Tanaka-san Is Cuter Than the Main Heroine - Chapter 31: I Don’t Get Tanaka-san

Chapter 31: I Don’t Get Tanaka-san

“Because… you’re my type, Tanaka-san.”

“…Eh?”

Gaaahhhhhh!?

What the hell did I just say!?

I was screaming inside, mentally slamming every panic button I could find.

Why did my mouth completely derail like that!?

That was the perfect opportunity to say something neutral!

Like, “You’re really thoughtful” or “You’re nice to everyone”—you know, safe stuff!

But nooope.

Instead, I went and said something that makes it sound like I’ve got obvious ulterior motives!

You idiot! Moron!

Okay—gotta fix this. Fast.

“Ah—what I meant by ‘my type’ is more like… your personality, you know? Like, how you usually act… that kind of vibe.”

“R-Right! Totally! I mean, there’s no way someone like me could be seen that way! I totally get it!”

“No, I definitely see you as a woman.”

“…Huh?”

“…Crap.”

Aaaaahhh!! I messed up!!

What the hell am I doing!?

I was so close to dodging the question smoothly—

So why did I go and blurt out something even worse!?

Okay, yeah. Fine.

Tanaka-san is super cute. She’s got that whole elegant beauty thing going, and, well… yeah, big boobs.

She’s seriously stunning, and yeah, I do find her attractive.

So sure, I get why I instinctively wanted to deny the whole “not seeing her as a woman” thing.

But did I really have to say it out loud!? Like, out loud-out loud!?

Now it sounds like I’m just hitting on her with some shady ulterior motive!

“…I see.”

And there it is.

Look at her.

Tanaka-san’s totally speechless now.

Ughhhh, someone please dig me a hole right now.

I’ll crawl in, bury myself, and disappear from existence, thanks.

Just let me disintegrate into dirt and erase this whole scene from the timeline.

“Um, I… I also think Nakayama-kun is… Uu—nope! Never mind! Thanks for the juice!”

…Yup. That’s on me.

I completely killed the mood.

She couldn’t take the awkward tension anymore, so she grabbed her juice and bolted back toward the school building.

Welp. That’s it.

Absolute worst-case scenario.

Now it’s gonna be unbearably awkward when I go back to class…

“…Guess I’ll just kill time out here for a bit.”

Yeah, yeah… I know I’m just avoiding the problem.

But there’s no way I can go back without a plan. Not after that disaster.

I sat down where Tanaka-san had been just a few minutes ago and stared blankly up at the sky.

While zoning out, I tried to come up with some kind of strategy…

But man… that slip of the tongue really did some serious damage.

No matter how I try to frame it, I definitely made it sound like I’ve got the hots for her.

…Which, okay, yeah. I do.

But still!

Technically, there is one way I could try to smooth this over…

I could get a girlfriend.

Yup. If I had a girlfriend, it’d prove I wasn’t trying to hit on Tanaka-san, right?

Of course, I’m not actually gonna do that.

I mean, come on.

I’m not one of those brain-dead romcom protagonists collecting girls like they’re limited-edition Pokémon cards.

Even if a hundred cute heroines showed up out of nowhere and threw themselves at me—

My eyes are locked on one person.

And that’s Tanaka-san.

Honestly, even if getting a girlfriend did clear up the misunderstanding…

What’s the point if the girl I actually want ends up watching me date someone else?

That’s like winning the battle and nuking your own base at the same time.

Still… I got nothing else.

No brilliant ideas. No clever backup plans.

…………………………────Yeah. Nope. Brain: empty.

Alright then—time to flip the switch on my mindset.

If I’ve dug myself into a hole, the only way out is to climb back up.

Even if Tanaka-san’s upset with me now, I’ve just gotta work hard and make her fall for me anyway.

Yeah, maybe all the effort I’ve put in up to this point goes down the drain.

And yeah, it sucks to imagine her keeping her distance from me…

But hey—this mess is my fault.

So I’ve just gotta take it on the chin and deal with it.

The silver lining?

There’s still time before we graduate.

So before anyone else realizes how amazing she is—

I’m gonna fix this.

And I’m gonna make her my girlfriend.

“Alright. Let’s see… ‘How to get close to a girl who hates you’… Search.”

And so, right up until the final minute of lunch break,

I dove deep into the internet, searching for master plans to win her back.

When I finally returned to the classroom, most of the class still hadn’t come back yet.

I asked one of the nearby girls what was going on,

And apparently, the “Akizuki-senpai disciplining Tokachi-senpai for the morning disaster” arc was still ongoing.

Honestly?

If Tanaka-san had gone to watch that, it would’ve made things way easier for me.

But of course—

There she was, sitting quietly at her desk, like the diligent honor student she is.

I tried to sneak back as silently as humanly possible, basically holding my breath,

Then reached out to pull out my chair—

Clatter.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

But of course, when you really don’t want to mess up—

That’s exactly when it happens.

The moment I pulled out my chair—

SCREECH.

That painfully loud sound echoed across the classroom—

And just like that, Tanaka-san’s eyes snapped toward me.

Crap.

What do I do?

This is so awkward.

Should I say something? Do something?

But my brain… completely blanked.

While I stood there, panicking internally like some malfunctioning robot,

The bell rang.

And… that was it.

I accomplished nothing.

The teacher and the rest of the class came back, and the next lesson started like normal.

“Okay, exchange your test sheets with the person next to you and check the answers together.”

Right after we wrapped up a pop quiz, the teacher dropped that on us—

And I froze.

Why?

Because the person sitting next to me was none other than the Queen of Awkward Right Now—Tanaka-san.

I hesitantly peeked over at her seat…

And saw her scribbling something on her answer sheet.

Huh? What’s she writing?

Knowing her, she doesn’t seem like the type to erase and redo answers.

So maybe… maybe she’s just doodling to kill time?

If so, that’s… kinda adorable.

“Um… here, Nakayama-kun.”

“Ah—!”

Okay, nope. So much for that theory.

Right as she put her pencil down, she handed me her test sheet.

And the second I glanced at the section where she’d been writing—

My eyes flew wide open.

Right there, clear as day:

「sumica 0818」

A messaging app ID.

HUH!?

I looked over at Tanaka-san, totally stunned—

But she was already calmly checking my answers like nothing had happened.

W-Wait… what does this mean!?