Tanaka-san Is Cuter Than the Main Heroine - Chapter 08: Continued – Tanaka-san Smells Amazing!
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- Chapter 08: Continued – Tanaka-san Smells Amazing!
Chapter 08: Continued – Tanaka-san Smells Amazing!
Early morning on a weekday.
“Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
As usual, I was about to head to school on my bike—but the moment I looked down, I saw the front tire was completely flat.
Great. Must’ve run over something sharp on the way home yesterday.
Sure enough, when I checked, a pebble about the size of a red bean was lodged deep in the tire.
“Haah… seriously? No helping it, I’ll just take the train today.”
With a sigh, I yanked the pebble out, grabbed my bag from the basket, and took off running toward the station.
And of course, the moment I arrived—it was peak rush hour.
The place was packed wall-to-wall with people.
This. This is exactly why I avoid taking the train.
But today, I didn’t really have a choice.
I dug into the neglected corners of my wallet, fished out my dusty old IC card, and passed through the ticket gate.
Then I headed down to the platform and lined up where the crowd looked thinnest.
Three minutes later, the train arrived.
(Holy crap, it’s cramped!)
I somehow managed to squeeze myself in—at the cost of all mobility.
There wasn’t even enough space to breathe properly, let alone pull out my phone.
So much for killing time with mobile games.
With nothing better to do, I gave up and just stared blankly out the window.
“…Excuse me, ma’am. If you’d like, there’s a seat open here.”
“…Oh my, are you sure?”
“…Yes. I’m getting off soon anyway.”
“…Thank you, dear. You’re very kind.”
(Hm? Wait a sec… Isn’t that Tanaka-san?)
As the train rocked gently along, I stared out the window, half-spaced out—when something in the reflection caught my eye.
A beautiful girl who looked a lot like Tanaka-san was offering her seat to an elderly woman.
I turned my head to check—and yep, no mistaking it.
It was the Tanaka-san. The one I liked.
(Damn it… I didn’t recognize her right away? Weak, Nakayama. Real weak. But seriously… Tanaka-san really is a good person. Even today, with PE and calligraphy back-to-back, she’s gotta be carrying a ton of stuff.)
As always, she looked like an actual angel.
Just seeing her being kind like that warmed my heart.
Honestly, I wanted to thank her for the wholesome moment by offering to carry her bags—but she was way too far away. No way I’d reach her in this packed crowd.
(Man, I wish she’d come over this way…)
As that thought floated in my head, the train pulled into the next station.
Not ours—we still had two stops to go.
I scooted to the side to make space for the people getting on and off, just minding my own business, when—
“…Nakayama-kun.”
I heard my name.
Right beside me.
“Wha—!?”
Caught completely off guard, I jolted back like I’d just been shocked.
And there she was.
Tanaka-san.
“…Oh man. You scared me…”
“…Fufu. I spotted you earlier and thought I’d sneak up on you. Surprise attack success, huh?”
When I admitted how much she startled me, Tanaka-san let out a soft giggle, wearing this shy, mischievous smile—like a kid who’d just pulled off the perfect prank.
It hit me so hard I nearly had a nosebleed.
I had to tilt my head back on instinct just to hold it in.
“Gah!? Cough, cough!”
“Ahh! A-Are you okay, Nakayama-kun!?”
“I’m fine. Cough! Just… choked a little, that’s all.”
Yeah, no.
So much for playing it cool.
That little nosebleed scare must’ve sent some blood down the wrong pipe, and now I was coughing like a fool—
Right in front of Tanaka-san.
(Ugh… how pathetic can I get?)
Wiping my mouth in shame and drowning in secondhand embarrassment, I suddenly felt the train lurch with a heavy jolt.
“!?”
Luckily, I’d been leaning against the wall, so I barely moved.
Tanaka-san, though… wasn’t so lucky.
She’d let go of the overhead strap to check on me—
And the moment the train rocked, she lost her balance.
“Whoa!?”
At this rate, she was going to bump into someone—or worse, fall and hit her head.
So I moved on instinct.
I reached out, wrapped an arm around her back, and pulled her in.
And just like that—
Tanaka-san landed right in my chest.
…And something soft got very, very squished.
My entire body locked up.
I mean—come on.
The girl I liked just fell into my arms.
Even if it was an accident, even if I didn’t plan a single part of it…
There’s no way I wasn’t going to panic.
“…”
“……”
A heavy silence settled between us.
The only sounds were the quiet rustling of nearby passengers and the low rumble of the train rolling along the tracks.
But for me, that wasn’t all I heard.
My heartbeat was going absolutely nuts—pounding so loud in my chest it felt like the whole train could hear it.
Honestly, I was terrified that she could hear it too.
I knew I had to move.
I should have moved.
But the thought—what if this once-in-a-lifetime moment never happens again?—completely froze me in place.
Eventually, after what felt like forever, Tanaka-san finally spoke.
“…Um, thank you.”
“…N-No, really, you don’t have to thank me. I mean—sorry! This whole thing turned out super weird. You didn’t like it, right? I’ll move.”
Her voice snapped me out of it, and I quickly pulled away, apologizing in a panic.
“Ah—no, I mean… I didn’t think it was bad or anything. I know you were just trying to help me.”
She forgave me—just like that.
But her eyes shifted away a little, and I couldn’t tell if she really meant it… or if she was just being polite.
Maybe I still owed her a proper apology.
I took a breath and added—
“…Still, I probably smelled gross, right? I ran all the way to the station, so I was definitely sweating. I’m really sorry.”
“…That’s not true at all. Actually… it was kind of a nice smell. Like soap, or… I-I mean—it wasn’t unpleasant. Really.』
“…Huh. That’s… good to hear.”
Worried I might’ve made her uncomfortable, I apologized again—
But the reply that came back completely caught me off guard.
My whole body flushed with heat again, and I quickly turned my face away.
Silence followed.
That silence carried through the next station.
And the one after that.
Even when we finally reached the station near school… nothing had changed.
Everything after that was a blur.
Honestly, I could barely remember a thing from the rest of the ride—
Except for one.
Just one line stuck with me—something Norimizu-san said yesterday:
That Tanaka-san smelled like roses.
Sweet. Floral. Gentle.
And she really did.
“If someone smells really good to you, it means they’re your destined soulmate.”
“Well, even if you think they smell nice, if they don’t feel the same, it doesn’t mean much.”
“…That’s not true at all. Actually… it was kind of a nice smell. Like soap, or… I mean—it wasn’t unpleasant. Really.』
“~~!!”
On the walk to school, those words kept echoing in my head—yesterday’s conversation, and what Tanaka-san had just said.
And yeah, I was absolutely dying inside.
◇
“Ah! Ta-chan! Good morning! You look super chipper today—something good happen?”
“Fueh!? N-No! Nothing happened! Seriously!”
“Pfft, yeah, that reaction totally means something happened.”
“Yup. You’re like… way too easy to read, Ta-chan.”
“Uuugh, I swear nothing happened… really… hehehe.”
“Yup, see? That little giggle gave it away.”
“She’s usually so composed, but she gets kind of scatterbrained sometimes. Looks like she’ll be like this for a while.”
JUST START DATING ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!.