Tanaka-san Is Cuter Than the Main Heroine - Chapter 15: How I Met Nakayama-kun

Chapter 15: How I Met Nakayama-kun

“Good morning.”

“Morning, Tanaka-san.”

“Hey, did you watch that drama last night?”

“Yes, I did. I was shocked when the hero with amnesia turned out to be the killer.”

“Right?! I didn’t see that coming either.”

About a month had passed since I started distancing myself from Reno-chan.

And once I was no longer “that extra girl who’s friends with Reno Fuyusara,”

People kind of forgot about me.

Which, honestly… was perfect.

I finally got to live in peace.

Meanwhile—

“Fuyusara-san, do you have a minute? I just wanted to talk—”

“No. I don’t talk to trash. So go crawl back to wherever you came from.”

“Wait, can’t we just talk for a second—”

“Hah?! Were you not listening?! Get lost, you trashy excuse of a man!”

“Eek! I-I’m sorryyyyyy!!”

…Yeah.

Reno-chan, on the other hand, was kind of a wreck.

The reason? 

Our old girl group—including me—had started to slowly pull away from her.

Not because Reno-chan had done anything wrong, exactly.

It was just… really bad timing.

Like how, the day after one of our friends confessed she had a crush on a certain boy,

That same boy just happened to confess to Reno-chan.

Or how the teacher one of our friends secretly liked turned out to be a total creep who’d been low-key harassing Reno-chan for weeks—

And when she finally reported him, the guy got fired.

Stuff like that kept happening. One thing after another.

And little by little, our group started to crack.

Until it quietly, inevitably fell apart.

As a result, Reno-chan ended up completely isolated.

And all that loneliness twisted into bitterness—

Which soon turned into full-on hatred.

Especially toward the boys she blamed for dragging her into everything.

It was just bad luck. Awful timing.

But even so… I couldn’t bring myself to fully turn my back on her.

I wasn’t cold enough for that.

“Um… Reno-chan. Want to walk home together today?”

“Huh…?”

One day, after school—

I waited until the hallway was completely empty and finally worked up the courage to ask her.

“It’s okay. Really. I don’t want to drag you into more trouble because of me… but… thank you. For thinking of me. Bye-bye.”

She turned me down.

Because Reno-chan is kind.

Too kind.

She couldn’t bring herself to take my hand—not after everything that happened.

Not while she still carried the guilt of hurting us.

She really was nothing like me.

She actually deserved to be called a princess.

“…I’m the worst.”

Because deep down, I already knew she’d say no.

I expected it.

And still—I asked anyway.

Not because I wanted to help her…

But because I didn’t want to feel guilty for not helping.

It wasn’t about her.

It was about protecting myself.

What kind of friend does that?

I made Reno-chan—who was already hurting—be the one to say the painful thing.

Honestly? I was the lowest of the low.

There’s no way someone like me could ever be the heroine of a story.

That night, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, crushed by how pathetic I was.

And from the next day on—

I made up my mind to change.

To help people.

To do more, care more, try harder.

To be, at the very least, someone a little less shameful.

“Here, I’ll carry that for you.”

“Really? Thanks, Tanaka-san!”

“Oh no!”

“That looks rough. Let me help you pick it up.”

“Thanks a ton, Tanaka-san.”

“Then, I’ll go ahead and take this over—”

“Ah, I’m so sorry. I haven’t finished the homework yet. Just a little more, so could you leave it here for now? I promise I’ll take care of bringing it over later.”

“Alri—wait, Tanaka-san. Got it. I’ll leave it to you then.”

Of course, none of that was purely out of kindness.

It wasn’t some saintly, selfless act.

I was just trying to ease my own guilt… even just a little.

It was selfish.

But in my own clumsy way, that was how I tried to make up for the pain I caused Reno-chan.

Time passed faster than I expected, and before I knew it, I was in my third year of middle school.

And you know what that means—

Time to start thinking about high school.

“…Ugh, I really don’t wanna go.”

But… the truth was, after losing my dream, I didn’t really have any goals.

There wasn’t anything I wanted to do.

So when it came time to pick a high school, I was completely lost.

The only thing I knew for sure was:

“I don’t want to go to the same school as Reno-chan or Onee-chan.”

But the problem was… my grades were pretty decent.

And trying to avoid any school my sister had gone to only made things look suspicious.

I even considered applying to a school outside the prefecture.

But unless you’re a college student or some kind of sports prodigy, it’s kind of weird for a girl like me—who could only sort of play an instrument—to just up and move away.

I ruled that one out fast.

I also thought about faking a cold on the day of my recommendation exam, just to avoid taking it.

Or purposely bombing the entrance test.

But… just picturing the disappointment on my family’s faces stopped me cold.

In the end, this timid, guilt-ridden coward went with the flow and ended up at the exact same high school as my sister.

“…Huh? Why is no one here?”

I thought I was in for another whole year of gloom and doom.

But once high school actually started…

Surprise!

It turned out to be way quieter than I expected.

The reason?

Well—first off, there were the Shikihime girls.

Beautiful, dazzling, goddess-tier girls.

Reno-chan included.

Also, my sister… had a boyfriend.

Most of the boys had already accepted that my sister had been swept away by some rich, princely heir with perfect looks and a flawless personality.

They were like, “Yeah, that tracks,” and moved on.

Instead, their attention shifted to the three Shikihime—each one drop-dead gorgeous, easily rivaling my sister in charm and beauty.

Thanks to that, my school life was surprisingly peaceful.

…Actually, too peaceful.

But honestly, it made sense.

Main Heroines—the “princesses” of any story—are just that dazzling.

They shine so brightly that people like us, the background extras, don’t even register.

No one’s going to spare a glance at the mob characters.

Everyone knew that.

Including me.

And maybe—out of everyone—I understood it best.

Because I’d already accepted it, deep down:

That I’d never stand in the spotlight.

That I was just background noise.

A transparent nobody.

Completely forgettable.

“Hey! Akizuki-senpai’s in the next classroom!”

“Whoa, for real!? Let’s go check it out!”

“Kya!? …Ahh, the handouts… I need to gather them all up!”

So of course, no one noticed me.

Even when I was clearly struggling.

Of course no one helped.

……

………

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Still…

It really hurts sometimes.

Maybe I don’t have the right to feel this way.

But even so…

Being invisible to everyone is incredibly lonely.

So please…

Dear God—just this once.

I won’t wish to be the kind of princess everyone falls in love with.

I promise.

Just one person is enough.

Just one.

Please let me meet someone—

One special person who’ll notice me.

Who’ll see me, a background character…

And make me feel like the princess of their story.

That’s all I want.

Just one prince—

Who’ll look at me, and only me.

“Tch. Can’t believe those jerks just bumped into you and walked off like it’s nothing. Seriously, how do you not notice that? Here—rough day, huh…”

“Eh?”