[Sad News] Living Together with the Unattainable Beauty—Her Overwhelming Affection Is Way Too Calculated - 1

Chapter 1: The Beginning of Heaven and Hell

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“Anyway, someone like me…”

That had been me—Genji Miyazuka, fifteen—my catchphrase and, more or less, the manifesto of my life.

My hobbies were watching anime, playing games, and reading light novels. I was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. Anything with a beautiful girl in it, I would devour it indiscriminately. Day after day I lost myself in two-dimensional worlds. Thanks to that, my real-world grades were mediocre at best. As for athletic ability, I’d leveled up so far that in gym class I’d mastered the high-level skill of “becoming invisible.”

Of course, eye contact with girls was a mission of absurd difficulty I had never once cleared. If a girl ever spoke to me, my language center glitched and shut down before producing anything coherent.

A born introverted otaku. That was everything I was. Then, finally, spring came for me. No, not metaphorically — literally, spring arrived.

In March, when the freezing winter was ending and cherry buds began to swell, I had miraculously passed an entrance exam at a private high school I’d applied to as a safety option. I’d worked my idiot brain off. I truly deserved to be praised for that. 

I’d never forget the feeling of floating to the heavens when I found my exam number, “128,” on the results board. I was officially a high schooler now. Maybe a sweet, sour youth straight out of a light novel awaited me!

…That ridiculous hope was probably just the spring sunshine talking. Or maybe it was the rebound after the spiritual training that was exam cram study. Still giddy, I headed home as if I might skip my steps, only to be met in the living room by my parents wearing solemn faces and an earth-shattering revelation.

“Genji, listen carefully. Your father’s been assigned overseas.”

“Huh?”

“Of course, your mother’s coming too.”

My brain froze at Mom’s words.

Overseas? Transferred? Now? At this time?

My head went blank. I had studied so hard to get into high school, only to be dragged overseas? Separated from the few otaku friends I’d finally made in middle school? Was my youth, which had just begun, about to be canceled at the opening credits?

If this were a light novel, maybe from here I’d meet a busty blonde local beauty at an American high school (or a plain redheaded voluptuous girl), get tangled in mafia wars, awaken special powers, and go on a rampage. But in reality, my English grade had been a 1. I was the guy who got a 1 in English. On the ‘Excellent–Good–Pass’ scale, I was always ‘Fail.’ I only knew “overseas” as a game setting. GTA? I’d never fired a gun.

“…Seriously?”

That pitiful thing I squeezed out of my mouth was all I could manage.

“Yeah. Sorry for the sudden news, but starting next month I’ll be at our U.S. branch.”

Dad bowed apologetically.

“W-What… So I’d go to an American high school too…?”

The words slipped out with a tone of utter despair. I pictured a blonde-cheerleader beauty casually calling, “Hey! Genji!” and the room spun. No way. Impossible. With my communication skills I’d turn to stone before I could even say hello. I’d be nothing but a roadside rock.

Seeing my devastated face, Mom offered a devilish whisper.

“If you really want to stay in Japan… Would you try living on your own?”

“…Living on my own…?”

Living alone. Those four syllables echoed in my head like a sacred oracle chant. How sweet they sounded.

No parental eyes, unlimited late-night anime. Unlimited gaming. Unlimited light novels. I could invite friends over and stay up talking until dawn. I could masturbate with my onahole in peace without worrying about anyone. It was an otaku’s utopia.

“I’ll do it! I’ll live alone!”

I blurted out the declaration, practically swallowing the words. The despair vanished. My heart soared toward a rosy future. From then on, each day felt like a countdown to paradise.

My parents and I visited realtors and signed a lease on a neat, relatively new apartment about fifteen minutes by bike from school. In the short time before the entrance ceremony, my parents scrambled and left for overseas. I sent them off exhausted from moving preparation. Saying goodbye at the airport was a little sad, but my expectation for the coming free life swelled my chest. 

Time to order an onahole online.

Moving day arrived. The movers hauled my stuff in; surrounded by cardboard in my new place, I finally became “the master of my own castle.” Standing in the empty living room, I laughed triumphantly.

“Bwahahaha! From today on, this is my castle! My kingdom! No one will bother me!”

A light-novel protagonist with a childhood friend who lived next door who casually let herself in with a spare key and woke me up with “Hey, Gen-chan!”? Yeah, probably not happening. I didn’t have a childhood friend like that. But freedom was priceless.

“All right then.”

I grabbed the doorknob to head out for essentials, some food from the nearest convenience store and the latest manga magazine. My heart beat with expectation as I turned the knob; this would be the brilliant first step of my new life.

Click.

The door—which I hadn’t opened—swung inward from the outside.

Huh? Why?

This apartment had an auto-lock feature. I’d definitely locked it from the inside. As I fumbled in confusion, a breathtakingly beautiful girl appeared before me.

Long, glossy black hair flowing nearly to her waist. Eyes so large you could fall into them. A straight nose and small peach-pink lips. A perfectly formed — no, too-perfect — small face. A knit dress in the colour of spring that emphasized her flawless figure. Her sweater stretched wide by her huge breasts.

I recognized her at once. To be precise, it was hard to forget her. She was the most unattainable flower of middle school, the queen of our school’s social caste who reigned above the clouds — Kanoko Fujigaya.

“Um… Excuse me, who are you?”

“Huh?”

My stupid voice came out before I could think. She blinked at me with enormous eyes. No, “who are you?” wasn’t right — I knew her. For three years of middle school I had worshiped that shining figure from afar. The boys had even built a Fujigaya shrine on the school grounds.

But why is she here? In front of my place’s door?

Panic short-circuited my brain. My thoughts teetered on the brink of meltdown.

“Um, this should be my room…”

She tilted her head in slight confusion; the gesture itself brightened the air around us. That was the field effect of a top-tier girl, I guess.

“Uh… No, this is my—my room, though…?”

Our conversation didn’t mesh. Each of us held a key to the same apartment. Then, just in the nick of timing (or terrible timing), the realtor’s agent arrived and revealed the worst possible explanation.

“Ah—we’re terribly sorry! It looks like our mistake caused a double-booking!”

The agent in a suit bowed deeply, over and over. I stood stunned. Fujigaya-san, inexplicably calm, stood beside me. According to the agent, the landlord was on an extended trip overseas and unreachable, so they couldn’t cancel the contract immediately. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t find another place right away.

What is happening now? What would become of my private paradise? My utopia?

While I wallowed in despair, Fujigaya-san offered a suggestion that sounded angelic — or, for me, devilish.

“Then how about we live together until they get in touch with the landlord?”

“Whaaaaat!?”

A shrill, out-of-nowhere shout of mine echoed down the hallway. 

What is she talking about?! Me? And Fujigaya-san?! Living together?! Impossible.

We were worlds apart. I was a guy with a severe communication-disorder case. I couldn’t talk to girls. Being near such a beauty would kill me. I’d evaporate in an instant.

It was exactly when I tried with all my might to refuse that my pocket phone chimed: an international call from Mom. I grabbed it like a life preserver, thinking she would fix everything if I explained.

“—Basically, things are pretty dire here!

I explained desperately. Mom, on the other end, somehow sounded impressed.

『Oh, Fujigaya-san? That gorgeous girl from middle school? I’ve seen her in magazines! Perfect!』

“Huh? Perfect for what!?”

『Genji, you can’t do housework at all, so you’d be better off with a responsible girl like her. It’ll make Mom feel better. Tell the realtor to take care of it. Honestly, I’m busy! My American life is about to start now!』

“W-Wait, Mom!?”

She hung up without hearing me out. The screen went dark. My supposed greatest ally — my mother — had switched sides without thinking. The outer fortifications were sealed. My escape routes were gone.

Thus, completely against my will, the forced, time-limited cohabitation with the unattainable flower began. From heaven to hell — that was exactly what it felt like. It might look like a light-novel setup from the outside, but I was a socially inept introvert. I absolutely could not talk to women.

The sweet, sour youth I had dreamed of in light novels had, right at its opening, transformed into a tale of survival.

It’s over… This is the end of my youth…

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