So You’re Telling Me I’m in My Popular Phase!?

Chapter 5: An Unexpected Popular Monkey!?

Classes finished up to fourth period, and it was finally lunchtime.

“Hey Ryu, wanna eat lunch together?”

Just as I was about to take out my bento, my best friend from middle school, Sunagawa Tomoya, called out to me.

“Hm? Tomoya? Sure, let’s eat together.”

We pushed our desks together and started eating.

I usually eat a bento made by either Mom or Izumi, but Tomoya just had a single sweet bun.

I always wonder if that’s enough, but looking at his slender frame—almost like a girl’s—and his androgynous features, it kind of makes sense.

But when we go out to play and eat together, he eats a decent amount. So it’s not like he doesn’t eat at all.

“Ryu-kun!”

Izumi, who was eating with her female friends, waved at me.

I told her with my eyes, Stop it, that’s embarrassing, and she pretended to sulk before going back to smiling and chatting with her friends while she ate.

“As expected, Ryu and Izumi-chan are really close, huh.”

When I turned back to the front to return to my meal, there was Tomoya’s face, smiling sarcastically.

That expression is annoying, but maybe because he has such a refined face, even that expression looked really charming.

If he were a girl, I’d probably fall for him just on his face alone. No, even as a guy, if I didn’t know he was a guy, it wouldn’t be strange to fall for him. It definitely wouldn’t look weird if he cross-dressed.

“Of course we’re close, I’ve known her since kindergarten.”

“In that case, you should just hurry up and date her.”

“Hah? What are you talking about?”

Still, even though it’s usual for him, Tomoya suddenly says the weirdest things.

“Eh, I mean, you’re close, right? And Ryu, you don’t particularly hate Izumi-chan, right? So why not date? You’re always saying you want a girlfriend.”

“True, I don’t particularly hate Izumi, but it’s not like I want to date her or anything. Besides, Izumi thinks of me like one of her girl friends.”

That’s why even if she jumps on me in the morning, to her, it just feels like playing with another girl.

“There you go again~. I mean, she doesn’t make bentos for her other girl friends, does she?”

“Then, treat us like siblings. Eh—she’s not cute like Aki, so I hate that idea even more. Also, it’s really different. If it were like that, I wouldn’t be trying to get popular.”

“But, there’s nothing good about being popular, you know.”

Since this guy is perfect in both face and personality, of course he’s popular.

Even now, I can feel the gazes of the surrounding girls stabbing into me, like Don’t steal our Tomoya.

“Shut up. Then let me ask: how many people have confessed to you since entering high school?”

Since it hasn’t even been a month since we started high school, surely he hasn’t been confessed to yet.

Hahaha. You must be so frustrated you can’t say anything.

“Umm, two or three times?”

“You have been?! And not just once!?”

“But I rejected them.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up, Mr. Popular Monkey.”

Pretending to sulk, I went back to eating.

I spent the time until the next class with him, then took the remaining two hours of classes.

And then, during Japanese History class, the teacher spoke up.

“Ichikami, you’re surprisingly smart.”

And so, I was told that again.

※

All classes ended, and I headed to club activities.

Club time is the time of day I hate the most.

Because I hate pain, I joined the Soft Tennis club since it didn’t look very painful. However, it’s a secret that when I messed up returning a ball while playing vanguard and it hit me in the face, it hurt so much I wanted to cry.

Sigh~. I want to go home early and see Aki’s face~.

I want to talk to Aki about all sorts of things~.