, before answering, I throw a question her way.

“How’s your condition? Not too bad?”

Her face looks slightly flushed, but she’s speaking loudly and doesn’t seem that unwell.

“Oh, I’ve got a slight fever, but I’m fine. It’s just that time of year, and I didn’t want to spread a cold, so I stayed home.”

Even when sick, the school’s top-class rep is in full class-rep mode. Skipping school to avoid infecting classmates before exams? That’s not how most high schoolers think.

Her reasoning catches me off guard, but I pull myself together. If she’s not too sick, I should explain now.

I pull four notebooks out of my school bag.

“These cover today’s classes, first through fourth period.”

“Huh?”

“The morning classes are part of the exam scope, so use them to prep for tomorrow.”

I stack the notebooks and place them near her bed. The distance means I can’t hand them over directly, but Izumo, still wrapped in her blanket, scoots to the edge and grabs them.

“If anything’s unclear, ask. I’ve got today’s stuff memorized.”

“…Why?”

She mutters while flipping through the notebooks.

“Why are you doing this? You’re not the type to do something just because someone asked, are you?”

She’s probably right, and I nod inwardly. Normally, I wouldn’t care about an absent classmate.

But that’s not true anymore. I’ve heard her ambition. I know how hard she’s worked to achieve it.

“I want you to beat Uryu. I’ll gladly help for that.”

Her ambition ties into my own hopes. If Izumo takes the top spot in our grade and catches Uryu’s attention, it’ll bring me some peace. That’s not a bad deal.

At least, that’s what I thought before.

But not now. I’m not just helping for my own selfish reasons.

This is my atonement.

“And about yesterday morning. I came to apologize for that too.”

Standing up, I bow on the spot.

“I was out of line yesterday. I said awful things. I don’t expect these exam notes to make up for it, but I want you to know I’m serious.”

I recall how Izumo looked as pained as Kirita Akari. When I snapped that the class was fed up with her nagging, there was no life in her eyes. Only now do I realize how much it hurt her.

“…You don’t need to apologize.”

But Izumo doesn’t get mad. Instead of scolding me, she lowers her gaze to the floor and mumbles softly.

Chapter 179: A Different Use Than Before

“I didn’t say anything back then, right?”

Izumo turns slightly toward me, and I nod.

Sure, I was the one ranting, but she didn’t deny a word. Why was that?

“There’s no way I could argue. Your words—they hit the mark.”

Izumo gives a self-deprecating smile. Her twisted reasoning doesn’t stop there.

“I didn’t become class rep for some noble reason like uniting the class. I just wanted something to be proud of besides studying. That’s all I became class rep for. Standing in for the teacher, taking charge, scolding misbehaving students—I’ve been meddling like that all this time.”

Her voice grows quieter, as if her confidence has been stripped away, leaving her words lifeless.

“So, it’s not surprising that people find me annoying. I can’t deny being a nuisance. Nothing you said was wrong.”

“…Don’t take my words to heart.”

I counter her negativity.

“Those weren’t my true feelings. I said them knowing they’d hurt you. You don’t need to take them seriously.”

“What’s with you all of a sudden? You’re like a different person.”

A different person—aptly put. Compared to how I was until yesterday, I might seem like someone else. I’ve never tried to smooth things over like this before.

“True or not, it’s the same. If you thought those words would hit me hard, it means you saw some truth in them, right? You wouldn’t just guess blindly.”

A sharp observation.

She’s right. Whether it was my true feelings doesn’t matter now. The moment I brought up her role as class rep to hurt her, it was over.

My words can’t change the lonely look on her face.

“It’s fine. Even if I know now that everyone hates me, it doesn’t change what I’ll do. I’ll just keep being the hated class rep.”

“Even if I say that’s not true, you won’t listen, will you?”

“It’s not your fault. I just faced what I’d already suspected. You don’t need to feel bad about it.”

In the end, I’m the one being comforted. I came to apologize, but I’ve only made Izumo suffer more.

“And thanks for the notebooks. I don’t know how far I’ll get, but I’ll fight to the end.”

She tries to hide her feelings, bottling them up. She probably won’t tell her family either, not wanting to worry them.

I knew it from the start. My words wouldn’t reach her heart. They’d just bounce off, unaccepted. That was obvious.

—That’s why I relied on Uryu from the beginning.

“What are you trying to wrap up on your own?”

“Huh?”

Ignoring Izumo’s clear attempt to send me away, I dig through my bag again.

“Actually, there’s one more thing I want to give you.”

I show her what I pull out: three small electronic devices in my palm.

“These…”

“Voice recorders. My essentials.”

Izumo’s eyes widen. Of course she’s shocked—who wouldn’t be, seeing these out of nowhere?

Ignoring her confusion, I continue.

“I’ve always used these to tear people down. Idiots slip up with their words all the time, so I’d play back recordings to shut them up. Anyone who dared challenge me, I crushed completely.”

At the same time, I protected myself this way. A weakling like me couldn’t fight alone otherwise. It was my kind of cunning, non-violent tactic.

But that ended yesterday. I don’t need a voice recorder to hurt people anymore.

The reason I brought them today, though, is a big one.

“But today, for the first time, I think I used them properly. My weapon finally transformed into something beautiful.”

Spouting that cheesy line, I toss one of the recorders toward Izumo. She catches it with both hands like a bowl, staring at me, still not grasping the situation.

“Play it. You’ll understand everything.”

Izumo eyes the recorder suspiciously. After a pause, she sighs as if giving in and presses the play button with her right hand.

What comes through is—

“Hey, Class Rep? Catching a cold this time of year sucks, but hang in there! The class would fall apart without you!”

“What…?”

Words of encouragement from a classmate.

“Yo, Izumo-san? Forgetting our study session promise is harsh! Don’t worry about tomorrow’s subjects, but teach me the day after, okay? So, get better!”

“Uh, um, it’s not the same without Class Rep pushing us! Scold me more!”

“Haha, what are you even saying, dude?”

“Sorry, Misono, the teacher can’t handle this class. Come back to school soon.”

“What… is this…?”

As she listens, tears well up in Izumo’s eyes.

These are the encouraging messages Uryu recorded for me. Words from classmates to cheer up a sick Izumo, all given willingly.

They weren’t forced. Uryu only suggested it, and they chose to record. These are people genuinely worried about her.

“Do you still think you’re hated?”

Izumo listens to the messages as if my question doesn’t register, her face no longer showing any trace of anxiety.

Exactly. If they just found her annoying, they wouldn’t leave words like these. They might think she’s naggy or strict, but they admire her, which is why they left these messages.

And it’s not just our class.

“Class Rep! You’re the only Class Rep for me! Come back to Class E soon!”

“Going to other classes made me realize how much you held things together! Amazing work, but rest up for now!”

—Yes. Messages came from former Class 1-B students too. Uryu’s thoughtful touch, knowing it’d make Izumo happier.

“Ah, ah…!”

Overwhelmed by the flood of messages, Izumo can’t hold back her voice. Tears stream from both eyes as she clutches the recorder tightly.

“Misono Izumo, let me apologize one more time.”

In this moment, my voice probably doesn’t reach her, but I speak to the sobbing Izumo.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. You’re more loved by our classmates than anyone.”

“Waaahhh!”

This time, it’s undeniably my true feelings.