[Sad News] Living Together with the Unattainable Beauty—Her Overwhelming Affection Is Way Too Calculated - 28

Chapter 28: Maybe Kind of Cool…

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

My ultimate weapon, the final gamble of my life—the Sexy Black Babydoll Operation. Ever since that operation, Gen-chan had been avoiding me thoroughly and blatantly, and to be honest, I was a little panicked.

No—that’s a lie.

I was actually very panicked.

Did I overdo it? Did I turn him off? Surely, surely, doing that kind of thing—masturbating right in front of him—was going too far…

『So Fujigaya-san does shameless things like that…』

Maybe he even despised me. Those negative thoughts spun around my head whenever I went to bed at night, keeping me awake. Sleepless nights weren’t a once-or-twice thing anymore.

At school, his behavior toward me was even worse. Just catching a glimpse of me at the edge of his vision in the hallway made him jolt like he’d spotted a cockroach, then spin on his heel and flee at top speed.

In class, he absolutely refused to make eye contact with me. If I so much as walked past his seat, he would slam his head down on the desk and pretend to be dead. His rejection was so painfully obvious that it pricked my heart like a needle.

Was my courage all for nothing…?

I was sinking into that weak feeling on a certain lunch break, when I saw Gen-chan in the corner of the classroom with his usual otaku friends, Kimura-kun and Satou-kun, peering seriously into a stack of magazines.

At first, I thought.

It must be anime or game magazines again.

And didn’t pay much attention to it. But then I noticed the covers—handsome actors and refreshing models striking poses. They were men’s fashion magazines.

Fashion magazines? Gen-chan?

The unexpected sight made me stare harder. He had never once shown interest in that glittering three-dimensional world before.

Had something changed in his heart? Or was this some kind of punishment game where they forced him to read it? (What kind of punishment is that?)

I secretly watched them from my seat. He was studying the pages with an intense gaze, and sometimes he seemed to be seriously discussing something with Kimura-kun and Satou-kun.

That strange sight sent a ripple across my heart. And then, a few days later, that change showed itself right in front of me in a visible way.

The living room door opened, and as usual, he came in with his sleepy face. Or—at least, he should have.

“G-Good morning, Fujigaya-san.”

“…Good mor…ning. Miyazuka-kun?”

I nearly dropped the ladle in my hand as I stared at him.

It was definitelyGenji Miyazuka-kun standing there. But something was decisively different.

First, his hair. Normally it was either exploding from bedhead or limp and lifeless. But today, he had it styled with wax, his forehead showing, just slightly, really just slightly, tousled in a natural way.

Not in the “I tried really hard to style it!!” way, but in the “Oh, I just woke up and it turned out kind of stylish like this” way—a calculated naturalness.

Next, his clothes. Summer uniform now, but under his shirt he wasn’t wearing the usual stretched-out otaku T-shirt with a heroine printed on it. It was a plain, simple white V-neck shirt. That alone made him look cleaner, more mature.

And then, his posture. Maybe it was my imagination, but his back seemed a little straighter than usual. The slouched, unreliable posture of before looked just a bit broader, sturdier.

It wasn’t a dramatic transformation. Each change was tiny, but the sum of those small changes transformed his whole impression.

The gloomy filter of “otaku aura” that always seemed to hang around him wasn’t there today. Without that filter, the real him stood revealed: taller than I’d thought, with broader shoulders, a straight nose, and surprisingly well-balanced features.

Eh…?Nno way. He’s kind of cool, maybe…

The instant I realized it, my heart thumped loudly in my chest.

Until now, I had loved all of his “useless parts” and “pathetic parts” of him. They made him “cute”—something that sparked my protective instincts, a pet-like fondness. But this pounding in my chest now was different.

This was me feeling that he was cool—as a boy, as the opposite sex. I had thought I wanted to melt him down into a puddle, but instead, I found myself wanting him to completely ravish me.

“Wh-What’s wrong, Fujigaya-san? Do I have something on my face?”

He looked nervous from being stared at so intently.

“N-No! Nothing at all! I guess I’m still sleepy!”

I shook my head frantically, feeling my cheeks flare hot. My panties were dampening—I’d have to change them before school…

All day long, during class and breaks, my eyes kept chasing after him. His serious profile as he copied notes from the blackboard… The shy smile he gave when he laughed with friends…

Every little gesture seemed more attractive than ever, and each one made my heart beat louder and louder. The other girls in class started to notice too.

“Hey, doesn’t Miyazuka-kun seem different today?”

“Totally! Did he change his look? His hair looks good.”

“He doesn’t look as otaku-ish anymore.”

I overheard their whispers. Each time, I felt a mix of pride and happiness—but also a prickling anxiety, as though my secret treasure was being discovered by others.

He was beginning to change, without me knowing. And wasn’t that exactly what I had wanted? Yet, I felt this restless urgency, as though something precious only I should know was about to be exposed.

What was this stirring in my chest? Without finding an answer, I just couldn’t take my eyes off the new version of him.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー